अवन्तिसुन्दरीकथासारः /4

ii
 

 
AVANTISUNDARI KATHA SĀRA
 

 
North Travancore. When the bundle was untied and the leaves

examined, one of them was found to contain the colophon:

"इत्याचार्यदण्डिना कृता अवन्तिसुन्दरी समाप्ता ।"
 

 
The other leaves of the bundle were scrutinized with added

zest; all the leaves pertaining to the one that contained the

colophon were grouped together; and a fairly large fragment of

the manuscript of the Avantisundariī was made out. The first

few leaves could not be traced and many in between and at the

end. The folios appeared to have long been exposed to smoke

and dust and many were broken. Besides gaps and errors in

abundance, there were blanks in the leaves left by the

scribe, a fact evidencing the imperfect state of the original

from which the present copy was made. The contents of the

last leaf showed that Dandin's story had advanced as far as

the episode of Kalādambariī contained in the tale of Mandaākini
ī
(or Käālindī according to the current Puūrvapiīṭhikā). The

colophon mentioning the work as complete is evidently a mis-

take made by the copyist who, not having the continuation, took

the portion for a complete work. From the neglected condition

of this fragment and of the smaller one, both of which were

unearthed from Kerala, it appears that Dandṇḍin's Avanṅtisundari
ī
or whatever portion of it that he wrote was broken to pieces

long ago, and the earlier portion shelved in a corner of

Kerala. This view is strengthened by the fact that, while the

Dasśakumaāra has been quoted by many writers after the

twelfth century A.D., there have been only two references[^¹
]
to the earlier portion. One of them is the stanza 'मर्त्ययन्त्रेषु'

an invocation to Vyaāsa in the metrical prelude of the Avanṅti-

sundariī, and it is quoted as Dandṇḍin's in the anthology Suūkti-

ratnahāra by Kālinṅgarāya Süūrya (1400 A. D.).[^2] The other

reference is the passage:
 

 
"निरस्तापल्लवेषु'[^3] काश्ञ्ची नाम नगरीव्त्यवन्तिसुन्ददरीये दण्डिप्रयोगात् । "
 

 
[^1.] They were brought to light by Dr. V. Raghavan; vide his

papers in the Journal of Oriental Research, Madras Vol. XIII,

p. 294, and in the Annals of Oriental Research, University of

Madras Vol. V, part, 2.
 

 
[^2.] TSS. <flag>1+1</flag>, p. 4, Śl. 17.
 

 
[^3.] Here निरस्तापल्लवेषु seems to be a variant of 'नयसम्भावनानाप-
ày
ल्लवेषु (gपल्लवेषु)' in the p. 8, where the second 'qपल्लवेषु' seems to have

been omitted by the copyist taking it for a repetition; Cf.

"qgalarų Bēgorपल्लवानाम् अस्पृष्टापल्लवानाम्" (The Panamalai Rock Temple Inscrip-

tion of Rajasimha, I.A. 48, p. 231).