Gustav Roth theorizes that Nagnajit was a king of Gandhara, an authority on shilpa shastra (arts and crafts), and possibly a wrestling champion as suggested by his name (Roth interprets the Sanskrit name nagna-jit as "an athlete beating a naked opponent"). Ajay Mitra Shastri (1991) disputes Ghosh's theory on various grounds. For example, different texts name different sons and teachers of Nagnajit. Also, Varahamihira's Brhat Samhita does not describe him as a king, and suggests that Nagnajit was associated with the Dravida (South Indian) school of sculpture, not Gandhara school of art. According to Shastri, there were at least three distinct kings named Nagnajit (who ruled in Gandhara and/or neighbouring areas), plus a scholar with the same name: Nagnajit of Gandhara, a contemporary of Bhima of Vidarbha. He is referred to in the Aitareya Brahmana, Kumbhakara Jataka, and Uttaradhyayana-sutra. Shastri places this king in 7th century BCE or earlier, since two of these texts describe him as a contemporary of Nimi, who according to the Nimi Jataka was the penultimate king of Videha. The Buddhist and Jain texts present Nagnajit as a believer in their respective faiths, and the Brahmanical text Shatapatha Brahmana rejects his opinion. According to historian Shastri, this suggests that Nagnajit did not favour certain Brahmanical practices. Nagnajit of Mahabharata. Nagnajit of Purusha-pura, mentioned in the Avashyaka-churni. Nagnajit, the scholar who wrote on temple architecture, sculpture, and painting. He lived sometime before the 6th century CE (as Varahamihira refers to him), and likely wrote a treatise on Dravidian sculpture. According to Shastri, the Ayurveda scholar named Nagnajit may be identified with one of the three kings of Gandhara. References Bibliography Gandhara Ancient Indian monarchs