Sangita Ratnakara

Dr. M. Krishnamacharyar says that Siṁhabhūpāla, who wrote the commentary on the Saṅgītaratnākara The Jewel Mine of Music, a foundational 13th-century treatise on Indian music, is different from the author of Rasārṇavasudhākara The Moon of the Ocean of Aesthetic Emotion, a work on dramaturgy and poetry¹. He does not give any explanation. It is true that while he gives an elaborate description of his ancestry in the introductory portion of the Rasārṇavasudhākara, he gives little information about himself in his commentary. This must be due to the fact that he wrote the commentary after he wrote the Rasārṇavasudhākara. It is not possible at this stage to investigate the point on the basis of any internal evidence. I must wait for that till the whole of the commentary is published. But the colophon A statement at the end of a manuscript or book chapter providing details about its authorship and production in the two works proves the identity of the authors beyond any doubt.² The question of a work called Nāṭakaparibhāṣa Technical Definitions of Drama, the question of Rasārṇavasudhākara having been written by another person who was a favourite in the court, and the question of the authors of the two works being different—such questions should not have been raised, and if the points had been properly investigated such doubts would not have been raised. But since they are found in works well known and relied on by many, it has become necessary for me to investigate the points and make certain remarks on them.

¹ See Classical Sanskrit Literature, footnote 1, p. 853.
² The colophon in Rasārṇavasudhākara read as follows :

Thus, in the work named the Rasārṇavasudhākara The Moon of the Ocean of Aesthetic Emotion composed by the illustrious King Siṁhabhūpāla—who is the son of the glorious King Yanapota, the lord of the Andhra territory, and a hero as mighty as Bhima A legendary hero from the Mahabharata known for his incredible physical strength... original: "iti śrīmadandhramaṇḍalādhīśvarapratigaṇḍabhairavaśrīyanapotanarendranandanabhujabalabhīmaśrīśiṅghabhūpālaviracite rasārṇavasudhākaranāmni etc."

This may be compared with the colophon at the end of the first chapter of the commentary. Further, the identity of the names Sudhākara The "Moon," literally meaning "The Mine of Nectar" in both works too point out to the identity of the authors.