53. The Influence of Jagannatha Panditaraja

53. The Influence of Jagannatha Panditaraja on some Deccani Authors of the Seventeenth on some Century Between A. D. 1650 and 1700* Like all great men Jagannatha Panditaraja had his enemies during the period of his life (between c. A. D. 1590-1665)'. In spite of these enemies the banner of his fame, though it may have been torn by his contemporary rivals, is kept fluttering even to this day and will continue to flutter so long as Sanskrit literature. continues to live. In spite of a few contemporaries, who may have been in conflict with his way of life 2 or his literary activities there were others who were influenced by his poetry and learning. I propose in this paper to record how the influence of this mighty mind affected the Deccani poets and pandits. My data on this topic is not exhaustive but only representative and hence may be made more elaborate by additional facts from contemporary sources, if available on a fresh research in sources hitherto known or in sources which remain still untapped. The first dated reference to Jagannatha Panditaraja by a Deccani³ author is found in an anthology called the Padyamrta Journal of the Mythic Society, Vol. XXXIII, No. 1, pp. 29-37. 1. Vide p. 35 of Jagannatha Panditaraja by Prof. V. A. Ramaswami Sastri. (Annamalai University Series No. 8) 1942. 2. For instance, the tradition about his liaison with a Muslim lady (yavani). Vide my paper on the subject to be published shortly in the Bharatiya Vidya, Bombay. - 3. Vide my paper on "The Date of Padyamrtatarangini of Bhaskara Samvat 1730 ( 12 th June 1673)" in the Calcutta Oriental Journal, Vol, III, pp. 33-55 (1935). Bhaskara's family hailed from s near Nasik (Bombay Presidency) as stated by him in this anthology:- tryambakesvarapurikrtavasadagnihotri kulaniradhicamdrat | punyapurna purusottamabhattadudbabhuva sukrti haribhattah || " Verses 1 to 5 give us the genealogy of the author up to his own gene- (Continued on the next page) (460)

tarangini completed on Thursday, 12 th of June 1673 by Bhaskara (alias Hari) at Benares. In this work on anthology a verse is quoted and its authorship ascribed to Panditaraja. This verse as found by me in Manuscript No. 376 of 1884-87 in the Government Manucripts Library at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute , reads as follows:Folio 7 b panditarajasya | 66 - dinnagah pratipedire prathamato jasyaiva netavyatam sambhavya sphutavikramotha vrsabho gaurava gauripateh | vikranternikasah karotu krtamam mamatrilaukitale kanthe kalakutumbini karunaya siktah sakanthiravah || 208 || " I have not identified the above verse but presuming that it was composed by Jagannatha Panditaraja as stated in the manuscript of the anthology we must regard it as the earliest quotation from Jaga. nnatha by a Deccani writer, whose family came from Tryambakesvara near Nasik. The author of the anthology, Bhaskara (alias Hari) as also his father Apajibhatta, were both residing at Benares. Apaji (c. A. D. 1650) as also his son Bhaskara (A. D. 1650-1690 or so) may have come into contact with Jagannatha Panditaraja. At any rate Apaji was a contemporary of Panditaraja (A.D. 1590 to 1660 or so) and must have read the works of Jagannatha produced during his life-time, say between A. D. 1610 and 1650. It is, therefore, Possible to suppose that his son Bhaskara was familar with Jagannatha's poetry. If these suggestions are accepted we may reasonably presume that the verse ascribed to Panditaraja by Bhaskara in his anthology of A. D. 1673 is the earliest quotation from Panditaraja by a Deccani writer of the second half of the seventeenth century'. (Continued from the previous page) ration. The complete genealogy as recorded in these verses is as follows:- ( kasyapagotra ) purusottamabhatta (agnihotri ) of tryambakesvarapuri (c. A. D. 1625) (c. A. D. 1650) apajibhatta (kamsiksetra nivasi ) bhaskara ( alias hari ) Composed works in A. D. 1673, 1676 (vrttaratnakaratika ) 1. Vide Aufrecht C. C. I, 759 - Bhaskara composed :- (Continued on the next page)

The next Deccani author to be influenced by the writings of Jagannatha Panditaraja was Hari Kavi' alias Bhanubhatta , who was a resident of Surat 2 in Gujarat. He wrote some works by the order of Krsna Pandita, the guru of the Maratha King Sambhaji ( A.D. 1680- 1689 ) and of Sambhaji himself. He composed his Sambhurajacarita or a poetical life of his patron Sambhaji in A. D. 1685. He composed an anthology called the Subhasitaharavali in which he quotes five verses and ascribes them to Jagannatha Panditaraja. My friend Dr. H. D. Sharma has been able to identify two of these verses in Jagannatha's works. These two verses are as follows:- (Continued from the previous page) adhyatmaramayana prakasa, gangastuti, padyamrtatatarangini, paribhasabhaskara, bhaskara- carita, yasavantabhaskara, laksmistuti, vrttaratnakarasetu written at Benares in 1676 A. D., suddhiprakasa, smrtiprakasa . " 66 Vide P. V. Kane's History of Dharmasastra, I, (1930) p. 718 - bhaskara ...............author of acaraprakasa, muktiksetraprakasa, suddhiprakasa (com posed in A. D. 1695-96 ) yasavantabhaskara ( under the patronage of yasavantadeva King of Bundelkhand ), smrtiprakasa, samvatsarakrtyaprakasa ( part of yasa- vantabhaskara ). bhaskara had two sons atmarama and jayarama . (Vide colophon of Manuscripts No. 314 of 1884-86 in the Government manuscript Library at the B. O. R. Institute - padyamrta- taranginitika by jayarama ). In this Manuscript of Jayarama's commentary on his father's work we find the following verses ascribed to pandita- raja in Bhaskara's text but not in Jayarama's commentary :Folio 13 - " kilalah kumkumanam sakalamapi jagajjalameghannisiktam muktasvonmattabhrnga visnatitakamalakodakaragrhebhyah | utsrstam gosahastram bahalakalakalah sruyate ca dvijanam bhagyaivrmdarakanam harihayaharita suyate putraratnam || 26 || praleyanam karalah kavalitajagati mandaladhvantajalat statasvarlokapala vidaladarunimaksiprabalapravalah | vislisyatkokabala jvaraharanabhavatkirtipurairjatala vyomavyasau visalastava dadatu mudam bhasvato bhanumalah || 27|| " panditarajasyaitau | 1. Vide my paper on 'Hari Kavi, alias Bhanubhatta a courtpoet of King Sambhaji and his works" (1) Sambhurajacarita composed in A. D. 1685; (2) Haihayendracarita and Commentary and (3) Subhasitaharavali. - Annals (B. O. R. Institute, Vol. XVI, pp. 262- 291, 1935). 2. Ibid, p. 271 - He refers to his Deccani origin by the epithet ( Continued on the next page )

. amuladvatnasanormalayavalayitat | Manuscript of subhasitaharavali fol. 334, V. 121 = rasagangadhara p. 94 ) 2. giramdevi vina0h ) Manuscript of su0 haravali fol. 40°, V. 224 ( = bhaminivilasa, IV, 39 ) 463 The Manuscript su0 haravali reads the last two lines of this verse as follows :- 65 aho tasyapyasyamatulabhanitau panditapateh | sprhanasyadakarnayitumathakasyamalamateh || The reading in the bhaminivilasa is :- " vacastasya karnya sravanasubhagam panditapate- radhunvanmurdhanam nrpasurathavayam pasupateh || " " The three unidentified verses ascribed to Panditaraja in the manuscript of the subhasitaharavali are :- " vitandahetvadyairativinatavakyairapinrbhi- 3. 66 najeyo'sau vidvajjanasadasi gangadharabudhah | purari proca ( nca ) ncajjatilo (?) ddhanitarirasta ti- nyambhahpuropamavacanavacali ( ta ) ravasuh || " -fol. 33, V. 122. 66 (Continued from previous page) daksinatyanvaya " and his residence in Surat by the epithets "mihira- pattanadhyasana " or " suryapurasthita ' ; mihira His genealogy is as follows:- (c. A. D. 1600 ) - cintamani I (c. A. D. 1625 ) - ranganatha | (c. A. D. 1650 ) - narayana 1 = surya ; suryapura = Surat in Gujrat. ( Between A. D. 1650 harikavi wrote sambhurajacarita in A. D. 1685 and 1700) Hari Kavi explains his Deccani origin :- 66 daksinatyesu maharastrabhidhadaksinadigbhavabrahmanesu anviyate etc. "

464 4. 5. STUDIES IN INDIAN LITERARY HISTORY " " samipe samgitasvaramadhurabhrngo mrgadrsam vidure danandhadviradakalahoddamaninadah | bahihore tesam bhavati hayahesa kalakalo igesa te yesamupari kamale devi sadaya || urasthasya bhrasyatkabarabharaniryatsu manasah patamti svabalah smaraparavasa dinamanasah | surastamgayanti sphuritatanugangadharamukha- stavayam drkpato yadupari krpato vilasati || "6 " -fol. 67, verses 598-9. mentioned in verses 3 and 5 needs to be identified. The last three verses quoted by Hari Kavi and the only verse quoted by Bhaskara need to be identified, if possible , in the known works of Panditaraja. It is possible to suppose that some of the stray poetic composition of Jagannatha has been lost to us. Even his Rasagangadhara has survived in an incomplete form. Dr. Hara Datta Sharma was the first to point out these verses in the Subhasitaharavali' of Hari Kavi though he was not then aware that this poet had any connection with the Maratha King In my Sambhaji, the son of Shivaji the Great. elaborate paper on Hari Kavi referred to above I have examined all the fragments of Hari Kavi's works discovered by Buhler in 1875 and linked up the literary activities of this poet with the Maratha history of the seventeenth century². The influence of Jagannatha on Hari Kavi is not confined merely to his quotations from Jagannatha's work. In his written in a sustained classical style we find the influence of Panditaraja almost in every line of the fragment that has come down to us. This fragment is manuscript No. 327 of 1875-76 1. Vide Ind. Hist. Quarterly, Vol. X, 1934, pp. 485 ff. 2. It is a pity that no student of Maratha history has been able so far to discover any reference to Hari Kavi in contemporary records. This is due to the dearth of these records especially for the The story of Hari period of Sambhaji's reign (A. D. 1680-1689). Kavi's contact with Sambhaji was unknown to Maratha history till the publication of my paper in 1935. Prof. Scherbatsky edited the Haihayendracarita from the fragment of manuscripts made available to him by Buhler. He could not, however, establish its connection with the Maratha King Sambhaji. Vide Memoirs of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Vol. IV, No. 9 (1894).

acquired by Buhler in 1875. On folio 21 of this fragment we find Hari Kavi's appreciation of Jagannatha's poetical composition :- 66 kamalapatalaspharatsphurjanmanoharasaurabho- nmadamadhukara srenisimjatasamudgatamadhuri | nahi subhagatam lokevimdasyanekagunadbhutam kavivara jagannathodamcadvaco racanavaleh || " This poem was composed by Hari Kavi by the order of King Sambhaji as also its commentary called the sambhuvilasika (Manuscript No. 829 of 1875-76). In the commentary Hari Kavi himself explains the above reference to Jagannatha as follows:Fol. 716- - " visesatah kavi prasamsati || kamaleti | madhurikatrah || kavivara jagannathatpanditarayaparanamnah kaverityarthah | udacamti | samudayamti yavace racana | padanupurvi tatpankeh sambamdhinimanekah bahusamkhyaye audaryadayo gunastaira - tamascaryakarinim subhagatam sumdaratam loke jagati naiva vindati | bhramaparasijayam kevala- jatamiti madhuryagunavatvadetadvacanaracanayam nanagunavatvanne tacchobhavagahanam tasya bhavah || anenasyah sarva gunavatvepi madhuryatisayo dyotyate | ata evanena svaya- mevoktam || ( bhaminivilasa IV, 41 ) - "vidvamso vasudhatale paravacah sla (gha ) suvacam yama bhupalah kamalavilasa madironmilanmadaddhurnitah || asyedhasyati kasyalasyamadhuna dhanyasya kamalasa- ssarvamagharamadhuri madhara nvacam vilasomami || tathaca ( bhamini0 IV, 38 ) - " amuladanasanormalayavalayitadacakula payodhe- " bhayantah santi kavyapranayanapatavaste visamkam vadantu || mattikamadhya niyanmasrnarbhari madhuryari bhagyabhajam vacamacayatayah padamanubhavitum nasti dhanyo madanya iti || " These references clearly prove the influence of Panditaraja on a Deccani poet who flourished between A. D. 1650 and 1700 and who, though resident of Surat in Gujarat had some contact with the ruling line of the Maratha Kings, Shivaji' and Sambhaji on whom he has showered much praise in his works. 1. Vide Annals, B. O. R. I. XVI, 287 - Verses 24 & 25 :- (Continued on the next page) B.I.L.H.-30

The third Deccani author to be influenced by Jagannatha Panditaraja was Vamana Pandita, who is assigned by Marathi scholars to the latter half of the seventeenth century' to which Hari Kavi belonged as we have stated above. He rendered Jagannatha's Gangalahari into Marathi verse using the original metre used by Jagannatha viz. ff. It is, therefore, known as Samasloki. This rendering of Vamana Pandita is very popular in the Deccan. If the date assigned to Vamana Pandita is correct his Samasloki rendering of the Gangalahari is perhaps the earliest and the finest tribute to Jagannatha's poetic genius by a Deccani poet of Vamana's fame and popularity. "That which comes from the heart goes to the heart and Jagannatha's Gangalahari did not fail to go to the heart of a poet like Vamana, whose early life² followed (Continued from the previous page) 66 ihasinnasiram ruciratanubhajam tribhuvane | sivakhyo desanamadhipatiranekadbhutagunah | vadanyo nehanyo jagati sivabhupadvijayate || " 1. Vide p. 247 of E by Bhave, 1919. Vamana flourished towards the close of Salivahana Saka - 16 th century. He is believed to have died in Saka 1617 ( = A. D. 1695). The Maharastriya Jnanakosa ed. by Dr. S. V. Ketkar (Vol. XX, 1926) p. (1986) assigns Vamana Pandita to the period A. D. 1636-1695 (See also p. 729 off by S. Chitrav, Poona, 1937). According to Mr. V. Bhave Vamana belonged to Bijapur. He studied Persian in his early life and Sanskrit later at Banares. He composed some Sanskrit prakaranas such as ( 1 ) siddhantavijaya, (2) anubhutilesa . He composed c in A. D. 1673 and in A. D. 1675. He translated the sataka of bhartrhara, the gangalahari of jagannatha and the bhagavadgita into Marathi verse. 2. If Jagannatha flourished between c. A. D. 1590 and 1665 and Vamana between A. D. 1636 and 1695 and as Vamana studied Sanskrit at Benares, there is reason to believe that Vamana may have come into personal contact with Jagannatha especially during the closing years of Pandita raja's career and perhaps as a result of this contact Vamana may have undertaken to translate the Gangalahari into Marathi verse. A manuscript of Jagannatha's citramimamsakhandana is dated A. D. 1652-3. This work mentions his I, which mentions the five s of Jagannatha, including the T. We may, therefore, presume that the I was composed before A. D. 1650 and was thus available to Vamana for translation,

close on Jagannatha's literary career. The flower of Jagannatha's poetic genius was not born to blush unseen or to waste its sweetness on the desert air but it emitted its fragrance far and wide, away from the Mughal court and the banks of the Ganges, where lived some of his contemporary rivals and enemies in the latter half of the seventeenth century'. The chronology of the Deccani authors influenced by Jagannatha Panditaraja may now be recorded in the following table :Name Chronology Remarks Bhaskara Agnihotri. Composed works Hailed from Nasik but residin A. D. 1673, ed at Benares. 1676 & 1695. Hari Kavi alias Composed works Bhanubhatta. about A.D. 1685. Vamana Pandita, Between A. D. 1636 and 1695. Family hailed from the Deccan, though residing at Surat in Gujarat in the seventeenth century. Native of Bijapur but later went to Benares and studied Sanskrit there. I close this paper with a request to Sanskritists and historians for collecting more data on the subject of this paper. 1. Leaving aside Jagannatha's rivals we must study in detail the life-history of Jagannatha's pupils who were influenced by his poetry and learning. Jagannatha was a Tailanga Brahmin. A work called kulaprabandha was composed by harihara bhatta an ancestor of krsnakavi (court-poet of Sevai Jayasing). This states that his uncle narayana was the pupil of jagannatha panditaraya . Narayana's brother ramakrsna I was in the favour of Raja Ramsing I of Jaipur who came to the throne in A. D. 1667. Verse 77 of 4 reads as follows:- labdha vidya nikhilah panditaraja jagannathat | narayanastu daivadalpayuh svapurimagamat || " Ef brings the history of this A Brahmin family upto A. D. 1700 (Vide B. I. S. Mandal Quarterly XXII, p. 16, 1941).