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IV
FOREWORD
of the author, who besides made out Bāņa to have composed the Súryas'ataka). Once, in an amorous quarrel with his wife, Bāņa, in order to conciliate her, recited an appropriate stanza of his own. Mayūra who overheard them (the situation is variously described), made aloud a remark on this verse. Thereupon his daughter went into a rage and cursed her father to become a leper. Mayūra, however, on reciting his Sūryas'ataka was cured of his dreadful disease by the favour of the Sungod. Bāna who became very jealous of Mayūra's fame caused by this miracle, then composed the Chandis'ataka. He had his hands and feet cut off, but by reciting his Sataka he recovered those limbs through the favour of the goddess (Chandi). The Prabhāvaka-charita then goes on to relate the contest between the two rivals, and how it was settled by a miracle; a different account of the case is given by Guņākara. We pass over this part of the story as it has no bearing on our subject.
Now the story of Bāņa's and Mayūra's rivalry is evidently a literary anecdote of the same kind as many others invented by Pandits. We can point out the literary traditions which underlie that story, and even fix their date. King Harsha is first mentioned as the patron of Bāna and Mayūra in the following verse which is ascribed by S'ārngadhara to Rājas'ekhara ( about 900 A. D. ), but has not been found in his extant works:
"अहो प्रभावो वाग्देव्या यन्मातङ्गदिवाकरः ।
श्रीहर्षस्याभवत्सभ्यः समो बाणमयूरयोः ॥" “Such is the miraculous power of the Goddess of Speech that the Mātanga (i. e. Chaņņāla ) Diväkara was made by S'rīharsha a member of his court equal to Bāņa and Mayūra." Apparently Rājas'ekhara regards Bāņa and Mayūra as members of the highest caste. Some scholars, Max Müller, Peterson, Quackenbos (The Sanskrit poems of Mayūra), have maintained, wrongly I believe, that Bāņa mentions Mayūra the poet in the Harshacharita. The fact is that Bāņa when he speaks of his rather dissolute early life, gives, for some reason of his own, a lengthy list of men and women, respectable and otherwise, with whom he kept company during that period. Among them we meet with fishat Hysi, Mayūraka the snake-doctor or dealer in antidotes. Now it is quite certain that a man whose calling is to deal in antidotes, should not have acquired the learning and culture required to compose in classical Sanskrit such a Mahākāvya as the justly famous Sūryas'ataka. Nor would Bāņa, a high caste Brahmin who is very proud of his ancestry, marry the daughter of a snake-doctor. On the other hand, places at the head of his list of friends several poets and literary men; he would have mentioned Mayūraka among them, if that man was indeed the great poet.
But his mention of one otherwise unknown Mayūraka may have caused
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