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THE DYNASTIES OF CENTRAL INDIA
105
To this legend we need not attach much importance, because Udayapurprasasti informs us that Vairisimha, an ancestor of Bhoja, made the name of Dhārā etymologically fit by killing the enemies with the edge of the sword.
As a patron oj learning: King Bhoja figures in the Indian literature and folklore not merely as a warrior in various campaigns but is also renowned for his liberally patronising Art and Literature just as his illustrious uncle was. He made, however, his name immortal by promoting various cultural activities. His court was graced by a group of eminent contemporary Indian scholars. They were known as the jewels of the court (sabhāratna). Merutunga, in his Bhima-Bhoja-prabandha- mentions the names of some of them, such as, Māgha, Sitā, Dhanapāla, Sobhana muni, Mānatunga, Bāna, Mayūra, Rajasekhara. The Bhoja-prabandha adds Damodara, Kālidāsa, and Bhavabhūti. But some of the names, it seems, are anachronisms. For example, the poets Bāna, Mayūra, Mānatunga, Māgha, Kālidāsa, Bhavabhūti and Rājasekhara could not have been certainly contemporaries of Bhoja. We know from the history of Saṁskṛt literature that Bāņa, Mayūra and Mānatunga were almost contemporaries of Harşavardhana; Bhavabhūti was in the court of Yaśovarman of Kanauj; and Rajasekhara flourished under MahendraPala of Kanauj; the rest lived earlier than Bhoja. Merutunga also informs us that the poetess Sītā was in his court but according to the statement of the Navasāhasār ka-carila, she lived in the court of Krşņarāja, one of the forefathers of Bhoja.
His munificence: His love of learning and literature inspired him so much that he occasionally distributed his wealth among the erudites to promote their cause. He bestowed rich gifts upon the person who composed even an ordinary stanza. His munificences are recorded in the Jain prabandhas in the form of several anecdotes, only few abstracts from which are reproduced below:
One night a certain thief cut a tunnel beneath the wall of the palace and entered the treasure-room where the king was sleeping. The king suddenly awoke at the mid-night hour and seeing the moon recently risen in sky "like the rising of his literary sea," there arose from his lips this half stanza:
Agraferat 2
TIETTI
1 EI., I., p. 234: Tat Tua 2 Pt. Pp. 34-35. 9 Navasāhasärka-carita, XI., V. 77:
era una vita agafaa gaan हनुमतेव यशसा यस्यालध्यत सागरः॥
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