What Sridhara Pathaka and Maithiî Sarana Gupta did today was done by Devasena in the tenth century, namely, to adopt in poetry the more popular, actually-in-use metres and language, discarding the traditional and out-of-date language and metres of the classical book poetry. Devasena's language in philological forms and grammar is the prototype of archaic Hindi. YOGACHANDRA MUNI (twelfth century A. c.) uses Soraṭhā which is a further variation of Doha. He also uses Chaupāt which is already adopted by PUSHPADANTA in the tenth century. His grammar is not the grammar of Prakrit but old Hindi. Growth of the langauge is perceptible in the specimens given by Mr. Hira Lal. We may take it that between 900 and 1200 of the Christian era the vernacular poetry with its own metres was fully established in religion. In secular popularity it must have come in vogue before 900 A.0.1 The tradition of scrupulous faithfulness of Jain scribes and copyists ensure the original character of the texts, and we can pretty safely treat them as good and reliable examples of the dated periods of the authors. The language disclosed here may be compared with the Dohas published by M. M. Haraprasad Sastri which belong to the same period. Some of the latter specimens represent old Bengali, while others are certainly prototype of Eastern old Hindi. Notices of Sanskrit MSS. cover Nos. 1 to 6921 and of Jain MSS., Nos. 6922 to 8189. The oldest MS. is a Jain work bearing a date corresponding to the 6th June, 1859. The Jain Digambara) temples at Karanja in the district of Akola (Berar) have three ancient libraries; most of the Jain works noted are in those libraries. The Sanskrit nctices extend over the whole province. They have been obtained from the District Officers. They are not full, but would be useful in tracing the manuscripts for This is indirectly supported by the composition of Raja-sekhara who Occasionally us es rhyme and a number of desi words in his Karpúra-manjar about 900. comparison in future and a fuller study. Except the Bhonsla Rājās' library the find-places are small private possessions. A number of Vedic works have been traced. On Hindu politics we find new authors: Devîdâsa and Harisena (Nos. 4576-4577), and on constitutional ceremonial, Visvesvara (his Rājyäbhisheka) and Dinakaroddyota (No. 4587). At page 680 there is a notice of a work Måna-stambha-pūjā. The subject is "Worship of the Pillar of Honour erected by gods at the entrance of the audience hall of a Tirthankara when he attains supreme knowledge." This throws a sidelight on the Asoka pillars to the memory of the birth of the Buddha and the pillar at Konāka-Muni's death memorial stūpa. They were evidently Mana-stambkas. K. P. J. NOTES OF THE QUARTERS Proceedings of a meeting of the Council of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, held at the Society's Office, High Court Chambers, on Tuesday the 9th August 1927 at 9 a.m. PRESENT: The Hon'ble Sir B. K. Mullick (in the chair). Mr. E. A. Horne. Dr. A. Banerji-Sastri. 1. Confirmed the proceedings of the last meeting of the Council held on the 13th March 1927. 2. Elected the following new member Rai Sahib G. K. Deshpande, Vishramdham, Deccan, 3. The Hon'ble Justice Sir B. K. Mullick was elected VicePresident during the absence on leave of Mr. V. H. Jackson. 4. Elected Mr. T. S. Armour a member of the Council. 5. Resolved that Rs. 5,000 put on fixed deposit in the Imperial Bank of India, on which interest ceased on the 31st August 1927, be put on fixed deposit for one year in the Allahabad Bank. 6. Considered an application of Pandit Vishnulal Sastri, dated the 30th April 1927, for privilege leave which he has already availed of without previous sanction and without pay. Resolved that the period so availed of be regarded as leave without pay. 7. Resolved that a standing order be left for a second-hand set of Bulletin dl'École Francaise d'Extrême Orient from 1901-20, i.e. Volumes 1-XX for up to Rs. 300 with the following booksellers: (i) Messrs. P. Geuthner, Libraire Orientaliste, 13 Rue Jacob, Paris 6e, and (ii) Messrs. Van Oest, 3-5 Rue du Petit Pont, Paris 5e. 8. Resolved to write to the Kronberg Museum, Copenhagen, for information as regards the original size of the map of Patna 1776 and any further details available about its history, etc. 9. Considered and accepted the resignation of the office clerk, Pandit B. M. Mishra. Resolved that the post be advertised, the minimum qualification required from candidates being I.A. passed with knowledge of Sanskrit. 10. Mr. Horne was requested to take over charge as Honorary General Secretary and he agreed to do so. A. BANERJI-SASTRI, Honorary General Secretary. |