Chandralekha

SR No.: 001860
Original Sutra Author: Rudradas
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1945
Total Pages: 174
Language: Prakrit, Sanskrit
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Story
File Size: 13 MB

Page 49

40
CANDALERA
wives and to the eighth wife Rambhā noted by Nayacandra. In one Prabandha, Karpūradevī figures as a queen, but in our play there is a maid-servant Karpūrikā by name. The hero Jaitracandra is a brave king of Benares, and he had a title Pangu: these two facts are unanimously accepted by two Prabandhas. The first Prabandha is silent about this title, though some other details are common. The two Prabandhas and our play explain the title Pangu almost similarly, So it is plain that Nayacandra's hero is the same as Jaitracandra of Prabandhas; but our author appears to have added certain details to make the plot suited for a Sattaka the model for which was the Karpūra-mañjarī. Our hero, then, as already hinted above, is the same as Rājā Jaichand, almost the last king of the Gahadavāla dynasty, who had made Benares his principal residence and who was overthrown by Muhammad of Ghör (Shihābu-ddin). It is not clear who this Madanavarman of Lāta is; but it is not unlikely that Nayacandra had in view a Chandel ruler of that name. Nayacandra's statement that Jaitracandra brought under control the kingdom of Madanavarman is based possibly on the account of the Prabandha according to which he overpowered Paramarddi who had inherited the kingdom of Madanavarman.
Nayacandra refers to the Karpūra-mañjarī (Km.) of Rājasekhara, and he claims that his Rambhā-mañjari (Rm.) is in a way superior to it. Rm. imitates Km. in many respects. The scene of spring that is being described by the king, queen and bards, the quarrel between Jester and maid-servant in which the former claims hereditary scholarship, and the diversion of the love-lorn king with the description of nature by the door-keeper: all these remind us of similar situations in Km. Some ideas, too, are common, at times with slight variations: in both the Jester has a fantastic dream; the trees like Asoka, Bakula and Kurabaka are introduced to heighten king's passion; and the contents of the love letter are almost identical. We come across even some common expressions in both the texts (Km. II. 11 & Rm. I. 40; Km. I. 32–34 & I. 49).
If the plot is scanty in Km., there is not even the semblance of it in Rm. Nayacandra's Prākrit verses are not as fluent as those of Rājasekhara. Nayacandra has, however, a pedantic mastery over Sanskrit expression; and a couple of his Sanskrit verses (III. 3-4) are really beautiful and testify to his potential poetic ability.
1 This name reminds me of the name Candravarman of Lata in the
Viddhaśālabhanjikā.