History of Gujarát: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume I, Part I.Campbell, James M.
History
History of Gujarát: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume I, Part I.
Campbell, James M.
Gujarat (India) -- History
At this period it seems that the kings of Gujarát Sámbhar and other
districts, seeing the great reputation which his literary tastes had
gained for Bhoja of Dhárá used all to keep Pandits. Certain carvings
on the pillars of a mosque at the south-west of the modern town of
Dhárá show that the building almost as it stands was the Sanskrit
school founded by Bhoja. The carvings in question are beautifully cut
Sanskrit grammar tables. Other inscriptions in praise of Naravarman
show that Bhoja's successors continued to maintain the institution. In
the floor of the mosque are many large shining slabs of black marble,
the largest as much as seven feet long, all of them covered with
inscriptions so badly mutilated that nothing can be made out of
them except that they were Sanskrit and Prakrit verses in honour of
some prince. On a rough estimate the slabs contain as many as 4000
verses. [587] According to the old saying any one who drank of the
Sarasvatí well in Dhárá became a scholar. Sarasvatí's well still exists
near the mosque. Its water is good and it is still known as Akkal-kui
or the Well of Talent. As in Dhárá so in Ajmir the Arháí-dinká
Jhopdá mosque is an old Sanskrit school, recent excavations having
brought to light slabs with entire dramas carved on them. So also the
Gujarát kings had their Pandits and their halls of learning. Srípála,
Siddharája's poet-laureate, wrote a poetical eulogium or prasasti on
the Sahasralinga lake. According to the Prabandhachintámani Siddharája
gathered numerous Pandits to examine the eulogium. As has already
been noticed Siddharája's constant companion was the great scholar
and Jain áchárya Hemachandra also called Hemáchárya, who, under the
king's patronage, wrote a treatise on grammar called Siddhahema,
and also the well-known Dvyásrayakosha which was intended to teach
both grammar and the history of the Solankis. Hemachandra came into
even greater prominence in the time of Kumárapála, when he wrote
several further works and became closely connected with the state
religion. Several stories remain of Siddharája assembling poets,
and holding literary and poetic discussions.
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