महावीरचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - वीररस-प्रधान रामकथा नाटक सम्पूर्ण ७ अङ्क सटीक)

A Method for citing Sanskrit Dramas [xxiv
Typographical devices for making the present system usable.—No
matter how easy the system is for the mind, it will be a failure unless it is
easy also for the eyes. That is, the system must not only be well thought
out, but there must also be adequate typographic devices for its expres-
sion.—Device 1. The number of the act should be clearly stated in the
headline of the right-hand page.—Device 2. The number of the stanza as
counted from the beginning of the act should be given at the end of each
stanza.—Device 3. The number of every third prose-line as counted from
the last preceding stanza should be shown by a figure close to the beginning
(not the end) of that line, but nevertheless standing free in the left-hand
margin, and thus very readily caught by the eye. The number should be
placed exactly opposite the middle of the type-line. The numbering by
threes is far more convenient than the numbering by fives. The reason
why the marginal number should be on the left and not on the right is
that many prose-lines contain only a word or two, so that the eye has to
travel a long distance over blank paper to find the number. Any one may
convince himself that this is a real inconvenience by examining the line-
numbers of a wide-paged book (for example, p. 70 of Hertel’s Tantrākhyā-
yika, Berlin, 1910). If the marginal numbers for prose-lines in all editions
were uniformly put on the left-hand side, the gain of convenience would be
very great. Any one may assure himself of this by looking at Mr. S. P.
Pandit’s Mālavikāgnimitra, where the speech-numbers are thus given (see
above, p. xxiii, note). The eye catches them with wonderful ease.
Additional device for making this method easy : corner-citations.—
In the outer upper corner of the left-hand page is given the citation of the
line with which that page begins; and in the outer upper corner of
the right-hand page is given the citation of the line with which that page
ends. A dash and square bracket are placed after the left-hand citation,
and a square bracket and dash are placed before the right-hand citation,
and the two citations are intended to be read together. Thus the two
corner-citations
vii. 31⁵—] [—vii. 35ᵇ
are to be read as follows: ‘From vii. 31⁵ to vii. 35ᵇ.’ The purpose of the
corner-citations is to show just what parts of the text are to be found
included on any two pages which face each other at an ‘opening’ of the
book (beim Aufschlagen des Buches, à l'ouverture du livre). The object of
putting the citations in the outer corners is to enable the reader, when
‘thumbing’ the volume, to find any passage with the least possible opening
of the leaves, and therefore with the minimum of time and trouble. If
they were put, as they often are, on the inner corners, the reader would have
to open the leaves almost completely in order to make use of the corner-