Bāṇabhaṭṭa

Bāṇabhaṭṭa (Sanskrit: बाणभट्ट) was a 7th-century Sanskrit prose

Bāṇabhaṭṭa
writer and poet of India. He was the Asthana Kavi in the court of
King Harsha Vardhana, who reigned c. 606–647 CE in north India Occupation Poet, writer, author
first from Sthanvishvara (Thanesar), and later Kannauj. Bāna's Works Harshacharita,
principal works include a biography of Harsha, the Harshacharita Kadambari
(Deeds of Harsha),[1] and one of the world's earliest novels,
Kadambari. Bāṇa died before finishing the novel and it was completed by his son Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa. Both
these works are noted texts of Sanskrit literature.[2] The other works attributed to him are the
Caṇḍikāśataka and a drama, the Pārvatīpariṇaya. Banabhatta gets an applause as "banochhistam
jagatsarvam" meaning Bana has described everything in this world and nothing is left.

Contents
Life
Works
References
Biography
External links

Life
A detailed account regarding his ancestry and early life can be reconstructed from the introductory verses
attached to the कादम्बरी and the first two ucchāvasas of the Harṣacarita, while the circumstances behind
the composition of the Harṣacarita are described in the third ucchāvasa of the text. Harsacarita is
considered as the first Indian work which may be regarded as a historical biography. It gives a vivid picture
of life in the countryside.[3]

Bāna was born to Chitrabhānu and Rājadevi in the village of Pritikuta on the banks of the Hiraṇyavāhu in
a Bhojaka family of Vātsyāyana gotra in the current district of AURANGABAD,BARUN,SONE RIVER
in modern-day Bihar. After the death of his father, Bāṇa led a wandering life for a period but later came
back to his native village. Here, on a summer day, on receiving a letter from Krishna, a cousin of King
Harsha, he met the king while he was camping near the town of Manitara. After receiving Bāna with mock
signs of anger, the king showed him much favor.

Works
Bana (1898). The Parvati Parinaya of Banabhatta, with Sanskrit Commentary, English Notes
and Tr., by T.R. Ratnam Aiyar (https://books.google.com/books?id=vLMCMwEACAAJ).
Madras.
Bana (tr. G. Layne), Bāṇabhaṭṭa Kādambarī. A Classic Sanskrit Story of Magical
Transformations (New York: Garland, 1991). Scan at archive.org (http://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t2q
 61661z)
Harshacharita :The Harshacharita (Sanskrit: हर्षचरित, Harṣacarita) (The deeds of Harsha), is
the biography of Indian emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known as Bana, who was a
Sanskrit writer of seventh-century CE India. He was the Asthana Kavi, meaning Court Poet,
of Harsha. The Harshacharita was the first composition of Bana and is considered to be the
beginning of the writing of historical poetic works in the Sanskrit language.

References
1. "Sthanvishvara (historical region, India)" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/56609
0/Sthanvishvara). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
2. Amaresh Datta (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: devraj to jyoti (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1339). Sahitya Akademi. pp. 1339–. ISBN 978-
81-260-1194-0.
3. Sreedharan, E, "A Manual of Historical Research Methodology." Trivandrum, Centre for
South Indian Studies, 2007, ISBN 978-81-905928-0-2 [1] (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=TG6PXBKwXNMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepag
e&q&f=false)

The Harsa-Carita of Bana. Translated by E. B. Cowell and F. W. Thomas. London: Royal

Asiatic Society, 1897, 4-34.

Biography
Sakharam Vasudeo Dixit (1963). Bāṇabhaṭṭa: His Life & Literature (https://archive.org/detail
s/in.ernet.dli.2015.312730). A.S. Dixit.
Neeta Sharma (1968). Banabhatta: a literary study (https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.106
89.12206). Munshiram Manoharlal.
K. Krishnamoorthy (1982). Banabhatta (https://books.google.com/books?id=LZXldPqbIkUC).
Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-674-6.

External links
Works by Bāṇabhaṭṭa (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/40993) at Project
Gutenberg
Works by or about Bāṇabhaṭṭa (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3
A%22Bāṇabhaṭṭa%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bāṇabhaṭṭa%22%20OR%20descriptio
n%3A%22Bāṇabhaṭṭa%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Bāṇabhaṭṭa%22%29%29%20AND%2
0%28-mediatype:software%29) at Internet Archive
Banabhatta (1897). The Harsa-carita of Bana (online text) (https://archive.org/stream/harsac
aritaofban00banaiala#page/n7/mode/2up). E. B. Cowell, F. W. Thomas (trans.). London :
Royal Asiatic Society.

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