Vijja

Vijja (IAST: Vijjā) is known by several alternative names. Vidyakara's anthology calls her Vidyā, while Sharngadhara-paddhati uses the Prakrit form Vijjakā. Vallabhadeva's anthology also calls her Vijjakā, although some of its manuscripts use the variations Vijjāka or Vijjikā.^[1]

A verse, attributed to Rajashekhara in Jalhana's Suktimuktavali, states:^[1]

That Vijayanka, the Karnata woman, conquers like Sarasvati
Who next to Kalidasa was a part having vaidarbha speeches

— Rajashekhara^[1]

Some modern writers have identified this Vijayanka (literally "having the mark of victory") with the Vidya or Vijja (literally "knowledge" or "science") mentioned in several Sanskrit anthologies.^[1] This person is also identified with Vijaya (r. c. 650-655 CE) of the Chalukya dynasty that ruled the Karnata region in southern India.^[2]

One of the verses attributed to Vijja compares her to the goddess of learning, Sarasvati, and states that she had a dark complexion unlike the goddess. This verse also mentions the famous poet Daṇḍin (a native of southern India), calling him wrong for describing Sarasvati as "all-white" in his invocation to the goddess at the beginning of Kavyalakshana.^[3][4]

Not knowing me, Vijjaka, dark as the petal of a blue water lily,
Dandin has vainly declared that Sarasvati is 'all white'.

— Vijjaka (Vijja), quoted in Sharngadhara's Paddhati^[1]

Jalhana's Suktimuktavali contains a variation of this verse, beginning with "Not knowing her, Vijjākā, dark as petal..."; Jalhana attributes the verse to an anonymous poet.^[5] The verse may be considered as evidence supporting Vijja's connections to South India, but there is no concrete proof she was same as Pulakeshin's daughter-in-law Vijaya.^[3] In fact, such an identification results in chronological improbabilities: the poet whose works mention the 8th century poet Dandin could not have been the 7th century royal Vijaya, unless she lived until the end of the century, and deigned to notice a verse by a much younger author.^[5][2]

Dhanadeva, a writer who praises Vijja as a talented poet, also mentions a poet called Vijayanka (Vijaya), who excelled in the Vaidarbhi style. Dhanadeva's writings do not clarify if these two women poets are the same person.^[6]

The Sanskrit play Kaumudi-Mahotsava is known from a single manuscript discovered in Kerala. The manuscript was partially damaged by worms, and had a hole at the place that appears to state the beginning of the author's name in the prologue. The visible part of the author's name can be read as ("-kayā"); the ending syllable suggests that this is a feminine name. Scholar Manavalli Ramakrishna Kavi (1866-1957) saw the remains of what he believed to be "ja", and read the name as "jakayā", although Indologist A. K. Warder finds this reading doubtful.^[7]

Based on Kavi's reading and the space occupied by the hole, some scholars have theorized that the author was "Vijjakayā", identifying her with Vijja. However, Warder notes that the word could have been another name, such as "Morikayā". Alternatively, the broken word may not be a name at all: it is possible that the sentence containing it states that "the play was composed with a sub-plot patākayā".^[7]

An analysis of the play's style and language indicates that it was definitely not authored by the poet Vijja: the play resembles the works of earlier authors such as Bhasa, and is highly unlikely to have been composed after the 6th century.^[8]