Virasena Saba

Virasena Saba was the chief minister of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. He was also the foreign affairs, peace and war minister. He was the emperor's favourite minister and an accomplished poet.^[1] He is known from an Udaygiri cave undated inscription, which records the excavation of a cave temple dedicated to Shiva.^[2] He was an ardent Shaivite.^[3]

Name

The first part of his name is Vira, which means 'brave', and the second is Sena, the whole name literally meaning 'one with a brave array'.^[1]

Life

Virasena Saba was the foreign affairs, peace and war minister of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II, and held the office by hereditary right.^[4]^[1] He was the emperor's favourite minister and an accomplished poet.^[1]

(Inscription No. 6, L.4) : Hailing from Pataliputra he was Chandragupta II's (320 - 335 AD) minister for peace and war by hereditary right and accompanied the king on his far-reaching military expeditions.^[1]

Pāṇini refers to Senānta names in his Astadhyayi.^[1] U.N. Roy conjectures the possibility of the composition of the Prasasti inscribed on the Meharauli Iron Pillar Inscription by Śāba alias Virasena who was an accomplished poet. It is possible that he outlived his patron and when during a Dharmayatra he revisited the spot where the lofty banner had been raised as a mark of homage to Lord Vishnu after the victory over the Vahlikas, was moved to compose and inscribe this Prasasti on the Mehrauli Pillar.^[5]^[1]

Udayagiri Cave Inscription of Chandragupta II (A.D. 375-414) mentions Virasena, the child of Kotsa, the minister for peace and war under Chandragupta II, who knew the meanings of the words, and logic, and (the ways of) mankind, who was a poet and who belonged to (the city of) Pataliputra^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Sharma, Tej Ram (1978). Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions. Concept. p. 378.
^ Agrawal, Ashvini (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 8120805925.
^ Cotterell, Arthur (30 June 2011). The Pimlico Dictionary Of Classical Civilizations (E-book ed.). Random House. p. 496. ISBN 9781446466728.
^ "UNIT 2 ECONOMY, SOCIETY, CULTURE Guptas AND POLITY: THE GUPTAS" (PDF). Ekgyankosh AC. Ekgyankosh AC. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Ibid., pp.25-26.
^ कौत्सश्शाब इति ख्यातो वीरसेन: कुलाख्यया । शब्दार्थ-न्याय-लोकज्ञ कवि पाटलिपुत्रक ॥

[Tej_Ram,_1978_p._48-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Sharma, Tej Ram (1978). Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions. Concept. p. 378.

[Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Imperial_Guptas-2] Agrawal, Ashvini (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 8120805925.

[Arthur_Cotterell:_The_Pimlico_Dictionary_Of_Classical_Civilizations-3] Cotterell, Arthur (30 June 2011). The Pimlico Dictionary Of Classical Civilizations (E-book ed.). Random House. p. 496. ISBN 9781446466728.

[UNIT_2_ECONOMY,_SOCIETY,_CULTURE_Guptas_AND_POLITY:_THE_GUPTAS-4] "UNIT 2 ECONOMY, SOCIETY, CULTURE Guptas AND POLITY: THE GUPTAS" (PDF). Ekgyankosh AC. Ekgyankosh AC. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[5] Ibid., pp.25-26.

[6] कौत्सश्शाब इति ख्यातो वीरसेन: कुलाख्यया । शब्दार्थ-न्याय-लोकज्ञ कवि पाटलिपुत्रक ॥

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