r
-of the astronomical and algebraical literature^' The ^sanjivini of Halayudha is one of the best extant commentaries. ,
i
Sanskrit prosody is not surpassed by any other language iin variety of device or harmoniousness of rhythm. It recognises ^
two classes of versification, the one based on syllabic div^- f
:sion and the other on metric breves or instants—-the gana a$4 !
.matra vrittams. f
\
Tradition assigns to Bhamaha the first place among t&£ [
Tegular rhetorical writers. He is known to have been a native \
of Kashmir. Bhattodbhata .commmented on Bhamaha's work. <
.and refers to him as one of the earliest of rhetoricians. So does- j
Abhinavagupta. From an examination of his extant work, it \ is plain that the science of rhetoric was still in its infancy am<} its first form was given to it by Bhamaha. In our opinion he;
;must have flourished somewhere about \hsjlfth century A. D. \
I
Dandin has been assigned to about the sixth century A. D^ (
His Ravyadarsa consists of three parts. It deals with literary \
: styles, with the ornaments of language, with the graces, faults j,
-and puzzles of composition. It is almost the first complete f
work on rhetoric, of which the later works are but elaborations.
Vamana in his Ravyalankara-sutra-vriiti gives unmistaka-
H>le proof of his knowledge of the Venisamhara. uHe has in two
places at least found fault with its grammar and in one case
has drawn on his book for the illustration of the figure called
:Sahokti." Abhinavagupta cites the authority of Vamana and
'lie according to his own statement lived in the last quarter of
-the loth century. The chronicle of Kashmir makes Vamana
-a pandit of the court of King Jayapida (7,79-8i9 A.D;). All
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