भासनाटकचक्रम् (Plays Ascribed to Bhasa) /7

ii
 
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<p lang="en">ii</p>
<p lang="sa">tural readings of the Trivandrum text have been replaced

by reliable readings.
 
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<p lang="sa">;
 
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<p lang="sa">In the appendices at the end, I have given a con-

solidated metrical Index, together with a table giving at a

glance the number of verses in a particular metre in the
various plays a collection of all anomalous forms and

various plays a collection of all anomalous forms and
constructions; a list of citations from rhetorical and

other works wherein reference is made to Bhāsa or his

works and lastly, a glossary of rare and out-of-the-way

expressions employed in these plays. I am considerably

indebted to the work of the late Mm. Ganapati Sāstri, and

also to the articles on Bhāsa by Dr. V. S. Sukhtankar in

preparing these appendices--especially the first two; I have
also made use of all the editions of individual plays of the

also made use of all the editions of individual plays of the
group so far published, and I make my grateful acknow-

ledgments to these. As for the introduction, I have given

merely a summary of my views on the Bhāsa problem,

leaving the readers to refer to my essay on 'Plays ascribed

to Bhāsa, their authenticity and merits' for a further and

detailed discussion of the problem. I feel happy to add that

two of the most eminent scholars of the West, the late

Professor Dr. Sylvain Lévi, and the late Professor Dr. M.

Winternitz have unequivocally given it as their opinion that

the plays in question cannot be the works of the great poet

Bhasa-thus confirming the view that I have expressed in

my thesis. In the article referred to at the outset, Professor

Winternitz writes, "I believe that most scholars are now

inclined to give up the idea that we are in the happy posses-

sion of the principal works of the great Bhāsa who was

famous already at the time of Kālidāsa." In a letter

addressed to Mr. P. Anujan Achan, and published in the

same Bulletin, Dr. Winternitz writes, "I am no longer a

believer in Bhasa's authorship of these plays."
 
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