A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s6.80

v3.c35.s6.80

Here we must make mention of a poet who is frequently referred to in Indian tradition as a contemporary of Kālidāsa, i.e., Kumāradāsa, whose epic Jānakīharaṇa¹, that narrates the tale of Rāma upto the time of the kidnapping of Sītā. Tradition ascribes the authorship of the poem to a Ceylonese king Kumāradāsa (517-526), who may have been a friend of Kālidāsa. But there are many indications that go to support the view that this poem of mediocre merit is of a later date. ["It is really beyond question that he knew the Kāśikāvṛtti (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 the 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. Rājaśekhara, the poet (c. A. D. 900), asserts his fame:—