author
Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa
Remembered for helping bring one of Sanskrit literature’s great classics to completion, this elusive 7th-century writer is closely tied to the enduring story of Kadambari. Very little is known about his life, which makes his surviving place in literary history all the more intriguing.
1 Audiobook
The Kādambarī of Bāṇa
by Bāṇa, Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa
About the author
Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa is known in Sanskrit literary tradition as the son of Bāṇabhaṭṭa, the celebrated court poet of Emperor Harsha. He is chiefly remembered for completing Kādambarī, the ornate romantic prose work his father left unfinished.
The text is traditionally divided into two parts: the Pūrvabhāga, attributed to Bāṇabhaṭṭa, and the Uttarabhāga, attributed to Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa. Because Kādambarī is one of the best-known works of classical Sanskrit prose, his contribution has remained important even though biographical details about him are scarce.
Sources differ on some details of the tradition, and there appears to be little firmly documented about his life beyond his connection to Kādambarī. For many readers, that leaves Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa as a quiet but significant literary figure: someone whose role was not to begin a masterpiece, but to carry it through to its conclusion.