Gaudavaho

Author(s): Vakpatiraj, Narhari Govind Suru, P L Vaidya, A N Upadhye, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

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GAÜDAVAHO
INTRODUCTION
The Gauḍavaho of Vakpatiraja is a unique historical Poem in Prakrit. It is a stupendous work, comprising, as it does, 1209 Gāthās in an Āryä metre, not to mention the additional 26 Gāthās, noted by Pandit in his edition of 1887. It is no doubt a Maha-Kavya having a wide variety of topics, but unlike its prototypes in Sanskrit or Prakrit like the Raghuvamsa, the Kirātārjunīya, the Śiśupālavadha or the Setubandha (alternately called Ravana-Vaho), the Gaüḍavaho has no chapters, variously called Sargas, Adhyāyas or Utchhāvāsas, to indicate its division in different topics. It is just one long, continuous composition and thus looks like a magnificent mound of floral garlands and boquets in the form of Gathās, individually knit together in Kulakas and piled in a heap one over the other.
The purpose of this Poem, a Prasasti-Kāvya, as it is, is obviously to celebrate the glory of his patron, King Yasovarman, with particular reference to his slaying of the Gauda King. This most important incident which should, therefore, have been the main theme of the Poem, has been only cursorily mentioned in the whole Poem, and strangely enough, the last Gatha of the Poem ends with an assurance by the poet that 'the life of this great King, so purifying, picturesque, astonishing and unparalleled, will now be narrated. So listen ye all !'1
1. The question of the character and the composition of the Gaüdavaho is discussed later.