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Śrīharṣa Biography
Śrīharṣa was a 12th century CE Indian philosopher and poet, the son of the brahmin Śrīhira and Māmalladevī. His father was the royal poet at the court of the Gahadavala king Vijayachandra1 at Kannauj, and a teacher of Vedas and Bhagavad Gita.
His father asked Śrīharṣa at the time of his death to study well and become a pandit. He told him to use his shiksha (education) towards making life of common people divinity oriented and better. Also, he told Śrīharṣa to take thoughts of Bhagavad Gita to everyone.
Śrīharṣa had a classic Indian education at a gurukula, studying logic, rhetoric, music, arithmetic, astronomy, grammar, and mantra under various teachers. He mastered all scriptures and all schools of thought prevailing at that time.
After the passing of Śrīharsa’s father,2 Śrīharṣa composed the kāvya3 poem Naiṣadhacarita in 1174, during the reign of the Vijayachandra's son Jayachandra.
According to Rājaśekhara's Prabandhakośa,4 upon the wide acceptance of Naiṣadhacarita, Śrīharṣa was dignified with the title Narabharati.
Naiadhīyacarita is a poem in 22 cantos retelling of the tale of Nala, king of Niṣadha, and Damayantī, princess of Viarbha, from the Mahabharata.
Persecuted by a queen jealous of the honor bestowed upon him, he retired to a life of ascetic serenity on the banks of the Ganges River. He meditated on cintāmaṇi mantra5 under the guidance of a teacher and achieved excellent eloquence.
He wrote Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍanakhādya (“Sweets of Refutation“)6, which critiques the epistemology of the Nyaya school and the rational inquiry in general.
Although he didn’t affiliate himself explicitly to any philosophical tradition, he has been often interpreted as promoting Advaita Vedānta in Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍanakhādya.
This interpretation remains, however, controversial among modern scholars. Śrīharṣa's thought was influential for both Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika and Advaita Vedānta traditions.
Only two works of Śrīharsha’s were preserved: Naiṣadhacarita and Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya.
Among several other known works (lost) are: Vijayaprasasti, Chindapraśasti, Gauḍorvīśakulapraśasti, Īśvarābhisandhi, Sahasankacarita, Arṇavavarṇana and Amarakhaṇḍana.
Sources
• https://en.wikipedia.org/
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• http://indianphilosophyblog.org/
Footnotes
1. Vijayacandra, (reigned circa 1155-1169 CE) was an Indian king from the Gahadavala dynasty. He ruled the Antarvedi country in the Gangetic plains, which includes a major part of the present-day eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi. He probably also ruled some parts of western Bihar through his feudatories. He is believed to have repulsed a Ghaznavid invasion.
2. Śrīhira was defeated by another scholar in a debate. Affected by the defeat Śrīhira decided to give up his life and asked Śrīharsa: “O Son! If you are a worthy son, you must humble this man who has deceitfully defeated me; and thus, bring peace to my distressed soul.”
3. Kāvya refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Indian court poets flourishing between c.200 BCE and 1200 CE. This literary style, which includes both poetry and prose, is characterized by abundant usage of figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, and hyperbole to create its characteristic emotional effects.
The result is a short lyrical work, court epic, narrative, or dramatic work. Kāvya can refer to the style or the completed body of literature. Aśvaghoṣa (c. 80–150 AD), a philosopher and poet considered the father of Sanskrit drama, is attributed with first using the term.
4. Prabandhakośa is an Indian Sanskrit-language collection of prabandhas (legendary biographical narratives). It was compiled by the Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri in 1349 CE. It describes the lives of 24 people, including 10 Jain scholars, 4 Sanskrit poets, 7 kings and 3 Jain householders. It is also known as Chaturvinshati Prabandha.
5. ॐ ह्रीं ॐ
6. Also translated as “Sweets of fallacy”, or “Edible Pieces of Refutation”. Khaṇḍana: contradiction, refutation, demolition of the opposing thesis; khādya: edible
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