North Indian Inscriptions

LITERATURE

notwithstanding his insignificant, unstable and slight merits, even as the sun treats a lotus which has similar filaments.

.. That dull-witted Sōḍḍhala, with the ambition of a poet, has composed this UdavaSundarī-kathā, which, by its insignificant literary merits, has secured a place in the inaccessible realm of poetry.

.. In this temple of Sarasvatī, Bāṇa, the foremost among poets, carefully listened to it out of sympathy for the poet’s labour, when he was freed from the pangs of a curse. He gave it a place in his heart and bestowed his praise on it.)

.. After praising and worshipping the goddess Sarasvatī, Sōḍḍhala returned to the capital. There his prabandha was read and praised by poets such as the Śvetāmbara Jaina Mahākavi Chandanāchārya, the author of the kathā Aśokavatī, the Śīghrakavī Vijayasiṁhāchārya, the author of the Khaḍgakāvya, who had been honoured with the title of Khaḍgāchārya by (the Śilāhāra king) Nāgārjuna, the Digambarāchārya Mahākīrti, who was conversant with three languages, and Indra, the author of the Champūkāvya Ratnamañjarī. Some days later, King Mummuṇi of Kōṅkaṇa, sent his poet friend Madhurasāhāra, who was proficient in three languages, to call Sōḍḍhala to his court. He met Sōḍḍhala and said to him, “King Mummuṇi has heard that you have composed a kathā named Udayasundarī, which you read out to Bāṇa in a temple of Sarasvatī in a lonely forest, and that it was praised by him. King Mummuṇi’s friend Vatsarāja, king of Lāṭa, saw the praśasti written by you in the temple of Sarasvatī while on his way from Śūrpāraka to his capital. He thought that you had written the kathā with reference to the Āryā he had uttered in his court and called you to meet him and read your work. He told king Mummuṇi about it and about the praise bestowed on it by Bāṇa. Having heard that marvellous account, king Mummuṇi has sent me to fetch you.” When Sōḍḍhala accompanied him to the court of Mummuṇi, the latter asked him to read out the work to him. He then honoured Sōḍḍhala with munificent gifts. All courtiers congratulated him. His poet friends embraced him. All this gave him more joy than the overlordship of the three worlds. Sōḍḍhala has concluded his work with a ślōka in praise of God Siva.

..The date of Sōḍḍhala does not present any difficulty. He enjoyed the patronage of the three Śilāhāra kings Chhittarāja, Nāgārjuna and Mummuṇi. The earliest known date of Chhittarāja is A.D. 1024[1] and the latest of Mummuṇi is A.D. 1060.[2] So Sōḍḍhala may have stayed at the Śilāhāra court from circa A.D. 1030 to A.D. 1050. He had also the support of the Chaulukya kings of Lāṭa. The first three princes of this family named below have been mentioned in the Udayasundarikatha :

Gōggirāja |
Kīrtirāja (known date A.D. 1018)[3]
|
Vatsarāja
|
(Trilōchanapāla) (known date A.D. 1051)(4)

.. Goggirāja’s son Gaṅgādhara and Kīrtirāja’s son Siṁharāja have also been mentioned in the Udayasundrīkathā, but they did not come to the throne. No inscriptions of Vatsarāja have been discovered, but from the grants of his father and his son he seems to have flourished in the period circa A.D. 1030-1050. As described by Sōḍḍhala, he was a contemporary of the Śilāhāra king Mummuṇirāja. Sōḍḍhala’s date has thus been corroborated by the details given in the Udayasundrīkatha.
_____________________________

[1] See the date of No. 61.
[2] No. 17, line 1.
[3] Bhandarkar’s List of Northern Inscriptions, No. 1088.
[4] Ibid., No. 1092. He is not mentioned in the Udayasundarikatha.

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