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•varieties. It is not till we come to Pingala that we have some -definite information about the purely literary verse. His name is quoted in the Parisishtas, the last skirts of the sutra ^literature. His Chhandas-sutra can only be roughly assigned to that class of composition. It is written in a diffuse style, -quite contrary to the essence of the principle of sutra-construc-tion. " It is of very recent origin," says Weber " and we ,have a proof of this, for instance, in the fact that in the manner peculiar to the Indians, it expresses numbers by words and feet by letters and that it treats of the highly elaborated
metres, which are only found in modern poetry.......The part
-dealing with Vedic metres may perhaps be more ancient. The teachers quoted in it bear in part comparatively ancient names. These are: Kraushtuki, Jandin, Yaska, Saitava, Rata and Mandavya." What is the correct definition of u very recent origin " / Obviously the professor shields his view under the cover of a vague expression, which in itself may be •taken to include a space perhaps longer than a thousand years. If Pingala deals with elaborated metres, it is not impossible they were known to him from the existing literature. The epics show not a few instances of complex metres and likewise the Puranic compilations. The fact, that dramatic composition .attained perfection in the first centuries of the Christian era if not earlier, shows clear proof of an advance in the nature of .metric device. If a work describes archaic and modern subjects, this cannot of itself divide the work into two portions, written at two widely different times. Upon the present data, the Sutras of Pingala could not have been written later than the days of •the Mahabhashya. It is a matter of congratulation that Weber himself has of late modified his views : " We must carry back the date of its composition to a period about simultaneous with •the close of the Vedic Sutra literature or the cornmencem^njtng to do with the royal author. Perhaps his name was purchased. BhojVs poetry is even more appreciated than his prose ; for in the latter the vices described of later Sanskrit prose had already begun to make their mark. Yet the language is very harmonious and musical. His choice of words is especially noteworthy. Tradition, unsupported however