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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s51: 64. Dhāreśvara Bhojadeva

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s51

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64. Dhāreśvara Bhojadeva

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The Mit. (on Yāj. II. 135) says that Dhāreśvara tries to reconcile the conflicting texts about the right of the widow to succeed to her husband's estate by saying that she succeeded if her husband was separate and if she was willing to submit to *niyoga*. On the same verse the Mit. says that following Manu 9. 217 Dhāreśvara placed the paternal grand-mother immediately after the mother as an heir and even before the father. On Yāj. III. 24 the Mit. says that certain texts of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga about impurity on death were not accepted as authoritative by Dhāreśvara, Viśvarūpa and Medhātithi. Vide (sec. 60 on Viśvarūpa) about the remarks of the Smṛticandrikā on Dhāreśvara and Viśvarūpa. The Hāralatā⁵⁹² (p. 117) remarks (as does the Mit. on Yāj. III. 24) that Bhojadeva, Viśvarūpa, Govindarāja, and the Kāmadhenu did not cite certain texts as Jātūkarṇa's and that therefore they were not authoritative.

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⁵⁹² यानि जातूकर्णनाम्ना वचनानि लिखितानि तानि भोजदेव-विश्वरूप-गोविन्दराज-कामधेनुकृद्भिरलिखतत्त्वान्मत्स्यपुराणविरोधाच्च निर्मूलान्येव ।

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That Dhāreśvara is to be identified with Bhojadeva of Dhārā, perhaps the most famous Indian prince as a patron of learned men, follows from several considerations. The Dāyabhāga⁵⁹³ cites Bhojadeva and Dhāreśvara without making any distinction between the two. Some views that are ascribed to Dhāreśvara in one work are ascribed to Bhojadeva in another. The Vivādataṇḍava of Kamalākara ascribes to Bhojadeva the same views as to the widow's rights as are ascribed to Dhāreśvara by the Mit. Mss. of the Rājamārtaṇḍa (commentary on the Yogasūtras) have colophons saying that the work was composed by Dhāreśvara Bhojarāja. Dhāreśvara is styled *ācārya* by the Mit. (on Yāj. III. 24) and *sūri* by the Smṛticandrikā (II p. 257). Works on numerous branches of knowledge were composed by (or in the name of) Bhoja of Dhārā. On poetics we have two extensive works of his, viz. the Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa and the Śṛṅgāraprakāśa. A verse at the⁵⁹⁴ beginning of the Rājamārtaṇḍa tells us that Bhoja composed a work on grammar, a commentary on the Yogasūtra and a work on medicine called Rājamṛgāṅka just as Patañjali wrote on these three subjects (vide Mitra's Notices of Mss, vol. I, p. 115 for the medical work of Bhoja called Rājamārtaṇḍa alias Yogasāra). He composed a work on astronomy called Rājamṛgāṅka. A work of his on the Śaiva *āgama* called Tattvaprakāśa has been published in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. There are several other works ascribed to him, which need not be set out here. That he composed an extensive work on the principal subjects of dharmaśāstra follows from the numerous references to him contained in the Mit., the Dāyabhāga, the Hāralatā and other works. The Śuddhi-kaumudī⁵⁹⁵ (B. I. edition) of Govindānanda frequently speaks of a work called Rājamārtaṇḍa of Bhoja on śrāddha. The Jayasiṁha-kalpadruma (p. 26) quotes Rājmārtaṇḍa and Bhojarājīya on the same page. Whether Bhoja composed on Dharmaśāstra one work or two (as he composed two on poetics), and whether his work was a commentary or an independent digest it is difficult to say. M. M. Haraprasādaśāstri in one of his reports threw out the suggestion that the Kāmadhenu was the work of Bhoja, but this is entirely wrong, as the words of Śrīdatta in his Pitṛbhakti⁵⁹⁶ will show.

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⁵⁹³ दायभाग (p. 53, ed. of 1829) 'अयं वा धारेश्वरपुरस्कृतो वचनार्थः । इच्छया विभागदानप्रवृत्तस्य पितुः पैतामहेधने सदृशं स्वाम्यं पुत्रैः सह न तत्र स्वोपार्जितधन इव न्यूनाधिकविभागमिच्छातः कर्तुमर्हतीति ।'; दायभाग (p. 280) 'अत एव भोजदेवेनापि रुताकृतदुहित्रधिकारे बृहस्पतिरित्युभिधाय यथा पितृधने स्वाम्यमिति वचनं लिखितम्।'

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⁵⁹⁴ शब्दानामनुशासनं विदधता पातञ्जले कुर्वता वृत्तिं राजमृगाङ्कसंज्ञकमपि व्यातन्वता वैद्यके । वाक्चेतोवपुषां मलः फणभृतां भर्त्रेव येनोद्धृतस्तस्य श्रीरणरङ्गमल्लनृपतेर्वाचो जयन्त्युज्ज्वलाः ॥ Intro. 4th verse.

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⁵⁹⁵ अत एव राजमार्तण्डे भोजराजः-श्राद्धविघ्ने समुत्पन्ने मृतस्याविदिते दिने । अमावास्यां प्रकुर्वीत वदन्त्येके मनीषिणः ॥ p. 18. Vide also the श्राद्धक्रियाकौमुदी p. 480 for the same verse from the राजमार्तण्ड, which is perhaps more frequently quoted by गोविन्दानन्द than any other *nibandha*.

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⁵⁹⁶ तदेतानि वाक्यानि राज्ञालिखितत्वान्नादेयानीति केचित् । तदयुक्तं कामधेनावपि राजनिनबन्धवच्छिष्टपरिग्रहात्संशयं नार्हन्तीति चेत्, न राजालिखितत्वस्यादर्शनेनाप्युपपत्तेः । न हि यावन्ति स्मृतिवाक्यानि तावन्ति सर्वाण्येव राज्ञा दृष्टानीति प्रमाणमस्ति । पितृभक्ति (folio 38 of the D. C. ms No. 153 of 1892-95).

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Besides the two points noted above (about widow's rights and about the grandmother), there are others on which the Mit. and Dhāreśvara disagreed: viz. Dhāreśvara held ownership to be known only from śāstra, while the Mit. held it to be *laukika* (vide Vīramitrodaya pp. 528, 536); Dhāreśvara held that the word 'duhitarāḥ' in in Yāj. stands for *putrikā* in the order of succession (Smṛti-candrikā II. p. 295-96). On other points the views of Dhāreśvara coincide with those of the Mit., viz. on the usage of giving a special share to the eldest son having fallen into desuetude, on the daughter's son's right to succession, on the father's inability to give a greater or smaller share to his sons in ancestral property on a partition during his life-time. Vide my article on Bhojadeva in JBBRAS for 1925 pp. 223-224 for details of these and other views ascribed to Bhojadeva. A few other references may be noted here. The Nirṇayāmṛta⁵⁹⁷ (p. 68) quotes a Bhojarājīya text. In the Kālaviveka of Jīmūtavāhana two verses about taking food at the time of eclipses are cited from Bhojadeva (p. 539). In several works certain views are stated to be those of a Bhūpālapaddhati or of Bhūpāla or of Rāja. The reference seems to be to a work of king Bhoja. For example, in the Dānaratnākara a Bhūpāla-paddhati and Bhūpāla are frequently quoted.⁵⁹⁸ The Samayapradīpa⁵⁹⁹ and Ācāradarśa of Śrīdatta speak of both Bhūpāla and Rāja. In other works also the views of Bhoja are often referred to as those of Rāja (the king *par excellence*). For example, the Ekāvalī⁶⁰⁰ (a work on Poetics) says that in the Śṛṅgāra-prakāśa the king accepted only one *rasa*. The Varṣakaumudī (p. 107) says that a certain verse is cited by the Gaṅgāvākyāvalī without naming the author, but as it is not cited by the Rāja and the rest, it is unauthoritative.

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⁵⁹⁷ यत्तु भोजराजीयं- न दिवा न निशासु च विहिहता न च सप्तमीशल्यसमोपहतोति । इदं सप्तमीशल्यनिषेधपरम् । निर्णयमृत.

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⁵⁹⁸ पद्मासनगतांस्तद्वद् ब्रह्मविष्णुमहेश्वरान्। लोकपालान्सहैतांश्च स्ववाहनसमन्वितान् ॥ इति श्लोकार्धपादो भूपालपद्धतियोगीश्वर्योर्दृष्टः। दानरत्नाकर (D. C. ms. No. 114 of 1884-86) folio 34 b; *vide* folios 19a, 28a, 29a, 50 b for भूपाल.

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⁵⁹⁹ तदेवं गौडीयवचनानि प्रमाणयतां तदनुसारेण व्यवस्थोक्ता। भूपालादिमते तु सप्तम्येकादश्योर्वाचनिकी व्यवस्था तिथ्यन्तरेषु प्रधानकालानुरूपन्यायादुदयकालव्यापिन्यादर इति। समयप्रदीप (D. C. ms. No. 371 of 1875-76) folio 8 b; केचिच्च राजायलिखितवाक्यबलात् युगाद्येषु युगान्तेषु संक्रान्तिषु पिण्डं न मन्यन्ते। समयप्रदीप folio 54 a; इदं च बौधायनवाक्यं राजाद्यलिखितमपि बहुजनसंमतत्वालिखितम्। आचारादर्श (D. C. ms. No. 342 of 1875-76) folio 29 a.

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⁶⁰⁰ राजा तु शृङ्गारमेकमेव शृङ्गारप्रकाशे रसमुरीचकार। एकावली p. 98 (B. S. series).

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The several *tattvas* of Raghunandana mention two works of Bhojadeva or Bhojarāja. For example, the Tithitattva (Jivananda vol. I, p. 17) cites a text as quoted in the Bhujabalabhīma by Bhojarāja; similarly in the Śrāddhatattva, (Jivananda vol. I, p. 266) two texts are cited as quoted by Bhojadeva in Bhujabalabhīma. Raghunandana also mentions Rājamārtaṇḍa of Bhojarāja (vide Āhnikatattva, vol. I, p. 451). He often cites the Rājamārtaṇḍa and the Bhujabalabhīma on the same page without the author's name (e. g. *vide* Udvāhatattva, vol. II, p. 124). Raghunandana often speaks of a Bṛhad-Rājamārtaṇḍa along with the Rājamārtaṇḍa on the same or the next page (*vide* Tithitattva, vol. I, pp. 25-26 and Jyotistattva pp. 605 and p. 655). That the Bhujabalabhīma and the Rājamārtaṇḍa are two different works appears to be clear. Whether the Bṛhad-Rājamārtaṇḍa and the Rājamārtaṇḍa are distinct works is not quite clear. (Vide Tri. Cat. of Madras Govt. mss. for 1919-22, p. 4562, No. 3079 for Bhujabalanibandha of Bhojarāja in 18 adhyāyas on astrological matters in relation to dharmaśāstra such as strijātaka, karṇādivedha, vrata, vivāhamelaka-daśaka, gṛhakarmapraveśa, saṁkrāntisnāna, dvādaśamāsakṛtya ). The Bhujabalabhīma is also mentioned by Śūlapāṇi and by Rudradhara in his Śrāddhaviveka.

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Bhoja of Dhārā, according to the Bhojaprabandha, had a long reign of 55 years. There are three certain dates of his. A grant of Bhoja is dated *saṁvat* 1078 (i. e. 1021-22 A. D.). *Vide* I. A. vol. VI, p. 53; *vide also* I. A. vol. 41, p. 201 for Bhoja's grant dated *saṁvat* 1076 Māgha (Jan. 1020) and E. I. vol. XVIII, p. 320 for Betma plate of Bhoja dated 1076 Bhādrapada (September 1020 A. D.). His astronomical work, the Rājamṛgāṅka, takes *śake* 964 (1042-43 A. D.) as its initial date.⁶⁰¹ Bhoja's uncle Muñja was slain by Tailapa between 994-997 A. D. and Muñja was succeeded by Sindhūrāja or Sindhhula also styled Navasāhasāṅka. An inscription of Jayasiṁha, the successor of Bhoja, is dated *saṁvat* 1112, i. e. 1055-56 A. D. (vide E. I. vol. III, pp. 46-50). Therefore Bhoja must have reigned between 1000 and 1055 A. D.

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⁶⁰¹ शाके वेदर्तुनन्दोने रवेग्नो माससंयुतः। अधो देवान्वितो द्विस्थस्त्रिवेदघ्नस्तयोर्हतः॥ राजमृगाङ्क (D. C. ms. No. 105 of 1873-74).

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There is a work named Dharma-pradīpa by Bhoja (Deccan College No. 26 of 1874-75). It is a work by another Bhoja later than 1400 A. D., as it quotes Vijñāneśvara and the Madanapārijāta. It was composed by an assembly of *paṇḍits* at the bidding of king Bhoja of Āśāpura, son of Bhāramalla. The ms. was copied in *saṁvat* 1695 (i. e. 1638-39 A. D.).

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