71. The Kamasamuha of Ananta

71. The Kamasamuha of Ananta, a Nagara Brahmin, Composed in A. D. 1457 # Aufrecht' makes the following entry in his Catalogue regarding a work called 'Kamasamuha' :- " kamasamuha alamk. Composed in 14572 by Ananta, IO 396. Oxf. 218 a. B. 346. Peters. 3. 22 a. 366. 394. D. 6." This work Kamasamuha contains verses illustrative of amatory sentiments composed by Ananta, son of Bhisagvarya Hiramantrimandana. That Ananta belonged to Tcg and his father's name was c can be seen from the following verse on folio 1 of MS No. 15 of 1869-70 in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute, Poona :I Journal of Oriental Research (Madras), Vol. XVI, Part I, pp. 74-81. 1. Cata. Catalogorum I, p. 93. 2. This date of composition is recorded in the India Office MS No. 396 (Vide I. O. Cata. Part III, p. 364 a). The chronogram recording the date is found in the following verse :- " samvat pancadasa prapte candravedapravatsare ( ! ) | caitrasukla caturdasyam tithau vare ca bhargave || " The work was composed in Samvat 1514 in the month of Caitra, Sukla paksa, 14 th tithi, Bhrguvara (Sukravara) which corresponds to Friday, 13 th April 1457 A. D. Vide Indian Ephemeris Vol. V, p. 116). The expression = 14 and not 41 as interpreted by Eggeling. Hence pancadasa + candraveda = 1514 and not 1541 Samvat. M. M. Haraprasad Sastri describes a MS of Kamasamuha in his Des. Cata. of MSS (A. S. B. ) Vol. VI 1931, p. 434. This MS is very nearly complete. M. M. Sastri states that the author is Ananta the son of trimandana with this title " bhisadmukutalankarahara ." The correct name of Antanta's father is 3 and not fc, as clearly stated by him in verse 78"sara: " (folio 6 of B. O. R. I. MS No. 15 of 1869-70). Obviously Sastri's statement is based on a wrong copy of the name in the MS before him. 494

bhabhallavamsajatena mantrimandanasununa | anantena mahakavyaprabandhah kriyate maya || 6 || " 495 It is not recorded in the work what office of a minister ( mantri ) was graced by H and under what ruling prince he worked in that capacity. It appears that mandana was the son of narayana as we are told on folio 5 in the following verse :-- " vidvajjanasabhananda ( do ) mantri narayanatmajah | mandanastasya putrena varnyante smarttavo'dhuna || 69 || " On folio 6 our author calls himself in the following verse: " mandanatanayo'nanto manmatharupah sakalasastrajnah | abhimatadata racayati rupam balavyavasthayah || 78 || " On folio 8 we find the following verse containing a reference to nose-ornament' repeated verbatim from earlier anthologies 66 sudhamayo'pi ksayarogasantyai nasagramuktaphalakacchalena | anangasanjivanadrstasaktimukhamrtam te pibativa candrah || 15 || The following verse beside its rhetorical implication shows that lamps used in India had no lamp covers² to protect them from wind :Folio 10- " dipo vatabhayattanvya vastrancalatirohitah | vilokya kucasaundarya makarah kampate sirah || 54 || " We have already pointed out that was the grandfather of ananta and father of mandana . This information is corroborated by the following verse on fol. 21 :- " narayanatmajah sriman mantrisrimandano dvijah | tatsutena priyavastha prayane varnita muda || 6 || " 1. Vide my article on the Antiquity of the Hindoo Nose-OrnamentAnnals, XIX, 313-334. The verse "sudhamayo'pi etc." is found in the Suktimuktavali of Jalhana composed in A. D. 1258 and in Sarigadharapaddhati (A. D. 1363). 2. I propose to prepare in due course a paper on references to lamps in Indian literature.

As composed the in A. D. 1457' we may assign the following chronology to his father and grandfather :- (C. 1400 A. D. ) - son (C..1430 A. D.) - ( A. D. 1457 ). ananta belonged to the nagarajnati as stated by him on folio 41:- " nagarajnatijatena mantrimandanasununa | anantena mahavyasa tivrttam prakasitam || " This family hailed from a town? founded by f Folio 39 - " ahimmada nirmitanagare vihitavasatisca vrddhanagarikah | mandanasunurananto racayati sevavidhim naryah || 77 || " The place of Ananta's residence viz. " ahimmadanagara " mentioned by him in the above verse may be identical with Ahmedabad 1. The Ms B. 3. 46" of Kamasamuha mentioned by Aufrecht is dated Samvat 1619 = A.D. 1563 and was in the possession of a 1 of Ahmedabad (Vide pp. 46-47 of of Buhler's Cata. of Gujarat etc. MSS, Fasci. I, Bombay, 1872). On p. 2 of Fasci. I Buhler observes "If no remark is added the era in whieh the MSS are dated is Samvat." In view of this remark the year 1619 given as the age of the MS of Kamasamuha on p. 47 of Faci. III is a Samvat year. 2. According to the Bombay Gazetteer Vol. I, pt. 1 (1896) which deals with the history of Gujarat, Ahmad I (1411-1441 A. D.) of Gujarat built Ahmedabad in A. D. 1413. As belonged to the nagara caste, the town " ahimmadanirmitanagara " must be identical with the modern Ahmadabad in Gujarat which is generally the home of the Nagara Brahmins. If this identification is accepted the appears to have been composed at Ahmedabad 44 years after the founding of Ahmedabad in A. D. 1413. 3 appears to refer to the foundation of Ahmedabad as a contemporary event of fresh occurrence. Ahmad I of Gujarat also built a town of the name Ahmadnagar (Himatnagar the modern capital of Idar state) in A. D. 1427 (Vide p. 83 of History of Gujarat by Commissariat, 1938). It is also possible that may have been the resident of this 3" (Himat- ahimmadanagara nagar). If this identification is accepted the was written 30 years after the foundation of Ahmednagar. 66

(founded A. D. 1413) or Ahmadnagar (Himmatnagar'), the capital of Idar State (founded A. D. 1427 ), both of which were founded by Ahmad I of Gujarat. It is not possible to identify 'ahimmada- "with modern Ahmadnagar (founded by Ahmad Nizam Shah in A.D. 1494) as such identification would result in an anachronism. In the following verse on folio 3 we get the name of Ananta's guru viz. anandapurna " - dhyatva samastagurukaryavidhau samartham srisaradam kavijanasya mukhe vasantim | anandapurna gurupadayugam pranamya vyakhyam vidhaya surabhe racayatyanantah || 27 || " Is it possible to suppose that I mentioned in A. D. 1457 as the guru of Ananta is identical with anandapurna alias vidyasagara the - 1. Vide Archaeological Finds in Idar State, Himmatnagar, 1936, p. 7 Himmatnagar is 55 miles north of Ahmedabad. It was founded in 1426. (The Bombay Gazetteer gives A. D. 1427 as the year of its foundation); P. 38-"History of Idar State attests that the Nagir Brahmins and Banias formed a large percentage of the population of the Sate in the olden times. It seems when Grahaditya, son of Shiladitya, the last king of Mallabhipur, came in possession of Idar State in the 7 th century, he brought with him from Vadnagar, many Nagir families out of gratitude to his foster-mother the Nagir lady Kamalavati. They held responsible posts in the administration and spread all over the State. Many Shiva-panchayatan temples and step-wells in the State are said to have been built by them. The Nagirs left the State in large numbers in the 17 th century when there was a great exodus on account of the tyranny of Rao Jagannath." (If the above evidence is correct the home of Nagara Brahman Ananta and his family must be Himmatnagar.) 2. See my paper on this author in the B. I. S. Mandal Quarterly, Poona, Vol. XX, Part 1, pp. 29-36. In this paper I have referred to Anandapurna's works of which there are MSS dated A. D. 1405 and 1434. See also Dr. V. Raghavan's article on this author in the Annals of Oriental Research, Madras University (Vol. II part I). The chronology of the two quis is as follows:- (Continued on next page) S.I.L.H.32

i was a commentator of the Mahabharata? This latter contemporary of the Kadamba ruler of Goa, one of whose inscriptions is dated Saka 1315, A. D. 1393. I shall now record below several verses at the close of different topics of the kamasamuha in which ananta refers to himself :Folio 14 - " suranarakavivandyam yoginam madhyasamstham sarasijabhavapatnipadapadmam pranamya | gurujanaparicaryaradhane sma pravino racayati kurupam sriranantaprabandhaih || 25 || " Folio 19 - " vayahprakarsadadhiramaniyakam - vivarnyarupam mrgasavacaksusam | sarvah sariravayavo viracyate- 'nantena naryah kavisarmavardhanah || 19 || " Folio 13 - " ananto'nantaphaladah kavinam dvijapujitah | tenedam racitam ramyam varnanam pathikasya ca || 92 || " Folio 27 - " mandano bhutale manyo bhupatinam bhisagvarah | krtam tattanayenedam priyavirahavarnanam || 51 || " Folio 28 - 66 - 'gajayurvedavetta vai dhanvantaririvaparah | mandanastasya putrena krteyam lekhapaddhatih || 80 || " Folio 30 - " mahakavyanibandhe'smin granthanalokya sarvasah | viyoginipralapaste'nantena parikirtitah || 20 || " - 88 Folio 31 mahakavya prabandhe'sminnanantena dvijanmana | priyasyagamanam ramyam racitam kavinirmitam || 34 || " (Continued from previous page) anandapurna, guru of ananta anandapurna Mbh. Commentator 1. Dates of mss of his works A. D. 1405, 1434 1. Mentioned as guru by ananta in A. D. 1457 2. Contemporary of Kadamba ruler Kamadeva - A. D. 1393

| Folio 32 - " ananto'nantasastrajnah satrunamantakrtsudhih | tenedam pathikaprasnam krtam kavisukhapradam || 42 || " Folio 33 - " iti kamasamuhe'smin anantena sukhapradam | mahakavya prabandhena krtam suratavarnanam || 81 || " Folio 34 - bahuni sastrani vilokya bhavyan samgrhya padyan sukavipranitan | anantaviprena mahaprabandhe krtam manojnam suratavasanam || 1 || " Folio 35 - " vrddhanagarakenaivamanantena dvijanmana | - 88 ratantakalahenaiva priyavakyavinirmitam || 20 || " Folio 36 - " kaminivacanamuttamamadbhutam Folio 37 - - " sukavina racitam kila buddhaya | viksa ( ksya ) bhavakavinirmitapadyan vipramandanasutena manojnan || 26 || " kovidahladakenevanantenanena vairina | gurorguruprabhavacca krtam prasnottarastam || 35 || " Folio 38 - " anantena maharamyam sarvakamijanapriyam | Folio 39 - 88 kamasya vasatisthanam suslokaih parikirtitam || 62 || " mantrimandanaputrena anantena sudhimata | vistaritam prabandhena sakamalaksanam subham || 71 || " Folio 40 - " anantena mahakavye sanandena mahatmana | samuhe kavyabandhasya viraktacihnamiritam || 4 || " Folio 42- sadanantena kavyebhyah slokan samgrhya yatnatah | prabandhe kama sadhe'sminnasati vrttamiritam || 51 || " Folio 45 - " anantena bhisagvidyavida vaidyajita muda I prabandhe kavyasanghe'smin vairagyam parikirtitam || 99 || " 499 iti srikamasamuhe mahakavya prabandhe bhisagvaramantrimandanasunoranantasya krti vairagyavarnanantah sarvakamasamuhagranthah sampurnah || pustakamidam kataghaccena likhitam parolakhyagrame ' | " 1. This village may be identical with Parola in the East Khandesh (Bombay Presidency ).

The account of our author of the as gathered from the foregoing analysis would be as follows:- ananta, the author of kamasamuha, belonged to bhabhalavamsa He was a Brahmin. His grandfather's name was . His father was mandana, who is styled as mantri or minister mandana is also called a court-physician (a :) who was proficient in veterinary science - gajayurvedavetta ) and was another dhanvantari or physician of gods. ananta twice calls himself vrddhanagarika, resident of a town founded by 3. This town may be either Ahmedabad founded by Ahmad I of Gujarat in A. D. 1414 or it may be identical with Ahmadnagar (Himmatnagar, Capital of the Idar State) founded by the same king in A.D. 1427. The a, composed by a (in his old age) in A. D. 1457 (Friday, the 13 th April) is an anthology bearing on Kamasastra and its several topics. ananta refers to his guru anandapurna only once in the kamasamuha . This anandapurna may be identical with anandapurna alias vidyasagara the commentator of the Mahabharata and writer of some Vedanta works, who was a contemporary of Kamadeva, the Kadamba ruler of Goa (c. 1393 A. D.). Evidently a may have been a junior contemporary of anandapurna or vidyasagara, if my identification of his guru g, as suggested by me is proved on independent evidence. Like his father who was an eminent court-physician, I was also proficient in the science of medicine as he calls himself " bhisagvidyavid . " As the is avowedly an anthology bearing on Kamasastra it would be interesting to trace some of his verses to their original sources. This work, however, has been made difficult by the author himself, who makes no mention of the sources from which he has borrowed. He only makes general statements about his borrowing, such as: " granthanalokya sarvasah " sukavipranitan | " 6. bahuni sastrani vilokya bhavyan | samgrhya padyan It appears that has mixed up his own composition with that of previous writers. I have not studied the question of references to the in later literature but shall note here one reference of A. D. 1787, in which was prepared in Poona at some cost as stated in a recent book' dealing with the Peshwa period. = year a copy of the 1. by N. G. Chapekar, Poona, 1937, p. 298 -- Saka 1709 A.D. 1787. Mr. Chapekar refers to the India Office MS mentioned by me already in this paper. He is not, however, aware of the 2 MSS of the work at the B. O. R. Institute in the Govt. Mss Library viz. No. 15 of 1869-70 and No. 283 of 1884-86, as also the Calcutta MS of the work described by Haraprasad Shastri (p. 434 of R. A. S. B. MSS. Cata. Vol. VI, 1931).