Which of the following books was not written by Rajasekhara?

Question

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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.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) 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) Rajasekhara's best-known play — a sattaka composed entirely in Prakrit, traditionally said to have been written to please his wife Avantisundari.  (d) A natika (court drama) by Rajasekhara, listed among his works alongside Balaramayana and Balabharata.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2025 Q49 — Art & Culture PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q49 — Art & Culture PYQ with Answer