A History of Sanskrit Literature c16.s2.25

c16.s2.25

Contemporary of Bāṇa and Mayūra at Harṣa's court was, according to tradition preserved by Rājaçekhara, Mātaṅga Divākara,¹ also styled a Caṇḍāla, though we can hardly suppose that this epithet really means that a man of the lowest caste was a peer at court of the greater poets. Our remains of him suggest that he was a clever courtier, for one verse seems very like a panegyric of Harṣa, though it has been censured by Abhinavagupta for inelegance; the point, however, of the stanza is probably the suggestion that Harṣa is sure to have a son who will succeed him, as was doubtless, though fruitlessly, his dearest wish: