14 Isanaśivagurudevapuddhati names Nili and Damodara are corroborated by the reference in the Kṛṣṇakarnāmṛta verse. Ullur S. Parameswara Iyer, a historian of Kerala literature agrees with the above view and holds that the lines : (1) Iṣānadevacararaṇabharaṇena and (2) Iśänadeva ityāsīd iśāno munitejasām refer to the author of Tantrapaidhati. He is of the opinion that 'Tsana' must be the real name and 'Sivagurudeva' may be a title given to him because of his proficiency in Saivāgamas². V. Rajarajavarma Raja, another historian of Kerala Sanskrit literature disputes this identity. He points out that in the stanzas of Kṛṣṇalilāśuka, the name of his preceptor, is mentioned as Iśanadeva. But the author of Tantrapaddhati refers to himself as Iśanaśiva in the last lines of Mantrapada and Yogapāda res- pectively as follows: (1) Atreśänaśivena narma ca yudham jaitram ca sandarsitam. (2) Tamiśānaśivobhyadhad suraguruḥ Siddhantatapaddhatim The colophons of various Patalas refer to the author as Isanasi- vaguru्eva. According to the above-mentioned historian Isäna- deva mentioned by Kṛṣṇalilāśuka and Iśanaśiva the author of the Tantra text must be different persons. It is also pointed out that Väsudeva, the author of Rahasyagopālantracintamani must be referring to our author when he says: Śrīgurūņām śivādyānām Praṇaumi caraṇāvalim. The title of the text The editor of the text has accepted the title of Isänasiva- gurudevapaddhati uniformly in all the four volumes. This title is relevant as upheld by several colophons seen at the end of various Patalas. But a shorter title "Tantrapaddhati" seems to have been accepted by scholars based on the following stanza occuring in the first Patala of the text : 2. Keralasähitacaritram, Trivandrum, 1957, Vol. I, pp. 172-173. 2. Keraliyasamskṛtasahityacaritram, Vol. III, p. 552.
