The Kadambari of Bana

The Kādambarī of Bāṇa

The story of Kdambar is interesting for several reasons. It is a standard example of classical prose; it has enjoyed a long popularity as a romance; and it is one of the comparatively few Sanskrit works which can be assigned to a certain date, and so it can serve as a landmark in the history of Indian literature and Indian thought. Babhaa, its author, lived in the reign of Harshavardhana of Thear, the great king mentioned in many inscriptions,2 who extended his rule over the whole of Northern India, and from whose reign (A.D. 606) dates the Harsha era, used in Nepal. Ba, as he tells us, both in the Harsha-Carita and in the introductory verses of Kdambar, was a Vtsyyana Brahman. His mother died while he was yet young, and his fathers tender care of him, recorded in the Harsha-Carita,3 was doubtless in his memory as he recorded the unselfish love of Vaiampyanas father in Kdambar [viii](p. 22). In his youth he travelled much, and for a time came into reproach, by reason of his unsettled life; but the experience gained in foreign lands turned his thoughts homewards, and he returned to his kin, and lived a life of quiet study in their midst. From this he was summoned to the court of King Harsha, who at first received him coldly, but afterwards attached him to his service; and Ba in the Harsha-Carita relates his own life as a prelude to that of his master. The other works attributed to him are the Caikataka,4 or verses in honour of Caik; a drama, The Prvatpariaya; and another, called Mukuatitaka, the existence of which is inferred from Guavinayagais commentary on the Nalacamp. Professor Peterson also mentions that a verse of Bas (Subhshitvali, 1087) is quoted by Kshemendra in his Aucityavicracarc, with a statement that it is part of a description of Kdambars sorrow in the absence of Candrpa, whence, he adds, it would seem that Ba wrote the story of Kdambar in verse as well as in prose, and he gives some verses which may have come from such a work. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 41128
Author: Bāṇa‏
Release Date: Oct 21, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Contributor (Author): Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa


Translator: Ridding, C. M. (Caroline Mary), 1862-1941