NDA (I) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 82 of 149

Correct — A, Harishena. The Prayag Prashasti, also called the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, is the eulogy of Samudragupta composed in ornate Sanskrit by his court poet and minister Harishena. Engraved on an existing Ashokan pillar, it records Samudragupta's conquests and is the principal source for his reign.

• (b)Chand Bardai — Chand Bardai was the court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan (12th century) and wrote the Prithviraj Raso — some seven centuries after Samudragupta and unconnected to the Gupta inscription.
• (c)Vishakhadatta — Vishakhadatta was a Sanskrit dramatist (author of the Mudrarakshasa); he did not compose the Prayag Prashasti, which is a prashasti inscription, not a play.
• (d)Kalidasa — Kalidasa was the celebrated poet-dramatist of the Gupta court (works such as Abhijnanasakuntalam and Raghuvamsha), but the Allahabad Pillar eulogy was written by Harishena, not by him.

A prashasti is a laudatory royal inscription. The Prayag Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) glorifies Samudragupta of the Gupta dynasty and is our chief record of his military campaigns in northern India, the Deccan and the frontier. It was composed by Harishena, who was Samudragupta's minister (sandhivigrahika) and poet, and was inscribed on a pillar originally set up by Ashoka.

The options mix court poets from very different eras. The clue is the Gupta context: Harishena served Samudragupta directly. Kalidasa is a Gupta-era name but a dramatist, not the author of this inscription; Chand Bardai belongs to the much later Chauhan court.

• Harishena was Samudragupta's court poet and a high official (sandhivigrahika).
• The Prayag Prashasti is engraved on an Ashokan pillar now housed in the Allahabad (Prayagraj) Fort.
• It is written in the champu style (mixed prose and verse) of classical Sanskrit.
• It details Samudragupta's conquests, earning him comparisons to a great conqueror in modern historiography.

• Picking Kalidasa simply because he is the famous Gupta-court poet — the inscription's author is Harishena.
• Confusing a prashasti (inscription) with a Sanskrit drama, which draws students towards Vishakhadatta.

Asked as a fact-recall pairing a named inscription with the poet who composed it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Prayag Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) is engraved on a pillar originally erected by:

  • (a)Chandragupta Maurya
  • (b)Ashoka
  • (c)Kanishka
  • (d)Harshavardhana

  Answer(b) Ashoka — later reused for Samudragupta's eulogy.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Harishena, the composer of the Prayag Prashasti, was a court figure of which ruler?

  • (a)Chandragupta II
  • (b)Samudragupta
  • (c)Skandagupta
  • (d)Harshavardhana

  Answer(b) Samudragupta.