Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

SR No.: 022813
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 236
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 11 MB

Page 129

Pothikhna of Jaipur: Khas-Muhar
345
with the Goswami of Vrindāvana and the influence of Krishnadeva Bhattacharya and Baladeva Vidyabhushan who were sent to him by Vishwanath Chakravarti, the famous commentator on Bhagavata. The works composed by most of the eminent exponents of Chaitanya Sampradaya are available in the manuscript collection of Sawai Jai Singh.
This aspect of his career has been dealt with in the least by the writers of political and dynastic history.
Sawai Jai Singh's sons Sawai Ishwari Singh and Sawai Madho Singh I, who succeeded him one after the other, were also enthusiastic lovers and patrons of art and literature. Besides, they were authors themselves. Bhaktamāla (Sanskrit) by Ishwari Singh and Mädhavanandini Padāvali and Sabdakaumudi by Madho Singh are preserved in the collection to speak of their authorship. There are some very important Sanskrit and Hindi works composed and scribed during the short reign of Ishwari Singh. Agamic works by Kishormani Bhatt, selected portions compiled from the Yamalas, a compendium of useful medicinal prescriptions etc., bear testimony to his variety of taste inspite of his life of uprest after accession to the gaddi.
Many scholars, poets and artists came to Jaipur with Madho Singh from Udaipur. They were added to the galaxy of courtiers, who came down from his father's time. The creative activities increased by far during his reign and many good poems and dramas were composed for his pleasure e.g., Madhava-vijaykāvyam by Dwarkanath Bhatt, Padya Tarangini by Vrajnath Bhatt, Madhava Vilāsa or Aryasataka by Shyam Suuder Lattu, which provide a vivid description of Jaipur City of his days and Rukmini-mädhava-nātakam by Krishnadatta - all in Sanskrit and Premasara in Hindi by Shri Lalji or Aruna Kavi.
A very interesting and important work is Rājarītinirūpana Sataka compiled by Dalpatirai or lal in Sanskrit under orders of Sawai Madho Singh and his guru Vrajbhuşanlalji Goswami of Kankroli. It describes names and functions of the different officers and departments required to run the government according the Mughal system of administration.
The art of good penmanship also received great encouragement at the hands of the rulers. Most of the manuscripts are written in clear and neat handwriting by the lekhakas of Pothikhānā in Devanāgari script. Many pieces are collected as specimens of calligraphy in Persian script; but the two manuscripts of Gitäpancharatna written with gold and silver inks by Ghasiram Mahatma during the time of Sawai Prithvi Singh (1767-1778 A.D.) are unique.
Sawai Pratap Singh was himself an eminent poet of Hindi and an admirer of poetry and art. His court had, therefore, become a beehive of poets, scholars and artists who shared his munificence. Manuscripts containing his own works and those of his court-poets and associates form the bulk of the collection. It was during his time that a re-organisation of the Pothikhānä took place and efforts to preserve and arrange the manuscripts according to their subjects were made. Important works were got bound with brocade, mashru, velvet and chintz fabric.
About twenty of his works have since beeu published in Brajnidhi-granthāvali. Still more than a dozen works have remained unknown and unpublished. A manuscript of Rājaniti gudva in Hindi prose is very interesting. It lays down a code of conduct for a ruler. Haya nämävali is another work in which the kinds, qualities and the names of his favourite horses are compiled. His other works, published and unpublished, deal with the love of Krisna and Rädhä.
Krishnadatta, a court-poet of Sawai Pratap Singh, has described the daily routine of his life and bravery shown against the Marathas. It is in the form of a dialogue between the poet and a Maratha Chief. Besides composing stray verses and minor works in poetry, some of his court poets have