The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c8.s8.3

v1.c8.s8.3

Pravarasena was a man of literary tastes and composed early in his life the famous Prākṛit poem Setubandha, describing the victory of Rāma over Rāvaṇa.² The literary tradition which avers that the poem was considerably improved by Kālidāsa at the instance of Vikramāditya, i.e. Chandragupta II, though late, is probably well founded.³ Unlike his parents, Pravarasena II was a Vaiṣṇavite; it is interesting to note that the poem he composed describes the exploits of Rāma, an incarnation of Viṣṇu. This shows that there was not much bigotry then associated with the divisions Śaivite and Vaiṣṇavaite. Rāmagirisvāmin, the presiding deity on the hill at Rāmtek, was the tutelary deity of Pravarasena’s mother, Prabhāvatīguptā; it is then no wonder that her son should have written a poem describing the most glorious exploit of Rāmachandra.