2025-04-20 14:32:05 by ambuda-bot
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Introduction
२१
All this points to the conclusion already drawn above,
viz. that the III recension vouchsafed by the commentary
of Arjuna must be assigned the first place.
Is the Amaruśataka a Compilation ?
In the introduction to the Subhasitaratnakośa of Vidyā-
kara 14 Dr. D. D. Kosambi remarks that the Amaruśataka
seems to him to be a compilation rather than a work of
unitary authorship. There is such overwhelming testimony
against this unorthodox view, that no one will take this ex
cathedra judgment seriously. A Sataka is usually the work
of a single poet. The form allows easy interpolation, espe-
cially as it comprises independent, self-standing verses,
neither closely-knit by a common thread of narrative, nor
arranged systematically into Jogical groups or Vrajjyās.
Each single verse gives as in miniature painting, a single
or a complex phase of the emotion of love, an intriguing
situation, or a subtle mood: His gift of lyrical phrasing,
the happy touch of ease and naturalness, the precision and
the restrained elegance of his diction, the incisive force of
his condensation - what in a word can be described as the
spirit of Amaru – show an individuality and unity of structure
-
14. It is remarkable that Vidyākara gives as many as 32
verses of Amaru, 14 anonymously and the remaining attri-
buted to numerous authors like विकटनितम्बा, सिद्धोक, भट्टहरि,
देवगुप्त and so on. He gives two verses वलतु तरला दृष्टा-
636 and - fa-638 as of Amaru ( 3AGHER);
but none is found in any of the recensions of Amaru.
Śridharadāsa, the author of the Saduktikarṇāmṛta, who
wrote his work in the 1st decade of the thirteenth century,
correctly attributes 21 of these to Amaru, and yet a period
of only about fifty years separated him from Viḍyākara,
२१
All this points to the conclusion already drawn above,
viz. that the III recension vouchsafed by the commentary
of Arjuna must be assigned the first place.
Is the Amaruśataka a Compilation ?
In the introduction to the Subhasitaratnakośa of Vidyā-
kara 14 Dr. D. D. Kosambi remarks that the Amaruśataka
seems to him to be a compilation rather than a work of
unitary authorship. There is such overwhelming testimony
against this unorthodox view, that no one will take this ex
cathedra judgment seriously. A Sataka is usually the work
of a single poet. The form allows easy interpolation, espe-
cially as it comprises independent, self-standing verses,
neither closely-knit by a common thread of narrative, nor
arranged systematically into Jogical groups or Vrajjyās.
Each single verse gives as in miniature painting, a single
or a complex phase of the emotion of love, an intriguing
situation, or a subtle mood: His gift of lyrical phrasing,
the happy touch of ease and naturalness, the precision and
the restrained elegance of his diction, the incisive force of
his condensation - what in a word can be described as the
spirit of Amaru – show an individuality and unity of structure
-
14. It is remarkable that Vidyākara gives as many as 32
verses of Amaru, 14 anonymously and the remaining attri-
buted to numerous authors like विकटनितम्बा, सिद्धोक, भट्टहरि,
देवगुप्त and so on. He gives two verses वलतु तरला दृष्टा-
636 and - fa-638 as of Amaru ( 3AGHER);
but none is found in any of the recensions of Amaru.
Śridharadāsa, the author of the Saduktikarṇāmṛta, who
wrote his work in the 1st decade of the thirteenth century,
correctly attributes 21 of these to Amaru, and yet a period
of only about fifty years separated him from Viḍyākara,