पृष्ठम्:मथुराविजयम्.djvu/१२

INTRODUCTION. ONE of the most interesting manuscripts that have been discovered in recent times is the Kamparaya-charita of Gangadevi. It is interesting in more ways than one-firstly, be- cause it is a work of great historical importance, dealing as it does with a period of which little or nothing is satisfactorily known; secondly, because of the gifted authoress, Gangadevi, who was herself one of the queens of the prince Kampana, the hero; and lastly, because of the sonorous language and beauty of the poem. But, unfortunately no more than a single copy of it has hitherto been forthcoming, and that too a very much damaged one. There are here and there large blanks left out by the scribe in the copy available to us, a fact evidencing the broken state of even the original from which the copy was made; but even the portions that have been brought to light now, are full of interesting information regarding the conquest of Madura by Kampana. We shall discuss the merits of the work, its authoress and the history contained in it after we have given an abstract of its contents. The existence of this remarkable manuscript was first brought to my notice by my friend Pandit G. Harihara Sastr of Trivandrum; and from the abstract of contents of the kavya supplied to me by Pandit V. Srinivasa Sastri, I am enabled to give below an account of the poem Madhuravijaya. CONTENTS OF THE POEM. The story begins with Bukka- raja, the brother of Harihara, who was reigning at Vijayanagara situated on the bank of the river Tungabhadra. His vassals and generals were respectful, loving and loyal to him, and his ene- mies' armies were always in a disturbed state of mind on account of his ever-growing prowess. The water that flowed from his hands in making gifts was able to revive the tree called dharma which had withered away owing to the increase of sins in this Kali age. He had plenty of elephants, horses and other