Sriharsha

Sriharsha (Sanskrit: श्रीहर्ष) was the son of Srihira and Mamalladevi. His father, Srihira, was a poet in the court of King Vijayachandra of Kanauj. According to Rajasekhara’s Prabandhakosa, upon the wide acceptance of his kavya, Naishadha Charita, Sriharsha was dignified by the title, Narabharati; he spent his later life in ascetic serenity on the banks of River Ganga. Rajasekhara tells us that Jayantchandra, son of Vijayachandra, ruled over Kanauj in the latter half of the 12th century A.D., and that a copy of Naishadha Charita, composed in 1174 A.D., was brought into Gujerat by Harihara during the reign of Viradhavala to which Chandu Pandita in his Dipika, composed in 1296 A.D., refers to as a new poem and also to the commentary of Vidyadhara. Naishadha Charita was composed earlier to Khandanakhandakhadya in which text Sriharsha alludes to the works of Kalidasa. None of his other works, such as Vijayaprasasti, Chindaprasasti, Gaudorvisakulaprasasti, Sahasankacarita, Arnavavarnana and Amarakhandana are now available. His Khandanakhandakhadya is a critique on Sivabhaktisiddhi of Udayana, the Nyaya philosopher.^[1] Sriharsha besides being a great poet was also a great philosopher; Khandanakhandakhadya or Sugar-candy pieces of refutations, is a refutation of the doctrines of the Nyaya system of philosophy. ^[2]

References