Court Poet of Samudragupta

Emperor Samudragupta’s court poet was Harisena. He authored a famous poem about Samudragupta’s courage inscribed on the Allahabad Pillar. The writings of Harisena demonstrated that developed Kavya poetry existed during the Gupta dynasty. Despite serving as the king’s foreign minister and general, Harisena was a gifted poet. His poems are titled Kavya, even though written in both prose and verse. The poems’ structure is comparable to the king descriptions found in Subandhu and Bana’s prose tales. Harisena’s ability is demonstrated by his inventive thinking and precise handling of lengthy compounds.

Poetry Style:

Everything is crammed into a single sentence, made up of relative clauses, adjectives, and appositions piled on top of one another. The poem is essentially one sentence long, including the first eight stanzas of poetry. After that, there’s a long prose passage followed by a verse. The poet’s skill has been equal to the endeavour to tie the pillar with the emperor’s glory. Therefore the thinking and form are both intricate. This is symbolised as feminine and is thought to have encompassed the entire world.The metre is complex, including seven verses. Sragdhara, qardulaviku dita, Mandakranta, and Prithvi are the four metres utilised. The design is in the Vidarbha, or southern style. Long compounds are avoided in verse, yet they are abundant in the prose. Alliteration is used sparingly, and metaphors of figures of speech and infrequent similes are employed.These are alleviated by the interposition of brief words, which allows the speaker to catch his breath and the listener to interpret the meaning. The words are cleverly organised in the compounds to maximise the metrical effect. One of his most beautiful descriptions is of the occasion in which old Chandragupta Maurya has designated Samudragupta as his successor in front of his competitors and the court.

Prayag Prashasti

A later inscription, known as the Prayag Prashasti, is assigned to the Gupta emperor Samudragupta in the 4th century CE and appears right below Ashoka’s edicts. It is regarded as “the most important historical document of the Gupta period.” Harishena, the poet and statesman, wrote it in the more polished Gupta script (a later variant of Brahmi) in superb Sanskrit. The inscription is a panegyric in which Samudragupta is praised for his diplomatic and social achievements, particularly his southern expeditions. It provides a valuable insight into the Gupta dynasty and its neighbours and is the source of most of what is known about the geopolitical situation of that era.

An inscription—a precast, or panegyric, authored by the poet Harisena and carved on the same pillar on which Emperor Asoka had an edict centuries before—contains a detailed chronicle of Samudragupta’s rule. Asoka’s inscription, written in basic Pali, talks of peace and righteousness; Samudragupta’s, written in exquisite and traditional Sanskrit, glorifies battle.

The Allahabad Pillar Inscriptions:

The Allahabad Pillar inscription, also known as Allahabad Prasasti, is one of the most significant epigraphic proofs of the Imperial Guptas. Harishena’s Allahabad Pillar inscription defines the Gupta dynasty’s reign in ancient India. The triumphs of the Gupta monarchs are also mentioned in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription. The Allahabad Prasasti was written by Harishena, Court poet of Samudragupta and administrator.

Allahabad Prasasti was written in verse in parts and prose in others. There were eight poetic verses in the verse section, followed by the prose section. The Allahabad Prasasti, written during Samudragupta’s administration, gives a detailed account of Samudragupta’s reign and conquest. Harishena’s Allahabad Prasasti lacks a date. Therefore historians believe it was written around Samudragupta’s Ashwamedha Yajna. They believe this because the Ashwamedha Yajna, which Samudragupta performed, is not mentioned. In the commencement, the Allahabad Prasasti was engraved on the Ashokan Pillar in Kaushambi.  After that, it was moved to the Allahabad fort.

The first two stanzas of the verse portion are ineligible because they are ruined. The third verse speaks on Samudragupta’s character, versatility, and good attributes. The nomination of Samudragupta by his father Chandragupta I and his coronation to the throne are mentioned in the fourth stanza. Even though the sixth and seventh stanzas of the inscription are partially destroyed, experts have assumed that those stanzas alluded to particular fights, most likely with his relatives and Samudragupta’s victory over them, based on the available part.

Conclusion:

The prashasti on the Allahabad Pillar, penned by his court poet Harishena, celebrates him with his great triumphs. He appears to have defeated several northern Indian princes and added their provinces to his reign. In addition, he marched through India’s south-eastern coast, passing into the Pallava empire. He also conquered several tribal aristocracies and frontier kingdoms. His dominion extended from the Ravi River in the west to the Brahmaputra River valley in the east and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to central India in the south-west; among his tributaries were numerous rulers along the south-eastern coast.