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ŠS 19-20 1 सवृत्तिकः कविदर्पणः
xxxi the impression which is left on the mind of the reader that Nanditādhya was a Jain monk. But even the first 74 stanzas do not all appear to be from Nanditādhya's pen. V. 8 looks like a marginal note added by a reader: it is not really needed, its purpose being served by vv. 12, 13. Vy. 15, 30 and 65 all contain illustrations of a Gāthā; but only one of these, perhaps the first, seems to be genuine, as it is in its proper place, i.e., after the definition of that metre in vv. 12-13. V. 16 is a sort of introduction for the three main varieties of the Gāthā, viz., Pathyā, Vipulā and Capalā. These three together with the subdivisions of the last one are defined and illustrated in vv. 17-25. All these may be genuine; but the illustrations of Gīti, Udgiti, Samkīrṇā and Gāthā given in vv. 26-30 appear to be quite out of context and uncalled for. The first three are the derivatives of the Gāthā and not mere varieties of it; so that their proper place is only after finishing the varieties like the four which have the names of the four castes in vv. 32-38, or the 26 which are based on the smaller or larger number of short and long letters in them in vv. 40-44. All these derivative metres again are defined and illustrated in vv. 61-73, under different names. Besides vv. 26-30 give only the illustrations and are not preceded by definitions as in other cases. They, therefore, do not seem to have formed part of the original work of Nanditädhya. Lastly, v. 52 refers to these names, i.e., Gīti, Udgiti and .. Upagiti and on that account, is not genuine. Thus out of a total of 92, only about 65 stanzas seem to be genuine.
20. Nanditadhya was a Jain Pandit, probably a monk. He mentions his name only in two stanzas, vv. 31 and 63. Both these stanzas offer some help in arriving at the probable extent of Nanditādhya's original work. The first states, in clear words, his contempt for the Apabhramsa language, which excludes the possibility of his having included in his treatise Apabhraṁsa metres and particularly of his having defined and illustrated them in the Apabhramśa language itself. The second records the six varieties of the metres derived from the Gāthā and this shows that his Gathālaksana was to include the definitions of these too. In four other stanzas he refers to himself in the first person; of these the first two, i.e., vv. 1 and 2, declare his intention to define the Gāthā in accordance with what he has learned from his preceptors and to distinguish between short and long letters, as they are employed in Prakrit poems composed by earlier teachers and poets. In the other two stanzas, vv. 20 and 32, he promises to give illustrations of the metres which he has defined in the earlier stanzas. This would show that Nanditadhya intended to give illustrations and not merely the definitions of the Gātha and its derivatives. The illustrations of Pathyā,
