A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s1.10

c19.s1.10

In passing it may be observed that the inscription just mentioned comes from Aihole and records the achievements of Pulakeśin II in a short poem of no mean literary quality; its author, Ravikīrti, affirms that, by his composition, he deemed himself the peer of Bhāravi and Kālidāsa! A somewhat earlier inscription from Mahākūta is composed in ornate prose which could stand comparison with Bāṇa. In fact a complete history of Sanskrit literature must devote attention to inscriptions as much as to books. This is, in fact, equally true for all languages; but it is a subject that cannot be pursued here. Vijayabhaṭṭārikā, the wife of king Chandrāditya who was a son of Pulakeśin II, has been plausibly identified with the poetess Vijayāṅkā or Vijjikā, who describes herself as a dark Sarasvatī (the Goddess of Learning, usually depicted as white), and whom the great critic Rājaśekhara placed next only to Kālidāsa for style. The few verses of this poetess which have been preserved in the anthologies go far to justify this high estimate.