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Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s5: Sanskrit Literature

Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s5

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Sanskrit Literature

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There was great literary activity in Sanskrit throughout the country. Of the Sanskrit writers on religion and philosophy in the fifteenth century the most famous are Rudradhara, Misāru Misra and Vāchaspati Misra of Bihar. Indeed, from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth, Smriti literature "flourished in Mithila so luxuriantly that the writers came to be regarded as forming a separate school".¹⁰⁰ Rudradhara wrote several works on Dharmashāstras including *Shuddhiviveka* and *Srāddhaviveka*. The former deals with purification in all its aspects; while the latter with the Srāddhas. Rudradhara belonged to the early years of the fifteenth century. To the middle of the century belonged Misāru Misra, the celebrated author of *Vivādchandra*, dealing with laws and procedure, and *Padārtha-chandrikā*, dealing with the Nyāya Visēshaka system. But the doyen of the Mithila writers was Vāchaspati Misra, who was adviser in Dharmashāstra of Mahārājā-dhirāja Harinārāyana and his son Rūpnārāyana. He was a prolific writer having to his credit more than a dozen works. His *Vivādchintāmani* holds a prominent position in Hindu law. He belongs to the latter part of the fifteenth and earlier part of the sixteenth century.¹⁰¹ About the same time (i.e. early sixteenth century, c 1510) Dalpat Rai, a Brahman officer in the army of Ahmad Shāh I of Gujarat, wrote an encyclopaedic work on *Dharmashāstra*.¹⁰² To this same period belongs Raghunandan Misra of Bengal, a renowned commentator on the Smiriti. Under the patronage of Madan Singh, who ruled (1425-50) over Gorakhpur and Champāran, was written the *Madan-pradīp* dealing with the various Sanskāras. Visheshwar Bhatta wrote the *Madanpārijata*, dealing with Sanskāras, under king Madanpāla, who ruled at "Kashtha on the Yamuna". Vallabhachārya in his *Anubhāshya* on the Brahmasūtras propounded the Suddhavaita system or pure monism.

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¹⁰⁰ Cited in Ishwari Prasad, *Medieval India*, 550.

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¹⁰¹ The dates of these Mithila writers have been discussed by Mehendale and Pusalkar in *The Delhi Sultanate*, 478-79.

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¹⁰² Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 1951, Jaipur, 142.

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In Vijayānagar, literary activity in Sanskrit was more manifest. It was because the south was not long under direct Muslim influence. Sāyana, the famous commentator on the Vedas, served as Minister under Hari Hara II, and his brother Mādhava under Bukka. Krishna Dēva Raya was a great patron of Sanskrit and Telugu literature. "The numerous inscriptions show that a knowledge of Sanskrit was widely diffused and court-poets and writers were past-masters in drafting official documents."\103 The Jains also produced a great deal of religious and secular literature. A great Jain writer of the middle of the fifteenth century was Sakalakīritti.

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\103 Ishwari Prasad, *Medieval India*, 552.

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Drama and poetry form the soul of Sanskrit literature, and a large number of *Kavyās* and dramas were written during the period of our study. To the early part of the fifteenth century belongs the *Pārvati-Parinya* of Vāman Bhatta Bāna. Gangādhara wrote the *Gangādās-Pratāp-Vilāsa* which deals with the struggle of the Champanir prince, Gangadāsa Pratapdēva, against Muhammad II of Gujarat (A. D. 1443-52). In Bengal, Rūpa Goswāmī, Minister of Sultan Husain Shāh, composed the *Vidagdha Mādhava* and the *Lalitā Mādhava* about A. D. 1532.\104 The Dramas of Rūpa Goswāmī reveal poetical powers of a high order.

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\104 Keith, *Sanskrit Drama*, 250-51.

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Ramchandra, son of Lakshman Bhatta, composed in 1524, *Rasik-ranjana* at Ayodhya which combines the erotic and ascetic sentiments. Vidyāranya of Vijayānagar wrote the *Shankaravijāya*, supposed to contain a biography of the great Shankarachārya. Two other court poets of Vijayānagar were Diwākar and Madhava. To this period also belongs the Gujarat historical *Kavya Gurugunā Ratnākar*, written by Somnath in 1485.

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Many works were also produced on the science of grammar, lexicography and poetics. Ramchandra (A. D. 1400) wrote his *Prakriyā-kaumudi* in which he has rearranged the material of Pānini. At Ahmadabad, in 1458, was written *Nyāyāratha-manjūsha*, a commentary on Hēmchandra's grammar. Punjarāja, a minister of Ghayāsuddīn Khaljī of Malwa (1469-1500) wrote the *Sisuprabodh* on Alankāra. In Bengal some of the best commentaries on Pānini were written by Nandan Misra, Pundarīk Vidyāsāgar and Srīman Misra. Lexicographers like Brahspati Rāyamukta, the famous commentator on the *Amarkosh* flourished during the fourteenth century and Appāraya in the fifteenth. Gangānanda, a court poet of Mahārājā Karna of Bikaner (1506-27) wrote the *Kāvyadakini* which deals with poetical blemishes (*doshas*). He also wrote *Karnābhūshana*, a treatise on peotical *rasas*. Works on music were a special feature of this period, and these were written both in the north and the south. *Matanga Bhārata* was written by Lakshmana Bhāskar in the fourteenth century. Vidyāranaya of Vijāyanagar wrote *Sangītsāra* on music. Similarly there were works written on medicine, astronomy, astrology and polity.

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According to A. B. Keith production of Sanskrit literature had suffered in quality under Turkish rule. The later additions to *Rājtaranganī* by Jonrāja, Srīvara and Prīya Bhatta were not so meritorious as the work of Kalhana himself.¹⁰⁵ Keith is also of the opinion that in the process of Turkish conquest Sanskrit drama "took refuge in those parts of India where Muslim power was the slowest to extend".¹⁰⁶ True, the creative period had long been a matter of the past; the "immense" quantity of production in every branch in general lacks originality. And yet the fifteenth century was not a period of stagnation. On the other hand the works of Vāchaspati Misra, Mādhavacharya and Vallabhachārya as well as those on music and grammar do credit to the period of our study.¹⁰⁷

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¹⁰⁵ Keith, *History of Sanskrit Literature*, 174.

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¹⁰⁶ Keith, *Sanskrit Drama*, 242.

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¹⁰⁷ Mehendale and Pusalkar in *The Delhi Sultanate*, 490.

Cites (14)