XVII. On the Bhattikavya

Extract

Some modern commentators have ascribed the Bhaṭṭikāvya to Bhartṛihari, the author of the celebrated Śatakas, without assigning reasons for their assumption. It has never been shown why this kāvya, dealing with the story of Rāma, is entitled Bhaṭṭikāvya. The imaginary derivation of the title from either of the names Bhartṛihari or Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa is so far-fetched that it must be rejected, if strong evidence be not adduced to prove that either of them was really the author of the epic.