Which of the following books was not written by Rajasekhara?
- (a)Kavyamimamsa
- (b)Karpuramanjari
- (c)Prabandhachintamani
- (d)Viddhashalabhanjika
Correct — C, Prabandhachintamani. It is not Rajasekhara's work at all: it is a Sanskrit collection of prabandhas (semi-historical anecdotes about kings and poets) compiled by the Jain (Shvetambara) scholar Merutunga in the early 14th century — VS 1361, c. 1305 CE — at Vardhamana (modern Wadhwan) in Gujarat, roughly four hundred years after Rajasekhara. Rajasekhara was a Sanskrit poet, dramatist and critic of about 900 CE, court poet and teacher of the Gurjara-Pratihara kings of Kannauj; Kavyamimamsa, Karpuramanjari and Viddhashalabhanjika are all his.
- (a)Kavyamimamsa — This is Rajasekhara's own work — a practical manual of poetics (kavi-shiksha), written around 880–920 CE, on how poetry is made, judged and taught.
- (b)Karpuramanjari — Rajasekhara's best-known play — a sattaka composed entirely in Prakrit, traditionally said to have been written to please his wife Avantisundari.
- (d)Viddhashalabhanjika — A natika (court drama) by Rajasekhara, listed among his works alongside Balaramayana and Balabharata.
Rajasekhara (c. 9th–10th century CE) was a Sanskrit poet-dramatist and literary theorist attached to the Gurjara-Pratihara court at Kannauj, describing himself as the teacher of Mahendrapala I. His surviving works are Kavyamimamsa (poetics) plus the plays Karpuramanjari, Viddhashalabhanjika, Balaramayana and Balabharata. Prabandhachintamani belongs to a completely different genre and era — the prabandha literature written by Jain monks of western India, which strings together anecdotes about historical kings and is used, cautiously, as a source for the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat.
The odd-one-out is findable by genre even if you cannot place every title. Three names are literary — one treatise on poetics and two dramas — while 'Prabandha-chintamani' announces itself as a collection of prabandhas, a chronicle form. Add the chronology check: Rajasekhara belongs to c. 900 CE, while the prabandha genre flourishes in the 13th–14th centuries. Rajasekhara's works also include a Prakrit play, which is why 'Karpuramanjari' looks unusual but is genuinely his.
- Rajasekhara: poet, dramatist and critic, court poet and preceptor of the Gurjara-Pratihara king Mahendrapala I at Kannauj
- His works: Kavyamimamsa (poetics), Karpuramanjari (a sattaka in Prakrit), Viddhashalabhanjika, Balaramayana, Balabharata
- He names his wife Avantisundari, of the Chahamana family, in connection with his literary work — rare for an ancient Indian poet
- Prabandhachintamani: Sanskrit prabandha collection by the Jain scholar Merutunga, composed VS 1361 (c. 1305 CE) at Vardhamana (Wadhwan), Gujarat; its anecdotes about Munja and Bhoja make it a standard, if semi-legendary, source for Malwa's history
Three works of a c. 900 CE poet, and one 14th-century Jain chronicle that does not belong in the set.
- Confusing the poet Rajasekhara (c. 900 CE) with the later Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri, author of the Prabandhakosha (1349 CE) — different person, different genre
- Assuming any famous Sanskrit title belongs to the biggest name in the option set; Prabandhachintamani post-dates Rajasekhara by about four centuries
Both commissions use the 'which work is NOT by X' and 'match the work with its author' formats. MPPSC adds a Madhya Pradesh twist by asking which texts throw light on Paramara and Malwa history — which is exactly where Merutunga's Prabandhachintamani appears.
Who among the following were famous jurists of medieval India? I. Vijnanesvara II. Hemadri III. Rajasekhara IV. Jimutavahana Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
- (a) I, II and III
- (b) II, III and IV
- (c) I, II and IV
- (d) I and IV
Answer(c) I, II and IV
Turns on the same identification — Rajasekhara is left out of the list precisely because he was a poet-dramatist, not a jurist like Vijnanesvara or Jimutavahana.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Prabandhachintamani, a Sanskrit collection of semi-historical anecdotes about kings, was composed by:
- (a)Merutunga
- (b)Rajasekhara
- (c)Hemachandra
- (d)Padmagupta
Answer(a) Merutunga — a Shvetambara Jain scholar, who completed it in c. 1305 CE in Gujarat.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Karpuramanjari, written by Rajasekhara, is notable in Sanskrit drama because it is:
- (a)A play composed entirely in Prakrit
- (b)The earliest Sanskrit grammar
- (c)A treatise on statecraft
- (d)A collection of Buddhist Jataka stories
Answer(a) A play composed entirely in Prakrit — the best-known example of the sattaka form.