2023-02-23 18:48:29 by ambuda-bot
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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
SUMMARY OF THE LIFE OF MAYURA
The traditions concerning Mayūra fall into two classes: tradi-
tions separate from the Jaina tale, and traditions in the Jaina
tale itself.
If we are to construct even a tentative biography, it seems
justifiable to accept as facts any reasonable statements that are
made in the former of the two classes, provided that we always
bear in mind that there is no evidence contemporary with Mayūra
himself, except Bāṇa's statement that Mayüraka was a friend of
his youth. Furthermore, as regards the Jaina tale, we must
reject at once palpable fabrications, such as the miracles and the
gross anachronisms which associate Mayūra with Manatunga and
Bhoja. On the other hand, I am inclined to accept as credible
data for our poet's biography all those statements in Jaina tradi-
tion which relate to events that may in all likelihood have oc-
curred, especially when such statements receive support from
evidence external to the tale.
To come now to the actual summary. On the evidence of the
Harşacarita, which mentions Mayūraka as the friend of Bana's
youth, and also from the fact that the names of Bāṇa and Mayūra
are so often associated in literature, I believe that we are justified
in fixing Mayura's Blütezeit as the first half of the seventh cen-
tury. Of his birthplace and early life no one, so far as I have
been able to discover, has given us even a hint, and we first meet
him on the threshold of his public career. It is Madhusudana
who tells us that he was summoned to court because King Harsa
was pleased with some verses that he had delivered at a public
recital, and we saw that a possible support of this statement was
found by identifying with the public recital a literary contest at
Benares, in which, as we learn from Jagannatha, Mayura came
off the victor. The evidence, however, on this point is not alto-
gether convincing. We are not sure that the literary contest at
Benares is the same as the public recital described by Madhu-
südana, and we must also take into account the fact that Madhu-
südana, though he makes no mention of Mänatunga, and though
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
SUMMARY OF THE LIFE OF MAYURA
The traditions concerning Mayūra fall into two classes: tradi-
tions separate from the Jaina tale, and traditions in the Jaina
tale itself.
If we are to construct even a tentative biography, it seems
justifiable to accept as facts any reasonable statements that are
made in the former of the two classes, provided that we always
bear in mind that there is no evidence contemporary with Mayūra
himself, except Bāṇa's statement that Mayüraka was a friend of
his youth. Furthermore, as regards the Jaina tale, we must
reject at once palpable fabrications, such as the miracles and the
gross anachronisms which associate Mayūra with Manatunga and
Bhoja. On the other hand, I am inclined to accept as credible
data for our poet's biography all those statements in Jaina tradi-
tion which relate to events that may in all likelihood have oc-
curred, especially when such statements receive support from
evidence external to the tale.
To come now to the actual summary. On the evidence of the
Harşacarita, which mentions Mayūraka as the friend of Bana's
youth, and also from the fact that the names of Bāṇa and Mayūra
are so often associated in literature, I believe that we are justified
in fixing Mayura's Blütezeit as the first half of the seventh cen-
tury. Of his birthplace and early life no one, so far as I have
been able to discover, has given us even a hint, and we first meet
him on the threshold of his public career. It is Madhusudana
who tells us that he was summoned to court because King Harsa
was pleased with some verses that he had delivered at a public
recital, and we saw that a possible support of this statement was
found by identifying with the public recital a literary contest at
Benares, in which, as we learn from Jagannatha, Mayura came
off the victor. The evidence, however, on this point is not alto-
gether convincing. We are not sure that the literary contest at
Benares is the same as the public recital described by Madhu-
südana, and we must also take into account the fact that Madhu-
südana, though he makes no mention of Mänatunga, and though