Editing Navaratnas (section)

== Vikramāditya's Navaratnāḥ ==

The court of [[Vikramaditya|Vikramāditya]], the legendary ruler of [[Ujjain|Ujjayinī]], is celebrated in traditional accounts for its assemblage of nine illustrious scholars, collectively known as the ''navaratnāḥ''. Their names are preserved in works such as the ''Jyotirvidābharaṇa'', attributed to [[Kalidasa|Kālidāsa]], though the text's authenticity is debated among scholars.

These ''ratna'' exemplified the zenith of classical Indian intellectual life, each representing mastery over a particular branch of [[śāstra]], [[kalā]], or [[Law|nīti]]. The most frequently cited names include:

* [[Kalidasa|Kālidāsa]] – master of [[kāvya]] (poetry) and [[Natya Shastra|nāṭya]] (drama)  
* [[Varahamihira|Varāhamihira]] – authority on [[jyotiṣa]] (astronomy and astrology)  
* [[Dhanvantari]] – revered figure in [[Ayurveda|vaidyaśāstra]] (medicine)  
* [[Amarasimha|Amarasiṃha]] – lexicographer known for the ''[[Amarakosha]]''  
* [[Śanku]] – expert in architectural sciences (''śilpaśāstra'')  
* [[Ghaṭakarpara]] – poet of epigrammatic verse  
* [[Vetala Bhatta|Vetālabaṭṭa]] – known for wit and political counsel  
* [[Kṣapaṇaka]] – philosopher and sage linked with [[tarka]] (logic)  
* [[Vararuci]] – grammarian associated with [[vyākaraṇa]]
Another popular tradition mentions the astronomer [[Brahmagupta]] and the magician Vaitālika, instead of Ghaṭakharapara and Vetāla-Bhaṭṭa, among the nine scholars.<ref name="GSS_Akbar"/>

These navaratnāḥ reflect an idealized vision of a sovereign as a patron of [[jñāna]] and [[kalā]], upholding dharma through the counsel of sages steeped in both learning and artistry.<ref name="MS_1974">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dVRvVyHaiQC&pg=PA100 |title=History of Classical Sanskrit Literature |author=M. Srinivasachariar |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1974 |isbn=9788120802841 |pages=94–111 }}</ref> 

However, Jyotirvid-abharaṇa is a literary forgery of a date later than Kālidāsa,<ref name="MS_1974"/> and was probably attributed to Kālidāsa to popularize it.<ref name="AMS">{{cite book |author=A.M. Shastri |author-link=Ajay Mitra Shastri |title=Varāhamihira and His Times |year=1991 |publisher=Kusumanjali |oclc=28644897 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf0MAQAAMAAJ }}</ref> [[Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi|V. V. Mirashi]] dates the work to 12th century, and points out that it could not have been composed by Kālidāsa, because it contains grammatical faults.<ref name="VVM_1969">{{cite book |author1=Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi |author2=Narayan Raghunath Navlekar |title=Kalidasa: Date, Life And Works |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sueiThBrP4gC&pg=PA8 |publisher=Popular |year=1969 |isbn=978-81-7154-468-4 |pages=8–29 |author1-link=Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi }}</ref> Other scholars have variously dated the text to the 13th century ([[Sudhakara Dvivedi|Sudhākara Dvivedī]]), 16th century ([[Arthur Berriedale Keith|A.B. Keith]]), and 18th century ([[Johan Hendrik Caspar Kern|H. Kern]]).<ref name="AMS"/>

There is no mention of such "Nāvārāṭṇās" in earlier literature. [[Dinesh Chandra Sircar|D. C. Sircar]] calls this tradition "absolutely worthless for historical purposes".<ref name="DCS_1969">{{cite book |url=http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in:8080/handle/2015/131352 |title=Ancient Malwa And The Vikramaditya Tradition |author=D. C. Sircar |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |year=1969 |isbn=978-8121503488 |pages=120–123 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617064610/http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in:8080/handle/2015/131352 |archivedate=2016-06-17 }}</ref>

There is no historical evidence to show that these nine scholars were contemporary figures or proteges of the same king.<ref name="VVM_1969"/><ref name="KCJ_1972">{{cite book |author=Kailāśa Chandra Jain |title=Malwa Through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3O7q7cU7k0C&pg=PA158 |year=1972 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0824-9 |pages=156–165 }}</ref> Varārucci is believed to have lived around 3rd or 4th century CE. The period of Kālidāsa is debated, but most historians place him around 5th century CE. Varāhamihira is known to have lived in 6th century CE. Dhanavantari was the author of a medical glossary ([[Nighantu]]); his period is uncertain. Amarasiṃha cannot be dated with certainty either, but his lexicon utilizes the works of Dhanavantari and Kālidāsa; therefore, he cannot be dated to 1st century BCE, when the legendary Vikramāditya is said to have established the [[Vikrama Samvat]] in 57 BCE. Not much is known about Śaṅku, Vetalabhatta, Kṣapanaka and Ghaṭakarpara. Some Jain writers identify [[Siddhasena Divakara]] as Kṣapanaka, but this claim is not accepted by historians.<ref name="DCS_1969"/>

Kālidāsa is the only figure whose association with Vikramāditya is mentioned in works earlier than ''Jyotirvidābharaṇa''. [[Rajashekhara (Sanskrit poet)|Rājashekhara]]'s ''Kāvyamimāṃsā'' (10th century), [[Bhoja]]'s ''Śṛṅgāra Prakāśa'' (11th century) and [[Kshemendra|Kṣhemendra]]'s ''Āucitya-Vicāra-Carcā'' (11th century) mention that Vikramāditya sent Kālidāsa as his ambassador to the Kuntala country (identified with present-day [[Uttara Kannada]]). The historicity of these legends is doubtful.<ref name="DCS_1969"/>