With reference to the scholars/litterateurs of ancient India, consider the following statements: 1. Panini is associated with Pushyamitra Shunga. 2. Amarasimha is associated with Harshavardhana. 3. Kalidasa is associated with Chandra Gupta - II. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer: C. Only statement 3 (Kalidasa and Chandragupta II) is correct. Statement 1 is WRONG. PANINI, the great Sanskrit grammarian and author of the ASHTADHYAYI (a foundational text of Sanskrit grammar with around 4,000 sutras), is conventionally placed in the 5th to 4th century BCE. He is associated with Salatura (in present-day Gandhara / north-west) and is broadly contemporaneous with the late Achaemenid or early Nanda-Maurya era. PUSHYAMITRA SHUNGA (r. c. 185 to 149 BCE), founder of the Shunga dynasty after overthrowing the last Maurya Brihadratha, lived several centuries AFTER Panini. The patronage figure linked to Panini's grammar (especially through Patanjali's later Mahabhashya) is sometimes Pushyamitra, but Panini himself predates the Shungas significantly. The 'association' in the statement is chronologically mistaken. Statement 2 is WRONG. AMARASIMHA, the lexicographer of the AMARAKOSHA (a celebrated Sanskrit thesaurus of synonyms classified by subject), is traditionally counted among the NAVARATNAS (nine gems) of the court of CHANDRAGUPTA II VIKRAMADITYA (r. c. 380 to 415 CE) of the GUPTA dynasty, NOT of Harshavardhana. While there is scholarly debate over Amarasimha's exact date (some place him as late as the 6th century), the strong traditional association is with Chandragupta II's Ujjain court, not with the 7th century Harsha. Statement 3 is CORRECT. KALIDASA, regarded as the greatest classical Sanskrit poet and dramatist (author of Abhijnanashakuntalam, Meghaduta, Raghuvamsha, Kumarasambhava, Vikramorvashiyam, Malavikagnimitram), is traditionally placed at the court of CHANDRAGUPTA II VIKRAMADITYA (r. c. 380 to 415 CE), the Gupta emperor. Although some scholars have proposed alternative datings, the dominant traditional and scholarly view places Kalidasa in the late 4th to early 5th century CE under Chandragupta II's patronage at Ujjain. He too is counted among the Navaratnas of Chandragupta II. So only statement 3 is correct. Source: NCERT Class 12 Themes in Indian History Part I; Romila Thapar 'Early India'; A.B. Keith 'A History of Sanskrit Literature'.