I am glad to put forward The Critical Edition of a commentary called "Raghu-panjika" of Vallabhadeva on the Raghuvamsa (A commentary as found in the Devanagari Manuscript tradition) of Kalidasa. As we know the most popular and well-designed Mahakavya of the poet, Kalidasa is the Raghuvamsa and there are more than 25 commentaries written on the same. Some of them are published so far, but among all these commentaries, Vallabhadeva's commentary, e.g. "Raghu-panjika" which stood first in the chronological order, was not published in it's full length, i. e. from first canto to nineteenth canto till date. So, the galaxy of Sanskrit scholars will be happy and benefited by this publication for their deeper understanding of this precious epic. One can compare this commentary along with other published commentaries too, to find out the different variants, which are available in the Devanagari version of this commentary. It is quite possible that the version of Sarada manuscript tradition of the commentary may provide some other type of variants than this Devanagari tradition. It is very difficult to come at any definite conclusion about the oneness of these two different versions of the commentary. So, I hope that the Devanagari version of this commentary, in its full length, will provide a concrete material to investigate the problem with some evidence.

One more point to add at this stage: Though Prof. Rewaprasad Dwivedi Ji (B. H. U., Varanasi) had published his editions of the Raghuvamsa six times (1973, 1976, 1986, 1993, 2008, 2017) at different stages of his life. But I could see that many more unknown variants and interpolations are still remained unnoticed by him. (And in each edition, he has changed his opinion/choice about the acceptable variant! which is a remarkable sign of the difficulties in a critical editing work.) In the light of this situation, scholars are requested to give their learned opinion and guidance for my future research work on the same text.

Now, it is my humble duty to give my sincere thanks and Pranamas to those teachers, who have helped me in this research work. First, I would like to pay my homage with folded hands to Late Professor Tapasvi Nandi Ji for his blessings to me. Secondly, I sincerely thank Prof. Vasantkumar M. Bhatt, under whose able guidance, I have carried out this research work. My thanks are also due to the authorities of the Oriental Institute, The M. S. University of Baroda to accept my proposal for the publication of this commentary. Dr. Sweta Prajapati, Director of the Institute deserves a special mention for her kind co-operation in the publication. Last but not the least, I convey high regards to my parents for their blessings.

Prof. Mukesh S. Patel, my friend also deserves hearty thanks for providing various supports in my studies. I also would like to thank my brother, Asheshvar Patel for always motivating me in this work. I'm grateful to Mr. Jatin H. Somani, Manager, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Press and his staff for neat and timely printing of this publication.

It gives me immense pleasure to present before the world of scholars "The Critical Edition of Raghupanjika of Vallabhadeva on the Raghuvamsa", an earliest commentary composed in tenth century on the celebrated epic Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa edited by Dr. Arpita Patel. The present work is a Ph.D. thesis submitted by the editor at Gujarat University, Ahmedabad in the year 1998. The popularity of this commentary is evident from the number of manuscripts of Raghupanjika (named so in Devanagari tradition) alias Raghupancika (named so in Sarada tradition) available in various manuscript repositories in India and abroad. This particular critical edition is prepared on the basis of Devanagari Manuscripts. Prior to this in 2003 two scholars, Dominic Goodall and Harunaga Isaacson jointly brought to light the critical edition of Raghupancika by Vallabhadeva (upto six sargas) based on Sarada Manuscritps. Both the editors remark: "Certainly a full commentary on the Raghuvamsa would be a marvelous thing to have and a pleasure to write, but a pleasure that we may have to leave to others." Therefore it is an overwhelming moment for Oriental Institute to present the Raghupanjika in its full form for the first time after a long gap of almost 20 years. Prior to Goodall's edition various editors like Shankar Pandit, Gopal Raghunath Nandargikar and Narayan Ram Acharya have referred to many passages from Raghupanjika in their edition of Mallinatha's commentary on Raghuvamsa. Vallabhadeva was the first commentator of 10th century hailed from Kashmir who wrote commentary on Raghuvamsa Other commentators like Mallinatha, Arunagirinatha and Hemadri flourished after Vallabhadeva. Therefore besides exploring the oldest commentary, restoring the original readings of Raghuvamsa nearer to what Kalidasa might have intended will be an additional outcome of this work in future.

The present critical edition of Ragupanjika is prepared on the basis of four Devanagari Manuscripts, however the editor has consulted eighteen Manuscripts. Some Manuscripts are (complete or incomplete) not utilized by the editor due to various reasons. Goodall has also noted some Devanagari Manuscripts other than eighteen Manuscripts noted by Dr. Arpita Patel and obviously there are chances to get other copies of manuscripts. In view of this fact, the necessity of further revised edition with new Manuscript material cannot be denied.

However, it is observed that there are notable divergences in many passages and many passages are found identical in both the Sarada tradition and the Devanagari tradition. Even within the same tradition many readings are altered by the transmitters Therefore, the present critical edition will open up the door for the future editors to evaluate and understand the commentary and the text of Raghuvamsa too. We are sure that this critical edition will be well received by the scholars and it will pave a path for the further research in this field.

We are thankful to the University Authority for sanctioning the required grant for the publication of this book. Dr. Sapna Jain, Shri Ridham Pandya and Dr. Jayshree Gamit (Research Officers at Oriental Institute) deserve appreciation for tough task of reading proofs of this voluminous work. Thanks are due to Shri Jatin Somani, Press Manager, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara and his staff for the neat and quick printing of this book.

1. Detailed account of the consulted manuscripts of Vallabhadeva's commentary on the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa:

The commentary of Vallabhadeva on the Raghuvansa is called "Raghu panjika" in the tradition of Devanagari manuscripts. However, the same commentary is called "Raghu-pancika" in the tradition of Sarada manuscripts. Though Vallabhadeva belonged to the state of Kashmir, his commentary has been transmitted mainly in two different scripts. It is well known that this commentary of Vallabhadeva is the oldest available commentary on the Raghuvamsa. Scholars are of the opinion that, he wrote this commentary in the tenth century A. D. Total eighteen manuscripts of Vallabhadeva's commentary on the Raghuvansa consulted for the present research work. They are consulted personally in the form of photo-copies or scanned copies from six different parts of India, i.e.

1. Private (Jain) collection: Devasa no Pado, Relief road, Ahmedabad

2. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona

3. Oriental Institute, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara

4. The Saraswati Bhavan Manuscript Library, Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi

5. B. J. Institute for Learning & Research, Gujarat Vidya-sabha, Ahmedabad

6. The Theosophical Society Library, Adyar, Chennai

No.-1, MS abbreviated as "D". The paper manuscript has been collected from the Jain Granth Bhandar, named as "Devasa No Pado", Ahmedabad. Its accession number is 3112. There are 117 folios in total that cover the entire Mahakavya, e. g. from canto 1 to canto 19. The manuscript is written in clear and legible Devanagari script. The manuscript contains each verse of the Raghuvamsa and commentary upon the same at one place. Some other features of the manuscript are mentioned as under:--

(a) size of the paper manuscript is 8"x3.5", (b) 15 syllables on each side of the folio, (c) Begins with ॐ नमो गणेशाय । वागर्याविव सम्पृक्तौ ० ।, (b) Ends with : ग्रन्थसर्वाग्रमानेन प्रत्येकाक्षरगणनया ग्रन्थो दशसहस्राणि सार्धत्रीणिशतानिव ॥ इतिन्युवृत्तिः समाप्ता । श्री श्री श्री..... श्रीः। संवत् १६६३ वर्षे चैत्र वदी १० सोमे सा० मेघा तत्पुत्रसा । भीमजी पुंन्याई, दधीग्रामात् पंञ्त्री गोपीनि आपी पुण्याई ॥, (e) condition of the manuscript is good, (f) the manuscript is complete. (See: the image of the manuscript in the परिशिष्टः-१).

Out of the available eighteen manuscripts, this manuscript is selected for collation in this research work.

The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. This manuscript is abbreviated as "P" :- The material used for this manuscript is an old paper, the condition of which is poor. This MS is selected for collation in the present research work. Other features of this manuscript are noted as under :-

(a) Total number of folios are 143; (b) size of the MS 4-1/8; (c) 16 lines

and per page 60 syllables per line (d) It is written in the Devanagari script. The MS is written carefully in legible hand-writing (e) the scribe has divided each page in three parts, he has given the verse of Raghuvansa in the middle part of the page and on upper & lower side of the page he has written the the image of the manuscript in the परिशिष्टः-१).