Bhoja's Śṛṅgāraprakāśa – Prakrit Text Restored

Summary

This study undertakes the restoration of the Prakrit passages in Bhoja’s Śṛṅgāraprakāśa, a seminal work on the aesthetics of the śṛṅgāra (romantic) sentiment. Over time the original Prakrit citations used to illustrate rules of poetics were either lost or replaced with Sanskrit equivalents. The author collates manuscripts and quotes from early commentaries to reconstruct the Prakrit text wherever possible. He analyses the phonological and morphological features of the restored verses and shows how they preserve linguistic forms characteristic of medieval Prakrit rather than classical Sanskrit. Through careful emendation and comparison with parallel passages in other works, the paper provides a critical apparatus that differentiates genuine readings from later interpolations. The restored verses illuminate Bhoja’s theoretical discussion of rāga (emotional mood), alaṅkāra (figures of speech) and rasa (aesthetic flavour) by providing concrete examples of how poets employed dialect forms to evoke intimacy. The article situates the Śṛṅgāraprakāśa in the broader context of Indian poetics, noting Bhoja’s debt to earlier Ālaṅkārikas while also highlighting his originality in treating the romantic sentiment as the wellspring of artistic creation. By reintroducing the Prakrit layer, the study not only enhances our understanding of Bhoja’s sources but also contributes to the history of Prakrit literature. The restored text demonstrates the coexistence of high and vernacular registers in courtly literature and underscores the importance of preserving linguistic diversity in aesthetic theory.