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12
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
MAYURA GAINS FAME AT COURT
But we have wandered slightly afield, and must now return to
Mayūra. If the testimony of Jayamangala, a commentator on
the Suryaśataka, may be believed, our poet Mayūra became at
court the very embodiment of Sarasvati herself, and endeared
himself to all his hearers by the verses proceeding from his lotus
mouth. Jayamangala testifies:-
bhaktamayüravaktrābjapadavinyāsaśālinī
nartaki 'va narīnartti sabhāmadhye sarasvati ¹
'Sarasvati, abiding in the arrangement of the verses from the lotus mouth
of the beloved Mayura,
Sports in the midst of the assembly-hall, like a dancing-girl.'
RIVALRY BETWEEN MAYŪRA AND BANA
Granting that Mayura's success at court was so great, it is not
difficult to imagine the state of Bāṇa's feelings, as he saw himself
being supplanted in popular and royal estimation by a newcomer,
even though that newcomer was his relative and the friend of his
youth. Bāṇa was not more than human, and therefore quite
vulnerable to the attacks of jealousy. A feeling of rivalry
towards his father-in-law-doubtless reciprocated-would be
only the natural result of the situation, and the royal smile of
approval would become the source of contention par excellence.
This view, besides finding direct support in the Jaina tale about
Bāṇa and Mayūra (see below, p. 26), is confirmed by the follow-
ing floka taken from the Navasähasänkacarita of Padmagupta,³
1 Extracts from the commentary of Jayamangala, including the śloka
quoted here, are given by Rajendralala Mitra in Notices of Sanskrit
Manuscripts, vol. 4, p. 214, no. 1643, Calcutta, 1878.
From an entirely different point of view, Dr. Louis H. Gray, in the
introduction to his translation of the Vasavadatta (p. 3, 10, New York,
1913), has also charged Bāṇa with jealousy, this time of Subandhu, his
rival in romance-writing. I am informed by Dr. Gray that when he
reached this not particularly flattering opinion of Bana, he was entirely
ignorant of the similar tradition respecting the rivalry between Bāṇa
and Mayura.
Bühler and Zachariae (IA, vol. 36, p. 150, 172) give the date of Pad-
magupta's literary activity as 975-1025 A.D., and fix the date of the com-
position of the Navasahasankacarita as about 1000-1010 A.D.
12
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
MAYURA GAINS FAME AT COURT
But we have wandered slightly afield, and must now return to
Mayūra. If the testimony of Jayamangala, a commentator on
the Suryaśataka, may be believed, our poet Mayūra became at
court the very embodiment of Sarasvati herself, and endeared
himself to all his hearers by the verses proceeding from his lotus
mouth. Jayamangala testifies:-
bhaktamayüravaktrābjapadavinyāsaśālinī
nartaki 'va narīnartti sabhāmadhye sarasvati ¹
'Sarasvati, abiding in the arrangement of the verses from the lotus mouth
of the beloved Mayura,
Sports in the midst of the assembly-hall, like a dancing-girl.'
RIVALRY BETWEEN MAYŪRA AND BANA
Granting that Mayura's success at court was so great, it is not
difficult to imagine the state of Bāṇa's feelings, as he saw himself
being supplanted in popular and royal estimation by a newcomer,
even though that newcomer was his relative and the friend of his
youth. Bāṇa was not more than human, and therefore quite
vulnerable to the attacks of jealousy. A feeling of rivalry
towards his father-in-law-doubtless reciprocated-would be
only the natural result of the situation, and the royal smile of
approval would become the source of contention par excellence.
This view, besides finding direct support in the Jaina tale about
Bāṇa and Mayūra (see below, p. 26), is confirmed by the follow-
ing floka taken from the Navasähasänkacarita of Padmagupta,³
1 Extracts from the commentary of Jayamangala, including the śloka
quoted here, are given by Rajendralala Mitra in Notices of Sanskrit
Manuscripts, vol. 4, p. 214, no. 1643, Calcutta, 1878.
From an entirely different point of view, Dr. Louis H. Gray, in the
introduction to his translation of the Vasavadatta (p. 3, 10, New York,
1913), has also charged Bāṇa with jealousy, this time of Subandhu, his
rival in romance-writing. I am informed by Dr. Gray that when he
reached this not particularly flattering opinion of Bana, he was entirely
ignorant of the similar tradition respecting the rivalry between Bāṇa
and Mayura.
Bühler and Zachariae (IA, vol. 36, p. 150, 172) give the date of Pad-
magupta's literary activity as 975-1025 A.D., and fix the date of the com-
position of the Navasahasankacarita as about 1000-1010 A.D.