The greatest and most expansive epic in the world, the Mahābhārata, is a unique Itihāsa treatise that captures all the prominent events of the Dvāpara-yuga[1]. Bhagavān Veda-vyāsa, who has obtained an exalted position among the ranks of the cirañjīvīs[2] of our tradition, is not merely the creator of the Mahābhārata but is also an important character in it.
The next morning, when he regained his senses, the man was ashamed looking at his state. He cleaned up and rushed to Parivrājikā's house. He tied his head with a piece of cloth to hide the embarrassing seal and pretended to have a severe headache. He wanted the rest of them to face the kind of humiliation he had undergone. He said, ‘As I was returning from her place, thieves robbed me of all my belongings.’
During his childhood he lost eyesight in one of his eyes while playing gilli-daṇḍa[1]. By 1947 he lost eyesight in the other eye too. Thus all his main works were dictated and written by a scribe. His writing skills and his memory were extraordinary.
Dhanadatta tried to convince him that his son is a suitable groom to his daughter. But Dharmagupta thought that Tāmraliptī was too far and did not agree to this proposal. Meanwhile Devasmitā, having seen Guhasena, was impressed by his qualities and handsomeness, informed through a messenger that she had fallen in love, eloped with him in the night to Tāmraliptī leaving behind all her relatives. There their wedding happened; they lived happily as husband and wife.
It is during the time of Jayapida that we see the next stage of evolution of Alaṅkāra-śāstra. It was led by two scholars in his court, Udbhaṭa and Vāmana, who can be considered as the successors of Bhāmaha and Daṇḍī, respectively. Udbhaṭa is known to have written a commentary called vivaraṇa on Bhāmaha’s Kāvyālaṅkāra, which is not available today. He is also supposed to have written a commentary on the Nāṭya-śāstra, which is also not available.
Despite all this, the administration showed no increase in its spirit and enthusiasm. I have thought about its reason. In my view, it was the lack of intensity, drive, and spirit of freshness in people, which caused this. Let me quote an example.
By nature, Narasinga Rao Purnaiah [i.e. Krishnamurti] was a great person. He was a generous man who carried a serious disposition and was a well-informed reader of books. His eyes had lost their sharpness. Yet he would closely read and grasp the most difficult of treatises.