Studies in Cola History and Administration c6.23.4

c6.23.4

but it is inconceivable that these contexts themselves, without which the tiṇai and tuṟai could not even be guessed at in several instances, were the inventions of an age much later than that to which the poems belonged. It is necessary at this point to quote (in translation) the remarks on the state of the manuscripts made by Paṇḍit V. Svāminātha Aiyar in his preface to the first edition, as these are best calculated to place the commentary and the colophons in a proper light. He says: “In this commentary are to be found many words that are not in current use. Further, here and there a few sentences seem to have been misplaced. As there are no means at present available to make necessary alterations and as I hope later to be able to do so when better manuscripts become available, I have published them exactly as I found them in the manuscripts. This commentary is extant only for the first 266 poems of this work; in no manuscript is found the commentary for the remaining poems; and after poem No. 242 the commentary has suffered damage and is somewhat confused. We do not know who wrote this commentary. The discussions of this author in his special notes on some poems indicate the existence of an older gloss on this work which has not come down to us.