Introduction to the Kathāmṛta – Part 12 - What can we learn from the Kathā-sarit-sāgara?
Dhanika quotes a śloka from the Bṛhatkathā and two ślokas from the Brahat-kathā-mañjarī. It seems like he had named his work Kathā-sarit-sāgara by Somadeva’s times. We cannot say this with certainty either! It is quite possible that the Bṛhatkathā kept growing in this manner and finally, in Kashmir, it took the form of the work of eighteen lambakas. It is not unlikely that this is an imitation of the eighteen parvans of the Mahābhārata.