Book Title: Sambodhi 2018 Vol 41 Author(s): J B Shah Publisher: L D Indology AhmedabadPage 22
________________ Vol. XLI, 2018 Kathākautukam : Sanskrit rendering of Persian Yusuf-Zulaykha of Jami 13 Ti Śrīvara and his Kathākautukam (KK) – The second important translation of this type is perhaps the first effort to translate a literary text from Persian to Sanskrit. It is a Sanskrit translation of Nur-ul-Din Abd-ul-Rahman Mohammad Jami's (1414-1492 CE) book Yusuf Zulaykha (YZ) by Śrīvara. Śrīvara is said to have lived in the age of Kashmiri King Zain-ul-Abidin (1418-19, 1420-70) famous for religious tolerance unlike his father Sikandar Shah, who was an oppressor of Hindu population. Zain-ulAbidin's time is known for the translation movement in his court. He got imported the manuscript of Atharvaveda from Karnataka, which was lost during the reign of his predecessors. Ogura (2015) has collected the attestation of multiple sources about the translation of following Sanskrit works into Persian- (1) the Mahābhārata (2) the Kathāsaritsāgara by Somadeva, (3) the Daśāvatāra by Ksemendra, (4) the Rājatarañiņi (possibly only Kalhana's), (5) the Hāțakeæevarasamhitā, (6) the Prthvīrājavijaya by Jayānaka. Unfortunately, no manuscript relating to this translation movement has survived to date? The author of KK is said to be identical with the Śrīvara, the author of third Rajatarangini (the Jain-Rajtarangini) for two reasons-1- first, he remembers his Guru- Jonaka in the beginning of KK8. Scholars identify this Jonaka with Jonaraja, the author of 2nd Rajatarngini whose disciple Śrīvara authored the 3rd Rajataranginio. In a different place in KK, Srīvara mentions the name of his Guru as wellcach while eulogising him. In my view, this word is a Sanskritised form of जोनराज, as in the Prakrit languages ज्योत्स्रा changes to जोण्ह10 and the word GT is another variant of the same flu 2- Second, the author, in the beginning of KK, eulogises a Muslim King named Muhammad Shahi for his good governance and religious tolerance; especially prohibiting cow slaughter in Kashmir11. It is corroborated by many sources that this King is Zain-ulAbidin's successor Muhammad Shah (after Hassan Shah) who reigned over Kashmir 5 times following the excessive political upheavals of that time. Though, Sharma and Parab have cited the opinion of a scholar who raises doubts in oneness of Śrīvara. Majority of the scholars agrees about the identity of Śrīvara of KK with the Śrīvara of Rājataranginī. After his Guru - Jonaraja's death in 1459, Śrīvara assumed his role as Sanskrit historiographer. He maintained a close relationship with the Sultanate, being a teacher of Indian philosophy to Zain-ul-Abidin and later being employed in Hassan Shah's court as the director of the department of music. He was skilled in Persian12. If we take it as a fact then also one surprisingPage Navigation
1 ... 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 ... 256