A few selections from Ballala Sena’s (12th Century CE) ‘Daana saagara’
In this selection the aspect of kind of texts he used in this work, the deities, especially Shiva and Vishnu, are highlighted. See the various images in the attachment to this article here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballala_Sena
Vallalasena or Ballala Sena (Bengali: বল্লাল সেন; reign: 1160–1179), also known as Ballal Sen in vernacular literature, was the second ruler of the Sena dynasty of Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent.[1] He was the son and successor of Vijaya Sena, and ended the Pala Empire by defeating Govindapala.[2]
Ballala Sena married Ramadevi a princess of the Western Chalukya Empire which indicates that the Sena rulers maintained close social contact with south India.[3]
He is the best-known Sena ruler and consolidated the kingdom. He might have completed the conquest of North Bengal and also conquered Magadha and Mithila. According to a tradition in Bengal, Ballala Sena’s kingdom consisted of five provinces, viz., Banga, Barendra, Rar, Bagri (possibly a portion of lower Bengal) and Mithila. But neither the two inscriptions that survive from this region, nor the two great literary works, which were attributed to him, viz., Dan Sagar and Adbhut Sagar, allude to his military victories. On the other hand, these refer to his scholastic activities and social reforms. Ballala Sena is associated with the revival of orthodox Hindu practices in Bengal.
Ballala’s book. The kind of deities-related daana. The texts used by Ballala Sena in this work include Puranas like Devi and Kalika Puranas apart from Vishnu Dharmottara and Shiva Puranas. See image. All deities like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are placed on equal status. That Ballala was also a Vedantin is brought out by his quoting from the Kurma Purana. The Teacher, Guru, is praised as Lord Shankara, Shiva, himself. The Trimurtis are to be equally worshiped. Ballala Sena opens his work with an obeisance to Brahmanas. The pinnacle of Ballala Sena’s attitude towards Shiva and Vishnu as non-different comes from his own words as shown in this last image, where he cites the Kurmapurana. यत्किञ्चिद् देवमीशानमुद्दिश्य ब्राह्मणे शुचौ ।
दीयते विष्णवे वापि तदनन्तफलप्रदम् ।। २६.३४ || Whatever is gifted to a pious Brahmana with the attitude that it is offered to Shiva or Vishnu will result in infinite fruit (to the giver).
I have made the above observations in order to guide the reader who will be viewing these several images I have tagged to this post. Do not miss out on any image here. Please read the above paragraph before viewing the images. See images in the FB link provided below.
Om Tat Sat
