Prabandha-Kosha (IAST: Prabandhakośa) is an Indian Sanskrit-language collection of prabandhas (legendary biographical narratives). It was compiled by the Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri in 1349 CE. It describes the lives of 24 people, including 10 Jain scholars, 4 Sanskrit poets, 7 kings and 3 Jain householders. It is also known as Chaturvinshati Prabandha.
The content of the collection is based on the information that Rajashekhara obtained from his teacher Tilakasuri. He composed the work at Delhi, under the patronage of Madanasimha, whose father had been honoured by Shri Mahamad Shahi (probably Muhammad Tughluq).
Only the 7th prabandha in the collection (the one about Mallavadi-Suri) is written completely in verse form; the rest of the prabandhas use colloquial Sanskrit prose.
Content
The Prabandha-Kosha contains 24 prabandhas (anecdotes), with 4,300 shlokas (verses), on the following persons:
Suris (Jain scholars)
Bhadrabahu and Varaha Aryanandila Jivadeva-Suri Aryakhapata Acharya Padaliptasuri Siddhasenasuri and Vriddhavadi Mallavadi-Suri Haribhadrasuri Bappabhattisuri Hemachandrasuri
Poets
Harsha Harihara Amarachandra Madanakirti
Kings
Satavahana Vankachula Vikramaditya Nagarjuna Udayana Lakshmana-Sena (or Lakshana-Sena) Kumaradeva Madanavarman
Jain householders / courtiers
Ratna-Shravaka Abhada-Shravaka Vastupala and Tejapala
References
Bibliography