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xxiv
सटीको वृत्तजातिसमुच्चयः
[INTRODUCTION
separately in addition to the common name Vaitālīya, even though this name too implies that it was a bardic metre sung by the bards in the different Tālas. Its inclusion in the midst of other popular metres peculiar to Apabhramśa poetry, may also suggest that the bards and the court poets were probably the first breeding centres of Apabhramsa poetry.
(vi) Among the six Pratyayas or Proofs described in Ch. VI by Virahānka, there is one peculiar Pratyaya called Adhvan. It is the method of finding out the exact amount of space required for writing out of a stanza or a couplet etc. The table of the measures of length is interesting, but particularly important is the statement about the space required by a short or a long letter and the space that must be left between two letters. According to Virahānka one Angula (i.e., nearly 3/4ths of an inch) is the space that is to be allotted to each letter and so much again is the space that ought to be left between two letters. At I. 14, he has similarly stated that the signs for short and long letters must be as long as the joint of a thumb, i.e., nearly an inch or so. The number of stanzas which Virahānka allots to this topic and the seriousness with which he handles it are both an unmistakable indication of the state of writing and the nature of writing material in general use at Virahānka's times. The size of the letters itself suggests such writing materials as rock surfaces, copper plates, wooden boards and the like. Virahānka could surely not have meant palm leaves, or paper, or birch bark, or pieces of cloth etc. It is very likely that these latter were either unknown at his times or rather, at least not in general use of the writers and the poets. Jayadeva and Kedāra refer to this Pratyaya namely Adhvan as a matter of mere formality without any comments. But Hemacandra clearly sees the absurdity of the directions as applied to writings in his own days and so remarks that "the Adhvan or the Adhvayoga is entirely purposeless, since the space required for writing characters is altogether uncertain as it depends upon the writer's will and convenience and cannot therefore be prescribed or recommended. Nor is there any purpose in thus restricting the space of the characters'. This is true of the times when writing was commonly practised and when writing materials were well within the reach of ordinary men. But when letters had to be caryed or incised on rocks and copper-plates and the like, such a restriction of space was quite necessary to give a rough idea of the space required for an inscription, to the person who wanted to get it written through a professional writer.
