2023-02-26 04:07:22 by ambuda-bot
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AVANTISUNDARĪ KĀTHA SARA
battle, after deposing Brhadratha.1 Puşyamitra is said to
have waited long before he could formally assume the imperial
power, and Dandin's version brings out the new fact that
Puşyamitra had on his way to the throne an adversary in the
person of Müladeva, who had killed his son Sumitra.
X
Bāņa alludes to Müladeva in his Harşacarita. The
manuscript of the work in the Trivandrum Palace Library
reads the passage referring to the assassination of Sumitra thus
-
- अतिदयितलास्यस्य च मूर्धानमसिलतया मृणालमिवालुनाद् अग्निमित्राग्रजस्य
सुमित्रस्य मूलदेवः । It means that Müladeva having been in the
midst of actors cut off the head of Sumitra, the elder brother
of Agnimitra. It is now plain that Sumitra was an elder son of
Puşyamitra and Vasumitra, his grandson. One was an addict
of dancing and lost his life: and the other was a distinguished
bowman who conquered the Yavanas on the bank of the river
Sindhu, as is seen in the Malavikāgnimitra of Kalidasa.
Müladeva is an outstanding figure in the kathā literature
in Sanskrit, and several stories, often mutually conflicting,
have gathered round his name. In his introductory verses,
Dandin refers Müladeva as an author of a work on Nārāyaṇa-
datta and Devadattā; the Padmaprabhṛtaka, a Bhāṇa attributed
to Sūdraka, which has for its plot the love between Müladeva
and Devadatta exhibits Müladeva alias Karnisuta as proficient
in all arts. The Haram halā, a Prākrit work on medicine
and perfumery by Mahuka (900 A.D.) refers to the love
between Müladeva and Devadatta and characterises him as
vidagdha-cuḍāmani3 (a beau ideal). The love story of
Müladeva and Devadattā is dealt with in the Kumarapala-
pratibodha of the Jain author Somaprabha; and in it Müla-
deva is said to be a beautiful person, proficient in all kalās
and a fountain of all good qualities. In Kṣemendra's Kalā-
viläsa, Müladeva figures as a teacher of Kalas. In the
Kathasaritsagara, Somadeva connects Müladeva with several
legendary figures. An old Maharashtra tale mentions Müladeva
as the king of Venṇāyaşta4 and an ideal ruler of his land.
1. Av. p. 184.
2. TSS. No. 124, p. 35.
3. Ibid, No. 136, p. 72.
4. Ocean of Story, Penzer, VII, 217-9. Bhikṣuprabhamati
in his commentary Cāṇakyatîkā on the Artha sastra
(II,
11) states that Vennayata was in the Vidarbha (Cf. country
वैदर्भविषये वेण्णाक(१ य) टपाखें जातं सभाराष्ट्रकम् । )
4,
battle, after deposing Brhadratha.1 Puşyamitra is said to
have waited long before he could formally assume the imperial
power, and Dandin's version brings out the new fact that
Puşyamitra had on his way to the throne an adversary in the
person of Müladeva, who had killed his son Sumitra.
X
Bāņa alludes to Müladeva in his Harşacarita. The
manuscript of the work in the Trivandrum Palace Library
reads the passage referring to the assassination of Sumitra thus
-
- अतिदयितलास्यस्य च मूर्धानमसिलतया मृणालमिवालुनाद् अग्निमित्राग्रजस्य
सुमित्रस्य मूलदेवः । It means that Müladeva having been in the
midst of actors cut off the head of Sumitra, the elder brother
of Agnimitra. It is now plain that Sumitra was an elder son of
Puşyamitra and Vasumitra, his grandson. One was an addict
of dancing and lost his life: and the other was a distinguished
bowman who conquered the Yavanas on the bank of the river
Sindhu, as is seen in the Malavikāgnimitra of Kalidasa.
Müladeva is an outstanding figure in the kathā literature
in Sanskrit, and several stories, often mutually conflicting,
have gathered round his name. In his introductory verses,
Dandin refers Müladeva as an author of a work on Nārāyaṇa-
datta and Devadattā; the Padmaprabhṛtaka, a Bhāṇa attributed
to Sūdraka, which has for its plot the love between Müladeva
and Devadatta exhibits Müladeva alias Karnisuta as proficient
in all arts. The Haram halā, a Prākrit work on medicine
and perfumery by Mahuka (900 A.D.) refers to the love
between Müladeva and Devadatta and characterises him as
vidagdha-cuḍāmani3 (a beau ideal). The love story of
Müladeva and Devadattā is dealt with in the Kumarapala-
pratibodha of the Jain author Somaprabha; and in it Müla-
deva is said to be a beautiful person, proficient in all kalās
and a fountain of all good qualities. In Kṣemendra's Kalā-
viläsa, Müladeva figures as a teacher of Kalas. In the
Kathasaritsagara, Somadeva connects Müladeva with several
legendary figures. An old Maharashtra tale mentions Müladeva
as the king of Venṇāyaşta4 and an ideal ruler of his land.
1. Av. p. 184.
2. TSS. No. 124, p. 35.
3. Ibid, No. 136, p. 72.
4. Ocean of Story, Penzer, VII, 217-9. Bhikṣuprabhamati
in his commentary Cāṇakyatîkā on the Artha sastra
(II,
11) states that Vennayata was in the Vidarbha (Cf. country
वैदर्भविषये वेण्णाक(१ य) टपाखें जातं सभाराष्ट्रकम् । )
4,