Shridharadasa

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Shridharadasa
Mahamandalika
(Great ruler of a 'Mandala')
ReignLate 12th century-early 13th century
PredecessorVatudasa
Dynasty Barendra Dasa (later, known as the Munshis of Kadirpara-Chougachi)
FatherTankapani Dasa
Religion Hinduism

Shridharadasa, also spelt Sridhar Das, was a Bengali poetry anthologist and feudal king belonging to the ancient Barendra Kayastha Dasa family. [1] [2] The family later became famous as the Munshi family when his descendant Munshi Balaram Das was appointed as the court Munshi by Raja Sitaram Ray during 17th century. [3] [4] [5] [6] Shridharadasa is remembered for the compilation named Saduktikarnamrita, an anthology of Sanskrit verses during 1127 sakabda (1205 AD) and during the reign of Sena Emperor Lakshmana Sena. Shridharadasa was the son of Mahasamanta Shri Vatudasa and grandson of Narasimha Dasa. In the colophon of Saduktikarnamrita, he described himself as Mahamandalika (a great ruler of an administrative unit called 'Mandala') under Sena Empire. He was patronized by Lakshmana Sena. [7]

Contents

Saduktikarnamrita

Saduktikarnamrita (excellent sayings which are like nectar for human hearing) is a Sanskrit verse-anthology compiled by Shridharadasa, generally placed in the Sena period of Bengal. It is regarded as one of the major Bengali Sanskrit anthologies, following Vidyākara’s Subhashita-ratna-kosha. Shridharadasa's Saduktikarnamrita is the second compiled Sanskrit anthology of poetry from ancient Bengal discovered so far, while the first one is Vidyakara’s Subhashita-ratna-kosha. Saduktikarnamrita preserves 2,377 verses drawn from many earlier poets and shares 623 stanzas in common with Vidyakara’s collection. The work is organized into five large thematic divisions called pravāhas (“streams”), each further broken into vichis (“waves”). These sections group verses on subjects such as the gods, love and the seasons, flattery, a wide range of natural and cultural topics (rivers, mountains, animals, flowers, trees), and reflections on human life, poets, age and time. Shridharadasa selected poems from both classical Sanskrit authors including contemporary Bengali poets and Sena-court figures. The anthology is especially rich in devotional verses, with a strong Vaishnava emphasis, reflecting religious currents of its time. Beyond its literary value, Saduktikarnamrita is important for cultural history: it preserves excerpts from otherwise lost works, shows the tastes of medieval Bengali literary circles, and offers glimpses of everyday life and social attitudes in early medieval Bengal. [7] [8] The vast anthology was later edited by noted Sanskrit scholar Ram Avatar Sharma and renowned historian Sures Chandra Banerji. [9]

Poets quoted in Saduktikarnamrita

Shridharadasa drew upon a wide range of poets when compiling Saduktikarnamrita. The anthology includes verses attributed to classical Sanskrit poets such as Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Amaru and Rajashekhara, as well as to numerous poets from Bengal and neighbouring regions. Among these are writers associated with the Pala and Sena courts, including Jayadeva, Umapatidhara, Sharan, Dhoyi and Govardhana. The work also cites royal authors such as Ballala Sena, Lakshmana Sena and Keshava Sena. In addition, Shridharadasa quoted a number of Bengali poets or who were at least easterners of the Pala Empire, which includes figures such as Yogeshvara, Satananda, Abhinanda, Dharaṇidhara, Varaha, Acala, Vallana, Manovinoda, Subhanka, Chakrapani and Laksmidhara. [7]

Family tree

References

  1. ↑ Nagendranath Basu (1937). 'বঙ্গের জাতীয় ইতিহাস' (কায়স্থ কাণ্ড) (Banger Jatiya Itihasa, Kayastha Kanda). Uttarpara Public Library. p. 224.
  2. ↑ Ghosh, Santanu (2016). মুন্সীয়ানায় চল্লিশ পুরুষ (in Bengali). Kolkata: Kamalini. p. 29.
  3. ↑ Satish Chandra Mitra (2001). Jashor Khulnar Itihash. Dey's Publishing. p. 637. ISBN   81-7612-766-3.
  4. ↑ Satish Chandra Mitra (2001). Jashor Khulnar Itihash. Dey's Publishing. p. 639. ISBN   81-7612-766-3.
  5. ↑ Jadunath Bhattacharya (1910). Raja Sitaram Ray. Nagendranath Seal. p. 69.
  6. ↑ Ghosh, Santanu (2016). মুন্সীয়ানায় চল্লিশ পুরুষ (in Bengali). Kolkata: Kamalini. p. 48.
  7. 1 2 3 "Banglapedia entry on Saduktikarnamrita". Banglapedia . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  8. ↑ Banerji, Sures Chandradate=1965. SADUKTI-KARNAMRTA OF SRIDHARADASA. FIRMA K. L. MUKHOPADHYAY, CALCUTTA.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Banerji, Sures Chandradate=1965. SADUKTI-KARNAMRTA OF SRIDHARADASA. FIRMA K. L. MUKHOPADHYAY, CALCUTTA. p. I-II. The work was edited first by Ramavatar Sarma in the Bibliotheca Indica; but only two fascicules were published (1912-1921). The complete work edited by him was printed with an introduction and additional readings by Hardadatta Sarma, Lahore, 1933. This edition appears to have been chiefly based on the Serampore College Library manuscript, but no account is given of its manuscript material, and there is no critical apparatus. Two important manuscripts of the work, namely, those in the Asiatic Society of Bengal and Calcutta Sanskrit College, do not appear to have been utilised; and the method of editing can hardly be called critical. In these circumstances, there was need of a fresh really critical edition of this important anthology. The present edition of Dr. Banerji attempts to remove these deficiencies and utilises fully the unutilised manuscript material available here in India and abroad. A full critical apparatus is given, and an attempt has been made to identify, as far as possible, the cited stanzas by tracing them to the other major anthologies or to the original texts from which they were taken. The value of this edition is also increased by several indices (namely, of verse, of author and of metre). There is also a concordance of stanzas common to other major anthologies.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Nagendranath Basu (1937). 'বঙ্গের জাতীয় ইতিহাস' (কায়স্থ কাণ্ড) (Banger Jatiya Itihasa, Kayastha Kanda). Uttarpara Public Library. p. 244.
  11. ↑ Ghosh, Santanu (2016). মুন্সীয়ানায় চল্লিশ পুরুষ (in Bengali). Kolkata: Kamalini. p. 7.
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