Magha (poet)

Magha (c. 7th century) (Sanskrit: माघ, Māgha) was a Sanskrit poet at King Varmalata's court at Shrimala, the-then capital of Gujarat (presently in Rajasthan state). Magha was born in a Shrimali Brahmin family. He was son of Dattaka Sarvacharya and grandson of Suprabhadeva. His epic poem (mahākāvya) Shishupala Vadha, in 20 sargas (cantos), is based on the Mahabharata episode where the defiant king Shishupala is beheaded by Krishna's chakra (disc). He is thought to have been inspired by, and is often compared with, Bharavi.

Māgha's fame rests entirely on the Shishupala Vadha. Vallabhadeva and Kshemendra quote some verses that are not found in the Shishupala Vadha as that of Māgha, so it is believed that Māgha wrote some other works that are now lost.

Unlike most Indian poets who give no autobiographical details or allude to contemporary events at all, Māgha, in the concluding five verses of the work (known as the Praśasti), gives some autobiographical details, which is rare for Indian poets. The verses inform that his father was Dattaka and his grandfather was Suprabhadeva, a minister at the court of a king whose name is mentioned in different editions as Varmalāta, Dharmanābha, Dharmanātha, Varmalākhya, etc. These verses are therefore called the nija-vaṃśa-varṇana or kavi-vaṃśa-varṇana by commentators.

According to tradition, Māgha was a native of Gujarat, being born in Shrimal Nagar Present Bhinmal dist. Jalore Rajasthan.

By his own accounts and that of others, he was born wealthy and lived a carefree life, although according to one legend, he died in poverty.

Māgha is quoted by Anandavardhana, Bhoja, and in the Kavirajamarga, thus putting him no later than the 8th century. Pathak notes that he alludes to the Kāśikāvṛtti and its commentary Nyāsa, the latter of which is not mentioned by I-Tsing and thus must have been written after his departure from India in 695 CE. Thus, Pathak puts Māgha in the second half of the 8th century.Hermann Jacobi puts him in the 6th century, and Kielhorn and others put him in the second half of the 7th century.

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