Nava-sahasanka-charita

Nava-sahasanka-charita (IAST: Nava-sāhasānka-carita, "the biography of the New Sahasanka") is a Sanskrit-language epic poem written by the Paramara court poet Padmagupta, who lived in 10th-11th century. It is fantasy re-telling of the exploits of the Paramara king Sindhuraja, who bore the title Nava-sahasanka, and ruled the Malwa region in central India.

In the epic, Sindhuraja shoots a deer with a golden arrow during a hunting expedition in the Vindhyas. The deer escapes to its owner, the Naga princess Shashiprabha, who sees the hero's title "Nava-Sahasanka" written on the arrow. Meanwhile, in pursuit of the deer, the king comes across a necklace bearing Shashiprabha's name. Sindhuraja and Shashiprabha subsequently meet, and fall in love with each other. Shashiprabha's father has decided to marry her to the man who brings him a golden lotus in the possession of the demon king Vajrankusha. Sindhuraja goes on a campaign against Vajrankusha, guided by the river goddess Narmada and sage Vanku, and supported by the Naga warrior Ratnachuda and the vidyadhara leader Shashikhanda. He defeats the demon king, brings the lotus, and marries Sahshiprabha.

The epic was written by Padmgaupta, who was also known as Parimala Kalidasa, and was the son of Mriganka-gupta. He was a Paramara court-poet in the late 10th century and the early 11th century. Padmagupta was a courtier of the epic's subject, the Paramara king Sindhuraja (r. c. 990s), who ruled the Malwa region in central India. In the epic, Padmagupta states that he composed the text at the command of Sindhuraja. Padmagupta's literary career may have spanned the reigns of the Sindhuraja's successors Munja and Bhoja.

The Nava-sahasanka-charita is Padmagupta's only extant work, although he wrote at least one other poem. This can be inferred from the fact that some verses attributed to Padmagupta in the later works are not found in the Nava-sahasanka-charita. These later works include Bhoja's Sarasvati-kantha-bharana, Kshemendra's Auchitya-vichara-charcha, Mammata's Kavya-prakasha, and Vardhamana's Gana-ratna-mahodadhi. The quoted verses suggest that Padmagupta's other poem was about an expedition of King Tailapa's general Basapa against the king Mularaja.

Written in the Vaidarbhi style, Nava-sahasanka-charita does not feature long compounds or heavy alliteration, except in the description of the battle in Canto 12. Padmagupta was an admirer of the ancient poet Kalidasa, and wrote in a highly-embellished language. He often appears to imitate Kalidasa although his expression is original. Some legends associate Bhoja with Kalidasa: this may actually be a reference to Padmagupta alias Parimala Kalidasa.

Nava-sahasanka-charita is divided into 18 cantos, and centers around Sindhuraja's marriage to princess Shashiprabha. The title of the poem literally means the biography (charita) of the new (nava) Sahasanka. Vikramaditya, a famous legendary king, was also known as Sahasanka ("having the mark of boldness"). His capital Ujjain happened to be located in what had become the Paramara kingdom by Padmgaupta's time.

One day, king Sindhuraja (alias Nava-Sahasanka) and his companions go on a hunting expedition in the Vindhya Range. In Canto 2, after shooting various animals with arrows, he tries to hunt a deer. During the chase, he dismounts from his horse, and follows the deer into the forest. He hits the deer with an arrow marked with his own name (Nava-Sahasanka), but the arrow does not cause any serious injury to the deer. The king notices a gold chain around the deer's neck, and suspects that there is something supernatural about it. After the animal disappears into the forest, Sindhuraja's minister Ramangada (alias Yahsobhata) advises the king to avoid the hot sun at the noon, and get some rest. Sindhuraja then bathes in a nearby lake, and takes a short nap. After waking up, he wanders around searching for the deer, but is unable to find the animal. At night, he sleeps on a bed of shoots made by Ramangada.

In Canto 3, the next morning, Sindhuraja goes into the forest searching for the deer, accompanied by Ramangada. The men follow a track marked by blood drops, and see goose flying with a pearl necklace in its beak. Ramangada remarks that the necklace probably belonged to one of the daughters of demons, gods, and Nagas, who amused themselves in the Vindhyas. On Ramangada's advice, Sindhuraja readies to shoot the bird with an arrow, but just then the bird drops the necklace on the shore of a lake, in order to pick up a lotus stalk. Ramangada brings the necklace to the king, who notes the female name "Shashi-prabha" written on it, and wears it.