2023-02-26 04:07:22 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
AVANTISUNDARI KÄTHA SARA
There are references in the work to the commercial and
colonizing activities that the east coast of India had with the
Far East. In the story of the birth of Puspodbhava, his
father Ratnodbhava sails on the seas, and being ship-wrecked,
reaches the island of Kalayavana or Yavana. There he
marries the daughter of a rich merchant, Kalagupta; and the
merchant-guild elects him to be the ruler of the island.¹ Then
he returns home with his wife in ships loaded with valuables,
and his ships sink in the sea. His wife and nurse take shelter
in the Kalinga coast and he in an unknown island from which
he goes to the Bali island, in search of his wife. Again in the
story of Ripuñjaya, the merchant Potapa lands at Andhakaccha²
near Mahendra forest, with rich merchandise, after a voyage
over Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal). He makes many Siddha-
yātrās or successful voyages in search of wealth, from
Dramilapaṭṭaṇa³ and takes valuable jewels to Candragupta
Maurya for sale and the latter addresses him as yavana-
yatrika. Buhler identifies Kalayavana with Zansibar on the
coast of Arabia; but from the above references it would
appear to be an island in the Far East.
xii
The work contains short accounts of the lives of Südraka,
Vararuci, Vyāḍi, Upavarşa and other historical and semi-
historical characters; but they differ from the accounts given
in the Brhatkathāmañjarī of Kşemendra and Kathāsaritsagara
of Somadeva, which are now held to be the Sanskrit renderings
of an enlarged version of the Brhatkatha. As Dandin
flourished about three centuries earlier than Kşemendra and
Somadeva, it is possible that he derived his themes from a
simpler and more genuine text of Gunāḍhya. Dandin's version
depicts Sūdraka as a historical rather than a legendary person.
Sudraka, says Dandin, conquered the world by the clean edge
of his sword and captured men's minds by writing a book on
his own life. He was a Brahman named Indrāṇīgupta of the
Aśmaka country. He aspired for the majesty of a king
(Rājaśrī) and discarded the glory of a Brahman (Brahmaśrī);
and the learned people called Sudraka. He worked his
way through a long series of dangers and fought with prince
Sväti of the Andhra dynasty, a friend of his boyhood. In
1. Av. p. 191.
2. Av. p. 177.
3. Kävirippattinam or Puhär, a port situated on the east
coast, at the mouth of the river Käveri,.
There are references in the work to the commercial and
colonizing activities that the east coast of India had with the
Far East. In the story of the birth of Puspodbhava, his
father Ratnodbhava sails on the seas, and being ship-wrecked,
reaches the island of Kalayavana or Yavana. There he
marries the daughter of a rich merchant, Kalagupta; and the
merchant-guild elects him to be the ruler of the island.¹ Then
he returns home with his wife in ships loaded with valuables,
and his ships sink in the sea. His wife and nurse take shelter
in the Kalinga coast and he in an unknown island from which
he goes to the Bali island, in search of his wife. Again in the
story of Ripuñjaya, the merchant Potapa lands at Andhakaccha²
near Mahendra forest, with rich merchandise, after a voyage
over Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal). He makes many Siddha-
yātrās or successful voyages in search of wealth, from
Dramilapaṭṭaṇa³ and takes valuable jewels to Candragupta
Maurya for sale and the latter addresses him as yavana-
yatrika. Buhler identifies Kalayavana with Zansibar on the
coast of Arabia; but from the above references it would
appear to be an island in the Far East.
xii
The work contains short accounts of the lives of Südraka,
Vararuci, Vyāḍi, Upavarşa and other historical and semi-
historical characters; but they differ from the accounts given
in the Brhatkathāmañjarī of Kşemendra and Kathāsaritsagara
of Somadeva, which are now held to be the Sanskrit renderings
of an enlarged version of the Brhatkatha. As Dandin
flourished about three centuries earlier than Kşemendra and
Somadeva, it is possible that he derived his themes from a
simpler and more genuine text of Gunāḍhya. Dandin's version
depicts Sūdraka as a historical rather than a legendary person.
Sudraka, says Dandin, conquered the world by the clean edge
of his sword and captured men's minds by writing a book on
his own life. He was a Brahman named Indrāṇīgupta of the
Aśmaka country. He aspired for the majesty of a king
(Rājaśrī) and discarded the glory of a Brahman (Brahmaśrī);
and the learned people called Sudraka. He worked his
way through a long series of dangers and fought with prince
Sväti of the Andhra dynasty, a friend of his boyhood. In
1. Av. p. 191.
2. Av. p. 177.
3. Kävirippattinam or Puhär, a port situated on the east
coast, at the mouth of the river Käveri,.