Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v1.c30.24

v1.c30.24

Of the three forms of the name, Alaka, Alaṭa and Allaṭa, the last, which is given in Stein's Jammu MS, seems to be the most authentic. The *ṭa* is a well-known suffix to Kashmiri names, and Stein says that "this form of the name is the only one known to the tradition of Kashmiri Paṇḍits, to whom the double authorship of the *Kāvya-prakāśa* is otherwise perfectly familiar."[1] This Allaṭa or Alaka is supposed to be the same as Rājānaka Alaka who wrote a commentary on Ruyyaka, and is quoted by Ratnakaṇṭha as such¹. If this identification, which was suggested by Peterson but disfavoured by Stein, is correct, then we must also ascribe to him the *Viṣamapadóddyata* commentary² on Ratnākara’s *Haravijaya*, where Alaka is described as the son of Rājānaka Jayānaka. It appears strange, however, that Allaṭa, the continuator of the *Kāvya-prakāśa*, should also be the commentator of Ruyyaka, who in his turn commented on the same work. This will make the two writers commentators on each other’s text; and if this were so, we may naturally expect a reference to this fact by Ruyyaka, who otherwise alludes to the dual authorship of the *Kāvya-prakāśa*, but does not mention the name of Allaṭa as the continuator³.