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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
52
10, 19), as one of the nine gems' that graced the court of the
celebrated Vikramaditya. The stanza of the Jyotirvidābharaṇa
that refers to Sanku is as follows:-
dhanvantariḥ kşapanako 'marasimhafańkū
vetalabhaṭṭaghaṭakarparakālidāsāḥ
khyato varahamihiro nrpateḥ sabhāyām
ratnāni vai vararucir nava vikramasya¹
'Dhanvantari, Kşapaṇaka, Amarasimha, Sanku,
Vetālabhatta, Ghaṭakarpara, Kālidāsa,
The celebrated Varāha Mihira, and Vararuci
Are the nine gems at the court of Vikrama, Lord of Men.'
Chronological considerations would, of course, forbid the pla-
cing of a son of our Mayura either in the ninth century or in the
age of Vikrama. Therefore, if the author of the durvārāḥ
stanza be the son of our poet, he cannot be identified with either
of the other two writers who bear his name. The whole matter,
however, is little more than guesswork, and whether the author
of the durväraḥ stanza is a son of Mayūra, or a 'gem' of
Vikrama, or the author of the Bhuvanabhyudaya can, in the
present state of our knowledge, be only food for conjecture.³
MAYŪRA AS VIEWED BY LATER POETS
To make complete the tale of references that I have gathered
on the subject of Mayura, I append a list of seven stanzas by
¹ Cited by A. Weber, Ueber das Jyotirvidabharaṇam, in ZDMG, 22.
722-723.
2 Hoernle and Stark, History of India, 4th edition (Cuttack, 1909), p.
60, make Vikrama a near predecessor of Harşa's father on the imperial
throne, and give his date as 529-585 A.D. Vincent Smith, Early History
of India, 3d edition (Oxford, 1914), p. 290, identifies Vikrama with
Chandragupta 2d, who came to the throne about 375 A.D.
8 The Harihärävali of Harikavi contains a stanza beginning mayürād
asamo jajne manyaḥ kulicurih kaviḥ, 'from Mayūra there sprang the
unequaled, revered poet Kulicuri' (cf. Peterson, Report of Operations in
Search of Skt. MSS, vol. 2, p. 59). From this it was supposed that
Mayura had a son, or a descendant, or perhaps a pupil, by the name of
Kulicuri. This supposition vanishes, however, in the light of a revised
reading of the line, which should run: mäyürajasamo jajñe na 'nyaḥ kara-
culih kaviḥ, 'no other poet of the Karaculi family was born equal to
Mayūrāja'; cf. Bhattanatha Svamin, Mayuraja, in IA, vol. 41 (1912), p.
139; and also Thomas, Kavindravacanasamuccaya, introd., p. 87, foot.
52
10, 19), as one of the nine gems' that graced the court of the
celebrated Vikramaditya. The stanza of the Jyotirvidābharaṇa
that refers to Sanku is as follows:-
dhanvantariḥ kşapanako 'marasimhafańkū
vetalabhaṭṭaghaṭakarparakālidāsāḥ
khyato varahamihiro nrpateḥ sabhāyām
ratnāni vai vararucir nava vikramasya¹
'Dhanvantari, Kşapaṇaka, Amarasimha, Sanku,
Vetālabhatta, Ghaṭakarpara, Kālidāsa,
The celebrated Varāha Mihira, and Vararuci
Are the nine gems at the court of Vikrama, Lord of Men.'
Chronological considerations would, of course, forbid the pla-
cing of a son of our Mayura either in the ninth century or in the
age of Vikrama. Therefore, if the author of the durvārāḥ
stanza be the son of our poet, he cannot be identified with either
of the other two writers who bear his name. The whole matter,
however, is little more than guesswork, and whether the author
of the durväraḥ stanza is a son of Mayūra, or a 'gem' of
Vikrama, or the author of the Bhuvanabhyudaya can, in the
present state of our knowledge, be only food for conjecture.³
MAYŪRA AS VIEWED BY LATER POETS
To make complete the tale of references that I have gathered
on the subject of Mayura, I append a list of seven stanzas by
¹ Cited by A. Weber, Ueber das Jyotirvidabharaṇam, in ZDMG, 22.
722-723.
2 Hoernle and Stark, History of India, 4th edition (Cuttack, 1909), p.
60, make Vikrama a near predecessor of Harşa's father on the imperial
throne, and give his date as 529-585 A.D. Vincent Smith, Early History
of India, 3d edition (Oxford, 1914), p. 290, identifies Vikrama with
Chandragupta 2d, who came to the throne about 375 A.D.
8 The Harihärävali of Harikavi contains a stanza beginning mayürād
asamo jajne manyaḥ kulicurih kaviḥ, 'from Mayūra there sprang the
unequaled, revered poet Kulicuri' (cf. Peterson, Report of Operations in
Search of Skt. MSS, vol. 2, p. 59). From this it was supposed that
Mayura had a son, or a descendant, or perhaps a pupil, by the name of
Kulicuri. This supposition vanishes, however, in the light of a revised
reading of the line, which should run: mäyürajasamo jajñe na 'nyaḥ kara-
culih kaviḥ, 'no other poet of the Karaculi family was born equal to
Mayūrāja'; cf. Bhattanatha Svamin, Mayuraja, in IA, vol. 41 (1912), p.
139; and also Thomas, Kavindravacanasamuccaya, introd., p. 87, foot.