11 
1862.] Vestiges of Three Royal Lines of Kanyahubja, fyc. 
Bana’s Harsha-charita , Kddambari , and Chandi-s'ataha as was re¬ 
marked near the beginning of this essay, were composed at Kanauj, and 
when its sceptre was wielded by Harshavardhana. Contemporaneous 
in publication were the Ratnavali and the Nagananda , dramas held 
in high esteem by the Hindus. 
The Ratnavali I was once disposed to adjudge to Bana; and 
this adjudication, as against that of the late Professor Wilson, has 
not, I believe, been contested. But, on closer inspection of materials 
which are accessible to no one but myself, I have struck upon a con¬ 
sideration partially adverse to what may have been regarded as an 
irreversible award.* 
In the Ratnavali there is a stanza which is read, word for word, in 
the Harsha-charita as well.f It may be translated thus ; “ Destiny, 
when favourable, fetches, even from another continent, or even from 
the midst of the sea, or even from the bounds of space, that which is 
desired, and instantly brings it to pass.” Hindu poets not unfre- 
quently repeat themselves ; but downright plagiarism, among them, of 
one respectable author from another, is unknown. That the verses in 
discussion are not interpolated, is sufficiently clear from the fact of 
their being altogether apposite to both the connexions in which they 
occur. Are they, then, an unacknowledged quotation ? 
But, again, the Ratnavali contains a stanza which is embodied, 
with the change of a single word, in the Nagananda likewise. In a 
literal version its meaning is : “ Our able poet is the fortunate Har- 
sha. Moreover, this auditory appreciates merit; and the achievements 
of the Yatsa princeJ are taking with the people ; and we are skilful 
On finishing the Naishadhiya , S'riharsha showed it to his maternal uncle, 
Mammata Bhatta, author of the Kavyaprakas'a. The critic, after perusal, ex¬ 
pressed a regret, that he had not seen it sooner, In compiling his chapter on 
blemishes, he had been put to the trouble of travelling through numberless 
volumes, in search of illustrations. Had he only known of the Naishadhiya in 
time, he might have drawn on it, he declared, without going further, to exem¬ 
plify every possible species of defect. 
* See the preface to the Vasavadatta, pp. 12-16, foot-note. 
f In the fifth chapter. And see the Calcutta edition of the Ratnavali , p. 3. 
The original words are these : 
f^TtVmrr*rf^R<shwrr: 11 
This is quoted, as from the Ratnavali , in the Saraswati-lcanthabharana. 
J Professor Wilson everywhere errs in assuming Vatsaraja to mean “King 
Yatsa.” Udayana is intended. The city of Kaus'ambi is styled Vatsa-pattanam , 
“ the capital of Yatsa and Vatsa denoted a people, and perhaps a region also, 
