India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c10.s3.t1.65

c10.s3.t1.65

*ĀKHYĀNA AND KĀVYAS*—Pāṇini refers to *ślokas* and *gāthās*, and to their authors as *ślokakāra* and *gāthākāra* (III.2.23). He also mentions *Ākhyāna* or the literature of stories (VI.2.103), as examples of which Patañjali and the *Kāśikā* cite texts dealing with the legends of Rāma (i.e. Paraśurāma) and Yayāti, each consisting of two parts, called *Pūrvābhirāma*, *Aparādbhirāma*, and *Pūrva-yāyāta*, *Apara-yāyāta* respectively. The latter pair of names occurs in the colophon of the Yayāti legend in the *Mahābhārata* (Ādiparva, Poona, Chs. 70-80 *Pūrva-yāyāta*, and 81-88 *Uttara-yāyāta*).