Sanskrit sources of Kerala history
by Suma Parappattoli | 2010 | 88,327 words
This study deals with the history of Kerala based on ancient Sanskrit sources, such as the Keralamahatmyam. The modern state known as Keralam or Kerala is situated on the Malabar Coast of India. The first chapter of this study discusses the historical details from the inscriptions. The second chapter deals with the historical points from the Mahatm...
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10. Mukundamala by king Kulasekhara
Mukundamala[1] is short devotional lyric composed by king Kulasekhara as is mentioned in the work itself[2]. Raghavananda the commentator explains that the author was a king of Kerala. This simple lyrical poem of devotional ferour has several versions. The number of verses as well as their order of succession varies from one version to another.
Authorship of Mukunda-Mala Some scholars assign the authorship of Mukundamala to Kulasekhara Alvar the famous Vaishnava saint. The main arguments for the identification of Kulasekhara the author of Mukundamala with the Alvar are the following. Both were kings of Kerala and Vaishnava devotees and composers of devotional songs. Further it is quite possible that the same poet sang songs both in Sanskrit and Tamil[3].
According to Prof. K. Ramapisharati, the author of M.M. is to be identified with Kulasekhara Perumal who lavished patronage on Prabhakara and his school of mimamsa. And he is not the royal dramatist[4]. Prof. Pisharoti does not offer any evidence to prove the case.
Kulasekhara Varman, the royal dramatist may be identified with the author of the devotional poem. While commenting on the last verse of M.M., Raghavananda explains that a Brahmin Ravi and a Variyar called Lokavira were the intimates of the Kerala king. It is held that Ravi mentioned by Kulasekhara was the father of the Yamaka poet Vasudeva, who has praised a king called Kulasekhara in his works. The royal dramatist has been traditionally identified with the patron of Vasudeva. This suggests that the author of M.M. and the royal dramatist are one and the same person. Vatakkumkur has also expressed the same view. He admits that the vast difference in the style of the drama and the lyric warrants different authorship. But the style adopted in a drama and that adopted in a lyric may show some difference even if the works belong to the same poet. It is probable that Kulasekharavarman might have composed the devotional poem also when he attained old age[5].
Footnotes and references:
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