प्रियदर्शिका नाटिका (सम्राट हर्षवर्धन - चतुरङ्क शास्त्रीय नाटिका सान्वय सटीक)

XI

bed-side of his dying father. Harsha's mother, Queen Yaśomatī
immolated herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.
Rājyavardhana who had defeated the Hūņas, returned as soon
as he heard of his father's death. He was at once proclaimed
king though his own desire was to turn out an ascetic,
leaving the throne to his younger brother. Misfortunes
still dogged the footsteps of the two brothers. Their brother-
in-law, Grahavarmā, the ruler of Kanauj, the husband of
their sister Rājyaśrī, was slain in battle by the king of
Mālwa. The widowed queen was most cruelly treated and kept
a prisoner at Kanauj. Rājyavardhana at once marched with
a picked force against the king of Mālwa and succeeded in his
campaign of vengeance by inflicting upon him a crushing defeat.
But Rājyavardhana was lured into a private conference and
treacherously murdered by Saśāṁka, the King of Gauḍa (Central
Bengal), the ally of the Mālava King. The nobles unani-
mously chose Harsha as their sovereign and he assumed the
reins of government in 606 A. D., a date which is marked as
the beginning of the 'Harsha era.' Harsha, who was in deep
grief owing to a succession of domestic misfortunes, accepted
the throne with great reluctance. He did not assume the
title of 'king' for some years, but called himself simply
Rājaputra Śīlāditya (Sun of Virtue). Mr. C. V. Vaidya says
that Harsha was not reluctant to ascend the throne of
Thaneshwar but he had scruples to accept the throne of Kanauj,
since the rightful heir to that throne was his widowed
sister, Rājyaśrī. Harsha was only sixteen when he assumed
the responsibilities of governing a large kingdom. He had
first two great duties to accomplish, the recovery of his
widowed sister and avenging the murder of his elder brother.
He succeeded in rescuing his sister who had fled into the
Vindhya forests and was at this time contemplating suicide.
She afterwards assumed the yellow robe and became the
devoted companion and counsellor of her royal brother. As
regards his second object of punishing Saśāṁka, king
of Gauḍa, he seems to have succeeded in so far that he forced
him to acknowledge his suzerainty. For nearly six years
after his accession Harsha was engaged in incessant warfare
with a view to bringing the whole of northern India under
one domination. When Harsha had subjugated the whole of
upper India, except the Punjab, he was formally crowned and