A History of Sanskrit Literature c19.s1.17

c19.s1.17

Guṇāḍhya's influence is seen also in Daṇḍin who borrowed from him, we may fairly assume, the conception of placing his kings' sons, fallen in station by the action of misfortune among vagabonds, in positions where a series of adventures drawn from low life is allied to marvellous happenings of every kind. The arrangement indeed of the story may be due to the same cause, for it resembles the scene in which Naravāhanadatta and his friends, reunited after separation, recount their adventures to one another. The fantasy of Guṇāḍhya lives on also in the *Yaçastilaka* of Somadeva Sūri and in the *Tilakamañjarī* of Dhanapāla, both of whom recognize the importance of Guṇāḍhya.¹ Moreover, the name of his hero seems from his use of it to have won acceptance in royal usage as a suitable title for a prince as well as in literature. But his enduring memorial is furnished by the versions of the *Bṛhatkathā* which have reached us.