A History of Sanskrit Literature c18.s6.1

c18.s6.1

Of the various descendants of the *Pañcatantra* the *Hitopadeça*¹ reigns in Bengal. The author gives his name as Nārāyaṇa, whose patron was Dhavalacandra, and, as one manuscript of the work is dated 1373, must have lived before then. His mention of the term Sunday, Bhaṭṭārakavāra, as a day when work should not be done is against an early date, as not until about 900 is the use of this terminology customary;² otherwise it is only certain that he is later than Māgha and Kāmandaki. That he wrote in Bengal is made probable by the tale in which he describes the worship of Gaurī as involving sexual relations with the wife of another man as part of the ritual, a practice notoriously approved by the Tāntrikas of Bengal. His purpose is given frankly as instruction in conduct and in Sanskrit, and his sources are stated to be the *Pañcatantra* and another anonymous book. The political interest of the *Pañcatantra* is fully maintained, for, though Nārāyaṇa adds much, he is specially fond of bringing together large selections from the *Kāmandakīya Nītisāra*. The other book, however, is not this text, but evidently some book of stories, for Nārāyaṇa has many new tales. Of the seventeen not found in other versions seven are fables, three Märchen, five tales of intrigue, and two edifying stories. Of these, one telling of the loyal Vīravara who is willing to sacrifice himself and his family to Çivā to benefit his master, taken in conjunction with the reference to the worship of Gaurī alluded to above, and the fact that each book closes with a benediction invoking Çiva's favour, shows that the writer was a Çaiva, not, as his name would suggest, an adorer of Viṣṇu.