Dandi

Dandi may refer to:

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Daṇḍin

Daṇḍin was a seventh- to eighth-century Sanskrit grammarian and author of prose romances, and 'is one of the best-known writers in all of Asian history'. A range of evidence points to an association with the Pallava dynasty and its court at Kanchipuram in modern-day Tamil Nadu. His writings were all in Sanskrit.

Biography

Daṇḍin's life and times have been studied particularly by D. K. Gupta. If we accept the account of Daṇḍin's life in his Avantisundarī as genuine autobiography, Daṇḍin was a great-grandson of one Dāmodara, a court poet from Vidarbha who served, amongst others, the Pallava king Siṃhaviṩṇu and King Durvinīta of the Western Ganga dynasty:

Yigal Bronner concludes that 'These details all suggest that Daṇḍin’s active career took place around 680–720 CE under the auspices of Narasiṃhavarman II Rājasiṃha in Kāñcī (r. 690/1–728/9)'.

Daṇḍin was widely praised as a poet by pre-modern Sanskrit commentators such as Rājaśekhara (fl. 920 CE), and his works widely studied to this day. One shloka (hymn) that explains the strengths of different poets says: दण्डिन: पदलालित्यम् "daṇḍinaḥ padalālityaṃ" ("Daṇḍin is the master of playful words").