65. Dhāreshvara Bhojadeva

Volume I: Part II pp. 585–591

65. Dhāreshvara Bhojadeva

65. Dhāreśvara Bhojadeva The Mit. (on Yāj. II. 135) says that Dhāreśvara tries to reconcile the conflicting texts about the right of the widow to succeed to her husband’s estate by saying that she succeeded if her husband was separate and if she was willing to submit to niyoga. On the same verse the Mit. says that following Mānu IX. 217 Dhāreśvara placed the paternal grand-mother or the mother as an heir and even before the father. On Yāj. III. 24 the Mit. says that certain texts of Rsyaśṛṅga about impurity on death were not accepted as authoritative by Dhāreśvara, Viśvarūpa and Medhātithi. Vide sec. 60 Viśvarūpa about the remarks of the Smṛticandrikā on Dhāreśvara and Viśvarūpa. The Hāralatā⁷⁷⁷ (p. 117) remarks (as does the Mit. on Yāj. III. 24) that Bhojadeva, Viśvarūpa, Govindarāja, and the Kāmādhenu did not cite certain texts as Jātukarṇa’s and that therefore they were not authoritative.

That Dhāreśvara is to be identified with Bhojadeva of Dhārā, perhaps the most famous Indian prince as a patron of learned men, follows from several considerationṣ The Dāya-bhāga⁷⁷⁸ cites Bhojadeva and Dhāreśvara without making any distinction between the two. Some views that are ascribed to Dhāreśvara in one work are ascribed to Bhojadeva in another. The Vivādaratnākara of Kamalākara ascribes to Bhoja-deva the same views as to the widow’s rights as are ascribed to Dhāreśvara by the Mit. Msṣ of the Rājamārtaṇḍa (com-mentary on the Yogasūtras) have colophons saying that the work was composed by Dhāreśvara Bhojarājā. Dhāreśvara is styled ācārya by the Mit. (on Yāj. III. 24) and sūri by the Smṛticandrikā (II p. 257). Works on numerous branches of knowledge were composed by (or in the name of or under) Bhoja of Dhārā. On Poetics we have two extensive works of his, viz. the Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa and the Śṛṅgāraprakāśa. A verse at the¹ beginning of the Rājamārtaṇḍa tells us that Bhoja composed a work on grammar, a commentary on the Yogasūtra and a work on medicine called Rājamṛgāṅka just as Patañjali wrote on these three subjects (vide Mitra's Notices of Mss, vol. I, p. 115 for the medical work of Bhoja called Rājamārtaṇḍa (alias Yogasārā). He composed a work on astronomy called Rājamṛgāṅka. A work of his on the Śaiva āgama called Tattvaprakāśa has been published in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Serieṣ There are several other works ascribed to him, which need not be set out here. That he composed an extensive work on the principal subjects of Dharmaśāstra follows from the numerous references to him contained in the Mit., the Dāyabhāga, the Hāralatā and other workṣ The Śuddhi-kaumudī² (B. I. edition) of Govindānanda frequently speaks of a work called Rāja- mārtaṇḍa of Bhoja on Śrāddha. The Jayasimha-kalpadruma (p. 26) quotes Rājamārtaṇḍa and Bhojarājīya on the same page. Whether Bhoja composed on Dharmaśāstra one work or two (as he composed two on Poetics), and whether his work was a commentary or an independent digest it is difficult to say. M. M. Haraprasādaśāstrī in one of his reports threw out the suggestion that the Kāmadhenu was the work of Bhoja, but this is entirely worng, as the words of Śrīdatta in his Pitṛbhakti³ will show.

Besides the two points noted above (about widow's rights and about the grandmother, there are others on which the Mit. and Dhāreśvara disagreed: viz. Dhāreśvara held ownership to be known only from śāstra, while the Mit. held it to be laukika (vide Viramitrodaya pp. 528, 536 ). Dhareśvara held that the word ‘duhitarah’ in Yāj. stands for putrikā in the order of succession (Smṛticandrikā II. pp. 295–96 ). On other points the views of Dhāreśvara coincide with those of the Mit., viz. on the usage of giving a special share to the eldest son having fallen into desuetude, on the daughter’s succession, on the father’s inability to give a greater or smaller share to his sons in ancestral property on a partition during his life-time. Vide my article in JBBRAS in 1925, pp. 223–224 for details of these and other views ascribed to Bhojadeva. A few other references may be noted here. The Nirṇayāmṛta⁴ (p. 68) quotes a Bhojarājīya text. In the Kālāviveka of Jīmūtavāhana two verses about taking food at the time of eclipses are cited from Bhojadeva (p. 539). In several works certain views are stated to be those of a Bhūpālapaddhati or of Bhūpāla or of Rāja. The reference seems to be to a work of king Bhoja. In other works in the Dānaratnākara, a Bhūpāla-paddhati and Bhūpāla are frequently quoteḍ⁵ The Samayapradīpa⁶ and Ācārādarśa of Śrīdatta speak of both Bhūpāla and Rāja. In other works also the views of Bhoja are often referred to as those of Rāja (the king par excellence ). For example, the Ekāvalī⁷ (a work on Poetics ) says that in the Śr̥ṅgāra-prakāśa, the king accepted only one rasa. Dr. Raghavan has recently published ( in 1963 ) a complete and learned exposition of the Śr̥ṅgāra-prakāśa of Bhoja ( 1009 pages ). The Varṣakaumudī ( p. 107 ) says that a certain verse is cited by the Gaṅgāvākyāvalī without naming the author, but as it is not cited by the Rāja and the rest, it is unauthoritative.

The several tattvas of Raghunandana mention two works of Bhojadeva or Bhojarāja. For example, the Tithitattva ( Jīvānanda vol. I, p. 17 ) cites a text as quoted in the Bhuja-balabhīma by Bhojarāja; similarly, in the Śrāddhatattva ( Jīvānanda vol. I, p. 266 ) two texts are cited as quoted by Bhojadeva in Bhujabalabhīma. Raghunandana also mentions Rājamārtaṇḍa of Bhojarāja ( vide Āhnikatattva, vol. I, p. 451 ) He often cites the Rājamārtaṇḍa and the Bhujabalabhīma on the same page without the author’s name ( e.g. vide Udvāha-tattva, vol. II, p. 124 ). Raghunandana often speaks of a Br̥had-Rājamārtaṇḍa along with the Rājamārtaṇḍa on the same or the next page ( vide Tithitattva, vol. I. pp. 25-26 and Jyotiṣṭattva pp. 605 and 655 ). That the Bhujabalabhīma and the Rājamārtaṇḍa are two different works appears to be clear. Whether the Br̥had-Rājamārtaṇḍa and the Rāja-mārtaṇḍa are distinct works is not quite clear. ( Vide Tri. Cat. of Madras Govt. msṣ for 1919–22, p. 4562, No. 3079 for Bhujabalanibandha of Bhojarāja in 18 adhyāyas on astrological matters in relation to dharmaśāstra such as strījātaka, karṇādivedha, vrata, vivāhamelakadāśaka, gr̥hakarmapraveśa, saṁkrānti snāna, dvādaśaṁsākr̥tya ). The Bhujabalabhīma is also mentioned by Śūlapāṇi and by Rudradhara in his Śrāddhaviveka.

Vide the present author’s paper on, ‘ King Bhoja and his Works on Dharmaśāstra and Astrology in J. O. R. ( Madras ), Vol. XXIII pp. 94–127, where five works of Bhoja are nameḍ Vide also a paper on ‘ Passages from the Rājamārtaṇḍa on ‘Tithis, Vratas and Utsavas’ by the present author in ABORI Vol. XXXVI ( Parts III and IV ) pp. 306–339 ( 286 verses out of 1462 on the basis of three Msṣ ). Dr. Derrett, in Bulletin of L. S. O. A. S. Vol. XV ( part 3 ) pp. 598–602, draws attention to the commentary Durghaṭārtha-prakāśinī of Vimalabodha on Mahābhārata, Śānti. and Chap. 121, 14ff, where the commentator mentions Bhojadeva’s interpretation 65. Dhareśvara Bhojadeva of those verses in the latter's work called Vyavahāra-mañjari. Vide Dr. Gode's paper in the Silver Jubilee number of B. O. R. I. pp. 146ff. about a mṣ of this coṃ in the Bhandarkar O. R. Institute of Poona.

For two works of Bhoja on Sanskrit Poetics called ‘Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa’ and the ‘Śṛṅgāraprakāśa’, vide the present author's ‘History of Sanskrit Poetics’ pp. 257–264 (eḍ of 1961) and for the Śṛṅgāraprakāśa, Dr. Raghavan's monumental work on it (containing over a thousand pages) published very recently (1963) which contains a full exposi- tion of Bhoja's great work.

Bhoja of Dhārā, according to the Bhojaprabandha, had a long reign of 55 yearṣ Bhoja's was a remarkable career. In spite of the fact that he was constantly waging wars with different kings, he became the most famous Indian King as the patron of learned meṇ Considering the fact that he ruled long (about 50 years or so) and was generous to learned men the inscriptional references to him are rather few. There are only six records (of which five are copperplates) contempo- rary in time with hiṃ They are: (1) The Ujjain plate in I. A. vol. VI p. 53 of Saṃvat 1078, Māgha dark half, 3rd tithi Sunday (1021 A. D.). It gives the pedigree as followṣ Sīyakadeva-Vākpatirāja-brother Sindhurāja or Sindhuḷa-son Bhojadeva. The grant was issued from the capital Dhārā; (2) the Banswara plate of Bhoja (E. I. Vol. XI p. 181–133), dated Saṃvat 1076, Māgha bright half (23rd January 1020 A. D.) issued on the festival for the conquest of Koṅkaṇa (Koṅkaṇa- vijayaparvaṇī); (3) the Betma plate (in E. I. Vol. 18 pp. 320–325 issued in Saṃvat 1076, Bhādrapada bright half, 15 (September 1020 A. D.) on Koṅkaṇa-grahaṇa=vijayaparvaṇī); (4) the Tilakvādā plate (in Proceedings of the First Oriental Conference, 1919, pp. 319–326 of Saṃvat 1103, Mārgaśirṣa, 1046 A. D. ; (5) the Kalvan plate (E. I. XIX p. 69) refers to conquest of Koṅkaṇa by Bhoja and sets out a private person's grant of certain pieces of land to the temple of Munisuvrata on Caitra amāvāsyā (when there was a solar eclipse); (6) Inscription on the pedestal of an image of Sarasvatī made in Saṃvat 1091 i. e. 1035 A. D. (which found its way to the British Museum) and it records that Bhoja caused the image of Vāgdevī to be prepared by a sculptor. In ‘Rūpam’ (edited by O. C. Gangoly) for January 1924 the image of Sarasvati is reproduced as the frontispiece and pp. 1-2 give some details and a slightly mutilated verse ( in Sārdūla- vikrīḍita metre ) is set out with translation by Mr. Dikshit and the date _samvat_ 1091 also is inscribed on the pedestal. In E. I. Vol. VIII p. 96 there is an inscription of Arjuna- varmadeva, a descendant of Bhoja where it is stated that the drama Pārijātamañjarī was first performed in the hall of _Sāradādevī_ built by Bhoja. Dr. Raghavan's latest work on Bhoja's Śṛṅgāraprakāśa, 1963, has a fine reproduction of this image as a frontispiece.

In the Navasāhasānkacarita of Padmagupta alias Pari- male, Vākpatirāja is mentioned in XI. 81, Sindhurāja in XI. 101 and in XI. 102 it is said that in the assemblies of warriors he is mentioned as Navasāhasānka ( Viragoṣṭhisu giyate ) and in XVIII. 62 his coming to Dhārā is mentioneḍ But all this does not state how many years he ruleḍ He must, however, have ruled for some years in order to be called Navasāhasānka for his valour. Vākpatirāja was also called Muñja, who was slain by Cālukya king Tailapa between 994-997 A. D. There- fore, Bhoja, son of Sindhurāja, may be held to have begun to rule about 1005 A. D. The Māndhātā plate of Jayasimha, successor of Bhoja ( issued from Dhārā ), is dated in _samvat_ 1112 ( Āṣāḍha, dark half i. e. 1055 A. D. ); Vide E. I. Vol. III pp. 46-50 ( gives the names as Vākpatirāja–Sindhurāja– Bhojadeva–Jayasimha ). Therefore, Bhoja must have ruled from about 1005 A. D. to about 1054 A. D.⁸

The stories ( in Prabandhacintāmaṇi ) about Muñja's trying to do away with Bhoja must be treated as legendary trash. Tawney's translation of Prabandhacintāmaṇi ( p. 32 ) refers to a prophecy made on the horoscope of Bhoja that he would rule for fiftyfive years, seven months and three dayṣ

There is further definite data. The Rājamṛgāṅka of Bhoja ( an astronomical work ) takes _śaka_ 964 ( 1042-43 A. D. ) as its initial date.⁹ It is strange that the Madanaratnapradipa ( on Vyavahāra p. 324 ) refers to Bhoja as Dhāreśvarabhatta.

There is a work named Dharma-pradipa by Bhoja ( Govt. Msṣ Lib. at the B. O. R. I. Poona, No. 26 of 1874-75 ). It is a work by another Bhoja later than 1400 A. D., as it quotes Vijñāneśvara and the Madanapārijāta. It was composed by an assembly of pandits at the bidding of king Bhoja of Āśāpura, son of Bhāramalla. The mṣ was copied in saṁvat 1695 ( i. e. 1638-39 A. D. ).