9. Friends and Disciples

Kṣemendra mentions the name of one Rāmayaśas. Kṣemendra says that he composed the Mahābhāratamañjarī^[1] and the Bṛhatkathāmañjarī^[2] on the request of this Rāmayaśas. Rāmayaśas is said to be a pure minded Brāhmaṇa. Kṣemendra’s son Somendra also mentions the name of Rāmayaśas in his Introduction to the Bauddhāvadānakalpalatā^[3] Somendra mentions him as a sarvaprabandhapreraka which indicates that most probably he also insisted Kṣemendra in composing different works.

In the Aucityavicāracarcā^[4], Kṣemendra calls Ratnasiṃha as his friend. Ratnasiṃha was the father of Kṣemendra’s disciple Udayasiṃha, king of Śrī-Vijayeśa. It is said that to give education to Udayasiṃha, Kṣemendra composed the said work.

In the Introduction to the Kṣemendra’s Bauddhāvadānakalpalatā, Somendra expresses that because of Sajjanānanda’s request, Kṣemendra composed the said work.^[5]

Somendra also mentions the name of one Nakka as a friend of Kṣemendra.^[6] Nakka is said to be a Buddhist mendicant, who was well-known for his noble deeds.

In the Introduction to Somendra’s Bauddhāvadānakalpalatā, Somendra mentions the name of a ācārya called Sūryaśrī.^[7] Probabaly, he was a friend of Kṣemendra.

Kṣemendra also mentions the name of his disciples. In the Aucityavicāracarcā, he himself mentions the name of his disciple Udayasiṃha, where he mentions that he composed the said work to give education to Udayasiṃha.^[8] In the Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa^[9], Kṣemendra quotes examples from the two mahākāvyas of his disciple Udayasiṃha, namely the Bhaktibhava and the Lalita.

Kṣemendra also mentions the name of another disciple Lakṣmaṇāditya.^[10] Kṣemendra mentions him as Rājaputra. Most probably, Lakṣmaṇāditya was also a poet. Kṣemendra in his work Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa, quotes one verse from the work of Lakṣmaṇāditya.

From the above discussion, it is noticed that Kṣemendra had several numbers of friends and disciples. Among them some belonged to royal family. But, there is no clear evidence to show that Kṣemendra was ever a court-poet either under Ananta or Kalaśa, king of Kashmir. Kalhaṇa who recognises Kṣemendra as a poet^[11] does not describe him as having enjoyed royal favour, nor does the great historian in his rather long and detailed account of Ananta mentions Kṣemendra or anybody else as a court poet under the king, although in the Rājataraṅgiṇī we come across names of kings whom Kalhaṇa describes as patron of letters and also of scholars and poets who enjoyed royal patronage.^[12] In the Darpadalana^[13] Kṣemendra hints that he worked independently.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

kadācid brāhmaṇenetya sa rāmayaśasārthitaḥ/
saṃkṣiptāṃ bhāratakathāṃ kuruṣvetyāryacetasā// Mahābhāratamañjarī ,Upasaṃhāra,3

[2]:

kadācideva vipreṇa sa dvādaśyāmupoṣitaḥ/
prārthito rāmayaśasā sarasaḥ svacchacetasā// Bṛhatkathāmañjarī ,Upasaṃhāra,9

[3]:

yasya rāmayaśāḥ sarvapravandhaprerako dvijaḥ/
Bauddhāvadānakalpalatā ,Introduction,5

[4]:

śrīratnasiṃho suhṛdi prayāte śārvaṃ puraṃ srībijayeśarājñi/
tadātmajasyodayasiṃhanāmnaḥ kṛte kṛtastena girāṃ vicāraḥ// Aucityavicāracarcā ,Upasaṃhāra,4

[5]:

prayātaḥ sajjanānandaḥ puṇyaḥ prathamadūtatāṃ/
Bauddhāvadānakalpalatā ,Introduction,5

[6]:

taṃ kadācit sukhāsīnaṃ suhṛdguṇavatāṃ varaḥ/
saugataḥ khyātasukṛto nakkanāmā samabhyadhāt// ibid., Introduction,6

[7]:

yasya hastagataṃ sarvaśāstramāyāti sungvatāṃ/
ācāryyaḥ so’tra sūryaśrīrlipinyāsāsārthamarthitaḥ// ibid., Introduction,15

[8]:

śrīratnasiṃho suhṛdi prayāte śārvaṃ puraṃ srībijayeśarājñi/ tadātmajasyodayasiṃhanāmnaḥ kṛte kṛtastena girāṃ vicāraḥ// Aucityavicāracarcā ,Upasaṃhāra, 4

[9]:

acetanacetanādhyāropaparicayo yathā macchiṣyamahāśrībhaṭṭodayasimhasya lalitābhidhāne mahākāvye—
iha vikasadaśokastokāpuṣpopakārairayamatiśayaraktaḥ saktasusnigdhabhāvaḥ/
tribhuvanajayasajjaḥ prājyasāmrājyabhājaḥ prathayati pṛthumaitrīṃ puṣpacāpasya caitraḥ//
bhaktiparicayo yathāsyaiva bhaktibhavanāmni mahākāvyebālyādeva nirargalapraṇayinī bhaktirbhavānīpatau janmābhyāsavikāsavāsitmanaḥ saṃvāsasandāyinī/
prāyaḥ prāktanakarmaninirmitamahāmohaprarohāpahā bhavyānāṃ bhavabhītibhañjanasakhī sañjāyate sanmatiḥ// Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa ,pp.88-89

[10]:

vivekaparicayo yathā macchiṣyarājaputralakṣmaṇādityasya. ibid.,V. p.89

[11]:

Rājataraṅgiṇī , I.13

[12]:

Dattaray, Rajatbaran, A Critical Survey of the Life and Works of Kṣemendra, pp.78-79

[13]:

Darpadalana , III.10