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Material of Social and Historical Interest in the
UKTI-VYAKTI PRAKARANA.
by Dr. Moti Chandra, M. A., Ph. D. Cugator, Arts Section, Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay.
Govindachandra, the Patron of Pandita Damodara
From the internal evidences in the Ukti-Vyakti it is apparent that its author Dāmodara flourished in the reign of the greatest of the Gāhadwåla kings, Govindlachandra. He defeated-twice, between 1114 and 1118, the armies of the later Yāmini kings, and by imposing the Turuşkadanda, a Hindu rejoinder to Islamic jiziya, on the Muslim inhabitants of the Middle Country in the 12th century, he showed that even the Hindus, stirred to action by the plunders of Mahmud Ghaznavi, were capable of taking revenge: During the glorious reign of Govindachandra the Pālas and the Gaudas were defeated and his dominion was further extended. It is evident from his inscriptions that he was an orthodox Hindu who extended his patronage to the Brabmins by making them gifts of villages. Bhatta Lakshmidhara, the great minister of Govindachandra, in his Krtya Kalpataru (K. B. Rangaswamy Ayangar, Gaikawad Or. Se. Vol. I, p. 14, Baroda, 1941), praises his self control and bravery. He was, as Lakshmīdhara observes, as it were the dwelling place of knowledge and courage ( eşo jñāna-parākramaikavasatiḥ)'. Our author Damodara also refers to his patron Govindachandra in a highly ornate panegyric (24/7-14). He refers to his fame earned by bravery', and that he had the wealth of Kubera, the effulgence of the sun, and the intelligence of Bịhaspati, and, as the heaven is the abode of the gods, and the nethel world is the domain of the Great Serpent Seșa, likewise Govindachandra reigns over the rest of the world.
Occasional references have also been made to the acts of piety of Govindachandra and his subjects. At one place (21/14–16) his officer Sürapāla is referred as superintending the digging of a tank named. Rājasāgara, which may be identified with the Rājātalāle near Bandras or the Rāyal Tal in Chandauli. A temple built by Dhanapāla, a rich merchant of Banaras, is also referred (21/17-18). Govindachandra is also referred as establishing the Brahmanas on firm foeting at Bandmas (21/17–18), a fact which is amply supp#rted by the inscriptions of Govindachandra and his predecessors.
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