Sanscrit Works on Poetry and Rhetoric.

The following list of books on this subject are mostly taken from professor Wilson, On the Dramatic System of the Hindoos, prefixed to his Hindoo Theatre. The works relating exclusively to the drama, and Sanscrit prosody, will be found below under their respective heads.

The first treatise on poetical and rhetorical composition in general, is the Saraswati Kanthábharana, ascribed to Bhoja Raja. There is a commentary upon it by Retneswara Mahopádhyaya.

The next work to be mentioned is the Kávya. Prakása, by Mammatta Bhatta, a Cashmirian, written about five centuries ago. It is on rhetorical composition in general, and of great repute.

The Sahitya Derpana, by Viswanáth Kavirája, a Bengali pundit, is described as a work of great merit on poetical writing, and comparatively modern; perhaps four or five hundred years old.

The works which treat of the poetic art in general are exceedingly numerous; some of the principal are the Kávyádersa, by Dandi; the Kávyátankára Vritti, by Vámana Acharya; the Kuvalayamanda, by Apyáya Dikshita; the Alankára Suvaswa of Bháma; the Rasá Gangadhara of Jagannath Pandit Raj, and the Alankara Kaustubha, by Kavi Kernapúraka, who illustrates all his rules by verses of his own, relating to the loves of Crishna and Rádhá, and the pastimes of the deity with the Gopis of Vrindavan.

Besides these, there are several treatises on the passions and emotions which poetry is intended to depicture or excite; as the Sringáva Tilaka of Rúdra Bhatta; and the Rasa Manjari, and the Rasa Taringini of Bhánu Datta: the latter comprises a number of rules which are quoted as those of Bharata.

a. On Metre and Prosody.

The capital essay on Sanscrit and Pracrit Poetry, by H. T. Colebrooke, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. x, p. 399, etc., is the great authority on this subject. It discusses the laws of metre, the rules for which are contained in Sootras, or brief aphorisms, attributed to Pingalanaga, a fabulous being, represented by mythologists in the shape of a serpent. The aphorisms of Pingala are collected into eight books, of which the first allots names, or rather signs, for feet consisting of one, two, or three syllables. The second book teaches the manner in which passages of the Vedas are measured. The third explains the variations in the subdivision of the couplet and stanza. The fourth treats of profane poetry, and especially of verses in which the number of syllables, or their quantity, is not uniform. The fifth, sixth, and seventh exhibit metres of that sort which has been called monoschemastic, or uniform, because the same feet recur invariably in the same places. The eighth and last book serves as an appendix to the whole, and contains rules for computing all the possible combinations of long and short syllables in verses of any length.

Pingala cites earlier writers on prosody, whose works appear to have been lost: such as Saitava, Craushtica, Tándin, and other ancient sages, Ya'sca Cas'yapa, etc.

"Pingala's text," says Mr. Colebrooke, "has been interpreted by various commentators; and, among others, by Hela'yud' habhal'l'a, author of an excellent gloss, entitled Mrita Sanjiviní. It is the work on which I have chiefly relied. . A more modern commentary, or rather a paraphrase in verse, by Na'ra'yan'a-bhat't'alara', under the title of Urtilócti-ratna, presents the

singularity of being interpreted throughout in a double sense, by the author himself, in a further gloss entitled Pariesha.

“The Agnipurána is quoted for a complete system of prosody, founded apparently on Pingala's Aphorisms; but which serves to correct or to supply the text in many places; and which is accordingly used for that purpose by commentators. Original treatises likewise have been composed by various authors, and among others by the celebrated poet Cálidása. In a short treatise entitled Sruta bód'ha, this poet teaches the laws of versification in the very metre to which they relate; and has thus united the example with the precept. The same mode has been also practised by many other writers on prosody; and in particular, by Pingala's commentator Nara'yan'a-bhat't'a; and by the author of the Vritta Retnacara and Vritta Dupan'a.

"Cálidása's Sruta bód'ha exhibits only the most common sorts of metre, and is founded on Pingala's Pracrit rules of Prosody; as has been remarked by one of the commentators on the Vritta Retnacara."

Colebrooke's Essay gives an account of the various metres, with specimens from the most esteemed poets, and engraved plates of the original text. Sanscrit prosody has two sorts of metre; one governed by the number of syllables, and the other measured by feet, like the hexameters of the Greek, and both are arranged into a great variety of stanzas. Their poetry also admits both of rhime and alliteration.

Sahityavidyadhari Tika, ou Traité sur les mètres Sanscrits, Journ. Asíat. vi, p. 383.

The Prosody of Pingala forms part of the six Vedangas, or supplements to the Vedas. See above, p. 86. Sir William Jones quotes the poem upon Sanscrit Prosody, by Cálidása, called Sruta Bodha, and in the Royal Library at Paris is a manuscript of an analysis

of rhimes by him, under the title of Chandasâng Mandjari.

Principles of Sanscrit metre and prosody, in the preface to A. W. v. Schlegel's Baghavad-Gita, Bonn, 1823, 8vo.

Some account of Sanscrit metre will also be found in the preface to Halhed's Translation of the Code of Gentoo Laws.

Von dem epischen Sylbenmasse der Indier, von A. W. v. Schlegel, in s. Indischen Bibl. vol. i, p. 36-40. On the metre of the Mahabharata, by M. Chézy, in the Journ. des Savans, 1825, p. 44.

Ueber einige ältere Sanskrit-Metra, ein Versuch von Geo. Heinr. Ewald, Göttingen, 1827, 8vo.

Slokaratchanavidi. Théorie du Sloka, ou mètre héroïque Sanskrit, par M. Chézy, Paris, 1828, Svo.

B. Epic Poetry P.

Considerations upon the Indian Epos, in Schlegel's preface to his edition of the Ramayana.

Vrihatcatha, by Somadeva. Sir William Jones compares this work with the poems of Ariosto, and even gives it the preference in point of eloquence.

Raga Bansa, or Raghu-Vansa. A poem by Cálidása, in nineteen cantos. This work is among the most admired compositions in the Sanscrit tongue. It contains the history of Rama and of his predecessors and successors from Dilipa, father of Raghu, to Agnivebna; with a genealogical table of twenty-nine princes. See Asiatic Researches, tom. x, p. 426. There is a

P The greatest and most important of the Epic poems have already been noticed among the sacred writings.

a The poets Cálidása, Bhâravi, Sri-Harcha, and Magha, are dignified with the surname of Mahacavya the great.

manuscript of it in the library of the Asiatic Society of London. Captain Fell presented this society with an abridgement of it, see Asiatic Journal, 1821, Nov. p. 487, which was afterwards printed at Calcutta, 1826.

Cumára-Sambhava, or The Birth of Cârtikeya, the god of war, a long poem by Cálidása. It has the appearance of being incomplete; and a tradition reports that it originally consisted of twenty-two books.

Cirata-Arjuniya; a poem, by Bharavi; with the comment of Mallinátha, named Ghantapatha, published by H. T. Colebrooke, Calcutta, 1814, 4to. It contains an account of the wars which Arjuna carried on against savage nations. Colebrooke gives us the contents of this poem in the Asiatic Researches, tom. x, p. 410; which are copied into Ward's View, etc., vol. i, p. 514. Colebrooke, also, p. 410, 411, etc., gives specimens of the original. There is a manuscript of this poem in the library of the Asiatic Society of London.

Uttara-Rama-Charitram, The Later Fortunes of Rama, by Bhavabhutis, who is placed in the eighth century of our era. See A. W. v. Schlegel's Ind. Bibl. vol. ii, 2, p. 150.

Nêschadiya, by Sriharcha, in twenty-two cantos, is one of the six great poems which the Hindoos regard as the masterpieces of their profane literature. A manuscript of this poem, containing only the last six books, was presented to the Asiatic Society of Paris. See Journ. Asiat. tom. vi, p. 383.

A poem by Somadéva upon the death of Nauda and the accession of Chandragupta to the throne.

Vivahara Caudam, of Ritumitacshara, translated from the Sanscrit into Tamul, by the late Porur Vadiar, completed and revised by his brother Sidumbala Vadiar, late head Tamul master at the College of Fort St. George, Madras, 1826.

The Butteesee Sing Hasunu, from the Sunskrit,