84. Ballālasena and Laksmanasena

Volume I: Part II pp. 730–734

84. Ballālasena and Laksmanasena

84. Ballālasena and Lakṣmaṇasena

These two famous kings of Bengal (father and son) com- piled five works on dharmaśāstra viz. Ācārasāgara, Pratiṣṭhā- sāgara, Vratasāgara, Dānasāgara, and Adbhutasāgara. Of these, all except Adbhutasāgara, were compiled by Ballālasena; the fifth, Adbhutasāgara, was begun by Ballālasena, but it was completed by Lakṣmaṇasena.

When the first edition of the H. of Dh. (first volume) was published in 1930, the only published work of Ballālasena was ‘Adbhutasāgara’ about which we are told (vide under Halāyudha above) that it was begun by Ballālasena in śake 1090 (i. e. 1168-69 A. D.) but that he passed away before the work was finished and that it was completed by king Lakṣmaṇasena, son of Ballālasena. The Dānasāgara is a huge digest on Dāna (gifts). It has been edited and published in the B. I. Series (1956) by Mr. (now Doctor) Bhabatosh Bhattacarya, with a Preface, contents in Sanskrit, Introduction in English (pp. XV–LXVIII), Index of Vedic Mantras, and of non-Vedic quarter verses and prose quotationṣ The text alone covers 722 pageṣ There are 75 Āvartas² (chapters) and 1375 kinds of gifts have been dealt with. The Editor gives a summary of 18 chapters that are the most important of the 75 chapters (on pp. XL–LXVIII of Intro.). The Vratasāgara is mentioned on pp. 52 and 59 of Dānasāgara and Dr. Bhattacarya pointed out in ‘Indian Culture’ vol. XI for 1945 pp. 141–144 that the Kṛtyaratnākara cites two quotations from the Vratasāgara. Verses 55 and 56 of the printed ‘Dānasāgara’ refer to the Pratiṣṭhāsāgara and Ācārasāgara as already composeḍ The first (verse 55) says that reservoirs of water and temples of gods are not dilated upon in Dānasāgara, because they have been well dealt with in Pratiṣṭhāsāgara and verse 56 says that certain dānas mentioned in the ‘Ādipurāṇa’ are not fully dealt with in the Dānasāgara as they have been mentioned in the Ācārasāgara.

The Dānasāgara deals with the sixteen great dānas and other lesser giftṣ The subjects dealt with by the Dānasāgara are as follows: eulogy of brāhmaṇas, eulogy of the merit arising from gifts, proper recipients of gifts, persons not fit to receive gifts, the nature of gifts, the donor, faith as to the utility of gifts, proper times and places for gifts, things proper to be donated, what cannot be gifted away, bad donations, religious rites and procedure followed in making gifts and in accepting them, the technical terms of the subject of gifts, the sixteen mahādānas, lesser dānas of various kinds (the author himself says at the end that he has described 1375 kinds of gifts), the names of various Purāṇas and their extent. The Dānasāgara contains extremely valuable information about the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇaṣ As it quotes extensively from the Purāṇas, it serves as an excellent check for the textual restoration of Purāṇaṣ For example it says that the Bhāgavata, Brahmāṇḍa and Nāradīya Purāṇas do not contain dānavidhis and hence they are not drawn upon in the work. In another verse he says that it is well-known that the Viṣṇurahasya and Śīvarahasya are of the nature of mere compilations and so have not been relied on in the work. The Devīpurāṇa, he says, is approved of by the heterodox systems and is not included in various lists of Purāṇas and upapurāṇas and hence it is not included in the Dānasāgara. He says that the subject of the dedication of reservoirs of water and of temples has been dealt with at length in the Pratiṣṭhā- sāgara, so it is omitted in the Dānasāgara and that the gifts made in accordance with the divisions of the year (into ayana, season, month, pakṣa &c.) are not spoken of in their entirety in the Dānasāgara, as they are described in the Ācārasāgara. The work is mentioned in the Dānaratnākara of Cāṇḍeśvara and in the Nirṇayasindhu. His Adbhutasāgara has been printed by Messrṣ Prabhakari and Co. (1905). The authorities on which he relies therein are noted below.³ The adbhutasāgara is men- tioned in Todarānandasamhitā-saukhya and Nirṇayasindhu. This was his last work which he left unfinished and which was completed by his son Lakṣmaṇasena. It deals with the rites and observances appropriate on certain celestial and terrestrial por- tents for removing the evil foreboded by theṃ

The word ‘adbhuta’ occurs many times in the Ṛgveda and the Nirukta I. 6 tries to explain it. Vide H. of Dh. Vol. V. pp. 719–738 for the development of the subject of śāntis against un- favourable occurrences and portents and pp. 740–746 for the meanings and disquisition on the three cognate words ‘adbhuta, utpāta and nimitta.’ Raghunandana quotes and illustrates a passage of the Adbhutasāgara (quoted below).⁴ The idea was that an unusual happening like an earth-quake occurs as a divine indication or warning of an impending calamity. Such a view was entertained even by Western people and poets till the end of the 18th century. The Cowper in his Task gives powerful support 84. Ballalasena and Laksmanasena to such an idea. The Adbhutasāgara is mentioned by Raghu-nandana in vol. I of Jyotistattva, p. 704 and Malamāsa, p. 765.

In the present state of our knowledge it is impossible to prove to the satisfaction of scholars when the La. Saṁ. was starteḍ If it was started by Laksmanasena's birth, it could have been done only by Ballalasena or by Laksmanasena himself when he became a king. But both of them though concerned with the Adbhutasā-gara, several times refer only to the Śaka era as the notes show. If it was started by Laksmanasena he also does not mention any era as having been started by him and counted from his birth. He was concerned with the compilation of at least a portion of the Adbhutasāgara. In the E. I. Vol. 14. p. 156 ( the Naihati grant ) the pedigree starts from Sāmantasena ( said to be a scion of the Cāndravaṁśa) and that grant also names the following rulers viz. Hemantasena, Vijayasena, Ballalasena, Laksmanasena. The latter lost Bengal and ruled for some years in North Bihar. In the confusion about the starting point of the La. Saṁ. it appears to the present author that the only safe course is to hold that the era probably started about the time when he left Bengal or some years after it.

Another vexed question is whether the Dānasāgara was com-posed by Ballalasena or really composed by Aniruddhabhatta, but was allowed to be passed off as composed by his patroṇ The answer depends upon a proper construction of verses 6-9 of the Introduction to the Dānasāgara. Verse 6 bestows high praise on Aniruddha, who was the guru of Ballāla, who was like Bṛhaspati, the guru of Indra, who was highly honoured in the land of Varendrī ( North Bengal ), whose eye in the form of his ever active brilliant and flashing intellect was fixed on brahman in the form of Sarasvatī (Goddess of Learning). Verses 7-8 cenvey that he ( Ballāla ) having learnt with great faith from that guru the essence of all Purāṇas and Smṛtis was desirous of composing a work on Dāna ( gifts ), yet his ardour, being cooled by doubts about the difficult decisions in the matter of Dharma, he began to wait upon brāhmaṇas, who were pleased by his service, and with his incessant association with them his mind became clear and his doubts vanisheḍ King Ballāla benefitting by faith in the instruction imparted by his guru composed, for the good of the faithful, this •work called Dānasāgara within the limits of his intellect.⁵ Ballālasena began the work in 1090 śake and the Dānasāgara was composed in 1091 śake. Therefore Ballālasena's literary activity must be placed in the third quarter of the 12th century (vide notes 861, 862 above). Vide also IHQ vol. V, p. 133 for the date of Ballālasena. It appears that Raghunandana believed that the Dānasāgara was really the work of Aniruddhabhaṭṭa though published in the name of Ballālasena. In the Dānasāgara itself it is distinctly stated that Ballālasena composed it under the directions of his guru The Dānasāgara is a model of a systematic work. He mentions the works he consulted (mainly Purāṇas, Upa-purāṇas, Smṛtis, the two epics and Gopatha-Brāhmaṇa) and sets out the works he did not draw upon and the reasons therefor. He briefly enumerates 1375 dānas and the 15 main sections of the work. He names 13 Purāṇas, 8 Upapurāṇas and 28 Smṛtis and three specified works viz. the two epics and the Gopatha- ( Continued on the next page )