Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 52
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications
View full book text
________________
JULY, 1923)
DEVICHANDRAGUPTAM
183
i-taglaga: a: 941: terari aragt & fat qurinaa 11
ii-देवीचन्द्रगुप्तेविदूषकंप्रातचन्द्रगुप्तः॥ सदंभ्यान्पृधुवमविक्रतबलादृष्टाद्भुतान्दान्तनः हासस्यैवगुहामुखादभिमुखंनिष्कामतः पर्वतात् । एकस्वापिविधूतकेसरनटाभारस्य भीतामृगाः
गन्धादेवहरेवन्तिवहयो वीरस्यर्किसंख्यया॥ iii-देवीचन्द्रगुप्तेवसन्तसेनामुद्दिश्यमाथवस्योक्तिः
आनन्दाश्रुसितेतरोत्पलरुचोराबनतानेत्रयोः प्रत्यंगेषुषराननेपुलकिषुस्वेदसमातन्वता। कुर्वाणेननितंबयोरुपचयसंपूर्णयोरप्यसो
तेनाप्यस्पृशताप्यथोनिवसनप्रन्धिस्तधोच्छासितः ॥ These passages are said to have been taken from a now forgotten drama 9-TË, whose author is not known. The first passage proves clearly that the subject matter of
this drama is the same as what we findin Bâo a's reference in the Harshacharita. It says that Chandragupta managed to enter the camp of his enemy at Alipura in the guise of a woman, for the purpose of killing the Lord of the Sakas. Here the place where the Sakapati's camp,
-eralt, was laid is called Aļipura. The identity of this place deserves to be established. Its name has not been read correctly in the manuscripts of the Harshacharita. Dr. Bhau Daji, who first discovered the Harshacharita for archæologista found the reading Nalinapura8 for the name of the place. But soon he found in another manuscript the reading Aripura, the enemy's town, which has since been accepted among scholars. This extract from the Śrngaraprakasa gives the name as Alipura, which appears to be the correct form, and which could very easily have been misread both as Naļinapura and Aripura.
The second extract above quoted is more interesting and gives us some more information of the drama. In this, Chandragupta is made to reply to the vidůshaka (clown), when the latter criticized him for his rash behaviour in endangering his life in the midst of his enemies. Chandragupta says that the danger does not matter much, and that the number of his surrounding enemies need not deter him from embarking on heroic deeds. He says that the enemies will be scattered like the herds of animals (elephants) at the very smell of the lion, issuing out of his den on seeing many elephants of high breed. If the information afforded by this extract is historical,--there is absolutely no reason to doubt it--the actual incidents in the war between Chandragupta and the Saka sovereign seem to be an invasion by the former of the territory of the enemy, where, by an accident, the queen of Chandragupta, Dhruva Dêvi, fell into the hands of the enemy, the Saka sovereign. The latter, whatever his name may have been, most unchivalrously made advances of love towards her. Chandragupta managed, along with a few select followers in the guise of women, to enter the enemy's camp. There he, disguised as his own queen, Dhruva Devi, managed to get an interview with the Saka King and killed him. This incident more than any other seems to have given Chandragupta the title Vikramaditya, a title which was first used by the famous sovereign, who set aside for the time the rule of the Sungas, defeated and brought under subjection the Andhra kingdom, and beat back, though temporarily, the advancing tide of the Saka invasion. One of the other titles of this great hero was
8 The Literary Remains of Dr. Bhau Daji, p. 193. . This information will be published in the form of an article soon.-A.R.S.
