Indian Antiquary Vol 60

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 75

APRIL, 1931 ]
THE STAGING OF THE VIDDHASALABHANJIKA
61
THE STAGING OF THE VIDDHASALABHANJIKA.
BY DASHARATHA SHARMA, M.A. 1. The place where the Viddhasdlabhanjika was staged has been hitherto a matter of some doubt. Was it staged at the court of the Chedi king, YuvarAjadeva I or Yuvarajadeva II, as suggested with some diffidence by Sten Konow, or at the court of the Pratihara emperor, Mahendra påla, at the time of Mahipala's installation as Yuvarija or joint ruler of the Pratihåra empire, as believed by Wilson? At first sight Wilson's position appears the stronger of the two. Rajasekhara, we feel inclined to argue, was the spiritual teacher of Mahendrapala ; at the court of this king, or his successor, some of the dramas by Rajasekhara were represented; therefore the Viddhasalabhanjika, too, must have been staged at this Pratihara king's court by the order of his heir-apparent Bhoja or Mahipala. For the other theory, only two vorses can be quoted, and these, instead of telling us that the Viddhagálabhañjika was staged at the court of Yuvardjadeva, oan show at the most that Rajasekhara had some oonnection with the Chedi court. 1
2. Now let us see what the drama itself has to say about the matter. The words in the prologue, which merely tell us that it was represented at the desire of the court of Yuvaråjadeva, do not help us to a solution of the mystery. But if we go a little further, we find indioations enough to clear up the matter. The name Vidyadharamalla, which the hero of the piece bears, alternates ouriously enough with the name Keyûravarsa,' and that this Kevrayarsa was none other than Keyûra varga Yuvarajadeva I is clear enough from bis being called Karachuli-tilaka, or the lord of the Karachulis. Further this keyûravarga of the drama is said to rule in Tripuri,3 'made noisy by the waves of the moon's daughter,' ise, the Narmada. Now this again is a distinct reference to Tripuri, the capital of the Hai. baya dynasty, which was situated on the banks of the river Narmada. With all these facts before us, we can, I think, surely assert that the drama was represented not at the Court of Mahendrapala, the king of Kanauj, but at the court of Keyûravarşa Yuvarajadeva I, the Chedi ruler. The case of Yuvarajdeva II, who ruled about 980 A.D. can be rejected, because he did not bear the title Keyûravarşa, and was, moreover, far removed in time from Rajsekhara, who flourished in the early decades of the tenth century.
1 The two verses are
एमिटबन्धपटना विस्मितकविराजशेखरस्तुत्या। TERM
gaf ll Epigraph. Ind., i, 261. नीनां मेकलसता नृपाणां रणविषहः। e qu3m4°394 || --Suktimuktdvali (attributed to Rajasekhare, and quoted
by Sten Konow). : arredare-Act IV, 1st line. #
T:
:-Ibid., 18, 2nd line. The word 79 soems to have been wrongly printed a nd in some editions. 8 Wrongly printed yait in Jivananda's edition. Apte had the right reading. See his Sanskrit. English Dictionary, p. 662.
Yuvarljadeva seems to have been famous for his liberality towards poets. Vallabha, a poet of about 993 A.D., writes :
वटं तर बुवराजनरेश्वरेण बाष्करं किमपि वेन गिरः श्रिवक्ष।
प्रत्वाबनं स्फुटमकारि निजे कवीन्द्रमेकासनं समुपवंशवनामिनन्दम् ॥ Udayasundars, lat Uochvsa. (Quoted by Mr. Dalal in his edition of Kdvya-mimoriund, Geekwad'. Oriental Serice.)
Vallabha's eulogy of Sabhd patie begins with Vikrama, goes on to mention Hals and Harpa, and stops with Yuvardja. Moreover, while the verbe used for Vikrama, Hala, and Harga are gre , MG respectively, the verb used with Yuvarâja is Ek which gives almost the sense of present perfect. Combining these two references, we can, I think, say that the last king mentioned is of the poet's own cen. tury, and there too most probably Yuvarajadeva I, who ruled at Tripur circa 920-950 A.D.
Ho WM contemporary of the powerful Paramâra king Mufija (974, 979, 993 A.D.)