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 4 - Predecessors of Dhanapala
7 (of 26)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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92
commemorated him for centuries to come. He is mentioned
just after GuṇÄdhya but before PÄdaliptÄcÄrya, both of
whom are mentioned by their works and not by their
names. The reference to Pravarasena is very cleverly
worded: "Victorious is Pravarasena, whose fame in the
form of Setu (i.e. Setubandha-kÄvya) rises at the top
of the ocean of literature in the same manner as the
great Rama was victorious with his highly efficient
army, (and) whose fame in the form of the Setu (bridge)
25 has been swimming over the ocean." We are not sure
whether DhanapÄla intends to suggest that Pravarasena
got the fame of having composed the poem 'Setubandha'
though he was not its real author as was the case with
the famous bridge which became well-known after the
name of RÄma, though it was really built by his great
army consisting of HanÅ«mÄng, Nila and others. Perhaps
DhanapÄla believed in the tradition of KÄlidÄsa's autho-
rship of the poem, and he might have regarded Pravara-
sena as a senior contemporary of both Jivadevasūri and
KÄlidÄsa. But this KÄlidÄsa cannot be identical with the
one who is believed to have flourished in the first
century B.026 during the reign of Vikramaditya, the son
25.TM(N). Intro•vs. 22 : जिà¤� पà¥à¤°à¤µà¤°à¤¸à¥‡à¤¨à¥‡à¤¨ रामेणेà¤� महातà¥à¤®à¤¨à¤¾à¥� तरतà¥à¤¯à¥à¤ªà¤°à¤�
यतà¥à¤•ीरà¥à¤¤à¤¿à¤� सेतà¥à¤°à¥à¤µà¤¾ यवारिधेः à¥� २॥
[jita pravarasenena rÄmeṇeva mahÄtmanÄ| taratyupari
yatkÄ«rtiá¸� seturvÄ yavÄridheá¸� || 2||
] 26.±á°ä³§³¢.§.124.
