अवन्तिसुन्दरीकथासारः /20

2 AVANTISUNDARIĪ KATHAĀ SĀRA
 

 
Daāmodara to his court [and made him his own. Under the

liberal Pallava patronage the poet wrote Gandhamādana and

works on poetics in Sanskrit and Prākṛt]. As desired by the

king, he married and became father of three sons, [Simha-

vişņṣṇu, Manoratha and Atilobha. In course of time, the second

son Manoratha had four sons, Dāmodara, Bhavadāsa, Simha-

vişņṣṇu, and Viīradatta]. The last son married Gauriī [of

Matāṭhara gotra, a paragon of womanly virtue. She gave birth

to many female children in succession; and, to the great relief

of the parents], Dandṇḍin was born as the only male child.

When Dandṇḍin was seven years old he lost his mother; and

afterwards he was nurtured by the Goddess of Learning.

After he was invested with the sacred thread his father also

passed away. During this time, the Pallava kingdom was

invaded by enemies; [famine and pestilence devastated the

land of Draāviḍas, Colas and Pandāṇḍyas]. Torn from his kith

and kin, Dandṇḍin roamed all about the country; he stayed many

years in great centres of learning and acquired proficiency in

several branches of learning. After peace was restored,

Dandṇḍin returned to Kāñci, and being restored to the place of

his ancestors, lived a peaceful life amidst friends and rela-

tions.
 

(Av. Sāra I. 27-36; Av. pp. 10-12).
 
2
 

 
Visit to Mahamallapuram
 
āmallapuram
At this time, an architect named Lalitālaya, son of

Mändhātndhātā, called on Dandṇḍin. [He was an expert in cons-

tructing ninety-six kinds of prāsādas (temples) and six kinds

of yantras (mechanical contrivances); he had all the thirty-

six qualifications prescribed for an architect (ācārya)]. When

he sat near Dandṇḍin with due decorum, people gathered around

them, voicing their admiration of his varied achievements as

follows: ["This architect has constructed mechanical men

and exhibited a mock fight between them; he caused artificial

clouds to rain from the sky and showed magic by means of

yantras; he is a warrior; he broke the heads of elephants, in

battle, with arrows as big as pestles; he is a writer; he wrote

the life of Suūdraka (Sūdraka-carita) in Tamil. His father

was superior to Yavanas in making yantras and astonished

king Durjaya by creating a mechanical Kalpa Vrṛksṣa (the

wish-yielding tree). "
When the din of voices ceased, the

architect said to Dandṇḍin, "Sir! the little things I have done

excite people's wonder; and evidently, our great achieve-