A History of Sanskrit Literature c15.s2.4

c15.s2.4

It is equally impossible to decide the date of the author. We know that the Çataka was recognized by Ānandavardhana (*c.* 850) as a work of high repute, for he cites it as a proof that a poet can in single stanzas convey so much sentiment that each appears like a poem in miniature. Further, Vāmana (*c.* 800) cites, without naming the author, three stanzas. These citations establish certainly that the Çataka dates before 750, but it is a long step from this to the conclusion that the work is of the period of Kālidāsa, and, therefore, older than Bhartṛhari. From the elaboration and perfection of the technique it seems much more probable that the poet wrote after rather than before 650.