Kuvalayamala Part 2

SR No.: 002778
Original Sutra Author: Udyotansuri
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1970
Total Pages: 368
Language: Sanskrit, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Literature
File Size: 12 MB

Page 160

A CULTURAL NOTE
121
line 18 there is a reference to the holy mountain Satrumjaya which seems to have become a famous religious centre before 779 A.D. when Uddyotanasūri was writing.
Page 82.30: Here is a list of religious establishments of different denominations as Mantra-jāpa-mandapa, Brāhmana-śālā, Rudra-bhavana, Dhārmikamatha, Home of Kāpālikas, Holy platforms of Yaksas, Nāgas etc., Brahmanical songs were sung in āvasati, Jinagrha, Buddha-vihāra or Buddhist monasteries, Shrine of goddess Kottavī, Temple of six-headed god Kārttikeya and temple of other deities. In this list mention of Kottajjā-ghara is most important as Kottavai was the most ancient goddess of Tamil land whose worship is spread towards many centres in North India upto the Himālayas where, at Kottal Garh, in Almore District, there was a shrine dedicated to her. She is mentioned in Bāņa's Harşacarita as a nude woman. According to the Vāmana-purāņa, Kottavai was the name of ancient Goddess at Hingulas in Baluchistan who was later on renamed by Scythians as Nani and by the Hindus Carcikā during the Gupta period. It is gratifying to note that Uddyotanasūri refers to the shrine of Kottavi [ Kottajjā). In the Des īnāmamālā (12th century) Kottā is given as the name of Pārvatī (2.35) which seems to have been due to a later religious synthesis of Goddess' name.
Page 83.3-9: Here is the description of the house or the sleeping chambers of young ladies which were beautified for the reception of their husbands. The select items in this list are as follows: cleansing the dust from the painted walls citra-sālikā (papphodesu citta-bhittio); dropping pieces of Karpūra in madirā; arranging pendant garlands in the houses; painting scroll-designs on the floor (koțțime pattalayão); arranging of flower-beds; burning of incense pots; placing the pet birds in the cages (jamta-saüņae); prepare clusters of nāgavalli leaves in their cases; filling camphor sticks in boxes (kappura-phadā-samuggae); placing of Kakkola globules; spreading of coverlets and seats in the jāla-garākṣa (airel windows); putting on the srngāțaka and valakkhala necklaces and round earrings ornaments; lighting of lamps; collecting wine on the drinking tables; dressing the hair and pouring the jugs; handing over the drinking cups; and arranging of eatables by the side of the beds.
Page 87.14: There is a reference to Khadga-vidyādhara, the other classes being Mālā-vidyādharas wearing garlands, and Gulikā-vidyādharas, wearing necklaces of beads as depicted in an Ajanta painting.
Page 87.20-28: Here is a vivid description of the intellectual and spiritual life in the Asrama of a Jaina Muni, somewhat similar to that in the hermitage of Divākara Mitra described by Bāna in the Harşacarita where scholars studied, devoted and held controversies, disputations and exchange of views on several points of religion and philosophy. A similar atmosphere is envisaged by Uddyotanasūri writing a century and a half after Bāņa. He gives a list of twentyone methods of study and discussions and approaches to the tenets of religion and philosophy, e.g., self-study, teaching, reflecting, resolving doubts, exposition by those who had grasped the meaning, listening to the texts after reciting them, composing new poems or Stotras, practising meditations and attending to the service of teachers, learning of rules of Vinaya, observing of