काव्यमीमांसा (महाकवि राजशेखर - कवि-रहस्य एवं देश-विभाग सटीक)

SEVENTEENTH ADHYĀYA 243 ll. 25-27. Here Rājaśekhara mentions four places: वामनस्वामी, ब्रह्मशिला, गाधिपुर, and कालप्रिय in order to show that the directions are to be taken only as relative, and not as always accurate. These four places seem to be situated in the four directions of the Kanauj city, and these are used here to prove the inaccuracy of the directions. He says, for instance, that the direction east of Vāmanasvāmi corresponds to the west of Brahmaśilā; similarly, the south of Gādhipura corresponds to the north of Kālapriya. Excepting Brahmaśilā the other three limits of the city of Kanauj are already well-known. It is not, therefore, difficult to imagine that all the four boundaries refer to the city of Kanauj. This is further strengthened by the additional references given below. (1) Vāmanasvāmi is an incarnation of Viṣṇu. According to the Padmapurāṇa, (Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa, 35 and Uttara. 53) Rāma, the king of Ayodhyā, once built a temple for Vāmanasvāmi in the city of Mahodaya or Kānyakubja. (see the Geographical Dictionary of N. L. Dey. p. 89). Rājaśekhara refers, very probably, to this temple of Vāmana, and according to him it was situated in the western part of the city and towards the west of Brahmaśilā. (2) Gādhipura is also mentioned by Rājaśekhara in his Bālarāmāyaṇa (act X, 88), and apparently he means by that word the city of Kanauj. Here, he mentions further that Gādhipura is situated towards the north of the Kālapriya temple. Gādhipura, therefore, appears to be a suburb of Kanauj in the northern part, while Kālapriya appears to be situated in its southern part. (3) The temple of Kālapriyanātha also must have been a part of Kanauj, and the deity is referred to in the three famous dramas of Bhavabhūti, who mentions that his dramas were staged before an audience assembled in connection with festivities in honour of Śrī Kālapriyanātha. It is well-known that Bhavabhūti was a contemporary of king Yaśovarman of Kanauj (8th century A. D.) and was patronized by him. It is not unnatural, therefore, on the part of Bhavabhūti to refer to the presiding deity Kālapriyanātha belonging to the capital city of his patron king Yaśovarman. The testimony of Rājaśekhara also makes it clear that the temple of Kālapriya was situated in the southern part of Gādhipura which is again a suburb of Kānyakubja.