Akāla-jalada (c. 8th–9th century) was a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

-language poet from the Tripuri Kalachuri kingdom of present-day Central India. He was the great-grandfather of the

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Hindustan, Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving ...

court poet

Rajashekhara Rajasekhara may refer to: * Rama Rajasekhara/Cheraman Perumal "Nayanar" (''fl.'' 9th century), theologian, devotional poet and ruler from south India * Rajashekhara (Sanskrit poet) Rajashekhara (; ) was a Sanskrit poet, dramatist and critic. H ...

Biography

Akalajalada was the great-grandfather of the 10th century poet

, so he must have lived in the 8th century or 9th century. He came from the Yayavara

Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...

family of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

: Rajashekhara's ''Bala-Ramayana'' calls him ''Maharashtra-chudamani'' ("crest jewel of Maharashtra"). The prologue of the text names the poets Surananda and Tarala as other members of this family. These ancestors of Rajashekhara flourished at the court of the

Kalachuris of Tripuri The Kalachuris of Tripuri ( IAST: ), also known the Kalachuris of Chedi, ruled parts of central India during 7th to 13th centuries. They are also known as the Later Kalachuris to distinguish them from their earlier namesakes, especially the Kal ...

. "Akalajalada" (literally "out-of-season cloud") was probably a sobriquet, not the poet's real name. The poet was also known by other names, including Dakshinatya and Dvanduka. A verse attributed to Akalajalada in '' Sharngadhara-paddhati'' is attributed to Dakshinatya ("Southern") in Vallabha-deva's ''Subhashitavali''.

Vidyakara Vidyakara (c. 1050–1130) was a Buddhist scholar and poetry anthologist, noted for the Sanskrit poetry compilation ''Subhashitaratnakosha'' ( IAST: ''Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa''), which has been considered the "most celebrated" anthology of Sans ...

's ''Subhashita-ratna-kosha'' attributes the same verse to "Dvanduka". According to a verse by Rajashekhara, quoted by the 12th century writer Jalhana, a dramatist named Kadambari-rama plagiarized from Akalajalada for a ''nataka'' (play), and gained reputation as an excellent poet.

Works

Only one verse attributed to Akalajalada is now extant. Its English translation by

A. K. Warder Anthony Kennedy Warder (8 September 1924 – 8 January 2013) was a British Indologist. His best-known works are ''Introduction to Pali'' (1963), ''Indian Buddhism'' (1970), and the eight-volume ''Indian Kāvya Literature'' (1972–2011). Life Wa ...

is as follows: Alternative translation by M. C. Choubey, according to whom this is the description of a drought in the Tripuri Kalachuri kingdom: A verse attributed to Rajashekhara in Jalhana's '' Sukti-muktavali'' suggests that Akalajalada had written many ''muktakas'' (detached stanzas). These were later compiled into a collection titled ''Vachana-Chandrika'', which was highly appreciated by 77 contemporary poets.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{authority control Sanskrit poets 9th-century Indian poets Kalachuris of Tripuri Indian male poets