[ - § 30 Recasts of Ashtadhyayi 45 cution must ungrudgingly be given to the author of the Rūpamālā.¹ 30. Ramachandra's Prakriyakaumudi and its commentaries.- Next in chronological order comes the Prakriyakaumudi of Ramachandra, a writer who probably belongs to the first half of the fifteenth century. He was a Dakshini Brahman, the son of a Krishnacharya, and was eminently versed in grammar and Vedanta and astronomy, in all of which he has written original works of his own.* The Prakriyakaumudi is supposed to have been the model for Bhattoji's Siddhantakaumudi. There are several commentaries extant on Ram- chandra's Prakriyakaumudi of which the most famous is the Prasada of Vitthalacharya. The earliest Ms. of the Prasada is dated Samvat 1605-6 A. D. 1548-9; hence Vitthalacharya cannot be later than 1525 A. D. As a grammarian Vitthala is disparaged by Bhattoji, who often refers to him. Vitthala, in his turn, quotes from, among others, Kaiyyata, Trilochanadāsa, Kshirasvāmin, Durga- simha, Jinendrabuddhi, Bhartrihari, Vamana, Haradatta, and Bopadeva.³ Vitthala tells us that he was the son of Nrisimhacharya and grandson of Ramakrishnachārya, while his own son was named Lakshmidharacharya. Another commentary on the Prakriyakaumudi that demands a passing notice is the Prakriyaprakasa of Sesha- Krishna the son of Sesha-Nrisimhasiri. As he tells us in the introduction to his commentary, which extends to 46 stanzas, he composed this comment for the benefit of Prince Kalyana, the son of a (petty) king of Patrapunja, 1 Bhattoji Drkshita acknowledges his indebtedness to him in that be quotes him in the Fraudha-Manorama. The information comes from Vitthals who also gives other 2 details, for which see Bendall's Cat. of Msa. in the Durber Library of Nepal, p. vii. 3 Aufrecht's Oxford Catalogue gives these and other names.
