History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c14.53

c14.53

Lastly, we are told on the authority of I-tsing that “king Śīlāditya versified the story of Bodhisattva Jīmūtavāhana, who surrendered himself in place of a Nāga. This version was set to music. He had it performed by a band accompanied by dancing and acting, and thus popularised it in his time.”[2] The record of I-tsing, who came to India just a quarter of a century after the death of Harṣa, seems to me by far the most important and reliable testimony regarding Harṣa’s literary attempts and attainments.[3]