Bāṇabhaṭṭa

Bāṇabhaṭṭa (7th century), also known as Bāṇa, was a Sanskrit scholar and poet of India. He was the Asthana Kavi (Court Poet) in the court of King Harshavardhana, who reigned in the years c. 606–647 CE in north India. Bāna's principal works include a biography of Harsha, the Harṣacarita and one of the world's earliest novels, Kādambari (Kādambari is the name of the heroine of the novel). Bāṇa died before finishing the novel and it was completed by his son Bhūṣaṇabhaţţa (Pulinda in some manuscripts), which is known as the Uttarabhāga of the novel. The other works attributed to him are the Caṇḍikāśataka and a drama, the Pārvatīpariṇaya.

Life

A detailed account regarding his ancestry and early life can be reconstructed from the introductory verses attached to the Kādambari and the first two ucchāvasas of the Harṣacarita, while the circumstances behind the composition of the Harṣacarita are described in the third ucchāvasa of the text.

Early life

Bāna was born to Chitrabhānu and Rājadevi in the village of Pritikuta on the banks of the Hiraṇyavāhu (the present day Son River) in a Maga Brahmin family of Vātsyāyana gotra in Current District of Chhapra . Chitrabhānu expired when he was fourteen, Rājadevi having expired even earlier. After the death of his father, Bāṇa led a wandering life for some period but later came back to his native village. Here, on a summer day, on receiving a letter from Krishna, a cousin of King Harsha he met the king while he was camping near the town of Manitara. After receiving him with mock signs of anger, the king showed him much favour.

Composition of the Harshacharita

When Bāṇa returned from the King Harsha's court, his cousins pressed him with a request to write a narrative on the life of King Harsha. But he decided to write only a part of the life of him as he was not sure whether he could do the slightest justice to the remarkable career of the king. From the third to eighth ucchāvasas of the work, he described the ancestry and the life of king Harsha till the rescue of his sister Rajyashri.

Critical comments

There is a well-known, interesting statement in Sanskrit, involving a play on words: Kādambari rasajnānām āhāro 'pi na rocate. It can be read to mean "While savoring (the contents of) 'Kādambari', readers do not find interest in (eating) food", or "Oh, Kādambari, while savoring liquor, people do not find interest in (eating) food".

References

1. The Harsa-Carita of Bana. Translated by E. B. Cowell and F. W. Thomas. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1897, 4-34.