Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v1.c17.1

v1.c17.1

The lower limit of Rudraṭa's date is furnished by the citation of Rudraṭa and the reference to his *kāku-vakrókti* figure (ii 16) by Rājaśekhara (p. 31) at the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th century. This conclusion is supported by two considerations. Vallabhadeva who, as we shall presently see, flourished in the first half of the 10th century, mentions twice in his commentary on Māgha (on iv 21 and vi 28) that he also composed a commentary on Rudraṭa's treatise on Alaṃkāra, where he had discussed in detail the points in question; while in the same commentary Hultzsch notes numerous references, mostly anonymous, to Rudraṭa (ii 44,88; viii 26,37; ix 6; x 33; xii 55; xiii 40)¹. Again, Pratīhārendurāja, about the same time, quotes anonymously (pp. 42, 49) Rudraṭa's *kārikā*-verses vii 35 and xii 4, as well as cites (p. 43) the illustrative stanza in Rudraṭa vii 36². This sets aside altogether the conjectural date, viz. the second half of the 11th century, assigned by Bühler³, as well as his revised date¹, viz, the middle of the 10th century, which Peterson² first put forward.