________________
92
POLITICAL HISTORY OF N. INDIA FROM JAIN SOURCES
to Balirāja, one of his predecessors, as one who defeated an army of Muñjarāja.' It seems that Muñjarāja extended his sway over some parts of Marwar.
Merutunga records his last campaign of Southern India in his Prabandha-cintamani, where he met his tragic end, as follows:
"As the king of the Telinga country, named Tailapadeva, harassed Muñja, by sending raiders into his country, he determined to march against him, though his prime-minister (mahāmātya) Rudrāditya, who was seized with illness, endeavoured to dissuade him. The minister conjured him to make the river Godãvari the utmost limit of his expedition, and not to advance beyond it; but he looked upon Tailapa with contempt, as he had defeated him six times before. In his overweening confidence he crossed the river and pitched his camp on the other side. When Rudrāditya heard what the king had done, he augured that some mischief would result from his headstrong conduct and he himself entered the flames of a funeral pile. Then Tailapa by force and fraud cut Muñja's army to pieces and took king Muñja prisoner, binding him with a rope of reed (Muñja). He was put in the prison and confined in a cage of wood and waited upon by Tailapa's sister Mļņālavati with whom he formed a marriage-union. His ministers, who had arrived subsequently dug a tunnel to the place where he was imprisoned, and made an appointment with him.” The story next proceeds to relate that "Muñja urged by his love to Mộnālavati revealed his plans to her, and the latter betrayed them to her brother. As a result of this, Tailapa had him bound with cords and taken about to beg from house to house for his food. Then the king had Muñja put to death and his head fixed on a stake in the courtyard of the palace and by keeping it continually covered with thick sour milk, he gratified his anger."
Historically this story is certainly important but not in its full details. In the first place, it relates that Vākpati waged wars for a long time and was killed by Tailapa II, the Cälukya king of Kalyāņa. This fact is confirmed by the two records of Vikramāditya VI (c. 1055-1126 A.D.) wherein it is stated that Taila II killed the valiant Muñja. The Āin-i-Akbari also records the tradition that Muñja lost his life in the wars of the Deccan. In
1 EI., IX, pp. 70 ff. 2 PC., Tr. by Tawney, pp. 33-36. 3 IA., XXI, pp. 167-68.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
