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THE PARAMĀRA EMPEROR BHOJA THE GREAT AND KAVI DHANAPĀLA: A STUDY IN THEIR MUTUAL
RELATIONSHIP*
N, M. Kansara,
The Jaina historical tradition preserved in the chronicles composed by Prabhacandra and Merutunga tallies with the internal evidence of the Tilakamanajari in testifying to the fact that the Paramara King Väkpatiraja Muñja conferred the title "Sarasvanz" on Kavi Dhanapāla. But it is not certain whether he enjoyed the same favour from Munja's successor Sindhuraja, who, as has been described by Padmagupta alias Parimala, ruled from Ujjayini, though Dhāra also might have been continued as one of the seats of the sovereign, Otherwise, why should Sindhurāja ask Parimal, instead of Dhanapala, to compose an epic on his history ? Or perhaps Dhanapāla might not have been adjudged as sufficiently mature poetically, as compared to Parimala, to execute the task satisfactorily. But Dhanapala could not have been converted to Jainism by that time. It was after at least twelve years of Bhoja's rule that Dhanapāla was won over by Jainism.2 This might have been after 1111 A D. Before that, he was a staunch Brahmin well-versed in the Veda, Smrti, Stoma and sacrificial ritual.By this time Dhanapala must have been at least fifty-seven years of age. Till then his relations with Bhoja must have been very cordial and he was considered as one of the indispensable scholars of Bhoja's famous assembly of five hundred pundits.
But, according to the Jaina tradition as preserved in the Prabhāvakacarita (PRC) and Prabandhacintamani (PC) this relation steadily deteriorated arter the change of faith by the well-versed staunch Brahmin pundit like Dhanapāla whom the Jainas seem to have considered a prize catch and a valuable asset, since he is said to have turned out to be a worthy defender of their faith-rather worthier-in tbat he was a royally recognized superior to all other pundits of Bhoja's court and a prized product of the Brahmanical faith in which they were trying to make inroads. This must have put Bhoja himself on the defensive in favour of the Brahmanaical religion, a staunch votary of which he himself was. The anecdota about the dialogues between Bhoja and Dhanapala seem to emphasize the elocutionary skill and a superior convincing power of Dhanapala who is ever shown to have defended Jainism and deprecated Brahmanical Hinduism. The dialogues generally concern such aspects of the Brahmanical faith as the status of Siva as a Yogi par excellence iuspite of his having married with Parvati, the violence involved in the sacrificial
