A History of Sanskrit Literature c12.s3.1

c12.s3.1

Fate was long unkind to the *Jānakīharaṇa*¹ of Kumāradāsa, since it left the poem preserved only in a Sinhalese word-for-word translation, though, since first published from this source, it has come to light in southern India, where Sanskrit literature has often found preservation denied in the north. Ceylonese tradition of no early date or value asserts the identity of the author with a king of Ceylon (A. D. 517–26) who is connected, as we have seen, in tradition with the death of Kālidāsa. What is certain is that Kumāradāsa was a zealous admirer of Kālidāsa and very freely imitates him in manner as well as in general treatment of the subject, as comparison of Canto xii of the *Raghuvaṁça* with the relevant portions of the *Jānakīharaṇa* establishes beyond cavil. On the other hand, it is really beyond question that he knew the *Kāçikā Vṛtti* (*c.* A. D. 650), while on the other hand he must have been known to Vāmana (*c.* A. D. 800) who censures the use of *khalu* as first word, found in Kumāradāsa, and cites a stanza which in content and form proclaims itself as unquestionably a citation from the lost part of the *Jānakīharaṇa*. Finally, he was probably earlier than Māgha, who seems to echo a verse of his. Rājaçekhara, the poet (*c.* A. D. 900), asserts his fame:²