Book Title: Kuvalayamala Part 2
Author(s): Udyotansuri, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

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Page 156
________________ 117 not mention by name any other text except the treatise of Caṇakya which shows that the Arthasastra of Kautilya was existing and formed an important subject of study by young men at the educational centre at Varanasi. Page 57.13-15: There is an expression of views about the relative importance of Trivarga consisting of Dharma, Artha and Kama in which emphasis is laid on Artha, according to individual precipitation, adding that wealth should be earned even by crooked means. It was a topic on which the political thinkers usually express their opinions. A CULTURAL NOTE Page 57.27: There is a vivid description of a commercial prosperity of the city of Pratiṣṭhāna where rich merchants earned plentiful of gold and jewels. Page 58.32: There is a reference to raccha-caükka or Police posts which were like defence citadels garrisoned by soldiers and were a common feature of medieval administration Thāne. These were also known as gulma-sthāna, the garrisioning contingent of the government, in Gupta administration and found in Mrcchakatika. In the medieval period, the rakṣā-cātuṣkika had come into existence and is recorded in the inscription of Vastupala and Tejapāla (Tejāpālaprasasti, about 1225 A.D.). According to Malika Muhammad Jayasi, Allauddin also continued this practice of establishing defence posts (thāne) along the path of his marching army which suggested the means of his occupations. Abul Fasal in the Ain Akbari also refers to this practice in the time of Akbar (Ain Akbari, BLOCHMAN'S Trans., Vol. I, p. 369, foot-note). The words thāne and chauki are still current terms in Hindi languages, sometimes used together as an instance of poly-glottism showing that the origin of the word sthāna, which is also used by Kautilya, proceeded by catuşka to denote this meaning. Page 59.4: There is a reference to a gujjara-pahiya, that is, a traveller of the Gujjara clan which seems to be one of the earliest references to the Gurjara settled down in the region of south Rajasthan and Gujarat. Page 59.5: This is a Dvipadī: a new metre is availed in Prakrit in which the first and the second line agree in tukanta; and each line consists of 24 moras with a yati at 13 and 11 moras which correspond exactly Doha-chanda of Apabhraṁśa and Hindi languages. Page 62.5: There is a reference of Palli, which was a forest settlement, and to its sabara chief, the description being partly modelled after Bāņa's Harṣacarita. Page 63. § 124: The author has given specimen of spoken dialects as used by the village people. In line 22 there is a reference of Kāpālika sect as a means to get rid of sins. The details of this religious practice are not given; but it appears to be quite familiar. It implies the assumption of Saiva practice of eastern character and roaming about the country visiting great teachers and centres of pilgrimage. There are references to Kāpālika mendicants in contemporary literature. In line 24 there is a reference to Jyeṣṭha Maha-mahattara who was placed in charge of all the Drangas, or defence posts, in that area. The word is very often used in the Rājatarangiņī of Kalhana to denote an institution which was common in the North-west. Its mention by Uddyotanasūri is significant as showing its extension to Rajasthan area. Page 64. § 127: There is a description of the capital city of Taksila which Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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