Author | Vākpatirāja |
---|---|
Original title | गउडवहो |
Translator | Narhari Govind Suru |
Language | Prakrit |
Subject | Life of king Yashovarman |
Genre | Mahakavya |
Publication date | 8th century |
Publication place | Ancient India |
Gaudavaho ("Slaying of the Gauda king"), also known as Gauḍavaha, is an 8th-century Prakrit-language epic poem by Vākpatirāja. It narrates the exploits of the poet's patron, king Yashovarman, who ruled in northern India. The poem deifies the king as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and credits him with several military achievements, including slaying of the Gauda king.
A little over 1200 verses of the text are known from several manuscripts. According to some scholars such as Georg Bühler, the surviving text is only a prelude to the larger poem that Vakpati intended to write, but possibly never finished.