THE TESTIMONY OF THE RAMAYANA 45
sages 1 as the description of the vision by Hanumant of the sleep- ing wives of Ravana mark the beginning of a tradition which Acvaghosa handed on to his successors. Imitation in detail of the Ramayana is frequent and patent, and its language and verse technique deeply affected the whole of the history of the Kavya. The content of the Mahabharata naturally afforded to later poets an inexhaustible material for their labours, but save in its later additions the great epic suffered little elaboration of style, and affords no evidence comparable to that of the Ramayana attesting the development of the Kavya style.
3. The Evidence of Paiafijali and Pjiigala
Direct and conclusive evidence of the production of secular Sanskrit literature before 150 B.C. is afforded by the testimony of the Mahabhasya? Much earlier evidence from the point of view of grammar would be available, if we could believe the assertion 3 of Rajacekhara — perhaps the dramatist — that Panini was the author not merely of the grammar but also of the Jamba- vatlvijaya ; that epic and apparently another, the Patdlavijaya, are ascribed to him by anthologies which cite verses from them. The fact, however, that grammatical errors occur in a verse from the latter work renders the ascription implausible, even if epic excuse can be alleged, and we may reasonably accept the exis- tence of two or more Paninis, despite the rarity of the name.
The testimony of the Mahabhasya, however, is quite clear, and its value is all the greater because it is given incidentally and by accident in the discussion of disputed rules of the master. Patafi- jali, of course, knows the Bharatan epic, but he refers also to dramatic recitals of epic legends — perhaps to actual dramatic performances — and the topics mentioned include the slaying by Krsna of his wicked uncle Kaiisa and the binding of Bali by the god Visnu. We are told of rhapsodes who tell their tales until the day dawns, and stories were current which dealt with the
1 Not probably by Valmiki. For Vedic precedents in alliteration and Yamakas see Hillebrandt, Kdhddsa, pp. 161 Ff. , for the epic, Hopkins, Great Epic, pp. 200 ff.
» Cf. Weber, IS. xiii. 356 ff., 477 ff. ; Kielhoin, IA. xiv. 326 f. ; Buhler, Die indi~ schcn Inschriften, p. 72 ; Bhandarkar, IA. ili. 14.
3 See Thomas, Kavlndravacanasamuccaya, pp. 5 1 ff.
