Ebook Mudrârâkshasa

The present edition of the Mudrarakshasa is based upon nine different copies, eight of which are manuscript copies, and one printed. These seem to fall roughly into two groups, the one containing those denoted by the letters A P., M., R, and K., and the other those denoted by the letters B., E., N., G. The text yielded by the former group is that which has been generally followed in this edition, and that is the text which appears to have been the one received as the best by the commentator Dhundhiraja. Dhundhiraja, however, himself notices various readings in some places (wide 6. G., pp. 67 and as his commen tary was written early in the beginning of the last century, his authority is, of course, by no means conclusive on such questions. The text followed in this edition, therefore, has not been accepted primarily on his authority, but as being the text which was worthy of acceptance upon other grounds also. It will be noticed, from the account of the various mss. Which is given in the sequel that that text is based upon mss., one of which comes from Banares, another from Poona, another from Kolhapur and the remaining two from Southern India. These South Indian mss it may be remarked in passing, always deserve looking into, and often yield very good readings.