A History of Sanskrit Literature c29.s4.5

c29.s4.5

Vararuci seems to have belonged to the east—which is another sign of distinction from Kātyāyana of the south. His tradition is alleged to have been followed by a mysterious Laṅkeçvara or Rāvaṇa,⁵ who wrote a *Prākṛtakāmadhenu* on which is based Rāma Tarkavāgīça’s *Prākṛtakalpataru*, a work of the seventeenth century, which again was used by Mārkaṇḍeya’s *Prākṛtasarvasva* in that century, while Kramadīçvara’s section on Prākrit grammar represents the same school. Laṅkeçvara is also credited with a comment on Çeṣanāga’s *Prākṛtavyākaraṇa-sūtra*—not, as stated by Grierson, on his own work—and, as the manuscripts alleged to contain his works have vanished, his existence is decidedly in the air.