1887.] M. Nyayaratna — On the Authorship of the Mrichchhahatikd. 199 



easily have quoted many more. In a treatise on rhetoric all that the 

 author has to do is to expound rhetorical rules, and if he had a long 

 play written by himself it would be strange if he did not make a freer 

 use of the materials it would offer to his hand. 



That the age of the Mriclichhalcatikd is anterior to that of Dandin 

 will abundantly appear from the following considerations : 



That the Mrichchhahatihd was composed at the time of S'lidraka, 

 or at least immediately after his death, hardly admits of doubt. 



Now there is only one S'lidraka known in ancient Indian history. 

 And the age of that Sudraka has been given in the S/candapurdna as 3290 

 years after the advent of the Kaliyuga* that is, about 1700 years ago. 

 This brings the age of S'lidraka to the second century of the Christian 

 era. But Professor Pischel himself admits that the age of Dandin 

 cannot be earlier than the 7th or the 6th century. In the Subhdshita- 

 Hdrdvali there occurs the following verse : 



From this it appears that S'lidraka was anterior to, or at least contempo- 

 rary of, Saumila. Now Saumila is anterior to Kalidasa, as appears from 

 the following passage from the introduction to the Mdlavilcdgnimitra, 



Dandin, however, is unquestionably later than Kalidasa, so that 

 the Mrichchhakatihd could never have been written by Dandin. Again 

 Vamana, in his Kdvyalanhdra-sutravritU mentions S'lidraka. f That 



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Quoted by Pundit Ishwar Chandra Yidyasagar in his 2nd pamphlet on " Widow 

 marriage" Professor Wilson in the Introduction to his translation of Mriclichhalcatikd 

 has also referred to this passage of the SJeandapurdna. (See Works, Yol. XI, p. 6.) 



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