pra'crit poetry. 391 



fifth, sixth and seventh exhibit metres of that sort 

 which has been called nionoschemastic, or uniform^ 

 because the same feet recur invariably in the sanic 

 places. The eighth and last book serves as an appen- 

 dix to the whole, and contains rules for computing all 

 the possible combinations of long and short syllables in 

 verses of any length. 



This author cites earlier writers on prosody, whose 

 works appear to have been lost : such as Saitava, 

 Craushtica, Ta'ndin, and other ancient sages, 

 Ya'sca, Ca's'yapa, &c. 



Pingala's text has been interpreted by various 

 commentators ; and, among others, by Hela'yud'ha 

 bhat't'a, author of an excellent gloss entitled Mrtta 

 sanjivim *. It is the work on which I have chiefly re- 

 hed. A more modern commentary, or rather a para- 

 phrase in verse, by Na'ra'yan'a rhat't'a ta'ra', 

 under the title of J^ritUcti ratna^ presents the singu- 

 larity of being interpreted throughout in a double 

 sense, by the author himself, in a further gloss entitled 

 ParicsJid. 



The Jgnifurdna is quoted for a complete system of 

 prosody -f-, founded apparently on Pingala's apho= 

 risms ; 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 like- 

 wise have been composed by various authors :|: : and 

 among others by the celebrated poet Ca'lida'sa. In 



^ * I possess three copies of it ; two of which are apparently an- 

 cient : but they hjve no dates. 



\ ft is stilted by the auvhors^ who quote it, (Narayana bhatta 

 and others,) to be an extract from the Agni purana : but 1 have not 

 been able to verify its place in that Purana. 



X Sucli are the FJnibhi:shana, Vntta-derpana, Vritta'caumudi , and 

 FiUta-reindcara, with the Ch'handC-manjjri, Ch'hando-murtanda, 

 Cfih.nuii-mdla. Ch' handb-ni'viti^ Ch' handu-gevinda, and several .tract> 

 under the title of Fntta'muetu'vaii, besides treatises included it\ 



Cc 4 



