पृष्ठ:पउमचरिउ.djvu/१३६

INTRODUCTION 93 ca Let us examine Hemacandra's remarks in question. Having dealt with the Apabhrarśa metres in general in the fifth Chapter of his Chandonusaeana, Hemacandra devotes the next two chapters to the treatment of the various metres used in constructing the Ap. epic. The opening Sūtra of the fifth chapter defines the Dhruvā or Ghattă. That Sūtra with its commentary reads thus: Sandhyadau Kadavakante dhruvar syad iti Dhruva Dhruvakarn Ghattā vā. Com. Kadavaka-samūhātmakah Sandhis tasyadau, caturbhiḥ Padd- hadikādyaiś chandobhiḥ Kadavakam, tasyānte dhruvam niścitar syäd iti Dhruvā, Dhruvakar, Ghattá veti samjñāntaram. Here in the commentary first the term Sandhi is defined. It is followed by the definition of the term Kadavaka. In this the word caturbhiḥ can be taken as applying to Paddhadikādyaiḥ, or alternatively Paddhaờikādyaiḥ and caturbhiḥ both can be taken as qualifying chandobhiḥ. Jacobi and Alsdorf have understood the definition in the first sense and hence they take it to mean that a Kadavaka is composed in any one of those four metres, one of which is the Paddhadikā. In other words according to these emi- nent scholars the above-quoted definition of the Kadavaka lays down that only four (Paddhadikā and some other three) metres are to be employed in composing a Kadavaka. Thus the purpose of the statement caturbhiḥ etc. is, they think, to prescribe which metres are to be used in a Kadavaka. This interpretation of the sentence in question makes Alsdorf, inspite of some difficulties, to set up the Paddhadikā, Aạillā, Pādākulaka and a Pāraṇaka-like metre as the four principal metres of the Ap. epic. There are, however, several prima facie considerations which go against such an interpretation of the words in Ch. In explain- ing the other terms Sandhi and Dhruva, Hemacandra has given par- ticulars that are peculiar from the point of view of structure or position and there is no reference to metrical form. Thus Sandhi is defined as made up of a group of Kaçavakas, and Dhruvā as that which appears without fail at the end of a Kadavaka. According- ly it would lead us to expect that the explanation of Kadavaka also would concern itself with pointing out something that is peculiar to its structure or position and not to its metrical form. More- over it would be rather strange that in such an important point Plemcandra considered the cryptic mention Paddhadikādyaiḥ suffi- cient. The ground of familiarity can hardly account for such bre- vity, because the other terms Sandhi and Kadavaka were far more familiar and yet they have been expressly defined. It is from two other works on Ap. prosody that these first con- siderations get a decisive support in favour of the alternative in- terpretation, suggested above, according to which the expressions caturbhiḥ and Paddhadikādyaiḥ both qualify Chandobhiḥ and the whole definition means that a Kadavaka is made up of four stanzas of the Paddhadikā or other such metres. The Svayambhücchandas, which, as we have already seen, served as a source for Ch. has the following lines on the structure of the Ap. epic. Paddhadiā puņu je-i karenti, te soda la)ha-mattau Pau dharenti vihi Paahim jamau te nimmaanti, Kadavaa(u) atthahim jamaahim raanti/