History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c11.161

c11.161

Fifthly, the passage in the *Harṣacarita* is not such as to warrant our drawing any definite conclusions. “The inaccessible land of snowy mountains” may not refer to Nepal. Ettinghausen² thought that it referred to some Tukhāra country. Moreover, it is capable of bearing more than one interpretation. “Atra parameśvareṇa tuṣāra śailabhuvo Durgāyā grihītaḥ karaḥ,” might as well mean without violence to the context: “Here the supreme lord has obtained the hand of Durgā born in the snowy mountains,” which in all probability alludes to Harṣa’s marriage with some hill-princess belonging to a very powerful family. That he was married is evident from the following passage put by Bāṇa into the mouth of Harṣa: “Kalatram rakṣatu iti śrīste nistrimsedhivasati,” i.e., “if you would have me watch over my wife, glory resides in your steel.”³