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INTRODUCTION.
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Further, the names of writers, mentioned in this work are Hari, Bramhâ, Matanga, Kas'yapa, Kamalasya, Chandî, Vyala, S'ârdûla, Nârada, Tumburu, Shanmukha, Bhringi, Devendra, Kubera, Kus'ika, Mâtrigupta, Ravana, Samudra, Sarasvati, Bali, Yaksha and Vikrama'. Many of these names are names of deities and Puranik personages and it is beyond our means to determine their time. But the names of Vikrama and Mâtrigupta are historical. As there have been several Vikramas, it is difficult to say what Vikrama is meant. But the mention of the name of Matrigupta, who is also mentioned by S'ârngadeva in his Sangita Ratnakara as one of the writers on music, enables us to infer that the present work must have been written not earlier than 7th century A. D. Matrigupta, who was a poet and writer on poetics, is said to have lived about the first half of the sixth century being a contemporary of S'iladitya Pratapas'ila of Malva (A. D. 550-600). My esteemed friend, T. M. Tripâthi Esqr. B. A. of Bombay, informs me that from the Natya Pradipa of Sundara Mis'ra it appears that Mâtrigupta has written a commentary on Bharata's Natya S'astra.
But there is one circumstance which may help us in deciding the priority of this work to Sangita Ratnakara. For, Nârada mentions the name of only Matrigupta among the names of the historical personages as writers on music, and does not mention the names of the later writers such as Rudrata, Nanya Bhûpâla, Paramardi Somes'a, Lollata, Udbhata, S'ankuka, Abhinava Gupta &c. If Narada had copied the names of authors from Sangita Ratnakara, he would not have omitted them. It is likely that S'arngadeva copied the names of older authors from Narada's book and added these later names known at his time to the list in his book. Narada does not seem to have borrowed any verses from Sangita Ratnakara. The treatment and order of the topics observed in Sangita Makaranda is quite different from that in the Sangita Ratnakara.
This view is supported by another circumstance which seems to be a stronger proof. S'arngadeva while giving the definition of Vide p. 18 verses 18-21.
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