Essay name: Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala (study)
Author:
Shri N. M. Kansara
Affiliation: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda / Department of Sanskrit Pali and Prakrit
This is an English study of the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala, a Sanskrit poem written in the 11th century. Technically, the Tilaka-manjari is classified as a Gadyakavya (“prose-romance”). The author, Dhanapala was a court poet to the Paramara king Munja, who ruled the Kingdom of Malwa in ancient west-central India.
Chapter 8 - The Plot and the Motifs
50 (of 57)
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earthly curse by sublimating them by its touch. This motif
is primarily meant to resolve the necessary complication
of the story occasioned by the curse of Mahodara.
(20) THE DIVINE AEROPLANES
Patralekhā from Vaitāḍhya requisitions, through
Gandharvaka, the sandal-wood aeroplane from her father
Vicitravīrya residing on the Suvela mountain. This, by the
way, prompts Citralekhā to entrust a few more errands to
Gandharvaka, viz., a message to Vicitravirya, another
message to Gandharvadatta at Kāñci. The unexpressed stan-
ding instruction to show to worthy princes the portrait
of Tilakamañjarī is of course implied along with these
errands. The aeroplane is a normal luxury with the vždyā-
dharas, who hardly tread on the physical earth. It is due
to this aeroplane that Gandharvaka unknowingly incurs the
curse of Mahodara. It is again this aeroplane that, thrown
by Mahodara, brings Malayasundari to the superhuman region
of the Vidyadharas. It is again a similar aeroplane brou-
ght by Kalyāṇaka that instantly carries Samaraketu to the
region of the Suvela mountain for his marriage with Mala-
yasundari. And it is with the help of this device that
Dhanapala's muse moves from heaven to earth and from earth
to heaven. It adds to the majesty of the superhuman nature
of the Vidyādharas.
