Indian Antiquary Vol 05

SR No.: 032497
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 438
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 387

NOVEMBER, 1876.]
elements in them are mostly romping, equivoque, and drinking." (Note, p. 41, and ante, p. 322.)
In the public life of Bilhana's hero we meet with much obvious distortion of the truth. The royal historiographer had to represent his patron as uniformly successful. Accordingly we find that the Chalukya monarch extirpated his principal enemies the Cholas pretty nearly as frequently as the Roman levies annihilated the nation of the Volsci. The absurdity of this is clearly brought out by Dr. Bühler. Moreover there is reason to believe that the jealousy between near relations, so characteristic of Eastern royal families, was found even in "the virtuous Châlukya race, that never deviated from the good old custom." Even Bilhana admits that Vikrama was unlucky enough to have differences with his two brothers, one older and one younger than himself. Dr. Bühler seems to be of opinion that he ousted his less talented elder brother So mes vara II. from the throne. But the Hindu poet knows better. He tells us that the title of heir-apparent was offered to Vikrama, but refused by him out of regard for the honour of the family. But after the death of Vikrama's father, Some é vara I., called Ahavamalla by Bilhana, the elder brother intrigued against the younger. He repeatedly sent armies to attack him, which Vikrama easily repulsed. He even allied himself with the Cholas, the hereditary enemies of the Châlukyas, which Bilhana-forgetting, as Dr. Bühler remarks, that his hero had married a Chola princess-stigmatizes as a most shameless action. At last, at the express command of Śiva, Vikramaditya consented to meet his brother in the field, and vanquished him after an obstinate struggle. Šiva again appeared, and forbade him to restore his brother to liberty and the throne, as he had intended. Whether Somesvara II. perished by the scissors, or the "post," so much in favour in the days of Bernier, is not stated. Bilhana makes no further mention of him. The circumstance that Śiva found it necessary to appear twice is, as Dr. Bühler remarks, somewhat suspicious. The fact of the battle having taken place in 1076 is proved by inscriptions; but there is no doubt that Bilhana does his utmost "to whitewash his hero's character, and to blacken that of all his enemies," and we need not look upon Vikrama as more blameless than Aurangzib, who many hundred years afterwards was compelled, by the force of circumstances and the imperious call of duty, to supplant his three brothers.
The second fratricidal war ended in the complete defeat of Vikrama's younger brother, Jayasiñha, who, if Bilhana is to be believed, was treated be
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fore and after the conquest with great kindness by his conqueror. Dr. Bühler shows that the main facts of Vikrama's life are historical, and there is no doubt that he was a powerful and able monarch, engaged in frequent wars with the Cholas, and other dynasties of the Dekhan. We cannot help expressing our regret that Dr. Bühler's remarks should only have been published in a Sanskrit Series, where they are not likely to meet the eyes of any but those interested in that language. They are deserving of wider circulation.*
Perhaps the most interesting part of the poem is Bilhana's account of himself. He was born in Kashmir, and went on a tour through India, till at last he settled down as the court poet of the Châlukya sovereign. Dr. Bühler tells us that even now itinerant poets and pandits are to be met with all over India. They wander from one native court to another, holding disputations, and composing poetry extempore for the delectation of princes "who care about the ancient lore and language of their country, till ousted by native pandits, who guard their preserves most jealously against all outsiders."
The style of Bilhana is, as Dr. Bühler remarks, not free from "coarseness and conventionalism." His Oriental hyperboles, if literally translated, would move the laughter of modern Englishmen, though they would have seemed less absurd to the men of the Elizabethan age, when the greatest of English poets thus described a thunder storm: "The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch, But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek, Dashes the fire out."
Again, he is an inveterate punster, and the most euphuistic of writers could scarcely hope to equal his vagaries when the demon of alliteration takes possession of him. He loves long compounds, like most Sanskrit medieval poets, and takes pleasure in constructing fanciful enigmas, the unravelling of which is the joy of the true lover of " poetic nectar." "But," as Dr. Bühler points out, "he possesses a "spark of genuine poetic fire. Really beautiful passages occur in every canto." We have attempted a translation of a passage in the 4th canto, giving an account of the death of Aha vamalla, the father of Vikram a, which Dr. Bühler considers one of the most touching in the poem.
The prince Vikrâma having defeated the Cholas and the king of Ceylon, slain the lord of Kerala, plundered Kanchi, and conquered Ganga kunda, Vengi, and Chakrakota, is returning home. He has reached the Krishna, when he is disquieted by the appearance of alarming omens. Coming events cast their shadows
See Dr. Bühler's analysis of the historical portion of the poem, ante, p. 317.