Kaumudi Mitranand Rupakam

Author(s): Punyavijay
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

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chandra's death and he subsequently went away to Malwa. He is stated to be the author of Snatasya, a well known Stuti. Gujarat's contribution to Sanskrit literature is not meagre. Kapila Muni is stated to have flourished near Siddhapur. Nakulisa of Pasupata Darsana is said to belong to Karavan (Kayavaroha) near Vadodara, Nyaya and Vaiseshika Darsanas too are inclined to Saivism and said to belong to Gujarat. Devardhi Gani made the Jain canon recorded in book form at Vallabhipur. In that city, there were 18 sub-schools of Hinayana Budhism and the famous Budhist Saints Gunamati and Sthiramati also flourished here. Samba Panchasika is stated to have been composed by Lord Krishna's son Samba. Magha flourished in Bhimamala in the 7th Century. Dhaneswar's Satrunjaya Mahatmya and Bhatti's Ravanavadha also belong to this age. Bappabhatti and Siddharshi are other known authors. Vajrata and Uvvata were vedic scholars of Patan and Vadnagar. Dwadviveda and Vishnu were other well-known scholars. In the eleventh century came Hemachandra and his band of scholars. Vagbhata wrote Vagbhatalankar. Someswara, the Nagara poet of repute wrote Kirtikamudi, Surathtotsava and Ullagharaghava. Nanaka, Subhata, Arisimha, Amarachandra Suri, Vastupala, Prahladana-deva, Manikyachandra, Mallishena Suri the author of Syadvada Manjari, Achala Dwivedi the author of Nirnaya Dipaka, Devavimalagani, Yasovijayaji, Vijayalakshmi Suri -- these are some of the prominent names of authors who have contributed significantly to Sanskrit literature and philosophy. (See Gujaratnu Sanskrit Sahitya: By Dr. A. B. Dhruva). The first known Sanskrit drama of Gujarat is Karna Sundari of Poet Bilhana. This Karna Sundari is none but Mayanalla, the mother of Siddharaja. Yasaschandra wrote 2 dramas -- one Mudita Kumudachandra and the other Rajimatiprabodha. But the foremost author of dramas of this time was our author under review Ramachandra Suri who wrote eleven dramas mentioned above. Another disciple of Hemachandra called Devachandra wrote Chandralekha. Vijayapala is the author of Draupadi-Swayamvara. Another Jain author called Ramabhadra wrote Prabhuddha-Rauhineya. Balachandra in 1221 A.D. wrote KarunaVajrayudha and poet Someswara wrote Ullagha-Raghava. Jayasimha Suri is the author of Hammiramada Mardana. Gangadhara in the 15th century wrote Gangadasa Pratapavilasa. Bhudeva Sukla's Dharmavijaya, Ravidasa's Pakhandakhandana, Ramakrishna Devaji's Gopalakelichandrika and Jagannatha's Bhagyamahodaya are some of the other dramas. In the 19th Century, Mahamahopaddhyaya Sankaralal wrote a number of Sanskrit dramas. Thus, from the 10th Century onwards, Gujarat has contributed more than 30 dramas out of which Ramachandra Suri alone has written 11 dramas. (For further details, see the article of Dr. Bhogilal J. Sandesara in Bharatiya Vidya 1940, I iii P.304 ff.) As stated before, Natyadarpana is composed by two authors - Ramachandra and Gunachandra. They have written their own Vivritti or ex