The Alamkara-Section of the Agni-Purana (An Old and Rare Book)

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The following pages present substantially my thesis submitted for the Ph. D degree in the University of Dacca in March, 1947. The Alarpkara-portion of the encyclopaedic Agni- purana possesses a distinct Intorest and importance in the history of Sanskrit Poetics, inasmuch as the tradition it embodies is somewhat unique, but it has not yet been critically edited and fully analysed and reviewed. The undertaking of a critical edition with an English translation and a critical survey of ita contents, therefore hardly needs an apology. The present edition has been prepared on the basis of nine manuscripts and three printed editions, a description of which has been given in its proper place. The available printed editions of the Agni- purana appear to have boon based on meagre and imperfect manuscript material, and it is needless to say that none of them is a reliable edition, much less a critical one, fully equipped with such critical apparatus as is necessary for settling the text. Moreover, these editions contain the Alamkara-section along with other portions of the Parana, and no attempt has so far been made to bring out this section as a separate and intensive study by itself. It is believed that the present edition, furnished with an exhaustive and critical exposition of the contents of the Alarmkara-section and necessary critical apparatus, would serve to extend, to some extent, the bounds of our knowledge of the subject. It is essentially a study in Textual Criticism, as well as a contribution to the study of an important Alamkarika tradition; and it should be judged as such.

The editing of an early text like that of the Alamkara-section of the Agni-purana offers great difficulties, since the available manuscripts are often obscure and corrupt. No pains, however, have been spared for securing manuscripts from all possible sources and utilising them for the text. It is to be noted in this connection that only Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts of the text are known to exist and that in spite of earnest search no South Indian nor Sarada manuscripts were available, nor are they known to exist.