87. 84 HISTORY OF SANSKRIT POETICS

84 HISTORY OF SANSKRIT POETICS

10th century. The same phenomenon is seen in modern India when Hindus adopt distinctively Mahomedan names and titles and vice versa. The Khoh copperplate ('Gupta Inscriptions' by Fleet No.25 at p. 113) of 209 गुप्तसंवत् (528- 529 A. D.) shows that a certain छोडुगोमिन requested महाराज संक्षोम to grant a village to a temple of goddess पिषटपुरी. The Siroda plates of देवराज (in E. I. vol. 24 p. 143, about the 4th century A.D.) show that देवराज of the गोमिन् dynasty made a gift of tolls to two Brahmanas. So here we have ancient evidence to show that गोमिन was not a purely Buddistic appe- llation as early as the 4 or 5th century A. D. An author's religion must be judged from the contents of his books and not from his name. In the whole of the Kāvyālankara there is nothing that is peculiarly Buddhistic, nor is there any reference to the incidents of Buddha's noble life and to purely Buddhistic legends. The first verse salutes सार्व सर्वजञ. सर्वश्ञ is an appellation of शिव as well as of बुद्ध, while सार्व simply means 'सर्वस्म हित' and is not given by अमर as an appellation of Bu- ddha. भामह teaches the forms सार्व and स्वीय in VI. 53 'हितप्रकरये एं च सवशब्दात् प्रयु्जते। ततश्छमिष्ट्या च यथा सार्वः सर्वीय इत्यपि॥' (compare 'सर्वपुरुषाभ्यां खढनौ' पाशिनि V. I. 10). भामह negative the अपोहवाद of the Bauddhas as regards the expressive power of words (VI. 16-17 'अन्यापोहेन शब्दोर्थमाहेत्यन्ये प्रचक्षते। ... यदि गौरित्ययं शब्दः कृतार्थोऽन्य- निराकृती। जनको गवि गोबुद्धमग्यतामपरो ध्वनिः ॥). Bhamaha's three verses criticizing अपोहवाद (VI. 17-19) are cited in the तत्त्वसंग्रह of शान्तरचित (p.291 verses 912-914), expressly attributed to भामह by the commentator कमलशील and severely criticized. शान्तरच्षित stigmatizes भामइ, कुमारिल and others that denounce the theory of अपोह as कुदृष्टय: and दुरात्मान: (अन्याफोहापरिज्ञानादेवमेते कुदृष्यः। स्वयं प्रुष्टा दुरास्मानो नाशयन्ति परानपि ॥ verse 1003 of तत्त्वसंग्रह published in G.O.S.). So arg was apparently beyond the pale of Buddhism according to the famous Buddhist writer शान्तरच्ित (deemed to have flourished about 705-762 A. D .; vide Intro. p. XXIII to the G.O.S. edition of the तत्वसंग्रह. This would establish that Bhamaha cannot be placed later than about 750 A.D. The fact that भामह discarded the theory of अपोह and was branded as दुरात्मन by a staunch Buddhist like शान्तरक्षित is one of the strongest arguments against holding that he was a Buddhist on the ground that he paid homage to सर्वश just as चन्द्रगोमिन् did in सिद्धं प्रशाम्य सर्वशञं सर्वीयं जगतो गुरुम्।. The late Principal A.