A History of Sanskrit Literature c23.s1.3

c23.s1.3

If, however, the poets desired their own fame, they were conscious that they could not achieve it without patronage, and this was naturally to be sought primarily from the king, or failing him from some rich patron. The motives which should influence kings are expressed repeatedly and most effectively. The glory of ancient kings, Daṇḍin assures us, mirrored in speech, endures after they have passed away; the fruits of men’s deeds, heaven &c., may pass away, says Rudraṭa, but the poet can preserve their names for ever, and Kalhaṇa, as we have seen, is most emphatic on this score.¹ In Rājaçekhara we have the utmost insistence on the duty of the king, both in regard to poetry and the sciences; he is to hold a formal durbar at which a vast array of poets and others are to be present and to examine the merit of the work presented for consideration, and he should reward poets according to their merits, following the example of Vāsudeva, Sātavāhana, Çūdraka, and Sāhasāṅka. He is also to set up assemblies of Brahmins, Brahmasabhās, in the great cities of the realm in order to have tests applied to works presented there for approval, and we have given to us lists of the great poets Kālidāsa, Meṇṭha, Amara, Rūpa, Sūra,² Bhāravi, Haricandra, Candragupta, acclaimed at Ujjain, while the writers of Çāstras, Upavarṣa, Varṣa, Pāṇini, Piṅgala, Vyāḍi, Vararuci, and Patañjali, were approved at Pāṭaliputra. The *Bhojaprabandha*, though late and unhistorical, presents us with amusing pictures of such contests at court, and similar pictures are drawn in the *Prabandhacintāmaṇi*, showing that Rājaçekhara’s ideal was not seldom realized, while a more formal picture of a Sabhā is given by Maṅkha. Nor need we doubt that the relation between poet and king was happy for both; if Bāṇa’s wealth through the generosity of Harṣa was famous, there is much truth in the anonymous poet who asks where are departed the loads of gold, the rutting elephants bestowed by the great king on Bāṇa’s merits, whereas his glory limned in the poet’s flowing verses will not pass away even at the aeon’s waning.