“Navaratnas”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Navaratnas (Sanskrit dvigu nava-ratna- or "nine gems") or Nauratan was a term applied to a group of nine extraordinary people in an emperor's court in India. The well-known Navaratnas include the ones in the courts of the legendary emperor Vikramaditya, the Mughal emperor Akbar, and the feudal lord Raja Krishnachandra.

Vikramaditya's Navaratnas

Vikramaditya is a legendary emperor, who ruled from Ujjain; he is generally identified with the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. According to folk tradition, his court had 9 famous scholars.

The earliest source that mentions this legend is Jyotirvidabharana (22.10), a treatise attributed to Kalidasa. According to this text, the following 9 scholars (including Kalidasa himself) attended Vikramaditya's court:^[1]

However, Jyotirvidabharana is considered a literary forgery of a date later than Kalidasa by multiple scholars.^[1] V. V. Mirashi dates the work to 12th century, and points out that it could not have been composed by Kalidasa, because it contains grammatical faults.^[2] There is no mention of such "Navaratnas" in earlier literature. D. C. Sircar calls this tradition "absolutely worthless for historical purposes".^[3]

There is no historical evidence to show that these nine scholars were contemporary figures or proteges of the same king.^[2]^[4] Vararuchi is believed to have lived around 3rd or 4th century CE. The period of Kalidasa is debated, but most historians place him around 5th century CE. Varahamihira is known to have lived in 6th century CE. Dhanavantari was the author of a medical glossary (Nighantu); his period is uncertain. Amarasimha cannot be dated with certainty either, but his lexicon utilizes the works of Dhanavantari and Kalidasa; therefore, he cannot be dated to 1st century BCE, when the legendary Vikramaditya is said to have established the Vikrama Samvat in 57 BCE. Not much is known about Shanku, Vetalabhatta, Kshapanaka and Ghatakarpara. Some Jain writers identify Siddhasena Divakara as Kshapanaka, but this claim is not accepted by historians.^[3]

Kalidasa is the only figure whose association with Vikramaditya is mentioned in works earlier than Jyotirvidabharana. Rajasekhara's Kāvyamimāṃsa (10th century), Bhoja's Sringara Prakasa (11th century) and Kshemendra's Auchitya-Vichara-Charcha (11th century) mention that Vikramaditya sent Kalidasa as his ambassador to the Kuntala country (identified with present-day Uttara Kannada). The historicity of these legends is doubtful.^[3]

Akbar's Nine Gems or Navaratnas

The Mughal ruler Akbar was a great lover of the artists. His passion for knowledge and interest in learning from great minds attracted him to men of genius to his court. Nine of these courtiers were known as Akbar's navaratnas (or nine jewels).^[5]

Raja Krishnachandra's Navaratnas

Raja Krishnachandra was a ruler of Bengal, who ruled over Nadia from 1727 to 1772. According to legend, his court had 9 famous scholars, who are mentioned as 'Navaratnas'. These included:

Similar groups

Many famous emperors in India had courtiers labeled in similar ways. For example, the valuable members of the court of Krishna Deva Raya were termed Astadiggajas, the eight giants. Lakshmana Sena the ruler of the Sena Empire had Pancharatnas (meaning 5 gems who were Govardhana, Sarana, Jayadeva(author of Gita govinda), umapati, Dhoyi) in his court. Ashtapradhan was the title given to the council of Shivaji.^[10]

Modern usage

A number of institutions in modern India are popularly named for this historic group, particularly public-sector units that perform well. As of June 25, 2007,^[11] the list included the following PSUs:

References

1. ^¹{{cite book |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=4dVRvVyHaiQC&pg=PA100 |title=History of Classical Sanskrit Literature |author=M. Srinivasachariar |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1974 |isbn=9788120802841 |pages=94–111 }}
2. ^¹{{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 }}
3. ^¹²{{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 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617064610/http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in:8080/handle/2015/131352 |archivedate=2016-06-17 |df= }}
4. ^{{cite book |author=Kailash Chand 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 }}
5. ^Singh, Vipul (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination]. Pearson Education India. {{ISBN|8131717534}}. p. 140.
6. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofbengal.com/rangan_datta/Shivniwas_Rangan_Datta.html|title=www.historyofbengal.com: Shivniwas|website=www.historyofbengal.com|access-date=2016-04-11}}
7. ^Siegel, Lee (1987). [(2)https://books.google.com/books?id=d1qZhZz5RuEC Laughing Matters: Comic Tradition in India]. University of Chicago Press, United States. {{ISBN|0-226-75691-2}}. pp. 314-318.
8. ^Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976/1998), Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, {{Bn icon}}, p 377, {{ISBN|81-85626-65-0}}
9. ^{{Harvnb|Harding|1998}}, p.220
10. ^{{Cite web|url=http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2011/may/engpdf/18-20.pdf|title=|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}
11. ^Official List of Navratnas and miniratnas