1887.] M. Nyayaratna — On the Authorship of the MrichchhalcatiJcd. 195 



Either, therefore, the line in question is an altered reading introduced 

 subsequent to the death of S'udraka, or the stanza in which it occurs 

 is an interpolation, or it is susceptible of an interpretation which will 

 remove the difficulties felt by the critics. 



Such an interpretation is not hard to come by. DiJcshita Lalla in 

 his commentary thus explains the passage " ^r^r ^T^-^rfl*^" — "^ffrj 



The purport of this is that by means of astrological calculations he 

 came to know the time of his death, and entered the fire at a sacrifice 

 called Sarvasvdra, like Sarabhanga (in the Bdmdyana). The use of 

 the past tense ( "srf^gi ) is with reference to Sutradhdra's reciting the 

 stanzas on the stage in future time, (aud not in reference to the time 

 when the play was composed). It may appear strange to Western ideas 

 that a man should mention the time of his death from mere astrological 

 calculations. But the thing is quite a common occurrence in this country. 

 My uncle, a profound Sanskrit scholar, found on a reference to his 

 horoscope that he should die when 75 years and 7 months old. "When 

 he nearly reached that age he hastened to Benares to die in that sacred 

 city. The late venerable Professor Taranath Tarka-vachaspati also 

 repaired to Benares a short time before his death, and would not wait 

 even for a month though he had some urgent business at hand, and was 

 in sound health at the time, for his horoscope told him that his end 

 was near. I know of another profound Sanskrit scholar who drew up 

 his will in all haste because his horoscope seemed to indicate that he had 

 but a short time to live. 



The phrase ^fftf ^fag: may also be explained thus "^frr ^ffag: ^frrwT- 



that is, he performed the rite of Agnisamaropana (before he entered the 

 ascetic stage) . It was not an uncommon practice of kings of old of this 

 country to abdicate the throne in favour of their eldest sons and repair 

 to the forest and lead an ascetic life. A certain religious observance 

 called the Agnisamaropana had to be performed on this occasion. 

 It may be mentioned that in the stanza in which (( ( wftf "Sffag: )" occurs, 

 exactly the same circumstances in which a man may enter the ascetic 

 stage according to the rules of the S'dstras are to be found. f 



* ^rersjfif ^rcro ww^ : *ro^ *2^ I *w it ' \* I 



