9 Gems (Navratnas) of Chandragupta Vikramaditya

Chandragupta-II was known for his deep interest in art and culture and nine gems or Navratna adorned his court. The various fields of these 9 gems prove that Chandragupta gave patronage to arts and literature. Brief description about the nine Ratnas is as follows

Amarsimha

Amarsimha was a Sanskrit lexicographer and a poet and his Amarkosha is a vocabulary of Sanskrit roots, homonyms and synonyms. It is also called Trikanda as it has 3 parts viz. Kanda 1, Kanda 2 and Kanda 3. It has 10 thousand words in it.

Dhanvantri

Dhanvantri was a great Physician.

Harisena

Harisena is known to have composed the Prayag Prasasti or Allahabad Pillar Inscription. The title of this inscription of Kavya, but it has both prose and verse. The whole poem is in one sentence including first 8 stanzas of poetry and a long sentence and a concluding stanza. Harisena in his old age was in the court of Chandragupta and describes him as Noble, and asks him “You Protect all this earth”.

Kalidasa

Kalidasa is the immortal poet and playwright of India and a peerless genius whose works became famous worldwide in modern world. Translation of Kalidasa’s works in numerous Indian and Foreign Languages have spread his fame all of the word and now he ranks among the top poets of all times. Here we should note that Rabindranath Tagore, not only propagated the works of Kalidasa but also expounded their meanings and philosophy that made him an immortal poet dramatists.

Kahapanaka

Kahapanka was an astrologer. Not many details about him are found.

Sanku

Sanku was in the field of Architecture.

Varahamihira

Varahamihira (died 587) lived in Ujjain and he wrote three important books: Panchasiddhantika, Brihat Samhita, and Brihat Jataka. The Panchasiddhantaka is a summary of five early astronomical systems including the Surya Siddhanta. Another system described by him, the Paitamaha Siddhanta, appears to have many similarities with the ancient Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha. Brihat Samhita is a compilataion of an assortment of topics that provides interesting details of the beliefs of those times. Brihat Jataka is a book on astrology which appears to be considerably influenced by Greek astrology.

Vararuchi

Vararuchi is the name of another gem of Chandragupta Vikramaditya who was a grammarian and Sanskrit scholar. Some historians have identified him with Katyayana. Vararuchi is said to be the author of Prakrit Prakasha, which is first Grammar of Prakrit Language.

Vetalbhatta

Vetalbhatta was a magician.