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ŅAYAKUMĀRACARIU
II, p. 57-80, 146-156; JJ 1st Oct. and 1st Nov. 1926; Jasa. Intro.). From these the following facts about the author and his works can be gathered :
1. Puspadanta was the son of Keśayabhatta and Mugdhādevi, Brahmins of Kāśyapa gotra,
2. He travelled to Mānyakheta from somewhere and was patronised by Bharata, and later, by his son Nanna, both ministers of Krisnarāja alias Vallabharāja, who may be identified with Krisnarāja III of the Rastrakūța dynasty of Mānyakheta.
3. The poet mentions the following three historical events of his time :(i) The king of Mānyakheta, here called Tudigu, killed the Cauda king
(identified with Rājāditya Cola killed by Krsna III in A. D. 949). (ii) The king of Dhārā burnt Mānyakheta. This king is identified with
the Parmär prince Hareaceva. (iii) A severe famine razed over Manyakheta. This event is surmised to
have followed the raid of the capital by Harsadeva (Jasa. IV, 31,8). 4. Three works of the author have so far been discovered, Mahāpurina or Tisatthi-purisa-gunālamkāra in 102 chapters, Jasaharacariu in 4 chapters and Ņāyakumāracariu in 9 chapters.
5. The author began his Mahapurāna in Siddhārtha Samvatsara and completed it in Krodhana Samvatsara, Ashādha sukla 10 Sunday the 11th June, 965 A.D. In the present work the author mentions Krsnarāja as still ruling at Mānyakheta. For his successor Khottigadeva we have a stone inscription dated in the Saka year 893= A. D. 971. This date, therefore, is the terminus ad quem for the composition of our work.
6. In the Mahāpurāna Puspadanta describes himself as of tender constitution and ugly appearance, homeless, dressed in rags and barks, bathing in rivers and pools and sleeping on bare ground. Never-the-less he was equanimous towards the rich and the poor and friendly to all. He had a high sense of self-respect and was excessively fond of poetry as is shown by the epithets Ahimanameru and Kavvapisalla which he frequently uses for himself in all his works, though they were originally given to him by his critics some of whom, however, did not omit to decry him, o f oaia 10073 Forfa ofa sa TOUS'
T
1
I shall now confine myself to what the author says about himself in the present work and the circumstances that led him to compose it. In the colophon of each Sandhi we are told that it is the work of Mahäkai Pupphayanta, Sanskrin Puspadanta. At the beginning of the work the poet introduces himself as t-he sot of Muddhāi, Skt. Mugdhädevi, and Keśavabhatta of Käsyapa gotra. He was re, siding in the house of Nanna in the city of Manyakheta when two persons Näilla and Silaiya, pupils of one Mahdadhi approached him, eulogised his talents and expressed their desire to hoar from him the story of Nāgakumāra, illustrating
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