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8
the seventeenth century. According to his commentary on the
Suryaśataka, a literary contest once took place at Vārāṇasī
(Benares). The theme on which the contestants were to write
seems to have been, if I have interpreted the text correctly, the
'adorning of the Bald-headed (-munḍamaṇḍana).' The prize
was apparently awarded as much for the knowledge of the sastras
as for poetic excellence. Many court poets contended, but
Mayūra, emaciated by tapas, carried off first honors. So, at any
rate, I interpret the text, which I here append, together with my
translation of it :-
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
pura kila faraccandrakhaṇḍamaṇḍitakapalakapalitārakabrahmadānavāri-
takşetrakṣiṇakalevaro vārāṇasyām aśeşaśāstravicārasangrāmavedavedāntā-
dividyavittavetanagrahikṛtänteväsibhaṭajitāśeşabrahmaṇḍabhaṇḍodara ....
mundamanḍanavidvadgaṇavairī rītitrayānvitakavitāṭyājitakavirāja-
räjikavyasujatagarvas tapaḥkharvikṛtaśeşatapodhano mahamahopadhyāyaḥ
śrīmanmayürabhaṭṭaḥ . . . ityādi ª
....
'Formerly, indeed, the most revered teacher, the celebrated Mayura-
bhaṭṭa, whose emaciated body had subdued its passions [lit. had restrained
its sphere of action] by the gift of the salvation-bringing knowledge of
the Veda, [a gift bestowed] by Siva whose skull [i.e. whose head] is
adorned by the crescent of the autumnal moon, (this Mayura), the rival of
the troop of seers in the adorning of the Bald-headed One [i.e. Siva?]
[text missing] . having at Benares conquered the interior of the
entire mundane egg [i.e. the universe; meaning here, perhaps, literary
rivals] by his mercenary soldiers [i.e. his verses] which were at hand, and
which seized as their pay the wealth of the knowledge of the Veda and
Vedānta in the contest [involving] the discussion of all the fastras, (even
that Mayura) who in ascetic practises outdid all ascetics, and who felt
noble pride at the poems of the group of royal poets being disregarded in
favor of his poetry which possessed the three styles of eloquence, etc.'
Kävyamālā Series: Amrtalahari, Karuṇālahari, Prāṇabharaṇam, Sudhāla-
hari, Rasagangadhara and Lakşmilahari; cf. the list of Kävyamālā publi-
cations in ZDMG, vol. 47 (1893), p. 128.
1 Krishnamacharya, Sanskrit Literature, p. 127.
This text is given by Mahämahopādhyāya Haraprasāda Šāstrī, in
Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts, Second Series, vol. I, p. 411, no. 412,
Calcutta, 1900.
The three styles of eloquence (riti) are the voidarbhi, the gaudi, and
the pañcal; cf. Dandin's Kavyadarśa, 1. 42 (ed. O. Böhtlingk, Leipzig,
1890); cf. also Bhojadeva's Sarasvatikanthabharaṇa, 2.52 (ed. Jīvānanda
Vidyāsāgara, 2d ed., Calcutta, 1894), where are enumerated six different
styles, including the three just named.
the seventeenth century. According to his commentary on the
Suryaśataka, a literary contest once took place at Vārāṇasī
(Benares). The theme on which the contestants were to write
seems to have been, if I have interpreted the text correctly, the
'adorning of the Bald-headed (-munḍamaṇḍana).' The prize
was apparently awarded as much for the knowledge of the sastras
as for poetic excellence. Many court poets contended, but
Mayūra, emaciated by tapas, carried off first honors. So, at any
rate, I interpret the text, which I here append, together with my
translation of it :-
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
pura kila faraccandrakhaṇḍamaṇḍitakapalakapalitārakabrahmadānavāri-
takşetrakṣiṇakalevaro vārāṇasyām aśeşaśāstravicārasangrāmavedavedāntā-
dividyavittavetanagrahikṛtänteväsibhaṭajitāśeşabrahmaṇḍabhaṇḍodara ....
mundamanḍanavidvadgaṇavairī rītitrayānvitakavitāṭyājitakavirāja-
räjikavyasujatagarvas tapaḥkharvikṛtaśeşatapodhano mahamahopadhyāyaḥ
śrīmanmayürabhaṭṭaḥ . . . ityādi ª
....
'Formerly, indeed, the most revered teacher, the celebrated Mayura-
bhaṭṭa, whose emaciated body had subdued its passions [lit. had restrained
its sphere of action] by the gift of the salvation-bringing knowledge of
the Veda, [a gift bestowed] by Siva whose skull [i.e. whose head] is
adorned by the crescent of the autumnal moon, (this Mayura), the rival of
the troop of seers in the adorning of the Bald-headed One [i.e. Siva?]
[text missing] . having at Benares conquered the interior of the
entire mundane egg [i.e. the universe; meaning here, perhaps, literary
rivals] by his mercenary soldiers [i.e. his verses] which were at hand, and
which seized as their pay the wealth of the knowledge of the Veda and
Vedānta in the contest [involving] the discussion of all the fastras, (even
that Mayura) who in ascetic practises outdid all ascetics, and who felt
noble pride at the poems of the group of royal poets being disregarded in
favor of his poetry which possessed the three styles of eloquence, etc.'
Kävyamālā Series: Amrtalahari, Karuṇālahari, Prāṇabharaṇam, Sudhāla-
hari, Rasagangadhara and Lakşmilahari; cf. the list of Kävyamālā publi-
cations in ZDMG, vol. 47 (1893), p. 128.
1 Krishnamacharya, Sanskrit Literature, p. 127.
This text is given by Mahämahopādhyāya Haraprasāda Šāstrī, in
Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts, Second Series, vol. I, p. 411, no. 412,
Calcutta, 1900.
The three styles of eloquence (riti) are the voidarbhi, the gaudi, and
the pañcal; cf. Dandin's Kavyadarśa, 1. 42 (ed. O. Böhtlingk, Leipzig,
1890); cf. also Bhojadeva's Sarasvatikanthabharaṇa, 2.52 (ed. Jīvānanda
Vidyāsāgara, 2d ed., Calcutta, 1894), where are enumerated six different
styles, including the three just named.