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BANERJEE : THOUGHTS IN HEMACANDRA
187
The personal life of a king as can be gleaned from the personal life of the king Kumārapāla delineated in the Kumārapālacarita of Hemacandra is fascinating. Though the duties of a king are enunciated by Manu, Yājñavalkya, and even by Lakşmīdhara in the Rājadharma section (xi) of his Krtyakalpataru, the duties of a king as recorded in the Kumārapālacarita are practical. It is stated there that after getting up in the morning, the king must pay respect to his favourite deities (Ku. 1. 72-73). The king will also perform other periodical religious rites (II. 9) including his daily morning prayer. The Srauta Brahmins usually performed the morning prayer along with the king (II.55). The king then used to come to the Mātņgpha (Ku I. 84) to worship mātȚs. After performing daily exercises (Ku. I. 90), the king used to attend the people in the morning (Ku. 1. 70) in his council-hall (II. 58) sitting down upon his Simhāsana (III. 77). As regards the education of the king, it is mentioned that the king must be educated in the Vedas and the religious scriptures as well as in all the fine arts (VI. 4, 6). The council-hall of the king was adorned by the august presence of poets and writers (XI. 66). Though Hemacandra did not mention how the literary court of a king should be exhibited, we can supply this information from the Kavyamīmāṁsā of Rājasekhara who was a senior contemporary with Hemacandra. Rājasekhara, a poet of the tenth century, says in his Kavyamimāṁsā (pp. 54-55 of Gaekwad's edition) the position of poets and artists in the literary hall of a king in the following manner:
“The king-poet should have a special chamber for testing literary compositions. The chamber should have sixteen pillars, four doors, and eight turrets. The pleasurehouse should be attached to this chamber. In the middle of the chamber there should be an altar one hand high with four pillars and jewelled floor. Here the king should have his seat. On its northern side should be seated Sanskrit poets and behind them Vaidikās, logicians (prāmānikas),
