________________
52
LĪLĀVAI
like a good counterpart of Sūdraka and Kharamukha of the legends summarised above. There is no sufficient evidence in the text to connect this Bhatta Kumärila with the famous Mimārsa philosopher (c. 700 A.D.). Some gathās from the Kośa are attributed to one Kumärila, see for instance I. 8. One Nāgārjuna ( who is called rasa-siddha), a minister of a king Cirāyu, is mentioned in the Brhatkathāmañjari. The legends, noted above, do associate Nāgärjuna with Hāla, and our poem calls him a Bhiksu (gäthās 1016 & 1028 ). This reminds us of the great Mahāyāna teacher, the founder of the Madhyamika school of Buddhism, who was well-versed in various branches of knowledge and about whom there are many legends depicting him as a charmer, magician and physician. The Suhrllekha' is an epistle composed by Nagarjuna; and he is said to have addressed it, according to I-tsing (who died in A. D. 713), to his old patron (dānapati) Sheyen-tehkia whose regal title was So-to-pho-hān-na. Gunavarman and others mention this name a bit differently. The Chinese sources mention that Nāgārjuna addressed this letter to his friend Satavahana. Bāņa ( c. 647 A. D. ) also relates a legend in which Sätavāhana figures as the friend of Nāgārjuna. Further it is interesting to note that Nagarjuna is associated with South India, so the place of his activities could not have been far away from Pratisthāna, the metropolis of Hāla. Thus there is enough of legendary basis as well as literary tradition of sufficient antiquity which must have led our author to make Nāgārjuna Bhiksu a teacher and guide of Häla.
It is in one important respect, namely, the wedding of king Hala with a princess of Simhala as elaborated by our author, that we do not get any support from the legends and literary traditions about Hala so far reviewed. The sources reviewed by us, it is true, are limited ; and it is equally possible that our author might have grafted this event for the
1 Kavyamala 69, Bombay 1931, pp. 500-1, see also Kathasarit-sagara
(Bombay 1930 ) p. 187. 2 It is generally held that he lived about the middle or in the latter half of the
2nd century A. D. 3 Winternitz: A History of Indian Literature, II, pp. 347 f. 4 I-tsing : A Record of the Buddhist Religion etc., Trans. Takakusu, Oxford
1896, pp. 158-160, especially the food-notes. Indian Antiquary, Vol. 16, p.
169 ff. 5 Harsacarita VIII, ed. P. V. Kane, Bombay 1917, p. 82 ; Trans. by Cowell and
Thomas, London 1897, p. 252.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
