A History of Sanskrit Literature c17.s2.1

c17.s2.1

There is, of course, no clear line of demarcation between gnomic and didactic verse; the easiest mode of distinction rests on the extent and degree of unity of conception, and that permits of indefinite variety. Of early work of the pronounced didactic type very little has come down to us; Çāntideva's *Bodhicaryāvatāra* is the most distinguished effort known to us to adapt the elegances of Sanskrit poetry to the exposition of a complex philosophical and moral theme. Some of the poems ascribed to Çaṅkara may be reckoned as sufficiently elaborate to be styled didactic tracts, for example, the *Çataçlokī*¹ which in 101 Sragdharā verses sets out with some wealth of imagery the principles of the Vedānta; the *Mohamudgara*,² on the other hand, by the fire of its manner and the elaborate riming it affects is more lyric than didactic; much of it features as the *Dvādaçapañjarikāstotra*. Some poetic merit attaches to the *Çr̥ṅgārajñānanirṇaya*,³ which in a form not common in Sanskrit gives a contest between the claims of love and of knowledge in thirty-two stanzas, the claims of love being espoused by Rambhā, those of philosophy by Çuka. The author and date are alike unknown, but the latter is hardly early.