10 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XII, 



by name Subodha (easy understanding) is (now) expounded 

 according to the best of his powers by Bharata, son of Gauranga 

 Sena. ' ' 



In view of such remarks it is worth examining this ques- 

 tion at some length. The question of genuineness may be 

 examined in two ways, either 



(i) by external evidence, or 

 (ii) from its internal contents. 



By external evidence is meant whether this canto was ever 



External Evidence. commented upon by any old commen- 



tators , or whether any of its verses was 

 ever quoted or referred to in any of the older works. 



On examining the existing commentaries it appears that 



(a) Commentaries. Mallinatha, the versatile and popular 



Tlka-kara on Kalidasa's poems, anno- 

 tated on the eighth canto. 1 Mallinatha flourished in the first 

 half of the fourteenth century. Though not very old, Mallinatha 

 has the reputation of being a commonsense critic, and of being 

 very particular as to the text and its different readings. Conse- 

 quently his acceptance of the eighth canto as genuine has much 

 weight. 



Going further back, the oldest existing commentator 

 on the Kumara-sambhavam was Vallabhadeva of Kasmira. 

 His gloss is named the Parijika. Its ordinary manuscripts omit 

 the eighth canto. But several are reported to be fuller, con- 

 taining notes on the eighth sarga. I myself have come across 

 two manuscripts giving the eighth. One of them is in Sarada 

 characters, and the other in Nagri ; and both appear to be 

 pretty old in age/ 2 They differ slightly from each other 

 as regards the text of this canto, but as a rule they agree. 

 I see therefore no sufficient reasons to doubt that Vallabhadeva 

 accepted this canto as genuine. Vallabha notices different read- 



1 MSS. of Mallinatha' s Tika on the eighth canto are found in S. 

 India, The Tika lias also been printed at Madras and Bombav. MaUi- 

 nStha belonged probably to Telirigana. 



* See Deccan College Library catalogue, Nos. 82 and 72 of 1883-4 

 (Sarada), and No. 333 of 1802-95 (West Indian Nagri). The eighth canto 

 notes are on folios 196-201 of the Sarada MS. and on folios 486 to 665 of 

 the Nagri MS. The three introductory verses at t! beginning of the 

 poem are omitted by the Sarada MS., but are thus given in theNw 

 (fol. la) : — 6 



^M *MW* «rr**iir wr»w nun] 





i 



