abhimukhapatayālubhir lalāṭa—: çramasalilair avadhūtapattralekhaḥ kathayati puruṣāyitaṁ vadhūnām: mṛditahimadyutidurmanāḥ kapolaḥ. ‘Its painted mark obliterated by the moisture which streams from the wearied brow over the face, the cheek reveals the longing of women, melancholy as the wan moon.’ udeṣyatpīyūṣadyutirucikaṇārdrāḥ çaçimaṇi— sthalīnām panthāno ghanacaraṇalākṣālipibhṛtaḥ cakorair uḍḍīnair jhaṭiti kṛtaçan̄kāḥ pratipadam parācaḥ saṁcārān avinayavatīnāṁ vivṛṇate. ‘Footprints on pavements of moonstone, marked with the lac that dyes deep the feet, wet with drops that have the radiance of rising cream, made with anxiety at every step as the Cakoras fly up disturbed, mark the departure of ladies who violate decorum.’ [485] A further stanza in some manuscripts of the poem occurs in the drama, while elsewhere it seems to be treated as a verse about Murāri: [486] devīṁ vācam upāsate hi bahavaḥ sāraṁ tu sārasvatam jānīte nitarām asau gurukulakliṣṭo Murāriḥ kaviḥ abdhir lan̄ghita eva vānarabhaṭaiḥ kiṁ tv asyā gambhīratām āpātālanimagnapīvaratanur jānāti manthācalaḥ. ‘Many serve the goddess speech, but the essence of eloquence Murāri alone knows to the full, that poet who long toiled in the house of his teacher; even so the monkey host leapt over the ocean, but its depth the Mount of Churning alone knows, for its mighty mass penetrated down even to the realms below.’ 4. THE DATE OF RĀJAÇEKHARA Rājaçekhara, with the usual prolixity of bad poets, is voluble on his personality; he was of a Mahārāṣṭra Kṣatriya family of the Yāyāvaras, who claimed descent from Rāma; son of the minister Durduka or Duhika, and of Çīlavatī; grandson of Akālajalada, and descendant of Surānanda, Tarala, and Kavirāja, all poets of name. He married Avantisundarī of the Cāhamāna family, and was a moderate Çaiva. [487] In the Karpūramañjarī, probably his first play since it was produced at the request of his wife, and not a king, he refers to himself as the teacher of Nirbhaya or Nirbhara, who was clearly the Pratihāra king, Mahendrapāla of Mahodaya or Kanyakubja, of whom we have records in A.D. 893 and 907. The Bālarāmāyaṇa was produced at his request. But he seems then to have visited another court, for the Viddhaçālabhañjikā was produced for the Kalacuri king, Yuvarāja Keyūravarṣa of Tripurī. But, as the unfinished Bālabhārata was written for Mahīpāla, successor of Mahendrapāla, whose records begin in A.D. 914, we may assume that he returned to the court of the Pratihāras and died there. In the Bālarāmāyaṇa he speaks of six of his works, not apparently including the Viddhaçālabhañjikā and the Bālabhārata, and in fact we have many stanzas from him regarding famous authors, though of course the proof of derivation from this Rājaçekara is not always complete.