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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
LITERATURE
in Sōḍḍhala’s work. He has mentioned two Champū-kāvyas, viz. the Aśōkavatī of Chandanāchārya and the Ratnamañjarī of Indrakavi, but both of them have now been lost. Later, several Champūs such as the Rāmāyaṇa-champū, the Bhārata-champū and the Bhāgavata-champū were composed, but they have no such intricate themes as in Sōḍḍhala’s work. In course of time, the style of the Champūs became more and more obscure on account of a profuse use of ślēsha. The Udayasundarīkathā of Sōḍḍhala, being of an earlier age, has its own importance in the history of Sanskrit literature. .. Most of the Sanskrit poets mentioned in the Udayasundrīkathā seem to have belonged to Lāṭa and probably flourished at the court of the Chaulukyas, but some are expressly mentioned as honoured by the Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ. One of these was the Jaina poet Vijayasiṁhāchārya, who is described as a Śīghra-kavi, i.e. a poet who composed poems extempore. He was the author of the Khaḍga-kāvya. It was probably of the Chitra-kāvya type, and was so called because the verses in it could be arranged in the form of a khaḍga (sword).[1] Nāgārjuna, in whose court he flourished, was so much impressed by this tour de force that he gave him the title of Khaḍgāchārya. Another poet, who was also a warrior, mentioned in the Udayasundārīkathā is Madhurasāhāra,[2] who is described as a friend of Mummuṇi since his childhood. He was a teacher of three languages, evidently Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhraṁśa.[3] Mummuṇi sent him as an emmissary to invite Sōḍḍhala to his court when he heard about his Udayasundarīkathā. Some Śilāhāra inscriptions[4] mention the Mahākavi Nāgalaiya, the uncle of the scribe Jōgapaiya, but we have no further knowledge about him. Nothing is known about the poets of the court of the Śilāhāras of South Koṅkaṇ.
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Some authors of the Śilāhāra copper-plate grants had good poetic talent as evidenced
by the praśastis composed by them, but their names have not been recorded. As examples of
their poetic excellence, we may refer to the clever comparison of the Rāshṭrakūṭa king
Amōghavarsha III with a beneficent cloud in the Jañjirā plates of Aparājita,[5] the graphic
description of the havoc wrought by the Yavanas at the time of the accession of Anantadēva I
as given in his Khārepāṭan plates,[6] and of the intrepid spirit of his son Aparāditya I who,
single-handed, fought with and routed the enemy as stated in his Vaḍavalī grant.[7] The
description in some places is in a humourous vein as when Vappuvanna is stated to have
turned all the elephants of the enemy into Vināyakas (Gajānanas) as he forcibly cut off one
tusk of each of them.[8] Aparāditya I was himself a scholar and was a liberal patron of Sanskrit
learning. That his court was graced by great poets is indicated by the beautiful verses descripttive of him and his administration which occur in the Panhāḷe plates of his son Vikramāditya.[9]
This state of things seems to have changed in the time of the later Śilāhāras of North Kōṅkaṇ.
All their inscriptions are on stone and are written in a mixture of Sanskrit and Marathi.
It is needless to say that they are altogether devoid of poetic merit. Marathi was then in the
process of formation as shown by several records of the Northern Śilāhāras.[10]
[1] See similar bandhas in the Śiśupālavadha, Can to XIX, vv. 16, 29, 44 etc.
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