काव्यालङ्कार (आचार्य भामह - भारतीय काव्यशास्त्र एवं अलङ्कार-सिद्धान्त मूल महाग्रन्थ सटीक)

vi BHĀMAHĀLAṄKĀRA
Daṇḍin, the great Ālaṅkārika who very often dis-
sents from the views of Bhāmaha. Vide our notes
on I—22 & 23 which deal with the introduction of
a rival hero at the outset of a poem; I—25 to 29
which deal with आख्यायिका and कथा; II—86 which
deals with हेतु, सूक्ष्म and लेश. In our edition of Kāvyā-
darśa we have pointed out that Daṇḍin belongs to
the latter half of the 7th century. But the most
effective clue to fixing Bhāmaha’s date is furnished
in Dhvanyāloka where Ānandavardhana pointedly
refers to Bāṇa borrowing an idea from Bhāmaha,
which gains in advantage in its new setting. Vide
our notes on—
शेषो हिमगिरिस्त्वं च महान्तो गुरवः स्थिराः ।
यदलङ्घितमर्यादाश्चलन्तीं बिभृथ क्षितिम् ॥ III—28.
Now Bāṇa is a contemporary of King Harsha who
ruled from 606 to 648 A. D. It would take at least
a century for Bhāmaha to get eminence enough for
a great author like Bāṇa to borrow from him. If
we explore the upper limit we find the views of दिङ्नाग
who flourished about 400 A. D. are largely follow-
ed by Bhāmaha, e. g., in the discussion of प्रमाणs in
the 5th chapter. If we place भामह between दिङ्नाग
and बाण, his date may be assigned to the first half
of the 6th century.
As regards the other works of Bhāmaha, we
have a commentary on Vararuchi’s Prākṛta sūtras
or Prākṛtaprakāśa, called प्राकृतमनोरमा ascribed to the