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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
THE BHOJAPRABANDHA¹
In this connection it is interesting to note that the literary
composition Bhojaprabandha, a highly legendary history of Bhoja
of Dhärā, written by Ballāla in the sixteenth century, associates
Bāṇa and Mayūra with that monarch. Like the first anon-
ymous commentary on the Bhaktămarastotra, referred to above,³
it states that these two poets were among five hundred men of
letters who received support and maintenance at the hands of
this generous Mālava king, the only difference in the two accounts
being that in the commentary on the Bhaktamarastotra the king
is called Bhoja of Ujjain, while the Bhojaprabandha terms him
Bhoja of Dhārā. This little volume-the Bhojaprabandha
which may be a work of Jain origin, is divided into two parts.
The first part gives a narrative of events, showing how Bhoja
succeeded his uncle Muñja on the throne of Mälava. The
second part consists largely of a series of anecdotes about Bhoja,
1 This work has been edited by K. P. Parab, 2d revised edition, Bombay,
1904; cf. the articles, containing some text, and translations in French, of
extracts from the Bhojaprabandha, by Théodore Pavie, in Journal Asiatique,
as follows: Bhodjaprabandha, histoire de Bhodja, vol. 64 (1854), p. 185-
230; Le Poète Kalidasa à la cour de Bhodja, vol. 65 (1854), p. 385-431;
Les Pandits à la cour du roi Bhodja, vol. 66 (1855), p. 76-105. See also
the monograph, Die Rezensionen des Bhojaprabandha, by Ludwig Oster,
Darmstadt, 1911.
2 Of Ballāla practically nothing is known. Aufrecht (Catal. Cod. Skt.
Bibl. Bodl., p. 151, a) determines his date as follows: 'De Ballälae aetate
haec comperi. Filium Ranganatham, nepotem Viśvarūpam habuit, qui as-
tronomi seculo septimo decimo ineunte vixerunt. Ipse igitur exeunte
seculo sexto decimo floruit.'
8 See above, p. 25.
+ See below, p. 43.
5 Bhau Dāji, On the Sanscrit Poet, Kalidasa, in JBRAS, vol. 6, p. 222,
makes the following statement which has, apparently, not received later
contradiction: 'According to tradition, the poets Bāṇa and Mayūra were
contemporaries to Bhoja. Some Jain records make them contemporaries
of a Vrddha, or elder Bhoja; others, such as the author of the Bhojapra-
bandha, bring them down to the age of Muñja and Bhoja, in the eleventh
century of the Christian era.'
This Muñja, the Paramāra king of Mälava, must not be confounded
with the eighth-century writer Muñja, who composed the Gaüdavaho; cf.
Haas, Dasarupa, introd., p. 22, note 5, New York, 1912.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
THE BHOJAPRABANDHA¹
In this connection it is interesting to note that the literary
composition Bhojaprabandha, a highly legendary history of Bhoja
of Dhärā, written by Ballāla in the sixteenth century, associates
Bāṇa and Mayūra with that monarch. Like the first anon-
ymous commentary on the Bhaktămarastotra, referred to above,³
it states that these two poets were among five hundred men of
letters who received support and maintenance at the hands of
this generous Mālava king, the only difference in the two accounts
being that in the commentary on the Bhaktamarastotra the king
is called Bhoja of Ujjain, while the Bhojaprabandha terms him
Bhoja of Dhārā. This little volume-the Bhojaprabandha
which may be a work of Jain origin, is divided into two parts.
The first part gives a narrative of events, showing how Bhoja
succeeded his uncle Muñja on the throne of Mälava. The
second part consists largely of a series of anecdotes about Bhoja,
1 This work has been edited by K. P. Parab, 2d revised edition, Bombay,
1904; cf. the articles, containing some text, and translations in French, of
extracts from the Bhojaprabandha, by Théodore Pavie, in Journal Asiatique,
as follows: Bhodjaprabandha, histoire de Bhodja, vol. 64 (1854), p. 185-
230; Le Poète Kalidasa à la cour de Bhodja, vol. 65 (1854), p. 385-431;
Les Pandits à la cour du roi Bhodja, vol. 66 (1855), p. 76-105. See also
the monograph, Die Rezensionen des Bhojaprabandha, by Ludwig Oster,
Darmstadt, 1911.
2 Of Ballāla practically nothing is known. Aufrecht (Catal. Cod. Skt.
Bibl. Bodl., p. 151, a) determines his date as follows: 'De Ballälae aetate
haec comperi. Filium Ranganatham, nepotem Viśvarūpam habuit, qui as-
tronomi seculo septimo decimo ineunte vixerunt. Ipse igitur exeunte
seculo sexto decimo floruit.'
8 See above, p. 25.
+ See below, p. 43.
5 Bhau Dāji, On the Sanscrit Poet, Kalidasa, in JBRAS, vol. 6, p. 222,
makes the following statement which has, apparently, not received later
contradiction: 'According to tradition, the poets Bāṇa and Mayūra were
contemporaries to Bhoja. Some Jain records make them contemporaries
of a Vrddha, or elder Bhoja; others, such as the author of the Bhojapra-
bandha, bring them down to the age of Muñja and Bhoja, in the eleventh
century of the Christian era.'
This Muñja, the Paramāra king of Mälava, must not be confounded
with the eighth-century writer Muñja, who composed the Gaüdavaho; cf.
Haas, Dasarupa, introd., p. 22, note 5, New York, 1912.