A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.s1.9

c11.s1.9

Nor is there any doubt that the drama must have flourished under their patronage; indeed it has been suggested that Candragupta's epithet *rūpakṛtin* denotes maker of plays, which would make the king a predecessor of Harṣa as a dramatist; the accuracy of the rendering is not, however, beyond cavil. What, however, is certain is that Sanskrit was essentially the language of the court and of learned men; even Buddhists such as Vasubandhu and Asaṅga resorted to it as a matter of course as the means of securing a respectful hearing for their doctrines. The disputes between the rival schools were probably friendly enough; the Sāṁkhya philosophy as expounded in the *Kārikā* of Īçvarakṛṣṇa seems to have been the object of special attack by Vasubandhu, and Samudragupta's interest in these matters may have been aroused by that teacher.