Studies in Desya Prakrit

Author(s): H C Bhayani
Publisher: Kalikal Sarvagya Shri Hemchandracharya Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sanskar Shikshannidhi Ahmedabad

Page 148

THE BHĀSĀ-LAKSANA CHAPTER OF GITĀLANKĀRA
1. Introduction*
... The Gitālankāra, traditionally ascribed to Bharata, is a work on music. It has been edited by Daniéou and Bhatt from a single manuscript.1 The date of the work is not known. The editors are of the opinion that the Gitālankāra is an ancient work, much earlier than the Națyaśāstra of Bharata, but the view considering it as a very late work is well-founded.
The last chapter of the Gitālankāra numbered fifteenth and called Bhāşälaksana, gives a long list of Prakrit dialects and devotes one Gāthā to each of them to illustrate a few of their characteristic words. The dialect list is in Sanskrit (like all the earlier chapters), but the illustrative verses are in Prakrit.
* Abbreviations used :
ABH. : Hemacandra's Abhidhānacintāmaņi. edited and translated in Gujarati by Vijayakastūra Sūri, 1957. DB. : The text of the Prakrit portion of the Gitālankāra as given by Daniélou and Bhatt. DN. : Hemachandra's Dešināmamālā edited by R. Pischel; second edition by P. V. Ramanujaswami, 1938. GT.: Gitālankāra. Guj. : Gujarati H. : Hindi. IAL. : Turner's Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages. MW. : Monier Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary. PL. : Dhanapāla's Pāialacchināmamālā edited by Bühler; translated in Hindi by Bechardas Doshi, 1960. PS. : Prāksta-sarvāsva of Mārkandeya, edited by K. C. Āchārya, 1968. PSM.: H. Sheth's Pāiasaddamahannavo. R.: The reconstructed text of the Prakrit portion of the Gitālankāra, SH. : Hemacandra's Prakrit Grammar (= the eighth chapter of the Siddhahemaśabdānusāsana) edited by P. L. Vaidya, 1958. SK. : Sanskrit. SMP.: A critical Study of Mahāpurāņa of Puspadanta by R. N. Shriyan, 1969.