Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v1.c12.1

v1.c12.1

The date of Daṇḍin is one of the most difficult problems in the chronology of Alaṃkāra literature. Anandavardhana does not directly cite him, as he cites Bhāmaha, and the earliest mention of Daṇḍin's name occurs in Pratīhārendurāja (p. 26). Daṇḍin's own work gives us hardly any clue. His references to the *Bṛhatkathā* written in *bhūtabhāṣā* (i 38), or to the *Setubandha* known to him in *māhārāṣṭrī* version (i 34) throw little light on the question; and no definite chronological conclusion is deducible from the verses ii 278-79, which express, under the form of the figure *preyas*, the supreme gratification of a certain king, Rājavarman (or Rātavarman), on the occasion of his obtaining the much-coveted beatific vision of his adored deity.¹ The solution proposed to the *prahelikā* in iii 114 (also cf iii 112) by Taruṇavācaspati and other commentators that it refers to the Pallava kings of Kāñcī¹ only supports the Tamil tradition that Daṇḍin was probably a South Indian author. The allusion to Daṇḍin i 1, again, in a verse attributed by Śārṅgadhara (no. 180) to Vijjā or Vijjakā (whose date is unknown but who is tentatively supposed by some to be Vijayā, wife of Candrāditya and daughter-in-law of Pulakeśin II, about 659 A. D.)², implies merely a pleasant raillery at the expense of Daṇḍin by some later boastful poetess.