2023-02-23 18:48:25 by ambuda-bot
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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
41
made authority for the belief that Mayūra was a Jain, especially
as it is certain that Bhartṛhari, Gunāḍhya, Kālidāsa and Rājaśe-
khara were orthodox Brāhmans¹; and as concerns the accuracy of
the statement itself, I would say that in reading the Süryaśataka
and the other writings of Mayūra, I have not noted, even 'here
and there,' as Somadeva asserts, any commendation of the Jainas
or their system. On the whole, the evidence which we have is
altogether opposed to Ettinghausen's view that Mayūra was a
Jain, and until some new and reliable testimony to the contrary is
forthcoming, I think we are not warranted in placing our poet
among the followers of Mahavīra.
King Bhoja. With regard to the king Bhoja whom the Jaina
tale substitutes for Harṣa as the patron of Bāṇa and Mayūra,
two of our versions call him vyddhabhoja, or the elder Bhoja,'
king of Ujjain²; but in a third version, the Prabandhacintāmaṇi
of Merutunga, he is called Bhoja of Dhārā. The last-named is
a king well-known in later Indian history both as an author and,
more especially, as a patron of literature, and he ruled over
Mälava in the eleventh century of the Christian era. Since
Ujjain and Dhārā are both cities of Mälava, we may fairly con-
clude that Bhoja of Ujjain is identical with Bhoja of Dhārā, the
more so since Abu-l-Faḍl in his A'in-i Akbari states that Bhoja
moved his capital from Ujjain to Dhārā.'
1 This information about Bhartrhari, etc., was given me by Dr. Louis
H. Gray.
& See above, p. 21 and 24-25.
& See above, p. 29.
See Vincent Smith, Early History of India, p. 395-396, 3d ed., Oxford,
1914; Duff, Chronology, p. 109 and references; Rajendraläla Mitra, Bhoja
Raja of Dhär and his Homonyms, in JASB, vol. 32 (1863), p. 91-110; and
Hoernle and Stark, History of India, p. 73, 90, 4th edition, Cuttack, 1909.
5 Aufrecht (Catalogus Catalogorum, vol. 1, p. 418) believes that all the
works attributed to Bhoja's pen-he lists more than twenty such-were
written by authors who lived during Bhoja's reign or some time later.
For the date, see the references cited in the second note preceding.
7 Cf. Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. 3, p. 848, Leipzig, 1858.
41
made authority for the belief that Mayūra was a Jain, especially
as it is certain that Bhartṛhari, Gunāḍhya, Kālidāsa and Rājaśe-
khara were orthodox Brāhmans¹; and as concerns the accuracy of
the statement itself, I would say that in reading the Süryaśataka
and the other writings of Mayūra, I have not noted, even 'here
and there,' as Somadeva asserts, any commendation of the Jainas
or their system. On the whole, the evidence which we have is
altogether opposed to Ettinghausen's view that Mayūra was a
Jain, and until some new and reliable testimony to the contrary is
forthcoming, I think we are not warranted in placing our poet
among the followers of Mahavīra.
King Bhoja. With regard to the king Bhoja whom the Jaina
tale substitutes for Harṣa as the patron of Bāṇa and Mayūra,
two of our versions call him vyddhabhoja, or the elder Bhoja,'
king of Ujjain²; but in a third version, the Prabandhacintāmaṇi
of Merutunga, he is called Bhoja of Dhārā. The last-named is
a king well-known in later Indian history both as an author and,
more especially, as a patron of literature, and he ruled over
Mälava in the eleventh century of the Christian era. Since
Ujjain and Dhārā are both cities of Mälava, we may fairly con-
clude that Bhoja of Ujjain is identical with Bhoja of Dhārā, the
more so since Abu-l-Faḍl in his A'in-i Akbari states that Bhoja
moved his capital from Ujjain to Dhārā.'
1 This information about Bhartrhari, etc., was given me by Dr. Louis
H. Gray.
& See above, p. 21 and 24-25.
& See above, p. 29.
See Vincent Smith, Early History of India, p. 395-396, 3d ed., Oxford,
1914; Duff, Chronology, p. 109 and references; Rajendraläla Mitra, Bhoja
Raja of Dhär and his Homonyms, in JASB, vol. 32 (1863), p. 91-110; and
Hoernle and Stark, History of India, p. 73, 90, 4th edition, Cuttack, 1909.
5 Aufrecht (Catalogus Catalogorum, vol. 1, p. 418) believes that all the
works attributed to Bhoja's pen-he lists more than twenty such-were
written by authors who lived during Bhoja's reign or some time later.
For the date, see the references cited in the second note preceding.
7 Cf. Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. 3, p. 848, Leipzig, 1858.