Sūryaśataka

Mayūra’s Sūryaśatakam (SS) is a Sanskrit stōtra‧kāvya of 100 stanzas in praise of the Sun god (Sūrya), composed in the sragdharā metre. It may be identified as the archetype for a subgenre that we could call the sragdharā-śataka. Along with the contemporaneous Caṇḍīśataka of Banabhatta, the (SS) is also the archetype for the literary subgenre of centads with a single theme (śataka).

The SS enjoyed circulation all over India, and has several commentaries, besides being cited in several texts of poetics (kāvyaśāstra). Verses from the SS are found quoted in the Dhvanyāloka of Anandavardhana (9th c. CE), the Kavikanṭhābharaṇa of Kshemendra (11th c. CE). Verses from the SS are found incised in a pillar inscription from the Kacciyappecuvarar temple in Kanchipuram (dated ca. 11th c. CE). This attests to the rapid circulation of the SS.