Raḍḍā
Raḍḍā (रड़्ड़ा) or Raḍḍādevī/Raddadevi(रड़्ड़ादेवी) was queen of King of Kashmir Jayasimha (1128 - 1155 AD) of second Lohara dynasty.
In Rajatarangini
Rajatarangini[1] tells....The king Jayasimha then for a short time made enquiries on subjects both of great and little importance, and then went to the inner apartments of queen Raḍḍā, with Bhoja. Bhoja saw her beaming with courtesy, and he bowed to her and acknowledged that the king was the Pārijāta tree attended by Kalpalatā. [VIII (ii), p.300]
Rajatarangini[2] tells.... The king Jayasimha then anointed Gulhana, the eldest of the sons of Raḍḍādevi, as king of the prosperous kingdom of Lohara. That prince was aged six or seven years, and he surpassed older kings, as a young mango tree surpasses worn out trees. As the queen Raḍḍā went to anoint her son, the feudatory kings bowed to her, and reddened her feet by the rays of the rubies on their heads, as if by red paint. When the prince was anointed, the clouds, as if in compliance with, the wishes of the queen, drenched the earth which had been dried up by a fearful drought. [VIII (ii), p.306]
Queen Raddadevi, Sons and daughters of the king Jayasimha
Rajatarangini[3] tells ... After the king of Lohara (Gulhana), queen Radda's four sons, clever and eminent on account of their virtues, became kings. As Lakshmana bore inseparable love towards Rama, so Gulhana is loved by Aparāditya, and lives in prosperity in Lohara. As Shatrughna was brought up by Bharata, even so Jayapida lives under the fostering care of Lalitaditya.
King Ahaskara was renowned on account of humility and was the fifth virtuous king, and rose like the young sun. He was restless on account of his young age, graceful on account of his reverence and power, and although like the beautiful sun, he softened men. His fair face with eyes lined with collyrium, and his lower lip red as copper, appeared like a golden lotus on which the rays of the newly risen sun were reflected. Though
* It would appears that Mahadeva was here represented by an image with a serpent round its head and with the Ganges flowing through its hair.
[p.314]: young, his conversation was clear and full of magnanimity, and was as grateful to men as the source of the nectar, (the moon), churned out of the ocean. " He is horn of a great family, and the graceful dignity of his infancy indicates future expansion.
Four daughters, — Menila, Rajalakshmi, Padmashri and Kamala, — all bent on good deeds, were born to the king of Kashmira.
King and the queen: Always surrounded by beautiful children in the pleasure garden made for enjoyment? the unblemished king and queen look graceful like two gardens in the rainy season. By the reduction of the expenditure of the kingdom, hallowed by holy temples, the riches of queen Radda were augmented. The queen was followed by the king and petty chiefs and ministers in her pilgrimage to shrines of gods, and she beamed like the goddess of Royal Fortune. When she bathed, her companions in pilgrimage touched the person of that chaste lady and instantly abandoned their desire to touch the image of Sati. When she marched, the rain clouds in the sky always followed her, in order to see her, as they follow the rainy season ; no doubt, because, when she bathed in the shrines of this world, the shrines of heaven bathed her too, out of jealousy, in the guise of rain clouds. In her eagerness to go to shrines, the queen with her tender limbs does not think even the cloud-touching hills and the bank-breaking rivers in her way to be insurmountable. By setting up many images and repairing worn out temples, the wise and clever queen surpassed the
[p.315]: " Idle " (Nirjjitavarmma) and Didda. She set up a beautiful image of Rudra named Rudreshvara, made of white stone grateful as the source of the nectar, (the moon), and beauteous as the melting sea of cream. It shines to the day and destroys hunger, thirst, poverty and all disturbances. Set with pure gold, it is the graceful ornament of Kashmira, the essence of all beautiful things in the world. She also repaired the building named Shāntāvasāda.
Influence of the queen over the king: When the king is ruffled with anger, as the sea is by the sub-marine fire, the queen is the shelter of the servants, as the Ganges is of aquatic creatures. When the king is in even temper, punishments or favors on [subordinate] kings were awarded at her desire. She favored king Bhupala, son of Somapala, by marriage with the honorable Meniladevi. The dignity inherited from noble birth is easily discerned, and is, never, completely lost. The fiery sun has the power to destroy darkness, and the disk (moon) receives the power from the sun, and so destroys darkness. This kingdom, wonderful among all kingdoms on earth, and purified and full of jewels, displays in a befitting manner the virtues of the king. After Meniladevi was married, her father sincerely forgot his former displeasure against the bridegroom and bestowed on him a kingdom.
The king had, by his vigour, killed king Prājidhara and other enemies in battle. The powerful Ghatotkacha, younger brother of Prajidhara now tried to heal up his enmity with the king. He took shelter of Radda and
[p.316]: obtained a beautiful kingdom, and enjoyed a kingly fortune. Panchavata, helped by the ministers of the king, caused the kingdom of Angada including Prajji to he taken away from its owner who behaved with hostility towards his brother. His [ Panchavata's] prowess was as great as that of the Sohāradānā river, when full of water ; but by crossing it, he (Ghatotkacha) eluded that river as well as Panchavata's black sword flashing before enemies. The latter [ Panchavata ] created a bad name for the king, and by the prowess of the gods, took possession of Atyugrapura full of combatants. Under the beams of the white umbrella, beautiful is the moon, many joyful leaders of armies thus attained fame.
In this year 25 (=1149 AD), twenty-two years have now passed since the king obtained the kingdom. Owing to the .... of the subjects, the happiness attained by this king in the end was not equalled in any other place for many years and cycles. Water which naturally flows is, by n certain plant, consolidated, and it becomes like stone. Solid stone (sun-jewel) melts at the rising of the sun, and flows. Whose work can shine unchanged against the irresistible power of time, as long as such resistible power endures? Such is the power of Fate ! [VIII (ii),p.313-316]
References
References
Back to Jat Ranis