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Fame and facts are perhaps not opposed to each other in ancient India, but quite often it is impossible to draw a direct connection between them. With regard to historical records, India differs from most other ancient civilizations; there are no traces left of them except those that were engraved in stone, but this medium was mostly reserved for the deeds of the ruling. Therefore even the most important authors, scholars, and poets remain hardly anything but names, and Mātṛceṭa is no exception.…

Traditional Indian terminology does not provide a collective word for hymns and short poetry. They are subsumed under the general category of kāvya, “ornate poetry.” Therefore a range has to be defined, and in the present article, short poetry is taken to comprise hymns ( stotra, stava, and stuti), letters ( lekha), religious talks or sermons ( parikathā), instructions ( nirdeśa), and songs ( gīti). Again, these terms establish no independent genres in Indian literary history, but their traditional Buddhist use allows subsuming a number of works characterize…