696 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



which the volume forms a comment; and the cover of no. 13 (which I 

 fortunately preserved) adds the information (not given on the title- 

 page !) that that is " Part V." 



How the numbers "V., III., IV.," as designations of these "Parts" 

 of Paramattha-dlpanl, were arrived at, — this passes my comprehen- 

 sion. I do not find the individual commentaries designated as " Parts" 

 in the colophons. 43 The matter is so confusing that even the confusion 

 cannot be shown without a little table. In this the Arabic numbers at 

 the left refer to Table III, and the Roman numerals at the left give 

 the Parts according to their order in the canon. 



If numbered according to the order in the canon, " Part IV." should 

 have been called Part III., "Part III." should have been called Part 

 IV., and "Part V." should have been called Part VI. If numbered 

 according to the order of publication, " Part IV." should have been 

 called Part III., "Part III." should have been called Part II., and 

 " Part V. " should have been called Part I. Evidently to cite any one 

 of these six commentaries as a "Part" of Paramattha-dlpanl is sheer 

 folly ; and to cite it simply as " Par. Dip." is wholly futile. 44 



Linattha-ppakasini, Illustrator of the Hidden Meaning, is the title 

 of at least six supercommentaries, namely, Dhammapala's tikas to 

 nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 14 of Table III, and also a tlka on the Karikha- 

 vitaranl. — But enough ! a glance at Mrs. Bode's most convenient Index 

 will give a bird's-eye view of the thickets of this endless jungle and 

 convincing proof of the folly of citing the fanciful titles. 



Fanciful titles of books. — The main purposes of a title are two : 

 (1) like the name of a man, it is to serve as a designation ; and (2) it is 

 to indicate the general subject of the book. Except for works of fiction 

 and the like, titles which do not serve the second purpose are to be 



43 The tikas on The Meaningful (no. 21), The Dispeller of Folly (no. 22), 

 and The Five-Treatise-Commentary (no's 23-27) are indeed called respec- 

 tively, by the Saddhamma-sarjgaha, "The First, Second, and Third Illustrators 

 of the Supreme Meaning," Pathama-, Dutiya-, and Tatiya-Paramattha- 

 ppakasini: see JPTS.1890, p. 60. Likewise at p. 59 we find "First, Second, 

 Third, and Fourth Chest of Essential Meanings" (Saratthamanjusa) as names 

 of tikas on the four Nikayas. 



44 The author of List 4 seems to have had glimpses of trouble ahead, when, 

 after "Par. Dip. = Paramattha DipanI," he added "Parts 3 and 5 quoted as 

 Thig. A. and P. V. A." 



