A history of Sanskrit literature [1 ed.]
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TEXT FLY WITHIN THE BOOK ONLY
00
OU
160839
>m
A HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE CLASSICAL PERIOD VOL.
I
General Editor:
S.
N.
DASGUPTA,
C.I.E., M.A.,
PH.D. (CAL.
et
CANTAB.),
HONY. D.LITT. (ROME) LATE GEORGE
V
PROFESSOR OF MENTAL AND MORAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA AND LATE PRINCIPAL, GOVERNMENT SANSKRIT COLLEGE, CALCUTTA
Contributors to this Volume:
S.
N.
DASGUPTA,
C.I.E., M.A., PH.D., D.LITT.
(Preface, Introduction, History of
S.
A {arpfeara
Literature
and
Editor's Notes)
K. DE, M.A., D.LITT. (LOND.)
PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT AND BENGALI, UNIVERSITY OF DACCA (
History of Kavya Literature )
UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA 1947
(PRINTED IN INDIA)
FEINTED AMD PUBLISHED BY NISHITCHANDRA SEN,
SUPERINTENDENT 48,
(OFFG.),
CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY PRESS,
HAZBA ROAD, BALLYGUNGR, CALCUTTA.
1343B~-Jime, 1947
A.
CONTENTS BOOK
I
CONTENTS, PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION PAGE
CONTENTS
...
...
...
...
iii
PREFACE
...
...
...
...
v
...
...
...
xiii-li
INTRODUCTION 1.
GENERAL REMARKS Functions of the sutas
sutas
heroic poetry
Alamkara
character
...
as "ornate poetry" untenable
Kavya
Direct evolution of classical literature
Literature
in
style
Kavya first
Christian era
...
literature six
hundred
...
years of ...
Greater complexity of style in later times
Some
characteristics
social restrictions
The development Effect of
of
Sanskrit
on sociefy
xiv
xv xvi
from the Vedic
...
the
...
...
xiii
of ...
...
in earlier literature
Continuity of the
of ...
...
indispensable
Sanskrit Poetry Identification of
repositories
...
an
not
Artificiality
not
poetry
xvii
...
xviii
the ...
xix
...
xix
religio-
...
Dharma$dstra and the patternisation of life on literature of the
...
...
xxi
Srayti
xxv
...
xxviii
Varnasraraa ideals in Kalidasa
...
...
xxx
Restriction of the scope of free love
...
...
xxxii
...
xxxiv
...
xxxv
Nature of the theme of subjects chosen K&lidasa's treatment of love of romances
The
plot of
nath
the Sakuntald, and the view of Rabindra. . .
xxxvi
CONTENTS
IV
PAGE Patternisation and insulation of Indian Society
...
xxxviii
Function of poetry
...
...
xl
Relieving features of Sanskrit poetry
...
...
xli
Transcendent object of literary Aesthetic emotion ...
...
...
xli
...
...
xliii
...
...
xlvi
...
...
xlix
...
art
Concept of Indian drama ... The Mahdbharata and the Rdmdyana
The essence
of
Kavya
as the heightened expression
of experience 2.
...
...
SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF LITERATURE
...
Choice of subjects Literature. and Life Fashionable life in early India Early academies Life at the time of
Barm
Gradual separation of villages
Puranic legends
Love
...
Iv
...
...
Ivii
...
...
Iviii
from the
life
in
the
...
the source of the plots of
in Sanskrit poetry
Hi
...
...
Rasa and Rasabhasa
lii-cxxvi
...
city life
...
...
H
...
Kavya
Ix Ixii
...
...
...
Ixiii
...
...
...
Ixiv
Growth of Indian civilisation from Vedic literature ... The characteristics of Indian temperament ... ... Race peculiarities in the literature ... dharma ... ... The idea of
Ixv Ixvi Ixviii
Ixxii
Secular outlook and the doctrine of Trivarga
...
Ixxiv
Dramatic
...
Ixxvii
art
Religious temperament and of plots
Drama
...
...
...
its effect
...
...
types and characteristics
on the choice ...
...
Ixxix
...
Ixxxii
...
Ixxxix
Patternising tendency of Indian culture
...
xc
Continuity of Indian culture
...
...
tfciii
...
...
xcvi
The
place of love in literature
Ideal of
dharma
Types of
in
literature
Political conditions
law and
politics
...
... ...
...
and the early poetry
*
...
xcix
...
c
CONTENTS
iv(a)
PAFE
Greek
Little
on
influence
literature
Extension of
Indian
Empire up
Literature at the time of Kaniska
ciii
...
Khotan and
to
...
Afghanistan
and
...
...
Indian
culture
...
...
civ
...
...
cv
... ... Rise of the Guptas ... Fa Hien's evidence regarding India's social condi... ... tions and literature of the time
cvii
... Gupta civilisation and colonisation by Indians Development of literature from the 7th to the 10th
cxi
...
cxiii
...
...
century
Political and literary contact with the
cix
neighbouring ...
cxv
...
cxvi
General review of the growth of Sanskrit literature a standardised language ... Literary Prakrt
cxvii
countries
...
Political condition in India after
Was
...
Harsa
Sanskrit a spoken language ?
cxx
...
cxxi
Difficulties of appreciating Sanskrit poetry r
...
cxxv
Nature in Sanskrit poetry
...
cxxvi
BOOK
...
...
II
KAVYA CHAPTER I 1. The *^2. The ^ 3. The *
CHAPTER
II
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS Origin and Sources of the Kavya of the
Origin and Characteristics of the
Drama
1.
A^vaghosa and
The Avadana Literature The Literature of Tale and Fable ... (a) The Pancatantra
,
4.
his School
The Brhatkatha of Gunadhya The Dramas Ascribed to Bhasa (6)
Kavya
1
18
...
42
...
...
69
...
...
81
...
...
b3
...
...
86
...
92
...
101
FROM A^VAGHOSA TO KALIDASA
2.
3.
...
Environment and Characteristics
... ...
CONTENTS
iv(b)
PAGB 'CHAPTKR III
KALIDISA
CHAPTER IV
SUCCESSORS OF KALIDASA IN POETRY
1.
2.,
-^3.
The Erotic Satakas of Amaru and Bhartrhari The Stotra-Satakas of Bana, Mayura and others The Mahakavya from Bharavi to Magha
118
...
156
...
166
...
173
W
...
...
...
...
559
...
...
...
...
559
Jayadeva Bhanudatta
...
...
...
...
560
...
...
...
...
561
Vidyadhara
...
...
...
...
561
Vidyanatha
...
...
...
...
562
Vagbhata II
...
...
...
...
563
Vigvanatha
...
...
...
...
563
Ke6avami6ra
...
...
...
...
564
564
Buyyaka Vagbhatal Hemacandra
Appaya Diksita
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
565
...
...
...
566
Jagannatha Later minor writers
CHAPTER
PRINCIPLES
II
TASTE
LITERARY
OF
AND
CRITICISM Introductory
...
...
...
...
567
Vakrokti
...
...
...
...
536 592
Theory Dhvani
of
Rasa
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
004
...
...
610
BOOK IV EDITOR'S NOTES Some
Earlier Writers
...
...
614
...
630
...
650
...
...
654
...
...
654
'...
...
656
Bhattikavya and other cognate Caritakavyas Sanskrit
Theory Sakas
Drama
of the
Greek Origin
arid the Sanskrit
of the Indian
Drama
Buddhistic Dramas
..."
Lyric Poetry
...
...
...
...
...
Drama
CONTENTS
iv(e)
PAGE
Amaru^ataka
...
...
...
...
Bhartrhari
...
...
...
...
Gnomic Poetry
...
...
...
...
668 669 673
...
...
...
r>76
...
...
...
...
683 685
...
...
687
...
...
...
...
696 708
Historical
Kavyas
Prakrt
...
Celebrated Writers of the Past
Gunadhya
...
...
Pancatantra
...
...
Bhasa and the Dramas assigned Kalidasa
Little
to
him
Known now
ViSakhadatta
...
...
...
Murari CaturbhanI
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
728 754 755 756 756 760 760 761
Subandhu Bana
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
... ...
... Sudraka Harsa the Dramatist
Bhattanarayana Bhavabhuti
...
...
...
...
76*2
...
...
...
...
Kumaradasa
...
763 763 764 765 765 766 766 767
Nilakantha Diksita
Mahendravikrama-vannan ... Venkatanatha
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"...
...
...
...
...
Udayasundarl-kAtha Udayavarma-carita
...
...
...
...
Kumarapala-pratibodha
...
...
...
Kupaka-satka
...
...
...
...
Partha-parakrama Nara-narayanananda
...
...
...
...
...
...
Srinivasa-vilasa-campu
...
...
...
... Nalabhyudaya Katha-kautuka ... Eastraudha-vam^a Kamalim-kalahamsa B 1343B
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
768 769 770 770 771 771 772 772
CONTENTS
iv(f)
PAGE
Acyutarayabhyudaya
...
...
...
772
Anandakanda-catnpu
...
...
...
773
Narayamya
...
...
...
774
...
...
775
...
...
777
...
Bharata-carita, Gandraprabha-carita, Kavya-ratna
and Bala-martanda-vijaya
...
BOOK Y INDEX
...
...
PREFACE The
information
regarding the existence of Sanskrit and the literature of the Upanisads was carried to the West by first
the Latin translation, by Anquebil Duperron, of the 50 Upanisads from the Persian translation of Dara Shiko which at once elicited
a time
the highest approbation of Schopenhauer.
when
it
was openly doubted
in
There was
Europe whether there was
any genuine Sanskrit language and the distinguished English philosopher Dugald Stewart (1753-1828) in one of his papers described
Sanskrit
as
a
indefatigable work of Sir Wjlliam
made Sanskrit known
Jones, Colebrooke and others
Western world.
to the
language with descendants represents the easternmost
nised that
the
But the
the .Brahmins.
of
forgery
Sanskrit
was then recogold and modern
It
its
branch of the
Indo-
Germanic Aryan stock of speech. Numerous special coincidences of language and mythology between the Vedic Aryans and the people of Iran also prove incontestably that these two members of the Indo-Germanic family must have lived in close connection for
some considerable period
after the others
had separated from
them.
The origin when European
of
scholars
became
the ancient languages of India.
had been unable
philology dates from the time
comparative
acquainted
accurately
Before this the classical scholars
between the then
to determine the true relations
known languages
of the
Aryan
with
stock.
It is
sally recognised that Sanskrit is the eldest
mother-tongue of the Aryan people
and
now almost
univer-
daughter of the old probably other six
But none of the surviving daughter. members of the family has left any literary their original features have to be reproduced as
the
only
principal
monuments and best
as
possible
from the materials supplied by their own daughter-languages.
PREFACE
VI
Such
the case
is
with regard to the Iranic, Hellenic,
The
Celtic, Teutonic and Letto-Slavic languages. Indian speeches is to be found in the Rgveda.
of
the Rgveda,
of
the
language
Saipbitas, the
however, effected
In the language
one can trace a gradual and steady development of
the
classical
through the
Sanskrit
the modifications that are
as
spontaneous by popular speech. It has been controlled by tradition and
grammatical
studies.
Changes
in the speech of the
are largely prevented by the sacred devotion to
further
later
The development^
Brahmanas and the Upanisads.
not as
is
Italic,
oldest of the
supplemented by the work
whose analytical
West up
of
it
upper classes and this was
the early grammarians,
surpassed anything achieved in the The Sanskrit grammarians tried recent times.
till
skill
as far as possible to
far
remove
irregularities
and they hardly allowed
new
formations and this preserved to a very great extent the purity of the language and its well-ordered nature which would otherwise have been impossible. The conservative
any scope
to
tendency of Indian literary culture, which we have tried to demonstrate in the field of the development of Sanskrit literature
in
the
Introduction,
remarkably manifested also in the
is
permanent form that has been given to the Sanskrit language. The word samskrta means purified and well-ordered. By 150 B.C.,
the
works
of
the
3
grammarians, Panini, the a stereotyped and attained Patanjali, language Katyayana form which remained the same throughout the centuries, though it remained It can hardly the literary language of the people. by
joint
be doubted that though Panini recognised fully the Vedic accents and forms, yet in his time it was Sanskrit and not the older
Vedic languages that were spoken. Yet Sanskrit cannot be regarded as an artificial creation of the grammarians, for its
development from the Vedas through the Brahmanas and the Upanisads can be clearly traced. The Sanskrit language, which Panini calls bhasa, or speech,
is
the Upanisads and the Brahmanas. is
closely akin to the language of
Though
this
bhasa Sanskrit
not so luxurious in form as the Vedic Sanskrit, yet there
is
PREFACE no
Vll
symmetry and there is a profusion forms which makes the study of Sanskrit
of nipatas or
artificial
irregular
so
bewilder-
ingly difficult to students.
was indeed the language not only of Mvya or but of all the Indian sciences, and excepting the Pali
Sanskrit literature of
the
Hmayana
Buddhists and the Prakrt of the Jains,
was
it
the only language in which the whole of India expressed all her best thoughts for the last 2 or 3 thousand years, and it has united
the culture of India and given differences
of
it
popular economical and other differences.
general
a synchronous
form in
speech, racial
and geographical,
spite
of
one ground that has made it possible to develop the idea of Hindu nationhood in which kinship of culture plays the most important part. Under the shadow of
one Vedic
It is the
religion
many
had indeed developed Vaisaava, Sakta, etc., and there
subsidiary religions, Saiva, within each of these, there had been
many
sects
and sub-sects
which have often emphasised the domestic quarrel, but in of
it
all
mother
there
is
a unity of religions
and secular culture had been Sanskrit.
of all religious
Variations
among
spite
the Hindus, for the
from
Sanskrit as determined by Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali may occasionally be noticed in the Ramayana, the Mahdbharata and some of the other Puranas and Patanjal also noticed
it
when
he
kavayah kurvanti and sometimes indulges in such
said chandovat
an early poet such as Kalidasa also Lesser poets who wrote inscriptions also often poetical licenses. showed their inability to conform to the grammatical rules of Panini. suffered
noted
But apart from this the Sanskrit language has not any change in the course of ages. It must, however, be
that
the
technical and non-Brahminical works sometimes
reveal a laxity of Sanskrit speech
and in the case of the early
Buddhist writers there was an intentional disregard to the rules of Panini, probably in their effort towards the simplification of the Sanskrit language.
The most notable example
of this is the
gatha language of the Lalitamstara and similar other works. Sometimes even later Brahminical works which tried to bring a
PREFACE
Vlii
of
halo
made
often
antiquity,
lapses in order to force
upon the
be found in
people the imeprssion of their archaic nature as may many of the Tanfcra works, or in the works of divination and
incantation as found in the
Bower manuscripts where
there
is
ample evidence of Prakrtism and careless Sanskrit. Instances, however, are not rare where actual Prakrt forms were Sanskritised. The incorporation of Dravidian and other words into
The words formed by supply innumerable instances of how current
Sanskrit has also been widely recognised. the unadi suffix will
*>>
words gained a footing into the Sanskrit language and fanciful derivations were attempted to justify such uses. '
Not only and
the
was Prakrt used
in fairly early times
but
prasastis
it
was
for the
edicts
also used in writing poetical
and
The word Prakrta is seldom used prose kdvyas in later times. Its real meaning in early Sanskrit in the sense of a language. '
is
sense
in
natural/
and
prdkrtamdnusa a
man
called
in
normal/ and
Vedic literature in
the
Srautasutras 1
'
'
original/
is
the
because
also
used
in
street.'
it
has
Pischel
been
derived
without any special
the
The word
Mahabhasya.
'
'
of
from
samskrtam
But there
where the Prakrt
and
Prdtitdkhyas
an ordinary man or Hernacandra says that Prakrta is so the sense
the prakrti or source (prakrtih
dgatanca prdkrtam).
the
in Patafijali's
has been used in this
it
is
Sanskrit tatra
another
which
bhavam
view
as
i?
tata
held
by coming from nature But it the folk language. '
is
derived as
instruction,
i.e.,
impossible for us to decide in what way the Prakrt language In the writings of the Prakrt grammarians and writers grew. is
on Poetics,
the term
denotes
a
number
of distinctly artificial
which, as they stand now, could hardly have been Sir George Grierson divides Prakrt into spoken vernaculars. 3 stages, first, the primary Prakrt, from which the Vedic language
dialects,
and Sanskrit were derived; second, secondary Prakrt, consisting of Pali, the Prakfts of the grammarians and literature and the
Apabhram^as the third Prakrt consists of the modern vernaculars. But the inscriptions of A3oka show at least the existence ;
PREPACK of
three
was the
official
and the
Here we
Sauraseni
and
the
tradition
the
Jaina
delivered in
old
now
MagadhL
doctrines
Pai^acI
of the old Prakrts
and
I,
post-A3okan
A^vaghosa
of the
very
much written are
were
Svetambara
of the
were
texts
the current
to
Mahavira
in
influenced in
Jaina
Sauraseni.
though only few books are now available. PaisacI was probably
consist
Prakrt
of
Vindhya
The
regiofi.
characteristics
transformation of the
in the
largely
and au, and
ai
been
later
form
the language current in the
r
by
preached
Digambara scriptures a
also
is
written in this dialect
vowels
of
According
available have
Maharastri, while the
which
the old Ardha-magadhi, the old
find
by the Maharastri and the
capital
the
find
Ardha-mlgadhi but the scriptures
Jainas chat are
The
next
and the Prakrt
inscriptions
A.D.
1st century
We
dialects.
the
Empire, the North-western
of the
lingua franca
Western
Prakrts in the
Eastern dialect of
the
dialects,
IX
in the reduction of the sibilants
and
nasals with also other
Literature of a changes in consonants. secular character might have been composed in old Praskrts until the 2nd century A.D. But about that date new changes were effected leading to the
transformation
This
stage of development.
of the old Prakrt to a
resulted
Maharastri in the dominions of the
in
new
the formation of the
Satavahanua
in the
South-
west and the rise of the Magadh! noticed in the dramas of
and the Sauraseni, as may be Bhasa and Asvaghosa on the one hand
and Kalidasa on the other. the
Maharastri
lyric
in
the
By
century A. Q. we find Hala. The Maharastri
the '2nd
poems
of
Prakrt became important as the Prakrt of the dramas and of the The SaurasenT was but occasionally used in verse epic poetry.
and sometimes
in
allied to Sanskrit
the
dram.i.
The SaurasenI
thin the Maharastri and
it
is
more
closely
was generally used
dramas by men of good and noble position. The MagadhI on the other hand was reserved for people of low rank. The
in
Natya-$astra speaks, however, of different types of Prakrt such as Daksinatya, Prdcya, Xvantl and Dhakkl, which are the different type* of the SaurasenI, though
Candatt and Sakarl are types of
X
PREFACE
the Magadhi.
The Prakrt
not be assumed to be the
of the verses of the Natya-tastra
Prakrt
well be regarded as a variant
&aurasenl Prakrt
is
closely
of
which
A
for literary purposes
few Histories of
fype but
different
it
may
The poetry
the Sauraseni.
A
akin to the Maharastrl.
note has been added regarding of
of a
need
of
separate
the Apabhramsa, the importance
may now
Sanskrit
be ignored.
Literature, such as History
by Maxmiiller, History of Indian Literature (1878) by Weber, Indiens Litteratur und Kultur (1887)
of Sanskrit Literature (1860)
by L.
V.
Schroeder,
Literary
History
India
of
by
Frazer,
History of Sanskrit Literature (1900) by Macdonell, Die Litteratur des alien Indiens (1903) by Oldenberg, Les Litteratures de
VInde (1904) by V. Henry, G-eschichte der Indischen Litteratur Sanskrit
Winternitz,
by
Sanskrit
Literature
(1928),
Drama as
well
(1924), as
of History Sanskrit
Classical
Literature by Keith, and Geschichte der
Sanskrit-philologie
Indischen Altertumskunde
I
(1917,
Vol.
and
L920,
und
Vol. II)
Of these, Winternitz's work by Windisch, have been written. in three volumes seems to be the most comprehensive treatment.
The of
had completed the English translation volumes under the supervision of Professor
Calcutta University
the
two
first
The English translation of Volume IIT little when Professor Winternitz died. The
Winternitz himself.
had advanced
a
Calcutta University had then
entered into
correspondence
some European scholars about the supervision of
Volume
III.
with
of the translation
This
correspondence having failed, I was undertake the work and University to
by the was proposed by me that as the translation of Volume III had only advanced but little, it would be better to plan another work
approached it
dealing with the subjects that form the content of Volume III of Professor Winternitz's work. It was also felt necessary that the title of the book, as it appeared in Professor Winternitz's
work, History of Indian Literature, should be changed to History " Indian Literature " is too vast a as of Sanskrit Literature ,
subject to
be taken
up as a sort of appendage
to the history of
PREFACE
XI
As my Winternitz had done. hands at the time were too full with other works, it was arranged that under my chief editorship within an Editorial Board the work should be done by subscription by the scholars of Bengal.
Sanskrit literature,
Volume
as
Prof.
with Kavya and Alamkara and Volume II is In Volume I f expected to deal with other Technical Sciences. I had the good fortune to get the co-operation of Prof. Dr. S. K. I
deals
Da
But for his valuable in writing out the portion on Kavya. scholarly assistance and promptness of execution the publication of Volume 1 might have been long delayed. I have tried to De's
supplement Prof. additional
Editorial
with
treatment
Notes and
an
Introduction and
expected that these may also prove helpful to students. Our indebtedness to Prof. Wjnternitz's German Edition, Vol. Ill, and Prof. Keith's works, as well as to other Western and Indian
it is
For
scholars, cannot be exaggerated.
was not possible to go into greater details space the Alamkara-Sastra, but I hope that what appears regarding there may be deemed sufficient for a general history of Sanskrit want
of
it
The Introduction
literature.
perspective for reviewing the
background appreciation
of
of
racial,
which
intended
to
give
history of Sanskrit
social I
is
and
consider
historical
essential
a
proper
literature in its
environment, for
grasping
an the
significance of the Sanskrit literary culture.
be regretted that some of the contributions, such as those on the Historical Kavyas, or the elements of literature in It is to
the Inscriptions, or the Prakrt literature, could not be incorporated in the present volume l though these should have been included
This was due
here.
to
the
fact that those
contributions that
were
these will
expected, however, the meanwhile, both in the body of la appear the book and in the Editorial Notes some general estimates have been taken of these, though very little has been said about the
not received in time. in
Volume
It is
II.
elements of literature in Inscriptions.
By way section
that
B(l)
of confession of a hasty observation in the
the
1343B
Latin
Alamkara
word aurum may be connected with the
word alam in Sanskrit
beg to point out that since that section has been printed, an eminent philologist has assured me that neither aurum is Latin nor can it be philologically connected with
alam
in
In
I
Sanskrit. conclusion, I like to express
my
thanks to Mr. Krishna-
gopal Goswami, Sastri, M.A.," P.R.S., Smriti-Mimansa-Tirtha, Lecturer in the Post-Graduate Department of Sanskrit of the
University of Calcutta,
aad a detailed Index
who has kindly prepared
for this
a list of contents
volume. S.
N. DASGUPTA.
NOTE Since on account of circumstances over which there was no control the publication has been unusually delayed for nearly six years, I owe an apology for my inability in bringing the work
up
to date.
University of Dacca, 1948.
__
)
5
S.
K. DE.
INTRODUCTION Vol.
in
Winternitz,
Indian Literature
Ill
German
,
of
Edition,
Sutas as the representatives of
who
the
They
able to
sing
their
own
closer
to
They
also
also
went forth
of
"the
speaks of heroic
poetry
and sang
to extol
so
battle
of the sat as
accord ing to Winternitz.
be
as to
heroic deeds of the warriors from
the
of
to
Function
History
old
in the court of the princes
lived
them.
in
bis
These
observation.
bards
court
stood
warriors than to the learned Brahmins.
the
acted
charioteers
as
the
of
warriors
campaigns and took part in their martial
their
life/'
But
Winternitz
from which he draws traditional
any reference
give
his views about the
of
keeper
not
does
heroic poetry.
suta
The
the
as
siiia
occurs
along with the rathakara and karmara in the AtJiarva
Veda
III,
Gautama
5,
7.
6,
(IV. 15),
We
find reference to this suta in
Baudhayana
(10, I. 9. 9.), VaSistha
Mann (X. II), Visnu Dh. S. (XVI. 6), the Suta-samhita, where he appears as and Yaj. (I. 3.), a pratiloma caste born of a Ksattriya male and a (XVIII.
6),
Brahmin (III.
the
female. that
7)
Puranas,
says
in
suta
Visnupurana and the Agnipurana.
the
sutas
chariots
(X.
13)
to
and according it
was a
king of his duties
Manu
to the
part
Suta
in
(X. 47)
The duty was
to
of
drive
Vaikhanasa-smarta-sutra
of his livelihood to
and cook food
Karnaparva (XXXII,
also
a pratiloma as sacred in to been has referred
the
according
Arthasastra
his
Romaharsana, called was not born out of
The
marriage.
Kautilya
for
him.
remind the
According to
46. 47), Sutas were the servants
Sutas were not repOBit o r i e a of
heroic poetry.
INTRODUCTION
XIV
the
(paricdrakas) of
(Ch.
purdna
Sutas
the
I.),
learning
Sutas
that
and
books.
had
any
used
men
pedigrees of kings and great of
According to Vayu-
Ksattriyas.
the
the
of
glories
do we find
But nowhere work
other
the
preserve
and also the traditions
than
kings
those
part of
the
above or that they ever played reciting
to
were
or
said
a bard in
any
His chief duty was the taming of elephants* driving chariots and The difference between suta and rathariding horses. sense the depository of heroic poetry.
that the former was born from
kdra
is
and
Brahmin
female
in
wedlock,
Ksattriya male the other out of
wedlock through clandestine union. Artificiality not an in-
dispensable character of Sanskrit
rjij ie
were
bards
these
that
theory ^
superseded by J erudite Lpoets also demands
\
It is
doubtful
also
described
fights
and
that
affirm
to
the
gradually *
confirmation. poets
from hearsay.
battles
from the Mahabharata and the
always
Judging
state of events
given
in
and naksatras which synchronise throughout the whole book, one should think that there were either dated notes of events or that the poets
it
in
terms of
tithis
themselves according to some definite traditions synchronised the dates. Again, we know so little of the earlier poetry that we have no right to say that in earlier poetry greater stress
tion.
from
The the
Rdmdyana
artificial
6th
or
laid to
poetry began at a
7th
the
nor in
was
the
century.
form and erudi-
much
later date,
Neither in
Mahabharata do we
the
find
any Whatever may have been said the Tantrdkhydyikd (1.321), the Mahabharata is
influence of artificiality. in
regarded as an itihasa, and seldom regarded as a kdvya which place is assigned to the Rdmdyana. It is also doubtful (at least there
panegyrics were the
is
hardly any evidence) that th$
It is also kdvya. wrong to hold thatthe Kdvya style means an ornate style. first
thing
of
XV
INTRODUCTION At
least
there
is
none
the
of
hardly any evidence in
therefore, is
its
favour.
and
Winternitz,
" The more wrong when he says, his ornate of the poet, the more
entirely
and the more
expressions,
'
'
strenuous the effort
more did the prince Sanskrit
view
hold this
rhetoricians
Bhamaha
rhetorician
He
regarding kdvya.
work
difficult his
feel flattered
by
holds
says that even
of art, the
The
it."
earliest
different
a
view
if
kdvya requires a Sdstra, then it would
P etry
explanatory interpretation like indeed be a matter of great regret for the
This
common man. Bhamaha thought that kdvya
signifies that at least
should be written in such a manner that intelligible
to
all.
indeed
different
of style
which
is
and children, says
:
He
types
says
of
further
style but
it
is
sweet.
it is
Thus,
be
there
are
that
only that type
intelligible to the ignorant,
that
should
to
II.
in
mddhuryam abhivdnchantah prasddam
dhasah
\
he
1-3,
ca sume-
xamdsavanti bhuydmsi na paddni prayunjate
kecidojo'bhidhitsantah samasyanti bahunyapi
ndtisamastdrtham
II
travyam
II
kdvyam madhuramisyate
dahgandbdlapratitdrtham prasddavat It
women
cividva\
II
should be noted that this opinion of
Bhamaha
is
based upon the study of previous good poetry and the Thus, he says in the colophon opinions of other poets. of his
work
:
avalokya matdni satkavlndm avagamya svadhiyd
kdvyalaksma
ca
\
sujandvagamdya bhdmahena grathitam rakrilagomi-
sununedam
\
This opinion the
-writings
Bhamaha.
of
may
be
other
confirmed by reference rhetoricians
It is a pity that
who
followed
Winternitz should
IdentificA-
to
have
such an unfounded and uncharitable opinion of Indian It is also difficult to imagine why Winternitz poetry.
t
i
K
of o n i v y a as
"ornate"
p o el
r y untenable.
INTRODUCTION
XVI
should render kavya as ornate poetry, which he as that in
which "the poet makes
defines
ambi-
his highest
it
tion to astonish his readers or hearers as original and as
by as numerous, His elaborate similes as possible/ 1
remarks about ornate poetry apply only to the poets of a degenerate time,
Bhatti's of view poetry.
when
the true ideals
of
real
poetry
and when the poets had to pose themselves as great pundits. It is no doubt true that many of the famous poets like Bhatti, Magha or Sri-
was
sight of
lost
harsa follow the worst standard of
poetry and
artificial
indeed Bhatti boasts that his kavya
such
is
not intelligible without
that
it
is
explanation yet it must be out this that was not the pointed opinion of the critics ;
and that for that reason kavya style should not be confounded with artificiality. During the period
of literature
that
many
was such an
of these poets flourished there
ascendancy of the scholarly philosophers, that the poets often thought that learning was greater than poetry
and they
tried
to
poetry.
But
do not see
I
can be regarded as in
the
their
pose
same sense
a
how
a
in
like
poet
which Mahaksattrapa
daman's inscription-texts can be regarded Alamkara
Asvaghosa
ornate
of
representative
Prof. Winternitz contended
that
their
through
learning
to
poetry
Rudra-
as ornate.
know
of
the
earlier
erature.
we must know
the origin of the Alamkara literature and he seems to imply that that type
origin of ornate poetry
of literature
may
be called ornate in which an acquaint-
ance with the Alamkara literature or
its
principles
may
He held further that surely Valmlki be presupposed. But what did not as yet know any manual of poetics. is
the reason for such an
assurance ?
We
know
that
upamas were well-known even in Vedic times and Yaska deals with upama in a fairly systematic manner. Panini also seems to be fairly acquainted with some of the fundamental types of upama.
We
have also reasons
INTRODUCTION
kvii
alamkara type of thought had its We do not also know origin in the Vyakarana school. that there were no treatises of alamkara written before to believe that the
Viilmlki.
The comments
made above
that have been
show
will
that the theory of ornate poetry (kunstdichtung)
beset
is
Birect evolution of
the style
with
many
Though
difficulties.
needless to
it is
trace
the
classical
from Vcdic
literature.
the origin of Sanskrit
Brahmanas,
it
to
Kavyas
Vedas or
the
the
cannot be decided that some of the early
Katha, Mundaka and the fivetdtvatara contain verses in the classical style. Indeed the
Upanisads
like the
Mahabharata and the Gita may be regarded of the classical style which had
style of the
as the prolongation
at the
begun already
time
the early literature the
(though the latter
is
of
pyanjana
is
a
which of
life
to
quoted demonstrate the theory
is
Though
there
Mahabharata
removed from that
not far
we can hardly
has shown, to
Kavyas out
pointed
by
Dr.
Sanskrit
Kavya
century A.D., proposed It be supported. properly
See Mahabharata, Striparva, Chap.
karsl, etc."
Also,
Santtparva
These have bien referred
De by is
1843B
has also
theory of or 6th 5th the
in
Maxmiiller,
cannot
no
extant
verse
that
17.'*
ay am sa rasanot-
and
1'2.
verses 45 and
46,
Apad lharma, Chap. 153, verses 11
to in tlie Kdvyapraktita, Chip.
as examples of gnnibhuta vyahgya, and Chap. IV, as vyafljand.
It
the
that
true
XXIV,
of Kalidasa.
trace the origin
Prakrt sources.
as
C
1
the
in
of
Renaissance of
1
time have
later
and (junibhtita-ryanjana.
Sanskrit
been
much
a
atmosphere lays greater stress on the practical problems and conflict of ideals, yet the atmosphere of
Rdmdyana As Dr. De of
the Mahabharata
must be regarded as the Kavya form that is available
Mahabharata
difference
Among
Upanisads.
called itihasa)
Rhetoricians in
verses from the
the
Kamayana and
the earliest literature of to us.
of
V,
example of prabandha
The theory the Renaissance of Sioskrit
of
literature
untenable.
INTRODUCTION
XVlll
importance are available before A6va-
kavyas of any
But there are plenty of references scattered ghosa. over which suggest the existence of 'a fairly good field of
Kfwya literature during the 5th to Even Panini is said to have
B.C.
and Pataujali
called Jambavatlvijaya
the 1st
century
work
written a
refers to a
kdvya
by Vararuci. Continuity of the
Kavya
literature.
refers to three
also
Patanjali
akhyayikas, Vasava-
Sumanottara, and Bhaimarathl, and two dramas called Kamsabadha and Balibandha. He also quotes a datta,
number
from which the continuity is apparent. mentions Mvya-Mrana as a subject
of verses
Lalitavistara
also
which was studied by Buddha. These and various other reasons adduced in the text show fairly conclusively the existence of to
literature
2nd century A.D.
the
that
Kavya the
from the 2nd century B.C. It has already been noticed the Upanisads
may well have been included in a classical work of Mvya in later But most of the literature has now been lost. times.
Continuity of the style.
Kavya
many
of
verses
of
Avaghosa's Kavya as well as Kudradamana's inscriptions show an acquaintance with the principles
The Prakrt
of alamkara.
inscriptions of the
centuries of the Christian era as well as
the Buddhists or the verses
Jatakas the
all
reveal
the fact
found
later
first
many in
two
texts of
the
Pali
that they were written on
model of Sanskrit writings of their time.
The
writings of Matrceta, Kumaralata, Arya-6ura, so far as they have been recovered, and the verses that are found in the
Camka-samhita
Kavya
style
was
not have been texts at the time. erotics,
were
all
also
confirm
flourishing at the
case
if
There
is
the
dramaturgy,
the
art
there
the view that the
time and this could
were no
poetical
also reason to believe that of
dancing and singing
keeping pace with the literary development of
the time.
INTRODUCTION
But
XIX
definite dates of the poets in the history of Indian
The Aihole inscription of 634 A.I), mentions the names of Kalidasa and Bbaravi and we know that Bana flourished in the
literature are difficult to be got.
Literature in the first
hundred
six
years of the Christian era.
7th century A.D. They are the two fixed landmarks in the The early chronology of Sanskrit poets. that
we
Bana
of
testimony
of
find
time prove fairly centuries
may
as well
the
be
as
existence
regarded
literary
references
the
poets at
4th and 5th
the
as a very prominent period
This gets further confirmation
from the evidence of inscriptions fine
many
conclusively that
of literary production.
a
the other of
which
are written in
Already from the
style.
evidence
of
Bhamaha we know that many writers on alamkara had flourished before him and that he had drawn on them The panegyric of in the composition of his work. Samudragupta by Harisena (about 350 A.D.) may be taken as a typical case. But from the Oth century onwards
we
find
complexity
manifest a tendency for display of learning and scholarship and skill in the manipulation of Mords and verbosity and a studied use of alamkaras. We know poets often
Yasubandhu had written his Abhidharmakosa. in this great work he mercilessly criticised not only other schools of Buddhism but also that in the 4th century
the
Hindu
schools
of
philosophy,
such as Samkhya,
Dinnaga and Vatsyayana flourished about the 5th century A.D. and from this time onward the quarrel of the philosophers and learned Vaisesika
and the
like.
scholars of divergent
schools
importance that
practically
it
began
to
grow
into such
influenced every other
department of thought. The old simplicity of which we find in Patanjali and Savara had disappeared.
Saiikara
and
Jayanta
probably in the 7th and 9lh century
Greater
that the
who
style
now
flourished
are indeed
noble
of
style in later times
from
sim.
plicity
pedantry.
to
XX
INTRODUCTION
exceptions, but even then the difference style
and that of Patanjali and Savara,
between their is
indeed very
Learning appealed to people more than poetic freshness. We can well imagine that when most of
great.
the
in
flourished
poets
great
the
court-atmosphere
where great scholars came and showed their skill in debate and wrangle, learning and scholarship was
more appreciated than pure fancy of poetry. Rabindranath draws a fine picture of such a situation in which
Learning
he depicts the misfortune of the poet Sekhara. ^ r De has in a very impressive manner described the court atmosphere and how it left its mark on -
As a result of the particular Sanskrit poetry. in the court atmosphere the natural spontaneity poet
was
at
pure
the
was given more importance than the
of genius.
Thus, Mammata, the celebrated
rhetorician in discussing the
that
poetic
a study of
human
say?
of
The learning and adaptation
a discount.
to circumstances
flow
demand
power
is
nature of
poetic
the skill that
powers
derived by
is
behaviour, learning, familiarity with literature, history and the like, training taken from one
who understands
literature
and exercise. 1
There was
other important thing for a court poet that he should be a vidagdha or possess the court culture, and Dandin also says that even if the natural powers be
the
slender, one
may make himself
of the vidagdha
suitable for the
company
This shows
through constant practice.
that learning and exercise were given a greater place
importance genius.
became
than
As a
the
natural
spontaneity
of
of
poetic
Sanskrit poetry not only followed a traditional scheme of
result of this
artificial
but
description and an adaptation
of
The magic
things.
of the Sanskrit language, the sonorousness of its wordloka&strakSvjSdyavekgaQit Hi hetusladudbhave
I
II
INTRODUCTION jingle also led the poets astray
amusement
and
XXI
them to find their But whatever may
led
in verbal sonorousness.
be said against long compounds and punsjt^cannot also be denied that the Sanskrit language has the special genius of showing its grandeur and majesty through a noble gait. An Arab horse may be more swift
and
purposes but a well-adorned elephant of a high size has a grace in its movement which cannot be rivalled by a horse. These long effective for all practical
compounds even in prose give such a natural swing when supplemented with the puns and produce an exhilaration which, though type, has yet
which in
The
place
Bana and
of
well illustrated in the writings
is
many
its
not be exactly of the poetic in the aesthetic atmosphere
may
inscriptions.
which the Sanskrit Kavyas are generally written renders the whole representation into which stand independently little fragmentary pictures sloka form
by themselves and of
in
this often prevents
a joint effect as a unitary whole.
plot
the
Some cbaracterisiics
of Sanskrit,
poetry.
development
The
story or the
becomes of a secondary interest and thejuain atten-
tion of the reader is
drawn
the writer as expressed in also
to
to the little
effusions
poetical
pictures.
It
is
of
curious
notice that excepting a few poets of the type of
the
rugged, the noble and the forceful elements of our sentiments or of the natural objects Bhavabhiiti,
could
hardly be
failed
in
His description of
Madana
on us and
dealt
with success.
his description of sublime
of the lamentation of Eati at the
in the it
Even Kalidasa
and sombre scenes.
Kuniarasambhava has no
seems
to
death
tragic effect
be merely the amorous sentiment
twisted upside down. In studying the literature of a country, we cannot very well take out of our consideration a general cultural
ReJigiosocial
trictions
society.
history of its people.
The Aryans
after their migration
res-
on
XX11
to
INTRODUCTION
India
bad come
to
live
a country peopled by
in
own
aliens having a culture far below their
the
probably tastes
were
before
them
races.
It
Dravidians)
the
cultural
The
different.
entirely
was
whose
problem
of
was the main concern
of
(excepting
and
great
other
problem
the
fusion
of
the
leaders
of
society to protect the purity of the race, its culture religion as far as possible. They initiated the
and
system varnasrama and enunciated rigorous regulations for the respective duties of the four varnas. There is
of
ample
evidence
girls of
lower varnas which was allowed at one
Smrtis that inspite of the rigorous regulations, these were often violated and as time passed on, rigours increased. Thus marriage with in
the
stage
was entirely stopped in later times. There is, however, evidence to show that marriages took place not only with the girls of lower varnas but many kings had devoted Greek wives. But still the problem of fusion of
races
gradually
increased
when
the
Huns, the
Scythians and the Greeks not only entered the country and lived there but became Hinduised. So long as
were given to military adventures and the people as a whole entered into commercial negotiations and intercourses with different
many
rulers of
countries
the
country
and established settlements
the balance or
the
in different lands
equilibrium of society had a Intercourse with other people
dynamic vigour in the mental on equal terms expanded f ^ it.
stagnating effect
of the
rigorous of smrti.
vista,
but when, .
unknown, there came a period of stagnation and people became more or less narrow and provincial, In they lacked vigour and energy of free thought. society the rigour of social rules increased, and people for reasons
followed these rules inspite of the fact that obedience to such rules was in direct contradiction to the professed
systems of philosophy.
Philosophy became divested of
INTRODUCTION social life
xxiii
and whatever divergence there might have
been in the philosophical speculations of different sects and communities they became equally loyal to the v
same smrti laws.
When
the
smdrta
followed
on the belief that they
injunctions of smrti
all
the
ema-
from the Vedas, the Vaisriava followed the same smrti rules on the ground that they were the command meats of God. The maxim of the Mlmdmsd
nated
was that no smrti laws would have any validity if But there were they are not supported by the Vedas. smrti laws about which no evidence could
many
really
The
be found in the Vedas.
legal fiction
was invented
that where corroborative Vedic texts were not available,
one should suppose that they existed but were lost. The whole effort was suicidal. It denied in principle the
normal human
With
fact that society is a
human
institution.
change of condition and circumstances, material wants and means of production and external the
influences of diverse kinds,
man must change and
the change of man, the social obligations
must
also
change.
institutions, duties
The attempt
movements must adapt themselves to the conditions that with iron chains
with
and
to bind
of society, so that these
all
prevailed
Vedic times, was like the attempt of the Chinese to make the feet of the ladies manacled in iron shoes, so
in
that
when
the
grew
lady
to
the
adult age, her feet
remain like those of a baby. This extreme conservatism of social laws had an extremely depressive effect as regards the freedom of mind and it enslaved
should
the temper of the older
traditions
wisdom.
The
mind and habituated at
the expense of
elasticity of
it
to respect the
common
mind that we
sense and
find
in
the
Mahdbharata soon disappeared and people got themselves accustomed to think in terms invented for them by their predecessors.
Yet
it
is
not true that they were always
INTRODUCTION faithful
and
loyal to the
customs of Vedic times*
Brahmin or community of Brahmins make a smrti law which proved binding
Any
of influence could
to
successive
This may be illustrated by the generations of people. case of beef-eating. Beef-eating is a recognised Vedic custom and even to-day when marriage ceremonies are performed, there is a particular mantra which signifies that a cow has been brought for the feast of the bridegroom and the bride-groom replies out of pity that the
cow need not be butchered according
yet
is
to the
for
his
gratification.
But
smrti, cow-killing or beef-
later
regarded as one of the
major crimes.
Again, while sea-voyage was allowed in ancient times and therefore had the sanction of the Vedic literature, it ha.*
eating
The list of kaliprohibited by the later smrti. of drawing up a as instances taken be all varjyas may
..been
tighter noose at the neck of the society. Thus, there
was
not merely the convenient fiction on behalf of the .smrti but even injunctions that were distinctly opposed to the older Vedic practices,
by the
which were forced upon the people
later codifiers of
It is difficult to
smrti for the guidance of society.
how
understand
the injunctions of the
smrti writers derived any authoritative value.
Probably
some cases many older instances had gone out of practice or become repugnant to the people, or that the codification of some smrti writers might have had the in
backing-of a ruling prince and was for the matter of that
But
held sacred in his kingdom.
that
some
smrti writers had
it
may
also have been
risen to great
eminence
and authority and by virtue of the peoples' confidence in him, his decisions became authoritative. In the case of
Raghunandana,
years ago,
we
who
lived in
Navadwipa about 500
by personal influence or by making his views and inter-
find that either
propaganda he succeeded in
pretation stand supreme in Bengal in preference to the
xxv
INTRODUCTION
Views of older smrti authorities like Yajnavalkya or Vijftane^vara.
Dharmaastras were probably
in
existence before
but the important Dharmatastras of Gautama,* _r and Apastamba probably flourished betBaudhayana ween 600 and 300 B.C. Before the Dharmagastras or
Yaska,
'
Dharmasutras
the
we have
the
Grhyasutras.
The
Hiranyakei Dharmasulras were probably written someThe Va&stha about the 4th century A.D.
times
Dharmasutra was probably in existence in the 1st or the 2nd century of the Christian era. The Visnu Dharmasutra had probably an earlier beginning, but was thoroughly recast in the 8th or the 9th century A.D. The Harita was probably written somewhere about the 5th The versified tiahkha is probably a century A.D.
work
of later date
We
version.
though
have then
it
may have had an
the
earlier
smrtis of Atri, U6anas,
Gargya, Cyavana, Jatukarna, Paithlnasi, Brhaspati, Bharadvaja, Satatapa, Sumanta, of which the dates are uncertain. But most of the
Kanva, Kagyapa,
smrtis other than the older ones were written* during the
period
number
1000 A.D.
In ancient times the
must have been very small and the limitations imposed by them were also not so
Thus, Baudhayana speaks only of Aupajangham,
great.
Katya,
Kagyapa,
Harita.
Manu
to
of smrtis
extent of
Manu,
400
Gautama,
Prajapati,
Maudgalya,
Vasistha mentions only Gautama, Prajapati, Yama and Harita. Apastamba mentions ten.
speaks of only six besides himself, such as, Atri.
Bbrgu, Vasistha, Vaikhanasa and Saunaka. But in all their works the writers are mentioned only casually and there is no regular enumeration of writers on
Dharma
in
one place. Yajnavalkya is probably the earliest writer who enumerated twenty expounders of Dharma. Kumarila
who D
flourished in the 7th and the 8th century speaks
1843B
the sattra
and
INTRODUCTION
XXVI of
18 Dharma Samhitas.
We have then
Samhitas which in addition contains 6
more.
There
is
the 24
Dharmd
to
Yajnavalkya's list another smrti called
Sattrimhnmata quoted by Mitdksara which contains The Vrddhagautama Smrti gives a list of 57
36 smrtis.
dharma-sastras and the Prayoga-parijata gives a list of 18 principal smrtis, 18 upasmrtis and 21 smrtikdras. The Later Smrtis
Nirnayasmdhu and the Mayu hh a of Nllakantha gives a Thus as time advanced the number list of 100 smrtis. of smrti authorities increased
and there was gradually
more and more tightening. TheManusmrti had probably attained its present form by the 2nd century A.D. and the Ydjflavalkyasmrti was probably composed in the 3rd find that though the smrtis had oHth century A.D.
We
and were supposed to have been based upon Vedic injunctions and customs, yet new at an early date
begun
sprang up giving new injunctions which can hardly be traced to Vedic authorities. Many of the older authorities were again and again revised to smrti authorities
harmonise the changes made and these revised editions passed off as the old ones as there was no critical apparatus of research for distinguishing the the old.
The Puranas
many
new from
also indulged in the accretions
materials of the Dharma-tdstra.
From
of the
the 10th
century onwards we have a host of commentators of A smrtis and writers of digests or nibandhas of smrtis.
peep into the smrtiastras and nibandhas of later times shows that there was a regular attempt to bind together all
possible
actions
of
men
of
different castes
of
by rtgorous rules of smrtis. Such an attempt naturally has its repercussions on the mental freedom society
and spontaneity of the mind of the people. This tendency may also be illustrated by a reference to
the
development
of
the philosophical
literature.
INTRODUCTION It is curious,
XXVli
however, to note that though the Indian
systems of philosophy diverged so diametrically from one another, they all professed to be loyal inter-
Loyalty to the past, the chief characteristic of
Indian culture.
preters of the Upanisads.
Saiikara'sown interpretation
of the Upanisads consists chiefly in showing the purport of the Upanisads as condensed in the sutras. The
Brahmasutra discussions
itself
says that there
is
no end
to logical
and
arguments and no finality can be by logical and philosophical debates. It is always possible to employ keener and keener weapons of subtle logic to destroy the older views. The scope and
reached
area of the
must always be limited the Upanisads, which alone
of logic
application
by the textual testimony of is the repository of wisdom. the
same Upanisadic
It is curious to note that
text has been interpreted
by some
writers as rank nihilism, by others as absolutism and by
others again as implying dualism, pluralism or theism. But the spirit was still there that the highest wisdom
and truth are only available in the Upanisadic thought. So great has been the hold of the Upanisads on the Indian mind that even after centuries of contact the Western world,
with
science and
mind has not
philosophy, Indian been able to shake off the tight hold of
the Upanisads
on
its
its
The
late
poerTagore, be probably the greatest poet and thinker of our age, drew most of his inspiration and ideas from the Upanisads. In all his writings he largely
who happened
thought.
to
expanded the Upanisadic thought assimilating with it some of the important tendencies of Western biology and philosophy, but always referring
to*
Upanisads or
interpreting them in that light for final corroboration.
The and
collapse of the Indian genius in formalistic lines
in artificiality in
social
customs,
behaviours and
actions, in philosophy and in art, is naturally reflected in the development of the Sanskrit literature of a later
INTRODUCTION
XXV111
age.
In the earlier age also the reverence for the past
had always
its
influence on the genius of
the
poets of the court
It may be presumed that succeeding ages. atmosphere of the Hindu kings was always dominated
by a regard
for the
tightgrip of the Smrtis affected freedom of
ening
the grip on the
mind
poetical
pat-
teroised
was
it
also
to follow the past
was
so
much
practice
was
the
established,
rhetoricians
and made it a pattern for all kinds Just as the various writers on Smrti had
recorded this practice
life.
of literature.
tried to record the all
customary practice and behaviour of
the daily actions of
all class
of people, so the rhetori-
cians also recorded the practice of this served as a
Its
as
This tightening of
impressed upon the people that when after an age the
thought
and
Hindu Dharmatastras
the general attitude of the people.
The
pattern
or
guide
the
past poets
for
the
succeeding generations. When we read the works on rhetoric by
effect
on literature.
and
poets
of
Bhamaba,
Dandin, Vamana, Udbhata and Rudrata, and other writers of earlier times, we find discussions on Kavya of a structural nature. They discuss what constitutes the essence of Kavya, the nature of adornments, the relative importance^of the style, the adornment and the like, or
whether or not suggestivity or rousing of senti-
ments should be regarded as being tance in
literature.
good enumeration regarding
of
primary
But seldom do we requirements of the
imporan
find
various
kinds of poetry, mahakavya, khanda-kavya, etc., or a detailed description of the patterns of the different kinds -
and heroines, or an enumeration of the subjects that have or have not to be described in works of poetry. These patterns, when enumerated by the rhetoricians, become patterns of poetic behaviour of characters of heroes
which must be followed by the poets and loyalty to these patterns became often the criteria of good or bad of conduct poetry, just as the patterns
recorded
in the
XXIX
INTRODUCTION Smrti-tiastras
became the
criteria of
good or bad conduct
of the people. It
must
number of injuncSmrti-$astra demanded a the
also be noted that as the
and
tions increased
as
Patternisation of life
explains
monotony
complete patternisation of the conduct of all sections of people, freedom of life and behaviour gradually began to disappear. In whatever community or clan of people
one
may have had
would find
chance of enquiring into, one same pattern of behaviour as was
the
a
running through the ages. It was an attempt towards a mummification of social life from which all novelty was gone.
Even
if
was anywhere any
there
the pattern, the
poet
could hardly
violation
utilise
of
without
it
shocking the sense of decorum and religious taste of the Thus, the poet had hardly any field of new people.
The
became graduencased within the iron of the laws of ally casings Thus Kalidasa in describing his ideal king smrti.
experience.
freer life of older limes
Dillpa, says that his subjects did not deviate even by a line
from the course that was followed from the time
Manu.
It is
thus easy to say
is
spontaneity or change or variety in reflect
any new problems of
follow
artificial
patterns
through centuries. fact that the
when
that
changeably patternised and there
life
is
of
un-
no freedom and
life,
poetry
cannot
and necessarily it must which had been current
life
This was further enhanced by the
same tendency
of
working
after a
pattern
out of a reverence for the past also intellectually compelled the poet to look for the pattern of his work to earlier poets or to generalisations
made from them
recorded in the Alamkara literature.
here that the reason like the
why
Ramayana and
I* wish
the earlier Sanskrit
to
as
affirm
literature
the Mahabharata and the works
Sudraka, Bhasa, etc., are more human, and the reason why poets of a later period became gradually more and
of
regarding choice of subjects.
XXX
INTRODUCTION
more and
artificial, is largely
social life.
exception, but
due
may
Kalidasa, however, it
seems that
For
this
Raghuvamsa and
to inspiie the
still
reason
be taken as an
time the ideal of old
in his
varnaframa-dharma seemed the people.
to the stagnation of society
two
in
Abhijftana-talmntala
of
ideal
his
of
works,
he had
taken
theme
of antiquity and of history. Thus in Raghuwhich is a history of the kings of Kagbu race, vamsa, he seems to have invented many episodes of the kings
a
of the past about
whom
able in Valmiki.
It is
practically
curious to note,
though he practically passed life
to
no record
off
avail-
is
however,
the scenes
of
that
Rama's
depicted by Valmiki, yet he expressed his gratitude
him
to the extent of
comparing his work as being
merely of the type of passing a thread through pearls through which holes have already been made by
Now, what may
Valmiki.
be the secret of Kalidasa's
feeling of gratefulness? Kalidasa a
.Now
seems to
it
me
that
Dillpa,
Kaghu, Aja,
portraycrof
VanjaSrama ideals.
and
Dasaratha
Ramacandra
are
really
the
pivotal
we take the lives of Raghuvamsa. them all and roll them up into one, we can very well have a faithful picture of an ideal king, who is devoted to the
characters of
rules of
If
varnasrama-dharma
in the character of
Throughout the Ramayana, Kama, beginning from the episode .
marriage to the killing of Sambuka, we have the picture of such a king, who is loyal to his father, loyal to his people, who marries for progeny, shows
of his
heroism by conquest and carries the fruits of civilisation to other~countries. What Kalidasa meant by threading the pearls
is
that he
great ideas of
has really rolled up
into
Valmiki and manifested them
one in
the the
beginning from Dillpa. His success with these two Kavyas was largely due to his
character of different kings
natural genius and
also because the thing he
took
up
INTRODUCTION
was hallowed with the glory of the past. In Sakuntala he staged his theme in a fairly supernormal manner, It was a prolongation of earth to heaven and as such it
We find
was not normal or natural.
here
the
also
king to varmframadharma and the romance with Sakuntala was also not
same
loyalty on the part of the
Sakuntala was the
clearly of the ordinary social order.
daughter on the one hand of Vigvamitra and on the other, of Manuka, of an -ascetic Ksattriya and a heavenly nymph. As such the love was not unsocial. In the other drama
Vikrarnorvasl also, he availed himself of a
Yedic story and described the love of the king with a Had Kalidasa been a modern man, heavenly nymph. he
should
different
have
manner.
probably
staged
was
in
a
some amount conditions did not allow him to
Believer as he
of free love, the social
drama
his in
depict it otherwise than with an Apsara. According to the older smrtis and traditions available to us, we find that a
love
affair
with
allowable
thoroughly
love affair described by
a
in
daughter was social practice. In the third courtesan's
Kalidasa, he takes a Yaksa
and
his wife. In the fourth love affair in Malavikagnimitra,
which was
his maiden work, he was not so daring and took opportunity of the fact that it was the constant practice of the kings to have more than one wife. In that case also, Malavikfi was also a princess. She
was brought
by circumstances of an unnatural character and though the queen had protected in the family
her from the sight of the king, he accidentally saw her The portrait and gradually fell into love with her. parivrajika performed her part
what foreshadowed affair that
in the
in
the
Kamaastra.
Kalidasa describes
manner
The
some-
other love
was that of Siva
Parvati and here also only in the 5th canto, that find a grfeat ideal depicted in the effort of ParvatI
and
we to
love.
INTRODUCTION
Jcxxii
through penances, such proper worth as may make her deserving of her great husband, and this is the
attain,
most important message
of the book.
the
Otherwise,
Kavya, as a whole, falls flat on our ears. The 1st nnd the 2nd cantos are bores. The 3rd canto attains some vigour and the 4th canto
mere parody
a
is
conse-
of the tragic
quences following the effort of Kama to fascinate Siva. The 6th and 7th cantos can well be read or omitted.
We
when
thus see that the divine episode, even
deli-
neated by a master genius like Kalidasa, really failed Its value with because it had not the realities of life.
us
win the heart
cannot really idea that
it is
woman
with a
that
idea
the great
is
beauty
physical
itself
by
and
of great souls
the
also
only then when a great soul is wedded who by her moral austerities can make
pure and
purity and spiritual
her husband through greatness and the crucifixion of the
baser tendencies of
life,
herself
attract
her
that
leaders
great
of
nations
such as Karttikeya can be produced. Patterniaatiou
of life
by the Smrtis restricted to the scope of free love
a natural desideratum for the deve-
lopment poetry.
of
A member
get married the very day he ceases to be a Brahmacarl according to
maxim
the
of the higher
that one
caste
cannot
to
is
even
stay
a day without
belonging to an arama. Such marriages would naturally be arranged for him by his parents and relations and after that he remains absolutely loyal to his wife, if there
is
hardly any room for any intrigue or romance.
Sanskrit
poetry
generally
which
holds
within
it
charm
a
almost inimitable by any other patternised form of language, but owing to the life enjoined by the smrtis, the scope of life depicted
or
attraction
in the
honest
is
Kavyas became life
so
formulated
once and for
the codes of
cannot be the
all,
free development of
some extent has
in
narrow and limited.
to
poetic
art.
be tolerated
fit
duties,
The fixed
atmosphere for the
Freedom in
of
society
love
to
and boys
INTRODUCTION and
have
girls
XXXU1
remain unmarried up to an adult
to
age in order that love episodes may be possible. Where the girls are married before they attain their puberty and when such marriages are arranged by their
and when
relations
not
are
recognised, the
of
love
illicit
with
in
nymphs
some instances
to find
or
spheres
royal
heavenly
one
has
to
or carry on with the tales
or the Mahabharata.
of the
Rdmdijana Taking sex-love
that
sphere of love poetry naturally
One has
becomes very limited. deal
forms of non-marital love
other
the
beginning behaviour to
the Christian
1
only for pleasure. of higher or lower
Yet in ancient times
towards
the
much wider
that
sex
recognised for sex rela-
freedom was
era, says (1.5.3)
who
are not
untouch-
(
to
The
is
without
find
widows prepared to marry recommended nor prohibited. It
neither
is
we
illustration,
probably
lower caste,
girls of
prostitutes and
to
again,
of
way
Kamasutra, written of
ables,
by
institution
was
orders
of
prostitution
allowed
in
society
much
Thus when Carudatta in objection. Mrcchahatika was challenged that how being an honourable
man
not of
character.
had kept a prostitute though he had his wife, he says, " yauvanamevatraparaddham na caritraw." "It is only the fault of my youth and find
my
in the
he
"
In
the Yajfiavalhya
also
we
Vyavahara-adhyaya, Chap. 24, that primary
and secondary sex behaviour were only prohibited in relation to married women, girls of higher castes and also other girls against their wish. There was thus
a
fair
amount
a study of the
of
latitude
for
Kuttanlmatam shows
were sometimes smitten
with
free
love
and
that even prostitutes
love
though it is their profession to attract young people and deplete them of their riches.
The
fact that the transgression
of
young
1
avaravarndsu aniravasit&su vetyatu punarbhftsu ca na siddhah sukharthatvat,
E
1343B
rfiffo
na prati-
tioo.
XXXIV
INTRODUCTION with regard to the
girls
kissing,
was
secondary sex acts such as
embracing and the
treated
very
Yajfiavalkya
and Mitaksard.
Yajfiavalkya
(Acdrddhydya
vyabhicdrdd gression the
The
tion.
of
fact
unless
Latitude of later
on
out ruled in practice through the influence of Smrti the laws.
free
bore fruit, was
i.e.,
(1.3.72) says,
the case of trans-
by the next menstruathat there were so many kinds
advanced
in
later
with
existence
the
particularly
in ancient times than
of the Smrti
it
in
gdndharva marriage shows that marriages
of
was much
life
a
freer
As the rigours
days.
time and
tried
to
behaviour and as social customs
social
that
Vivdhaprakarana)
is purified
also
and
marriages
from
seems
it
Again,
women
suddhih,
woman
by reference to
}
Thus Yajfiavalkya
treated very lightly.
rtau
by other young men
realised
is
lightly,
transgression of married
like
stifle
became
more and more puritanic and these again reacted upon the writers of the Smrti and influence them gradually to tighten their
social
and
life
noose more and
more,
the
cifrrent
of
became gradually more and more stagnant
unfit for free literary productions.
This also explains why the poets so often took the theme of their subject from older Kfwyas and Puranic legends.
In
itself
there
be nothing wrong
may
in
taking themes from older legends, provided the poet could rejuvenate the legend with the spirit of his own times.
Plutarch
Shakespeare also drew from the legends
and
other
the general scheme 1
of
older
writers.
the story
is
But
pdvakah sarva-medhyatvam medhyd vai yositohyatah
I
II
Yajfiavalkya,
somagandharvavahnayah
strirbhuldvd
though
the same, yet the
somah Saucarp dadavasdrp gandharvasca hibhdm giram
yathdkramar(i
madhura-vacana-sarvamedhyatvani. dattavantah spar baling ana diu medhydh ttuddhah smrtah
of
tasmdt
I. 3.
71,
tdsdm
striyah
tiauca-
tarvatra
II
~Mitak?ara, 1.3.71.
1NTRODUC riON
XXXV
characters have become living because Shakespeare lived
own
through these characters in his
imagination
and
own
Mfe
his sparkling genius took the materials of his
from the
social surroundings
rekindled
was in
mind
the
of
became and
imagination
In
was displayed
that
poet,
dramatic creations.
it
the
in his
of the Indian poets,
case
legend was drawn from older Kavya or Puranic
the
but
myths
the
had but
himself
poet
little
to
life
the story (because in the social surroundings
infuse in in
which
burning colour of the characters, lived through
this
the
emotion and
his
by
about him
which he
lived,
mind was not
free to
he
lest
move)
might produce any shock on the minds of his readers who used to live a patternised life. The force of this remark
will
be easily
Sanskrit poets
that
make
the
it
little
beautifully
rasabhasa,
and not
A
little affairs
The
pictures.
wherever such
may i.e.,
deal
theme
central
they utilised the ing
who
illicit it
with of
it
Abhijfiana-sakuntala,
Alamkara
made
tell
must be
draw-
us that
taken
literary aesthetic
real rasa or real aesthetic
poet like Kalidasa
Kavya and
big
described and howsoever
done,
semblance of
a
as
emotion
amorous sentiments. successful
where though the
venture
love
in
was not
yet it was going to shock the mind of his audience. In order to prevent such a catastrophe, he had to take his heroine as the daughter of a Ksattriya and a illicit
heavenly nymph and as Dusyanta was going to repress his emotion because it bad no sanction of society he
was
at
much life
once reminded of the fact that his mind was so
saturated with the proper discipline of the
that
he
could
to proper action.
trust
his
out shocking the cultivated taste.
love seldom
of illicit love only in
is
or love tin* sanctioned by the social rules could be described bj poets with-
we remember
illicit
any
writers of
love
be
if
appreciated
No theme of illicit love
Vedic
passion as directing
him
This very passage has been quoted by Kumarila in defence of actions that may be done
Kalidasa 's treatment of love
of
romance 8.
INTRODUCTION
XXXVI
even without the sanction of the sastra in accordance
customary behaviour of those whose minds are saturated with Vedic ideas through generations of This also explains loyal obedience to older customs. with
the
Manu's injunction
of
saddcdra
as
being one of the
determinants of conduct. Gandbarva
Kalidasa
al&o
the
out bably date in Kalidasa 's
gandharva marriage out which was already becoming of date at the time. Pie had however in his mind the instinct of compunc-
time.
tion
marriages
were
pro-
of
arranged
man whose mind
surcharged with sentiments of loyalty to the Smrti-sdstras for staging such He a romance which was not customary at the time. of
a
is
therefore introduces a curse of ancient times through the fiery
wrath of Durvasa, creating a tragic episode which
he really could not bridge
except by the
very
unreal
staging of a drama by making the king travel to heaven and kill demons there and meet Sakuntala in the This exthe plot of the
plains
Sakuntald.
For such a king who heavenly hermitage of Marlca. kill demons there, one is can travel to heaven and But Kalidasa did not prepared to give any license. realise how unreal was this part of the drama when taken along the natural and normal environment of the Of course Kalidasa never hesitated to be first part. Sakuntala's familia-
unreal in his dramatic treatment.
with nature in the poetic fancy that nature
rity
loved her
is
expressed in a technique
unreal, viz., that of
making
the
which
trees offer
is
also
wholly
ornaments
for Sakuntala.
Rabindranath has interpreted
it
in
as
his
criticism
of
the
drama
the conception of love has a natural curse
embodying
Kalidasa that mere carnal
is chastened by self-mortification would supplement it with a furthei additional idea that this was probably Kalidasa's vievi
with
it,
unless
it
and tapasya.
I
in the case of
such weddings as are to produce grea!
INTHODtJCriON
XXXVll
He
sons like Bharata and Karttikeya. this view
either
Vikramorvasl
in
not
is
or
loyal to
Malaviha-
in
In Sakuntala, however, it may rightly be gnamitra. argued that the conception bad taken place through passionate love of
state
when
pregnancy
Dusyanta's court.
was no
Rabindranath's review of
and Sakuntala was in
It
may
fairly advanced was repulsed from
she
Sakuntala
how correct.
further be added that there
and attempt
wilful self -mortification
rouse
to
purity through a sense of value for a great love, as was
the case
of
tapasya in Kumara-sambhava, for Sakuntala lived with her mother in heaven and was Parvati's
pining through sorrow
naturally
Dusyanta and
of
separation
from
wearing garment for lonely ladies as
by the Sastras. Strictly speaking there was no tapasya for love it was merely a suffering for separation and as such we cannot apply the norm of
prescribed
;
Kumarasambhava
to the
From
drama $akuntala.
Rabindranath's view cannot
standpoint
be
this
strictly
For suffering through mere separation may justified. chasten the mind and improve the sterner qualities of cannot fully affect the nature of the original worth and such occasions of suffering may arise even in
love,
but
normal
it
circumstances.
Kalidasa believed chastens love,
for
that
We
cannot
suffering
we do not
through
find
Vikramorvasl and the Mcghaduta.
more pertinent
to hold that the veil
hold
also
that
separation case
of
it
in the
It
seems therefore
of
unreality
of
a
heavenly journey and meeting the son there were conceived as improvements on the Mahabharata story because the gandharva form of marriage had become obsolete
and
to
make
a great emperor like
the
issue of
such
Bharata might not
a
wedlock
have pleased
Kalidasa's audience.
The needs
unreality of Vilmnnorcati is so patent that it no stressing. In the Raghuvamh also there
far
INTRODUCTION
XXXV111 Unreality of KilidSsa's
plots as
are
many
Why
nature.
compared with the
Kalidasa ?
plot of
dudraka.
which are wholly of a mythical did this happen even with a genius like
episodes
Our simple answer
that
is
had
life
begun
People patternised even at the time of Kalidasa. would swallow anything that was mythical and that was the only place in which there was some latitude for
to
bte
The normal
depicting emotions.
life
had begun to be
undramatic and uneventful. Anything beyond the normal would have been resented as not contributing to before
Overflow of
did
Kalidasa,
making the
love
his drama.
There,
we
drama
a
find
normal passion in the lyrics.
But Sudraka who
taste.
good
of
centuries
flourished
compunction in a courtesan the chief theme of not
for
feel
the
which
any
and the
first
is
surcharged
last
time,
with
the
realities of life.
But the Sanskrit poets being thwarted in dealing with free passionate love as the chief theme of a glorious
Kavya gave indulgence
to the repressed sex-motives
gross descriptions of physical beauty and purely side of love both
in
Kavyas and
long-drawn
in
carnal also
in
genius of Sanskrit has found a much
It is for this reason that the
lyrics.
writers
in
their
realism of
life
better expression in small pictures of lyric
in long-drawn
poems than
The
repressed motive probably so often find carnal and gross
epics.
why we human love so passionately portrayed. do not for a moment entertain the idea
also explains
aspects of I
Sanskrit poets as a rule had or
suffered
from
any
a
important of writers Patieroisa-
and tion insulation of
But the ways
rasas.
on Alarpkara
sentiment to be
Indian
Society.
all
of
prudery.
be the
who
first
there
Indeed,
They
and most have
been
had held the amorous
the only sentiment
patternised
of living
puritanic temperament
sense
regarded amorous sentiment to
that
form of society
where every action
be portrayed. and the unreal
to
of
life
was con-
INTRODUCTION krolled
by the
XXXIX
injunction of the smrti which
artificial
always attempted to shape the mould of
a progressive the pattern and model of a society society according to
which had long ceased to exist in its natural environments and which was merely a dream or imagination, hampered the poet's fancy to such an extent that could seldom give a realistic setting to the creation his
We
muse.
may
add to
it
it
of
the fact that Sanskrit
poetry grew almost in complete other literature of other countries.
isolation
The
from any
great poetry of
Rabindranath could not have been created
if
he were
the Sanskritic tradition. The only in society of the world and the poetry of the world in all
imprisoned ages are
now
We
in our midst.
can therefore be almost
as elastic as we like, though it must be admitted that we cannot stage all ouri deas in the present social environment of this country. Here again, we live in a
Gradual stratifica-
time when there are different strata ing side by side.
The present
society stand-
of
80Ciey
y
wish
do not
recondite
analysis
But what
wish
I
into
further
any
Abhinavagupta.
literature,
to urge is that the writers of Indian
drama had not on the one hand the environment ting
of a
social
their
that
life
where concussions
the
emotion as given
aesthetic
of
critic
great
enter
to
of the
tie.
consis-
was progressive and
of diverse
free
characters could impress
them and on the other hand they the main importance of literature
nature on
regarded
that
was not the
but they thought that the creation
and
actuality
of
concreteness of real
the purpose
of
literature
life
was
an idealised atmosphere of idealised
emotions divested from
all
associations of concrete actual
"
Sanskrit Thus, Dr. De says drama came to possess an atmosphere of sentiment and poetry which was conducive to idealistic creation at the
and objective
:
reality.
expense of action and characterisation, but which in lesser dramatists overshadowed all that was dramatic in it/' Concept Indian drams.
of
According to the Sanskrit
Kavya is what can
rhetoricians,
drsya and sravya, i.e., Neither the Sanskrit be seen and what can be heard.
divided into two classes
rhetoricians nor the poets tion between
them both
made any
essential distinc-
Kavya and drama, because the is
to
create aesthetic
emotion by rousing
the dormant passions through the aesthetic tion or the
tion
that
art-communication.
object of
representa-
Our modern concep-
show the repercussions of of action and*re-action a conflict through cannot be applied in^ judging the Indian
drama should
human mind in actual life
dramas.
The supreme
produces
the world out of
creator of the world,
Him
Brahman,
as the* representation of
INTRODUCTION
which has order and uniformity
magical hallucination as
well
which
as
xlvii
of
unchangeable systems
same
the
is all
The
-temporary.
mayd and
a mirage or
moves
also
poet
and drawing upon the materials a new creation which possesses
his
of the its
but
relations,
is relatively
wand
magic
weaves
world,
own law but which
from any spatio-temporal bondage of particularity the objective world. It becomes spread out in our
is free
in
where the aesthetic delight without being under the limitation
consciousness
aesthetic
may show
itself
of the objective
world and the ordinary concerns and
interests of the
subjective
dramas
at
Mudrardksasa which
Yet there are some
Mrcchakitika
the
like
least
mind.
satisfy
and
the
our modern standards of
judgment about drama. Consistent
with
view that
the
drama
was
not
The
idea
behind the
regarded by the Sanskrit poets as a composition in which the conflict of action and re-action and the
be delineated, the Sanskrit
struggle of passions are to
from showing any violent action or shocking scenes or shameful episodes or poets
as a rule
abstained
gross demonstration
of passion or anything revolting on the stage. They had a sense of perfect decorum and decency so that the total effect intended
in general
by the drama might not in any way be vitiated. Consonant with this attitude and with the general optimism of
Indian thought and
process
ultimately
tends
philosophy that the worldto beatitude and happiness
whatsoever pains and sufferings there may be in the way that Indian drama as a rule does not end tragically
;
and to complete the
effect
we have
often a
benedictory verse to start with or a verse of adoration,, and a general benediction for all in the end so that the
present
impression
effect
of
the
on the mind,
drama may
leave a lasting
Indian culture as a rule
happy ending of Indiao dramas.
INTRODUCTION
Xlviii
does not believe
is
and chance-occurrences
accidents life
the world
that
disorderly and
that
frustrate good
may
and good intentions, or that the storms and stress purposeless and not inter-related
of material events are
with the moral
dominant
man and
On
man.
belief
philosophical
material world of
of
life
the other hand, the that
is
the
integrally connected with the
is
that its
is
final
whole destiny
the fulfilment of
purpose % development of man. Even the rigorous SmrtUastra which is always anxious to note our
the moral
transgressions has always
No
of our sins.
enough
sins
to stick to a
expiation or by the
are
its
transgressions can be strong
or
man
provisions for the expiation
be removed either by Freedom and happiness
may
it
;
sufferings.
birth-right
of
men.
all
The
life
rigorous
imposed upon an ascetic is intended to bring such as beatitude and happiness may be eternal.
Consonant with such a view not
one of laying
accidental
the ideal of art should be
emphasis on
occurrences
the law and
on
but
changeful and
the
harmony
and goodness and ultimate happiness. When we read the dramas of Shakespeare and witness -the of justice
sufferings of
we
a
feel
King Lear and
different
an
of
Desdemona
philosophy.
that the world
is
redistribution
of energy, that
chaotic
of
effect
We
or of Hamlet,
are led to think
distribution and
accidents
and
chance
occurrences are the final determinants of events and the principle
a
of the fiction.
pious
committed
man's
moral government of the world is only But Indian culture as a rule being
to the
values
as
principle
being
the poets and artists to
any
accidents
not
to
moral
ultimate does leave
chance occurrence. do
of the
seldom
allow
the destiny of the world
Chance occurrences
ipdeed occur and.
within" our perspective
fulfilment of
they
when
the
may seem
and
whole to
is
rule
xlix
INTRODUCTION
But
the world.
this
is
to Indian
entirely contrary
outlook.
Granting that in our partial perspective this may appear to be true, yet not being reflective of the whole it is ugly, unreal and untrue and as such it is not final
being manifested through
of
worthy
of
appeal
art
in
lies
goodness and truth unite. to rouse our sattva
which in from
their
which to
a
Hindu theory
According be any impure aesthetic
episodes.
drama
is
desertion
Thus the
end
in
is
the
desertion
and
beauty
our
and
aesthetic
all
It
soul.
drama has
spring.
there cannot
of Art,
delight
delight beautifies and purifies reason that even when the effect of the tragic
supposed
are the final source
aspects
goodness
truth,
art is
It is these sattva qualities
quality.
the
the
where beauty,
region
The genuine
tripartite
art, for
is
for this
a tragic end the
softened and mellowed by other
Uttaracarita of
the
But the
Slta.
pivot of the effect of this
more than
mollified by the episode of the which Rama's passionate love for Sita is so excellently portrayed and by the happy manner in which the drama ends. is
third act in
We
regard the Mahabharata and the Rdmdyana as the earliest specimens of great works written in the
kdvya
may
the
Though
style.
Mahabharata
underwent
probably more than one recension and though there have been many interpolations of stories and episodes yet
it
was probably
condition
even
substantially
before
the
in
a
Christian
well-formed
era.
I
have
prove that the Bhagavadgita was earlier as a specimen of the Vdkovdkya literature
elsewhere tried to
much
which was integrated in the Mahabharata as a whole. It is of interest to note that the whole tone of the
Mahabharata Mahabharata
harmony with
that of the Gtta.
is
in
is
not called a kdvija,
it is
and judged by the standard of a kavya 1343B
called it
is
The
an itihdsa unwieldy,
The
,
bhdrata 9 its
dynamic
INTRODUCTION
1
massive and diffuse.
canons
the
But
and the
a
for
prescribed
follow
mahakavya
against
passions,
nature
come
actions and re-actions, of passions
and thoughts of diverse constant conflict and dissolve
ideals
of
into
themselves into a flow of beneficent harmony.
changing
of
ancient India
life of
abounds also is
different
cultures
society which
of
and decisive and in
is reflected
it
as in a
no doubt descriptions of Nature, of
but
in
passages
life
and character and the
one of
emphasis
It is a
and
customs
and
free, definite
It is
It contains
mirror. it
manners
life,
ideals.
the entire
later
by
is
it
conflict of
criticism
any of
thoroughly dramatic in its personages often appear with real characters
rhetoricians.
nature, its
does not also
It
and
love,
ideals
and
to
feel its
it
real
its
conflict of
shows a
state of
course
through a chaotic conflict of different types of ideas and customs that
is
trying
mark the character Various
transition.
discussed
a
of
in
society
stereotyped ideals
here and dug to the roots
discovering in and through
them
of
as
it
a
state of
old
are
were for
a certain fundamental
principle
which could be the basis
society.
The scheme
of all morality
and
VarnaSrama-dharma was
of the
there and people
were required to do their duties in accordance with their own varnas. To do good still
to others is regarded
in
the
Mahabharata as the
solid
foundation of duty. Even truth had its basis in it. But still in the cause of one's duty and for the cause of right
and
justice
the
w?}s
always bound
any personal
interest in the
Ksattriya
to fight without attaching fruits of his actions.
These and similar other principles as well as moral stories and episodes are appended with the main story of the
Mahabharata and thus
which holds within
it
at
least
it
is
a great store-house
implicitly
a
large part
INTRODUCTION
li
The
of ancient Indian culture and history of thoughts.
whole
style of the
the
of
style
Ramayana,
delightful and order.
easy and flowing and there
is
seldom
The much more
pedantry or undue ornamentation.
at
any attempt
is
reveals
it
however,
genuine poetry of the
reason
It is for this
is
the
that
first
Ramayana has
always been looked upon as unapproachable model not only by lesser poets but also by poets like Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti.
Bhamaha and
other
writers
the essential condition that
contributes
alamkara and kavya as well
of
to
approach
things,
the
new way
way one may heighten Nature
it
of
value
which
In
what-
heightening essence of vakrokti.
ever
fact of
a
of
constitutes
was a mere
atifayokti or the
a
also
charm
This over-statement
mean exaggeration but
not only
the
to
the value of that which
would contribute
to poetry.
In every type of poetry, even in svabMvokti, the poet has to re-live within him the facts of Nature or the ordinary experiences of life and it is by such an inner enjoyment of the situation that the poet can contribute a part of his to
pective
ment
of
sun has are
enjoyment and
experiences
through set,
inner
the
which it
Thus the
themselves.
there
birds
are
going They do
state-
so-called alanikaras
are
I
gato'stamarko bhattndurydnti vdsdya pakqinah
II
II. 85.
I
kdvyavp vdrttdmendip pracakfate
"The nests
"
not constitute
-Bhamaba,
fettp
Mere
to their
said sarvaiva vakroktiranaydrtho vibhavyate
ityevamddi
spiritual pers-
no sign that the
is
yatno'syarp kavind kdryah ko'larpkaro'nayd vind
*
1
cannot make literature.
mere informations.
kavya.* 1
the
facts in
lived
poet
own
The essence K&vja as
of
the height-
ened ezpres. is
over-statement of the actual facts. does
however, that
think,
II
Bhftmaha,
II. 87.
often but
sion of
experience.
Ill
the signs which show
that
the
has
poet
re-lived
through his ordinary experiences with his aesthetic An over-emphasis functions and has thus created art.
them, however, or a wilful
of
pedantry which But indeed a fault.
effort at
does not contribute to beauty is in a poet like Bana we find the oriental
grandeur
decoration which,, though majestic and pompous,
of
is
nevertheless charming.
SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF LITERATURE The choice of subjects.
if
we
various
take
kavyas
matter of the review of the subject ' and dramas, we find that the plots a
Mahabharata, the Ramayana and sometimes from some of the Puranas, sometimes from the stories of great kings, or religious and are mostly derived from the
martial heroes, or sometimes from floating stories or from the great story-book of Gunadhya and its adciptations,
and sometimes from the traditional episodes about kings and sometimes also from stories invented by the poet himself.
But
centuries,
when
as
we move
through the thought and views and
forward
the freedom of
became gradually more and more curbed, the choice subjects on the parts of the poets became almost wholly
ideas of
Ramayana and the Mahaevident to anyone who will read
limited tp the stories of the
bharata.
the
This would be
history
of
Sanskrit
literature
as
presented
here
together with editorial comments at the end of the book. Works of literature are not mere plays of imagination or of solitary caprices of the brain,
but
they may be said to be transcripts of contemporary manners or as representing types of certain kinds of mind. It is some-
times held that from the works of
literature
form a picture of the modes
human
thoughts through the
of
progressive
march
one might feelings and of
history.
iNTftODUCTION
Maramata
liil
Kavyaprakasa says that krivya produces fame, one can know from it the manners and customs of the age and that it produces immediate artistic in his
satisfaction of a transcendent order both for the
and
the
for
and
writer
instructive by the
also
is
it
reader
presentation of great ideals in a sweet and captivating
manner
like that of one's lady love.
We
can understand the history
any country only by regarding a flower
product, rising
as
it
were,
it
of
literature
as being merely a
the
of
upwards towards the sun
of
like
entire history
a gigantic
tree
with outspreading branches. 'It may be difficult to follow the tree from branch to branch and from leaf to leaf, but
which the
it
the
belongs,
in
mark, the type to One can classify flowers.
left
its
the
of
histories
has
tree
its
various people by comparing of the literature as much
the essential characteristics
as one can classify the trees through the flowers./
an
indeed true that belong
his
to
age,
individual
poet,
may have
his
It
is
though he may
own
peculiarity of
which he may somewhat such But transcendence cannol transcend the age. change the character of his mind whict altogether temperament and
is
interest by
a product of his society. Genuine history does not
battles that are
of kings
;
so
if
fought,
we judge
consist of the wars and
the accession and of
literature,
it
deposition
is
not mere
mythology or language or dogmas or creeds which may be discovered from certain documents that constitute but
literature,
general if
it is
the
characteristics
we can
men
of an age can also
portray before our
Everything
exists
that have created
mind the
become vivid
individual
men.
only through the individuals and
must become acquainted with the
may
The
it.
typical individual.
we
We
discover the sources of dogmas, classify the poems,
History
INTRODUCTION
llV
the
realise
constitution
political
country or with the linguistic
analyse the language in accordance principles and so far
clear
the
the
of
ground.
But genuine
brought to light only when the historian discovers and portrays across the lapse of centuries the is
history
men as to how they worked, how are hemmed in by their customs,
living
they
they
so that
feel that
we
felt,
how
we may
hear_ their voice, seeTBelr gestures, postures
and features, their dress and garment, just as we can do of friends whom we have visited in the morning or seen in the street.
we want
If
Alfred
like
to
de
imagine him,
Musset, as
a
study
or
modern Victor
Taine says,
"
French
Hugo,
poet
we may
in his black coat and
welcomed by the ladies and making every evening his fifty bows and his score of bon-mots in society, reading the papers in the morning, not overlodging as a rule on the second floor
gloves,
;
and specially because in this dense democracy where we choke one another, because
gay
he
has
nerves
the discredit of the dignities
of
office
has exaggerated
his pretensions while increasing his importance and because the refinement of his feelings in general disposes him somewhat to believe himself a deity."
Then
again,
century, a
like,
if
we take
a poet like .Racine of the 17th
we can imagine him fine speaker,
to be elegant, courtier-
with a majestic wig and ribbon-
shoes, both Koyalist and a Christian, clever at entertaining a prince, very respectful to the great, always
knowing as
at
his
place,
Versailles,
assiduous and
among
the
reserved, at
regular
pleasures
Marly of
a
society, brimming with salutations, graces, and fopperies of the Lords, who rose early in
polished airs
the morning to obtain the promise of being appointed to some office, in case of the death of the present holder,
T
INTRODUCTION
1\
and among charming ladies who can count their genealogies on the fingers in order to obtain the right of sitting at a particular
when we
read
a
So
the court.
in
place
also
Greek tragedy we must be able to
imagine of well-formed beautiful figures living halfnaked in the gymnasia or in the public squares under the most enchanting panorama of views nimble and ;
conversing,
strong,
waited on
temperate,
as
them
to give
understanding and exercise
and with no desire beyond attending to We can get a picture of such beautiful.
limbs
what a
and
yet lazy
voting,
by slaves so
their
cultivate
leisure to
their
discussing,
is
Greek
from thirty
life
chosen
Plato
of
passages
and Aristophanes much better than we can get from a dozen of well-written histories. If
we wish to picture
beau in
mind the life of a city jmcient India we cnn imagine him as having a before our
house beside a lake with
rooms for
for
bath
part,
a
garden beside
having
many
the
internal
people, for sleep
for
part
covered with a white sheet
on both
pillowed
it,
and meeting a house divided into an external and internal his works, for
the
ladies.
His bed
is
made
fragrant with incense, the head and the feet, and
sides,
very soft in the middle, with a seat for an idol or image of
a
the
at
deity
head-side of the bed, a small table
with four legs of the same height as the bed on there in
a
are
flower-garlacds,
vesseI7~~a
on
little
sandal-paste, fan,
fragrant
a
spitoon
a
peg in the wall; there
the grouncTTThe is
'
Vina a
a
little
spices; '
is
number
which
wax
there
is
hanging on of
pictures
hanging in proper positions in the wall, articles for painting on a table, some books of poems and some garIan JsT ful
The
covers
;
seats inTfie
outside
room
are covered with beauti-
in the verandah there are probably
birds in a cage and arrangements of diverse sports in
INTRODUCTION
Ivi
the yard, a jwing bagging jp a shady ^ place elevated quadrangle for sitting at pleasure.
The beau
in
rises
the
offers his
morning ablutions,
morning,
;
and an
performs his
morning prayers and other
i^IigqusJdufi'^T^besmears himself faintly with sanjialwith the smoke paste and wears clothes fragrant of aguru, wears a garland on his hair^ slightly paints hisTipsfwith red, chewTbetel leaves, and looking at his face at a mirror, ~^T~gb out to perform his daily He takes his bath everyday, cleanses.his Jyjdy duties.
with perfumes, !,,
--
______
;
i
i
-i--*-
""*""
himself
gets
massaged,
sometimes
"'
'
*..
i
shaves generally every three da^s, in the middle of the day, in the
takes vapour-baths,
meals
takes his
afternoon and also in the night; after meals he would either play or go to sleep and in the evenings gojput The early part of the niight clubs for sport.
tojbe
maybgipent
music jmd the night in love-making of receiving ladies and attending to them.
in j
He
arranges^ fg&tivities on the occasions of worship of particular godjs; in_ the clubs he talks about literature in small
groups,
he
sits
and indulges in
to gardens
together and drinks, goes out
On
sports.
festive occasions
in the
temple of Sarasvat! dramatic performances are actors and dancers from different temples held^jand
come and meet together are
received and
generally
located
well in
for
the performance.
attended
the
The
clubs were
houses of courtesan^ or in
special houses or in the houses of club:
to.
Guests
some members
of the
These clubs were often encouraged by the kings men more or less of the same age,
and in such places intelligence,
time in
character
mutual
and
riches,
conversation
or
met and spent
their
conversation
with
There they discussed literature, or practised dramatic art, dancing, singing, etc. They would courtesans.
often drink wines at each other's houses,
INTRODUCTION
Ivii
Raja^ekhara describes the daily Jifej>f a poet.
He
the
rises in
including
morning,
performs
practices.
religious
in his study-room, he
his
Then
duties
morning
Life of poet
aftc
RajaSekban
sitting at leisure
studies books relevant
to
poetry
about three hours and for about another three hours
for
he engages himself in writing poetry. Towards midday, he takes his bath and meals, after which he again engages himself in literary conversations and literary
In the afternoon, in
work.
with chosen
association
work done in the morning. When a person writes something under the inspiration It is thereof emotion he cannot always be critical. friends he
criticises
the
fore desirable that he should criticise his
own work and
try to better the composition in association
He
friends.
then
re- writes
hours and
the
with chosen
work.
JJ
^
sleeps
the early hours of the morning for he reviews the work of the previous day. There are, six
however,
in
who have no
poets
restrictions of time
and
engaged in writing poetry. Such poets have no limitations of time as those engaged in services are
of
always
some kind
or other.
Well-placed
princesses, daughters of high officials
well as the wives
of
women
such as
and courtesans as
gay people became often highly
learned and also poets. It is the business
of
the
king
to
establish
an
When the king himself is a poet, assembly of poets. would make often he assembly halls for the poets where
all
learned people assemble as well as musicians,
and gingers. lbe kings Vasudeva, Satavahana, Sudraka, probably all had established such actors,
dancets
academies/)
It
is
of great kings learning
Kalidasa,
Mentha,
bad so often flourished.
Amara,
Bhattara Haricandra and Ujjayini.
reason that in the capitals
for this
Rupa,
Sura,
Candragupta
Thus,
Bharavi,
flourished
in
So also Upavarsa, Varsa, Panini, Pingala,
Early academies.
INTRODUCTION
1V111
Vararuci,
Vyacji,
Patanjali
and
others
in
flourished
1
Pataliputra.
We
know
from
Arthatastra
that
kinds of
all
teaching of fine arts and literature were encouraged by the Mauryyas and that teachers of music, dancing,
were maintained out of the provincial revenue.) The kings held in their courts from time to time great exhibitions of poets and scholars, where they acting,
etc.,
wrangled literary '*-
--
.-
with one another and vied for victory in contests. There were often Poet Laureates "
~
agreement with the view that a king must first of all be absolutely self-controlled. But in spite of all these, there were teachers like Bharadvaja who would advise
any kind
of unprincipled
action for the maintenance of
was not accepted by most but of the political authorities, Kautilya's code leaned more or less to this type of action. In the Mahabharata the king's power.
this
passages in which the role of punishment Side by extolled and Brhaspati also held that view.
we is
But
find
many
with the view of divine authority of kings we have also in the Mah&bharata and the Buddhist canons the side
view that the king was elected by the people on the terms of contract which involved the exchange of the exercise of sovereign power and obedience regarding
just
In on the part of the people. due had he for that the regard Kautilya we find and he varnaframa of the regarded social order
payment
of
taxes
the Varta-astra and importance of the three Vedas, Kau^ilya lays great importance on the position Polity.
INTRODUCTION of
the
himself his
many
The king
office.
king's
kingdom and
his
XCVli
constitutes
within
Yet there are
subjects.
passages in the Arthaastra to indicate that king's
authority depends
upon the
will of the people
,has always to keep satisfied,
and we
whom
find there that
he
it is
the king to promote the security and duty prosperity of the people in lieu of which the subjects
the
of
pay taxes to him. Kau^ilya is also mainly loyal to the DharmaSastra principle that the king is an should
official
who
is
of protection
entitled to receive taxes for the service
and that he
the discharge of
his
is
spiritually
education and self-control are the
Though
there
first
are
Good
the king.
life for
requisites of
elaborate
for
down
Kautilya also lays
duties.
a very high standard of moral
government.
responsible
good
rules
of
Kautilya definitely lays down the view should covet his neighbour's territories,
foreign policy,
that no king
and
with other kings it is his duty to restore to throne the most deserving from the near relain case of battles
tions of the vanquished king
a policy entirely different
from that of the imperialistic governments
of to-day.
A
king should only attempt to secure safety for his kingdom and extend his influence on others. In later times, between 900 and 1200 A.D., when the commentaries of Medhatithi, Vijnanesvara and Apararka and the Jaina Nltivakyamrta were written, we have the view, particularly in Medhatithi, that the principles of rdjadharma
and dandaniti, though principally derived from Vedic institutions, are to be supplemented from other sources and elaborated by reason. restrict the
office
would extend kingly
it
to
qualities.
consistent
with
that the term
Thus, Medbatithi would not of kingship to a Ksatriya alone but
any one who
is
Kalidasa also,
the teaching of the
ksatra was
in
ruling with proper
we have
seen,
was
old Dharmatiastra
meaning
identical
to the
f
tbf king!*
INTRODUCTION
XCVlli
term nrpa. Ksatra means ksatdt trdyate and nrpa means nrn pati. The other aspect of the king is that he should be popular, and this aspect is signified by the term raja (raja prakrtiranjanat). But Medhatithi to uses the term raja, nrpa or pdrthiva mean any ruling would the Medhatithi term nrpa even to prince. apply
The
provincial governors.
the inalien-
by the king by virtue of the him, and for any mischief that comes
of protection
able right
taxes they pay to to
subjects have
them, the king
is
stolen, the king will
If their property is
responsible. restore the
value
of the
articles
seems also that Medhatithi not only concedes to the view that the subjects may even in normal times
stolen.
It
bear arms for
self -protection,
but
when
the king
is
incompetent, they have also the right to rebel and suspend the payment of taxes. But during the 12th to the 17th century in the works of Sukra, Madhava and Para4ara, we find again the theory of divine right of kings coming to the forefront and the doctrine of the perpetual dependence of subjects on the king and of the
king's
immunity from harm advocated, which tended
to contradict the
earlier
concept of king as the servant
of the people.
From the
we can
well understand
which the kings were held during the creative period of literature beginning from the
light
really
the above brief review in
2nd or the 3rd century B. C.
to the 12th century
The
Ramayana and also the works of Kalidasa and
ideal of a
in the
king
A.D.
depicted in the
Mahabharata as
also in
other writers, reveals to us the integral relation of soliAlmost every darity between the king and the subjects.
drama ends with the prayer which is a sort of national anthem seeking the good of the king and the people. The concept of the king involved the principle that he would protect the people and be of such ideal character and
INTfiObUCTION
conduct that he
might be
prakrti, etyrnologically
was a term
liked
xcix
The term
all.
by
meaning the source or
origin,
to denote the subjects.
This implied that the drew his This is the king authority from the subjects. reason why the kings often excited as much admiration
and though many panegyric verses in literature may have as their aim the flattery of kings for personal gain, yet judging from the general relation
as the gods
between the king and his subjects it can hardly be doubted that in most cases there was a real and genuine feeling of sincere admiration
gives us the reason
and love
why
royal
This also
for the king.
were
characters
treated,
kavya side by aide with the characters of gods, for the king was god on earth not by his force or his power of tyranny but through love and admiration that was
in
of
The place King and
in
litera-
ture.
spontaneous about him on the part of the subjects. The cordial relation between subjects and royal patrons
explains the
origin of
so
many
pra fasti and
carita kdvyas,
we take a bird's-eye view of the Sanskrit literawe may classify them as Epic and Lyric kdvyas,
If
ture
the carita
kavyas (dealing with the lives of kings and
patrons of learning), the praastis or panegyrical verses, the different types of dramas, lyric kavyas, the century collections or satakas, the stotra literature or
hymns, the Campus verse,
the
kathd,
or
works written
literature,
the
nlti
adoration prose
and
literature,
the
in
didactic verses and stray verses such as are found in the
anthologies.
The
sources of the materials of
kavya as
held by Raja&khara, are Sruti, Smrti, Purana, Itih&sa, Pramanavidya, Samaya-vidya or the sectarian doctrines of the Saivas, Pancaratrins, etc., the
Natyaastra and and matiners, the of other poets.
the
Artha6astra,
K&matastra, the local
different sciences
the
customs
and the literature
Types
of
literature.
INTRODUCTION Apart from the reference to poems written by Paijini and to the dramas referred to in the Mahabhasya, probably the earliest remains of good drama are the dramas of Bhasa, which in some modified manner have recent ty ^ een discovered. and the early poetry.
In the 1st century B.C.
we
have the works of Kalidasa and in the 1st century A.D.
we have the Buddha-carita,
the Saundarananda,
the
3ariputraprakarana and an allegorical drama written by A6vaghoa, the Buddhist philosopher. This was the
time of the Sungas, the Kanvas and the Andhra dynasties. Pusyamitra had slain his master Brhadratha
Mauryya and had assumed sovereignty
of the
Mauryya
dominions of'Upper India and of South India up to the Nerbudda and had repulsed Minander, king of Kabul and the invader was obliged to retire to his own
His son Agnimitra had conquered Berar and Pusyamitra performed the Asvamedha sacrifice and
country.
The Mdlavikagnimitra
revived Hinduism. gives a
glowing account of
performed describe last
by
him
Pusyamitra.
of Kalidasa
the
Rajasuya The Buddhist
sacrifice
writers
The
as having persecuted the Buddhists.
Bunga king Devabhuti
lost
his
life
and throne
through the contrivances of his Brahmin minister, Vasudeva. He founded the Kanva dynasty, which was suppressed in 28 B.C. and the last man, was slain by the Andhras,
Kanva
who
king, Su^ar-
had
already
established themselves by the middle of the 3rd century
The Andhra kings all claimed to belong to the Satavahana family. The name of Hala the 17th king has come down to us because of B.C. on the banks
of the
Krsna.
his Saptaati of Prakrt erotic verses of great excellence. It
seems that
at this
was the language to
ascertain
the
time Prakrt rather than
of poetry in the South.
dates
of
Sanskrit
It is difficult
Hala's Saptatati (which
have, however, in reality 430 stanzas
common
to
all
INTRODUCTION
Cl
be an interpolation). Judging from the nature of the Prakrt, one may think that the recensions, the rest
may
work was probably written about 200 A.D. though difficult to
be certain of
we have some
its
date.
it is
In the meanwhile, prose in
B.C. andibe
of the specimens of the earliest
literature
Kudradamana in Girnar (A.D. 150). Bombay we get foreign rulers like the
the inscriptions of
In the region of
Kaharatas who were probably subordinate to the IndoParthian kings in the 1st century A.D. The next chief
The Ksaharatas, however, were
was Nahapana. by
extirpated
Andhra
the
Gautamiputra-Satakarni,
His son, Va&sthiputra Sripulumayi, had married the daughter of Rudradarnana I, the Saka Satrap king.
of Ujjayini, but
much
law was conquered have just
seen,
of
the territory of the the
by
Sanskrit
son-in-
As we
father-in-law.
was the court language
of
Eudradamana and Yajfiafri, the son of Vasisthiputra Sripulumayi, who was a great king of military exploits (173-202 A.D.). The fall of the Andhra kings coincides approximately with
the death
Vasudeva, the last great Kusan king of North Ipdia and with the rise of the Sassanian dynasty of Persia (A.D. 226).
But the
history
rather very
of the 3rd
obscure.
of
century after
The only important the Andhras
of
is
Christ
is
tradition
the legend
literary growth during about king Satavahana or Salivahana, in whose court Gunadhya and Sarvavarmacarya are supposed to have lived.
Gunadhya was born
on the banks is
the capital
much doubt
at
of the Godavarl.
of
the
Pratithana
in the
Deccan
This city of Prati^hana
Andhrabhrtyas, though there
about the location of the city.
is
But there
on the banks of the Gauges as menBana refers to Satavahana tioned in the Harivamta. is
a
Pratisthana
made
immortal repertory of beautiful passages and this seems to indicate that there was great
as having
the
Political
conditions in the lat tnd 2nd centuries
tbe time.
of
INTRODUCTION
cii
cultivation of Sanskrit poetry even before Satavahana. 1 8srvavaim&.
According to the legend, Satavahana's adopted father wftg Dip a jk arjjj an(j this indicates that he may have belonged
to
the
Sapta$ati also
race of
the
that
proves
conclusively
The Hala
Satakarnis.
abundant
there
was an
in the
literary production Praki\lauguage and we have also strong reasons to believe that there must have been many dramas in Prakrt. But we do
know anything more about Hala may have flourished. But
not be
believed,
two
the
time.
That
when
if the legend is to works, the K&tantra of
great
Sarvavarma and the Brhatkatha written at this
the exact time
of
stories
Gunacjhya were used by Gunadhya
were floating about among the populace, is well evident from Kalidasa's statement udayana-katha-kovida-grama-
vrddhan in the Meghaduta and the utilisation of those We know that in all probability, stories by Bbasa. Kalidasa had flourished at the time of the- later
Surigas
and Patanjali the grammarian was probably engaged We as a priest in the Horse Sacrifice of Puijyamitra. that the Saka kings like Rudradamana had the Sanskrit language and Vainava religion. taken to also know from the inscriptions in the Besnagar
also
know
We
Column
that
the
Greek ambassador Heliodorus
the
Bhagavata religion. It is th^Minander the Greek king had become accepted
'Mitbradates
I,
the
Persian
had extended his dominions up explains
why
the chiefs
assumed Persian
king
titles in early
also probable a Buddhist.
(170-136 B.C.),
to the
Taxila
of
had
Indus and this
and Mathura had
times and
we have
the
remains of Persian culture in the excavations of Taxila.
\
ratnairiva 8ubha$itafy
tt
cm
INTRODUCTION It
is
a
that
possible
Thomas had come
the
to
court
under
Mission
Christian
the
of
St.
Indo-Parthian
king Gondophares at the beginning of the Christian era, but the Mission seems to have left no impression. not be out of place here to mention that neither Alexander's conquest nor the association with Bactrian
It
may
kings,
seems
have
to
on the Indian mind.
left
Military occupations of the
Greeks If ft but little influence on Indian culture and literature.
any permanent impression
The Punjab
or a
considerable
with some of the adjoining regions remained more or "less under Greek rule for more than two centuries of
part
it
(190 B.C. to
iiO
A.D.),
but except the
coins bearing
Greek legends on the obverse, hardly any Hellenisation
be discovered.
can
not a single Greek
inscription
It is surprising that
available.
is
no evidence of Greek architecture. sculptures of Gandhara,
the
of
effect
There
is
The well-known around Peshawar,
region
are much later indeed and are the offsprings of cosmoThe invasions of Alexpolitan Graeco-Roman art.
ander, Antiochus the Great, Demetrios, Eukratides and
Minander were but military incursions which left no The appreciable mark upon the institutions of India. people of
India
rejected
Greek
political
institutions
and architecture as well as language.
During the 2nd and the 3rd century, Saivism had established
itself
very firmly
in
South.
The Siva
had long been in existence among the Dravidians and by the 3rd century A.D. it attained almost its
cult
finished character
in
Manikkavachakara in
Saiva and Vai^nava cults in the early centuries fo the Chris.
Man
era.
the noble and devout writings of
Malabar.
The
Vasudeva
cult
had already penetrated into the south and by the 3rd and the 4th century A.D. the earliest Alwar thinkers had started the Bhakti
literature.
In the meanwhile, the Yueh-chis being attacked by their foes, the Sakas, rushed forward
and after subjugating
Kabul, entered ioto India and conquered
the Punjab
A career of the Sakat.
INTRODUCTION
CIV
under Kadphises
His son Kadphises II not only
I.
Punjab but in a considerable part of the Gangetic plain in Benares (A.D. 45). But these parts were probably governed at this time established his
power
in the
In the meanwhile, the Yuehchis were being attacked by the Chinese. Kani?ka tried to repel the Chinese but his army was totally
by military Viceroys.
routed and he had to send
several embassies
to
China
The conquest of Kabul by the Yuehto pay tributes. chis opened the land route towards the West and Roman gold of the early Roman Emperors, such as Tiberius in
(A.D. for
payment
began to pour into India spices, gems and dye-stuff.
14-38) eilk,
Southern India at the same time was holding an active maritime trade with the Roman Empire and large quantities of
Roman
Now, poured into India. was succeeded by Kaniska (58 B.C.). gold
Kadphises II His dominions extended
all
over North-Western
India
A
temporary annexation of Mesopotamia by Trajan, the Roman Emperor, in 116 A.D. brought the Roman frontier within 600 miles
as
far
as the Vindhyas.
of
the
western
Kar\iska had the
city
of
limits
of
the
Yueh-chi
Empire.
Kashmir and attacked
also
conquered Pataliputra from where
he took away the
His own capital was A^vaghosa. Purugapur or Peshawar. Kaniska had also conquered Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. Thus the limits of Buddhist saint
Extension of Indian
Empire up Khotan and in the to
west to
Afghanistan
Indian Empire extended up to Khotan, a fact which explains the migration of Buddhist culture and
the
Indian there.
works which are being occasionally discovered The most important thing about him for our
converted to Baddbiara.
that
he
was converted
to
Buddhism, as Buddhism had in may be known his time developed into the Mahayana form of which Avaghoa was such an important representative and purposes
is
from his coins.
INTRODUCTION
Buddha began
the image of
CV
to be installed in different
parts of his Empire, taking a place with the older gods,
Siva or Visnu
such as of
Buddhism
developed.
described as the of
the
art,
soon
is
lost
style
of
Gandhara school which was
Graeco-Roman
cosmopolitan
which
of art,
and an elaborate mythology It is at this time in the 2nd
A.D. that we have the
century
much its
inferior to
literature
and the
Gandhara art.
sculpture a branch
This style the indigenous Indian art.
Kaniska
currency.
for the interpretation of
Else of the
Mahayana
called a council
Buddhist scriptures and
members of the Sarvastivada Kashmir and the Buddhist theological 500
about
met
school literature
in
under-
went a thorough examination and elaborations were made in huge commentaries on the Tripitaka. This included
the
Mahavibhasa which
Chinese translation taries
and
deposited
is said
it
were copied on sheets
of
still
that these
copper
in a stupa near Srlnagar.
exists
in
commen-
and these
From
its
were
the time of
Kaniska we have the golden age of the development of Buddhist Mahayana and Sarvastivada literature as also
Rise of the philosophical
the
codification
sutras.
The
of
most
first five
of
the Indian
philosophical
literature.
or six centuries of the Christian
era were also the age of great philosophical controversy between the Buddhists, the Hindus and the Jainas.
Asvaghosa himself had written the tfraddhotpada-sutra and the Mahayana-sutralahMra. It has been urged by Cowell that Kalidasa had borrowed from the Buddhacarita.
But
the position
be reversed.
may
this
point
is
The
very doubtful and similarity
of a
few
passages in the Kumarasambhava and the Raghuvarfifa does not prove any conscious indebtedness on any side, so far as A6vaghoa's Buddhacarita is concerned. A6va-
ghosa also wrote a book pf Buddhist legends called the Sutralahkara and also the Vajrasucl. More or less about this
time we had also the poet Matrceta and also the
Literature of the timei
INTRODQCTION
CV1
Buddhist poet Arya-gura who wrote in
imitation
tion in prose
of
His
ASvaghosa's Sutralankara.
and verse was
of the
kavya
style.
Some
2nd century A.D.
The Aokavadana was A.D.
curious to notice that these Avadanas which were
is
written in the
of
also written during the
actually translated into Chinese in the 3rd century It
dic-
Avadanas were
the important 1st or the
the JatakamalU
Sanskrit,
Brhatkathd
were seldom
more
or
less
at the
Gunadhya was written
of
time when in Pai&icl,
by the Sanskrit writers. Many of the Avadana legends are found in Ksemendra's work so utilised
far as the essential part of the tales is concerned.
the in
preponderatingly much greater treatments. The great Mahay an a
didactic element
the
Buddhist
But
is
writers Nagarjuna, Asanga,
Vasubandhu, Candragomin,
Santideva and others began to follow in close succession.
The Mahayana itself
literature
gradually began to model introduction of the
on the Puranas and the
Dharanis and other cults and personification of powers into
the Buddhist Tantras. sophical
rituals
as
well as the
deities led to the rise of
The Lahhavatara,
a semi-philo-
and semi-Tantrik work, was written probably later on the Yoga
sometime in the 4th century and
modified according to the psychology of the different people among the Tibetan, the Chinese and the
doctrine
Japanese assumed diverse forms. The stotra literature also formed the model of the Buddhist stotras and
through this the theatre of the mental operation extended not only from the Hindukush to Cape ComDrin but it extended also to Further India, Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, the Malay -Archipelago and many islands in the Indian and the Pacific Ocean and also to Central Asia, Turkistan, Turfan and other places. The reign of Kaniska terminated in or about 123 A.D. After
him Vasiska and Huviska succeeded and Huviska
INTRODUCTION
CV11
was succeeded by Vasudeva I. The name signifies that he was converted into Hinduism and his coins exhibit
Uncertain political
the figure of Siva attended by the bull, Nandi trident.
Coins are found during
A.D. where a royal
the
and the
conditions after
238-269
period
figure clad in the garb of Persia (an
imitation of the effigy of Shahpur
found, which indicates
the
I,
Sassanian)
Sassanian influence in
But we have no more
details of
muddled statements
in
is
India.
from any inscriptions of literary eminence. Probably numerous Rajas in India asserted their independence as may be inferred from the
it
Puranas,
such
as
the
Vahlikas
and
Abhlras, Gardabhilas, Sakas, Yavanas, the successors of the &ndhras. The imperial Pataliputra maintained
its
influence as late
city
as the
of
5th
century A.D. but we practically know nothing about the condition of the interior of India at this time.
The
local Raja near Pataliputra called Candragupta married a Licchavi princess named Kumaradevi about We do not hear much of the the year 308 A.D.
Licchavis in the intervening period of history reign
of this
by
Ajata&itru. alliance
since the
Candragupta was strengthened and he extended his dominion
along the Gangetic Valley as far as the junction of the Ganges and the Jamuna, about 320 A.D. Between 330
and 335 A.D. he was succeeded by
his
son
Samudra-
gupta who immediately after his succession plunged himself into war. The multitude of praSastis in the inscriptions have immortalised his reign in Indian history.
The is
a
elaborate composition of Harisena with historical
document
which
is
its
contents
remarkable
also
as a linguistic and literary landmark.
Samudragupta's Empire extended on the North and the East from Kamarflpa to Tamralipti including the modern site of Calcutta and extended westwards in a straight line across the Vindhyas to Guzerat and Sauratra later on acquired
Rise of th
G apt as.
INTRODUCTION
cViii
his
by
Cbenab
of in
river
the
ceremony
and
an
not
in
adept
He
performed an reputed to have been
Punjab.
Atvamedha
only
banks of the
the
to
up
.Nepal
north
on the
and
II
Candragupta
borders
the
to
son
is
music and
but
song
it
composed many metrical works He of great value and was called a King of Poets. allowed the Buddhist king Meghavarna of Ceylon to is
said that he had also
erect a
when Hiuen-Tsang
7th century
monks
hospitality
had
also
of
to
monks
received
he conquests chiefs but he
had removed
Sthavira
the
visited
which
establishment
magnificent
1000
In the
monastery and temple in Buddhagaya. it,
and afforded
from Ceylon.
Samudragupta
annexed
seldom
his capital to
his
Throughout
submission of
secured
was a
accommodated
school
Vasuvaridhu.
it
the
various
He
their territory.
Ayodhya from Pataliputra.
Thus when Hiuen-Tsang came
in
the
7th
century,
he found Patalipufcra in ruins but when Raja&khara mentions the glory of Pataliputra, he refers to Upavarsa, Varsa, Panini, Pingala, Vyadi, Vararuci and Patanjali as having been tested according to the 1
tradition in Pataliputra.
who bis
had assumed the conquests to
the
of
title
Vikramaditya, led Arabian Sea through Malwa,
Guzerat and Kathiuwad, centuries by the Saka
His successor Candragupta,
which had been ruled
We
dynasty.
know
that
for
the
capital of Castana and his successors was Ujjayim. Vidisa was also the important centre of Agnimitra. But Samudragupta and his successors had made their
capital in
Ayodhya.
It
will
therefore
make Kalidasa make him attached to
suppose that one should Ujjayini and yet
,
p. 55,
be
wrong
to
a resident of
the court of
INTRODUCTION
C1X
KaufiambI, which stood on the high road to UjjayinI and North India, had the Asoka pillar on which there is inscribed an inscription of SamudraII.
Candragupta
Vikramaditya
Candragupta II.
gupta and it has been argued that Kausamb! also formed his temporary place of residence. Candragupta II destroyed the Saka Satrapy by first dethroning and then executing Rudrasena. Though he was tolerant of Buddhism and Jainism he was an orthodox
Hindu and probably accounts (405-411
a
Vaisnava.
A.D.)
we
find
From Fa Hien's that
enjoying good government and abundant the time of Vikramaditya. Still
then
there
were monasteries
were
people
prosperity
in
at
Pataliputra
hundred monks resided, and Fa Hien spent three years there studying Sanskrit. At his time "charitable institutions, were numerous. Rest
whereabout
six to seven
were provided on the highways and the capital possessed an excellent free hospital endowed by benevolent and educated citizens hither houses for travellers
come
all
poor helpless patients suffering from
of infirmities.
They
doctor attends them.
are
well
taken
care
Food and medicine
all
of
are
kinds
and
a
supplied
according to their wants and thus they are made quite comfortable and when they are well they may go In describing the state of the country Fa away." Hien speaks of the lenience of the criminal law. He 1
"throughout the country no one kills any living thing, or drinks wine or eats onions or
further
says
garlic.
They do not keep
:
there
pigs or fowls,
dealings in cattle, no butchers' shops or
the market places.
Only the
fishermen lived a different of revenue
Smith
way
was rent on crown
candalas, of life. lands.'
'
Early History of India, pp. 296-296.
2-2-
are
distilleries
hunters
no in
and
The only source Fa Hien never
Fa Hien 'B evidence
regarding the condition of the country.
CX
INTRODUCTION
speaks of brigands or thieves. gupta,
Kumaragupta will be wrong
At the death
of
I ascended the throne in
Candra-
413 A.D.
suppose that Saivism spread from the South to the North for even Kadphises II, the Kusana conqueror, was an worshipper of Siva and put It
the
on his coins and during the whole"
of Siva
image
to
when Buddhism acquired ascendency in India, The worship of Hindu gods had continued unabated.
period Literature of the time.
.
only
Buddhist
distinctly
coins
were
those
that
were struck by Kaniska but the next king Vasudeva had been a Hindu, cis has already been mentioned, and the Saka Satraps were also Hindus. The Pali language of the Buddhists were reserved only for
gious works.
and
after
No kavya
A3oka
it
or
Buddhist
drama were written
reli-
in Pali
was seldom used as the language
inscriptions and even the language of Asoka's
Though we
tions was not Pali.
are
of
inscrip-
unable to
place
Kalidasa in the Gupta period there was undoubtedly a great enlightenment of culture during the Gupta period
which went on have
till
the llth or the 12th
not only at this
century.
We
time Vatsabhatti and Harisena
The panegyrics of both but a galaxy of other writers. Harisena and Vatsabhatti illustrate the highest style that Sanskrit had
attained
at
this period.
Bharavi also
probably lived in the 5th century and Bhat^i also in all probability lived somewhere during the 5th or the 6th has been suggested that Sudraka may also have lived at this time, but we really know very little
century.
It
Aryabhata,{the celebrated astronomer, also probably lived towards the end of the 5th or the The laws of Manu as we middle of the 6th century.
about Sudraka.
find
it
and
this age.
also
of
Yajnavalkya probably belong to But as regards the poets, it will be- rash to
say that they were invariably attached to courts of They probably lived well to be able, to turn to kings.
INTRODUCTION
CXI
their vocation of writing poetry, but
that they had always
some
it
patrons
may be supposed among the rich
people.
Art and architecture, both Buddhist and Brahminical, flourished during the 5th and the 6th century and though by the ravages of Moslem army almost
Hindu building was pulled to pieces and all large edifices of the Gupta age had been destroyed, yet recent every
researches have discovered for us
few specimens of
a
architectural compositions of a considerable skill in out of the
way
a degree of
recently
The
places.
recognised.
frescoes of Ajanta
value
Painting as
of
which
is
exemplified
and the cognate works
being
by the
Sigiria in
of
examples of Indian Colonisation of the Malayan ATchipelago, Java
Ceylon (479-97) are so art.
attained
allied art of sculpture
perfection, the
many
best
and Sumatra had begun probably
the
at least in
centuries of the Christian era and- Indian
early
civilisation,
particularly Brahminic, had already been established in the Archipelago by 401 A. D. By the middle of the
7th
century,
according
to
the
of
report
I-Tsing, the island
Buddhism was of Sumatra and it grew side by side with the Hindu The study of Sanskrit was so much current culture. there that I-Tsing spent about 6 months in order to The earliest acquaint himself with Sanskrit grammar. in a flourishing condition in
Sanskrit inscriptions, however, are found in Borneo and during the 4th century A.D. Borneo was being ruled by Hindu kings, such as A^vavarman, Mulavar-
man, etc. Already in the 5th century we hear of Purnavarman in Western Java and the worship of Visnu and Siva was prevalent in those parts. Mahayana forms of Buddhism also flourished in the country in the 8th
and 9th centuries.
In
India
we
find
the
Vaisnava and the Saiva worship flourish side by side
Gupta lisation
civi-
and
colonisation
by Indians during the cenearly of turies the Chrisera. tian
INTRODUCTION
cxn
But the golden age of the Guptas Skandacentury and a quarter (330-455).
with Buddhism. lasted for^t
gupta came to the throne in 455 A.D. He successfully resisted thePusyamitras from the South and drove away the
Huns.
But
in the second invasion of the
Huns he
was defeated, as we know from an inscription dated 458 A.D. He appointed Parnadatta Viceroy of the -
West who gave Junagad
Girnar to
or
Huns began
about 465 and also in 470 the
Skandagupta probably Contact with China
daring the later
died
in
son.
At
pour
in.
With
his
his to
480 A.D.
death the Empire vanished but the dynasty remained. After his death Puragupta succeeded who reigned from
485
to
The importance
Magadha, howNalanda survived the down-
535 A.D.
Guptas.
ever,
of
and the University of We have the account of a
fall of the Guptas.
Chinese
Mission sent to Magadha in 539 A.D. for the collection of original
Mahayana
texts
and
for obtaining services of
capable of translating them into Chinese. During the reign of Jlvitagupta I, Paramartha was sent
scholars
to
China with a large collection of manuscripts. He for 23 years in China and died at the age of 70
worked
in 569.
During
his reign
Bodhidharma
China (502-549). In the Western province
of
Malwa we
also
went
to
find record of
other kings such as Buddhagupta and Bhanugupta. Towards the close of the 5th century Bbatarka ValabbI and Anhilwara
established himself at Valabhi
the centres of learning from the 5th to the cen15th
The
tury.
was taken by Anhilwara, which retained
in
Kathiawad
in
770.
great Buddhist scholars, Gunamati and Sthiramati resided in Valabhi and Valabhi became a great centre
of learning.
till
After the overthrow of Valabhi its
its
place
importance
the 15th century.
The Huns, however, overthrew the Gupta Empire and became rulers of Malwa and Central India. But Mihirakula was defeated by a confederacy of
kings
INTRODUCTION headed by Central
CX111
Baladitya and
Yafodharman, a Raja of Mihirakula fled to Kashmir. The
India.
Kashmirian king allowed him the charge
a
of
small
Mihirakula then rebelled against his beneterritory. factor and killed his whole family. But this Hun leader had of
become a devotee
With
of Siva.
death
the
Mihirakula India enjoyed immunity from
The Huns supplanting the Guptas. Mibirakula becomes a Saiva.
foreign
attacks for a long time.
We
must now come
was a great patron
some account
of
Harsa (606-647). Harsa learning and Bana has given
of
him
to
in
his
Empire was almost equivalent Harsa was himself a great
Harsacarita.
to that of
Samudragupta.
He
poet.
Harsa' s
wrote three
dramas, the Ratnavatt, the Priyadar&ka and the Nag ananda. Candra, probably Candragomin, the great grammarian, wrote a Buddhist drama called Lokananda describing the story as to
away
his wife
He
sity.
Kaika
and children
dramatised the
A
Manicuda gave a Brahmin out of generoa certain
A.D.
contemporary of
as he is cited in the his,
identical,
controversy.
are quoted
in
the
Candradasa, had
Whether Candra
Vessantara legend.
and Candragomin are
poems
to
before 650
lived
Vrtti.
indecisive
how
may
be
But Candra
matter of
a
Candraka's
or
and
Subhasitavali
he
was
admired by the rhetoricians. Almost a contemporary son of of Harsa was Mahendravikramavarman, the also
Pallava
king was himself a
Simhavikramavarman, king
who
ruled
in
and
Kafici.
he
He
prahasana (Mattavilasa) showing the same Bhasa. of that as Bana, we know^ technique not only wrote the Harsacarita and the Kddambari, Mukuta-taditaka but the Candl-tataka, the also wrote
a
It is drama) and Pdrvatlpqrinaya (a rupaka). doubtful whether he or Vamana Bhatta Bana was the
(a
author of the Sarvacariia-nataka,
The
grecit
dramatist
Develop-
ment
of
literature
from the 7th
10th tury,
to
the cen-
INTRODUCTION
CX1V
Bhavabhuti plays,
700 A.D.
also flourished about
the M&latimadhava, the
His three and the
Uttaracarita
Viracarita are masterpieces of Sanskrit drama.
Though
the exact date of Subandhu, author of the Vasavadatta,
cannot be determined yet as both Bana and Vamana of the 8th century refer to him, he must have flourished in the 6th or
the
7th
flourished in the 6th
was
Bhatti
century. or
also
probably
Bhamaha
7th century.
the
The Natyatastra had been
slightly junior to him.
2nd century A.D. The poet Medhavin and the Buddhist logician Dharmaklrti, who written probably in the
was
also a poet, flourished probably in the 6th
and Dandin, author
Karyadara and
of the
century
the Da^a-
kwnaracarita probably also flourished in the 6th century. Dinnaga, the Buddhist logician, bad flourished in the 5th century during which time Vatsayana also
wrote
Bhasya on the Nyayasutra. The Sanikhya-karika Isvarakrsna was probably written by the 3rd century
his of
A.D. and the Nyayasutras were probably composed near about that time and the Vedanta-sutras of Badarayana were probably composed by the 2nd century A.D. and we have already mentioned Vasuvandhu, author of the Abhidharmakosa
works, a senior
who
lived
a
in
flourished
was
Dhvanyaloka of
in
contemporary
probably half
and
9th
the
4th
We
written
century.
in
was
Udbhata
Samudragupta. the 8th century
probably
have
and
century
of
and the
the latter
was not only written a Kumara-
Udbhata
but he had also
rhetorician
sambhava.
many important Buddhist
the
already
said
that
Vamana Vamana
8th century, but as quotes from Magha, Magha must have lived probably in the middle of the 7th century. The Katika lived
probably
in the
commentary was written about 660 A.D. and the Ny&sa was probably written between 700 and 750 A,D
f
iNtRODtCTlON Rudrata
also flourished before
who wrote about
3
900 and Abhinavagupta
Locana on the Dhvanyaloka probably
his
50 years
in
after, flourished
and RajaSekhara probably 10th century.
the
CXV
the
1
1th
century
lived in the first quarter of
Vigakhadatta,
the
author of the
probably lived in the 9th century. Bhattanarayana, the author of the Benisamhara, is
Mudraraksasa,
and must,
quoted by Vamana, before
800 A.D.
If
therefore,
have Jived
he were one of the Brahmins
who
were brought to Bengal from Kanauj by king AdiSura, he may have lived in the 7th century A.D. Kumaradasa, the author
the Janakiharana, was probably a
of
king of Ceylon and probably lived in the beginning of the 6th century. Mentha lived probably in the latter part of the 6th century and king Pravarasena, the author of the Setuvandha, must have lived during the same time. The Kashmirian author Bhumaka who Ravanarjuriiya in 27 cantos, probably also lived at this time. Towards the close of the 9th century
wrote
his
we have
the Kapphanabhyudaya based on the tale of the AvadanaSataka by SivasvamI, one of the few exceptions
where the Avadana
literature
some other poets
there are
Gunadhya
or
has been
Bhattara Haricandra or
like
whose works
Adhyaraja
But
utilised.
are
not ;now
available.
After Harsa, the
we have
a
number
of
Empire was
practically broken
kingdoms in various parts
and
of the
China was trying to assert suzerainty in the northern frontier and when its power vanished in the
country.
first
half of the 6th century, the
Huns were extending up
to
domains
of the
White
Gandhara and between 563
and 567 this country was held by the Turks. In 630 the Northern Turks were completely vanquished by the Chinese
who extended
their
domains to Turfan and
Kucha, thus securing the northern road communication
Political
and
literary
contact with the neigh-
bouring countrUi.
iNTRODtCtlOfo
from East 630)
who
West.
the Tibetan king (A.U>. had become a Buddhist, was friendly to India. to
In 659 China rose
Gampo,
power and was in The Turks possession of this country upto Kapi6a. were finally routed by the Chinese in A.D. 744 and to the height of its
between 665 and 715, the northern route from China to India between the Xaxartes and the Indus was closed
and the southern route through Kashgar was closed by Tibetans and the road over the Hindukush was
the
by the Arabs with the rise of Islam. But again by 719 the Chinese regained influence on the border of
closed
Buddhism developed in Tibet as against the The Indian sages, Santaraindigenous Bon religion.
India.
and
Padmasarmbhava, were invited to Tibet. Contact between politics of India and that of China k$ita
had ceased in the 8th century owing to the growth of In the 7th century, the Tantrik the. Tibetan power. .
form of the Mahay an a, so closely allied to the Tantrik worship in India, had established itself in Nepal.
Nepal was conqured by the Gurkhas of the Hindu faith and there has been a gradual disintegration of Buddhism
Kashmir was being ruled by Hindu in the 8th century we had Candrapi XLV,
1891, p. 308.
quotes
Another quotation
8
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
themselves the licence of ungrammatical forms, 1 and further gives, " " as another example, a stanza of the same poet in which the
un-Paninian form apatyatl occurs. 2
now
to Panini, are
but their
titles
imply that they apparentand winning
dealt with Krsna's descent into the lower world
ly
of
lost,
Both these Kavyas, ascribed
Jambavati as his bride.
separate and brief references,
if
from these
not clear, however,
It is
they are two different
The
one work with two different names.
works or Panini's
of
tradition
poetical achievement is also recorded in an anonymous stanza 8 while seventeen given in the Sadukti-karnamrta (1206 A.D.), verses, other than those
mentioned above,
name
in the Anthologies under the
are
also
found 4
of a poet
PSnini,
of
cited
which
the Kavindra-
the earliest citation appears to be a verse given in 5
vacana-samuccaya (about 1000 A.D.). Most of these verses are in the fanciful vein and ornate diction, and some are distinctly Ed. NSP, ad 2 fl mahdkavindm apy apasabda-pdta-darsandt, Nami-sadhu also quotes same context similar solecisms from the poems of Bhartrhari, Kalid&sa and Bhai wi. 2 gate'rdha-rdtre parimanda-mandam garjanti yat prdvjsi kdla*meglidh apafyati vatsam ivendu-bimbam tac charvari gaur iva hutpkaroti 1
:
in the
\
j|
3
which extols Bhavabhuti along
5.26.5,
with
Subandhu,
Kaghukara
(KalidSsa),
Dftks^putra (Panini), Haricandra, Sura and Bbaravi.
The Anthology
*
XIV,
p. 581f
;
XXVII,
verses
p. 46f
;
are
collected
XXXVI,
p. 365f
son, introd. to Subhasitdvali t pp. 54-58 and
Thomas, Kavmdravacana* quotations by
below
:
,
p. 308f.
They
1891, pp. 311-19, and
JRAS,
Aufrecht in
ZDMG,
are also given by Peter-
more
fully
ZDMQ, XXVIII,
by F.
W.
p. 113, for
The following abbreviations will be used for the Anthologies cited F. W. Thomas, Bibl. Ind., Calcutta, 1912;
Bayamuku$a.
#t?s=Kavfndra-vacana-samuccaya, ed
deva, ed. P. Peterson,
Baroda, 1939
PdrPadyavalT, 6
XLV,
;
introd., pp. 51-53. Also see
SP=Sarngadhara-paddbati,
Series,
together and translated by Aufrecht in
No. 186,
;
ed. P. Peterson,
Bombay, 1888;
567ifl
= 8ubhasitavali
of Vallabha-
Bombay, 1886; Leipzig,
and
tion
29
AND CHARACTERISTICS
OtllGINS
lose thereby their element of surprise
The
and charm. 1
question of imitation, borrowing or plagiarism of words or ideas
assumes importance in this connexion
test
of
sometimes a criticism
of
;
for it involves
the power of clever reproduction,
or
some weakness
consciously
in
the
passages
a
appropriated but
improved in the course of appropriation.
The
rigidity,
rhetoric acquire,
is
which
these commonplaces of conventional the result, as well as the cause, of the time-
honoured tendency of exalting authority and discouraging originality, which is a remarkable characteristic of Indian culture in general and of
its literature in
particular,
and which carries the
It is in agreement with suppression of individuality too far. this attitude that Sanskrit Poetics neglects a most vital aspect of its task,
namely,
tfce
study of poetry as the individualised expresconfines itself more or less to a
sion of the poet's mind, and
normative doctrine of technique, to the formulation of laws, modes and models, to the collection and definition of facts and categories and to the teaching of the
This
means
not only hinders the growth of Sanskrit Poetics
limitation
into a proper study of Aesthetic,
2
but
also stands
it
of a proper appreciation and development
The theory almost entirely ignores the work
which gives
of art,
it
its
Sanskrit Poetics
character.
of poetic expression.
in
Sanskrit
of
poetic
the
way
literature.
personality
in
a
particular shape and individual
cannot explain satisfactorily,
for
JAOS, XXXVI, 1917, p. 51-89; XL, 1920, pp. 1-24; XLIV, 1924, pp. 202-42), W.Norman Brown (JAOS, XLVII, 1927, pp. 3-24), Penzer (in his ed. of Tawney's trs. of
1914, pp. 349-61;
Katha-sarit-safjara,
'Ocean of Story ') and others have studied in detail some of these motifs literature. Also see Bloomfield in Amer. Journ. of Philology, XL, pp.
recurring in Sanskrit 1-86
XLI,
;
pp. 309-86
XLIV,
;
pp. 97-133, 193-229
XL, pp. 423-30 XLTI, pp.122-51 pp. 89-104, 211-24 (Ruth Norton) ;
1
The f.
2
Vol.
See
;
S.
XI
f
;
;
XLVII,
.
No.
W. N. Brown
inandavardhana, Dhvanyaloka, III. 12
K. De, Sanskrit Poetics,
2, pp. 80-124.
;
in ibid.,
;
Ksemendra, Kavikanthabharana,
II, 1
;
f. Raja&khara Hemacandra, Katyanu6asana ;
II, pp. 362, 373.
See S. K, De, Sanskrit Poetics as a Study of
1,
pp. 205-233
XLIII, pp 289-317 Studien in Honour of M. Bloomfield, B. H. Burlingaine in JRAS, 1917, pp. 429-67, etc.
question ia discussed by
Kavya-mimattisa, pp. 8
;
Aesthetic in Dacca
University Studies,
30
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LltEfcATUtlE
instance, the simple question as to
why
the work of one
poet
is
not the same in character as that of another, or why two works of the same poet are not the same. To the Sanskrit theorist a is
composition
ments of
a
work
if
it
the
fulfils
of 'qualities,' of 'ornaments,' of
words
to suggest a sense
whether the work
main
of art
difference
prescribed
particular
or a sentiment
;
it
require-
arrangements immaterial
is
Raghu~vam,$a or Naisadha. The probably see between these two
in question is
which he
will
works will probably consist of the formal employment of this or
mode
that
of diction, or in
this or that
meaning
their
respective
of the words.
The
skill
theorists
of
suggesting never bother
imagination, which gives each a distinct and unique shape by a fusion of impressions into an No doubt, they solemnly organic, and not a mechanic, whole.
themselves about the poetic
affirm the necessity of Pratibha
or
their theories the Pratibha does essential role
;
and
poetic imagination, but in not assume any important or
in practical application
speak of making a poet into a poet.
work
But
they it
of art is the expression of individuality,
is
go further and forgotten
that a
and that individua-
nor conforms to a prescribed mould. It what that us in to is a the is hardly recognised appeals poem itself in the warmth, reveals which movement poetic personality lity
never repeats
itself
No doubt, the poet and integrity of imagination and expression. can astonish us with his wealth of facts and nobility of thought, or with his cleverness in the manipulation of the language, but what we ask
What we want
the expression of a poetic mind, in contact with which our minds may be this is not
moved.
and
all
If this is
of a poet.
wanting, we
call his
work
dull,
the learning, thought or moralising in the
is
cold
or
flat,
world cannot
The Sanskrit theorists justly save a work from being a failure. remark that culture and skill should assist poetic power or personality to reveal itself in its proper form, but what they fail to emphasise is that any amount of culture and skill cannot 'make' a poet, and that a powerful poetic personality must justify a work of art
by
itself.
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
The
31
poetry is made to conform to certain fixed external standard attainable by culture and practice result is that Sanskrit
;
and the poetic personality or imagination, cramped within presis hardly allowed the fullest scope or freedom to
cribed limits,
new forms
create
of
Although the rhetoricians put
beauty.
forward a theory of idealised enjoyment as the highest object of poetry, yet the padagogic and moralistic objects are enumerated in unbroken tradition. In conformity with the learned and
which
scholastic atmosphere in
it
flourishes, poetry is valued
for
the knowledge it brings or the lessons it inculcates, and is regarded as a kind of semi-3astra; while the technical analysis and authority of the rhetorician tend to eliminate the personality of the poet by mechanising poetry. The exaltation of formal skill
and adherence
recognise
sufficiently
are as
to the
such,
the
they are not of dead abstractions, Sanskrit
considerations, and accepts
But
expression. is
hardly an
own weapons It
but
for
imagination,
a
not
mobile,
but
do
formal rhetoric
a
poetic
fixed
living particulars.
of
words and ornaments,
that
from
inseparable
collection
banalities
not
as symbols,
and
that,
an embalmed
an ever elusive series of
literature
is
alive
little
normative formulation
to of
these poetic
the real poet, as for the real speaker, there of
armoury
to fight his
ready-made weapons
own
;
he forges
his
particular battles.
must indeed be admitted that the influence
of the theorists
on the latter-day poets was not an unmixed good. While the poetry gained in niceties and subtleties of expression, it lost a great deal of is
too
often
its
flawed
of imperfection
that
the
poet
by
makes is
freshness and spontaneity. It the very absence of flaws, and its want
unconscious
still
it
coldly
a sure
perfect.
One can never deny
and impeccable master of his
craft,
The pictorial effect, the but he seldom moves or transports. musical cadence and the wonderful spell of language are undoubted, but the poetry is more exquisite than passionate, more studied and elegant than limpid and forceful. about the artificiality and tediousness
We of
have heard so Sanskrit
much
classical
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
32
not necessary to emphasise the point but the point which has not been sufficiently emphasised is that the Sanskrit poets often succeed in getting out of their very narrow poetry that
is
it
;
and conventional material such beautiful is almost afraid to lay its cold dry finger
effects that criticism
on these
blossoms
fine
not be forgotten that this literature is not the spontaneous product of an uncritical and ingenuous age, It prebut that it is composed for a highly cultured audience. of
It
fancy.
should
supposes a psychology and a rhetoric to
a
system,
set of conceits
over
again
which have been reduced
and which possesses a peculiar phraseology and a of their own. We, therefore, meet over and
with the same tricks of expression, the same strings
nouns and adjectives, the same set of situations, the same groups of conceits and the same system of emotional analysis.
of
In
the
lesser
poets
the sentiment and expression are no longer
fresh and varied but degenerate
But the
poets
greater
into
conventions.
artistic
rigid
very often work up even these romantic
commonplaces and agreeable formulas into new shapes of beauty. Even in the artificial bloom and perfection there is almost always a strain
seem,
of
and ineffable tone of poetry.
the real that
therefore,
if
we
leave
would
It
the mere accidents of
aside
It poetry, there is no inherent lack of grasp upon its realities. are the diction the themes and is admitted that narrow, imagery
and the ideas move in a
are conventional,
true poetic spirit
mute the
is
rhetorical
not always wanting, and
fixed it is
groove able
and psychological banalities into
;
but the
to
trans-
fine things
of art.
The Sanskrit of
poet, for instance, seldom loses an opportunity
making a wonderful use
their inherent melody, of
of
the
sheer
which Sanskrit
beauty of is
so
words and
capable.
The
production of fine sound-effects by a delicate adjustment of word and sense is an art which is practised almost to prefection. It
cannot be denied that some poets are industrious pedants in their strict conformity to rules and perpetrate real atrocities by of subtlety and taste in matching the sense to lack their
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS the sound
but,
;
generally
appreciative remarks of
India have
poets of
which
a
one must agree with the
speaking,
Western
a
to
literatures of other countries afford
source
that
critic
sensitiveness
delicate combinations are a
33
of
" the
classical
variations of sound, to
few
parallels,
never-failing
and
joy".
theii
The
extraordinary flexibility of the language and complete mastery over it make this possible ; and the theory which classifies
Sanskrit careful
One is
diction
the
basis
about them
rules
of the
on
means
not
is
elaborately
of
sound-effects
altogether
employed
the use of alliteration and assonance
verbal devices, no doubt, become less repetition,
but
in
skilled
and prescribes
futile or pedantic.
achieving this end of various kinds. Such for
or
fatiguing in meaninghands they produce remarkable flat
which are perhaps not attainable to the same extent in any other language. Similar remarks apply to the fondness the uncommon for paronomasia or double meaning, which
effects
resources
Sanskrit
of
punning lends
itself 1
permit. chiefly
to
In languages like English, comic effects and witticisms or,
an occasional flash of dramatic feeling; but in classical languages it is capable of serious employment as a as in Shakespeare
fine artistic device.
!
to
2
It is true
that
it
demands an
intellectual
disproportionate to the aesthetic pleasure, and becomes tiresome and ineffective in the incredible and incessant torturing
strain
of the language found in
lengthy
triumphs of misplaced
Subandhu and Kaviraja
those of
ingenuity as
such
;
but sparingly
and judiciously used, the puns are often delightful in their terse The adequacy of the brevity and twofold appropriateness. verbal melody are also language and its wonderful capacity for
by the Sanskrit poet in a large number of lyrical measures great complexity, which are employed with remarkable skill
utilised
of
and^ense
of
in creating an unparalleled series of musical
rhythm
word-pictures. i
1
Merchant C/.
of Venice,
Darin's dictum
0-1348B
IV. :
1,
123
;
Julius Caeser, I. 2, 156 (Globe Ed.),
ttesali pttsnati
sarv&su prayo vakrokii*u triyam.
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
34
The elegance and picturesqueness often enhanced for
capacity
and
developed
by the which to
compounds,
long
fullest
especially
in
again,
construction of vast sentences
of
The
extent.
predilection
ornate prose,
and
absurd excesses,
to
carried
is
are,
long compounds, the inherent in the genius of Sanskrit
rolling majesty
the
diction
of
is
is
indeed often
criticised
justly
for
for
the
extending over several pages and
heaping epithet upon epithet in sesquipedalian but the misuse of this effective instrument of synthetic
for the trick of
grandeur
;
expression should not
make us
and production
compression
realise.
power of unified picture which it can a subtle combination of the
forget the extraordinary of
It
permits thought or a picture into a perfect whole, in which the parts coalesce by inner necessity and it has been " remarked that the impression thus created on the rightly
efficiently
different elements of a
;
mind cannot be reproduced in
which
it is
necessary
to
in an analytical speech
convey
single sentence syntactically
which
it
' f
tions
.
the
merged
expresses, but in a series
of
like
English,
same content, not
in a
into a whole, like the idea
connected predica-
loosely
Such well-knit compactness prevents the sentences from
febrile, and produces undoubted sonority, and magnificence of diction, for which Sanskrit is always dignity remarkable, and which cannot be fully appreciated by one who is accustomed to modern analytical languages.
being jerky, flaccid or
The inordinate length the
brilliant
of ornate prose
condensation of style
sentences
which
best
is
is set off
by
seen in the
gnomic and epigrammatic stanzas, expressive of maxims of sententious wisdom with elaborate terseness and flash of wit.
The compact neatness
of paronomasia, antithesis
figures often enhances the impressiveness of
and
their vivid precision
similes and metaphors. is
is
search for
off
by appropriate
metaphorical expression
almost a weakness with the
deliberately pedantic artifice, is
these pithy sayings;
not seldom rounded
The
and other verbal
Sanskrit poets ; but, unless it is a the force and beauty with which it
employed canpot be easily denied.
The
various
forjns
of
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
35
metaphors and similes are often a source of fine surprise by their power of happy phraseology and richness of poetical fancy.
The
drawn from
similarities,
a fairly wide
often
range,
display
observation, though some of them become familiar conventions in later poetry and comparison in some form or other becomes one of the most effective means of a real freshness
of
;
stimulating the
what
is
When
said.
imagination by suggesting more than
reader's
the similarity
is
and neat, but the poet seldom forgets
it is
purely verbal,
to
fit
his
witty
comparison to the
emotional content or situation. Closely
connected
with
this
is
teristic
power of miniature stanza, which is a charac-
compressed in a solitary of the Kavya and in which the
painting,
the
Sanskrit
poets excel to a
In the epic, the necessity of a continuous marvellous degree. recitation, which should flow evenly and should not demand too great a strain on the audience, makes the poet alive to the unity of effect to be produced by subordinating the consecutive stanzas to the narrative as a whole.
Kavya
different.
is
No
The method which
doubt,
early poets like
is
evolved in the
Agvagbosa and
Kalidasa do not entirely neglect effective narration, but the later Kavya attaches hardly any importance to the theme or story and
depends almost exclusively on the appeal of art in individual stanzas. The Kavya becomes a
finically
displayed
series of
miniature
poems or methodical verso-paragraphs, loosely strung on the Each clear-cut stanza is a separate thread of the narrative. unit in itself, both grammatically and in sense, and presents a perfect
little
picture.
Even though spread out over
Kavya really takes poem, but of single
cantos, the well knit
several
the form, not of a systematic stanzas,
and
standing
by themselves^ in which the poet delights to depict a single idea, a single phase finished form. satisfactory
necessary,
a
or
of emotion,
If this
in it
single
is
a
long best
situation
tradition,
in a complete
of the
composition, exemplified
in
and daintily
stanza-form
where unity the
is
of
not fully effect
verse-portion
is
of the
such as those of Bhartfhari and dramas^, as well as in the Satakas,
HISTORY
36
SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Ofr
which the Sanskrit poetry of love, resignation or reflection finds the most effective expression in its varying moods and phases. Such miniature painting, in which colours are in
Amaru,
a task of no small
involves the perfect expression, within very restricted limits, of a pregnant idea or an intense emotion with a few precise and elegant touches. is
words,
difficulty
All this will indicate that
;
for
it
Sanskrit poet
the
is
more
directly
concerned with the consummate elegance of his art than with any message or teaching which he is called upon to deliver. It is indeed not correct to say that the poet does not take any interest in the great problems of life and destiny, but this is seldom writ his
upon
large
comprehends
a
elegant symbols
and his work
is
work
of
art.
wider and
he
life,
drama
content
is
which
with the
of reality rather than strive for the reality itself
very
often nothing
of fancy, fostered in a world
the pervading sense of
There
is
of
more than a
tranquil
is
to be
;
delicate blossom
calm.
harmony and concord
tragedy nor great laughter literature.
the
in
Except
fuller
found in
Nothing ruffles and neither deep
;
fulness in Sanskrit
its
very seldom any trace of strife or discontent,
clash of contrary passions and
great
conflicts
;
nor
is
there any
outburst of rugged feelings, any great impetus for energy and action, any rich sense for the concrete facts and forces of life.
There
is
also
no perverse attitude which clothes impurity in the
garb of virtue, or poses a soul-weariness in the service of callous wantonness. Bitter earnestness, grim violence of darker passions, or savage cynicism never
mar
the even tenor and serenity of these
compositions which, with rare exceptions, smooth away It is not every scar and wrinkle which might have existed. that sorrow or suffering or sin is denied, but the belief in the
artistic
essential rationality of the
world
makes the poet
idealistic
in
and placidly content to accept the life around the while purely artistic attitude makes him transcend the
his outlook
him t
merely personal.
The Sanskrit poet
in his belief in the inexorable law of
is
undoubtedly
Karrnan and
pessimistic rebirth,
his ttnliroited pessimism with regard to this world is toned
but
down
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
37
by his unlimited optimism with regard to the next. It fosters in him a stoical resignation, an epicurean indifference and a mystic hope and faith, which paralyse personal energy, suppress the growth of external life and replace originality by submission. On the other hand, this is exactly the atmosphere
which
is
purely
artistic
conducive
to
idealised
accomplishment,
creation
and
which
in
of
serenity
Sanskrit poetry
excels.
This complacent attitude towards life falls in with the view of Sanskrit Poetics which distinguishes the actual world from
where the hard and harsh facts of life dissolve themselves into an imaginative system of pleasing fictions. the world of
It results in
poetry,
an impersonalised and ineffable aesthetic enjoyment,
from which every
trace of its
In other words, love or grief grief
component or material is obliterated. is no longer experienced as love or
in its disturbing poignancy, but as pure artistic
of blissful relish
evoked
by the
idealised
poetic
sentiment
To name
creation.
suggest this delectable condition of the mind, to which the of Rasa is given is regarded both by theory and practice to be the aim of a work of art to mirror life
;
and
it
by a direct portrayal
It is for this reason that
the
seldom thought
necessary
of fact, incident or
character.
is
delineation
of
sentiment becomes
and even disproportionately important in poetry, drama and romance and all the resources of poetic art and
important
;
Only a secondary or imagination are brought to bear upon it. even nominal interest is attached to the story, theme ; plot or character, the unfolding of which is often made to wait till the poet finishes his lavish sentimental descriptions outpourings of sentimental verse and prose.
its
or
his refined
This over-emphasis on impersonalised poetic sentiment and idealised enjoyment tends to encourage grace, polish and
fastidious
technical
finish,
in
which
fancy
has
the
hand of passion and ingenuity takes the place of feeling. perhaps in a poet like Bhavabhuti, we come across very rugged and forceful description, very
little
of
upper
Except little
naturalness
of
and
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE!
8
simplicity, hardly love for all that is
awe-inspiring, in
any genuine emotional directness, nor any deep and poignant, as well as grand and
Even
and nature.
life
Kalidasa's
description
Himalayas is more pleasing and picturesque than stately and sublime. The tendency is more towards the ornate and the
of the
refined than the grotesque
monious roundness achieving perfection
more towards
and the robust,
than
jagged of form than
more
angularity, the
realising
har-
towards
and
integrity
It is, therefore, not surprising primal sensations. no real lyric on a large scale in Sanskrit that its so-called dramas are mostly dramatic poems that its historical
sincerity of
that there
is
;
;
writings achieve poetical distinction but are fact; that
its
romances
prose
indifferent
sacrifice the
interest
and that
prose
to an exaggerated love of diction
;
its
mere
to of
in
theme general
feels the effect of poetry.
Nevertheless, the
Sanskrit
is
poet
home
at
quite
in
the
depiction of manly and heroic virtues and the
ordinary emotions of life, even if they are presented in a refined domesticated form. However self-satisfied he may appear, the poet has an undoubted grip over the essential facts of
life
;
and this
is
best
seen,
not
in
the studied and elaborate masterpieces of great poets, but in the detached lyrical stanzas, in the terse gnomic verses of wordly
wisdom, in the simple prose
tales
the ubiquitous delineation of
the
variety of
what it
is
moods and
fancies.
and
fables, and,
erotic
There
is
above in
feeling
its
indeed a great
conventional, and even artificial, in Sanskrit
is
more important
to note is that
exaltation of love for love's sake, the of a particular
woman,
it
amorous
cult,
a Beatrice or a Laura, but
emotion in
its
in
its
woman
of
of
;
of
the
woman of
as all
human
stimulating situa-
and defeat.
tions of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, triumph
they speak of the ideal woman, the real
deal
not usually
But in spite such, provided she is young and beautiful. of this great this, the poets display a perfect knowledge richness and variety and
infinite
moments.
often
consists
in
love-poetry
speaks of love not in its simplicities but in its subtle
What
all,
is
If
always before
39
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS their
The
commonplaces and
rhetorical
psychological refinements seldom obscure the reality of the sentiment ; and the eyes.
graceful
pictures of the turns and vagaries of love are often
little
remarkable for their fineness of
conception,
and delicacy of expression.
of
precision
The undoubted power
of
touch pathos
which the Sanskrit poet possesses very often invests these erotic passages with a deeper and more poignant note and the poetical ;
expression of recollective tenderness in the presence
of
suffering,
such as we find in Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti, is unsurpassable for its vividness of imagery and unmistakable tone of emotional
But here again the general tendency
earnestness.
pathetic scenes
in the theatrical sense,
tlie
and never lend their
entirely
;
but
be
want
this
an ineffective
to
but also
trivialities,
to
suggested rather than expressed, authority to the fatal practice of wordy
sentiment should
exaggeration
leave
nothing to The theorists are indeed emphatic
the imagination of the reader. that
and
elaborate
is to
to
of
balance
perhaps due not
is
love of parade and
futile
an extreme seriousness
of
adorning of
mind and
consequent want of
humour, which never allow the poet to attain the necessary sense of proportion and aloofness. There of wit in Sanskrit is enough and it is often literature, strikingly effective
humour and
;
but there
is
little
sense of the ridiculous.
of Its
the
saving grace of
attempts at both comic unsuccessful and, as
and pathetic effects are, therefore, often we have said, it very seldom achieves comedy in
;
its
higher forms
or trngedy in its deeper sense.
But the literature
natural
is
as well as the artificiality, of Sanskrit
seriousness,
very
scenery,
often
which
by a wonderful feeling for both intimate and real. In spite of
relieved is
a great deal of magnificently decorative convention in painting, there is very often the poet's freshness of observation, as well as
In the delineation the direct recreative or reproductive touch. of human emotion, aspects of nature are very often skilfully interwoven Sanskrit
;
and most
love-poetry
of the effective similes
are
and metaphors of
drawn from the surrounding familiar
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
40 scenes.
The
J&tu-sarfihara, attributed to Kalidasa, reviews the six
Indian seasons in detail, and explains elegantly, if not with deep feeiing f the meaning of the seasons for the lover. The same power nature as the background of human emotion in the Megha-diita, where the grief of the separated lovers of
is
utilizing
The
the midst of splendid natural scenery.
in
seen
is
set
summer
tropical
and the rains play an important part in the emotional
life
of
It is during the commencement of the monsoon people. that the traveller returns home after long absence, and the expect-
the
ant wives look at the clouds in eagerness, lifting up the ends of their curls in their hands; while the maiden, who in hot summer distributes
water
to
thirsty traveller at the wayside resting
the
places, the Prapa-palika as she is called, naturally evokes a large
number
of erotic verses,
logies.
Autumns
which are now scattered over the Antho-
also inspires beautiful
with
sketches
clear
its
white flying geese and meadows ripe with corn and spring finds a place with its smelling mango-blossoms, of humming bees. The groves southern breeze and swarm blue
sky,
flocks
of
;
and gardens of nature form the background not only to these little poems, and to the pretty little love-intrigues of the Sanskrit plays, but also to the larger
human drama
tage of Kanva, to the passionate madness
deep pathos of Rama's
hermi-
played in the of Pururavas,
to
the
hopeless grief for Sita in the forest of
Dandaka, and to the fascinating love of Krsna and Radha on the banks of the Yamuna. It would appear that even if the Kavya literature was magnificent in
partial
development was the conditions under which it grew,
accomplishment,
considerably hampered by and the environment in which merits, to
its
defects
are
equally
it
its
great.
It
is
magnify the defects and forget the merits
difficult to
realise
the entire
If
flourished.
mentality
;
has
it
easier,
and
it
great
however, is
often
of these poets in order
The marvellous limitations show that
to appreciate their efforts in their proper light.
results
even within very great was surely nothing wrong with the genius of the poets, attained
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
'41
but something was wrong in the literary atmosphere, which* cramped its progress and prevented the fullest enfranchisement of
the passion for
literature
The absence
and the imagination. comparison
the
for
and
Prakrit
later
of another allied
specimens are mainly derivative was also a serious drawback^ which would partially explain why its outlook is so limited and the principles of poetic art and practice so stereotyped. through ages, never stood in absolute isolation, and
and
assimilate
transmute
what
received
it
but
;
India, it
could
Sanskrit
had very few opportunities of a real contact with any As in the drama, so in the romance other great literature. literature
and other spheres, we cannot say that there
any reliable ground to suppose that it received any real impetus from Greek or other sources; and it is a pity that such an impetus never
came
to give It
it
new impulses and
is
from stagnation. be remembered that the term Kavya
should also
save
it
is
not
what is understood by the word poem or modern times. It is clearly distinguished from the epic/ to which Indian tradition applies the designation of as a term of comItihasa; but the nomenclature court-epic
co-extensive with
poetry in '
'
'
The underlying conception, general misleading. outlook, as well as the principles which moulded the Kavya are, is
promise as
we have
seen,
somewhat
and peculiar.
different
Generally
implications and reticences, is Kavya, with in the sense in which these untutored and never simple terms can be applied to modern poetry; while sentimental
speaking,
the
its
accompanied by perfection of form, subtlety of expression and ingenious embellishment, is regarded,
and romantic
content,
more or
as
less,
dominated by is not meant satisfaction
by
its
of
essential.
a self-conscious for
idea
causal
interest.
of
The
super-normal or super-individual rules out
purely artistic emotion.
6-184SB
art
is
wholly
and method;
enjoyment,
undisciplined
by poetic theory, which sises
The Sanskrit Kavya
rationale
nor is
for
it
the
furnished
character,
recognised and passion personal empha-
This
is
also obvious
from the
l
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
2
fact that the bulk of
But both theory and
this
literature
practice
is
in
the
make the Kavya
metrical
form.
extensive enough
comprehend in its scope any literary work of the imagination, and refuse to recognise metre as essential. It, therefore, includes
to
poetry, drama, prose romance, folk-tale, didactic fable, historical
writing and philosophical verse, religious and gnomic stanza, in fact, every branch of literature which may be contained
within the denomination of belles-lettres in the widest sense, to One the exclusion of whatever is purely technical or occasional. result of this attitude is that while the
poem, the romance,
dramatic
drama tends towards the and
tales
even
historical
or
biographical sketches are highly coloured by poetical and stylistic In construction, vocabulary and ornament, the prose effects. also
becomes
poetical.
admit that
It is true that in refusing to
the distinction between prose and poetry lies in an external fact, namely the metre, there is a recognition of the true character of poetic expression
;
but in
practice
it
considerably
hampers the
seldom recognised that prose. verse and prose rhythms have entirely different values, and that the melody and diction of the one are not always desirable in the
development of prose as
It
is
As the instruments of the two harmonies are not clearly differentiated as means of literary expression, simple and
other.
vigorous prose hardly ever develops in Sanskrit
ment
;
and
its
achieve-
comparison with that of poetry, which almost exclusively predominates and even approximates prose towards poor in
is
itself.
3.
THE
ORIGIN AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
The question
of
the
DRAMA
origin and individual characteristics
of the various types of literary composition
comprised under the be discussed in their proper places but since drama, Kavya like poetry, forms one of its important branches, we may will
;
briefly
consider
here
method^
The
its
beginnings, as
well
as
its object,
scope and drama, no doubt, as a subdivision of the KavyaA
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
most
of
partakes
of
its
form and method are
general
'43
characteristics,
different,
but since
its
necessary to consider it
is
it
separately.
The
first definite,
but scanty, record of the
Sanskrit drama
found in the dramatic fragments, discovered in Central Asia
is
and belonging to the early Kusana period, one of these fragments The discovery, of which being actually the work of Asvagbosa. we shall speak more later, is highly important from the historifor the features which these fragments reveal cal point of view ;
indicate
undoubtedly later
course
and
;
its
must have had
it
that
drama
the
had
and technique which
the literary form
its
character suggests that
This
it.
attained
throughout
persist
developed
fairly
a history behind
already
history, unfortun-
cannot be traced today, for the earlier specimens which might have enabled us to do so, appear to have perished in The orthodox account of the origin of the course of time. ately,
Sanskrit
form
drama,
envelops
it
in
an
drama
a gift
find
the
myth
earliest
sage Bharata, ;
while modern
manifestation of
a
dialogue-hymns of the Rgvcda and presuming the dramatic from the religious after the manner
Greek drama, shrouds the question
the
from heaven in the
divine
in the
a development of of
as
impenetrable mist of
scholarship, professing to ritual
it
by describing
of a developed art invented by the
of its origin in a still
greater mist of speculation.
The which
1
original purpose
of
are obviously dialogues
Indian tradition,
2
is
fifteen
hymns
of
the
Rgveda^ and are recognised as such by the
Most
frankly obscure.
Pururavas and Urvasi"
of
some
Yama
(x. 95),
of
them, like those and Yarn! (x. 10),
Indrani and Vrsakapi (x. 80), Saramfi and the Panis 108), are not in any way connected with the religious sacrifice,
Indra, (x. 1
in
For a summary and discussion
ZDMG,
cited as
Ixiv, 1910, p. 534
SD), p. 13
f,
in
of
JRAS,
the
various theories and for references, see Keith
1911, p. 970
f
and in his Sanskrit Drama
(hereafter
f.
2 Both Saunaka and Y&ska ay ply the term Samvada-sukta to most of these hymni, but sometimes the terms Itihasa and Xkhyana are also employed. Even assuming popular origin and dramatic elements, the hymns are in no sense ballads or ballad-plays.
44
HISTORY OF 'SANSKRIT LITERATURE
nor do they represent the usual type of religious hymns of prayer and thanksgiving ; but they appear to possess a mythical or legendary content. It has been first signs of the Indian drama. dialogues
for
call
miming
;
claimed that here we have the
The suggestion
these
that
is
and connected with the
ritual dance,
song and music, they represent a kind of refined and sacerdotal1 ised dramatic spectacle, or in fact, a ritual drama, or a Vedic 2 Mystery Play in a nutshell, in which the priests assuming the roles of divine, mythical or human interlocutors danced and 8
the
sang
4
in
narrative
which there
To
dialogues.
the
that
presumption tion,
in
hymns
hymns
this
is
added the further
represent an old type of composi-
character and Indo-European in antiquity, in
existed
originally both prose and
verse
;
was
verse, representing the points of interest or feeling,
but the carefully
constructed and preserved, while the prose, acting merely as a con-
necting link, was left to be improvised, and therefore never remained fixed nor was handed down. It is assumed that the dialogues in the Kgvedic hymns represent the verse, the prose having disappeared before or after their incorporation into the Samhita and the combination of prose and verse in the Sanskrit drama is alleged to be a legacy of this hypothetical Vedic Akhyana. ;
must be admitted
It
hymns
is
once that the dramatic quality of the considerable, and that the connexion between the drama at
and the religious song and dance in general has been made clear by modern research. At first sight, therefore, the theory appears plausible; but
it
is
It is
assumptions.
based on several unproved and unnecessary not necessary, for instance, nor is there any
authority, for finding a ritual explanation 1
8.
2
Ij.
of
these
hymns
;
for
L6vi, Tht&lre indien, Paris, 1890, p. 333f.
von Scbroeder, Mysteriumund Mimus im
fgveda, Leipzig, 1908; Bber die Anfdnge dee indischen Dramas t Munich, 1914, p. 22 f. 3 J. Hertel in ZKM, XVIII, K04, p. 59 f, 137 f XXIIJ, p. 273 f
W
;
Hertel maintains that unless singing
it is
is
;
not possible
for
A.
HilJebrandt,
XXIV,
p.
117
f.
a
presumed, single speaker to make the necessary distinction between the different speakers presupposed in the dialogues of
the hymns.
, the Divyavaddna
(II.
The exact nature were not
3. 11.0-111)
Buddhist literature, not only clearly to works
to
Lalita-vistara (XII, p. 178), but also probably to the Buddhist Suttas,
watching popular shows.
(IV.
meaning
Winternitz
is
no reason
in
WZKM,
word Na$a or Nataka in the (including the Hari-vamta) is of little value
The mention
of the
for chronological purposes. 2
A.
Weber
in Ind. Studien, II, p. 148
and Die Griechen in Indien in
SBAW
repudiated by Pischel in Die Rezension der tfakuntala, Breslau, 1875, p. 19 19C6, p. 602; but elaborately supported, in a modified form, by Windisch
Einfluss
im indtschen Drama
See Sten Konow,op. further references.
ct't.,
pp.
(in
d.
W. W. Tarn
Der
1890, p. 920; in
SB A W
SD
,
griechische
7. Intern. Orient. Congress] Berlin, 1882, pp. 3
4042 and Keith,
f.
pp. 57- 38, for a discussion of the theory and (
t
reviews the whole question in his Greeks in BacLria and
extremely cautious on the subject of Greek influence on the see in D. R. Bhandarkar Volume, Calcutta, 1940, p. 224 f. Keith's criticism drama;
Indtc, Cambridge, 1938, but he
Sinikrit
Verhl.
in
t
and
is
OO
ORIGINS AND CHARACTFR18TICS are not valid, there
is
nothing a priori impossible in the presump-
Indian exclusiveness and conservatism
difficulty of
The
Greek drama on the Indian.
tion of the influence of the
neutralised
is
by instances of the extraordinary genius of India in assimilating what it receives from foreign sources in other spheres of art and science, notwithstanding the
of
barrier
custom and
language,
civilisation.
But there
are difficulties in adducing positive proof in support
The evidence regarding
of the presumption.
actual performance
Greek plays in the courts of Greek princes in India is extremely 1 scanty; but more important is the fact that there are no decisive
of
points of contact, but
Sanskrit drama and the
New
the source of the influence.
2
casual
only
coincidences,
Attic Comedy, which
No
it
3
common
has come
to the
down
are also epic instances
which seem
us do
not
Indian
lite-
of this motif
rature of tales reveals a considerable use 4
on the use
two dramas.
to
antedate the period of supposed Greek influence, the
to preclude the
the
regarded as
is
reliance can be placed
of the device of token of recognition
Although the forms in which
between
;
and there
possibility of
It is a motif common being borrowed from the Greek drama. enough in the folk-tale in general, and inevitable in primitive its
society as a
means
of identification
;
and
its
employment
Sanskrit drama can be reasonably explained
independent origin. 1
L6vi, op.
2
Such as division into
end of the
eft.,
p. GO, but
acts,
No
in
the
having been of satisfactory inference, again, can be
contra Keith,
number
SD,p.
as
59.
of acts, departure of all actors 1
acts, the scenic convention of asides, the
of the
from
the
stage
at the
entry and identity of a The Indian Prologue
announcing new character by a remark from a character already on the stage, etc. is entirely different from the Classical, being a part of the preliminaries and having a definite character and ob.'ecfc. Max Lindenau's exposition IBeitrdge zur altindischen Rasalehre, Leipzig 1913,
p. v) of the relation
between Bharafca's
Natya-sdstra and Aristotle's Poetik
is
interesting, but proves nothing. 3
E.g., the ring in MdlaviLdgnimitra and Sakuntala stone of union and arrow (of Ayus) in Vikramorvatiya, necklace iu Ratnavali, the jewel falling from the sky in Nagdnanda, the garland in MdJatl-mddhava and Kunda-mdld, the Jrmbhaka weapons in Uttara-tarita the t
t
clay cart in 4
Keith,
Mrcchakatika, the seal in Mudrd-rd!fasa,
SD,
p, 63.
etc.
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
54
drawn from the resemblance
of certain characters,
Roman comedy,
Greek and
we
as
have
and
caste
Indian
of the
culture
seen,
high
is
the
highly
social
parasite occurs in the he lacks the refinement and
but
Vita;
the
especially
The
Vita, the Vidusaka, and the Sakara.
but
debatable,
position
the
of
origin
Vidusaka,
distinguish
Brahmin
his
him
from
the
vulgar slave (servus currens) of the classical comedy and we know from Pataiijali that the Sakara was originally a person of Saka ;
descent and was apparently introduced into the as a boastful, ignorant
and ridiculous
villain
drama time when the
Sanskrit
at a
marital alliance of Indian kings with Saka princesses had fallen 1 into disfavour. These characters are not rare in any society,
and can be easily explained as having been conceived from actual The argument, again, from the Yavanika 2 or in India.
life
curtain,
which covered the entrance from
the
room
retiring
(Nepathya) or stood at the back of the stage between the Rangapltha and the Eangaslrsa, and which is alleged to have received
name from its derivation from the lonians(Yavanas) or Greeks, now admitted to be of little value, for the simple reason that the Greek theatre, so far as we know, had no use for the curtain. The theory is modified with the suggestion that the Indian curtain
its is
1
He
is
represented as the brother of the king's concubine;
Cf E. J. lUpson's article on the 2
Windhch, op
1
f
speed
(in
cit., p.
24
f.
Drama
(Indian) in
ERE,
cf.
Sdlutya-darpana, III, 44.
Vol. IV, p. 885.
The etymology given by Indian lexicographers fiom java
the Prakrit Javanika form of the word), or the deiivation
cover,* is ingenious, but not convincing.
form Jainanika
is
a scribal mistake
for it is recognised in the
r
from the
t
'
root
to
yu
There
i 3 nothing to confirm the opinion that the and Roth) or merely secondary (Sten Konow), B6thlingk
Indian lexicons and occurs in some
MSS.
of plays.
If this
was the
*
would signify a curtain only (from the root yam to restrain, cover '), or ' twin ') double curtain covering the two entrances from the Nepathya (from yama, but there
original form, then
it
t
;
no authority for holding that the curtain was parted in the middle. The word YavanikS, is apparently known to Bharata, as it occurs at
See
is
of the elements of the
Purvarafiga.
the Kungas'Irsa and Rangapltha (ed.
Abhinavagnpta explains that
QOS,
p. 212).
5.
its
The other names
IHQ, VII,
p.
480
f.
11-12 in the description position
are Pati,
was between and
Pratis'iift
There was apparently no drop curtain on the Indian stage. -The construction of the Indian theatre, as described by Bharata, has little resemblance to that of the Greek and
Tiraskaranl.
;
Th. Blocb's discovery of the remains of a Greek theatre in the Sitavenga Cave LVITI, p. 456 f is of doubtful value as a decisive piece of evidence. )
(ZDMG,
55
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS is
so called because the material of the
cloth
was derived from
but even this does not carry us very far to prove Greek influence on the Indian stage arrangement. It will be seen that even if certain striking parallels and
the Greek merchants
;
coincidences are urged and admitted between the Greek
Sanskrit
the
drama,
search
a
for
There
negative produces only mental differences that borrowing or question, and
the
affinities
signs
positive
result.
should
of
are
so
and the influence
many
influence
is
funda-
out of
the
be regarded as independent
The Sanskrit drama is essentially of the romantic developments. the classical of rather than type, and affords points of resemblance to the Elizabethan, rather than to the Greek, drama. The unities of time and place are entirely disregarded between the acts as well as
within the
act.
between one act and another, often exceeds twenty-four hours
from earth
heaven.
to
is
and ;
the
while
years elapse 1 time-limit of an act
the
scene easily
shifts
Eomantic and fabulous elements
are
tragi-comedy or melodrama is not infrequent; regularly mixed with prose puns and verbal cleverness
freely introduced
verse
Even twelve
;
;
no chorus, but there is a metrical are often favoured. benediction and a prologue which are, however, integral parts While the parallel of of the play and set the plot in motion.
There
Vidusaka
the
is
is
found in the Elizabethan Fool, certain dramatic
devices, such as the introduction of a play
within
a
2
play
and
common. There is no number of characters, who may be either divine, semi-divine or human. The plot may be taken from legend or from history, but it may also be drawn from contemporary life and manners. With very rare exceptions, the main interest almost invariably centres in a love-story, use of
the
a
token
limit in the Sanskrit
love 1
XX,
being, On
at
time'analysis of
1899, pp. 841-59; 3
As
least
XXI,
of
recognition,
drama
in
are
to the
practice, the only passion
Sanskrit plays (Kalidasa and Hsrsa),
ee
which forms Jackson in JAOS,
1900, pp. SB- 108.
in Priyadartika, Uttara-rama-carita
to the ed. of the fiist play, pp. ev-cxi.
and Bala-ramayana
See Juck son's appendix
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
56 the dominant
theme
of this
romantic drama.
structures
Special
a
square, rectangular or triangular shape for the presentation 1 of plays are described in the Ndtya-sastra, but they have little resemblance to the Greek or modern theatre and must have of
been evolved independently. Very often plays appear to have been enacted in the music hall of the royal palace, and there were probably no special contrivances, nor elaborate stage-propernor even scenery in the ordinary sense of the word. The lack of these theatrical makeshifts was supplied by the lively ties,
imagination of the audience, which was aided by a profusion of verses describing the imaginary surroundings, by mimetic action and by an elaborate system of gestures possessing a conventional significance.
Besides these more
or
formal requirements, there are
less
some important features which fundamentally distinguish the Sanskrit drama from all other dramas, including the Greek.
The aim
of the Sanskrit dramatists,
in outlook and
mirror (as
in
mind
life
indifferent
by a direct portrayal evoke
to
poetry)
of the audience, be
this is regarded, both
else
much
is
it
in
fact
action
of
heroic
or
not to
but
character,
or
and practice,
theory
is
incident,
sentiment
particular
amatory,
or
idealists
(Rasa) in the
As
quietistic.
to
be the sole
the dramatic art as of the poetic, everything subordinated to this end. Although the drama is des-
as
object
a
who were mostly
mere
to
of
cribed in theory as an imitation
(Avasthanukrti),
the
plot,
as
or
representation as
well
of
situations
characterisation,
is
a
secondary element its complications are to be avoided so that it may not divert the mind from the appreciation of the senti;
ment the
to other interests.
mind
reader's
preferred
;
the
A
would
poet's skill is
well of
known theme, towards which itself
of
The
its
1
On
the theatre see D. R.
inclined,
concerned entirely with
emotional possibilities. the Sanskrit dramatist shows little ing
be
Maukad
normally
the develop-
criticism, therefore, that
fertility in
in
is
1HQ, VIII,
the
invention
1932, pp. 480-99.
of
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS be
may
plots
just,
but
object of the Sanskrit
it
57
take into account this peculiar
fails to
drama.
Thus, the Sanskrit drama came to possess an atmosphere of sentiment and poetry, which was conducive to idealistic creation
which and
The analogy
it.
found
be
to
is
but
characterisation,
overshadowed
which avoid the
sculpture,
and
action
expense of
in the lesser dramatists
in
tic
the
at
crude
all
was drama-
that
Indian
in
realism
painting bones and
of
muscles and concentrate exclusively on spiritual expression, but
which often degenerate of course, does not
growth that
that reality
is
entirely
This,
banished
but
;
and poetic envelopment certainly retards the
sentimental
the
mean
into formless fantastic creation.
of the purely dramatic elements.
sentimental
verses,
couched
It
a
in
is
great
for
this
reason
variety of lyrical
measures and often strangely undramatic, preponderate and form the more essential part of the drama, the prose acting mainly as a connecting link, as a
mode
of
communicating
or
facts,
as
The dialogue is^ therea means of carrying forward the story. fore, more or less neglected in favour of the lyrical stanza, to-
which
its
follows from
characters
very flatness affords an effective contrast. this sentimental and romantic bias that
are
generally
to
preferred
leads to the creation of conventional
queen,
minister,
crystallised into
the
ideal
heroic, as
represented instance,
man
permanent types
is
or
the very
devoid of
This
the
king,
characters,
but this does
;
like
in course of time
not
mean
popular, characters
real
common
typical
individual figures.
who become
lover and jester,
It also
humanity.
that
are
Carudatta,
not a mere marvel of eminent virtues, but
a
all
for
perfect
whose great qualities are softened by an nor is Dusyanta a merely of humanity equally great touch while the Sakara typical king-lover prescribed by convention of
the
world,
;
;
or the Vita in Sudraka's
play
and others are taken from everlasting
types,
the same time, 8-1343B
it
but
they
are
finely
nature's are
no
These
characterised.
never-ending
variety
less living individuals.
cannot be denied there
is
a
tendency
to
of
At large
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
58
and a reluctance to deviate from the type. It means an indifference to individuality, and consequently to the
generalisation
realities
of
ponding
inclination
characterisation,
plot and action, as well as a corres-
towards
For aspects of theme. as a rule, makes the
this
the
purely
reason
also,
ideal
and emotional
Sanskrit
the
drama,
fullest use of the accessories of the lyric,
dance, music, song and mimetic art.
As there
is,
therefore,
respective conception of the
fundamental
a
drama, most
in
difference
Sanskrit
the
of
the
plays,
judged by modern standards, would not at all be regarded as dramas in the strict sense but rather as dramatic poems. In some authors the sense of the dramatic becomes hopelessly lost in their ever
increasing
striving
sentimental and the
the
after
and they often make the mistake of choosing lyric or epic As, subjects which were scarcely capable of dramatic treitment. poetic,
on the one' hand, the drama suffers from its close dependence on it concentrates itself rather the epic, so on the other,
on
disproportionately lyrical
the
of the production polished The absence of scenic aids, no
and descriptive stanzas.
doubt, makes the
stanzas
scene or the situation
to
necessary the
for
suggesting the of the audience and
vividly
imagination
method progressively increases the lyric and emotional tendencies of the drama, and elegance and refinement are as much encouraged in the drama as in poetry. It is not surprising, therefore, that a modern critic
evoking
the
proper
sentiment,
but
the
should accept only Mudra-raksasa, in the whole range of Sanskrit This is indeed an dramatic literature, as a drama proper.
extreme attitude; for the authors of the Abhijnana-fakuntala or well of Mrcchakatika knew very that the they were
composing dramas and not merely a but this view brings out very passages
set
There
aims and limitations of the Sanskrit drama. one advantage which productions
romance
of
vivifies
is
not often
The stage-craft. the Sanskrit drama
elegant
poetical
clearly the characteristic
;
seen
of
in
breath
the
;
it is
is,
modern
the
of
however, practical
poetry
and
seldom of a prosaic
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS cast
;
and
59
human
beings insipidly under ordinary commonplace circumstances it has often the higher and does not represent
it
;
more
poetic naturalness, which is no less attractive in the beauty, as well as the depth, of human character
uhen its
dramatic qualities are poor
its
revealing ;
and even
appeals by the richness of
it
poetry.
As the achievement
of concord
is
ideal character of the
a necessary
corollary to the
allowed to be represented sensibility of the audience
drama, nothing on the stage which might offend the and obstruct the suggestion of the
is
sentiment by This rule regarding
desired
inauspicious, frivolous or undesirable details. the observance of stage-decencies
includes,
the prohibition that death should
not be
other things, exhibited on the stage.
among
This restriction, as well as the serene and complacent attitude of the Indian mind towards life, makes it difficult for the drama, as for poetry, to depict
tragedy in
deeper sense. Pathetic episodes, contribute to the unfolding of the its
dangers and difficulties may plot with a view to the evoking of the underlying sentiment, but The poetic justice of the the final result should not be discord.
European drama is unknown in the Sanskrit. The dramatist, like the poet, shows no sense of uneasiness, strife or discontent in the structure of life, nor in its complexity or difficulty, and takes without question the attitude
also
accepts,
rational
order of
the
incredulity or
without
world.
discomfort,
This the
intervention of forces beyond control or calculation in the affairs of men. Apart from the general idea of a brooding fate or it
destiny,
thinks nothing of a curse or a divine act as an
device for controlling the solution of its
of
action
complication.
refuses
It
artificial
a play or
bringing about a to rob the world or the
and freely introduces the marvellous and the supernatural, without, however, entirely destroying the The dramatic motives of human action or its responsibility.
human
life
conflict,
scope or
;
life,
of its mysteries,
under these conditions,
and however
much
the hero and
the
hardly
obstacles
heroine
may
receives a full or logical
hinder the course of love
must be rewarded
in the long
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
60 run, and
end
by the achievement of There are indeed exceptions to the 1 general rule, for the Uru-bhanga has a tragic ending while the death of Dagaratha occurs on the stage in the Pratima, like that predestined to perfect happiness and union. all is
well
;
of
Kamsa
There are
in the Bala-carita.
rule is obeyed in the letter but not
also
instances where the
in spirit;
Vasantasena's
lor
apparent murder in the Mrcchakatika occurs on the stage, and the dead person is restored to life on the stage in the Nagananda. Nevertheless, the injunction makes Kaiidasa and Bhavabhuti
ending of the Urvasi legend and the Rdmayana story respectively into one of happy union, while the sublimity of of the self-sacrifice Jimutavahana, which suggests real alter the tragic
tragedy, ends in a
somewhat lame denouement
of divine interven-
virtue at the end. and complete and immediate reward death In the Western drama, overshadows everything and forms the chief source of poignant tragedy by its uncertainty and of
tion
hopelessness ; the Indian dramatist, no belief in the in exorable law of Karman, but, finding in
it
Jess
pessimistic
not
does
a condition of renewal, can
in his
deny death,
hardly regard
it
in
the same tragic light. It is,
however, not correct to say that the Sanskrit drama
entirely excludes tragedy.
the direct representing
happy ending.
of
What
it
really does
is
that
it
excludes
death as an incident, and insists on a
It recognises
some form
of tragedy in its pathetic
sentiment and in the portrayal of separation in love ; and tragic In the interest strongly dominates some of the great plays.
Mrcchakatiha and
the
Abhijnana-sakuntala, for instance, the indeed occur at the end, but it occurs in
tragedy does not and in the middle ;
interest
prevails
the
Uttara-rama-carita
throughout,
at the beginning of the play.
1
It has, however,
UrU'bhahga act of a
is
it
occurs
The
in
theorists appear
been pointed out (Sukthankar in
not intended to be a tragedy in one act;
lengthy dramatised
version
of
where the tragic an intensive form
it
J
JBRAS, s
only
to
1925, p.
the surviving
maintain
141) that
the
intermediate
the Mohabliarata story; the Trivandrum dramas,
therefore, form no exception to the general rule prohibiting
a final catastrophe.
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS that
there
in itself
no tragedy in the mere
is
be
fact of
a
disgusting, terrible or undignified and thus produce a hiatus in the aesthetic pleasure.
may
dark
murder, need not have a
and
violent
terror
passions,
which
death,
spectacle
Cruelty,
and
horrors
ferocity
are
premium. Undigested gloomy, and decorum are or without unhealthy they depressing dignity and indicate a morbid taste they do not awaken genuine pity ;
;
or
The Sanskrit
pathos.
road of
life
and never seeks the
or
tragedy,
Grim
drama generally keeps
representation
of
by-lanes
of
the high
to
blood-and-thunder
loathsome and unnatural passions. but debase the mind,
realism, in its view, does not exalt
and thereby cause
The
disturbance of the romantic setting.
a
tragedy either precedes or follows the fact of death, which need not be visually represented, but the effect holds
theory
of
that
which may be
therefore, that tragedy
often
unduly
comparatively
the
inconsolable
of
to
The
the
of
Sanskrit
It appears,
that
sentiments and
finer
hopelessness which
of
tragedy
the
undeveloped.
and the very condition
;
the
is
subordinated
left
brings
evoking the pathetic. not totally neglected, but
utilised for
theory,
however,
it
is
is
thus
misses
a tragic ending inevitably
happy ending makes much drama look unconvincing.
In spite of the unmistakable tone of earnestness, the certainty of reunion necessarily presents the pathos of severance as a
temporary and therefore needlessly exaggerated sentimentality. There are also certain other conditions and circumstances
which seriously affect the growth of the Sanskrit drama, in the same way as they affect the growth of Sanskrit poetry. From the beginning the drama, like poetry, appears to have very
moved
in
elevated
an aristocratic environment.
and
It^is fostered in
the same
rarefied
sam e cha racte r
i
sties ,
atmosphere^and^ isj^Pgcted to sbowjhe being regardedjjoth ^yj-h^ory and practice,
Kavya, to the general aim^andTmethod more approximated. In the existing and of which it was more we have neither the specimens there is nothing primitive as
a
subdivision
of the
;
infancy
of
the
drama nor the drama
of infancy.
The Sanskrit
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
drama was never popular
in the sense in
which the Greek drama
drama, inspired by the elegant poetic conventions of the highly cultured Sahrdaya, whose and its dominant love-motif recognition was eagerly coveted was.
It is essentially a developed literary
;
and habits
reflects the tastes
as
of
the
cultivated
which forms
the
of philandering
of the polished court-circle,
The court-life number of plays on
Nagaraka.
theme
of a
an opportunity of introducing and the graceful manner and erotic
;
In course sentiment become appropriate. and l|famaturgy conventionalised these
and search
after
gradual preference of and the spontaneous.
the subtle
become
the
reflected
in
accent of passion and
in particular,
the amourettes
gives
princes,
song/ dance and music
refined fancy
well
as
of time, Poetics, Erotics
and habits
tastes
stylistic effect
and
the
The graces and drama,
came
to the
finical
artificialities of
which soon
;
and
in with the
loses
fervid
poetry
its
true
fidelity to life.
Although the theorists lay down an
elaborate
classification
various categories of sentiments, it is yet curious to note that in practice the sentiments that are usually favoured are
of
Hhe
the
an occasional suggestion This accords well with the ideal and romantic
and the
heroic
of the marvellous.
with
erotic,
just
character of the clramn, as well as with the fabulous
the
circumstances,
hardly
receives
a
~YH
and "^sungr"^^ '
The comic, under The proper treatment.
natural elements which are freely introduced.
Prahasana and the Bhana profess to appeal to the comic sentiand the survival of an ment, but not in a superior form ;
insignificant and limited
number
of
are also in
the
these
types
of
composition
The other sentiments Even suggested but they hardly become prominent.
shows that they did not succeed very
an erotic underplot is often and in course of time the erotic overshadows every
heroic
introduced
;
or
other sentiment,
appealing
well.
theme.
lofty
subjects,
and becomes It
is
true
minate in the drama, are not
and universally the that love-plots, which predoallowed to degenerate into mere the exclusive
portrayals of the petty domestic difficulties of a polygamic systeip,
ORIGINS AND CHABACTBKISTICS
63
but the dramatists often content themselves with the developing the
of
erotic
by a stereotyped sentimental scheme of love, jealousy, parting and reunion. The sciences and Erotics take a keen delight ex accidenti in of Poetics pretty
possibilities
minutely analysing the infinite diversities of the amatory condition
and
and subdivisions, according to rank, character, circumstances and the like, all conceivable types of the hero, the heroine, their assistants and adjuncts, as well as in arranging into
the different shades
divisions
exuberant lyrical
for their
dramatic
the
to
ample opportunities
and gestures, which afford
their feelings
of
poet for
This
stanzas.
utilising
technical
them
analysis
and the authority of the theorists lead to the establishment of fixed rules and rigid conventions, resulting in a unique growth of refined artificiality.
There
is
indeed
a great deal of scholastic
formalism in the
dramatic theory of sentiment, which had a prejudicial effect on the practice of the dramatist. The fixed category of eight or nine sentiments, the subordination to them of a large number of
transitory
the
emotions,
determinants and
of
classification
consequents, the various devices to help the movement of the intrigue,: the normative fixing of dramatic junctures or stages in accorflance
1
dramatic modes (Vrttis) into the elegant
the
of
with the various emotional states, the
(Sattvati),
energetic
as
(Bharati), according
the
or
marvellous* indicate
doubt,
subtlety,
drama
;
concerns
the
but,
generally
power
emphasise speaking,
Bbarata's description
also to dramatic *
E.g., classification
Satndbyangag,
of
all
and
no
these,
empirical analysis arid the emotional effect of the the
as
scholastic essentials,
needless
refer
of incidents
Naty&tamkaras
heroic,
of
shows that the Vrttis do not
machinery and representation
etc*
the erotic, the
more with accidents than with
refinements of classification are often 1
is
general, respectively
considerable
properly
and the verbal
(ArabhatI),
the sentiment
only
and
itself
violent
arrangement (Kausiki), the
to
2
as
pedantry and the they
mere dramatic
are
styles, but
on the stage.
Laksanas,
the
subdivisions of
the
64
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE Although the prescriptions are not always logical but number of represent generalisations from a limited
confusing.
mostly
on
plays, the influence of the theory
As
in the case of poetry, the result
after the creative
epoch
is
over,
is
later
practice
is
undoubted.
not an unmixed good;
we have greater
and,
and
artificiality
and expression. Apart from various limitations regarding form, theme, plot and character, one remarkable drawback of the dramatic tlicory, which had a practical effect on unreality in conception
drama
the development of the
round the
enforces concentration of the sentiment heroine, and does not permit
who
rival of the hero,
The
at every point.
division
its
with
therefore becomes a far
the usual romantic
heroes are often contrasted
with
possibility is not allowed of
making an
vicious
it
or
the
reference
to
the
inferior
the
atmosphere antagonists.
effective
that
fact
hero
theorists arc indeed aw, ire of
To preserve
contrast.
the
as drama, lies in
character value the
of
ideal
But the
dramatic creation
an antagonist (like Havana, for instance), who often becomes The Sanskrit drama is a mere stupid and boastful villain.
of
thereby deprived of one of the most important dramatic conflict.
Ten types
of
chief (Rupaka) and ten
drama
the Sanskrit
dramatic theory.
1
The
are
a
real
by the Sanskrit chiefly on the elements
recognised
(Nayaka) and
on the number
of
twenty minor (Uparupaka)
classification rests
of subject-matter (Vastu), hero
but also secondarily
to
motifs
sentiment (Rasa),
of acts, the
dramatic modes
and structure. The distinctions are interesting and are apparently based upon empirical analysis they show the variety of dramatic experiments in Sanskrit but since few old examples of most of the ;
;
types exist, the discussion becomes purely academic. The generic term of the drama is Rupaka, which is explained as denoting any but of its ten forms, the highest is the visible representation ;
Nataka which
1
krit
is
taken
as
the
norm.
The
heroic
or
For an analysis of the various types and specimens, see D. R. Mankad, Types
Drama
f
cited above.
erotic
of
Sans-
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
65
Nataka, usually consisting of five to ten acts, is given a legendary subject-matter and a hero of elevated rank; but the practice shows that it is comparatively free from minor restrictions. The
Prakarana
of the
is
same length and similar
structure, but
it is
a
manners of a rank below royalty, with an invented subject and characters drawn from the middle class or even lower social grades, including the courtesan as the heroine and rogues of all kind. These two types, the Nataka and the Prakarana, are
comedy
of
variations of the full-fledged drama ; but the details of the other types are not clear, and some of them are hardly represented in actual specimens.
natural and heroic
The Samavakara, drama
super-
and demons, involving fight, we have no early specimen.
of gods
fraud and disturbance, but of this
For a similar want
in three acts, is the
of authentic specimens,
it
is difficult
to
dis-
from the Pima, usually in four acts, which is inadetinguish quately described, but which is given a similar legendary theme it
with its '
a"
haughty hero,
name being
to
fight
and sorcery, and the furious sentiment,
derived accordingly from a hypothetical root dim,
The Vyayoga,
wound.'
as its
name
suggests, is also a military spectacle, with a legendary subject and a divine or human hero engaged in strife and battle but it is in one act, and the ;
cause
of
disturbance
is
not
a
comic sentiments being debarred.
some specimens
left,
woman, the erotic and the The type is old, and we have
but they are of no great
The
Utsrstanka.
first of
these,
usually
We
merit.
however, no living tradition of the Ihamrga, the
% Vithi
extending
to
have,
and the four acts
but allowed to have only one, has a fanciful designation, supposed to be derived from its partly legendary and partly invented theme of the pursuit (Iha) of a maiden, as attainable as the gazelle (Mrga),
but in
there
by a divine or human hero only a
show
of
of a
conflict,
haughty character actual
;
being one act The other two avoided by artifice. having only and the the but erotic and in having ordinary heroes, pathetic it
is
fight
agree in
sentiments
predominate. 9-1848B
plenty of wailings of women !) respectively c The obscure name Vlthl, Garland/ is explained
(with
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITKRATtJRE
66
1
having a string of other subsidiary sentiments as well. The name Utsrstanka is variously explained, 2 but since one of the 8 explanations speaks of its having a kind of inverted action, it is
by
its
suggested that
it
ordinary practice. in having
some
the Vita
it is
may have had a .tr.-igic ending, The Bhana, on the other hand, and
contrary
to
fortunate
is
It is also a one-act specimens. play, erotic in character, but with only one hero-actor, namely ;
old
late
carried on in monologue,
answers given by him in the air/ and usually describing
by a chain hero.
4
of
The comic
sometimes
is
feature, as well as in the
'
imaginary words
to
spoken of the
love-adventures
the
introduced
in
it
"
ribald character of the
;
and in
this
1
hero/
it
has
with the next type, namely, the
Prahasana, the one-act the theme of which consists of the tricks and quarrels of
affinity
farce,
theme progressing
the
low characters
;
but the Sanskrit farce has
little
appeal because of
somewhat broad and coarse laughter. As the very name Uparupaka implies, the eighteen minor forms of the drama were evolved much later, but it is difficult Bharata does to say at what period they carne into existence. lack of invention and
its
not deal with any Uparupaka, except the NatI (xviii. 106); and the first enumeration of seventeen varieties, without the designation of
Uparupaka and without any discussion, occurs
in
the
Alamkara
(c. 9th century). Abhinavagupta only mentions nine, and the commentary on the Daar&paha incidentally
section of the Agni-purana
1
2
B'lt the
E.g.,
Natya-darpona suggests vtkraminonmuliha srstir
:
vokrokti-mdrgena
gamandd
rithlva mfhi.
ta
uisritika
tocantyah
jwitairi
yasam
ahkitatrdd ulsrstikahkah from the Natya-darpana natha's alternative suggestion
love is is
:
(ed.
GOS,
utsrsta viloma-rupa srstir yatra, ViSvanatha in Sahitya-darpana.
4
It is curious that in the Bhftna, is
allowel,of which, however,
Bharata forbids the Kabs'ikl mode, which gives scope to pUy but the element of Lasya
eminently suitable to an erotic little
trace
remains
probably a survival in theory of what probably was
(op. cit.)
the
in a
first
dramatic type to evolve
;
;
existing
feature
puts forward the attractive, but doubtful, theory
the Bhana, was the
specimens,
in practice.
D.
but which R.
Mankad
that the one-act monologue
but in spite of
its
play,
seemingly loose dramatic
it is too artificial in device to be primitive, or even purely popular in origin, the existing specimens are late and have a distinctly literary form.
technique,
t&bhir
Or, ViSva-
natakadyantahpatyahka-paricclieriartham utsrstdhkah.
3
and gallantry and which
striyns
Haroda, 1920, p. 180).
67
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS
Some of the minor forms are doubtonly seven in the same way. less variations or refinements on the original Rupaka varieties, but there
is
some substance
1
in the contention
that, as the
Natyacame
from the Nrtya, the Rupaka was mainly based onjhejjla^a and the Uparupaka on the Nrtya. It is highly dance was incorporating possible that while the rhythmic to be distinguished
histrionics into itself, it was at the same time developing the minor operatic forms, in which dance and music originally predominated, but which gradually modelled itself on the regular
drama.
The Natika,
for instance,
is
the lesser heroic and
erotic
Nataka, just au the Prakaranika, admitted by some, is a lesser Prakarana; but in both these there are opportunities of introdu-
The Sattaka is only having Prakrit as the medium
cing song, dance and music.
Natika in
the
while the Trotaka, but for the musical tinguishable in itself
from
the
element,
a variation
of
of expression is
hardly
;
dis-
The remaining forms
Nataka.
no representative in early literature and need not be enumerated here they show rather the character of pantomime, with song, dance and music, than of serious drama. Whatever have
;
value
scholastic
much The of
classifications
significance in the
most
for
these
of the varieties
may
possess,
it is
not of
the drama, development remain unrepresented in actual practice. historical
of
drama does not appear to subscribe fully to the rigidity the prescribed forms, and it is only in a general way that we earlier
can really
fit
the definitions to the extant specimens.
In the theoretical works, everything
and neatly catalogued
;
is
acholastically classified
forms of the drama, types of heroes
and
heroines, their feelings, qualities, gestures, costumes, make-up, All situations, dialects, modes of address and manner of acting. this
perhaps gives the impresssion of a theatre of living mario-
nettes.
1
But
Mankad
in practice, the histrionic talent succeeds in infusing
in the
work
cit^d.
The term Upartipaka
being Nrtyaprakara and Geyarupaka.
On
the
is
technical
Upapiipaka, see Hernacandra, Kavyanusasana, ed.
very
late,
difference
NSP, Comin.
the earliar designations
between
p. 329
f.
Rupaka and
68
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
blood into the puppets and translating
dry
formulas into
lively
forms of beauty, while poetic genius overcomes learned scholasand ticism and creates a drama from the conflict of types circumstances.
CHAPTER
II
FKOM A3VAOEO?A TO KALI DAS A ASVAGiJOSV AND HiS bCHOOL
1.
Fifty years ago Asvaghosa was nothing more than
works have been
but to-day all his important is
recognised
Kalidfisa.
the
as
first
published,
Kavya-poet
great
little
known
a
and
name, and he
precursor of
of his personal
however, history vouchsafed by legends and what can be gathered from his works themselves. The colophons to his Kfivyas agree in describing him as a Bhiksu or Buddhist monk of Saketa (Ayodhya)
Very
except what
is
*
is
*
and as the son of Suvarnaksi, well
They Mahakavi and
of
as
which was the name
also add the style of
of his mother.
as
of golden eyes/
Acarya and Bhadanta, Mahavadin. As an easterner, 2
Asvaghosa's admiration of the Ramayana is explicable, while it is probable that he belonged to some such Buddhist school of 8 Mahasanghika or the Bahusrutika.
eastern origin as the
makes
scholastic
of
He
but the purely display knowledge evidence of his works makes it clear that he had a considerable little
;
mastery over the technical literature which a Sanskrit poet was expected to possess, and a much wider acquaintance than most other Buddhist writers of the various branches of Brahmanical learning.
His Sanskrit
command
over
1
A
p. iJ81 2
in
On
f.
Cf.
J^
t
;
strictly
undoubtedly
legendaiy biography of
between 401 and 409 A.D. I860,
is
it
not
is
not
it
in
W.
the introductions to their respective editions of
3
347
f
;
Wmteruitz, HJL,
See Johnston, op.
most
Wassiljew, Der Buddhismus, St. Petersburg
1908, 11, p. 65 for Chinese authorities on the
the poet's indebtedness to the liamayana, which Cowell
IU'27, p.
but his easy
Asvaghosa was translated into Chinese hy Kumrajlvc
extracts from
the
1, p. 5J'2
cit. 9 pt. II, introd., p.
f.
xxxi
Asvaghoa
legend.
and Johnston deal witl
Buddha-carita, see also A. Gawronski
Studies about the Sanskrit-Buddhist Lit., Krakow, 1'JIU,
XX11,
faultless,
inferior to that of
f.
ip, 27-40; C.
W.
Gurner
in
JASB
HISTORY OF SANSK1UT LITERATURE
70
Everywhere great respect is shown toBrahmanical ideas and institutions, and it is not improbable that he was born a Brahman and given a Brahman's education before he Sanskrit writers.
The obvious
went over to Buddhism.
theme
of conversion in at least
which he evinces
The Chinese
two
of
for his faith perhaps
makes
tradition
l
interest he
shows
fortify
this
the
in
works and the
his
zeal
presumption.
Asvaghosa a contemporary and
The poet did not probably wrong to put the 100 A.D. But 'in associating with
spiritual counsellor of king Kaniska.
than the king, and
live later
lower
limit of
his
date
at
it
Asvaghosa the
Sarvastivadin
Abhidharma, or
in
would not be
Vibhasa
commentary
naming the Vibhasa
pupil Punyayasas as having converted
scholar
Asvaghosa,
on
the
Parsva or his the
tradition,
which cannot be traced further than the end of the 4th century and which shows more amiable than historical imagination, is perhaps school
;
actuated by the motive of exalting the authority of this for neither the date of the commentary is certain, nor can
the special doctrines of the Sarvastivadins be definitely
traced
in
That he was a follower the unquestioned works of Asvaghosa. of Hinayana and took his stand on earlier dogmatism admits of little
doubt, but he was less
of a scholastic
philosopher
earnest believer, and his emphasis on personal love
Buddha perhaps prepared
to the
of
which he
is
the
for
way
than an
and devotion
Mahayana Bhakti,
enumerated as one of the patriarchs.
It is
not
necessary for us to linger over the question of his scholarship or 2 but it should be noted that, while his wide scholarship religion ;
informs his poems with a richer content, into mere pedantry, and the sincerity
On
1
HJL,
II,
seldom
degenerates convictions
Chinese and other Buddhist sources concerning As"vaghoa, see S. Levi in JA, M. Anesaki in ERE, IT, 1896, II, p. 444 f 1908, II, p. 67 f ; 1928, II, p. 193
1892, p. 201f 1909, p. 159
it
of his religious
f
;
;
;
and
reff.
;
T. Suzuki in the work cited below.
App. V, pp. 611-14
for a
summary
On Kaniska 's
date, see Winternitz,
of different views.
The question is discussed by Johnston in his introduction. Some doctrines peculiar to Mabayana have been traced iu As*vaghosa's genuine works, but his date is too The recommendation of Yogacara in early for anything other than primitive Mabayana. 2
Saundar&nanda XIV. 18 and XX. 68 need not only to the practice of Yoga in general.
refer to the
YogScara
school, but perhaps alludes
71
A&VAGHOSA AND HIS SCHOOL life
imparts
and enthusiasm
to his
redeems them from being
and/
utterances,
impassioned
mere dogmatic tredtises or
literary
exercises.
To
later
Buddhism A6vaghosa
is
a figure
of
later times, ascribe to
some
writings,
absence of ghosa's
of
him
a
number
which belong
made
Sanskrit
but
authorship;
developed Mahayana.
since
is not necessary these doubtful works, the
pretensions
Among
much
have not
they
it
In the
impossible to decide Agva-
is
it
originals,
in
or philosophical
of religious
1
to
and
romance,
the Chinese and Tibetan translations of Sanskrit works,
literary
us to discuss the question.
for
Mahayana-raddhotpada-astra which attempts a synthesis of Vijnana-vada and Madhyamika doctrines, has assumed importance from its being translated into 2
under the
ing of ;
work
in the
title
puts Asvaghosa's authorship out of the ques8 Another work, entitled Vajrasucl 'the Diamond-needle', a
tion.
itself
clever polemic on
but
'
Asvaghosa's Discourse on the AwakenFaith/ from the second Chinese version made about 700 but the internal evidence of full-grown Mahayana doctrine
English,
A.D.
9
Brahmanical
not mentioned
it is
little
of
been
also
among Asvaghosa's works by
pilgrim Yi-tsing (7th century) nor
shows
has
caste,
Asvaghosa's
by the
style
or
published, the Chinese
Bstan-hgyur,
mentality
;
the
and
it
Chinese
translation, which $fp made between 973 and 981 A.D., perhaps Of greater interest is the rightly ascribes it TO Dharmakirti.
Gandl-stotra-gatlia, a small
poem
of twenty-nine
stanzas,
com-
posed mostly in the Sragdhara, metre, the Sanskrit text of which It is in praise of the Gandl, the has been restored 4 and edited.
A
full list is given by F. W. Thomas in Kvs, introd., p. 26 f by T. Suzuki, Chicago 1900. Takakusu states that the earher catalogue of Chinese The question of several texts omits the name of A6vaghosa as the author #f this work. 1
,
2
As"vaghosas
H/L,It, 3
pp.
ed.
pp. 205-64, 4
discussed by Suzuki and Anesaki, cited above.
is
this
work see Winternitz,
36162andreff. and
trs
by Weber, Uber die Vajrasuci, in Abhandl.
where the problem
by A. Von
d.
Berliner Akad., 1859,
of authorship is discussed.
Stael-Holateiu,
in
Bibl.
Buddb., no.
H. Johnston in I A, 1933, pp. 61-70, where Of. F. W. Thomas in JRAS, 1914, p. 752 f.
re-edited by E.
questioned.
On
XV,
St.
Petersburg 1913,
and
the authorship of Afoaghosa has been
72
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Buddhist monastery gong, consisting of a long symmetrical piece of wood, and of the religious message which its sound is supposed to
when beaten with
carry
wooden
a short
The poem
club.
is
marked by some metrical skill, but one of its stanzes (st. 20) shows that it was composed in Kashmir at a much later time. The next apocryphal work is the Siitralamkara, 2 over the 8 authorship of which there has been a great deal of controversy. 1
The Chinese
made by KumarajTva about but fragments of the same
translation of the work,
405 A.D. assigns it to Avaghosa work in Sanskrit were discovered in Central Asia and ;
identified
4
by H. Liiders, who maintains that the author was Kumaralata, probably a junior contemporary of A6vaghosa, and that the work bore in
Sanskrit
the
Kalpana-manditika or KalpanaAs the name indicates, it is a collection of moral tales
lamkrtikd.
of
title
and legends, told after the manner of the Jatakas and Avadanas in prose and verse, but in the style of the ornate Kavya. Some of
Dirghayus and Sibi, are old, but others clearly inculcate Buddha-bhakti in the spirit of the MahaThe work illustrates the ability to turn the tale into an yana. the stories, such as those
of
instrument of Buddhist propaganda, but it culture, mentions the two Indian Epics, the
also
displays
wide
Samkhya and Vaiselaw-book of Manu, and
sika systems, the Jaina doctrines and the
achieves considerable literary distinction.
It is
unfortunate that
Yuan Ghwang fragments. informs us that Kumaralata was the founder of the Sautrantika Sanskrit
the
school and 1
pp,
A
3
in
only
came from Taxila
not surprising, therefore, that
it is
;
JBORS, XXTV,
1938,
Translated into French on the Chinese version of Kumara;iva, by Ed. Huber, Paris
1908.
work, entitled Tridarnja-mala,
157-fiO, b-it 2
exists
text
JoLnston, ibid,
For references
Fee
XXV,
Tormmatsu
is
ascribed
1939, p. 11
in
JA
t
f,
to
Asvaghosa in
disputes
it
1931, IT, p. 135
f.
Also L. de
la
Valise Pouasin,
VijflaptimatrasiddJn, pp. 221-24. 4
Bruchstiicke
der
Kalpanamanditiha
des Kumaralata in
Expeditiomn,Kleinere Sanskrit-Texte II, Leipzig 1926. unfortunately they are too few in number, and the work Chinese version.
Some
scholars hold that
only refashioned the work
with
its
composition.
;
but
it is
now
The is still
Avaghosa waa
Kongl
fragments
Treuss are
Turfan-
valuable,
but
to be judged on the basis of the
the real
author,
generally agreed that A6vagho?a
and
Kumaralata
had nothing
to do
AgVAGHOSA AND HIS SCHOOL
73
he work pays respect to the Sarvastivadins, from whom the Sautrantikas originated, or that some of its stories can be traced t
in the
works of the school.
In two
Kaniska appears as a king who
stories
has
already
(nos.
14 and
passed
away
31), ;
the
written some time after Kaniska's death, be dated earlier than the 2nd century A.D. 1 cannot, therefore, The three works, which are known for certain to be Asva-
work,
apparently
ghosa's,
are
the
:
Sariputra-prakarana entirely on these.
cantos,
known
Bnddha-carita, ;
the
Saundarananda and the
and his fame as a great Sanskrit poet rests form of twenty-eight first, in its original
The
to Yi-tsing
a complete Mahakavya with his birth and closes
is
and
the Chinese and Tibetan versions, on the life of the Buddha, which begins to
account of the war over the
with an
In Sanskrit 2 Council, and the reign of A^oka. only cantos two to thirteen exist in their entirety, together with about three quarters of the first and the first quarter ot the fourrelics, the
first
teenth (up to
temptation,
work
of a
real
Buddha and and
is
st.
31), carrying the narrative
defeat
Mara and
of
ol!
to the
Buddha's
It is the enlightenment. actuated by intense devotion to the
poet who,
the truth
down
his
his doctrine,
has
studied
careful to use the authoritative sources
the
scripture
open to him,
but
who has no
special inclination to the marvellous and the miraculous, and reduces the earlier extravagant and chaotic legends to
the measure and form of the Kfivya.
Asvaghosa does not depart in
however, Harivarman, a pupil of Kumaralata, was a contemporary of Vasubandhu, then Kumaralata could not have been a younger contemporary of Asvaghosa, but should be 1
If,
dated not earlier than the 3rd century
A
D.
alditional cantos by Arartananda, a that he wrote the supplement in Nepaleae Pandit of the 19th century, win records at the end a 1830 A. D., because he could not find complete manuscript of the te*t. Also trs. into 2
Ed. E. B. Cowell, Oxford 1893, containing four
.lena 1922; into Italian by English by Cowell in SBE, vol. 49; into German by C. Cappeller, Re-edited more critically, and translated into English, by E. Bari 1912. Johnston in 2 vols., Calcutt t 1936 (Panjab Ooiv. Orient. Publ. Nos. 31-32), which may be
H
C Fonnichi,
consulted for bibliography of other Indian editions and for critical and exegetical contributions Johnston remarks : "The textual tradition of the extant to the subject by various scholars. is only made possible by comparison with the Tibetan and edition a sound is and bad, portion Chinese translations." The Tibetan text, with German translation, under the title Da* Ltben
des
Buddha von Ahagliosa, 10-1343B
is
given by F. Weller, in two parts, Leipzig 1926, 1928,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
74
from the received tradition, but he succeeds in infusing into his well conceived and vivid narrative the depth of his religious Not unworthily feeling and the spontaneity of his poetic emotion.
essentials
is
the skilful
draws
he
of
the
young prince Sarvarthasiddhi's journey through the city, of the throng of fair women who hasten to watch him pass by, of the hateful spectacle
praised
picture
and death which he encounters on the way, of the womanly blandishments and the political arguments of wisdom set forth by the family priest, which seek to divert the
of disease, old age
prince's of the
mind from brooding thoughts
famous night-scene
of
of resignation,
well
as
women, who
sleeping
as
their
in
moment of unconsciousness present all the loathsome signs of human misery and thereby hasten the flight of the prince from the palace. The requirement of a battle-scene in the Kavya is fulfilled
by the pleasing variation of the spirited description of the The work is, therefight with Mara and his hosts.
Buddha's
1
fore, not a
bare recital of incident, nor
is
it
exposition of Buddhist doctrine, but the ceived in the spirit of the
Kavya
and dogmatic
a dry
is
Buddha-legend
in respect of
diction
narrative,
and imagery, and the poet's flame of faith makes the best the poem quiver with the needed glow.
The Saundarananda 2
,
Nanda,
appearance.
Nothing
1
the
is
the
nicknamed
more
than
Sundara a
mention
is 2
Raghu-varnsa (3rd
ed,,
of
the
Bombay
fact
not
only
of
in
in Nandargikar's introduc-
1897, pp. 163-96)
;
but the argument based
him has not found general support
very unlikely.
Discovered and edited by Haraprasad
re-edited and translated into English by E.
which gives
full
bibliography.
Buddha-carita, Johnston
is of
In
262 note,
spite
opinion that
more mature and assured than that p.
handsome
his
for
Parallelisms between As*vaghosa and Kalid&sa in some of these passages,
thereon that Kalidasa was earlier and As*vaghosa imitated
and
his reluctant
conversion of
ideas but also in diction and imagery, have been set forth in detail tion to bis edition of
lines of
eighteen cantos of which are connected also with the story of the all
preserved in Sanskrit, is Buddha; but its actual theme half-brother,
con-
of
Shastri, Bibl.
H of
"
Ind.,
Calcutta
Johnston, Oxford Univ. the
richer content
1910;
and wider
interest of
the handling of the Saundarananda
the Buddha-carita
" ;
Contra
critically
Press, 1928, 1932
is
Winternitz,
the
altogether
ffIL,
IJ,
AHVAGHOSA AND HIS SCHOOL
75
conversion
in the Maharayga and the Nidana-katha is found and the subject is perhaps too slender to support an extensive
But the opportunity
poem.
poem,
;
to
expand the
ments, and in the poet's
religious
legend
the earlier
taken, in
with the
foundation
mythical
length to the
the
cantos,
Kapilavastu,
its
love
for
lutter's
Nanda
the forcible conversion of
six
first
of
Buddha and Nanda,
king, the birth of the
at
The
and convictions.
ideas
of the
part
Kavya-embellish-
proper
latter part, to give expression
therefore, describe the
his wife Sundarl,
is
to the life of
a monk, which he intensely dislikes, his conflict of feelings, and Sundari's lament for her lost husband. All this is pictured skilfully in the
considerable there of
is
manner and
narrative
much
not
Nanda's ascent
space
is,
diction
interest
of
but
;
Kavya, and possesses
the
in the
rest
account
heaven and yearning for Apsarases.
Entire
therefore, devoted to an
evils of pride
and
tion of the
exposition of
impassioned the vanities of the world and
lust,
Here, more than in the
enlightenment.
the
imaginative
the
joys of
presenta-
preacher, no
the
Buddha-legend, Asvaghosa
hand
poem
the
of description or narration except to
the
of
doubt,
Asvaghosa the poet but in this very conflict between his poetic temperament and religious passion, which finds delight in all that is delightful and yet discards it as empty and unsatisfying, lies the secret of the spontaneity and gets the upper
forcefulness
which
of
forms
;
not merely the zeal of the importance of what he has to
is
It appeal of his. poetry. convert but the conviction of the
the
real
that
say
often
makes him scorn
and speak with an mere verbal polish and learned overmastering directness, the very truth and enthusiasm of which his sentences and sharpen his gift of pointed phrasing, balance ostentation
add a
new
zest to his emotional earnestness.
In this respect Asvaghosa's poetry lacks the
and subtlety of the
later
Kavya
;
but
it
technical
possesses
finish
freshness of
born of passionate faith. feeling in the simplicity and nobility ical atid BuddhiAsvaghosa is fully conversant with the Brahman stic
learning
of
his
day,
while
his
metrical
skill
and
use of
HISTORY OF SANS KBIT LltERATt) ftfi
76
1
ornaments betoken his familiarity with the poetic art but the inherent contrast between the poet and the artist, on the rhetorical
;
one handj and the scholar and the preacher, on the other, often At the results in strange inequalities of matter and manner.
Agvaghosa declares that he is writing and not merely for a learned audience, for peace and not for the display of skill in the
conclusion of his poems, for a larger public,
the attainment of
The
whether he belongs to this or that school of thought, or whether he employs this or that metre or ornament in his poems is immaterial what is material
Kavya.
question,
therefore,
;
that
theme, but religious emotion, which supplies the necessary impetus and evolves its own form of expression without making a fetish of mere rhetoric to
recognise
or
mere dogma.
is
religion
ASvagbosa
is
not
is
a
his
by nature, a highly
poet
man
cultivated
by training, and a deeply religious devotee by This unique combination is often real and vital
conviction.
enough to lift his poetry from the dead level of the commonplace and the conventional, and impart to it a genuine emotional tone which
work
rare
is
in
modern
to
later
What
poetry.
taste is his
power
is
most pleasing in his
combining a sense of reality and scholarship. His narra-
of
and poetry with the skill of art tive, therefore^ is never dull, his choice of incident and arrangement never incoherent, his diction seldom laboured and his expression
rarely
devoid
of
finished artist in the sense in
elegant
which
If
simplicity.
he
successors are,
his
is
not a
nor even
capable of great things, his poetic inspiration is If his poetry genuine, and he never speaks in a tiresome falsetto. has not the stress and discipline of chiselled beauty, it has the a great
poet
pliability
and promise of unrefined form
the throb ;
if
;
it
has the sincerity and
not the perfectly ordered harmony, of full-grown music. 2 Agvaghosa's versatility is indicated by his third work, a
Prakaraija or nine-act drama, 1
On Asvagboa
*
H.
entitled 8ariputra-prakarana (or
as scholar and artist, see Johnston, op.
Liiders, D, ein
d Berliner Akad., 1911,
p.
388
f.
Drama
.des
eft., pt. II,
pp- xliv-lxxix.
A6vagho^,
in
Sitzungsberichtc
ASVAGHOSA AND HIS SCHOOL
77
3aradvatiputra), of which only fragments on palm leaf were discovered in Central Asia and a few passages restored by Liiders. Fortunately the colophon exists, and the question of Its theme authorship and name of the work is beyond doubt. an of act conversion connected the with is, again, Buddha,
namely, that of Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, but the fragments give us little idea of the way in which the story, well-known
from such older sources
Mahavagya, was handled, in having a Prakrit-speaking Vidusaka as one of the characters and the
as
in conforming to the requirements regarding
division
into
1
use of literary Prakrits, ornamental metrical excursions the
details,
the
3
drama
however,
fragments,
method
and
afford
of
technique
were already established
a
2
acts,
and other
testimony that developed Sanskrit
clear
fairly
2nd century A.D. by the fragments of two
in the 1st or
This presumption is confirmed a-lso 4 which were discovered other plays,
with
,
the
remains
of
tSariputra-prakarana, but which bear no testimony of authorship and may or may not have been written by ^Tsvaghosa. The first has
theme
for its
a Buddhist
allegory,
which the
of
details
are not
although a whole leaf of the manuscript has been recovered. Firmness' and Buddhi Wisdom It has Kirti 'Fame/ Dhrti
clear,
'
'
'
and apparently foreshadows such allegorical plays as Krsnamisra's Prabodha-candrodaya of a much later time.
as characters,
The Buddha himself and
all
Sanskrit. 1
On
cited,
and
the
characters,
In
having
so
real,
the Prakrits employed in this
Keith,
HSL,
drama described above,
appears, as in the
pp. 85-89.
The
far
as
as
well
the as
fragments allegorical,
go, speak figures,
it
and the following plays, see Liiders in the works Prakrit ia literary and shows the influence of
Sanskrit. 3
The metres employed
(besides Sloka) are the usual classical ones
;
Arya, Upajati, Salim,
VamSastbavila, Vaaantatilaka, Malinl, Sikharinl, Harinf, Suvadanft, Sardulavikrujita and
Sragdhara. 8
Contra Sten Konow, Indische Drama, Berlin and Leipzig 1920,
p. 50,
but
the
grounds are weak. 4
H.
Liiders,
Bruchstticke
tionen, Kleinere Sanskrit-Texte see Johnston,
I,
op. cit., pp. xx-xxii.
buddhisHscher Berlin
1911,
Dramen, Kongl. Preuss. Turfan-ExpenThe questiot of authorship is undecided
;
8
HlSlmV
Ol?
SANSKRIT
resembles more the its
Caitanya-candrodaya of Kavikarnapura in manner of treatment, but no definite conclusion is possible.
The other play appears
have been al&o intended for religious edification, but from what remains of it we may infer that it was a social drama of middle class life of the type of the concerns
It
MTCchakatika.
to
a
young voluptuary,
Nayaka and probably named Somadatta,
the
called simply
and his mistress
Magadhavati, apparently a courtesan converted to Buddhism. There are also a Prince (Bhattidalaka), an ever-hungry Vidusaka, named Kaumudagandha, a maid-servant, and a Dusta or Rogue.
The fragments are few is difficult to make out of
and
the origin
in
the
number and not consecutive, and it But in view of the uncertainty story.
antiquity
of
specimens, which belong probably to interesting
;
for they reveal the
form,
relatively perfected
Sanskrit
the
the
drama in
same
its first
and clearly indicate
Drama, these age, are highly
appearance in a that
its
origin
should antedate the Christian era.
From we have
the literary
seen, is
point of
marked not
so
view, A^vaghosa's achievement,
much by
crudity and primitive-
ness as by simplicity and moderation in language and style; is artistic but not in the extravagant manner of the later
it
Kavya.
Its
and poetic quality, therefore, manner and artistic effect. This
are
matter
appealing than its different from the later taste and standard
of
is
more
certainly
verse-making
;
and
not surprising that with the exception of Kalidasa, who is nearer his time, Agvaghosa exercised little influence on later it is
1
Sanskrit poets, although the exception itself is a sure indication of the essential quality of his literary effort. Despite their religious zeal, the literary works of Asvaghosa could not have
been approved whole-heartedly also by the learned monks for his freedom of views and leaning towards Brahmanical learning.
1
The only quotation from ASveghosa in Alarpkara literature occur? in nw5i td. Qaekwad's 0. 8., p. 18 (**Buddha>c. viii. 25), For other
see Johnston, op. cit., pp. Ixxix-lxxx, abd F.
W. Thomas*
Kts, intrpd., p. 29.
AVAGHOA AND With
the Buddhist
writers
the
of
79
HIS SCHOOL
A^vaghosa was deservedly popular modelled so closely on those of
;
Kavya, on the other hand, and some of their works were A^vaghosa that they were
indiscriminately assigned to him in later times, with the result 1 that the authors themselves came to be identified with him.
Of the successors
Asvaghosa, who are to be taken into not because they were Buddhists but because their
account,
of
works possess a wider literary appeal, we have already spoken of Kumaralata, one of whose works is ascribed by the Chinese tradition to Asvaghosa
have
Some
himself.
likewise .been
attributed
to
2
of the
poems
Matrceta
of
the
Avaghosa by
Tibetan
one of whose famous chroniclers, Taranatba being of Of the opinion that Matrceta is another name for Asvaghosa twelve works ascribed to Matrceta in Tibetan and one in Chinese, tradition,
!
most
which are
of
distinctly to
and
in the nature of Stotras
Mahayana, only fragments
of
some belonging
$atapancaatka-stotra*
and Catuhhtaka-stotraf or panegyric of one hundred and fifty and four hundred stanzas respectively, are recovered in Sanskrit. Botlr these works are simple devotional poems in Slokas. T hey are praised by Yi-tsing, to whom Matrceta is already a famous poet,
and who Chinese
himself ;
have translated the
to
spite
his
of
first
work
into
literary merit.
name occurring
distinctly in
was confused with Asvaghosa, that he belonged to the same school
inscriptions,
have been due to the fact
and was probably a contemporary.
1
much
but they do not appear to possess
That Matrceta, in Yi-tsing and in the
may
said
is
Concerning the identifications, see P.
A
Tibetan version of another
W. Thomas
in
Album Kern, Leiden 1903,
pp. 405-08 and IA t 1903, pp 345-60; also see ERE, VIII (1915), p. 495f. 2 For a list of the works see F. W, Thomas, Kvs, introd., pp. 26-28. 3
Fragments published by
Pousain in
JRAS,
S.
Le*vi
in
1911, pp. 769-77. Siegiing
of the Sanskrit text; see Winternitz,
H/L,
is
JA, XVI, 1910, pp. 438-56 and L. de la Valtee reported to have reconstructed about two-thirds
II, p. 271 note.
Both these works exist
in
Tibetan
and Chinese. 4
The work
fragments,
is
called
Varnan&rha-varnana in the Tibetan
For a translation
1905 f pp. 145463.
of this text from Tibetan, see F,
version
and Central Asian
W. Thomas
in I A f
XXVIV,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE called
in eighty-five stanzas, Maharaja-kanika-lekha, ascribed to Matrcitra, has been translated into English by P. W.
work,
Thomas,
1
who
is
with
identical
probably right in
thinking that Matrcitra is and that king Kanika 'of the Kusa
Matrceta,
dynasty addressed in this epistle of religious other than the Kusana king Kaniska. 2
Of greater Matrceta a free
than
interest
the
the Jataka-mala* of
is
but
Sanskrit
elegant 4
is
no
meagre works of which consists of
rather
Arya Sura,
prose and verse, of
in
rendering,
admonition
from the Pali Jdtakas and the legends the Paramitas or perfections of a ^Gariyii-pitaka, illustrating Bodhisattva. sometimes marked by exaggeration, the Although selected
thirty-four
tales are edifying.
ing ready
more
They were apparently composed
illustrations
than
for
supply-
to religious discourses, but the interest is
The
religious.
work
reveals
a
close
study
of
A^vaghosi's manner, and is inspired by the same idea of conveying in polished, but not too highly artificial, diction the noble doctrine of universal compassion
and
it is not surprising, therethat the author should be identified sometimes with Asvafore,
The
ghosa.
attractive
;
form in which the old
the Kavya-style slows that
was meant
it
stories are retold in
for a wider but cultivated
we have
and
audience, Yi-tsing's testimony, confirmed by the existence of Chinese and Tibetan translations, that the work was at one time popular in India and outside. Arya Sura's date is
unknown, but
1
7/1,
as
XXII, 1903,
p.
another work of his
345
f.
The
king Kamka's invitation to bis court.
epistle
ia
The vogue
Ed. H. Kern in Harvard 0.
S.,
1801;
Buddhists, Oxford University Press, 1895. '
written 4
see F.
The
was translated into
supposed to be Matrcitra's reply declining such epistolary exhortation ia borne out
of
by Nagarjuna's Suhfllekha and Candragomin's Sisya-lehha. 2 But contra 8. C. Vidyabhugan iu JASB, 1910, p. 477 3
5
trs.
J
title is a
S.
f.
Speyer in
Sacred Books of the
generic term, for various poets have
*
garlands
of Jatakas.
The Chinese
version contains only 14 stories.
For a
other works ascribed to
W.
list of
Thomas, Kvs,
introd., p. 26
f.
Xrya Sura by Chinese and Tibetan
traditions,
AVADINA LITERATURE Chinese in 434 century A.D.
AD.,
entitled
what
is
cannot be dated later than the 4th
1
THE AVADINA LITERATURE
2.
Closely
he
81*
connected with
the
which
Jataka-mala,
also
is
Bodhisattvavadana-mala, are the works belonging to called the Avadana literature for the Jataka is nothing ;
more than an Avadana (Pali Apadana) or tale of great deed, the hero of which is the Bodhisattva himself. Their matter sometimes coincides, and actual Jataka stories are contained in the Avadana works. 2 The absorbing theme of the Avadanas being the
illustration
end
in view, but the rigour of the
by a frank
Buddha
of
belief
the
fruit of
the
in
man's action, they have a moral
Karman
efficacy
The
or his followers.
of
doctrine
personal
tales are
is
palliated
devotion
the
to
sometimes put, as in the
Jataka, in the form of narration by the Buddha himself, of a past, present or future incident and moral exhortations, miracles and ;
exaggerations come in as tions they are is
as
As
matter of course.
literary producinterest historical their but commendable,
hardly
considerable
a
affording
of a peculiar
illustration
type
of
story-telling in Sanskrit.
The tataka,*
oldest
which but
narratives,
these
of is
collections
We
perhaps
well known from some
its
literary
merit
arranged schematically, but not 1
is
is
not
on a well
of
Avadana-
the its
interesting
The
high. conceived
tales are 1
plan,
into
do not take here into account the works of other and later Buddhist writeis,
of Sryadeya, the Suhrllekha of Nagarjuna, the Sisya-lekha and Lokananda-nataka of Candragoroin, or the Bodhicaryavat&ra of Santideva, for they contribute more to doctrine or philosophy than to literature. 2 See Serge d'Oldenberg in JRAS, 1898, p. 304; and for Avadaoa literature in
such
as the Catuh-tatalta
general, see L. Feer's
series
of
articles
in
JA between 1578 and
1884, and introd. to his
translation of the Avadana-tataka. 3
Ed.
J.
8. Speyer, BibJ.
L. Peer in Ann ale 9 du
Must*
Buddh., St. Petersburg
Guimet, Paris 1891.
An
1902-09;
earlier
trs.
into
French by
but lost Asok&vadana was
composed, according to Przyluski, by a Mathurft monk about two centuries before Ktniska.
U-1348B
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
,82
ten decades, each dealing with a certain, subject, and are told with set formulas, phrases and situations. The first four decades deal with stories of pious deeds by which one can become a
Buddha, and include prophecies
of the advent
the
of
Buddhas
;
souls in torments,
speaking of the world of narrates the causes of their suffering with a tale and a lesson in The next decade relates stories of men and animals morality.
while the
fifth,
V
reborn as
gods,
deeds which are
often
while
the last four decades are concerned with
and there
prolix,
didactic than literary
of
date of the
work
uncertain, but
is
mention of the Dlnara as a current coin
while the
Denarius)
more
is
The
motive in the narration.
The legends
become Arhats.
to
qualify persons
is
supposed
the lower limit
is
supplied more convincingly
into Chinese in the
first
(Roman
indicate 100 A.D. as the upper limit,
to
its
by
translation
half of the 3rd century.
Hardly more interesting from the literary point of view is 1 the Divyavadana, the date of which is also uncertain, but which, earlier
making extensive use of Kumaralata's work, cannot be than the 1st century A.D. It is substantially a Hinayfma
but
text,
Mahayana
probably
a
different
periods
The
prose
ornate
of
of
compilation
is
this
of
but this type.
has
been traced in
polygenotis
it.
Being
extending over
origin,
matter and manner are unequal. interrupted by Gathas and pieces of
time,
frequently
stanzas,
works
material
is
its
a feature
The language
which is
is
shown by other
reasonably
correct
and
but debased Sanskrit, marked by Prakritisms, is not the diction is sometimes laboured and ornamental. and absent, We have here some really interesting and valuable narratives,
simple
;
A^oka legends, but they are scarcely well the arrangement is haphazard and chaotic and the work
specially told
;
the
cycle
;
as a whole possesses
1
aitcd,
little literary
distinction.
Ed. B. B. Cowell and R. A. NeifiT Cambridge 1886.
been traced 1
of
to other
For other
2
Almost
all
the stories
Lave
works. collections of
tnd Winternitz, H/L,
unpublished Avadftnts,
II, pp. 290-92,
see-
Speyer and Peer, in the work*
To the
some parts
belongs
even
Events,'
an
if
the
of
its
earlier period.
besides
the
century of
first
Christian 1
the
'
the
Mahavastu,
probably nlso Book of Great
era
substantial nucleus probably took shape in its
Although
life-story
83
AND FABtK
tAJ.K
the
of
is
subject
Vinaya,
it
contains,
some narratives
Buddha,
of the
Jataka and Avadana type but in its jumbling of confused and disconnected matter and for its hardly attractive style, it has small The same remark literary, compared with its historical, interest. ;
applies of
more
the
the
Lalita-vistara,
'
of
sport
and origin diverse. of the
2
or less to the
'
Buddha,
the Buddha, Whatever may be
its style is
its
by long metrical
interrupted
value
biography The Puranas.
Sanskrit
passages
in
The Buddhist anecdotal
mixed Sanskrit, and
literature
reflects
perhaps
of the literary, us well as popular, taste of the time, of
telling
the
;
of
view,
which is
represent
perhaps
The Avadana,
period.
liked
the
didactic
from
story-telling
synchronous,
the various extant versions of the two works later
which
a
Brhatkatha,
point
an aspect
simple and unadorned, but distinctly for the origin of the Sanskrit Pancatanlra and in
tales
manner
Prakrit
another
often
THE LITERATURE OF TALE AND FABLE
3.
elegant,
is
prose
pretensions are not of a high order.
its literary
the
unknown
is
a
as
not unlike that of the
narrative in 'simple but undistinguished
account
detailed
which
the date of
belong
to
although a
much
and the
beast-fable
While the Avadana, popular tale are indeed not synonymous. is clearly distinguishable as a closely related to the Jataka, Buddhist
gest,
which has
a
definite
religious
significance,
the
two species are purely secular in object and character. The method of story-telling is also different ; for in the Jataka other
we have ..generally the application
or Avadana, 1
Ed. E. Smart, 8
2
Ed.
vols,
Paris 1882-97,
\vitb detailed
of
summary
a
past
of contents
legend
and Dotes.
Rajendralal Mitra, Bibl. lad,, Calcutta 1877 ; English Irs. by same (up to cb, Ind. 1881-86; re-edited by 8. Lefmunn, Halle 1902, 1S08; complete French trs xv), Bibl.
by
P. B.
Fouoa-u
i
\
Annales da Muste
Guimef, Paris 1884, 1892.
8i to
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE a
of
tale
In the Jataka the Bodhisattva
to-day.
of his past experience, but
not narrated in the
it is
a tale
tells
first
person ; the device of first-hand narrative, as well as of enclosing a tale^ is a feature which characterises the classical method. The Sanskrit poetic theory ignores the Jataka and Avadana, presumably because they have a religious objective and seldom rises to the level of art, but
does not also clearly
it
minate between the fable and the
define
The
tale.
and
discri-
elaborate attempt
between the Katha and the Akhyayika, 1 as the invented story and the traditional legend respectively, is more
to distinguish
or less academic, and has hardly
Some
case.
of
Kathas, but one of
any application
the
versions
of
the
entire
Guijadhya's work
while
Tantrakhyayika, Great Katha. Possibly no
fine
of
perhaps
a
story.
be
made
A in
rigid
distinction
the
nor
other,
PaHcatantra^ of
human
isolated.
is riot
work
The
are
not
styled
and the cannot
however,
entirely
as
beast-fable,
is
here in the general
between the fable
for the different elements in each
present
meant,
is
differentiation,
practice
the
designated as the
is
terms Katha aud Akhyayika are employed sense
to
Pancatantra are indeed called
stories of the
the
aftd
the tale
excluded
by the
typified
seldom enriched by folk-tale and spicy
adventure,
while
the
as
tale,
Brhatkathd^ sometimes becomes complex the elements of the fable and its didactic
;
in
stories
by the
represented
by absorbing some of motive.
Both these
types^ again^ should be distinguished from the prose romance, the so-called Katha and Akhyayika^ such as the Harsa-carita and the
Kadambarl,
which
in
all
the graces ard refinements of the
Kavya
are transferred from verse to prose, either to create an exuberantly
and transform a legend or folk-tale. The currency of tales and fables of all kinds may be presumed from remote antiquity, but they were perhaps not used
fanciful story or to vivify
a
for 1
p. 307f.-
definite
purpose^
See S. K. De,
Dandin
tf-28>
like the Paiicatantra
nor reduced
The Katba and the Akhyayika
to in
a
literary form, until
Classical
Sanskrit in
speaks of Xkhyana as a general species, in which
were probably included,
BSOS,
col lectio us
of
III, tales
85
TALE AND FABLK
The
ancestor of the popular tale
may have been sach Vedic Akhyanas
as are preserved, for instance,
at a comparatively late period.
in the
Rgvedic dialogue-hymn
of
Pururavas and UrvasI,
or
in
such Brahmanic legends as that of Sunah^epa ; but it is futile to seek the origin of the beast-fable in the Rgvedic hymn of frogs 103), which panegyrises
(vii.
didactic
than
the
more from a magical
frogs
or in the Upanisadic parable of dogs (Gh.
motive,
12), which represents the dogs as searching out a leader Up. to howl food for them, but which may have been either a satire i.
or
an
allegory.
Nor
there any clear recognition of the fable
is
Epics as a distinct literary genre, although the motifs of the clever jackal, the naughty cat and the greedy vulture are in the
employed for the purpose of moral instruction. But all these, of as well as the Jataka device of illustrating the virtues 1
Buddhism by means
of
material out of which
the
In
Pancatantra.
the
its
may
beast-stories, full-fledged
perfected
have suggested the
beast-fable developed
form,
it
differed
in
from the
or the mere tale about beasts, in having the motive latent clearly and deliberately brought out and artistically conveyed in a definite framework and a connected
parable
simple
didactic
grouping of clever
men
are
ascribed
to
form
popular in such a creation
literary
which the thoughts and deeds of There is nothing simple or animals. in
stories,
;
and the beast-fable as an independent
diverged
considerably
in
this
respect
from the popular tale, which is free from didactic presentation and in which the more or less simple ideas of the people
and
stories of
their
human
belief life,
in
find
and magic, as well as racy a direct expression. In the case
myth
connexion with the courts of princes is tale, no doubt, speaks of romantic prince
of beast-fable, again, the clearer.
The popular
and princess
of a fairy land
;
but the framework of
beast-fables like the Paftcatantra,
1
The Barhut Stupa
beast-fable at least in the
reliefs, depicting
2nd Century B.C.
which
some
is
collection
delivered in the
of the stories, establish the
form
of of
currency of the
SO
OK SANSKIUT M'i'BKATUHK
lUSlOKY
instruction practical
ment.
young princes in morality, leaves no doubt about one form
but
fiastra,
and
statecraft
of its employ-
thus closely related to the Niti-^astra and Arthais not The directly opposed to the Dharma-^astra.
It is 1
tender- minded
to
it
for even
the beast-fable inculcates political wisdom or expediency in the practical affairs of life, rather than a strict code of uprightness, it seldom teaches cleverness at the fact is important
;
if
2 expense of morality.
The Pancatantra
a.
The only collection of beast-fable and the solitary surviving work of this kind in Sanskrit is the Pancatantra, which has come down to us in various forms but it is a work which has perhaps 3 There a more interesting history than any in world-literature. ;
4
can be
from
doubt that
little
Each
deliberate literary form.
the
of its five parts,
of separation of tively with the themes
of
winning
friends
vigraha), loss of
one's
they form No
2
F. Edgerton in
and
J.
Hertel
Berlin,
known
to
brief re"sum6
GIL,
dual tales
fitted into
and
p.
more
in
spreading
this
p. '271
Paftcatantra,
Index,
1914,
of
JAOS, XL,
(Das
exist
extra-Indian)
nitz,
whole
respec-
(Mitra-bheda),
(Samdhi-
peace
and
(Labdha-nasa)
gains
a
hasty action but all together
;
the frame of the introduction.
direct influence of Kaulilya's Artha-xastra can be traced in the PaHcata.nl ra.
1
3
and
a narrative unit in itself
is
(Apariksita-karitva), a perfect
war
(Mitra-prapti),
dealing
friends
had
it
beginning
very
history,
III, pp. 294-311
;
451
f.
seine
und
Geschichie over
records
T.)
200
seine
than
50 languages (three-fourths
over
a
as
Keith,
well
of
region
extending from Java
as
a
HSL,
for
pp. 248
brief f,
357
summary f.
Verbreitung, versions
different
the to
of
Leipzig
work
the
languages befn?
For
Iceland.
of the work, see
a
Winter-
The question whether the
indivi-
or the Indian fable itself as a species, were borrowed, in their origin, from Greece
of the priority of Greece, but the suggestion complicated. Chronology is in favour is Greece not proved. Some points of similarity may from borrowed India that consciously be admitted, but they may occur without borrowing on either side At any rate, if reciprocal is
much
influences and exchanges occurred, India seems to have given entirely Indian, while the fable
position thnt. the tale
is
cussed, for
to-day no longer seek to find the
i'olklorists
any one country.
more than
it
took.
Benfey's
came from Greece, need not be bhthplaceof
all
tales
and
dis-
fublrn
in
PANVATAOTRA
THIS
The
are
stories
the
in
as
told,
case
H7 the popular tale, in
of
simple but elegant prose, and there is no attempt at or sentimental excursions or elaborate stylistic effects. bining of a
number
of
fables
a
also
is
in the
number
of general
which
feature
it
merely emboxed
by
the time
More interesting and
in
insertion
the prose
didactic motive
its
;
narrative
;
of
a
is
a
but the tradition
Brahmanas and
the
of
The
of effect.
gnomic stanzas
dictated
is
current from
is
which
of disjointed stories, considerable skill in
weaving achieving unity and completeness is,
The com-
characteristic
shares with the popular tale, but they arc not there
descriptive
the Jatakas.
not altogether original, is the device conveniently summing up the moral of the various stories in pointed memorial stanzas, which are not general maxims butnovel,
if
of
special labels to distinguish the points of 1
suggestion
a
of
hypothetical
which the verse remained
individual
Vedic
prose-poetic
fables.
The
Akhyana,
in
fixed but the prose mysteriously
out, is not applicable to the case of the blend of prose in the fable literature for the prose here can never
dropped and verse
drop out, and
;
the essential nature of the stanzas
gnomic or recapitulatory, There must have existed a
is
and not dramatic or interlocutory. great deal of floating
gnomic literature in Sanskrit since the time which Brahmanas, might have been utilised for these passages of didactic wisdom. of the
The
however,
not
single text, but a sequence of texts it exists in more versions than one, worked out at different times and places, but all diverging from a
Paflcatantra,
is
a
;
single
The
2
which must have existed long before 570 A.D. when the Pahlavi version was made, is now lost but
original text.
original,
;
neither
1
d.
its
date nor
H. OJdeuberg
in
altindischen Prosa,
125
f,
2
its
title
nor provenance,
ZDMG, XXXVII,
p. 54 f
Berlin
f
1917, p. 53
and
;
XXXIX,
Lit.
d.
p.
alien
52
f
;
is
known with
also- in his
Indien,
cited
Zur Geschichte above,
pp 44 '
f
]53f.
The
literature
be found
idea
of
a
Prakrit
on the Paflcatantra
summarised
is
original
is
discredited both by Hertel and Edgerton.
vast and scattered, but the results
in the works, cited below, of these
two
of the various
scholars.
The
studies will
88
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
The
certainty.
work was subjected
which the
the transformation, to course of time, make the
in
one
reconstruction
of
problem
character and extent
of
of
but
intricacy,
great
the
and Edgerton 2 have succeeded in a great labours of Hertel measure in going back to the primary Paficatantra by a close and 1
detailed examination
That
the various existing versions.
of
originally contained five books with a brief introduction and called Paftcatantra, is
now made
fairly certain,
siderable discussion of the
meaning more than a book or denote nothing
may
is
word Tantra.
was
a conIt
may
subject-matter, but since
its
3 Tantrahhyayika of one of the versions, it indicate a text of polity as an art. There is no evidence
occurs
it
of the
but there
it
the
in
title
at all of authorship
introduction to
;
the
name Visnusarman, applied in the wise Brahman who instructs, with these for the
stories, the ignorant sons of
king Amarasakti of
Mahilaropya in as the names of the king and
obviously as fictitious Hertel thinks that the work was composed in the place. while nothing can Kashmir, but his arguments are inadequate be confidently inferred from the mention of Gauda or Bsyamuka
Deccan,
is
;
or of well
known
places of
pilgrimage like Puskara,
Varanasi,
Prayaga and Garigadvara.
The various important recensions of the Pancatantra have been classified into four main groups, which represent diversity 4
of tradition, but
The 1
first is
Das
all
of
which emanate from the
the lost Pahlavi version,
6
lost
original.
from which were derived
Paftcatantra, cited above, as well as works and editions cited below.
*
The Pancatantra Reconstructed Text, Critical Apparatus, Introduction and Translation, 2 vols., American Orient. Soc., New Haven, Conn., 1924, 3 Jacobi, however, would translate it apparently as a collection of akhyayika in tantras, t
'die in 4
bucher eingeteilte Erzahlungssammlung.' Hertel, however,
believes ia
two
See F.
W. Thomas
in
JRAS,
1910, p. 1347.
versions of one Kashrnirian recension only as the
archetype of the other three recensions, namely, the Tantr&khyayika and what be calls For a abort genealogical table, setting forth the relationship of tfce- four main recensions 'E*. or groups, see Edgerton, op.
cit. t
II, p. 48,
and
for
a full and detailed table cf
all
known
versions see Penzer's Ocean of Story', Vol. V, p. 242 (also by Edgerton). 6
Made
by
he
(581-79 A.D.) under*
he
physician title
Burzoe under the
Karataka and Darnanaka.
patronage
of
Chosroes
Anu0hTrwan
THR PASfcATANTRA the old Syriac
1
and Arabic 2 versions
;
and
89 it
was through
this
somewhat modified form, was of Europe. The second is a lost North-western recension, from which the text was incorporated into the two North-western (Kashmirian) Sanskrit
source that the Paficatantra, in a
introduced
the
into
fable
literature
of versions Gunadhya's Brhatkatha, made respectively by Ksemendra and Somadeva (llth century A.D.). 8 The third is the common lost source of the Kashmirian version, entitled 4 Tantrakhyayika, and of the two Jaina versions, namely, the
known from Biihler and Kielhorn's not and the much amplified Ornatior Text, 6 called Paficakhyana, of Purnabhadra (1199 A.D.). The fourth 7 is similarly the common lost source of the Southern Paficatantra, Simplicior
Text, well
very critical edition,
6
Made by Bud, a Persian Christian, about 570 A.D. under Damnag. Ed Schulthess, Berlin 1911. 1 Made by 'Abdullah Ibnu'l-Muquffa about 750 A.D. under 1
Dimna. *
Ed.
L
title
Kalilag
wa
the style
Kallla
wa
the
Cheikbo, 2nd Ed., Beyrouth 1923.
Brhatkatha-maftjari xvi.
'255 f
;
Leo von Mankowski
Hatha-sarii-sagaTa lx-!xiv.
baa
edited, with trans etc., (from only one imperfect MS), Kseu.endra'a version separately in Der Kfemendras Brhatkathamafljari, Leipzig 1892. Lacote, Auszug aus dem Paftcatanlra Hertel and Edgerton make it probable that the original Bfhatkatha of Gunadbya did not
m
contain the Paflcatanlra.
computation
in
S^madeva's \ersion
JAOS, LI II,
Mankowtki's edition
,
haa 806
;
1^33,
p. 125)
the Paficatantra (accordii g to Eruenau'e contains 539 Slokas, while Ksemendra's in
of
but deducting the stories not found in Somadeva,
Ksemendra's
would be about 270 only. 4 also ed. J. Hertel Ed. J. Hertel, Berlin 1910, containing two sub-versions Harvard 0. 8., Cambridge Mass. 1915; tra J. Hertel, 2 vols., Leipzig and Berlin 1909.
total
;
in
5 Bombay Skt. Ser., 1868-69 also ed. L. Kosengarten Bonn 3848 ed. K. P. Parab, NSP, Bombay 1896 (revised Parab and V. L. Panshikar 1912). J. Hertel, Uber die Jaina ;
;
Recensionen des Paficatantra
in
BSGW, LIV,
1902, pp. 23-134, gives selections of text and
translation-
Ed
6
J. Hertel,
Harvard Orient
Ser,,
Cambridge Mass., 1908-12;
trs
into
German by
Schmidt, Leipzig 1901; into English by A.W.Ryder, Chicago 1925. Purnabhadra uses both the Tantrakhyayika and the Simplicior text. 7 Ed. J. Hertel (Text of recension 0, with variants from recension a\ Leipzig 1906;
Text
of
recension
o,
ed.
Heinrich
textus amplior des
siidlicl.en
Blatt, Leipgig
Paficatantra in
1930.
ZDMG,
See also J. Hertel, Ober einen
1906-07
(containing
translation of
Of the Nepalese version. Bk. i-iii are included in Hertel's ed. mentioned above, while Bk. iy-v in his. ed. of Tantrakhyayikd, introd., p. xxvii. Selections from the Nepalese version text).
trs. by Bendali in JRAS, 1888, pp. 466-501. and Dos Paftcatantra, pp. 37 f , 818 f,
published with 1910, p. 58
J2
f
1848B
See Herte.1 in
ZDM 0, LXIV,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
(
JO
the Nepalese version and the
1
Bengali
Hitopadega.
A
detailed
study of the character and interrelation of the various recensions and versions is not possible here, but some of their general characteristics
may
be
The Tantrakhyayika
noted.
briefly
is
perhaps the oldest Sanskrit version, and preserves the original text better and more extensively than any other version. But
none of
of the
recensionsnot even the Tantrakhyayika, the claims
which have been much
exaggerated
by Hertel represents North-western original
its entirety the primitive text. The Ksemendra and Somadeva must have been
later in
suffers
Kashmir.
from
its
Ksemendra's
brevity, but
is
is
of
made much
version
fairly faithful,
but dry, abstract
Somadeva's narrative, inspite
few omissions and some interruption tion of extraneous tales,
a
in
of
a
by the introducand attractive. There
of sequence
normally clear
a great deal of reshuffling of stories,
as well
intrusion
as
of
additional matter, in both the Simplicior and Ornatior Texts, the
former adding seven and the latter twenty-one new Southern recension exists in several sub-versions
stories. ;
it
is
The
much
abbreviated, but nothing essential appears to have been omitted, and only one complete story (The Shepherdess and her Lovers) is added. The Hitopadeta* which has currency mostly in Bengal, is
practically an independent work,
containing only four and not
Narayana, whose patron was Dhavalacandra and who must have lived before 1373 A.D., which is the date five
books, by
one
of one of the manuscripts of the work. The compiler amplifies the stories derived in the main from the Paficatantra, by drawing
upon an unknown source,
considerably
omits, alters,
remodels
Repeatedly printed in India, but not yet critically edited. The better known ed. by P. Peterson, Bomb. Skt. Ser., 1887; also Hitopadetia nach NepaUschen Handfchrift. ed. H. Blatt, Berlin 1980 (Roman characters). The earliest ed. is that of A. Hamilton, London 1
is
1810, and the earliest trs. by C. Wilkins, London, 1787. 2
p.
37,
See J. Hertel,
fiber
and Das Paficatantra,
Text p.
38
und Verfasser f.
In
des
Hitcpade&a (Bias.) Leipzig 1897, and alteration, the Hitopadeta
spite of omissions
preserve! over half the entire sub-stories of the Paficatantra, and follows closely the it shares with the Southern recension,
which
archetype
PA&CATANTIU
1'HK
91
the sequence of books and stories, and inserts large selections of didactic matter from Kamandaklya NUi-sara.
Although Hertel
is right in believing that the Pancatantra conceived a as work for teaching political wisdom^ originally yet the fact should not make us forget that it is also essentially
was
a story-book, in
which the
and the political teacher are unified, most often successfully, in one personality. There are instances where the professed practical object intrudes itself, story-teller
and tedious exposition of polity narration
over simple and vivid happily not too numerous,
prevails
but these instances are
;
and the character of the work as
a
political
text-book
never
is
Inequalities doubtless appear in the stories existing in glaring. the different versions, but most of them being secondary, it can
be said without exaggeration that the stories, free from descriptive and ornamental digressions, are generally very well and amusingly told. They show the author as a master of narrative, as well us a perfect
man
of the world,
attitude of detached observation and
seriousness.
If
often
possessed
from an of
con-
a
and humour veiled under his pedagogic he makes his animals talk, he makes them talk
fund of
siderable
never departing
wit
and the frankly fictitious disguise of the fabliau eminently suits his wise and amusing manner. With a few exceptions, the well
individual
stories
cleverly fitted together into a
are
complex but simple, and
The language is elegantly planned form. the author shows taste and judgment in never saying a word too much, a touch of the mock-heroic, and except for well
The gnomic always demanded by the sententious summary of
in realising that over-elaboration is out
stanzas,
not the
if
title- verses,
narrative, but they are
meant
are not to
of
place.
give wo:ldly wisdom and impressive utterance to very ordinary, do not know essential, facts of life and conduct.
We
far
these
stanzas
are
Epics and elsewhere
epigrammatic in
spite of
;
original,
but
terseness,
they
and
for
are
form
some
of
them occur
generally
an
phrased
but
how
in the
with
feature, interesting It is not the tendency to over-accumulate them.
92
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITEKATURTJ
without reason, therefore, that the work enjoyed, and still enjoys, such unrivalled popularity as a great story-book in so many different times
and lands.
The Brhatkathd
b.
Gunadhya
of
by a number of works in Sanskrit, but the earliest appears to have been the Brhatkatha, or ' the Great Story/ of Gunadhya, the Prakrit original of which is
The popular
but
lost,
which
tale
it
If
it
three comparatively late cannot be determined, but
]
Its exact date
already received recognition before GOO
is
A.D.
is clear
from
3
2
importance by Bana and Subandhu and nothing to show that it cannot be placed much earlier.
the references to there
represented
now known from
is
Sanskrit adaptations. that
is
its
to
belongs
;
a
the
after
period
improbable that the work took
Christian
era,
it
is
not
shape at about the same time as
the lost original of the Pancatantra
;
and
to assign
century A.D. would not be an unjust conjecture.
to the fourth
it
4
The recorded
tradition informs us that the original Brhatkathd
was composed in Paisaci Prakrit; and it is noteworthy that the literary form which the popular tale first assumed was one in Prakrit. Like
work
the Pancatantra, the
Gunadhya was undoubtedly a new medium of expression perhaps indicates
literary creation, but the
of
a difference in method and outlook.
J
On
the question of date and author, see J. S. Speyer, Studies about KaihSsariisdgarfi
Amsterdam 1908, first
S.
p.
44
f.
Biihler in his
centnry A.D., with ttluch
Levi (ThMtre indien, 1801,
JRAS,
Kashmir Report summarily
F. Lac6te (Melanges Ltvi,
p. 817) cautiously
adjusts
it
p.
places the work in tin
270)
appears to agree; bu
to the 3rd century.
See Keith in
Both Dandin's Dasa-kumdra-carita and Subandhu's Vasavadattd refer
3909, p. 145f.
to the story of Naravahaoadatta. 3
Hara-carita Introductory Ed. F. Hall, p. 110. t
3 4
gt.
17.
.
The
L4,LXII,
alleged Sanskrit version of Durvinlta of
1913, p. 204 and
JRAS,
1913,
p.
889
the 6th
century (R.
Narasimhacbar in
JRAS, 1911, pp. 186 f) and the K. Aiyungar in JRAS, 1906, p. 689 a> d f;
Fleet in
f upposed Tamil version of the 2nd cf-ntury A. I). (S. Ancient India, London 1911, pp. 328, 337} are too doubtful to be of any use ror chronological See Lacote, Euai sur Gunafyya et la Brhatkatha, Parin 1908, p. 198 f. purposes. ;
THE BJyiHATKATHA
An
93
legendary account of the origin of the work and the personality of the author is given, with some variations, in the introductory account of the two Kashmirian Sanskrit obviously
versions and in the
1
Puranic character. a
Gana
makes
It
Godavarl and becomes
a
an
Gunadhya
who under a curse
of Siva,
of a pseudo-
Nepala-mahatmya
apocryphal
is
born at
incarnation
of
Pratisthana on the
favourite of king Satavahana
;
but the
king has another learned favourite in Sarvavarman, the reputed author of the Katantra grammar. Having lost a rash wager with
Sarvavarman, with regard to the teaching of Sanskrit to the king, who had been put to shame by the queen for his ignorance of
the
and
society,
There, the
and
having
ParvatI,
he in
from
learnt
700,000
in
it
of
Sanskrit
of
regions of the Vindhya
originally
the
Slokas,
saved from destruction and
use
another incarnated
Brhatkatha,
records
the
abjures
retires to the wild
the
of
story
dialect,
Gunadhya
language,
Gana
narrated
hilts.
of Siva
by Siva to
newly picked up local PaisacT which only one-seventh was
preserved in the work as
we have
it
!
The Nepalese version of the legend, however, places Ciunadhya's birth at Mathura and makes king Madana of Ujjayini his patron; it knows nothing of the wager but makes Gunadhya, on being vanquished by Sarvavarman, write the story in PaisacI for no other explicit reason than the advice of a sage named
The legend is obviously a pious Saiva Pulastya. modified in different ways in Kashmir and Nepal;
invention 2
from the
reference Har$a-carita, one may inter that it was known but the value of biographical and in some form to Banabhatta in
the
;
beyond question, if Sarvavarman is introduced, Panini, Vyadi and Vararuci-Katyayana also figure in
other
details
te
not
the legend as contemporaries, although the Nepalese compiler does not appreciate the grammatical interest, nor' the use of
in a
1
Given in Lacdte, op.
2
It is as a saint of Saivism that
Cambodian
ctt.,
Appendix,
inscription of about
p. 29]
f.
Gunu
;
i
genuine quotation from the sequel, then the sequelmust have been added at a
time, at least before the 14th century A.D., unless
quotation from
it
is
Kumaradasa and an appropriation by
shown that the passage
the author of the sequel.
fairly earlj
in question is
The question
re-opened by 8. P. Bhattacbarya in Proceedings of the Fifth Orient. Cow/., Vol. I, pp. 48-14.
i
v,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
128
We
imagination. derived
know exactly from what source but we can infer from his
1
do not
his material,
of the Sakuntala legend, that
he must
Kalidasa treatment rehnndled
have entirely
and reshaped what he derived. The now mythology had life, warmth and colour, and brought the gods nearer to human life and emotion. The magnificent figure of the divine ascetic, scorning love but ultimately yielding to its humanising influence, the myth of his temptation leading to the destruction of Kama as the emblem of human desire, the story of Uma's resolve to win
by renunciation what her beauty and love could not achieve by coming back of her
their seduction, and the pretty fancy of the lover, not in his ascetic
but
pride
in
playful
this
benignity,
poetic, but neither moralistic nor euhcineristic,
scanty Purfmic myth in
finished
a
form
working up of a perhaps all his own.
is
purpose behind the poem, it is merged in its on ft is, the other hand, not bare story-telling or total effect, a of it is the careful work of a poet, whose recounting myth; feeling, art and imagination invest his pictures with a charming Tf there is a serious
which
vividness,
is at
His poetic powers
finely
where
iii,
and intensely human.
spiritual
are best revealed in
canto
temptation in
once
the
his delineation of Siva's
mighty
words, describing the tragic annihilation of the
by word
terrible
of
brevity
sense.
A
gentle
humour
hermit of Siva,
god
but
elaboration,
extreme
its
of destruction,
fine
and
example is
also
of
love-god
not marred by a single
Kfilidasa's
found in
be
in
Uma's hermitage
the
charming fancy and
picture of the
an angry but firm
hermit's
few swift
the pretty
produces infinite suggestiveness by almost perfect fusion of sound and
to
appearing which evokes
leading on to the
is
effect of the
and his
depreciation
rebuke from
revealing himself as
the
jonng Umfi,
god of her
desire.
1
known
The to
story
is told in
Agvaghoea
in
MalialliSrnta, iii. 225 (Bombay ed.) and Ramdyana some form, Buddha-writa, i, 88, xiii, 16.
i
97,
KILiDISA
The theme
of the
Raghu-vanifa
and gives
and extensive f
fuller
l
129 is
much more to
scope
diversified
Kalidasa's
artistic
The work has a greater height of aim and range imagination. of delivery, but has no known predecessor. It is rather a gallery of pictures
than a unified poem
which put the uncertain mass
;
and yet out
of old narratives
a vivid poetical form, Kalidasa succeeds finest
specimens
of the Indian
of these
in evolving
Mahakavya,
pictures,
and traditions into one of the
which exhibits both
the diversity and plenitude of his powers. 2 Out of its nineteen cantos there is none that does not present some pleasing picture, none that does not possess an interest of its own ; and there is
throughout this long poem a fairly uniform excellence of style and There is hardly anything rugged or unpolished anyexpression. where in Kalidasa, and his works must have been responsible for setting the high standard of formal finish
which grew out
of
all
But he never sacrifices, as later poets proportion in later poetry. often do, the intrinsic interest of the narrative to a mere elaboration of the
There
outward form.
is
invariably
equipoise and an astonishing certainty the
a
fine
sense of
touch and taste.
In
Raghu-vama, Kalidasa goes back
theme, but
it is
write
however,
is
heroic times in 2[ives
us
question
is
is
doubtful
if
to early legends for a he seriously wishes to reproduce its
The quality of the poem, Heldengedicht. more important than its fidelity to the roughness of
spirit or
a
which the scene
is laid.
Assuming that what he
only a glorified picture of his own times, the vital whether he has painted excellent individuals or mere
abstractions.
Perhaps Kalidasa
regal characters, in
1
of
whom
Ed. A. P. Stenzler, with a Latin
a
is
little
tra.,
prone to depicting blameless blatneworthiness had better
London 1832;
ed. with the
comm.
of
Mallin&tha
with English y S. P. Pandit, Bombay Skt. Ser.,3 vols., 1869-74, and by G. R. Nandargikar, and of comm. with (i-vi), Narfcyana ed. Aruiiagiri 1897; 3rd rs., revised ed., Bombay translated in parts or as a whole. and Often date. edited no Press, Trichur, langalodaya 8 3
is
The Indian opinion considers the Raghu-va^a to be Kalidasa's greatest poem, so tht the Caret that Ra^hukara par excellence. Its popularity is attested by fgrty commentaries on this poem are Unown
often cited as the
bout
130
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
been blended
;
but
if
they are meant to be
are
they
ideal,
yet
and, granting the environare far from Kalidasa introor ethereal unnatural. ment, they clearly distinguished as individuals
;
an old-world legend and to an atmosphere strange to us with its romantic charm but beneath all that is brilliant duces us
to-
;
and marvellous, he
The
is
always real without being a
earlier part of the
realist.
accords
Raghu-vama
with
well
its
title, and the figure of Raghu dominates, being supported by the but in the latter episodes of his father Dilipa and his son Aja ;
Rama
the
the central figure, similarly heralded by part of DaSaratba and followed by that of Ku6a. There is
story
thus
is
a
unity of design, but the entire poem is marked by a singularly are introduced in varied handling of a series of themes.
We
first
canto to the vows and austerities of the childless
his queen Sudaksina in tending Vasistha's
sacred
Dilipa
and
cow and sub-
mitting to her test, followed by the birth of Raghu as a heavenly boon. Then we have the spirited narrative of young Raghu' s fight
with Indra in defence of his father's
sacrificial
horse,
his
and
his
a
as
his
triumphant progress conqueror, to threatened which all of impoverish him, generosity accession,
which, with picturesque brevity, next three cantos (vi-viii) are devoted to
especially his Digvijaya, is force
and
skill.
The
described
the more tender story of Aja and his winning of the princess IndumatI at the stately ceremonial of Svayarpvara, followed, after a brief interval of triumph and happiness, by her accidental death, which leaves Aja story of his son
disconsolate
and broken-hearted.
Da6aratha's unfortunate
hunt,
The
which follows,
becomes the prelude to the much greater narrative and sorrows of Rama.
of
the
joys
In the gallery of brilliant kings which Kalidasa has painted, his picture of Rama is undoubtedly the best for here we have realities of character which evoke his powers to the utmost. ;
He
did not obviously wish to rival Valmiki on his
but wisely chooses to treat the story ftalidasa devotes one capto of nearly
in
a
his
own ground,
own way.
hundred stanzas
While to
the
KILlDiSA romantic possibilities of Rama's youthful career, he next accomplishes the very difficult task of giving, in a single canto of not
much
rapid but picturesque conmetre, of the almost entire
greater length, a marvellously
Rdmayana up
to the
winning back
Rama's
Sloka
Valmlki's
in
densation,
of
end of Kama's victory over Ravana and
But the
Sita.
pathos of the story of reserved for treatment in the
real
and suffering is next canto, in which, returning from Lanka, Rama is made to describe to Sita, with the redbllective tenderness of a loving heart, the various scenes of their past joys and sorrows over which they exile, strife
pass in their aerial journey.
The episode
a
is
poetical
study of
reminiscent love, in which sorrow remembered becomes bliss^ but it serves to bring out Rama's great love for Sita better than
mere narration or description, pictures
the
of
memory
of
a
theme which
love,
in the
is
varied
by the
presence of suffering,
Megha-duta, and in the two lamentations, in different situations, of Aja and Rati. Rama's passionate clinging to the melancholy, but sweet, memories of the past prepares us for the depicted in the
next canto on Sita's exile, and
heightens by contrast -the grief of the separation, which comes with a still more cruel blow at the climax of their happiness. Kalidasa's picture of this later history of
Rama, more
heroic
in
its
silent
suffering
than the
earlier, has been rightly praised for revealing the poet's power of pathos at its best, a power which never exaggerates but compresses the infinite pity of the situation in just a few words. The
which follows, sinks in interest ; but has a remarkably poetic description of Kusa's dream, in which
story of it
Rama's
son, Kusa,
his forsaken capital city,
forlorn this,
woman and
reproaches
two more cantos
the addition
is
Ayodhya, appears in the guise of a
him
for
her
(xviii-xix) are added,
not clear.
They contain some
fallen
state.
After
but the motive of interesting pictures,
and their authenticity especially that of Agnivarna at the end, is not questioned ; but they present a somewhat colourless account of a series
know
of
unknown and shadowy
kings.
We
shall
whether Kalidasa intended to bring the narrative
never
down
to
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
132
own
his
of
times and connect his
Eaghu
but the poein comes
;
form in which we have that the theme
no
own
1
many
but even
;
brief sketch
from this
It will be seen
it.
not one, but
is
royal patron with the dynasty to an end rather abruptly in the
if
the
work has by the
real unity, its large variety of subjects is knit together
powers of colour, form and music of a marvellous poetic imaginaObjects, scenes, characters, emotions, incidents, thoughts
tion. all
are transmuted and placed in an eternising frame and
setting
'
of poetry.
The Megha-duta* loosely called a lyric or an elegy, is 3 smaller monody of a little over a hundred stanzas in the and melodious Mandakranta metre
but
;
no
it is
a
much
stately
less characteristic
The
last voluptuous king Agnivarna meets with a premature death; but he is not one of the queens with a posthumous child is said to have succeeded. The Puranns speak at least of twenty-seven kings who came after Agnivarna, and there is no reason why 1
childless
;
the poem should end here suddenly, but not naturally (see S. P. Pandit, Preface, p. It has been urged that the poet's object Hillebrandt, Kalidasa, p. 42 f.).
15 is
f.
to
suggest a moral on the inglorious end of a glorious line by depicting the depth to which the descendants of the mighty Eaghu sink in a debauched king like Agnivarna, who cannot tear himself from the caresses of his women, and who, when his loyal subjects and ministers
want
to have a sight of him, puts out his bare feet through the
Even admitting
this as a not unnatural conclusion
C.
inexplicable.
Eunhan Raja (Annals
window
for
them
to worship
the poem, the abrupt ending
of
of Orient. Research, Univ. of
Madras, Vol. V,
pp. 17-40) even ventures to question the authenticity of the entire second half of the starting with the story of Dadaratba 8
The
as
editions,
;
1
is still
pt. 2,
Raghu
,
but his reasons are not convincing.
The
well as translations in various languages, are numerous.
H. H. Wilson (116 stanzas) with metrical Eng. trs., Calcutta Gildemeister, Bonn 1841 of A. F. Stenzler, Breslau 1874. The chief
earliest editions are those of
1813 (2nd ed. 1843)
;
of J.
;
Indian and European editions with different commentaries are ed.
E. Hultzsch, London
:
With Vallabhadeva's eomrn., NSP, 4th ed.,
1911; with Mallinatha's c^rnm., ed. K. P. Parab,
R. Nandargikar, Bombay 1894, and K. B. Pathak, Poona 1894 (2nd Eng. trs.); with Daksinavartanatha's comra., ed. T. Ganapati Sastri, Trivandrum 1919; with Purna-sarasvati'scomm., ed. K. V. Krishnamachariar, Srivanl-Vilasa
Bombay ed.
1881, G.
1916) (both with
Press, Sri ran gam 1900
Khiste,
Chowkhamba
;
with comm. of Mallinatba and Caritravardhana, ed. Narayan Sastri
Skt. Ser., Benares 1981.
an appreciation, see H. Oldenberg,
op.
cit
English trs. by Col Jacob, Poooa 1870. For 217 f. The popularity aud currency of the
p.
,
work are shown by the existence of sonce fifty commentaries. 3 The great popularity of the poem paid the penalty
of
number
preserved in Jinasena's Pars'va-
of
bhyudaya
stanzas vary in different versions, thus
(latter part of the
vartanatha
(c.
1200)
110,
8th century) 120,
Mallinatha
(14th
Tersion 117, Panabokke (Ceylonese version) 118.
as a
list of
spurious stanzas.
On
:
as
interpolations,
and the
total
Vallabhsdeva (10th century^ 111, Daksinacentury)
A
text-criticism^
121,
concordance bee
in trod,
Purnasarasvatl 110, Tibetan is
given in Hultzscb, as well
to eds.
of Stenzler,
Patbak
133
IULIDSSA the
of
and
vitality
The theme
Kalidasa's
of
versatility
poetic
powers.
enough in describing the severance and yearnings of an imaginary Yaksa from his beloved through a
curse
is
simple
but the selection of the friendly cloud
;
the Yaksa's message from Raraagiri 1
somewhat unreal, of
tion
the
for
device,
sorrowful Yaksa
poet himself.
the
as
Alaka
is
as
offered
is
an
apology by the but not an un-
It is
noble mass
Indian monsoon clouds, which seem almost instinct with
when they
travel
of
a
perhaps a highly poetical, natural, personification, when one bears in mind the of
bearer
novel, and which the almost demented condito
from the southern
to
life
snows
the
tropical sky but the poem does not end the of unreality Himalayas It has been urged that the temporary character of a very there. brief separation and the absolute certainty of reunion make the
of the
;
unmanly and
display of grief
sense of irrevocable loss
its pathos unreal. Perhaps the would have made the motif more effect-
the trivial setting gives an appearance of sentimentality to The device of a curse, again^ the real sentiment of the poem. ive
;
in bringing about the separation
a motif
which
is
repeated
in
another form in the AbhijMna-akuntala is also criticised; for the breach here is caused not by psychological complications, so dear to .modern times.
But the predominantly
fanciful character
of Sanskrit poetry recognises not only this as a legitimate
means,
but even departure on a journey, on business as we should say to-day ; and even homesickness brings a flood of tears to the eyes of
grown-up men and women
and Hultzscb Macdonell in Beitrag
;
J. Hertel's
JRAS,
review of Hultzscli's ed. in
1913, p.
176
f.
;
Harichand,
zur Textkritik von Kalidasa's
Tibetan version).
A
!
Gdlting.
op. cit. t
Meghaduta
Sinhalese paraphrase with Eng.
p.
(Bias.),
trs.
238
Gelehrie f.
;
Berlin
Anzeigen, 1912;
Herman Beckh, Bin 1907 (chiefly on the
published by the T. B. Pdnabokke,
Colombo 1888.
may ed.),
1 Bhamaha (i. 42) actually considers this to be a defect. The idea of sending message have been suggested by the embassy of Hanuraat in the Rdmayana (of. st. 104, Pathak*s or of the Swan in the story of Nala in the Maliablulrata. Of. also Kamavilapa J&taka
(no. 297),
treatment
where a crow is
is
sent as a messenger by a
Kalid&sa's own.
man
in
danger to his wife.
But the
184
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT It is,
however, not necessary to exaggerate the artistic insuffifor, the attitude is different, but not the sense
ciency of the device of sorrow.
If
we
;
leave aside the setting, the
poem
gives a true and
poignant picture of the sorrow of parted lovers, and in this lies its real pathos. It is true that the poem is invested with a highly imaginative atmosphere ; it speaks of a dreamland of fancy, its characters are semi-divine beings, and its imagery is accordingly adapted ; but all this does not negate its very human and of Its vividness of the erotic sentiment. genuine expression
people even to imagine that it gives a poetic form to the poet's own personal experience ; but of this, onfe can never be sure. There is little of subjectivity in its finished artistic
touch has led
mood does
execution, and the lyric
not predominate rich and earnest feeling,
unmistakable warmth of
but
;
the
its expressed the through melody and dignity of its happily fitting metre, redeems the banality of the theme and makes the poem almost
The
not isolated, but blended picturesquely with a great deal of descriptive matter. Its intensity of recollective tenderness is set in the midst of the lyrical in its effect.
Indian
is
however,
as
which,
more appropriate
and longing it is placed which enhances scenery
loneliness
natural
than
rainy season,
remarks, nothing
feeling,
;
description of external nature in
is
Rabindranath for
rightly
am atmosphere of
also in the midst of splendid its
the
poignant
first
appeal.
of
half
the
The
poem
is
heightened throughout by an intimate association with human in the feeling, while the picture of the lover's sorrowing heart second half is skilfully framed in the surrounding beauty of
A
number
1
were made in later times to imitate the poem, but the Megha-duta still remains unsurpassed
nature.
large
of attempts
as a masterpiece of its kind, not for its cription, but purely for its poetry.
matter,
nor for
its
des-
Kalidasa's deep-rooted fame as a poet somewhat obscures his merit as a dramatist; but prodigal of gifts nature had been to him, and his achievement in the dra$a is no less striking. In
judgment !
of
many,
On the DaU-kavyas,
see
his
Abhifflna*akuntala remains his
Chintahwan Chakravarbi
in
IHQ,
III, pp. 978-97.
135
KiUDISA
fullit is considered to be the greatest work; at the very least, blown flower of his genius. Whatever value the judgment may in this work we have a unique alliance of possess, it implies that his poetic and dramatic gifts, which are indeed not contradictory
but complementary
from his poems skilful
and
;
this fact should be recognised in passing
His poems give some evidence dramatic moments and situations; but
to his plays.
handling of
of
his
dramas with an imaginative quality which prevents them from being mere practical productions of stager It is not implied that his dramas do not possess the craft.
poetic gifts invest his
requisite qualities of a stage-play, for his Sakuntala has been of ten
not the only, much less the chief, point of view from which his dramatic works are to be judged, i lays often fail, not for want of dramatic power or stage-qualities,
successfully staged
but for
want
but this
;
of
is
It is they are often too prosaic. the dramatic and poetic qualities are
poetry
;
very seldom that both united in the same author.
As
a
dramatist Kalidasa succeeds,
he is a master of mainly by his poetic power, in two respects poetic emotion which he can skilfully harmonise with character :
and action, and he has the poetic sense of balance and restraint which a dramatist must show if he would win success. theme, character and follows the Kalidasa situation, essentially poetic bent of his genius. 'Love in its different aspects and situations is the It is significant that in the choice of
dominant theme of
all
his three plays, care-free love
setting of a courtly intrigue, impetuous love as
a
in
the
romantic and
madness, and youthful love, at In the lyrical gradually purified by suffering. and narrative poem the passionate feeling is often an end in itself, undisciplined passion leading first
to
heedless but
elegant but isolated
;
in the
drama, there
is
a progressive deepening
of the emotional experience as a factor of larger life. It, therefore,
affords
the
poet,
as a dramatist, an opportunity of depicting its
moods and
fancies in varied circumstances, its infinite range and intensity in closeness to common realities. His mastery of
subtle
humour and p^thos^
his
wisdom apd humanity, come
into play
|
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
186
and his great love of life and sense of tears in mortal things inform his pictures with all the warmth and colour of a vivid poetic imagination.
The Malavikagniinitra
1
often taken to be one of Kalidasa's
is
youthful productions, but there is no adequate reason for thinking The modesty shown in the that it is his first drjamatic work. 2
repeats itself in those of his other two dramas, and the immaturity which critics have seen in it is more a question
Prologue
of personal opinion than a real
fact
into a
for it resolves itself
;
form and theme, rather than any real deficiency of The Malavika is not a love-drama of the type of the
difference of 8
power.
which
Svapna-vasavadatta, to
which possesses
Ibut
a far
has a superficial
it
more
serious
interest.
resemblance, It
is
a light-
hearted comedy of court-life in five acts, in which love is a pretty game, and in which the hero need not be of heroic proportion,
nor the heroine anything but a charming and attractive maiden. The pity of the situation, no doubt, arises from the fact that the game of sentimental philandering is often played at the
expense of others incident of the
status as
of
hindrances to
is
only an inevitable
the progress of a courtly desire
royal
for
a lowly
its
Sanak. Ser
Bombay
into
,
2nd
ed.
8. P.
ed.. 1889,
Pandit,
comm.
with
of
Katayavema
and by K. P. Parab, NSP, Bombay 1915.
H. Tswney, Calcutta 1875 and London 1891 into German by Weber,
Tra. into Englisb by C. ;
but that
The motif
Ed- F. Bollensen, Leipzig 1879;
1400 A.D.),
Berlin 1856
it,
denouement in the ultimate discovery of her a princess was perhaps not as banal in Kalidasa's
maiden and
1
are not in
game.
through
love-intrigue
(c.
who
;
French by V. Henry, Paris 1889. On Text-criticism
see C. Cappeller, Observa*
Malavikagnimiiram (Diss ),Regimonti 1868; F. Haag, Zur Textkritik und Erkllrung von Kalid&xas Malavikagnimitra, Frauenfeld 1872 Bollensen in ZDMG, XIII, Jackson in JAOS, XX, p. 343 f (Titne1859, p. 480 f; Weber in ibid., XIV, 1860, p. 261 f tiones ad Kdlidasae
;
;
analysis). 1
word
For
If tbe
fuller bibliography see
work
is
Sten Konow, op.
nava, with
called
a reference
c/t.
p. 63.
to far-famed
predecessors,
the
same
used to designate bis Abhijflana-6aktin1a1a, which also modestly seeks the satisfaction of the learned as a final test and his Vikramorva&ya is spoken of in the same way in the is
;
Prologue as
apurva, with reference to former poets (purva kavi).
nava and apurva, and no 8
In a sense,
Wilson's unfounded doubt about the authorship of the play led to
neglect, but
Weber and
all
plays are
valid inference 1s possible from such descriptions.
8. P. Pandit effectively set the doubt* at rest,
fee V. IJenry, l^es Literatures
del 9 Inde,
p.
305
" f,
its
comparative
For a warm eulogy,
.
137
K1LIDISA time
1
therne
as
we
is
handled.
are
wont
to think;
but the real
question
is
how
the
Neither Agnimitra nor Malavika
may appear but are to the they impressive, appropriate atmosphere. The former is a care-free and courteous gentleman, on whom the burden of kingly responsibility sits but lightly, who is no longer no
young but possessing a the latter
and
is
less
a faintly
the
is
be
loved
more
a
by the
Daksina Nayaka
ideal
and out of love
falling in
lively
the
by
;
while
The
looks
incorrigible king-lover.
who
character,
development of the plot
other dramas of Kalidasa.
of the
an
is
drawn ingenue with nothing but good
to
willingness
part in
capacity for
groat
The Vidusaka
who
ardent,
in
takes a greater-
play than in the
this
theme
interest of the
is
enhanced
complications of the passionate impetuousity and jealousy young discarded queen Travail, which is finely shown off
against the pathetic dignity and magnanimity of the elderly chief
queen Pharinl.
more
not permit a but it should tion
is
serious
and
The
plot,
characterisa-
and the expression polished, elegant The wit and elaborate compliments, the clear,
dainty.
toying and
did
development of this aspect of the
not be regarded as a deficiency.
sharp
and .even
Perhaps the tone and tenor of the play
with
trifling
the
tender
the sentimental-
passion,
absence of deep feeling are in perfect keeping with the outlook of the gay circle, which is not used to any profounder ities
arid
view of is
2
One need not wonder,
life.
therefore, that while
kingdom, the royal amorous escapades of the somewhat
in progress in the
the
household
is astir
war
with
elderly, but youthfully
Gallantry is undoubtedly the keynote of the joys and sorrows should not be reckoned at a higher
inclined, king. play,
and
level.
Judged by
clumsy 1
its
or
turgid
The source
the Puranic stories.
its
own
in the
of the story is not
As
at.
standard, there
drama. known, but
If
is nothing immature, Kalidasa did not actually
is
it
clear that
Kalidasa owes nothing to
2 shows, accounts of Agnimitra were probably current and available
to the poet. *
K. K. Pisbaroti
in Journal of the
Annamaki
Univ., II, no. 2, p. 193
take the play as a veiled satire on some royal family of the time,
and would think that the weakness of the opening scene
J8-J843B
is
if
not
deliberate.
f., is
inclined to
on Agnimitra himself,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
138
originate the type, he must have so stamped it with the impress of bis genius that it was, as the dramas of Harsa and Raja^ekhara
appealing modes of dramatic expression and became banalised in course of time. 1 In the Vikramorvasiya, on the other hand, there is a decided
one of the
adopted as
show,
j,
weakness in general treatment. The romantic story of the love of the mortal king Pururavas and the divine nymph UrvaI is old, the earliest version
occurring in the Rgveda
95
x.
;
but the
passion and pathos, as well as the logically tragic ending, of the 2 is changed, in five acts, into an unconvincing ancient legend story of semi-courtly life with a weak denouement of domestic ,
union and
brought about
felicity,
magic stone and the grace
dame
belle
la
but
a passionate
heavenly
and
later
life
tions,
like
accepting
first
scene located
Kalidasa's
in characterisation
a
spouse,
happy and obefolk-tale and comedy of
as
story
and expression.
and romantic, they are
in
the
air,
there
it is,
If
and
the
introduced
is
is
figures
situa;
no deficiency are
strange
transcripts from universal nature.
still
Even when the type does not
a
incidents
;
the
fierce-souled
into
on,
The modifying hand of is obvious and some strange
courtly
of
intervention
merci of the Rgveda, is transformed into selfish woman, an elevated type of the
courtesan,
dient wife.
but
sans
The
Indra.
of
the
by
appeal,
the
character
lives.
The
1
Ed. R. Lenz, with Latin notes etc., Berlin 1838; ed. F. Bollensen, St. Petersberg 1840; ed. Monier Williams, Heitford 1849; ed. 3. P. Pandit and B. H. Arte, with extracts
fromcomm. ed.
K.
KStayavema and Ranganatha, Bom. Skt. and M. B. Talang, NSP, with
of
Parab
P.
1914 (4th ed.)
Ser., 3rd
com in.
ed. 1901 of
x
lst
ed.
Bafiganatha,
1879);
Bombay
Gbarudev 8astri 9 with comrn. of Kfttayavema, Lahore 1929. Trs. B. B. Cowell, Hertford 1851 into German by L. Fritze, Leipzig 1880 into French by P. B. Foucaux, Paris 1861 and 1879. Tbe recension according to Dravidian into
English
manuscripts
For
ed.
;
by
is edited
;
by Pfccbel in Monattber.
fuller bibliography see
Sten Konow, op.
d.
cit. t
kgl preuss. Akad,
;
m Berlin, 1876, p. 609
f.
p. 65-66.
1
Kalidasa's eource, again, is uncertain. The story is retold with the missing details Satapatha Brdhmana, but the Pur&nic accounts entirely modify it not to its advanThe Ftoujmrftpa preserves some of its old rough features, but in the KathZ-sarittage. t&g&ra and in the Matsya-purana we find it in the much altered form of a folk-tale. The in the
latter version closely
Matiya-pwfya
resembles the one which Kftlidftsa follows, but
version
itself,
like
it
is
not clear
if
tbe
tbe Padtna-purcina version of tbe Sakuntala-legend,
modelled on K&lidaut's treatment of the 1(07.
is
139
KALIDISA and chivalrous Pururavas
brave
madness shows, he like
Agnimitra
tion
of
;
is
not the mere
is
a princely
trifler of
while the jealous queen Au^Inari Dharim. Although in the
or
Iravati
but
sentimental,
is
as
his
amorist
not a repetiact, the
fifth
missed of a tragic conflict of emotion between the joy of Pururavas in finding his son and his sorrow at the loss of Urvai resulting from the very sight of the child, there is
opportunity
yet
a
is
delineation
skilful
Kalidasa's favourite motif of the
unknown son and
of the
recognition
of
the psychological climax
crown of wedded love. There are also features in the drama which are exceptional in the whole range of Sanskrit literature, and make it rise above the decorum The fourth act on the madness of of courtly environment.
of presenting the offspring as the
unique in this sense. The scene is hardly dramaand has no action, but it reaches an almost lyric height in
Pururavas tic
is
It is depicting the tumultuous ardour of undisciplined passion. a fantasy in soliloquy, in which the demented royal lover, as he
wanders through the
woods in search
of his beloved,
demands
from the peacock, the cuckoo, the flamingo, the bee, the elephant, the boar and the antelope ; he deems the cloud, with its rainbow, to be a demon who has borne tidings of his fugitive
his beauteous bride
showers,,
love
away he
searches the yielding soil softened by perchance, if she had passed that way, have ;
which may
may show some The whole scene is
retained the delicate impression of her gait, and vestige of the red tincture of her dyed feet.
melodramatically 1
genuine, scenes.
1
conceived
and
;
if
meant
Prakrit
the
verses
are
be
sung behind the The stanzas are charged with exuberance of emotion they
are apparently
to
The authenticity of the Prakrit verses has been doubted, chiefly on the ground that the of the type found in them is suspicious iu a drama of such early date, and that
Apabhramga
they are not found calls
the
in
the South Indian recension of the text.
drama a Tro^aka, apparently
to the South Indian recension,
Upadhye,
introd. to
it
for the
song-element
conforms generally to the essentials of a Nataka.
Para watma-p raft Wa (Bombay 1987),
of the genuineness of the
The Northern
ApabhrarpSa verses.
p.
56,
recension
in the verses, but according
note,
who
See U. N.
arguf a in favour
OF SANSKBlt Lll'ERAfURfe
HlStORl*
and pl$y
of
we have nothing
but
fancy,
the drama but the isolation
of
individual
which appeals in
else
The
passion.
inevi-
tragedy of such a love is obvious ; and it is a pity that the play is coptinued after the natural tragic climax is reached, even at the cost of lowering the heroine from her divine estate and
tctble
making Ipdra break
his
word
!
That the AbhijMna-fakuntala
l
is,
in every respect, the
most
dramatic compositions, is indicated by the almost universal feeling of genuine admiration which it Kalidasa's
of
finished
The
has always evoked.
of the
the Adiparvan
in
old legend of
Sakuntaia,
Mahabharata, or perhaps
incorporated
some version
2
must have suggested the plot of this drama but the difference between the rough and simple epic narrative and Kalidasa's refined and delicate treatment of it at once reveals his of
;
it,
The shrewd, straightforward and transformed into the shy, dignified
distinctive ^dramatic genius.
taunting girl of the
is
Epic and pathetic heroine, while the
who
lover in the Epic,
conduct of
selfish
refuses to recognise her out of
replaced by an irreprehensible forgetfulness which
The
*
earliest
(Bengal Recension)
edition
her
is
practical is
policy,
obscures
his
The
tbat by A. L. Cbfoy, Paris 1830.
DevanagarT, ed. 0. Bdhtlingk, Bonn 184-2, but with better materials, ed. Monier Williams, 2nd ed,, Oxford 1876 list ed. 1853) with coium. of RaghavaK. P. Parab, NSP, Bombay 1883, 1922. (it) Bengali, ed. R. bbatta, ed. N. B. Qodbole and
drama
exists in four recensions
:
(i)
;
Kiel 1877; 2nd ed. in Harvard Orient. Ser., revised by 0. Cappeller, Cambridge Mass. (w) K&6mIM, ed. K. Burkhard, Wien 1884. (it?) South Indian, no critical edition but
Pifcchel,
1922.
;
Abhirama, Sri Van! Vilasa Press, Srirangam 1917,
printed with comtn. of to
reconstruct the
P. N. Patankar
has jet been undertaken. The earliest English trs. by William On Texttrs. have been numerous in various languages.
Utilising all the recensions,
criticism,
see
1790
;
but
De
Pischel,
Attempts 1909, and by
by C. Cappeller (Kurzere Textform), Leipzig Purer Devanagarl Text), Poona 1902* But no critical edition,
text,
(called
Jones, London
etc.
Kalidfaae
Caliuntali recensionibus (Diss.), Breslau 1872
and
Die Rezensionen der Cakuntala, Breslau 1875; A. Weber, Die Recensionen der Sakuntala *in
Studien
Ind.
t
XIV,
fuller
bibliography,
XXlIi
p.
237
pp.
86-69, 161-311;
see Sten
Konow,
Hariohand
op. cit.,
pp.
Sastri,
68*70,
op.
ctt.,
p.
248
f.
For
and M. Schuyler in JAOS,
f.
9
$ha Padma-Pur&na version is perhaps a recast of Kalidasa's story, and there is no reason to think (Win tern Hz, 0/L, III, p. 21&) tbat Kalidasa derived his material from the Purai^a, or from some earlier version of it. Haradatta Bar ma, K&lidfaa dnd the a, Calcutta 1925, follows Winternitz.
lil
rULlDASA
A
love.
dramatic motive
thereby supplied, and tbe prosaic and characters of the original legend are plastically
incidents
is
remodelled into frames and shapes of beauty. best
its
flower
method
Kalidasa's
effect
unfolds
its
petals
in
see
to
of unfolding a character, as $
and sunshine
rain
melodrama, no lame denouement,
Here we
to
mar
the
;
there
is
no
smooth, measured
there is temperance in the and dignified progress of tbe play depth of passion, and perspicuity and inevitableness in action ;
and expression
;
essential poetic quality of style
Some
drama surpasses by
but, above all this, the
criticism,
its
and treatment.
however,
has
been
levelled against the
1
device of the curse and the ring, which brings in an clement of chance and incalculable happening in the development of the plot. It should be recognised, however, that the psycho-
artificial
logical
evolution
modern drama.
of
The
action
is
more or
a creation of the
less,
shaping our ends, unknown to ourselves, is not a peculiarly Indian trait, but is found in ancient drama in general and the trend has been idea
of
destiny
or divinity
;
from ancient objectivity to modern subjectivity. 2 Apart from judging a method by a standard to which it does not profess to
conform,
inferiority
1
cannot also be argued that there is an inherent external device as in an compared with the it
Criticised severely, for instance,
The curse
by H. Oldenberg
in
Die Lit.
d. alien Indiert, p. 261.
Candabhargava and tbe magic ring in tbe Avi-inaraka, wbich have a different have purpose, only a superficial similarity, and could not have been Kalidasa's source of tbe idea. On tbe curse of a sage as a motif in story and drama, see L, H. Gray in WZKM, of
XVIII, 1904, pp. 53-54. The ring-motif is absent in the Mahabharata, but P. E. Pavolini (G&tF, XIX, 1906, p. 376; XX, p. 297 f.) finds a parallel in Jataka no. 7. It is perhaps an old Indian story-motif. 8 C. E. Vaughan, Types of Tragic Drama, London 1908, p. 8 f. On the idea of Destiny iu ancient and modern diama, see W. Macneille Dixoo, Tragedy London 1924, pp. 35-46. The device of tbe Ghost as the spirit of revenge in Euripides* Hecuba and Seneca's Thyestes ,
is also
external, although
it
was
refined in the Elizabethan
drama, especially in Shakespeare.
The supernatural machinery in both Macbeth and Hamlet may be conceived as hallucination projected by the active minds in question, but it stilt has an undoubted influence on the development of tbe plot of the respective plays, which can be regarded as dramas of a
mm
at oJds with fate.
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT
142
LITERAttJfcfi
to which we complication created by the inner impetus, are in the present day more accustomed, perhaps too It is not really a question of comparative superstitiously. excellence, but of the artistic use which is made of a particular It is true that
device.
Kalidasa's
in
the
Abhijftana-sakuntala,
dramatic motive comes from without, but it is effectively utilised, and the drama which is enacted within and leads to a crisis is
The lovers arc betrayed also by what not thereby overlooked. which reaps as is within, by the very rashness of youthful love sows
it
laid
;
and
the^ entire
in
responsibility
on the external agency.
there nothing unreal or unnatural have here not merely uninotived. is
;
We
hero and heroine; for a
folly, or a
mere
a
of
belief is
it
drama
this
Granting the
fortuitous
girlish
time, but not
blameless
of
tragedy
not
is
the
fault,
or
even
The unriddled ways one's very virtues may bring misfortune. be as or of "life need not always logical comprehensible as one may desire; but there is nothing illogical or incomprehensible only Svadhikara-pramada, here as elsewhere, leads to distress, and the nexus between act and fate is not wholly disregarded. If the conflict, again, between the heart's desire and the world's if
impediment can be
a sufficient dramatic motive, if
great poetic consequence a tragic curse, unknown to
it is
not of
role of invisible but benevolent destiny in shaping the
action.
It is true that
very
impediment assumes the form of the persons affected, and plays the
the
we cannot excuse
course
of
ourselves by arraigning
Fate, Chance or Destiny; the tragic interest must assuredly be but at the built on the foundation of human responsibility ;
same time a human plot need always be robbed of its mystery, and simplified to a mere circumstantial unfolding of cause and effect,
all
in nostra potestate.
abstract, is a difficult question;
we
Fate
or
but, as in
Ourselves, life
in
the
so in the drama,
need not reject the one for the other as the moulder of
human
action.
Much
is
and perhaps more misconceived, the criticism that Kalidasa evinces no interest in the great less
convincing,
143
KXLJDISA problems of
human
As, on the one hand, find nothing but art for
life.
misdirected effort to Kalidasa's
work,
on the other,
so,
unimaginative attempt turn the poet into reconcile the
no
a
to seek a
It
than
art's
sake
in
in a
however, difficult to the well-known eulogy
is,
view mentioned above with
an
would be a
would be a singularly work of art and
it
problem
philosopher.
it
who
speaks of finding in the young year's blossom and the fruit Kalidasa's masterpiece " the earth and heaven combined in one of its decline," and
of
less
artist
"
Goethe,
name."
In spite of its obvious poetical exaggeration, this it sums up with metaphorical but eloquent praise is not empty ;
unerring insight the deeper issues of the drama, which is bound to be lost sight of by one who looks to it merely for a message or philosophy of
life.
The Abhijfiana-ahuntala,
unlike
not based on the mere banality of
much more love
by
a
most Sanskrit plays,
serious interest in depicting the baptism
silent
suffering.
but
court-intrigue,
has
a
of
youthful Kalidasa's own
with
Contrasted
is
Mdkvikagnimitra and Vikramorva&ya, the sorrow of the hero and heroine in this drama is far more human, far more genuine and love is no longer a light-hearted passion in an elegant surround;
emotion ending in madness, but a 'deep and or a steadfast rather emotional enthusiasm, progressive The experience, which results in an abiding spiritual feeling. ing, nor an explosive
drama opens with
a description of the
enjoyment (upabhoga-ltsama)
;
vernal
and even
season,
in the
made
for
hermitage where
thoughts of love are out of place, the season extends its
witchery and makes the minds of the young hero and heroine turn lightly to such forbidden thoughts. At the outset we find Sakuntala,
an adopted child of nature, in the daily occupation of tending the friendly trees and creepers and watching them grow and
bloom, herself a youthful blossom, her mind delicately attuned to the sights and sounds in the midst of which she had grown up since she had been deserted by
her
amanusl mother.
scene appears the more sophisticated royal hero,
full of
On the
this
pride
144
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
of youth
love
and power, but with a noble presence which inspires
and confidence, possessed
of scrupulous regard
for
rectitude
but withal susceptible to rash youthful impulses, considerate of others and alive to the Dignity and responsibility of his high station, but
is
egoistic
every in the
to
enough
must be right because he happen as he wishes
fulfilment
to
self-confident
extremely
He
accustomed
wishes
off her feet
It
it,
and
everything
In his impetuous desire
it.
wishes
his
and
promptings of his own heart. believe that everything he wishes
he wants, he does not even think return of Kanva.
of
was easy
it
necessary
him
for
to
in
carry
does
gain what wait for the
to
to
the
young
girl
seclusion
the
for, though brought up peaceful and stern discipline of a hermitage, she was yet possessed of a natural inward longing for the love and happiness which were due ;
Though fostered by a sage and herself youth and beauty. the daughter of an ascetic, she was yet the daughter of a nymph whose intoxicating beauty had once achieved a conquest over to her
the
austere
and
terrible
This
Visvamitra.
beauty
and
tins
power she had inherited from her mother, as well as an inborn keenness and desire for love; is she not going to make her own conquest over this great king? For such youthful lovers, love
can never think of the morrow
moment.
All
was easy
at first
;
can only think of the the secret union to which they
committed themselves obtains the
;
it
ratification of the foster-father.
she realises the pity of taking love as an end in itself, The suffering comes of making the moment stand for eternity.
But
sooii
as swiftly and unexpectedly
as the
happiness
was headlong and
heedless.
To
thoughtless lovers the curse of Durvasas comes to With high play the part of a stern but beneficient providence. hopes and unaware o( the impending catastrophe, she leaves for these
the house of her king-lover,
taking farewell from her with an unconscious anxiety
tenderly
sylvan friends, who seem to be filled but very soon she finds herself standing utterly for her Her grief, remorse and humiliated in the eyes of the world. ;
K5LIDASA self-pity are aggravated by the
secrecy from Gautami,
as
accusation of unseemly haste and as by the sterner rebuke of
well
"
Thus does one's Sarrigarava But the unkindest cut comes insultingly
from her lover himself,
instincts
to
M
heedlessness lead to disaster
:
refers
145
of
without
feminine the
to
!
who and
shrewdness,
turbid swelling flood
compares her, knowing, which drags others also in its fall. Irony in drama or in life can go no further. But the daughter of a nymph as she was, she had also the spirit of her fierce and austere father, and
She ultimately emerges triumphant from the ordeal of sorrow. soon realises that she has lost all in her gambling for happiness, and
a
wordy warfare
She could not keep her lover
useless.
is
She bows to the inevitable and by her youth and beauty alone. chastened and transformed by patient suffering, she wins back ;
end her husband and her happiness. But the king is as Still arrogant, ironical yet oblivious of what is in store for him. the who veiled he wonders and self-confident, lady might be her
in the
;
beauty draws him as sense
of
punishment comes who had dragged surroundings and
in
gives
any
due course
the
left
ring of recognition act.
irresistibly
forbids
rectitude
it
once
did,
and yet his
But his improper thought. for he was the greater culprit,
unsophisticated
her
is
;
as
in
from
girl
the mire.
her
sylvan the
When
unwittingly he realises the gravity of his reproachful form now haunts him and
recovered,
Her resigned and him no peace in
midst of his royal duties
the
;
and his
makes his grief more intense arid poignant. The scene now changes from earth to heaven, from the hermitage of Kanva and the court of the
utter helplessness in rendering
any reparation
king to the penance-grove of Marica the
earth changes
to
that
love
is
;
and
the
spiritual
love that
and divine.
was
of
The
again brought together equally strangely estranged pair have passed through the trial of strangely, but not until they There a sorrow and become ready for perfect reunion of hearts. is
no explanation, no apology, no recrimination, nor any demand for reparation. Sakuntala has now learnt in silence the lessons is
1P-1343B
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
146 of suffering
;
and with
desires left behind, the
king comes,
sadder and wiser man.
The young without
absolutely,
Kalidasa's
standard,
now
blossom
year's
ripens
autumnal maturity.
into the mellow fruit of
Judged
and impetuous chastened and subdued, a
his former self-complacency
reference
us
impress
plays
an
historical
their
admirable
to
by
but combination of dramatic and poetic qualities poetry that he surpasses even in his dramatic works. ;
it is
in pure
It
should
be admitted that he has the powers of a great dramatist merge his individuality in the character he represents paint distinct individuals, and not
may
the height of a situation
;
;
he can with
personified abstractions,
consistent reality and profound insight his romantic situations
he can
;
not be
human
into
but he
justified,
nature is
;
all
always at
within certain limits, he has construct-
order, and the action is perspicuous, high and naturally developed adequately motived he makes a skilful use of natural phenomenon in sympathy with the prevaling tone ive
ability
of
a
;
of a scene
;
he gives by his
and
easy
unaffected
manner the
impression of grace, which comes from strength revealed without he never tears a unnecessary display or expenditure of energy ;
passion to tatters nor does h& overstep the modesty of nature in he does not neglect the incident in producing a pathetic effect ;
all this and more may be favour of dialogue or dainty stanzas But the real appeal of his dramas lies in the freely acknowledged. ;
appeal of their poetry more than in their purely dramatic quality.
His gentle pathos and humour, his romantic imagination and his fine poetic feeling are more marked characteristics of his dramas than mere ingenuity of portraiture
of
plot,
liveliness
men and manners.
of incident
They
save
and minute
him from the
prosaic crudeness of the realist, as well as from an oppressive and The elegant compliment unnatural display of technical skill. '
Prasanna-raghava that Kalidasa is the grace but poetry at the same time emphasises the point
of the author of the '
of poetry is
not too
;
seductive
for
but not a sentimentalist
him.
who
He
is
a master of sentiment,
sacrifices the realities
of
life
ape}
KALID1SA he
character
;
common
nature
is
147
romantic, but his romance
and not a series
and
common
sense.
not
is
He
from
divorced
writes
dramas
real
the poetic fancy passages and love of style do not strangle the truth and vividness of his He is also not in any sense the exponent of the presentation. of elegant poetical
;
He is rather opera^ or the lyrical drama, or the dramatic poem. the creator of the poetical drama in Sanskrit. But the difficult standard
which he
set
could not be
developed
in
except
an
extreme form by his less gifted successors. In making a general estimate of Kalidasa' s achievement
one
as a poet,
the
feels the difficulty
superlatives
in
of
case are
this
avoiding
amply
reputation has always been great; and this case where both Eastern and Western exactly analogous standards,
are
in
superlatives
justified.
but
;
Kalidasa's
perhaps the only critics, applying not is
general
agreement.
That
the greatest of Sanskrit poets is a commonplace of literary criticism, but if Sanskrit literature can claim to rank as one
he
is
of the great literatures of the world, Kalidasa's
galaxy of world-poets must be acknowledged.
high place in the It is not necessary
eulogium of Goethe and Anandavardhana but the agreement shows that Kalidasa has the gift of a great poet, and like all great poetic gifts, it is of universal to
it
prove
the
by quoting
;
appeal.
This high praise does not mean that Kalidasa's poetic art and style have never been questioned or are beyond criticism.
Leaving aside Western critics whose appreciation of an alien art and expression must necessarily be limited, we find the Sanskrit rhetoricians, in spite of their great admiration, sparing in their criticism
;
and, like
are not
Ben Jonson who wanted
to
blot out a thousand lines in Shakespeare, they would give us a " faults " which mar the excellence of Kalifairly long list of
dasa's otherwise perfect work.
the details of the alleged defects, that his
Kalidasa, like rhetoric
is
of
We
are not concerned here
but
with
they happily demonstrate not faultily faultless. That
Shakespeare, is the best kind is shown by the hundreds of
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
148
but that they passages approved by the rhetoricians themselves ; sometimes disapprove his not conforming rigidly to their laws is
also
is
dis-
his
successful,
him freedom of and expression and saving him from much that is wooden
obedience idea
obedience
his
If
significant.
often
is
no
successful in giving
less
and merely conventional.
Even
in
the
of
imposing gallery
Sanskrit poets
who
arc
always remarkable for technical skill, Kalidasa has an astonishing display of the poetic art but he never lends himself to an over;
development of the technical to the detriment of the artistic. The bgend which makes Kalidasa an inspired idiot and implies a minimum of artistic consciousness and design is perhaps as
There
is little
that he shared the learning of his time, but he weirs
ing
lightly
like a flower;
work conceal
city of his
which goes into
its
upon the
insistence
misleading as the counter-error of too great consciousness and elaboration of his art.
his
doubt learn-
while the deceptive clarity and simpli-
amount
the
making.
It
of is
cultivation
and
polish
not spontaneous creation
but while lesser poets lack the art to conceal art, he has
the
;
gift
music and colouring to give an effective He belongs to a spontaneity and inevitability.
of passion, imagination,
appearance of
which
tradition
insists
upon
literature being
a
learned
pursuit,
one of the great and limpid writers who can be approached with the minimum of critical apparatus and commen-
/but he
is
tatorial lucubrations.
This marvellous result
is
made
possible because
Kalidasa's
works reveal a rare balance of mind, which harmonises the artistic sense with the poetic, and results in the practice of singular moderation.
No
command
that
of
approach him in the instrument, the measured word.
other Sanskrit poet can
mysterious Kalidasa has a rich and sustained elevation of diction, but it is never overwrought and very rarely rhetorical in the bad sense. Conceits
4
and play upon
words are
to
be found in him, as in
Shakespeare, but there are no irritating and interminable puns ; no search after strained exnressions. harsh inversions or involved
KALIDASA constructions of
no love
;
for jewels five
making them
words or
too
Kalidasa's love of similitude,
1
words long
laboured
no torturing
;
for the ideas.
which he has been
for
Even
so
highly makes him it as a mere never verbal but trick, employ praised, made a natural concomitant of the emotional content for it is
suggesting more than what
is
On
expressed.
emotions and fancies never run
his ideas,
over the limits
of
riot or ride
which they
within
words,
other
the
hand,
rough-shod
are
compressed with tasteful economy and pointedness of phrasing. The result sound and sense, a judicious harmony is a fine adjustment of of
word and
idea, to a point not often reached
This
by other
Sanskrit
not only in the extraordinary vividness and poets. precision of his presentment of images and ideas, but also in seen
is
word, line and stanza to produce a running accompaniment at once to the images and ideas. The felicity of expression, its clarity and ease, which have
modulation of
the
letter,
syllable,
been recognised in Kalidasa
as
the
best instance of the Prasada
Guna, come from this careful choice of a rich store of words, both simple and compound, which are not only delicately attuned
made
but also If
it
is
with the
alive
it
simplicity,
is
haunting suggestion
simplicity
made more
of
poetry.
elegant than
by sheer genius for proportion and vividity. There are hundreds of words, phrases and lines in Kalidasa, echoing passages and veritable gems of expression, giving us
ornateness
itself
an infinity of fresh and felt observations, which fasten themselves on the memory such is the distinctness of his vision and the ;
but
elaborate, of
gift
not
phrasing
laboured, is
of
accuracy
one of
the
of
tests
touch.
his a
great
If
the
writer,
but it is also combined Kalidasa possesses this happy gift with the still more rare gifts, seen in perfection in great poets, ;
of putting
multumin parvo and
of
opening up unending vistas of
thought by the magic power of a single line or phrase. 1
A
study of Kalidasa's
Orient. Con/,,
Upama
has been
Poona 1922, pp. 205-26.
general, see Hillebrandt, Kaliddsa, p. 107
On f.
made by
P.
K. Gode in Proc. of the First
Kalidasa'a relation
to
Alaipkara literature in
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
150 Kalidasa
is
he
indeed careful of form, but
not careless of
is
Like later Sanskrit poets lie does not make his narrative a mere peg on which he can luxuriously hang* his learning and matter.
Whatever may be
skill.
seldom unequal to
said about his choice of themes,
The wide
them.
and even
emotional
legendary, mythical, grasp over their realities, are seen in the his
huge and diverse material
in
the
human
ment
his
which he handles,
in
Raghu-vam$a, creates a his Kumara-sambhava an environ-
in
lovers
Megha-duta and
of poetical fancy in his
is
subjects,
and
fantastic,
way
story out of a divine myth in and depicts the passionate Jove of hapless a
of
exploration
he
He
dramas.
his
not always be at the height of his power through the entire length of a work, but he is always at the height of a particular
may
situation.
His sources are not exactly known,
that his subjects serve
him
for the stuff
but
out of which he creates;
and Kalidasa perhaps borrows nothing from He is not originals that makes him Kalidasa. teller of a story as the
maker
of
restraint accomplish this
or the content to
The same
and
is
Mandakranta
of his short
moric metres
like
much
the
taste
and
other.
shown by the
also
skilful
and
prosody to the diction
number
theme of the poems. Kalidasa employs is only about twenty. total
supposed
so
unerring not by allowing either the form
it,
adjustment of a mobile and sensitive
The
his
his
making overwhelm or exceed each
sense of balance
clear
is
it
of different metres
With
the
which
exception
poem, they are either Sloka,
1
of
few
or a
Vaitaliya, Aupacchandasika or Puspitagra, but
the general bulk consists normally of the relatively short measures of the Tristubh-JagatI family or metres akin to
lyrical it.
In
the drama, of course, there greater metrical variety suited to In the bigger poems the the different situations and emotions. is
i
story in
It
is
remarkable thai the
Raghu
xii,
well as for the narration of
theme, vii
c/.
is
used not only for the condensation of the Kauiayana 9 Raghu x and Kumara* ii, aa
Stotra of deities both in
Raghu *s Dig vi jay a.
For
repetition of the
same metre
for similar
Vijogini in Aja-vilapa and Bati-vilapa; Upajati in describing mairiage in
and Kumdra*
Kumar ^
loka
but al*o for the
viii, etc.
vii;
KathoddhatS in depicting amorous pastimes
in
Raghu
Raghu* xix
and
151
KILIDISA short lyrical measures are perhaps
meant
continued
for facility of
the simplicity and swing of the stanzas make but even in narrative flow in a clear arid attractive stream
narration
his
;
the
;
descriptive and
leisurely
reflectively
serious passages, they :
never
The imagination || poet. and music of the on the long-drawn-out stately Mandakranta, the picturesque and melancholy other hand, very well suits feeling or
the thought,
cramp
recollections of love in his
Kalidasa
and
equally at
is
a
though
Megha-duta. It is, however, clear thai in. both short and long measures
home
;
of canto ix of the
part
the
the
deliberately to
skill
Raghu-varnsa in
meant
is
varied
display poet's metres, the not unpleasing. But, normally, it is not a question of mere metrical skill, but of the developed and delicate sense of rhythmic forms and the fine subtlety of musical accompaniment variation
to the
is
power
With
of vivid
and elegant presentation.
same sense
the
of
Kalidasa's
equipoise
holds in perfect fusion the two elements of
human and his
His nature-pictures grow out
feeling.
situations
merge
the
into
imagination beauty and
natural of the
situations,
This
nature-pictures.
is
palpable not only in his Megha-duta, but practically throughout his other two poems and his dramas. The pathos of the destruction of
Kama
is
Rama's tender
staged in
the
life
and
loveliness
recollection of past joys and sorrows
associated with the hills, rivers and trees of
of
is
Dandaka
;
spring;
intimately the pretty
amourette of Agnimitra, the madness of Pururavas, or the woodland wooing of Dusyanta is set in the midst of the sights and
A
number of Kalidasa's beautiful similes and metaphors is drawn from his loving observation of natural phenomena. The depth and range of his experience sounds of nature.
countless
and insight into human life is indeed great, but the human emotion is seldom isolated from the beauty of nature surrounding it. Kalidasa's warm humanism and fine poetic sensibility romanticise the natural
as
well as the
they supply to his poetry the grace
ground
ancl scenic variety.
mythological
\\orld,
and picturesqueness of
and
bacl$-
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
152 It will
be seen that the sense of universality
in
Kalidasa's
its work springs not merely from humanity and range of interests, but also from the fact that it reveals him as a great master of poetic thought who is at the same time a master of all Diction, imagery, verbal music, suggestion, the elements of poetry are present in intense degree and in many
poetic style.
forms and combinations novel and charming; but they all exhibit a marvellous fusion of the artistic consciousness with poetic Kalidasa's poetic power, which scorns anything below the highest, is indeed not narrow in its possibilities of application, but its amplitude and exuberance are always
imagination and feeling.
held in restraint by his sense of act as
art,
an incubus, but as a chastener.
which, however,
His
work,
and downs in
no perpetual between his interval
worst
of excellence
never hampered or hurried; there
;
it
it, no great maintains a level
is
does
therefore, series
best
not is
of
ups and his
and stamp of distinction
ruggedness and angularity are delicately smoothed away; and the even roundness of his full-orbed poetry appeals by a haunting suggestion of serene beauty, resulting from throughout.
All
merging of thought and feeling in sound and visual effect. But from this spring both the strength and weakness of
a subtle
Kalidasa's poetic achievement. recollected
in
emotions,
denotes the aesthetic
If
both
attitude
contemplation of tranquil eastern and western theory,
and forms the essence
of
true
work is certainly marked by it in an eminent His tranquility, considered as an attitude' towards life,
poetry, Kalidasa's degree.
not easy-going indifference or placid acquiescence in the order of things; there is enough of earnestness and sense of sorrow is
must have been hard-won, although we are denied the sight of the strife and struggle which led to its attainment, or of the scars or wrinkles which might have been left
to indicate that
behind.
it
In his poetry,
serenity of artistic
bore fruit in the unruffled dignity and accomplishment. At the same time, it enit
couraged a tendency towards reserve more than towards abandon. Kalidasa's poetry seldom surprises us by its fine it is excess;
158
KALIDASA
The polished and the ornate always smooth, measured and even. the rugged and is as much natural to Kalidasa as, for instance, While Kalidasa broiders the the grotesque to Bhavabhuti. have
exquisite tissue of poetry, Bhavabhuti would
homespun.
This
perhaps not so
is
much
it
studied
a
rough and effect
as
a
temperamental attitude in both cases. The integrity and sincerity of primal sensations and their fervid expression, which Bhavabhuti often attains, are rare in Kalidasa's highly refined and cultured utterances.
It is
not that Kalidasa
is
averse to
what
is
intense and poignant, as well as grand and awe-inspiring, in life and nature, but the emotions are chastened and subdued in the severity,
There is strength and dignity of finished poetic presentation. a or not in Kalidasa, nothing crude, rugose tempestuous jarring note of violence or discord, but everything is dissolved in the
harmony and beauty this attitude is as
The
of reposeful realisation.
obvious
as
its
poetic
gives the perfect artistic aloofness
limitation
possibility.
conducive to
real
of
While
it
poetry,
it
deprives the poet of robust and keen perceptions, of the concrete and even gross realism of undomesticated passion, of the freshness of the
but
drossy,
unalloyed,
ore
direct
from
the
mine.
Kalidasa would never regard his emotions as their own excuse for being, but would present them in the embalmed glamour of poetic realisation,
or
in
the
brocaded
garb of quintessenced
Kalidasa has perhaps as much optimism for civilisation as Bhavabhuti has for savagery but he does not often rhetoric.
;
attain the depths
and
untamed roughness.
heights It is for
dasa's pictures, both of
life
which Bhavnbhuti does by bis this reason that some of Kali-
and nature,
finely poetic as
they are, still too refined and remote. The Himalayas do not appear to Kalidasa in their natural grandeur and sublimity, nor the are
Dan^aka
forest in
wild
its
beauty
and
ruggedness
;
all
pictures are to be properly finished and framed, but" thereby lose much of their trenchant setting and appeal.
But
all this
poetry does not 20-1848B
is
not
swim
mere suavity or
in langour, cloyed
finicality.
with
its
these
they
Kalidasa's
own sweetness
;
HISTORY OF SANSKhlT LITERATURE
154
the chastity and restraint of his imagination, the precision and energy of his phrasing, and the austerity of his artistic vigilance save him from mere sensuous ideality. Nor is it classical correct-
ness in the narrow sense that
The ornate
of literature.
mere
rarely
achievement of the refined
form
in its proper
in
or
prettiness
might be learned Kalidasa, aesthetic
effect of a
schools
the
in
means very
therefore,
make-believe
is
it
;
the
thought or feeling chiselled
and
of
beauty becoming thereby a poetic or It thus involves the process through which thought feeling. the poet lifts his tyrannical passion or idea to the blissful contemplation of an
Kalidasa
sentiment.
aesthetic
above his subject in the sense often merges himself in it in
of
command,
the
sense of
keep himself
can as
Bhavabhuti too
surrender
and
;
the
respective treatment of pathos, in which Kalidasa' s poetic sense of restraint and balance certainThis is nowhere more clear ly achieve a more profound effect. difference
is
best seen in
their
than in the picture of Kama's suffering on the occasion of exile, is
drawn
to
Sita's
respectively by the two poets. Bhavabhuti 's tendency
elaborate
pathetic
scenes
almost
to the verge of crudity,
omitting no circumstances, no object animate or inanimate which he thinks can add to their effectiveness and, like most Sanskrit ;
he
poets,
is
unable
to
when enough has been
stop even
said.
But Kalidasa, like Shakespeare, suggests more than he expresses. Not one of those who gather round the body of Cordelia makes a phrase
;
the emotion
is tense,
but there
is
no declamation
to
work
up. The terrible blow given by the reported calumny regarding his beloved makes Rama's heart, tossed in a terrible conflict
it
between love and beaten with a
hammer
shed
of
a
flood
Kalidasa's
Rama
break
duty, ;
tears.
but It
a truly
in
pieces,
like the heated iron
he does not declaim, nor faint, nor is
this silent suffering
tragic
figure.
Not
returns and delivers the spirited but sad messnge
which makes
until
Laksmana
of his banished
king in him breaks down and yields to the man but even here Kalidasa has only one short stanza (xiv. 84) which sums up with infinite suggestion the entire pity of the situation, wife that the
;
CHAPTER THE SUCCESSORS OF KILIDASA The
IN
POETRY
an exact chronology, as well as the paucity and uncertainty of material, does not permit an orderly historical treatment of the poets and dramatists who, in all difficulty of fixing
between Kalidasa, on the one hand, and Magha and Bhavabhuti, on the other. It must have been a period of great vitality and versatility for there is not a single
probability, flourished
;
department of literature which
But
is left
untouched or
left in a
rudi-
great deal of its literary productions is mentary condition. the few that remain do not adequately repreand probably lost, sent
its
of the
many-sided
activity.
We
know
nothing,
for
instance,
which presupposes Hala's compilation, and which sums up its folk-tale in the lost Prakrit
extensive
poetical
a
collection of
literature,
Gunadhya's Brhatkatha.
No
early collection also of
the popular tale in Sanskrit has survived descendants of the beast-fable, typified by
;
the
possible
Pancatantra, we Concurrently with the tradition of Prakrit love-
know
nothing. poetry in the stanza-form, illustrated by
must have
and of
started the
us the early Sataka of of Bhartfhari
same
tradition
in
Amaru and which
and others
;
the
the
Sattasaf of
Sanskrit, is
followed
Hala,
which gives
up by those
but the exact relationship between the
unknown. The origin of the religious and gcomic stanzas, such as we find crystallised in -the StotraSatakas of Mayura and Bana and the reflective Satakas of BhartrNor do we know much about the hari, is equally obscure. beginnings of the peculiar type of the Sanskrit prose romance and we possess no earlier specimens of them than the fairly two traditions
is
;
mature works
of
Dandin, Bana and Subandhu,
who belong
to
&IStORY OF SANSKRIT
156
The dramatic works
this period.
Bbasa and Kalidasa must-
of
have inspired many a dramatist, but with the exception of Sudraka, Visakhadatta, Hara and the writers of four early
Monologue Plays (Bhanas), ascribed respectively Sudraka, Xsvaradatta and Syamilaka, all other perished
to
Yararuci,
names have
Narayana probably, and Bbavabhuti the end of this period. The number of early
while Bhatta
;
certainly, corne at
poetical
works
fewer.
If the poetical predecessors
in
Sanskrit, the
so-called of
is
still
all
dis-
Mahakavyas,
Kalidasa have
appeared, leaving his finished achievement in poetry to stand by Bharavi, itself, this is still more the case with his successors.
Kumaradasa and Magha, with
Bhatti,
practically complete the
them, the general
high and wide-spread solitary
of the
With the example
this period.
to guide
list
;
of a
but, since
few
a
of the
composers
minor
much
prominent
poets,
Mahakavya
consummate master
level of merit
become
altitudes
just
of
of poetry
should have been fairly is
apparently
and
lost,
the
in
our
numerous
survey.
THE EROTIC SATAKAS OF AMARU AND BHARTRHARI
1.
Although love-poetry blooms in its fullness in the Sanskrit literature, more than in the Vedic and Epic, its earliest speci-
mens
are lost.
element in of the love erotic
be supposed that the passionate nature never found expression. The episode
It should not
human of Nanda and Sundari
theme
of the
poem
the Kunstpoesie,
the
show
that
the
by A^vaghosa,
of Ghatakarpara, as
existence of the Megha-duta,
have been neglected.
painted
erotic
well
as
the very
could not
poetry
Love may not yet have come to polished and cultured Kavya
its ;
own
but
in
the
example of Eala's Sattasal, whose stanzas are predominantly erotic, makes it possible that in folk-literature, the tradition of
which
is
at
least
absorbing theme.
partially
preserved
The Prakrit
in
poetry here
Prakrit, is
it
finds
doubtless as
an
con-
THK
ventional aB Sanskrit, and
but
clear that, while
it is
i57
SATAKAS OF AMAlUJ
EfeOTIC
is
not folk-literature in
these early
Prakrit
its
true sense
;
popular for have love their the the masses, principal early subject, among as have so far Sanskrit poems, survived, do not often accept they is theme. indeed no evidence to show There exclusive their it as that the Prakrit love-lyric
the prototype of
is
the presumption is strong that the erotic
stanzas,
the
but
Sanskrit,
sentiment,
which had
diffused itself in the popular literature, survived in Prakrit poetry,
and gradually invaded the courtly Sanskrit Kavya, which provided a naturally fertile soil for it, and of which it ultimately became the almost universal theme. It is
works
remarkable, however, that, with the
like the
exception of a few
Megha-duta, the Ghatakarpara monody and the
Glta-govinda, which, again, are not unalloyed love-poems, the Sanskrit erotic poetry usually takes the form, not of a systematic well-knit poem, but of a single poetical stanza standing by itself, in
which the poet delights
to depict a single phase of the
or a single situation within the limits of a
Such
is
emotion
finely
the case mostly with the seven hundred Prakrit
which pass under the name
of
Hala Satavahana.
form.
finished
stanzas,
If in Prakrit the
highest distinction belongs to Hala's Sattasal for being a collection
which gives varied and charming expression
the emotion of
to
love, the distinction belongs in Sanskrit without question
J
to the
Sataka of Amaru, about whose date and personality, however, as It is a much little is known as about those of Hala. smaller
work, but
it is
no
less distinctive
and delightful.
A
Sataka, meaning a century of detached stanzas, is usually regarded as the work of a single poet, although it is probable that Hala's seven centuries, in the main, form an antho-
The
logy.
most 1
of
form,
the
Although
the
early
however,
allows
Satakas contain
commentator Ravicandra
finds
easy
interpolation
much more than a
;
and
a hundred
meaning in Amaru's work to be merely a rhetorical text-book of the satne type as liudra Bha(ta's $rhgara*tilaka, meant to illustrate the various classas of the Nayika and the diversity of their amorous conditions stanzas
1
philosophical
And Vemabhupala, another commentator, would
take
the
1
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LlTERAftkR
158
1
it is not
always possible, however, for several reasons, to separate the additions with certainty, and arrive at a definitive The Amaru-fat aka* for instance, is known to exist in at text.
stanzas,
least four recensions,
8
in
which the text fluctuates between 4
and 115 stanzas, the number
of 96
stanzas
of
totals
common
to all
but given in varying sequence, being only 51. The uncertainty of the text not only makes an estimate of the work difficult, but also diminishes the value of any chronological the
recensions,
conclusion which
stanza in the
works.
later
9th
the
of
beginning
drawn fr^m the citation of a particular Vamana's quotation, 6 for instance, in
be
may
naming the work
or
the
century,
of
author, establishes
these stanzas occur in the present text of
stanzas without
three
nothing, although
Amaru's
tfataka.
The
mention of Auiciru as a poet of eminence is found in the middle of the 9lb century in Anandavardhana's work, but it is of
earliest
1
little
1
as
assistance,
The
unreliable
;
in the
attribution
and there
is
Amaru
a
is
much
perhaps a
'
earlier
writer.
which often quote from Amaru, is notoriously divergence regarding the number and sequence of
anthologies,
great
deal of
stanzas in the texts of the commentators and in the manuscripts of the work *
B. Simon, in four recensions (Roman characters), Kiel 1893 (Of. ZDMG, XLIX, ed. Calcutta 1808 (see J. Gildemeister, Bibliothecae Sanskritae, Bonn 1847, p.
cd.
1895, p. 577f)
;
,73,
Havicandra (ahas Juanananda Kaladhara); ed. Durgaprasad, with comra. of Arjunavarmadeva, with addl. stanzas from commentators and anthologies, N8P, 3rd no. 162), with the comrn. of
ed. f
Bombay 1916 8
(1st ed,, 1889).
(com ID. Vemabbupala and Kamaoandanatha), Bengal
Viz., South Indian
Wesb Indian
(comtn.
Arjunavarmadeva and Kokasambhava), and Miscellaneous (comm. Ramarudra, Budramadeva, etc.). Simon bases his text chiefly on the South Indian
Havicandra),
recension, but
who
is
it
(comra.
hardly supersedes the text of Arjunavarmadeva of Dhara (circa 1215 A.D.),
the oldest
known commentator.
critical
examination of materials.
4
Arjunavarman's printed
text
No
certainty, of course, is
possible without further
contains 102 stanzas; in the
N3P. (Bombay)
appendices add 61 verses from other commentators and anthologies.
the
on the analogy of one-metre Satakas of Bana and Mayura, that only Sardulavikricjita metre are original, would give us about 54 to 61 in recensions
(ZDMG, XXVII, stanzas in the
ed.,
Aufrecht'a suggestion
p. 7f),
Mil, and only 83 in recension iv. For the anthology stanzas, some of which are fine pieces, but some of these are not traceable ascribed sometimes to other authors, see Thomas, Kvs t p. 22 f ;
in the printed text
;
they are in varied metres.
$
ed, Simon, DOS. 16, 30, 89
6
Dhvany&loka ad
iii.
7.
Vamana, Kavydlatpkara,
iii.
2.
4
;
iv. 3.
12
;
v. 2. 8.
THE EROTIC SATAKAS OF AMARU that he
159
than Bhartrbari proceeds chiefly on the debatable ground of style and technique; but after the
The suggestion poetic
elaboration
art of Kalidasa,
Amaru
certain
is
which would
characteristics
this period,
and
finish
of expression
may
any writer, and need not prove anything. Even later than Bhartrhari, the works of both exhibit
in
be expected if
is later
preclude
a date later
than
and probably they could not have been very far apart
from each other in time.
Amaru
is
less
wide in range than Hala,
but he strikes
perhaps a deeper and subtler note. Araaru's poems lack a great deal of the homeliness and rough good sense of Hala's erotic stanzas; but they do not present, as more or less Hala's versesdo, the picture of simple
describes,
imagery, chances,
love
set
among simple
Amaru
scenes.
with great delicacy of feeling and gracefulness of the infinite moods and fancies of love, its changes and
its
strange
vagaries
and wanton
wiles, its
unexpected
thoughts and unknown impulses, creating varied and subtle His language, with all the resources of Sanskrit, situations. but not extravagantly ornate and his gift of lyric phrasing gives it the happy touch of ease and naturalness. Amaru does not confine himself to the narrow limits of Hala's is
carefully studied,
;
slow-moving moric stanza, but appears to allow himself greater His employment of metrical variety and more freedom of space. 1
long sonorous metres, as well as short lyric measures, not only relieves the monotony of metrical effect, but adds richness,
weight and music to his
little
camoes
of thought
and feeling.
In spite of inequalities, almost every stanza in this collection 2 possesses a charm of its own; and the necessity of compressing
1
The metres employed in their order of frequency are SarJulaviktidita, HarinI, 3 kliarinl, Mand&kranta, Sragdhara, Vaaantatilaka and MalinT; while Drutavilambita, Vaktra and Vaiplasthavila occur sporadically in some recensions only. See Simon's metrical analysis, :
p. 46.
1
For some specimens, with
Literature,
Calcutta 19-29,
Mysore 1986, pp.
1-80.
p.
translation, see 8. K. De,
28f;
Treatment
C Jl. Narasimha Sarma,
of
Studies
Lore in Sanskrit in
Sanskrit
Lft.,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
100
one whole idea or image within the limits of a single stanza not only gives a precision and restrained elegance to the diction, but also presents, in each stanza, a complete synthetically
picture in a finely finished
form.
In this art of miniature word-
painting, of
which we have already spoken, Amaru unquestion-
ably excels.
The
and all
love
stanzas
which the sense and the
in
impassioned,
depicted in his
the emotions of longing, hope,
often youthful
is
spirit
jealousy,
ecstasy,
meet, with anger, dis-
reconciliation and fruition. Amaru's despair, appointment, is from different indeed world ours, but his pictures are marked by a spirit of closeness to life and common realities, not often 4
seen in the laboured and sustained masterpieces of
this period , as
well as by an emotional yet picturesque directness, by a subtle har-
sound and sense, and by a freedom from mere rhetoric, qualities which are not entirely devoid of appeal to modern taste. But, on the surface, the light of jewelled fancy plays, and makes
mony
of
beautiful
even
the joys and sea of
^
the
pains
hopes of love.
pangs which are inseparable from It is not love tossed on the stormy
arid
manhood and womanhood, nor
and pain of But, as
finite
hearts which lead
we have already
ing the playful
moods is
it
to a
that
richer
infinite passion
and wider
life.
said, the Sanskrit poet delights in depict-
of love, its aspects of Llla, in
which even
When
he touches a deeper chord, the unmistakable, but its poignancy is rendered
sorrow becomes a luxury. tone of earnestness
is
pleasing by a truly poetic enjoyment of its tender and pathetic implications. Rightly does inandavardhana praise the stanzas of
Amaru
containing the veritable ambrosia of poetry; and in illustrating the theme of love as a sentiment in Sanskrit poetry, all writers on Poetics have freely used Amaru as one of the original as
and best sources.
In Sanskrit sentimental poetry,
Amaru
should
be regarded as the herald of a new developmental' which the result is best seen in the remarkable fineness, richness of expression and delicacy
of
thought
Satakas, of the
drama.
and
feeling
of
the
love-poems of later
numerous anthologies^ and even
of
the
poetical
THE gATAKAS OF BEARISH ARI The same more
found
we
traits as
or less
in
in the Sataka
notice
centuries
later
which the 3rhg&ra-ataka
1
not only for its early date
and
are
among
must be singled out, but also for
excellence,
literary
Amaru
of
of love-poems,
of Bhartrhari
which attaches
161
the legends surrounding the Tradition ascribes to him mysterious personality of the author. also two other Satakas, on wise conduct (Nlti) and resignation
the
interest
of
sophy
speech,
well
as
(Vairagya), respectively,
of
little
From
a
that
an exposition of the philothe
Although
Vakyapadlya.
last
softer gift of poetry, it is not
the
inherently impossible for the poet
grammarian.
as
2
entitled
named work shows
to
turn
to
a
into
philosophical
Buddhist pilgrim Yi-tsing we know Bhartrhari, apparently the author of the the
grammarian
and even if his reference Vakyapadiya, died about 051 A. D. does not make it clear whether Bhartrhari was also the poet of ;
them need not Bhartrhari, the grammarian, was probably a
the
three
be
exaggerated. 8 but the fact that the
his ignoring or ignorance of
Satakas,
Buddhist,
Vedanta persuasion of two Bhartrharis; 1
Ed.
a.tingralm
P.
Bohlen,
p. 14.'J f.,
4
Satakas reveal a Saiva of the
does not necessarily for,
apart from the question of interpolation,
Latin
with
reprinted
in
contains the Nlti a-id Vairagya at
justify the supposition
trs.,
Berlin
1833;
also ed. in Haeberlin's
from a number of Mas, and with extracts from commentaries, by K. T. Telang, 1874, 1885. of
TI e three Satakas are alto printed, under the
Eamucandra Budhendra, NSP,
[6th
revised ed.,
edition of the Satakas is still a necessity.
Tawney inL4, V, 1876 Wortliam, Trubner
:
(reprinted
Kavyawhich also
Jivananda's Kavya-saipgraha, TI, p. 53 f, The Nlti and Vairagya ha\e pp. 125 f, 172 f.
Eng.
separately,
London 1886;
J.
title Subbasitatris'atI,
Bombay 1022
trs., in verse, of
Calcutta
1877);
list ed.
been edited,
Bomb
comm.
A
ciitical
1902].
Nlti and Vairasya all
M. Kennedy, London 1913;
the C.
Satakas
Skr. Ser.,
with
by C. H.
trs.
W. Gurncr,
B.
H.
Calcutta
1027. 2
Sometimes 'he grammatical poem Bhatti-ltavya
is
ascribed
to
Ivm, but there
ia
name BLatti aa a Prakritised form of Bhartr to support the attribution. The legends which make Bhartihari a brother of the still IE ore mysterious Vikramaditya is useless for any historical purpose. The story has been dramatised in later times in the Bhartrhari-nirveda of Harihara,ed. NSP, Bombay 1912. Cf. Gray in JAOS, XXV, 1904, nothing more than the
p.
197 f; A. V. 3
W.
Jackson in JAOS, XXIII, 1902,
See Pathak in
JBRAS, XVIII,
acceptance. 4
Telang. op.
cit. t p. ix f ,
p.
313
f.
1893, p. 341 f; but this view has not found geceral
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
162
Hara
invokes the
likewise
Buddha
Nagananda, but pays
in his
homage to Siva in his Ratndvall. The texts of the Satakas of Bhartrhari, as they stand, are much more uncertain and devoid of definite structure than that and stanzas from them occur in the works of Amaru's Sataka of other well known writers, or ascribed to other authors in the The fact, however, -should not be made the ground anthologies. ;
1
presumption that Bhartrhari, like Vyasa and Canakya, name under which miscellaneous compilations were is only a 2 or that Bhartrhari himself incorporated stanzas from passed,
of
the
other writers to
make up
his
own poem. 3
The argument
lacks
ingenuity nor plausibility, but very few Satakas, early or late, have escaped the misfortune of tampering and interpola-
neither
and
tion;
a
the
before
necessary
examination
critical
problem
of
can
the
be
textual
question
is
solved.
satisfactorily
prevent us from accepting the tradition of Bhartrhari 's original authorship, which is almost uniform and unbroken, and which does not relegate him (o the position of a
There
is still
nothing
mere compiler. Nor is there
to
any
cogency
Sriigara-satalia alone is genuine,
the
made on
shows individuality and unity As the text a single creative mind. it
in
suggestion
that the
the alleged ground that
of structure as the product of itself is
admittedly uncertain,
regarding both originality and order of stanzas--, such surmises, based on content and style, are always risky but there is hardly anything to justify the position that the Srhgara-sataka can be ;
sharply distinguished in this or other respects from the Niti- and If there is any substance in the legend Vairagya-satakas. recorded by Yi-sting that Bhartrhari vacillated no less than seven times between the comparative charms of the monastery and the
world,
*
it
signifies that the poet
E.g. in
a century of passionate
AbhijnanaMuntala, Mudra-raksasa and Tantrakhyayika
pp. 74-75.
Sbhv,
who wrote
*
Aufrccht, Leipzig Catalogue, no. 417.
3
Bohlen, op.
cit.,
Prefatio, p.
viii.
;
see
Petergon,
THE ^ATAKAS OF BHARTRHARI
163
stanzas could very well write the other two centuries on
worldly
wisdom and renunciation. The susceptibility to contrary attractions is evident in all The Ntti-ataka should not be taken as a the three Satakas. mere collection of moral maxims or an epitome of good sense and prudence; it shows at once a lurking attachment to the world and an open revulsion from
with considerable bitterness, capable of understanding
me
my
sayings
good
have,
are full of envy
all
by arrogance disqualified;
"
the outset
at
The
sordidness.
its
;
poet says,
Those who are
:
men
power are
in
others labour under stupidity
grown
therefore,
old
;
all
within myself."
In the same strain, the poet refers to the haughtiness of kings, to the to the power of wealth, to the humiliation of servitude, clash of passion and prejudice with culture and education,
to the
wicked and the ignorant reviling the good and the wise, and to the distressing things of life, which he calls darts rankling in his
Nor
heart. inelastic
mind.
idealist, is
is
by
refers to the
wreck of
the
Vairfigyu-sfitaha
work
of
belief
sense
the
of
and spending, one's self-respect, and of the
never-ending worries of
earning
hopes in the striving for an ideal complacency of humanity in the midst ;
decay and death, and
falls
an
goodness of the world hollo wness and wickedness.
its
insults to
of
the
in
human
smug
an ascetic or
gives expression to the passionate pain
and perpetual
of service
the
It-
whose inborn
shattered
It
the
back upon the cultivation
it
condemns of
disease,
of a spirit of
detachment.
The of
joys
on love
a ;
vehemence with which Bhartrhari denounces the two poems is life and attractions of love in these with
level
for the
his
attitude
3rhgara-ataka
is
disclosed
not
so
in
his
much
a
stanzas
poem on
on love
on the essential emptiness of love, an outburst not so much on its ecstasies and sunny memories by a self-forgetful lover, as on its darkening sorrows and wrongs by a man in bitter earnest. as
v
It indicates a
restraint
" ;
mind wavering between abandon and the fair lady or the cave of the mountains/
frame
of
1
either
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
164
"
either an abode on the sacred "either youth or the forest," banks of the Ganges or in the delightful embrace of a young woman " sentiments like these are scattered throughout. The delights of life and love are as much captivating as they are
reprehensible
the bitterness of
;
denunciation only indicates
the
the measure of the terrible fascination which love and
life
exert
on the poet it arises not so much from any innate repugnance as from the distressing necessity of convincing himself and tearing away from them. Bhartrhari's philosophy of love is simple: woman is both joy and sorrow, trouble and appeasement there ;
;
is
continual attraction and continual repulsion
much
man
the poet ceases to love at
all
and
from loving too
;
takes
A
asceticism.
to
temperament and strong passions, the poet frankall that is delightful, but it gives him no peace
of artistic
ly delights in
nor any sure foothold anywhere. The tone is not sombre, but pungent, and even vitriolic. Bhartrhari inevitably reminds one Asvaghosa, by the side of whose indignant outburst against woman, can be placed his biting interrogation: "Who has
of
woman
created
creatures
as
a
contrivance
woman, who
:
is
verse of indiscipline, the abode of evil, the deceitful soil
for
the
bondage
the whirlpool of
all
of
all
living
the
doubt,
uni-
daring, the receptacle of all of manifold distrust, the box of trickery all
and
illusion, a poison coated with ambrosia, the hindrance to heaven and a way to the depth of hell?" If the poet sometimes attains a calmer frame of mind in his two other Satakas on
Niti and Vairagya, his intense
conviction
be best understood in the light their attendant sufferings It is
love.
of
the
hard-won, and can powerful longings and is
which he describes in
no wonder that
his
assumption
of
his
the
Sataka on yellow
garb
so often conflicted with his craving for worldly delights.
Bhartrhari, therefore, differs from
and expression.
woman tion
;
He
as such, even
he
of tender
is
is
Amaru
both
in
attitude
too earnest to believe in the exaltation
of
though he cannot withstand the fascina-
too serious to depict in swift succession the
memories and pleasing pains
hundreds
of love, its flying thoughts
165
THE 6ATAKAS OF BHAUT&HARI
and dancing feelings, its delicate lights and shades, in the same way as they reflect themselves in Amaru's little poems in their
warmth and colour. Bhartrhari's miniature love-stanzas have not the same picturesqueness of touch, the same delicacy
playful
and elegance of expression, but they gain in intensity, depth and range, 1 because they speak of things which lie at the core of his being they have enough piquancy and sharpness to require ;
If
any graceful trimming. and the relation of lovers
Amaru
describes the emotion of
own
their
for
2
worries, and consider love and women or
ideal
aspect.
Amaru
has
There
a
is
number
large
of
poet
is
and
makes
sometimes
The metres employed by Bhaitrbaii
in
diversified, but his inclination to long sonorous
twenty-two
times.
See L. H.
the
real
poetry,
but
reflective
stanzas
but
absence
the
difficult to
separate
with
the
epithet
philosopher, he should
present texts of his
three
shown by
use of
measures
is
The Metres
Gray,
it
cited also
Bhadanta, be the Buddhist logician and 1
its
forget
in any fanciful
If, however, the anthology
compositions.
Dharmaklrti, who
to
it
life,
3
anthologies,
or uncertainty of chronological data
the early from
more
of
aspects
itself
apart from
erotic
scattered throughout the Sanskrit
the late
larger life
perhaps
Bhartrhari has more genuine feeling.
and without any
sake
implication for connecting them with Bhartrhari is too much occupied with
love
of
bis
Bhartrhari in
poems
are
Sragdbara
JAOS, XX,
1899,
pp. 157-59. It is noteworthy that Amaru always speaks of man's fickleness, and never echoes the almost universal bitterness regarding woman's inconstancy, which characterises much of 2
the poetical, as well as
religious
and didactic,
commends boldness and even aggressiveness facetiously explains
by saying that otherwise woman
appreciation of Bhartrhari, see C. R. Narasimba Lit. d. alien indien, p. 221 3
tery,
The
Bhartrbarj, in one passage, re* with women, which the commentator
literature.
in dealing
f.
;
S.
K. De
t
will
Sarma, op
op. cit.
t
p. 34
dominate cit.
t
pp.
man
!
28-56;
For a general H. Olden berg,
f.
which leaves no alternative between the world and the monagand renunciation, is not only an individual trait, but seems to have marked
attitude of mind,
between love
a class of Sanskrit poets, who wrote stanzas, applicable by double entente once to the themes of enjoyment and resignation. In general also, the Sanskrit poets have enough simplicity and integrity of feeling to make them grateful for the joys of life, but penitent when they have exceeded in enjoying them. In such an atmosphere, it is clear, the
the outlook of at
idea of the at
all.
chivalrous Platonic love or
the
so-called
intellectual
love
could
not develop
166
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
The belong to a period between the 6th and 7th century A.D. total number of stanzas independently assigned to him in the 1 2 different anthologies is about sixteen. There is nothing of the scholar or the pedant
being placed by
II
in
collection, its loss is
The vogue this
much
them
are worthy
of
Amaru and
Bhartrhari. a
to be regretted.
but
which the Sataka
also
is
period
and Barm,
their of
lost
by the Stotras of Mayura theme and method are different.
spirit,
hymns
in
their
the art, but evolved a
of
praise
poetry
new
The Epics,
praise and prayer.
the secret of
as
number
large
of
teachers of their
compositions ;
some
similar
religion.
well
as
meant
to
poems
religious
solely
behind
hagiology.
for
the
adoration in
which
in
poems
while
;
addressing
the
of
of sacred
of
a
and
deities
Some
purpose
mere theological collections
of
poem
Puranas and
the
receive
stay
own pantheon and
are
are
not
making
Their descen-
type of Stotras or
new Hindu mythology
the Jainas and Buddhists do
obtained from
deities
Tantras of uncertain date, abound in liturgical the gods of the
came
poetry
illustrated
their religion poetry and
dants
of
style
the Vedic times, but the ancients possessed
1
which are
the intervals of heavier work, wrote such
into
The production
cults
poems,
THE STOTRA-SATAKAS OF BANA, MAYURA AND OTHERS
2.
in
some
and
the side of those of
of
Dharmaklrti,
little
elegant
an erotic character,
of
generally
these
in
these
and
sects
epithets
or
For a complete list, see Thomas, Kvs> pp. 47-50, which gives also a list of Dharmaworks translated into Tibetan, including two Stotras. Also see Peterson,
klrti'e poetical
Sbhv, pp. 46-48, and in
ZDM G, XXVJI, p. *
JBRAS, XVI,
pp. 172-73;
Aufrecht in Ind. Stud.,
XVI,
pp. 204-7,
41:
Anandavardhana quotes one (iii, p. 216 /at>anya-cira*nna) with the remark .Mo/ra iti prasiddhih, and be adds Dharmafarteh tatha c&yaip satflbhavyate ca tasyaiva another stanza (p. 217) by Dharmaklrti, which is not found in the anthologies. The first of
Of
these,
;
:
;
these stanzas ticara.
is
also quoted
and ascribed to DharmakTrti by Kgemendra in
his
lucitya-
THE STOTHA-SATAKAS OF BANA, MAYURA AND OTHERS hundred or thousand sacred names
strings of a
most
;
167
them
of
have a stereotyped form and little individuality but the .higher Asvaghosa's earlypoetry and philosophy also invaded the field. eulogy of the Buddha in Buddha-carita xxvii is unfortunately lor.t ;
the spuri-
in Sanskrit, while the Stotras of his school, ns well as
Gandl-stotra of a somewhat later time,
ous
We
poetical worth.
have, however, two
Visnu and Brahman, both gods in Kalidasa's Raghu respectively, although
it
may
Mahakavyas
made
ba
in
In
Siva.
deity
a similar
that this
by the 4-15)
(iii.
there
connexion, Stotras
insertion of
no
is
in
a
the
Mahadeva by Bharavi's poem, that of Krsna by
of the period, such as
Arjuna in the closing canto of
Bhisma
metre; uttered
somewhat strange
is
to
remarkable Stotras to
and Kumara
16-32)
(\.
direct -Stotra to his beloved
reference
Sloka
in the
much
of
are hardly
the
Stava
of
$i6upala-vadha xiv, and that of Candl by the gods in
Ratnakara's Ham-vijaya
xlvii
(167
But
stanzas).
praise
and
panegyric very early become the individual theme of separate poems and an endless number of Stotras has survived. They 1
;
are mostly late,
attempted
but
of
little
few have
very
difficult task of al
and
>acied verse.
literary
\\orth
succeeded
;
in
for
many
the
exceedingly Their theme and treatment do not
\vn\s concern Vairagya, but their devotional feeling
ed, and
they
are
seldom
have
merely
is
undoubt-
Their
doctrinal or abstract.
not poetry, and they seldom attain its proper objective, however, accent. It is no wonder, therefore, that the Sanskrit poeticians is
and anthologists do not give much prominence
to the Stotra
works,
nor consider them worthy of a separate treatment.
The
early efforts of
Mayura and Banabhatta
are
not
very
but they illustrate the but distinctly' laboured, manner rhetorical contrivances to this kind of litera-
impressive for their purely poetic merit, early application of the elegant, of the
1
Kavya and
its
For religious hymnology,
studied, see
S.
P.
in general,
Bhattacharyya, The
PD. 340-60, for an eloquent appreciation.
a subject
which has not yet been adequately of Old India in IHQ, I, 1925,
Stotra-Literature
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
168
1
ture.
Mayura
is
associated,
Jaina legends, asser-
commentators and recorded traditions
tions of late
with Banabbatta as a literary
by marriage either
related
late
by
chiefly
of anthologists,
court of Harsa and
rival in the
as brother-in-law or father-in-law.
2
as
The
speak of Mayura's affliction with leprosy by the angry curse of Bana's wife, Mayura's alleged sister or daughter, whose intimate personal beauty he is said to have described in
legends
also
an indiscreet poem.
This work
the
but
highly erotic,
is
rather
supposed to be identical with of
poem
conventional,
eight
fragmentary stanzas, which goes by the name Mayurastaka* and which describes a fair lady returning from a secret visit to her
Three of
lover.
stanzas are in Sragdhara (the metre of Surya-
its
6ataka) and the rest in Sardulavikridita
than
it
;
taste, to the "tiger-sport" of the lady
man amorously
inclined,
4
Tf
the
more wit
with
with the
"demon
of
which makes even an
a lover," and to the beauty of her limbs old
refers,
poem poem
is
is
it
genuine,
itself started the possible that such descriptions in the legend but the legend also adds that a miraculous recovery from ;
was
through the grace of the sungod, by Mayura's composing his well-known poem, the Sfirynthe
unhappy
1
All that is
disease
known
of
effected,
Mayura and
his genuine and
ascribed
works
be
will
found
in
GK P. Quackenbos, The Sanskrit Poems of Mayura, New York 1917 (Columbia Univ. IndoTranian series^; it gives the works in Roman transliteration, with Erg. trs. and notes, and also contains the Candt-jataka of
Bana with
trs.
and not^s.
In the enumeration of tbe friends of his youth, who are said to have been of the saone age (cayasa samanah), Bana refers in hia Harsa-carila (ed. A. A. Fuhrer, Bombiy 19r9, p. 67 ; ed. Parab, NSP, Bombay 1892, p. 47, 4th ed., 1914, p. 42) to a certain Jangulika or *
snake-doctor, appropriately earliest
mention
of the poet
NQvasahasahka-carita Rftjas'ekhara in
Sml
(ii.
O'v.
named Mayuraka, who may Mayura, along with Baija,
or
may
not
in the court
18 of Padmagupla (about 1005 A.D.).
The
be our of
poet
;
Harsa occurs
but
the
in
the
Inter eulogistic stanza of
68), however, punningly alludes to the art of the snake-doctor
two stanzas (Nos.
The
from the Sarya-tataka of Mayura occurs in Inandavardhana's Dhvanydloka (2nd half of the 9th century), ii, p. 92 and 99-100. There is another much inferior tradition which connects him, along with many other Sanskrit earliest
anonymous quotation
poets, with king Bhoja of 8
of
9, 23)
Dhara.
also in JAOS, XXXI, 1911, pp. 843-54. Quackenbos, op. ct't., pp. 72.79, text and trs. kenaisd, rati-raka$ena ramitd ardula-vikridita st. 3; and ;
-4
t
prtyahga-gahanam Vfddho'pi kdmayale,
st. $.
dfjtv&
rupam
idarp,
THE STOTRA-6ATAKAS OF BINA, MAYURA AND OTHERS 1
But
in praise of the deity.
fataka,
must be
it
of
work, which retains in
literary
much by
The theme
display.
the
that
said
the Sataka gives the impression of being actuated not so piety as by the spirit
169
of
the
present form exactly one hundred 2 stanzas, consists of an extravagant description and praise of the sun-god and his appurtenances, namely, bis rays, the horses that
draw
its
his chariot, his charioteer
The
solar disc.
rolling
sixth stanza of the
the
to
refers
poem
and the
itself
suni's
healing diseases, which apparently set the legend but the belief that the sun can inflict and cure
of
power
Aruna, the chariot
;
being preserved in the Iranian story of Sam, the prototype of the Puranic legend of Samba it may not have anything to do with the presumption that the cult of the is
leprosy
old,
;
sun was popular in the days of Harsa, even described in the Harsa-carita as devotional
its
attitude,
Sragdhara metre for
and
;
compound words, of
jingling
the its
and
syllables
devotee of the
a
poem
with
is
all
the elaborate
obvious partiality
its
constant alliteration,
construction,
other
With
sun.
written in
is
diction,
difficult
Harsa's father
if
rhetorical
8
devices,
is
equally
Ed. G. P. Quackenbos, as above. Also ed. in Haeberlin, op. ct.> p, 197 f, reproduced K. P. Parab with comin. of op. cit. II, p. 222 f; ed. Durgaprasad and with of 1927 ed. comra. Yajnes*vara, in Pothi form, Tribhuvanapala, NSP, Bombay 1889, 1
in Jivananda,
t
;
Baroda Samvat 1928 (=1872 A.D.). The Ceylonese paraphrase (Sanna) by Vilgamrnula" Mahathera, with text, ed. Don A. de Silva Devarakkhita Batuvantudave, Colombo 1883
JRAS, XXVI, 1894, p. 555 and XXVIII, 1896, pp. 215-16). 2 With an apparently spurious stanza at the end, not noticed by the commentator, in NSP ed., giving the name of the author and the Phala-Sruti. The order of the stanzas,
(see
however,
is
not the same in
a loosely constructed 3
poem
all
editions and manuscripts
;
but this
of little
is
consequence in
of this kind.
remarkable that puns are not frequent; and the poem has some clever, but very elaborate, similes and metaphors, eg., that of the thirsty traveller (st. 14), of the day-tree (st. 34), of the dramatic technique antidote (st. 31), of against poison (st.
50)
It
;
ia
there ia a play
41); harsh-sounding
by
Mamma{a
alliteration.
of
syllables often
occur
to ten
(st.
(st. 6,
18
j
98 etc.);
cf.
Buddha -carita
while
st.
ii.
71 is cited
as an instance of a composition, where facts are distorted in order to effect an finds in the diction of the Gaudas, is abundant
The Aksara-CoHgr48g, p. 136 f
Belloai-Pbillipi,
pp. ld'j-31-
and in Verharid L dee
t
THE MAHAKiVYA FROM BHARAVI TO MAG HA
193
height in every line, so that in the end the whole is not Of real passion and fervour he has not much, and admirable.
he does not suggest much of the supreme charm of the highest but he has a soft richness of fancy, which often inclines poetry ;
him towards sweetness and
poet, not of love, but of the art of
rather
indelicate
theme
Like Bharavi, he is a lovej but he can refine the
prettiness.
of
amorous sports with
considerable
perhaps not fortuitous that Magha selects Krsna, and not Siva, as his favourite god. The Indian opinion speaks highly of his devotional attitude, and Blrisma's panegyric of It is
delicacy.
Krsna, to which Bharavi
has
praised; but one at
observes
once
here
temperament of the two poets. There can be no doubt that Magha and a willing slave,
He
tion.
to
a
poet, but
cut-and-dried
himself go. original path for himself, but
he
his is
poetic
in
literary
verse
convenbut
he power, Tie does not choose to seek out an
appears to possess a great
never seems to
is a
the
in
difference
handicapped by the fact that
gift is considerably
a slave,
the
often
is
nothing corresponding,
let
reserve
of
content to imitate, and outstrip, if possible, his predecessor by a meretricious display of elaborateness and ingenuity. The sobriquet Ghnnta-Magha, which lie is said to have
won by
is
the midst of sunset and moonrise, to sides
two
is
hill,
set
in
whose two
hung, is perhaps appropriate in bringing out but it only emphasises his rhetorical quality, a different thing from the poetical, although the quaint bells are
this characteristic
which
comparing a an elephant on
his clever fancy in
;
simile is not a just specimen of what he can do even in the rhetorical manner. ( Magha's extraordinary variety, however,
conditioned by corresponding inequality. His poem is a careful mosaic of the good and the bad of his predecessors, some of
is
whose inspiration he may have caught, but some of whose mannerisms he develops to no advantage. Apart from deliberate absurdities, the appearance of his poetry able, with feels
very AJC
its
that
its
features
generally
irreproach-
and jewellery, but one are insignificant and its
correct make-up, costume
often
1O4OD
is
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
194
expression devoid of
some
fire
the
of his pictures,
make one
more
feel
and
The fancy and
air*
brilliancy
what
distinctly
is
and
but
there,
of
diction
his
of
finish
not
vividness
which
of
The extent of his influence perhaps not incapable. on his successors, in whose estimation he stands even higher
Magha
is
than Kalidasa and Bharavi, indicates the fact that
it
Magha,
is
more than Kalidasa and Bharavi, who sets the standard of verse-making but the immense popularity of his poem
later
also
;
shows that there and more
demand
for poetry
lower
of a little
artificial kind.
THE GNOMIC,
4.
Although didactic
always a
is
DIDACTIC AND SATIRIC POEMS
between gnomic and the two Satakas of Bhartrhari on Niti and
it is difficult
verse,
to
distinguish
Vairagya may be taken as partially typical of the didactic spirit and possessing a higher value ihan, say, the collection of
gnomic stanzas, which pass current under the name of Canakya and contain traditional maxims of sententious wisdom. Of the didactip
pronounced
this
type
does
period
not
1
many
possess
other specimens than the Satakas of Bharlrhari, unless
we regard
Dvadasa-panjarika Stotra) as one of the genuine works of the great Samkara. This latter work, however, is a small didactic, outburst of seventeen lyric, rather than the
Moha-mudgara
for
by the feeling of transitoriness of all moric Pajjhatika metre and elaborate things; rhyming give a swing and music to its verses almost unknown in Sanskrit, and probably betoken the influence of Apabram&t
stanzas,
inspired
finely
while
mortal
or
vernacular
As such,
poetry.
early, but
dated very
its
it
is
it
doubtful
is
if
it
can
undoubtedly a poem of no
be
small
merit.
The gnomic antiquity in 1
J. P.
Ed.
J
however, finds expression aspects of Indian literature.
spirit,
many
Haeberh'n in
Kavya*rpgraba, Calcutta
in Kavyasamgrahft, Calcutta
Vidyasagar 607f. For Stotras ascribed
io
1888, p. 352
;
1847,
p,
text and trs.
Saipkara, see below under cb,
VI
1
from
remote
Such
tersely
263f,
in
reprinted
y P. Neve in
(PevofcionaJ Poetry).
JA
t
xii,
GNOMIC, DIDACTIC AND SATIRIC POEMS
195
composed in the Sloka metre, appear in the Niti sections of the two great Epics, in the Puranas, in the law-books and in the tales and fables, while some
epigrammatic sayings,
of the earlier
helped
moral stanzas occurring in the Brahmanas perhaps
establish
to
mostly
the
Buddhist and Jaina
the
in
tradition
later
non-Sanskritic
But the stanzas
literature.
are
mostly
scattered and incidental,
and no very early collection has come down to us, although the Mahabharata contains quite rich masses of them in the Santi, Anusasana, Prajagara. section of the Udyoga and other Parvans. That a large number of such stanzas formed a part of floating currency
and
is
indicated
repetition
in
and had
literature
indiscriminate appropriation
their
by
various
of
kinids
works mentioned above; but
it
wide anonymous
serious
and
amusing
would be hardly correct
to say
that they represent popular poetry in the strict sense of the term.
They rather embody the quintessence of traditional wisdom, the raw materials being turned into finished literary products, often adopted in higher literature, or made the nucleus of ever-growing collections.
They
the wit of one and
are of
unknown
wisdom
of
many
and authorship, being but they were sometimes
date ;
and conveniently lumped upon some apocryphal )e Vararuci, Vetalawriter of traditional repute, whether he
collected together
bha^ta or Canakya.
But the
collections are
dynamic, the centuries and bring-
often
process of addition going on uninterruptedly for
ing into existence various versions, made up by stanzas derived from diverse sources. The content of such compilations is thus the stanzas being mostly isolated but someunder grouped particular heads, and embraces not only astute observations on men and things but also a great deal of
necessarily
varied,
times
polity, practical morality
and popular philosophy.
thing deeply original, but the essential facts of are often expressed with considerable
wit and wide experience of life. the but elaborately varies,
The
life
shrewdness,
There and
is
no-
conduct
epigrammatic
finish of the verses naturally
terse
and
compact
style
of
expression, sometimes with appropriate antithesis, metaphors and
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
196 often
similes,
rhetoric
clever
the
produces
and their
;
deliberate
and
neat
of
effect
pleasing
form renders
literary
all
theories of popular origin extremely doubtful.
most of the early collections are while those which exist are undatable but the one ascribed It
lost
unfortunate
is
;
Canakya and passed
to
that
minister of tional
Candragupta
some
nucleus,
and elsewhere.
of the verses being found also in the Epics
It exists in a large
number
of recensions, of 1
have been
at least seventeen
known
the accumulated sagacity of the great appears to possess a fairly old tradi-
off as
distinguished,
and
it
is
which
variously
as Canakya-nlti* Ganakya-$ataka,* Canakya-nlti-darpana,
4
5 G The number of verses in or Laghu-canakya. Vrddha-canakya each recension varies considerably, but the largest recension
of
in
Bhojaraja,
manuscript, contains 576 verses in which the Sloka predominates. 7 as
work on
is
polity
be no doubt that, both in
of
the
Sarada
a
among
metres, lost
was
a
original,
deliberate
is
its
but there can extremely limited thought and expression, it is one ;
gnomic stanzas in Sanskrit, which must have been derived from fairly old sources.
of the richest
many
variety
Whether
in
not clear, as the number of verses devoted to
this topic in all recensions
and
a
of
Canakya would imply,
association with
its
preserved
chapters,
eight
finest collections of
Oscar Kresaler, Stimmen indischer Lebensklugheit (Tndica, Heft 4), Leipzig 1907, Five recensions (viz.) Canakya-nltiastra, Canakya-niti-^ataka Laghu-eanakya,
1
pp. 38-46.
Vrddha -canakya and Canakya-sloka) previously unpublished stanzas, by
Weber 2
Ind.
are printed in
Roman
Eugene Monseur,
transliteration, with translation of
Paris:
Ernest Leroux 1887.
See
aluo
Streifen, I, pp. 253-78.
Ed. Mirzapore 1877
;
also a
somewhat
different version,
ed.
Agra 1920, mentioned by
Kressler. 3
Ed. J. Haeberlin, op. cit. reprinted by J. Vidyasagar, op. cit. 9 II, p. 385f. Ed. Mathuraprasad Misra, Benares 1870 reprinted many times at Benares.. Ed. Bombay 1868; trs. by Kressler, op. cit. p. 151f. It has 840 verses in 17 chapters 9
*
;
*
t
of equal length,
rks show little touch of life and freshness of observation, and the tales are hardly marked by the blithe realism of Dandin tempered by spirit of the
The
strange romance.
intelligence,
probably
mercan-
of
still full
was apparently not waking up or perhaps was losing the old /est in life.
energy, but
tile
man was
lay
he
to the newIf
he
htill
retained a vivid interest in things around him, he had perhaps a greater Inclination to beguile himself with weird tales of wonder
and childish sentimentalities. reflect this attitude,
and the
fancy and sentiment. In his Niitya-darpuna three piays of
randa,
therefore,
plays,
the extravagances
lost in
named Anahgascna-harinandi, and
the same
from
also
by himself, namely, MaUika-makaand Kaumudl-mitrananda. Of these,
class
Rohini-mrgahka
typical of the later play of
this
kind
in
1
is
elopement of
Mitrananda,
son
having of
It
published.
a
is
a
complicated
2
The theme
series of narrative, rather than dramatic, incidents.
the
of
Ramacandra mentions and quotes
the last-named Prakarana in ten acts alone
is
faithfully
which deve-
realism,
poetic
becomes
loped in the earlier period,
from a Prakarana,
The
little
merchant, with from an
Kautnudi, the worldly-wise daughter imaginary island of Varuna, and their subsequent
of a sham-ascetic,
Simhala and other hero's friend
places, including the subsidiary
Makaranda, who
of a merchant.
With
married
to
some
of
such as the device of
a
the
common
love-charm,
story
Sumitra,
a frank zest for the strange
vellous, the plot utilises telling,
is
adventures in the
daughter
and the mar-
motifs of
of
a
of sto'ry-
magic
spell
(received from the goddess Jfmgull) for the cure of snake-bite, of magic herbs for removing disease, of human sacrifice, and of a 1
Ed. Muni Puny,ivijaya, Jaina .Ifcrnanaoda Granthamala, Bhavnagar K)17. The plot is summarised by Hultzach in ZDMG LXXV, pp. 63-65, t
SlSfOfcY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
476 wicked
breathing
Kapalika
into
life
a
The
corpse!
story
resembles those of Dandin's Da6akumara-carita, and the author might have done well if he had attempted to write in the same
and form; for there is not much merit in the play as a Even dramatic piece, nor is it remarkable on the poetic side. less meritorious is another Prakarana, entitled Prabuddhastrain
1
by Ramabhadra,
rauhineya,
pupil
of
Sfiri
(about
who
died in
named
Ruulii-
Jinaprabha
13th century) of the school of the logician Devasuri, In six acts it dramatises the Jaina story of the
1109 A.D.
misdeeds, incarceration and penitence of a bandit,
meagre and the play is wholly undramatic. The Mudrita-kumudacandra 2 of Yasa^candra, ROD of Padmaneya, but the plot
is
candra and grandson of Dhanadeva, a minister of a prince of Sakainbhari, hardly deserves mention in this connexion for it is ;
not so
much
a
drama
as a record in five acts
of
the controversy,
which took place in 1124 A.D., in the presence of king Jayasimha of Gujarat (1094-1142), between two Jaina teachers, the Svetambara Devasuri and the Digambara Kumudacandra, in
which the
latter,
with a pun on his name, was completely sealed
The extremely limited number of Prakaranas, up (mudrita) these followed and which were composed more or less on which the same pattern, need not detain us further, and very few of .
them
are available in print.
Of the plays a
of
the
semi-historical
8
type
of
the
Mudra-rakasa which -
very great antiquity is claimed for the nameless drama, which has been published from possess
Madras
the
transcript
of
interest,
a .unique
manuscript
Malabar, and named Kaumudl-mahotsava* by
its
discovered in editor
from the
Ed. Muni Punyavijaya, Jaina Atmananda GiantbariiaJft, Bhavnagar 1918. Summarised by Hultzsch in above, pp. 66-67. 2 Ed. Jaina Yagovijaya Grantbamala, Benares, Vlra Era 2432 (A.D. 1906). Analysed l
by Huitzscb, as above, pp. 61-62. 3 For a list and running account, see Sten Konow, pp. 110-111. 4 Ld. M. Ranoakrisbna Eavi and 8. K. Ramanatba Sastri,
MS
was transcribed for the Gounment On'enlnl See Quarterly Jour, of Andhra Research Soc., II-I1J, 1927-29,
Madras
1929.
The
Dak
inabhSratI Series,
MS
Library, Madras,
LAYS Of StiMl-filStORlCAL INTKttEST
The name of the author expression being used in the Prologue. is also not known, as nothing remains of the part which contained
the
in
it
broken
Prologue, except the
letters
kaya
nibaddham natakam, from which it is conjectured that the author was a woman and her name was Vijjaka (reading vijjakaya in the lacuna), well
known from
the anthologies.
1
We
are
told
Prologue that the play was enacted at the coronation of king Kalyanavannan of Pataliputra, and its theme appears to be an qnsode of the king's life. It speaks of the defeat and death in the
01
father Sundaravarmari
Kulyfuiavarmari's
Candaa'iia, his general, takes lor
its
is
the Licchavis, and
subject-matter the reinstatement of Kalyanavarman on
the throne of
There
who conspired with
hands of
the
at
Magadha by
possibly
some
the efforts of the minister Mantragupta. historic
background
but
to the plot,
we
cannot with certainty identify the characters of the play with 2 historic persons, nor do we know anything about its authorship or
3
The
period of composition.'
intrigue, but it of the love of
sena, a Yfidava
is
by
eclipsed
Kalyanavarman
King
plot is a
the
of Surasena.
There
who
sena
later
the Kavyadarfa. of Candraditya.
supposed to
or Vijjaka
of Vijj
We Tn
is
iv.
19, there
is
a
mention
is
of
be the same as the deity of Trivandrum.
the passage.
nun
royal
a
uncertain, but she
cannot be sure whether she
a
or Parivrajika,
of
family
pilgrimage to is
Sura-
Vindhya-
probably later than Dana as the
of
But what is signionly actor naturally kept up and fostered it. ficant is that the erotic element gets the upper hand in the later Bhanas, as they do not make the best of the comic possibilities of the society which they handle and which lend themselves finely to
such treatment.
The very names
of the
later
Bhanas and
their principal Vitas emphasise their exclusive tendency
of
towards
and their diminishing interest in comedy and satire. Bharata gives us no prescription regarding the sentiment to be delineated in the Bhana, and the earlier authors of the Catureroticism
bhani, therefore, were unfettered in this respect and could draw upon other legitimate sources of interest than the erotic. But
from the time
of
the Da$a-rupaka onwards,
it
is
distinctly
understood that the erotic and the heroic should be the sentiment
The heroic was probably dropped as proper to the Bhana. unsuitable to the essential character of the play, but the erotic came
to prevail.
1
The
erotic convention, in
fact,
overshadows
everything, and one would seek in vain in these decadent writings for the power of observation and reproduction of real life
which are so There
by the Caturbham. a greater scope for comedy and
vividly exhibited
is
Prahasana, but by
satire
in
the
exaggeration, hopeless vulgarity (allowed by theory) and selection of a few conventional types of characters, with plenty of horse-play, than it becomes more a caricature, its
As a class of composia picture of real life, with true comedy. tion, the Prahasana is hardly entertaining, and has little literary
1
Bhana
Vilvanatba's exception that the KaisikI Vrtti may sometimes be allowed in the in keeping with the erotic spirit of the later writings, as this dramatic style
is quite
gives greater scope to love and gallantry.
494
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LlTKliATUUK
The
attraction.
chiefly to the
erotic tendency is
still
there, but
it
is
confined
and descriptions, and entirely subof grotesque and often coarse antics. The stanzas
set
merged in a series theme is invented, and consists generally of the tricks and quarrels of low characters of all kinds, which often include a
The
courtesan.
action
theory between the types
The
is
more
is
mixed
or less formal
and the distinction made by (Saniklrna) and unmixed (Suddha)
slight,
and
is
of
no practical significance.
Phahasanas have only one act, like the fihana, but specimens extend to two acts, or divides the one act
earlier
the later
two Samdhis.
into
The dramaturgic treatises mention several -Prahasanas which have not come down to us. Thus, the Bhava-prakaa of Saradatanaya mentions Sairatndhrika, Sagara-kaumudi and Kali-keli while the Rasarnava-sudhakara cites Ananda-koa, Brhat-subha;
draka and Bhagavad-ajjuka, of which the last-named work alone Of the three Prahasanas cited in the has been recovered. Sahitya-darpana, the Lataka-melaka alone has Dhurta-carita
Prahasanas,
and Kandarpa-keli are we have already spoken
survived,
lost.
of
but the
Of
the
the existing Matta-vilasa of
Mahendravikrama, which is undoubtedly the earliest known (620 A.D.), and of the Hasya-cudamani of Vatsaraja, which belongs to the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century. 1
ajjuklyas,
two
these
Between
which
date of which
is
works
comes probably
an
the
Bhagavad-
Prahasana, but the undoubtedly unknown and authorship uncertain. Like most is
old
preserved in Kerala, the Prologue omits the name of the which finds throughout a author, but a late commentary,
plays
philosophical
meaning
two manuscripts
who
is
of
in the farce,
the
play)
otherwise unknown, but
names
agreement with Bodhayana Kavi as the author,
whom
the
(in
commentator
might
Ed. A. Bauerji Sastri in JBORS, 1924, from very imperfect materials, but ed. more with an anonymous commentary by P. Anujan Achan, and published from the Paliyam Manuscripts Library, Jayantainanga!ain, Cochin 1925. Also ed, Prabhakaru 1
critically
Sastri Veturi, Vavilla Press,
Madras
1925*
495
EROTIC AND FARCICAL PLAYS
be confusing with the Vrttikara Bodhayana quoted by Rainanuja.
The argument Buddhism was
the
that
a
still
farce
living
was composed faith
is
at
a time
when
indefinite
clearly
and
specimens of the Prahasana, it reveals features of style and treatment which render a date earlier than the 12th century very probable. One but
inconclusive,
with
compared
later
important feature of this well-written farce, which distinguishes it from all other farces in Sanskrit, is that the comic element is
found
not
the oddities of the characters but in the ludicrous-
in
as
it is
curiously named, the saint in
versed
well
teacher,
the Saint and the
In this farce of
ness of the plot.
Yoga,
is
a
true
while
ascetic
Courtesan,
and learned
his pupil Sandilya is the
Vidusaka of the serious drama their conversation, with which the play begins, has comic features, but it is never
typical
;
grotesque and coarse, and the characters are not of that low arid The hypocritical type which is ordinarily ridiculed in the farce. courtesan, lover,
who
does
which we
not
show the vulgar
find in the
The funny
garden and awaits her
enters the neighbouring
traits of the
normal Prahasanas
when
common
mentioned
to be
harlot,
below.
the dead bitten by a an saint, finding opportunity of impressing his scoffing pupil by a display of Yogic powers, enters the dead situation
arises
girl falls
serpent, and the
body of the courtesan. The messenger of Yania, coming to fetch the dead soul and finding that a mistake has been committed, allows the soul of the courtesan to enter the lifeless body
The curious exchange like the courtesan,
of souls
makes the
saint
equilibrium
and returns the souls
to
Yama
their
the saint.
speak
the
while the courtesan adopts
conduct of the saint, until the messenger of
of
and act
language and restores
the
respective bodies.
Although a small piece, the play achieves real humour, not by cheap witticisms and clownish acts, but by a genuinely comic plot
and commendable characterisation.
It is easily the
best
of
the Sanskrit farces.
We
can dismiss the Damaka-prahasana of unknown date and authorship, the main incident of which covers about three
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
496
pages, as no one can seriously call the fragment a Prahasana or even a noteworthy work in any respect. The 1
printed
Damaka-incident
an obvious imitation
is
Vidusaka-
of the usual
episode of the normal drama, while the two added pieces of a few lines are fragmentary and unconnected and have no comic element in
The
it.
work looks
slight
scenes, containing
like a selection of scenes or half-
from well-known
culled
verses
works and 2
The Nata-vata-prahasana compiled for some kind of diversion. is also of of Vasudeva son of Yadunandana, Cayani,
unknown it
there
but
requirements,
an early work.
is
conform
does not strictly
date and
is
It
the technical
to
no
reason
the
coarseness of
has
to
suppose later
that farces
and does not exhibit any noteworthy literary characteristics. The Prologue, presented in the form of a Monologue, in which the Sutradhara carries on by means of Akasa-bhasita, may be an
interesting
suggested by
an
of
relic
old
trait,
Although some characters are
itself.
but
it
may
have been
main body of the Bhana common, the two Samdhis
the established technique of
play are entirely unconnected, and the suggestion that it was composed on the model of some popular dramatic spectacles of
the
of looser technique
is
The remaining
farces,
are of a coarser type is
some rough
not improbable.
which have been
and have
little to
wit, as well as satire, but
it
open vulgarity, while the descriptive and distinction.
little
The
earliest of
so
far published,
recommend them.
these
is
often
erotic is
the
There
defaced
by
stanzas possess
Lataka-melaka*
'
the Conference of Rogues', composed apparently in the first part of the 12th century, under Govindcandra ofKanauj, by or
It describes in two acts the Kaviraja Safikhadhara. assembling of all kinds of roguish people at the house of the go-between 1
.
Ed. V. Venkatarama
Bhasa,*ee *
Sastri,
Lahore 1926.
J. Jolly in Festgate Qarbe,
On
the false ascription
of this
work
to
Erlaugeo 1927, pp. 116-21.
Ed. Granthamala, ii, Bombay 1887. Ed. Dargaprasad and K. P. Parab, NSP, Bombay 1889, 3rd ed. 1923. There are several quotations from this work in the Sdrhgadhara-yaddhati and the Sahitya-darpana, which undoubtedly place the work earlier than the 14th century. *
EROTIC AND FARCICAL PLAYS
Dantura
497
winning the favour of her daughter Madanamafijari. They represent a number of types, each labelled with a particular First comes, with his foible, indicated by their very names. for
parasite
the
Kulavyadhi,
profligate
Sabhasali
professor
who,
having a ferociously quarrelsome wife Kalahapriya, seeks diversion in the society of the courtesan. As Madanamafijari has accidentally swallowed a fish bone, the quack doctor Jantuketu is called in
his .methods are absurd, but his
;
words and acts make the
laugh, with the happy result of dislodging the bone.
girl
Then appear
Digambara Jatasura and the Kapalika Ajnanara^i quarrelling; cowardly village headman Samgramavisara, accompanied by
the the
his sycophant Vigvasaghataka; the hypocritical
3ukla
the
;
preceptor Phurikatamigra ; the depraved Vyasanakara, interested in a washerwoman,
fraudulent
monk
Buddhist
and other similar characters. and in
There
the end
is
a marriage is between the old bawd Dantura and the
lovers,
Brahman Mithya-
a
bargaining of the
arranged
satisfactorily
Jatasura.
Digambara of tbe Meeting of Knaves Maithila Jyotirisvara Kavi^ekara, son of Dhane^vara and grandson of Rame^vara of the family of Dhlresvara, was composed under king Harasimha or Harisimha of Karnata family, who
The Dhiirta-samagama
ruled in
Mithila
1
or
'
same
first
contest between a wicked religious
pupil Duracara whom the pupil saw
over a
his
1
quarter of the 14th century. type in one act, in which there is a
during the
It is a farce of the
'
the
first,
but
mendicant Vigvanagara and
charming courtesan
whom
On
the preceptor
Anangasena, meanly desires
suggestion of the girl, the referred to arbitration by the Brahman Asajjati who craftily decides, after the manner of the ape in the fable, to keep to appropriate to himself
matter
Ed. C. Lassen in
1
1888
;
'
.
the
is
his
Anthologia
ed. C. Cappeller, in litho,
In some
MSS
name
Jena 1883.
Santcntica (nob reprinted in the 2nd ed.), Bonn C/. Le"vi, op. cif., p 252 f .
of tbe king is given as Narasiinha,
who has been
identified by Sten Kono'w and Keith, following Lassen, with Nartsiipha of Vijayanagara (1487-1508 A.D.). But this is clearly incorrect. See discussion of the whole question by 8. K. Chatterji in
tbe
Proceeding* of the Oriental Conference, Allahabad,
63-1343B
vol. ii, pp. 559-69,
498
HISTORY OP SANSKRIT LITERATURE
the girl for himself, although his Vidusaka also covets the prize. It should be remembered that the author wrote a work also on
Paflca-sayaka* and the extreme erotic tendency of his farce, therefore, is not unexpected.
the art of love,
entitled
The other extant
farces belong to a
much
The
later period.
Hasyarnava* of JagadKvara follows in two acts the general scheme, with a slight variation, of bringing rogues and rakes together in the house of the bawd Bandhura, which the king Anaya-sindhu, Ocean of Misrule,
study the character of his people, as they are drawn there by the beauty of her daughter Mrgankalekha. The series of characters who enter comprises visits to
the court chaplain Vi^vabandhu and his pupil Kalabankura, who quarrel over the possession of a courtesan ; the incompetent docltor Vyadhi-sindhu, son of Aturantaka, who wants to cure
by applying a heated needle
colic
barber
Bakta-kallola
him
a
in
Terror to that the
blood
pool of
the
city
who
is
the
Bana-jambuka, who
cut
the
police-chief
his
with
reports
hands of thieves
valiant
is
the palate
has
who
Good, in
;
to
enough
to
the surgeon-
;
patient
and
left
Sadhu-himsaka, great
satisfaction
comic general cut a leach in two and ;
the
;
In the second act, the the ignorant astrologer Mahayantrika. efforts of the chaplain and his pupil to obtain the damsel meet
with opposition from those of another religious teacher, Madandhami&ra and bis pupil, who are birds of the same feather. The
men
succeed, and the two pupils content themselves with the old hag, knowing that they would share the young girl on older
the sly.
words
The work and
acts,
by unredeemed vulgarity of and cannot in any sense be regarded as is
an attractive production.
1
Ed. Sadananda
Sastri,
disfigured
The Kautuka-sarvasva
*
of
Goplnatha
Lahore 1921.
Ed. 0. Cappeller, ia litho print, Jena 1383 ; ed. Sri oath Vedantavagis, 2nd ed., Calcutta 1896, with a Skt. commentary. 3 Ed. Bamacandra Tarkalamkar, Calcutta 1828. Analysed by Wilson, ii, p. 410 and >
by 0. Cappeller in Guru-pujd-kaumitd\ (Festschrift A.
Dacca Uniwsity M8, no. 1680
I),
Weber), Leipzig 1896, pp. 59-69.
499
EROTIC AND FARCICAL JPLAYS
Cakravartin, composed for the Durga-puja festival of Bengal, is also a late work, but it is less vulgar and more amusing. It describes in two acts the wicked pranks of king Kali-vatsala,
Darling of Iniquity, of Dharma-naga city, addicted to the hempjuice and fond of other men's wives, who oppresses the Brahman Satyacara, proclaims free love, becomes involved in a dispute over a courtesan whom every one wants to oblige, and ends by banishing all good people from the realm. The king's advisers are
his
minister
Sistantaka,
his
chaplain
Dharmanala, his
followers Anrta-sarvasva and Pandita-pida-vi3arada, his courtier
and nobleman Kukarma-paficanana and Abhavya-6ekhara, and his general Samara-jambuka, their names explaining the dominant traits of their character.
work is of little 1 plot and characterisation. The Kautuka-ratnakara, another
ing, the
in
its
Although less vulgar and more amusmerit and possesses no greater appeal
Bengal work, composed by the royal priest (unnamed but surnamed Kavitarkika, son of Vanlnatha) of Laksmanamanikya (end of the 16th century) of Bhuluya (in Noakhali), ridicules an imbecile king Duritarnava of Punya-varjita city, who relies on his knaves to recover his abducted queen. Although she was sleeping well protected in the arms of the police-chief SuSilantaka 1
she was forcibly taken festival.
away on the night preceding the springThe king acts on the advice of his minister Kumati-
punja, his priest Acara-kalakuta, his the overseer of his harem obscenely
astrologer Asubha-cintaka,
named Pracanda-sepha,
his
He
appoints a general Samara-katara and his guru Ajitendriya. courtesan Ananga-tarangini in her place to officiate at the festival, until a Brahman, named Kapata-vesa-dharin, is accidentally As in the other farces described revealed as the abductor. above, the oddities and antics of these characters supply a great deal of vulgar merriment, but the work is not free from the faults of exaggeration
1
and coarseness, which take away the edge
Dacca University MS,
pp. 62-68.
no.
1821 (fragmentary).
Analysed by C. Cappeller,
of its
tp.
500
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE!
To the latter part of the 17th the Dhurta-nartaka 1 of Samaraja Diksita, 2 son of century belongs Narahari Bindupuramdara, and author of a number of poems and satire
and comic portraiture.
mentioned above.
of the play Sridama-carila act but in
two Samdhis, composed
to ridicule chiefly the Saiva
in
love
confides
his
of a festival of
Visnu,
The
ascetic Mure^vara is two pupils to whom he oust him and seek to expose
ascetics.
but his
girl,
attempt to
passion,
honour
one
king Papacara. The play is comparatively free the usual grossness, but it has little fancy or humour
him
to
from to
with a dancing
in
It is a farce in
the
recommend it. The Sanskrit Prahasana,
as a whole,
The
invention and lack of taste.
interest
suffers
from poverty
seldom centres
in
of
the
cleverness of the plot or in well-developed intrigue, but in the follies and oddities of characters, which are often of a broad and
Neither in the incidents nor in the characters there
obvious type.
any vivid and animated use of colour or any sense of proportion. The whole atmosphere is low and depressing. We have neither is
thoroughly alive rascals nor charmingly entertaining fools, for they are all thrown into fixed moulds without much regard for actuali-
The characters
ties.
are
not
low,
unredeemingly base and carnal
;
in social
their
as
and there being no credit for
any other quality, they are hardly human. or
position, but
rougher
The
procession of need not be
pastimes no merit in attempting to raise laughter by deliberately vulgar exhibitions and expressions, which mar the effect of the plays even as burlesques and
unmitigated rogues without any interest
caricatures.
;
bat
The parodies
there
is
of high-placed people lose their point,
not only from tasteless exaggeration, but also from their extremely Even if refinement is out of sordid and prosaic treatment. place
and
in
a
farce,
detailed
and puerile coarseness
ineffective.
1
Analysed by Wilgon,
*
On Samaraja and
op.cit., ii, p. 407.
his date
and works,
see above, p. 486, footnote 5.
is
redundant
501
t)RAMAS 0# AN IRREGULAR TYPE
DRAMAS OF AN IRREGULAR TIPE
7.
Thte steady development of description
means
of elaborate verses
which we have noticed their climax in
some
and the entire
in the
wiping out of action,
normal drama
so-called later
and the Mahanataka, which exhibit
and declamation by
plays,
of this period, reach
the
like
Dutdngada
also certain
markedly irregular features. Although nominally keeping to the outward form of the drama, the works are devoid of all dramatic action, of poetical stanzas, being rather a collection descriptive, emotional or narrative, with slight interspersed dialogues and
quasi stage-directions. Having regard to the course of development of the Sanskrit drama in this decadent epoch, which more' and more sacrificed action and characterisation to narrative and
some
description,
inexplicable
some
since
of the general features
but
;
of
since
there
are
are particular
the
like
specimens, themselves as Chaya-natakas, they
in
themselves not
irregularities
and
the
Dutahgada, describe have been cited as typical
examples of a peculiar genre by expounders of the shadow-play While the connotation of the term Chaya-nataka 5 hypothesis. 1
extremely dubious, the shadow-play theory, however, appears to be entirely uncalled for and without foundation, and there is hardly any characteristic feature which is not otherwise
itself is
intelligible
by purely historical and literary considerations.
R. Pischel, Das altindische Schattenspiel in SBAW, 1906, pp. 482-502; H. Liiders, SBAW, 1916, p. 698 f; Sten Konow, op. cit., pp. 89-90; Winternitz, GIL,
1
Die Saubbikas in iii,
p.
243 (also in
ZDMG, LXXIV,
also claimed as shadow-plays,
53
269
and
1920, p. 118
and discussion
The Problem
f).
For other plays
of the entire
of this type,
question, ice Keith,
which are
SD, pp. 33
f
,
Maban&taka in IHQ, VII, 1931, p. 537 f. 2 The term is variously explained as outline of a drama or entr'cte' (Rajondralala Mitra and Wilson), 'shadow of a drama or half-drama' (Pischel ), 'a drama in the state of shadow' f,
f
S.
K. De,
of the '
Having regard to the derivative nature of the plays like the Dutangada and the Mahanataka, which incorporate verses from known aud unknown Rama- dramas, it is not imp ssible to hold that the term Chaya-nataka means 'an epitomised adaptation of previous (L6vi).
technical term used in the sense of plays on the subject/ the term Chaya being a well known borrowing or adaptation. It should be noted that the Chaya-nataka, in the sense of shadow
and is unknown to theorists as a play, is not a category of Sanskrit dramatic composition in ancient times is extremely doubtful, and the Its dramatic genre, early or late. prevalence part alleged to be played by
it
in the evolution of the Sanskrit
drama
is entirely
problematic^
HISTORY
502
The Dutangada
1
SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Otf
of
Subhata describes in four scenes the
2
embassy of Angada, who is sent to demand restoration from Ravana. There is a regular prologue. After this, first
is
scene, Atigada
sent as a messenger
sana and Mandodarl attempt folly; in
the third,
Havana's endeavour Slta, that Slta is to be deceived
to dissuade
Atigada
;
bis
and leaves Ravana with threats
The work
the longer recension,
many
but
mission,
exists
;
on
is
and in the fourth, and Rama slain,
1
Eggeling writes
forms
various
in
longer and a shorter recension are distinguished.
of
fatal
his
persuade him, with the illusion of Mayain love with the lord of Laftka, Angada refuses
enters in triumph.
itself
the
to
two Gandharvas inform us that Ravana
logue
in
second, Bibhi-
in the
Ravana from
executes
Slta
of
but a
Characterising
"Not only
:
;
the
is
dia-
considerably extended in this version by the insertion
additional stanzas, but narrative verses are
in, calculated to
make the work
dramatic piece (with stage
Most
of these
other
Rama-dramas
citation) are taken
curious
directions)
supplementary ;
a
verses
also
thrown
between a
hybrid
and a narrative poem." are,
for instance, verses
traceable in
however,
4 and 5
Eggeling's
(in
from the Prasanna-raghava and verse 5 from
the Mahavlra-carita.*
The
shorter
recension
character of a similar compilation, and in the
also
betrays
the
verse
the
closing
author himself acknowledges his indebtedness to his predecessors. work does not pretend entire originality, but
It is clear that the
was probably compiled for some particular purpose. The Prologue tells us that it was produced at the court of Tribhuvanapala, who appears to be the Caulukya prince of that name
it
1
Ed. Durgaprasad and V. L. Panashikar, NSP, Bombay 1891, 4th revised ed. 1922; by L. H. Gray iuJAOS, XXXII, p. 69 f. The longer recension is given by the
trs.
Eng.
India Office 2
MS,
no. 4189 (Eggeling, Catalogue, vii, p. 1G04
The theme
is
the
same as that
of act vii,
f).
Madhusudana's version
of thr
Mahanataka,
the word Dutangada being actually used in Damodara's recension, act xi, p. 149. 3 (vii, no. 4189) contains 138 The longer recension, as given in the India Office
MS
verses (as against 56 of the shorter printed recension), but
owing
to irregular
numbering of the verses
in the
the
total
number
is
still
larger
MS.
Even gnomic stanzas, like udyoginarp purusa-sir^iham upaiti lakgrnih, which occurs in Hit the of ad tfa, are found in the work. 4
DRAMAS OF AN IRREGULAR TYPE
503
who
reigned at Anhilvad at about 1242-43 A.D., and was presented at the spring festival held in commemoration of the restoration of the Saiva temple of Devapattana (Somnath) in
Kathiawad by the
deceased
Kumarapala.
king
Apart
from
more narrative than dramatic, over very
prevalence of verse,
scanty prose, which
is
a
common enough
feature of the
decadent
drama, there is nothing to distinguish it from the ordinary play and stamp it out as an irregular piece. Compared with the there is a anonymous, nor extensive regular prologue, as also some stage-direction and scene-division the theme is limited, and the number of persons appearing
Mahanataka,
it is
not
;
;
Prakrit altogether omitted. To all appearance, a spectacular play of the popular type, composed frankly for
not large it is
;
nor
is
a festive occasion,
which
will
fact
regard to the expansive character of alleged laxity, as well as the
but there
is
to
nothing
pictures, except
(having
popular entertainments)
existence
show that
it
of
various
was meant
its
recensions for
1 ;
shadow-
doubtful self-description as a Chaya-nataka,
its
which need not necessarily mean This descriptive epithet
some other plays
of
explain
sufficiently
also,
a shadow-play.
used in the prologue or colophon which are otherwise different in no
is
ordinary dramatic compositions of this period, but which have been mentioned by some modern scholars as Such is the Dharmabhyuinstances of Sanskrit shadow-play.
way from
daya*
of
the
Meghaprabhacarya,
a
short
and almost insignificant
play of one act but three or four scenes,
having the usual proprose and verse dialogues,
logue and stage-directions, enough and some Prakrit. There is, however,
which
it,
is
Pshadow-play.
1
Pisebel
said
to
support
its
As the king takes
points out that there
are as
a
one stage-direction
claim to
vow
many
to
in
be recognised as a
become an
rectniiona of the
ascetic,
work &
there are
manuscripts. 1
resume
Ed, Muoi Puayavijaya, Jaina Atrnananda Grantbaoaala, Bbavnagar 1918. is
in given by Hultzsch
3DMG, LXXV,
p. 69.
A
brief
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
504
the stage-direction reads
kas tatro sthapamyah
:
yamanikantarad yati-vesa-dhari pwtra" from the inner side of the curtain
(p. 15)
The be placed a puppet wearing the dress of an ascetic." direction, however, is meant to be nothing more than the symit is difficult to see in^it any bolical representation of a fact is to
;
No
such directions, however, are found in the other so-called Chaya-natakas, not even in the
reference
the
to
shndow-play.
Dutangada and the Mahanataka, which specimens of the hypothetical again, the three epic dramas of nised by the
Haihaya
shadow-play.
admitted even
not
upheld as typical
Of
these
Ramadeva Vyasn, who was
princes of the
pura and who thus belonged to the are
are
Kalacuri branch
first
half of the 15th
by Liiders as shadow-plays at '
drama, Subhadra-parinaya, .scenes, has a theme which is first
of
consisting of one
act
plays,
patro-
Raya-
century, all.
The
but three
by its title the second, Ramabhyudaya,* also a short play in two acts, deals with the time-worn topic of the conquest of Lanka, the while the fire-ordeal of Slta, and Rama's return to Ayodhya sufficiently explained
;
;
third
Pandavabhyudaya*
play,
birth and
adopted
Svayamvara of
title
also in
of Draupadi.
Chaya-nataka,
If
two
we
acts, deals with the
leave
aside
the
self-
these plays do not differ in any 4
The anonymous Hari-duta, ordinary play. which describes in three scenes Krsna's mission to Daryodhana, respect from
the
has the same theme as the Duta-vakya ascribed to Bhasa, but there is nothing in it which would enable us to classify it as a
shadow-play
;
and
does
it
not,
moreover,
describe
itself
as
a
Chaya-nataka. The Inanda-latika,* again, which is regarded by Sten Konow as a shadow-play, is really a comparatively modern dramatic poem in five sections (called K us urn as) on the 1
Britiih
Ste Bendail in JRAS, 1898, p. 331.
Mu*eum,
no. 271, p. 106f.
1
MS in Bendail,
1
India Office
*
*
Bendail, op.
MS
India Office
Parf>at-P0trfr0,
vol.
op. cit., no. 272, pp. 107-3.
noticed in Bendall'i Cat. of
Analysed by L4vi.
no. 4187 (Eygeling, vii, p. 1602).
cit.,
MS
MS
Analysis in Le>i, op. cit.
no. 270, p. 106.
no. 4203.
XXIII,
ft
Analysed by Le>j.
(Eggeliog,
vii, p.
1624). Edited in the
j^u*?, Calcutta 3940-43.
M9S in
th*
DRAMAS OF AN IRREGULAR TYPE
505
Sama and Reva, composed by Krsnanatha Sarvabhauma The same remarks Bhattacarya, son of Durgadasa Cakravartin. love of
apply to tbe modern Citra-yajna of Vaidyanatha Vacaspati (in five acts, on the Daksa-legend), described by Wilson, who is
undoubtedly right in pointing out its similarities to the popular Yatra of Bengal. It is possible that all these short pieces, not entirely original, were meant for popular festive entertainments,
and therefore made some concession forming
strictly to the
play theory
is
not at
popular taste by not con-
to
orthodox requirements, and the shadownecessary to explain whatever peculiarities
all
they possess on this account. All the alleged irregular features
these
of
small
plays
are
found enormously emphasised in the huge, anonymous and semidramatic Mahanataka, the peculiarities or real irregularities of which have started some amount of learned speculation centering round the obscure question of
as
and origin.
character
a Nataka, it evinces characterisWilson's which apparently justify description of the work
Though tics
its
designated
technically
a
a
It is nondescript composition. almost wholly in verse, on the entire
number
extensive
very
Ramayana
story,
work, but
a
is unblushingly plagiarised from and some the known, most probably unknown, dramas on There is little of prose and true dialogue the same theme.
large
of
its
verses
of
;
the usual stage-directions are missing there is appearing is fairly large ;
we have
;
the a
number
of
benediction,
characters
and in one
Prarocana verse, which ascribes recension the play to the mythical Hanumat, but there is no proper Prologue all the elements of the plot prescribed by theory are a
curious
;
work being a panoramic narration
wanting,
the
incidents
without dramatic motive
acts, at least in
one recension,
in short, the
is
or
action
beyond a
the
;
the
of the
epic
number
prescribed
of
limit
;
dramatic form, gives
work, barely exhibiting the impression of being a loose narrative composition, as opposed to dramatic, and might have been as well written in the regular
form 64
of a
Kavya.
1343B
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
506
The work exists in two principal recensions West Indian, redacted by Damodara Migra in fourteen ;
the
one,
and
acts
1
Hanuman-nataka, while the other, East Indian (Bengal), arranged by Madhusudana in ten acts and 7*20 2 The titles are clearly verses, is named the Mahanataka. 548
is
verses,
8
descriptive,
the
styled
and the work
recensions find
it
in
is
reality
convenient
to
anonymous ascribe
;
but
both
the
apparently authorship to the have no legendary Hanumat, the faithful servant of Rama. fanciful but about the historical information the origin of work,
traditional
work
unknown
of
or
forgotten
We
by the commentators and
accounts, recorded
the
prabandha, associate
recovery
of
the
by
Hanumat
1
s
Bhoja-
work with
Bhoja and suggest the redaction of an old anonymous composition. Although the two recensions are divergent, a considerable
number of verses is common, and recent textual researches tend 4 to show that probably Darnodara's version is the primary source and Madhusudana's derivative. But there is nothing to negathe
tive
conjecture
that
originally
nucleus, round which these elaborate
number
of verses, culled chiefly
there
an essential
existed
weave a large If from various Eaina-dramas. recensions
legendary account be Bhoja of Dhara (second quarter of the llth century), whose interest in encyclopaedic compilations is well known, then the earliest redaction may
Bhoja
of the
have taken place in his time but the process of expansion must have continued, leading to divergence of recensions and incor;
1
3
ed.
in
Ed. Venkat.es'vara Press, Bombay 1909, with the Dipika comio. of Mohaaadisa. Ed. Chandrakumar Bhattacharya, with the comin. of CandraSekhara, Calcutta 1874;
Jivananda Vidyasagar, 2nd. ed Calcutta 1890. The Dumber of verses varies greatly MSS and editions; the number given here is that of Aufrechfc's Bodleian, ,
different
Catalogue, p. 142 b. 8
known
The term Mahaoataka to Bharata
and the
is
not really a designation, but a description
Daa rupaka,
technical term which connotes a play
but later writers like
containing
all
the
The term
Vis*vanatha explain
episodes
and
possessing
it
a
The Bdla-ramdyana is apparently a Mahanataka in (generally ten) of aots. Saradatanaya's descripjion of a Mahanataka throws little light on the subject S. K. De in Paihak Commemoration Volume, p. 139 f).
is
m.t
as
a
large
number
this
sense.
(see
4
A. Esteller, Die dlteste Rezension des Mahanataka^ Leipzig 1936.
507
DRAMAS OF AN IRREGULAR TYPE
from the leading dramatic
poration of a large mass of stanzas works on the Kamayana theme. 1
What
was we do not know,
the original form of the text
but there can be
comparatively
2
doubt that the present form of the text is and does not carry us back, as scholars have
little
late,
the earliest stage of the development of the presumed, Sanskrit drama. That it is a drama of an irregular type, more than any of the works mentioned above, is admitted but the to
;
work
shows the general features of the decadent drama in a much more intensified manner, in its greater formlessness, in its also
.
preference of narration to action,
and
in
almost exclusive
the
This fact may not furnish
preponderance of poetical stanzas.
a complete explanation, but since the quasi-dramatic presentation is not early and spontaneous but late and deliberate, it cannot be
argued that the irregularities betoken a primitive stage in which the drama had not yet emerged from the epic condition. That
some matter was worked up fairly obvious, but
historical purposes
it is difficult ;
Nor can the
ancient India
in
no description the case of
nothing in
show
that
the
compilation is matter for
the
separate
of the
the is
evolution
early
origin of the
far-fetched hypothesis of
which
to
extensive
old
and the work, as a whole, does not
any conclusion regarding drama.
into an
the
of
justify
Sanskrit
Mahanataka be sought
in
the
shadow-play, the very existence of We have here
not yet beyond doubt.
work
as a
Chaya-nataka, as we have in
and there Dutangada and some other plays the work itself, in spite of its irregularities,
is
;
the
composition
was
intended
or
ever
used
to
for
shadow-pictures.
On
the other hand, the late and derivative character
Mahanataka may very
well suggest that
adaptation of existing works on 1
The
citations from the
antiquity. 2
See 8. K.
De
in
work
in rhetorical
IHQ, VII,
title
was
subject,
a
of
the
compilation
for
a
or
particular
and anthological works do not prove
its
1931, pp. 641-42.
Mahanataka was an anthology of epic narration, Najika was a subsequent addition is only an unproved conjecture.
Esteller's suggestion that the original
and the
the
it
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
508 purpose,
What
around an original traditional nucleus.
this
1
purpose was is not clear, but to suggest that here we have only a literary drama or tour de force, never intended to be staged, is not to offer a solution but to avoid the
no sense
In
question.
can the Mahanataka be regarded as a tour de force, its merits, apart from its descriptive and emotional stanzas,
To
are mostly borrowed, being almost negligible. 2
Lesedrama plus Campu plus Tlka is There are description, and not an explanation.
that
it is
a
to
artistic
which
say,
again,
give a
facile
indications,
the contrary, that the Mahanataka, like other works of a
on
similar
type, was meant and probably utilised for some kind of perfor8 mance, in which there was more recitation and narration than action and dialogue; and its form, as a recitable semi-dramatic
poem, was moulded accordingly. This presumption receives support from the fact that the work assumed its present shape at a time when it was possible for such nondescript types to
that
we cannot
come
into
assign any of the recensions of
to a very early date, light of the literary
the
It is
clear
Mahanataka
and that they should be explained in the conditions which prevailed at a period when and the creative impulse of the old orthodox drama was
the classical
drama was in its had subsided. The break up
decline
almost synchronous with the Indian literature and along
rise
;
ments
existence.
Apabhramsa and modern with it came popular entertainof
of the type of the semi-religious
Yatrft,
with
its
mytho-
logical subject, quasi-dramatic presentation and preference of recitation and singing. Having regard to these historical facts,
as well as to the trend and treatment revealed by >
2
such
works as
Keith, 3D, p. 273. Esteller in the
work
cited.
Keith admits this when he says that the \vork was composed ID preparation for some kind of performance in which the dialogue was plentifully eked out by narration. S. P. Bhattacbarya (IHQ, 1934, p. 492 f) suggests that the work was compiled as a manual for use 3
of professional
Purana
reciters of the
Bengal class
of
Kathaka?.
But, on this
occasional elaborate stage-directions, the cborus-Bke Vaitallya-vakyas,
ded working out of the story are not
Eathakae are certainly of a
satisfactorily
different character.
explained.
theory,
the
the length and exten-
The Bengali manuals
for
DRAMAS OF AN IRREGULAR TYPE the Mahanataka,
509
the
presumption is not unlikely that such vernacular semi-dramatic performances of popular origin reacted
on the literary Sanskrit drama and influenced its form and manner to such an extent as to render the production of such It is not suggested, apparently irregular types greatly probable. in the absence of tradition, that such a pseudo-play was actually
enacted as a Yatra, which
had
little
to
pretension
a
literary
not have been, but it is possible to maintain that such works were not merely literary exercises but
character.
It
were intended
may
or
may
for popular spectacular
they were stylised
shows
some kind.
of
That
from their having been com-
is intelligible
posed for a more cultivated audience, who with the fading attraction of the mechanically reproductive Sanskrit drama, wanted
something analogous,
in
and
spirit
mode
operation, to the
of
living types of popular entertainments, but
exhibiting outwardly
some
The anonymity and
of the
forms of the regular drama.
secondary character of the Mahanataka, as well as the existence of different but substantially agreeing recensions, are points in As the imperfect dialogues and narrative favour of this view. passages were frequently supplemented, it is not surprising that a work meant for such performance increased in bulk, incor-
porating into
and
itself fine recitative
passages from various sources
accordingly came the versions shows that
different versions
very existence of
which was modified by the exigencies discredits the idea
into it
of
was
a
living
;
The
circulation.
work,
time and place,
and
All this composition. presumption is perhaps more in keeping with the nature of the work and the period in which the recensions were redacted than the solution of an unwarranted shadow-play theory or the super-
ficial
of a purely
literary
Lesedrama explanation. Although regrettably
little
information
is
available about the
popular entertainments of the period, indications of their possible influence on Sanskrit literature are yet not altogether wanting.
Keith rightly compares such nominal plays as the Mahanataka with the Gita-govinda of Jayadeva and the Gopala-keli-candriku
510 of
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Ramakrna, both it
govinda
of
which can be (and
in the case of the Glta-
but
actually is) enjoyed as a lyrical narrative or song,
both of which are at the same time capable of similar quasidramatic presentation. In both the works, we find a sublimated
outcome
and melodramatic Krsna-Yatra, and in the case of the Gita-govinda we have to reckon with the delibeof the operatic
rate art of a creative
But they resemble the Mahanataka
mind.
one particular, namely, in the adaptation of traditional matter and form to newer and less rigid demands of a at least in
popular origin. The date of Ramakrsna's Gopala-keli-candrika is not known, but it is apparently a late work written in Gujarat.
1
not
It is
an anonymous and extensive
Mahanataka, but a semi-religious play in ful exploits of Krsna with the GopTs. It
number
large
to be sung.
who
Caland,
has edited the
a
descriptive
verses
rhymed Apabbramsa
the
however,
both
work,
similarity to the Yatra, and suggests its
its
upon
as well as
like
on the youth-
contains,
of stanzas in light lyrical metres,
and emotional,
meant
compilation five acts
obviously touches
parallel to
the
North-western India, which unlike the regular play, Swang is metrical throughout, and in which the actors recite the narraof
tive portions as well as take part in the dialogues.
ion with the
where play,
Mahanataka
is
acknowledged in the Prologue
the Sutradhara alludes to the
and there can be
connex-
Its
little
(p. 44),
absence of Prakrit in
that
doubt that the author was influenced
by the same tendency towards narrative and than dramatic presentation. Another work
recitative
rather
similar
semi-
of
dramatic form but of greater operatic and melodramatic tenor is the Parijata-harand* of Umapati Upadhyaya of Mithila, which
1
in
Ed.
W.
Caland (Ren onbekend Indisch
ZDMQ LXXIV, t
*
Bd. andtr*.
under Haribaradeva
1920, p. 137
(ooneete/wfr),
Amsterdam
G. Grierson in JBORS> III, 1917, pp, 20-98. of
1917.
Cf.
Winternitz
f.
Mithila reigning
familiar with Jaya leva's Gita-govinda.
"after
the
Yavana
The Harttcandra-njlya
1891)of the Nepalesek'ng Siddhi Narampha (circa 16'2)-57 Tanzsplel by its editor, but it is in the Nepalese dialect.
The author
flourished
rule," and appears to (od.
A.D.)
A.
U
be
Conrady, Leipzig rightly
called
a
DRAMAS OP AN IRREGULAR TYPE deals with Krsna's well
known
of
exploit
511
carrying
off
Indra's
and actually contains songs composed in the 1 These works are not strictly plays of the Maithili dialect.
Parijata tree,
orthodox type, and the introduction of song (especially vernacular song) and narration indicates that they were probably meant for
some kind
They
are
of quasi-dramatic
performance of a popular character.
indeed distinguishable
Mahanataka, which tant to note
is
is
in
many
a unique production
that these irregular
types,
respects
but what
from
2
the
is
imporhowever isolated and
;
might appear, are perhaps products of a distinct tendency to renew and remodel older forms of Sanskrit
scattered they literary
poetry and drama by absorbing the newer
vernacular literature, which
now
characteristics
of
the
reacted upon the Sanskrit, as
it
was often reacted upon by the Sanskrit and there is no reason why the Mahanataka should not be regarded as illustrating an ;
It is curious, however, that the aspect of the same movement. movement did not prove as fruitful as it should have been advan-
could not ultimately save Sanskrit literature from gradual stagnation or from being completely ousted by the stronger and fresher vitality of modern Indian literature.
tageous
1
;
and
it
Sanskrit songs, on
t,he
direct model of Jayadeva's
work, occurs in
vallabha of Ramananda-raya, a Bhakti-drama inspired by the See above, p. 468. is called a Saipglta-nataka in its Prologue. 2
The Nandighoia-vijaya
lvii,no. 4190, p. 1606),
(or
Kamala-vilasa)
,
in
five
the JagannathaCaitanya movement, which
acts,
described
appears to be a similar semi-dramatic composition
the Ratha.yatra festival of Jagaaoatha at Puri;
it
by Eggeling
connected
with
was composed by Sivanarayana-dasa
honour of his patron Qajapati Narasiinhadeva of Orissa, in the middle of the 16th century
in
CHAPTER
I
LITERARY AND CHRONOLOGICAL RELATIONS THE VYAKARANA SCHOOL AND THE ALAMKIRA SCHOOL The word alamkara is derived from the word dam (Gk. aurum gold), which in Sanskrit primarily means adornment. Alamkara thus means the making of adornments or ornaments or
decorations.
tastra
or
the
used in relation to the AlarfikaraScience of the Decoration of Speech, literary It
is
The
embellishments.
also
science of
deals with correctness
grammar
Whatsoever development the Sanskrit language or speech. language may have undergone since the time of the Vedas of
and
may have
whatsoever attempts
been made in the various
on Grammar, it pre-Paninian writers attained a stability and is supposed to have fitted exactly to the scheme prepared for it by Panini (5th or 6th century literature
Silcsa
and
B.C.), Katyayana (probably 4th century B.C.), and Patafijali, the writer of the great commentary called the Mdhabhasya
(2nd century B.C.). that
has survived
was in of
all
The
earliest systematic
the ravages of time
is
work on Alamkara
that of
Bhamaba (who
probability a Buddhist of the 5th or 6th century A.D.),
which we
Natyasutra,
shall have occasion to discuss
which
is
essentially
a
later
work on
on.
Bharata's
histrionic
art,
incidentally makes reference to many topics which might better come under a work on Alamkara and which shows that in all probathe time when bility works on Alamkara must have existed in
the relevant passages referring to Alamkara topics were written. The date of this Natya-6astra is also uncertain as would be
evident from relevant discussions that would follow in due course. '
The
close
literature
66-18433
may
association
of
the
well be expected
grammar and and
it
is
also
the Alamkara justified
by
HISTORY OP SANSKRIT LITERATURE
514
The former
with correctness of speech and the latter with literary embellishments* In most works on Alamkara we find a chapter dedicated
tradition.
the
to
three-fold
in the
implies- that
signification
a
of
above-mentioned rule
Diksita as
We
know
that
Panini's
there
were,
five
opinions
powers of words.
pratipadikartha, etc.,
regarding the
deals
The word parimana
word.
has
been interpreted by Bhattoji
dronarupam yat parimanam prakrtyartho'bhedena
pratyayarthe
If this interpretation
is
accepted,
it
tatparicchinno
vigesanam."
satfisargena
becomes
bnhih
clear that
what has
been regarded as laksana by the writers on Alamkara is regarded by Panini as being nothing but primary sense. The author the
of
trying to
effect
whether the the
in
Jnanendra Bhiksu, commentary, a compromise between the two views as
Tattvabodhinl
first
case-ending
secondary sense,
suggestions, says that aspects in which the
the
here
is
in to
in the primary sense or
and in computing the value of the two difference lies in the two different
word may be supposed to significate Panini makes no provision (abdabodha-krta-vailaksanyam). for laksana even in the case of simho manavakah or agnir
This appears to me to show conclusively that Panini himself was not aware of the view propounded by the
manavakah.
writers of Alamkara, of
that
laksana
is
a
of
power
signification
words different from the primary sense.
We
know
that
when
a
word contradicts
context
its
in
the
primary sense of the word, as recorded in the lexicons, it may meaning such signiyet in many cases significate another fications
a special are
bound
be cannibals/
to
human flesh eating human flesh
who be
either be due to customary practice or for implying ' Thus if I say, The imperialistic states suggestion.
may
the word 'cannibal'
certainly the
eats
;
imperialistic
the word, therefore,
they try to destroy one another.
The use
one another,
states
cannot
simply means that
of the
word
instead of simple expression that the imperialistic is
means one
c
cannibal/
states destroy intended to imply that their actions are as heinous
0$ ALAMKIltA and
Here the .secondary sense
hateful. as those of cannibals. '
word
the
1
has
cannibal
a relation with its primary sense, but
roundabout expression,
this
of
on account
of
the force
of
its
contributes to the embellishment of the speech and hence comes within the province of Alamkara. In witnessing a horse race, one may say that the black runs faster than the
implication,
Here
rest. 1
the *
black horse
is
'
'
word to denote the black a customary usage which may or may not add use
the
of
embellishment of speech. The grammarians think that in the case of a primary sense the signification is due to the power of the word standing as the to the
symbol (saniketa) significates
its
Here the
for the object.
object
fact that the
due to the fact that there
is
distinction between the symbol and its connotation.
symbol no
is really
This
is
the
view of the grammarians as well as that of the MImamsaka and Yoga authors. The writers of Alamkara follow this view in
the
Nyaya view which holds that from certain words we understand
preference to the
it is
God that The understanding
certain meanings.
while
the
of
a
view
significatory
and the Alamkara authors
is
held
as
a
a
subjective
by
the
is
meaning
it
would be obviously wrong
will of
affair,
grammarians
purely objective
words siguificate certain objects and we learn But howsoever true it may be with regard sense
by the
it
view.
by practice. the
to
The
primary
to attribute the
secondary to the due power of indicatory signification being occur word, for here the indicatory sense does not
or the
the
as
with the pronouncement of the word but after a long process of
cogitation
and
the
this
function.
the
as
which
in this
significatory
this
reason
power
the
in
inappropriateness
can
laksana of
context
the
word.
hardly
The
do not seem to be absolutely ignorant of and we find them sometimes describing the
writers
criticism,
operation
inappropriateness
manner For removed.
regarded
Alamkara
its
possible
might be be
regarding
of
Zafc$artd
as
an
aropita-kriya
or
an .attributive
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
no doubt that the older Alamkara writer Bhamaha does not treat these, but the later Alamkara writers like It is true
Maramata and ViSvanatha take
fundamental
their
the three-fold division of the
power not Panini does seem that before
With
We
words.
of
start
with
have said
admit the lakana as a
to
conception that words objectively by their own power denote things and are as a matter of fact one with the things, seems to be a Paninian view, at function
separate
least
as
of
Patafijali
We know
Vftkyapadlya.
the
and Bhartrhari, the older Patanjali's Mahabhasya and the writer of the
by
interpreted
commentator
words.
of
that
all
the
three
Mimamsa,
schools,
Vyakarana and Yoga, admit the philosophical doctrine that the power and the possessor of power are identical. The Alamkara school, in adopting the same significatory theory of words,
same philosophical doctrine
adopts the
naturally
That
implication.
this idealism
school of thought can be well
at
least
by forms the basis of the Alamkara
apprehended from the words of
sa yat Dhvanikara (apare kacyasamsare kavireva prajapatih In the infinite pramanarfi kurute vtivam tat parivartate I
\\
world of literature the poet is the creator,
him
and whatever appears
be valid, tho world also changes accordingly). The It does not mean merely last line should be read with caution.
to
to
imagination of the poet is valid, but it means that the world changes its form in accordance with the value-sense that
of
the
the
Or,
poet.
into that form It
assumes,
which
in
other words,
the world transforms
itself
is
approved as valid in the poet's creation.
therefore,
that the beauty created by the poet does world appear beautiful to our eyes but
merely make the the world transforms itself into beauteous forms in accordance
not
with the creation of the poet. The vahmaya-jagat or the world of words is in reality identical with the world of nature. again, classifies words as being of four kinds, as, meaning^ jati or class notion, quality or guna, kriya or view of action, dravya or things, in accordance with the
Mammata,
Patafijali.
We
thus find that there
is
a natural
affinity of
ALAMKIRA-&LSTRA origin between the school.
It
grammar
also
is
NAME
ITS
517
school of thought and the
Alamkara
Grammar
school has
well-known
that the
always been referred to by the Alamkara men or budha.
school
as the wise
1
ALAMKIRA-SISTRA
The ordinary
ITS NAME
Alamkara
Kavya-praka6a or Sahitya-darpana generally consist of ten chapters and they deal the definition of (1) generally with the following subjects treatises of
like
:
Kavya, whether
it is
necessarily didactic
or
not;
fold signification of words, primary, indicatory,
(2)
the
three-
and implicatory
;
(3) the nature of poetic emotion; (4) the nature of the implicatory sense of a higher and lower order ; (5) the special qualities of
good literature, their defects, their style, their adornments or alamkara. Sahitya-darpana treats along with it the various forms of Kavya. In addition to this there are special treatises dealing only with a part of the subject. Bhamaha, the author of the oldest
available
Alamkara, guna, dosa, rlti, and also makes incidental remarks on the usefulness
may,
therefore^ naturally be asked
treats
of
so
many
subjects,
treatise
on
and alamkara,
treats primarily of
it
why
of
Kavya. It since a work on Alamkara
named as alamkaraforce when we consider
should be
The question
acquires a point of that in most of the recondite works on Alamkara great emphasis 6dstra.
is
given on dhvani and rasa as the constitutive characteristics of
a good
Kavya.
The question
is
nowhere
definitely
faced in
a work of Alamkara, but it seems to me that the earlier works on Alamkara that are now lost probably dealt with various types of literary
ornaments or alarrikaras which
led, naturally, to
the cri-
ticism and enquiry as to the further condition which would the adornments really possess the adorning character.
make
We find
Bhamaha actually raising such questions and introducing the topic of rasa or emotion as being the determinant factor of true 1
See Dhvanyaloka.
0? SANSKftlT. by him as regarded consisting of exaggeration (attiayokti) and the covert way of suggestion which may be called vakrokti. The 16th chapter of Bharata's Natya-sastra enumerates adornments.
four
adornments are
All
also
adornments or alarfikaras ten excellences or gunas, and ,
thirty-six characteristics or laksanas of a good Kavya. But I think that the first enquiry into the nature of poetic embellishments
must have
led
the
thinkers
earliest
to take
note of the poetic
spontaneous expressions of which are found also in the Vedas, and this must have given alamkara its first title of
imageries,
importance. In the time of Bharata there seemed to have been an excel-
development of poetic literature himself particularly with one form of
lent
and Bbarata concerned it t
Dramaturgy and
the
the allied topics.
The word upama V. 34. 9
I.
;
is
31. 15, and
The
upamana.
explained by
alamkara
term
Panini III.
Brahmana
Satapatha
comparison is found in the Rg-Veda Panini II. 3. 72 mentions the word
or
Ghandogya Upanisad
2.
XIII.
36,
8.
VIII. 8.
in
4.
form
the
and the word 7;
III.
But Yaska
5.
alamkarisnu
5.
in
occurs
in
36 and
1.
his
Nighaytu which are indicating upama, illustrated in the Nirukta I. 4; III. 13-18, and IX. 6. These These are called are such as, iva, yatha, na, cit, nu, a, etc.
III. 13 gives a list of particles for
He
nipata in the sense of upama.
rupopama,
further
mentions bhutopama,.
siddhopama and luptopama as varieties of is called arthopama and is in essence
and
The luptopama
upama. the same as the rupaka also
quotes the
definition
grammarian Qargya gargyah). and the
Prom rule
we can understand
of
(athato
the
rule,
upamitam that
assimilated by Panini
imagery,
the later Alamkara writers.
of
upama as upama yad
given by an atat
upamanani vyaghyadibhih
Yaska earlier
tatsadr$am
iti
sUmanya-vacanaih
samanyaprayoge
the teachings of Gargya were already and we find there the various terms of
such as> upamana,
upamita,
samanya,
aupamya
y
ALAMKIRA-&LSTRA
NAME
ITS
519
upamartha, and sadrtya had all been used by Panini in about The place of upama in modifying fifty sutras of his work.
and in other grammatical construc-
compounds
and
accents
has
been
referred
tions
Santanava in
Varttika and the
Mahabhasya
of the
term
upamana,
My
In
different
usage
from the
term.
later definition of the
the
somewhat
is
his
Panini's
Patanjali interprets
which
in
Paniui.
Katyayana
Phit-sutras follow
-his
55.
II. 1.
by Panini.
to
view that the Alamkara school arose
Grammar school, may when the above facts
an offshoot of
as
be regarded to attain a special point of are considered.
force
The
definition
later
and arthl upama is based upon the fact as whether simile was based on a krt or a taddhit suffix and the 'distinction
of Srautl
between the criterion
till
and
rautl
the
the
arthl
time of Udbhata
A
Panini's rule V. 1. 115-16. that where the comparison
is
suffix in
the sense
and this
rauti
upama
Again, Panini
the Varttika, which directs that iva
Sabdarthaviva.
was based on
supposed to be
is
Panini
III. 1
of
II.
may always 1.
this
controlled by
is
indicated by yatha, iva, va, or
suffix vat in the sense of iva.
as in
upama
be
the
71 inspires
4.
compounded
10 advises
It is needless
the
kyac
to multiply
comparison. examples but the above brief discussion seems to point to the view that poetic imageries had very largely evolved in the
grammar of speech,
school.
Of the various alamkaras or the adornments
imageries
of
than three-fourths of the
diverse field.
types occupy practically
The high
respect
in
more
which the
grammarians were held by the Alamkara writers is also evident 2 Bhamaha also devotes from the remarks of Anandavardhana. one whole chapter so does also
to the
Vamana.
grammatical correctness of words and It
may
also
be pointed out that the
vyanjana, which is regarded as the discovery of the theory high water mark of the genius of the great alamkara writers, is of
i
See 8. K. De's Sanskrit Poetics, Vol. I, pp.
'
praihame hi vidvamso vaiyakaranah,
Dhvanyalokq.
Ml
vydkaranamulatvat sarvvavidydnaifi, p.
47,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
520
on the pattern of the Sphota theory of the grammarians, as elaborated in V&kyapadlya and other works.
also,,
It is a
known
few centuries
first
Buddha-carita
upama, Kalidasa skill
of
or
of Busing
Bhamaha
also
Christian
rupaka,
The use
etc.
is also
the
of
the
his
in
$lesa
we
or
aprastuta-
various
of
speech by
hear also
seem
figures
takes
his
pride in
his
1
In
composition.
and liking for diverse Ka^yapa and Vararuci as
aptitude of
early writers of alamkara, as well as All these
of
letter
every
find a great
We
yathasaifikhya,
Subandhu
too well-known.
types of alanikara.
Bhamaha.
in
Agvaghosa,
era,
well-acquainted with such figures of speech as
is
utpreksa,
praamsa,
during the
fact that the early prafasti writer,
Medhavin
as referred
to
by
the other
to indicate that even before
there were probably manifest treatises of Alamkara dealing with emphasis on the the figures of speech, which had already developed in Panini and topics of the alamkdra-tastra were developed
grammarians,
who may be regarded
the
as
of the
inspirers
alarfikara-$astra.
THE EARLY ORIGIN OF THE ALAMKARA writers have in
Many Alamkara.
2
It ia
modern times discussed the
admitted on
all
subject
of
hands that the alamkara-astra
attained in India the position of a science
But the question *
is
how
early did
in very early times. the alanikara-Sastra become. prabandham
pratyakfara-tlegamayapiapaflca-vinyasa-vaidagdhyanidhim
datta>vara-pra*adac cakre subandhuh sujanaika-bandhn^ 1 P. Kegnaud, La Rhetorique Sansknte, Fails 1884;
sarasvat'i-
I
il
B.
Pischel, Gottinger
G, A. Jacob, J.R.A.S., 1897; J. Nobel, Beitr&ge zur Ameigen de$ Alawkfra-fastra, Din., Beri also NaraBinghiengar in
article in
also
;
Rudrata should not be confused with Rudrabhatta author of Srngdratilaka. is said to have been a Sret&mbara Jain a, who wrote bis commentary on
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
538
Then, again, his naming of certain alaijikaras is from his predecessors. Thus, what Bhamaha calls
upamft. different
and what Udbhata
vydjastuti
calls
udatta and what Dandin calls
been called by Rudrata vyajattesa and jati. What other writers have called attiayokti as the mutual change of place of antecedents between karana and karyya, has been svabhavokti,
termed as
have
purva by Rudrata.
Again some of the alamkaras, samya and pldita, that have been
such as, hetUy bhava, mata, counted by Rudrata, have been dismissed
by
later writers
ground that they are instances of gunibhutavyahga, the implied sense instead of being superior has been to the
i.e.,
on the
where
subordinated
primary sense,
As Kane has
said,
Rudrata represents the Alamkara school.
He repudiates the theory of Vamana that rlti is the soul of kavya. While the later writer Mamrnata regards the existence of guna as an important constitutive desideratum of kavya, Rudrata does
not define
Mamma^a
guna at all. It is probably from had regarded the existence of alamkara
Rudrata that as a
constitu-
desideratum of kavya. As has been suggested above, he lived in the 9th century A.D He was earlier than Prati'harenduraja, who always quotes tive
k.
from him and
is
also earlier than Rajagekhara.
Rudrata's work already been
in
of
Namisadhu has
published in the Kavyamala series, as already said
But Vallabhadeva,
above. refers
with the commentary
his
own
well-known commentator of Magba, commentary to Magha (Magha, IV. 21, a
commentary on Rudrata. But this earliest on is probably now lost. Rudrata Vallabhadeva commentary has not only commented on Magha but Kalidasa, Mayura, and Ratnakara, and Dr. De says that he probably belonged to the VI. 28),
to
his
10th
century, for his grandson, Kaiyata, son of Candraditya, wrote a commentary on Anandavarddhana's Devttataka (977-78)
during the reign of Bhimagupta (971-82 A.D.). This Vallabhadeva is certainly different from the author of Subhasitavali,
who, according
to Aufrecht, lived in the
16th century, and
ALAMKiRA
IN
THE AGNlPUftlNA
539
according to Biihler (Kunst Poesie) lived in the 15th century. Peterson refers to another Jaina commentator on Kudrata, called
who
SjSadhara,
lived in the 13th century.
After the
invasion of
Sahabuddin Ohori he migrated to Malava and lived in the court Dhara. He wrote more than fifteen works. We hear
of the king
of
also
another commentary
But the work
Harivam^abhatta Dravi^a.
ALAMKIRA The Agnipurana
IN
son
a
Rasataranginl by
of
scarce.
is
THE AGNIPURINA
one of the encyclopaedic Puranas like the Visnudharmottara-purana, which deals with all sorts of subjects 1 of Indian culture even including grammar and lexicon. For conis
Agnipurana may be placed
siderations stated in the foot-note the in the 9th or JOth century.
kinds of
vrttis
and
of abhinaya,
ritis,
and arabhati.
bharati, satvatl, kaitikl,
with different kinds
also
with four kinds of
It deals
kinds of kdvya as gadya, padya, and mlira Sanskrit and Prakrit; the modes of kavya,
differentiates
and
;
its
four
It deals
various
language
is
as katha akhyayika, and mahakavya the condition and modes of dramatic emotion and expression, such as, sthayibhava, anubhava, vyabhicaribhava, ;
etc,
it
;
deals
with some sabdalamkaras arthalamkaras, and
also
,
Sabdarthalarrikaras , gunas and dosas* Regarding lexicon, Agnipurana drew its materiela from Amarako$a, which was India What It Can into Chinese in the 6th century, as Maxmiiller saya in
1
'
translated
Teach Us.'
Mr. Oak places Amarako$a
But Hoernle
date.
in
J.
in the 4th
R. A. S. 1906
century and Telang
attempts
to
place
it
in
even an
earlier
between the 7th and the 10th
centuries.
The Agnipurana knows Bharata's Natya*sastra and seems Bh&maha's work and even the theory
of dhvani.
also to be acquainted with
It can, therefore, he argued
that at least
was composed after Ahhinavagupta had written big that no early writer quotes from Agnipurana. It is
the chapter on poetics of the Agnipurana
Dhvanydloha. in
only
the
Tfc
is
12th
therefore roughly
also
significant
century place
that
We
is quoted as an authority. may 9th or the 10th century A.D., preferably the
Agnipurana
Agnipurana
in
the
latter. 3
The Agnipurana has been
that of the
Bibliotheca Indioa,
published at different times. edited by
published in English a translation of
it
in
Bajendralal
Probably the earliest one is 1878, and Mr. M, N. Dutt
Mitra,
two volumes, Calcutta, 1903.
540
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
ANANDAVARDHANA, THE DHVANIKARA, AND ABHINAVAGUPTA
The work number of
of a
that passes by the
karikas with a
name
Dhvanyaloka consists
of
The work
Locana by Abhinavagupta.
tary called
into four chapters or uddyotas.
It
on
commentary
called the dhvanikdrikas
the
vrtti.
and the author
The commentary on the karika the elaborate commentary on it is
is
The
called the
One
than the Locana.
was
which
written
whose family the
of these at
some ancestor
by
of
vrtti,
are
the Dhvanikara.
Dhvanyaloka and the
was
least
different
verses
Locana.
further that there were other commentaries on
divided
the
karika,
karika
is called
called
is
three
that
appears
persons are responsible for the writing of the
and the
commen-
and an elaborate
vrtti
It
appears
Dhvanyaloka
called
Candrika,
Abhinavagupta, in
study of Dhvanyaloka was current for
many
1
generation?.
1
It
is,
therefore,
wrong
as sometimes it has been
karika was the direct teacher of
Abhinavagupta.
It
suggested that
has
the
author of
the
by Mr. Kane (the commentary on the
been
suggested
Locana commentary of Abhio a vagupta on Dhvanyaloka was written about 160 years after the Dhvanyaloka was composed. The Dhvanyaloka For this reason he often refers real work on which Abhinava wad writing his Locana.
that the karika) is
the
Dhvanyaloka as the granthakara. The karikas are sometimes called in Mulakarikd or simply the Karikas, and its author was called the kdrikdkdra.
to the author of the
Locana the
of the Dhvanyaloka is also sometimes called the vrttikrt. The study of Locana shows clearly that Abhinavagupta regarded the author of the Karika as being different from the author of the Vftti. In p. 8 Abhinava refers to a poet Manoratba who was a on-
The author
temporary of the author of the Karika.
name
of
the author
of
the
Vftti or
In pages 11 and 12 Abhinava the
Dhvanyaloka
us
that ther
Aoandavardhauacarya. This and Kdvydloka in the colophors.
work Dhvanyaloka is called by the name Sahrdaydloka In the penultimate verse at the end of the 4th uddyota there follows
tells
is
is
a verse which runs as
:
kdcyakhye khilataukhyadhdmani vivudhodydne dhvanir dartitah. This suggests that the name of the original work on which inandavardbana
commented was
U
for this
Prof.
Sovani
probably
called
Kdvyadhvani or some other name associated with Kavya.
reason that Anandavardhana's
the
in
J.R.A.8.,
name
of
the
Vrtti
was
called
It
Kdvydloka or Dhvanyaloka,
1910, suggested that it was called Sahrdaydloka because author of the Karika was Sabrdaya. P. V. Eane has further
suggested that the passage in Mukula Dhaka's Abhidhavrttimatrka was considerably dhvaneh sahrdayair nut an at ay d upavarnitasya than Abhinava's; the passage and also tbe passage in the same work, sahrdayath kdvyavartmani nirupitd and the
earlier
1NANDAVARDHANA, DHVANIKARA
From
the
considerations
ANt)
stated in
A&H1NAVAGUPTA the foot-notes,
541
we
find
no certainty regarding the authorship of the karikas, sometimes called the Mulakdrika or the Dhvanikdrikd. The that there
is
author is sometines referred to as Dhvanikara or Dhvanikrt. There was probably for centuries before the advent of Abhinavagupta or even Anandavardhana, the author of the vftti or the
reference by Pratih&renduraja in his
commentary on Udbhata, kaiScit sahrdayair dhvanirSahrdaya was the name of the author of the whether Sahrdaya was or was not the author of the Kdrikd, the argument
ndma vyanjakatvabheddtmd, But as
Karikas.
to
prove that
does not seem to be conclusive, for there
attached to
name
of
it,
is a plnral number to the word and no honorific and as such Sahrdaya may mean the intuitive school of poetry and not
the
any person.
The passage, sahrdaya-manar^pntaye occurring in the first kdrikd would name of the author of the Kdrikd could not have been Sabrdaya,
that the it
title
would be very unusual
for
him
to refer to himself in the
third
naturally suggest for in
person and then
that case
say that
the work was written for giving pleasure to him, unless of course the word sahrdaya contained a pun.
The other view
that
I
venture
to
suggest
is
that the
word sahrdaya probably
who regarded the intuitive implication as appealing to the heart either by way of emotion or by way of suggesting truths. So also the word, sahrdayodaya^ldbha-hetu means for the benefit that there may arise the intuiti\e connaissance of poetic value. The word sahrdaya and its synonym sucetas occur often in the Kdrikds, the Vrtti and the Locana. The Dhvanydhka, in discussing the nature of sahrdayatva, says (p. 11), yesdm kdvydnus'ilandbhydsavasdd visadibhute manomukure varnanlyareferred to
a school
of literary critics
tanmaylbhavanayogyatd te hrdayasarrivddabhdjah sah[daydhi.e. those are to be called sahrdayas whose mind after a long and continued practice of literature has become as t
transparent as a mirror such that whatever
them
in such a
manner that they by
sympathy by which they may as revealed through literature,
is
described to
ar,
literature enters into
capacity can exercise
a
same and thereby the poet's heart, without restraint to them not only
identify themselves with the
may communicate
itself
the poets but other persons having similar capacities
with one
them through
their (natural or earned)
may
find
themselves in communication
other through the poet's heart as revealed in literature.
The Locana speaks
of
Anandavardhana as sahrdaya-cakravurti as the king of the sahrdayas. In the last verse of the Dhvanydloka Anandavardhana says satkdvyam tattvavi$ayary, Bphuriia-prasupta-kalpaiji manahsu paripakvadhiydrn. yaddsit tad vydkarot sahrdayodayaldbhahetau dnandavardhana iti :
prathitdbhidhdnah.
The essence
literary connoisseurs of excellence
what had appeared in the minds of but had remained there in a dreamy and inarticulate state,
of the couplet is that
has been clearly explained and formulated in the Dhvanydloka and with that very purpose the work has been written. It is thus obvious that there were a large body of literary connoisseurs who had discovered the nature of dhvani and rasa as being the essence of poetry and it is this body of
men who have often been referred to as sahrdayas. I therefore cannot think that the name who was referred sah^daya was the name of tbe Karikakara and that it was the Karikakara and others. Mukula to by the term sahrdaya by
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE!
542
which
katik&s
grantha or the text by Abhinavagupta in his Locana commentary, a school of poetical connoisseurs who regarded the essence of charm of poetry as referred
to
as
the
truth of the emotion communicated to us by the poet art which so completely deluged the mind of the
being the
through audience
is
his
or
the
reader
that
could not be distinguished from
it
what was communicated in this manner. The name of Anandavardhana's vrtti
Dhvanyaloka or
is
Kavyaloka, and the name of the vrtti by Locana as I have already mentioned.
By 900 A.D. Anandavardhana had become and
writer
inandavardhana muktavali.
and
so
10th
the
of
Eaja^ekhara
does
some confusions among
the old
Thus Pratlharenduraja
own
to
refers
in
his
to
Sukti-
refers
to
some
times there were
Alamkara regarding Mr. Kane points out.
authors
of
the identity of the author of the Vrtti, as
and
well-known
1
It is curious to notice that already in early
Vrtti,
a
century
Jalhana
also
is
Abhinavagupta
the
of
doctrines in
the
claimed by Anandavardhana, as his Kuntaka, the author of Vakroktijlvita, is said
also to a verse
Sahrdaya.
to refer to a verse of
Anandavardhana
as
belonging to Dhvani-
Mahimabhatta, a contemporary of Abhinavagupta, makes no distinction between the authors of the Karika and the Vrtti. kara.
Ksemendra
the
in his Aucitya-vicara-carcca refers to
belonging to
Anandavardhana and
kdrikas
Hemacandra.
so does
as
Vigva-
natha in his Sahitya-darpana II. 12. quotes the first verse as belonging to Dhvanikara and ascribes a Vrtti to the Dhvanikara.
We
thus see that there 1
pratibha'Vyutpattyoh
is
a
pratibha
conflict
great
dreyasi,
sa
hi
of
haver
opinion
between
avyutpatti-kftam
do$am
asexam acchadayati, tatraho iavyutpatU-krto dosah taktyasarflvriyate kaveh, yastvatakti* kftastasya sa jhatityavabhdsate (Dhvanyaloka, p. 137).
RajaSekhara, Kdvyamtmar^sa
(p. 16).
Also,
dkvanindtigabhirena
kavgatattvanivesind,
Anandavardhanah
kasya
ndsidananda*
vardhanah.
Rijatekhara as quoted by Jalhaijia sod
M pointed oat ia J.B.R.A,8., Vol.
17, p. 57.
ANANDAVARDHANA, DHVANIKIRA AND ABHINAVAQUPTA Abhinavagupta and these authors, and
come
for us to
My own and
kara
to a decisive conclusion.
view
is
that the view of
Anandavardhana
some
others
places
differs
two
are
attested by an intimate study of in
Dhvanikara
in such a
from that
manner
is
of
that
it
difficult
exceedingly
1
Abhinava that the Dhvanidifferent
persons
Anandavardhana' s
modifies and elaborates >he
it
it
543
is
vrtti,
well-
which
Dhvanikara while in
the
meagre statements of the is Anandavardhaua and not
Dhvanikara who can rightly take pride in having evolved an original system of dhvani in a systematic manner though elements of it are found in, the Dhvanikara's Karikas and even before him.
That
of the fact that the
this
was the
case
was
on account
lost sight of
views of Anandavardhana
have in general been in agreement with the teaching of the Karikas. This led to the confusion among many writers that the writer of the
Anandavardhana, was identical with the writer of the Karikas. Therefore, Anandavardhana has often been referred to Vrttt,
as the Dhvanikara.
Dhvanikara was.
It is
almost impossible to say
through the date of the poet Manoratha of the 1
of the
who
really the
Dhvanikara
Jacobi's attempt to fix the date of
8th century A.D.
Mr. Kane following Sovani has suggested that Sabrdaya was the name of the author to which I signified my dissent for it seems to me that there is ample evidence
Karika
show that though no elaborate treatise on the subject was written yet the dhvani view in tradition as 5nandavardbana himself says (p. 10), paramparaya samamnatal}, i.e., carried through unbroken tradition, to which the Locana comments, vindpi vititfa.
to
was current
pustakeu vivecanat ityabhiprayah, .., though the subject of dhvani was not treated in a was known and propagated through unbroken tradition. It ia this
special work, yet the theory
school of thinkers
who
are in
my opinion
referred to by
the
word sahrdaya.
He knew
also
that Pratibarenduraja after referring to the views of the sahrdayas said that the views of the
gahrdayas regarding dhvani
is
already included in the theory of alainkaras
.
He
then treats
alamkdra and rasa, and there are examples given by Dhvanikara a* these three divisions of dhvani are but examples of alainkara.
of the three kinds of dhvani, vastu,
Winternitz also thinks that the ground of the Dhvanikarikas is to be found in Udbhata'a woik, Die Lehre des Udbhafa, dass in der Stimmung das Wescn der Poesie zu sei bildete die Grundlage fttr die Dhvanikarikas, 120 Memorialstrophen fiber Poetik einem ungenannten Verfasser, zu denen Anandavardhana von Kaschmir urn 860 n. Chr. seinen tiberaus lehrreichen kommentar Dhvanyaloka geechreiben hat, der in der Tat
suchen
t
con
ein telbstdndiges
Werk
injischen Litter at ur.
ilber
das
Wesen
der Dichtkunst
ist,
pp. 17-18, Geschichte
o'er
544
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE 4
Rdjatarahginl, the minister of thje king Jayapldaj also due to a confusion ; for if Abhinava's opinion is to be to
(according is
accepted, Manoratha of
We
Anandavardhana.
date of the Dhvanikara references
Bhamaha
the
in
contemporary of the Dhvanikara but thus see that both the name and the
was not is
a
The
uncertain.
find
no
Dandin or
Dhvanikara' s Karikas to either
Vamana, does not^rove
or
we
fact that
that he was not
a
contem-
Anandavardhana's date, however, porary of either of them. may be regarded as the 8th century A.D. if the identity of the poet Manoratha and of the minister-poet Manoratha be accepted. Abhinava must have lived about 150 years since the date of
Anandavardhana. Jayaplda,
and
flourished
in
If
he
Manoratha
was
a
reign
of
flourished
in
the
reign
of
contemporary of 5.nandavardhana, as stated by Abhinava, Anandavardhana's date may be regarded as well-nigh fixed. Rajasekhara says that Ananda-vardhana
To known
the for
the
students of his
prolific
Kasmir Saivism.
In
Avantivarma (855-83)
Indian
Kashmir.
Philosophy, Abhinavagupta
works on the
addition
of
to
1
is
PratyabhijM school of
these
he
also
wrote
many
kavya works, stotra works, as well as a commentary called Vivarana on the Kdvyakautuka of his teacher Prom the colophon to his Paratrim&ka Vivarana Bhattatauta. verses,
probably
we know
that his grandfather was Varahagupta,
father
Cukhala
and his younger brother was called Manorathagupta. He had many gurus. Thus in the Locana commentary he not only refers to his teacher Bbattenduraja but also quotes verses from him.
He
is
profuse
in
From
the
references
in
probability studied
all
his praises of his
the
Locana
it
Dhvanyaloka with
guru Bhattenduraja. appears that he had in
his
teacher Bhattendu-
who was
It has already not only a poet but a critic also. been suggested that this Bhattenduraja should be regarded as
raja,
tivasv&mi kavir anandavardhanah pratham ratnakaratcagat samrdjye' tarahginl t V. 34.
This .
is
in
harmony with the
fact that
apd was quoted by Rajatarahgin*
of 900
he quotes Udbhafa who flourished ID the 800
A.P,
INANDAVARDHANA, DHVANIKIRA AND ABHINAVAGUPTA
545
from Prftt'Tharenduraja, the commentator of Udbhata, as was not in favour of counting the Pratiharendtiraja of he was probably a and dhvani, independent importance different
however interesting to notice that in the Samudrananda and the Atamkarasarvasva (p. 130, Trivandrum) Pratiharenduraja is regarded as identical with Bhattenduraja southerner.
(see also p.
tauta
It
34
was
is
BhattaAlamkara-sara-samgraha4aghu-vrtti) another teacher of Abhinavagupta, whose work of
t
Kavyakautuka was commented on by Abhinavagupta. Utpala is referred to in the Locana as his parama-guru. On the subject of Pratyabhijna Philosophy his teacher was probably
Laksmanaguru. The DhvanydJoka contains four uddyotas or chapters. In the first chapter he takes up the problem as to whether the claims of dhvani
as
being the essence of literature may be whether it can be included within laksana
accepted as true or or abhidha. He holds direct
meaning
or
that
literature is appreciated not for its
information
the
that
it
carries, but for the
grace or beauty (like that of ladies) which is inexpressible but This pratiyamana or expression can be felt (pratlyamana) transcending the meaning is of three kinds, (1) it may manifest .
a
truth
dhvani)
(vastu-dhvani) ;
or
(3)
;
(2)
suggest
a
(alamkara-
comparison
communicate an emotion
(rasa-dhvani).
Mere
grammarians and lexicographers do not understand the value It is only when the suggestive expression. the ordinary meaning that a kavya becomes expression supersedes In alamkaras such as samasokti, aksepa, a dhvani-kavya.
of
this
suggestive
paryyayokti, etc., though there is a suggestive sense yet it is the primary sense that appears to be chiefly dominant there. Dhvani is of two kinds, (1) avivaksitavacya and (2) the
vivaksitanyaparavacya. In the first case the primary meaning or the vacya has not the intended sense, it is only the suggested sense that is intended whereas in the latter case the suggestive sense
is
only
more graceful and
sense z though the 69-1848B
ordinary sense
beautiful than is
the ordinary
also conveyed.
Abhinava
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
546
and Inandavardhana also try to distinguish here between bhakti In the second chapter the avivaksitaor laksana and dhvani. subdivided into arthantara-samkramita
further
is
vacya-dhvani
and atyanta-tiraskrta-vacya and the
vivaksitanyapara-vacya
is
subdivided into asamlaksya-krama and samlaksya-krama. former is found in the case of the communication of rasa
further
The
He
or rasabhasa, etc.
also
there
distinguishes
between
the
alamkaras, rasavat, preya, etc., and rasadhvani and also deals with the difference between the gunas and alamkaras. He
samlaksyakrama-vyanga and the In the 3rd chapter he further classi-
subdivides
further
also
the
asamlaksyakrama-vyanga. fies
vyafijana
being from pada,
as
prabandha, the manner in
which
the
rasa
which are particularly favourable
figures
in
the plot
its
relation
to
dominance and
conflict.
He
anumana.
also
The
and
4th chapter he discusses
gunlbhuta-vyanga, equal in status the unlimited
to
or
the
particular rasas,
manner
in
which
may
view
repudiates the
ritis
to
manifested,
manifest the asamlaksyakramasubordination rasas of and their
the particular suffixes, etc.,
vyahga
is
the subtle
rasas,
and
samghatana
vakya,
vrttis
are
that vyaftjana
also
is
In
discusssd.
not the
the
nature of the pratibha of poets, where the dhvani is either inferior or
meaning. He also treats of which true geniuses may poetry
the primary
field
of
discover.
The Locana commentary has called
two
other
commentaries
None
Locana-vyakhya-kaumudi by Parame^varacaryya. commentaries has yet been published.
of these
RlJAgEKHARA
The Kavya-mimamsa Gaekwa^ Oriental Series, is in
eighteen
chapters,
such
of
Kaja&khara,
published
a handbook for poets and as,
pf the origin of alarfikara-tastra
;
(i)
(ii)
Sastra-sarrigralia,
is
in
the
written treating
4astra-nirde$a, distinguishing
MJA^EKHARA between
astra
and kavya
kavya-pumsotpatti, a mythical whose body is word and its sense
(Hi)
;
account of a kavya-purusa,
and
the
various
547
its
languages,
the
limbs,
atman, and so on the kavya-purusa is married vadhu (iv) pada-vdkya-viveka dealing with ;
rasa to
vyutpatti or
erudition,
(practice)
samadhi (concentration)
constitutive
as
of
or
sahitya-vidyaakti,
;
self
its
and
pratibhd
abhydsa
the efficient art ot writing poetry
;
kavyapakakalpa dealing with vyutpatti or erudition, sastra(vi) padavakya-viveka dealing kavi, kavya-kavi and ubhaya-kavi with the nature of Sabda and vakya (vii) patlia-pratistha (v)
\
;
with the proper language and style to be followed and the sort of intonation that is found in different parts of India sources of (viii) kavyarthanaya dealing with
dealing
;
the
materials
of
literature
the indispensable element
(ix)
;
artha-vyapti dealing with
(x) kavi-caryya kavya as rasa dealing with the discipline through which a poet must undergo and the external environment in which the poet should live
of
;
;
(xi-xiii) the extent
his
predecessors'
krwhich words
a poet
and
and
can appropriate
thoughts
;
xiv-xvi
utilise
dealing witb
xvii dealing conventions of poetry and fauna and flora of India with Geography of India together with economic and other ;
products and the complexion of the different races xviii deals with the seasons, the winds, birds, etc.
many
India
He
quotes
;
and has also been quoted in turn by HemaVagbha^a, Manikyacandra and Somesvara. He was
old
candra,
of
writers
probably a Marhat^a man who not only wrote the Kavya-mlmamsa but also Nala-ramayana and Karpura-maftjarl in Prakrt as well as
ViddhaSalabhafljika
and
Balabharata
Pracandapandava and Haravilasa. 1 first quarter of the 10th century.
He
is
y
otherwise
called
said to have lived in
the
1
Indian
Antiquary, Vol. 16, Vol. 84 and
Epigraphica Indica, Vol.
I,
show
thai
Mabendrapala and Nirbbaya Narendra lived between 902 and 907, and the date of his son Mahlpala is 917 A.D. lUjagekhara wag the teacher of Nirbhaya and he speaks of the king Mahlpala, the son of Nirbhaya Narendra.
548
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
BHATTATAUTA
We
have already referred the Kavyakautuka of Bhatfatauta, the teacher of Abhinavagupta, on which the latter had written a
commentary as
has
called
already
So
Vivarana.
far
we can
been done by Mr. Kane.
collect bis
We
views
can say that he
regarded $antarasa as the most dominant one. and superior to all He further held that in understanding a poet the other rasas.
must
reader
done.
undergo
same experiences as the poet has
the
1
Ksemendra
in
his
Hemacandra
and
Aucitya-vicara-carcca
bis
commentary on
The Kavyaprakata refers to Kavyakautuka. samketa of Manikyacandra also makes references
to Bhattatauta.
in
Kavyanuasana and Some^vara
his
in
Kavyaprakafa-
has also been suggested by Hemacandra that Bhattatauta was against the view that the dramatic emotion was due to imitation
It
and
been elaborately shown in the Abhinavabharati commentary and Bharata's Natya-sutra. this has
f '
/
KUNTAKA The
Kuntaka has been edited and published by Dr. S. K, De. In his work Vakrokti-jlvita he profusely quotes Bhamaba and Dandin and sometimes Udbbata also. The Vakrokti-jlvita of
Locana of Abhinavagupta contains no reference to Vakrokti-jlvita and neither does he refer to the Locana. It is assumed therefore that he was a contemporary of Abhinavagupta and lived between 925
to
1025 A.D. 2
His karikas
theory
work and that
Bhamaha we 1
3
is
their
divided
into
and
it
consists of
with examples. He held a soul of poetry but even in
interpretations
vakrokti
was
the
find that certain
"
4 chapters
alamkaras were "
quqted nayakasya kaveh Srotub samano* nubhavastatah The following literature may be consulted on Kuntake
not in the :
regarded Locana,
Jacob! ,
1902; also 62, 1908; T. Gepapati gastri in the Trivendrum Sanskrit Series, Vol.
Haricand's Kaliddsa,
as
p. 29.
Z.D.M.Q-. 56,
V;
see also
KUNTAKA
549
alamkaras as there was no vakrokti in them. the
of
essence
but
invention of Kuntaka,
form.
It
Kuntaka's
literature
Kavya
is
therefore not a discovery or
was he who
it
Vakrokti as
it
gave
a
finished
seems that in most cases various definitions given are own and so also are most of the examples. Most of
the later writers
such as
Manikyacandra,
all
etc.,
author
the refer
of
Some^vara,
Ekavali,
views of Kuntaka
the
to
But
refutation, preferring the dhvani theory to the vakrokti.
have showed elsewhere, that dhvani in it.
I
The word vakrokti
the idea
means
literally
vakrokti
of
for
as
includes
While
arch-speech.
anything is signified directly by the ordinary meaning of the words the speech may be regarded as straight and direct. But
when
the intended expression
called
carried by other
is
The word and
arch-speech.
The word, however,
kavya. should
be
such
that
that
though
intends
to
convey.
can produce delight to be such that in its 1
The
striking and
it
may
be
constitute the of
a
kavya
many meanings
it
only
meaning which the speaker
significance
should be
such that
it
men of literary taste, the meaning should own spontaneous wave it should create
Real poetry must
beauty.
meaning
constitutive
is
has
it
expresses or implies that particular
its
means
be
the
submission of an idea in a
charming manner.
The word and the sense both co-operate together in producing But to what end do they co-operate? To this kavya. Kuntaka's reply indescribable
is
that
they
charm or beauty.
in
co-operate
producing
Both the word and the
an
sense
play their own respective roles in producing the charm of poetry, and in the writings of a really great poet, they compete with
one another in producing the
which
effect.
There are various ways in
It %roay depend upon the alphabetic is effected. the the words, sufl&xee, the propositions, the contexts. sounds, 1
this
tab do
vivak$itdrtha\ka-vacakah
anye$u
satsu
bhahgi-bhanitirucyate.
artJiah
api,
svaipandasundarafy, ubhdvet&valariikdryau lay oh punaralanhf t ij
,
saJirdayahlddahari
vakrohtireva
vaidagdhye-
550
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
He
gives elaborate examples of the uniqueness
of
different
criticised
of
varieties
and strikingness Mahimabhatta, however,
poetry.
both Kuntaka and Abhinava. 1
DHANASfjAYA
The Dahriipa It
a
is
work
of
Dhanafijaya
of four chapters
heroines
the
work on dramaturgy,
deals with the different
first
with the several kinds of
parts of a drama, the second
and
the
;
a
is
third
with
deals
heroes
the
practical problems concerned in connection with staging a drama and the varieties of dramatic demonstration, and the fourth deals with the rasa It
theory.
;
has a commentary by Dhvanika who had written also His views were somewhat Kai)yanirnaya.
another work called
similar to that of Bhattanayaka.
Dhanafijaya was the son of Visnu rajasabha of Munja (974, 979 and 991-94
and a member
A
of the
D.) and Dhvanika,
2
the commentator, was his brother. Dhanafijaya practically remodelled and re-edited the dramaturgical portions of Bharata's Natya-sastra and has often been quoted in later times by writers 3
on alamkara
.
This dramaturgical work of Dhanafijaya became so famous times that both "Visvanatha and Vidyanatha have largely
in later
drawn upon
work
this
valoka, quotes from
On Kuntaka
1
materials of their treatment o*
the
The commentator Dhvanika who wrote Da&arupa-
dramaturgy.
pendrum
for
Sanskrit
see
of
Padmagupta Jacobi,
Series, No. 5;
995 A.D. and
is
also
quoted
Z.D.M.G., 1902 and 1908 and T. Ganapati Sastri, TriKalidasa; S. K. De's Sanskrit Poetics} and
HaricSnd's
Mr. Kane's Introduction to Sahitya-darpana. *
See
Indica t
Epigrapliica
Vol.1,
235,
p.
Vol.
2,
p.
180;
Indian Antiquary
t
Vol. 6, p. 51.
The work has been published by F. Hall, Parab,
Bombay
1897.
It
has
University, Indo-Iranian Series,
been
translated
New York
1913 and Barnett. J.R.A.S., 1913.
1912
;
Bibl.-Ind.,
into English
Calcutta 1865, and by K. P. by G, C. 0. Haas, Columbia
sec also Jacobi, Gdttinger, Gelehrte Anzeigen
See also S. Levi, J. A. 1886. Jacobi holds with Levi that
Dhvanika was only the other name of Dhanafijaya. 3
Das
Datar&pa
ist
viel
iibersichtiicher
und systematischer
Natya-Sastra und wird daher in den spfiteren Werken iiber Poetic Wintemitz, History of Indian Literature , VoL IIT. p. 20.
am
als
das Bharatiya-
na'ufigsten
zitiert.
551
MAHlMABHATTA
by Bhoja in his Sarasvati-kanthabharana in the first part of the llth century. This suggestion by Jacobi and Levi based on the inadvertent
reference
a
of
verse
of
Dbananjaya
For Vidyanatha
cannot be supported.
refers
Dhvanika
to
to
Dhananjaya's and commentary, Dafarupa Sarngarava quotes verses from Dhvanika's commentary referring them to Dhvanika. but not to the
A
few other commentaries were also written on
as
Dasarupa such
the commentary
by Nrsimhabhatta, the Dagarupa-tika by and Devapani Da$ariipa~paddhati by Kuravirama. 1
MABIMABHATTA
that
Rajaiiaka Mahimabhatta's Vyakti-viveha, with a commentary breaks off in the middle of the 2nd vimarfo, has been
published in the Trivendrum Series (1909).
His chief
purpose dhvani theory of Abhinavagupta. He does not deny that the soul of poetry is emotion, but he objects
was to
to
manner
the
called
the
controvert
He
dhvani.
is
holds that
the
as
being of a special type
communication
is
by the
divided into three chapters or vimarsas.
In the
process of inference.
The work
communication
of
2
very first verse he gives us the object of his work as leading to the demonstration of the fact that all that passes by the name of
dhvani are really cases of inference, 8 It is not the place here to enter into an elaborate statement the arguments of Mahimabhatta for the destruction of the dhvani theory. But it may be pointed out that his attempt utterly failed as it left the later writers unconvinced of the
of
rigbtness of
by
later
his
writers,
contention.
He
has often been referred to
but always for refutation.
1
See De's Sanskrit Poetics, Vol.
2
asty abhisandhanavasare vyanjakatvam tiabdanam
As
his views have
I, p. 135.
gamakatvam
tacGa
Uhgatvam aim
ca vyahgya-pratitir lihga-pratitireveti linga-lingi-bhara eva te$&m vyahgya>vyaftjaka.bhav(
See Mahimabha^n's Vyakti-viveka. anuman&ntarbhavaw sarvvasyaiva dhvanety prakaSayituin, vyakti-vivekam kurute
naparaty ka$cit, 3
praqamya mahim& pararp vacam.
Ibid.,
Verse
I.
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
552
summarised in the Alankarasarvasva he must be earlier than 1100 A.D., and as he quotes the Balaramayana of RajaSekhara and criticises the Vakroktijlvita he must be placed kter
been
than 1000 A.D.
But Mahimabhatta has
Ravyaprakaa. by Mamma^a he lived between 1020 and 1060 A.D. in his
flourished in the
first
It
also
been criticised
therefore
is
likely
that
Again, Ruyyaka who half of the 12th century wrote a commen-
Mahimabhatta therefore lived between Abhinava and Ruyyaka, which leads us to the conclusion, Mahimabhatta's preceptor is Syamala, who was just arrived. in this is quite harmony quoted by Ksemendra, and with our view of Mahimabhatta's date. It is difficult to say whether Mahimabhatta was wholly original regarding his anuMahimabhatta.
tary on
mana
theory
of
for
rasa,
we know
Sankuka had
that
a similar
theory and that Anandavardhana refuted a similar theory which was current in his time. But at any rate, Mahimabhatta's
work
is
we have on the anumana written another work called
the only elaborate treatise that
Mahimabhatta had also Tattvohtikosa, in which he discussed the nature
theory.
of pratibha.
Mahimabhatta's work, with the commentary of Rajanaka Rujjaka, was published by Ganapati Sastri in Trivendrurn Sanskrit Series (1909).
1
BHOJA Bhoja's Sarasvatt-kanthabharana is a merely compilatory work of great dimension. It was published in Calcutta by Anandaram Barua in 1884. It was written by King Bhoja
who
llth century A.D. It is divided into five chapters of which the first deals with padadosa, vakyadoa and vakyarthadosa of 16 types and 24 gunas of Sabda and vakyartha. lived
in
the
2nd chapter he deals with 24 6abdalarn,karas and in the 3rd with 24 arthalanikaras. In the 4th chapter he deals with In
the.
1
See Narasimhyienger's article in J.R.A.8., 1908
SMtyadarpana, and De's Sanskrit
Poetics.
;
also
Kane's
Introduction
to
BHOJA 24
varieties of
number
gabdopama and 24
663
varieties of
arthopama and a
other alamkaras, and in the 5th he deals with rasas, bhavas, the nature of heroes and heroines, the five sandhis of of
drama and the four
He
vrttis.
quotes profusely
from Dandin's Kavyadara, Kalidasa Srlharsa, RajaSekhara, Rudrata
Bhavabhuti, Bana and
and
and Magha. In dealing with the figures, upama, aksepa, samasokti and apahnuti, he follows Agnipurana. He counts 6 ritis, vaidarbhi,
pancali,
Jaimini
gaudi,
avantika,
abddlamkdra.
instances of
to figures
rasas, he gives
of
speech,
He
and
extreme emphasis
latlya
reduces
to
and
the six
magadhi, as
pramdnas
of
though he speaks of eight Srhgdra, and in his Srhgara-
prakaSa he admits only one rasa, viz., srhgdra. It is curious enough to see that he regarded gunas and rasas as alamkaras.
Numerous works are ascribed to Bhoja. He is said to have written one Dharmadstra and passages from this are found quoted in the Mitdksard and the Ddyabhdga. He wrote a commentary on the Yogadstra called the Rdjamdrtanda and an astronomical work called Rdjamrgdhka (1012-43).
The Sarasvati-
kanthdbharana was probably composed between 1030 and 1050. 1 has a commentary called Ratnadarpana by Ratnesvara.
It
Apart from Ratnadarpana there are at least three other commentaries on Sarasvativiz., Sarasvairtcinthabharana-marjjanaby Hatinatha, Duskaracitra-prakahka
1
kanthabharana,
Bha^ta, and Sarasvatikanthabharana-tikd by Jngid-ihara, who wrote commentaries on the Meghaduta, Vdsavadattd, Venlsarphara, Malatimadhava, etc. Hari* krsna Vyasa is also supposed to have written a coiomantery on Sarasvati-kanthdbharana
by Lak 9 in In atria
(see
8. K. De's Sanskrit Poetics).
came
to
in
hU
Dr. Bhaodarkar in his
the conclusion that Bhoja belonged to the
first
Dr. Blihler
Introduction to the Vikramankadevacarita holds that Bhoja flourished at a somewhat
Rajatarahgini refers tj Bhoja as a
later date.
man
of great charity
the passage in question in Rajatarahgini refer* to the period of
Early History of the Deccan
half of the llth century.
Kashmir
reference
i
in
to
1062.
and Biihler thinks that
when Kalasa was crowned king
This has, however, been doubted by others and instead of Kalasa the Biihler further s&ya that there is a quotation from Caura-
king Ananta.
Caurapancasika was written by Bilhani but this According to the Bhojaprabandha Bhoja reigned for 55 years. Mufija, the uncle of Bhoja, was killed by Tdilako, between 994 and 97 A.D. and he was succeeded by his brother Sindhula, also called Navasahasanka. An inscription of Jayasimha
paflcatika in Sarasvatikaythabharana.
aho
is
not absolutely certain.
This shows that Bhoja could not have been i.e., 1055 A.D. beyond 1054 A.D. A land grant by Bboja dated 1021 A.D. has also been found. Bhoja probably ascended the throne in 1005 A.D. and died before 1054.
is
found dated 1112 Samvat,
living
70-1848B
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT
554
KSEMBNDRA
He
wrote two works on Alamkara, the Aucitya-vic&ra-carcca and the Kavi-kanthabharana. In addition to this he wrote Bharata-mafijari, the Brhatkatha-manjari, the Rajavali and forty other works. He also wrote on metre a work called Suvrtti-tilaka.
is
In his Aucitya-vicara-carcca he holds that propriety (aucitya) the soul of poetry, and when any description, alamkara, rasa, its
etc., oversteps
proper
bounds
hurts the rasa and mars the
it
1
poetry.
In
Kavi-kahthabharana he deals with the following
his
subjects
kavitvaprapti,
:
He
paricayaprapti.
He
and dosas.
iksa,
camatkrti,
gunadosabodha,
also gives certain directions regarding
gunas grammar, logic and
also regarded the study of
He probably flourished in indispensable for a poet. 1050 A.D. at the time of King Ananta who ruled in Kashmir drama
as
(1020-1063).*
MAMMATA Mammata's K3vya-prakaa It
became
is
a first class
work
of compilation.
on the model for any other similar works of In the first chapter he deals with the object of
later
compilation.
writing kavya, the definition of kavya and its subdivision as good and bad. The second chapter is devoted to the study of
words, abhidha, laksana and vyanjana, the third with the functions of different kinds of vyanjana ; the fourth with the the fifth with gunlvarieties of dhvani and the nature of rasa ;
bhuta-vyanga and its eight subdivisions ; the sixth with citra-kavya, seventh with dosas, the eighth with gunas and their
the
distinctions
from
alarfikara, the
ninth with
tabdalamkara and
nti and the tenth with alamkaras. 1
anaucityamrte nanyat rasa-bhangasya karanam, prasiddhaucityabananastu rasasyo-
panitat paid. 2
For information about
his work, see Bdhlcr'g
Vol. 16, pp. lt>7-79 and alao the extra cumber, pp. 5-9.
Kasmir Reports,
pp.
45-48, J.B.R.S.,
555
MAMMATA
Though a compiler, Mammata is also an independent critic. Thus he criticises Bhattodbhata, Rudrata, Mahimabhatta, Vamana and others. He also finds fault with Bhamaha and upholds the dhvani theory.
The work bis
is
divided into karika and vrtti.
Vidyabhusana
Mahe^vara and Jayarama in his hold that the karikas were written by Bharata and the Sahityakawnudl,
Mammata. From considerations mentioned
in
Tilaka, vrtti
by
1
Kane defends
in the footnote,
the view that both the vrtti and the karika were
same person. But whatever that may work was not written by Mammata.
be,
written
by the
whole
the
of
the
The commentator
of
Kavyaprakafa, Ruyyaka, in his Samketa commentary says that Mammata could not finish the work but that it was finished by
some other person. the style of
The apparent unity
Mammata.
Jayantabhatta,
is
due to
his
imitating
2
Sarasvatltlrtha,
Narahari,
Some^vara,
Kamalakara, Ananda Yajnegvara, the commentators of Kavyaprakafa, also uphold this view. Rajanaka Ananda in bis com-
mentary says that Mammata wrote up to the parikara alamkara and the rest was written by Allata or Alata. 3 1
The ground
for
such an assertion
is
tbat
some
with th
kdrikds are identical
of the
verses of Ndtya-tdstra, e.g., tfhgdra.hdsya'kanwQ'rati rhdsafoa. etc.
Again, in the
t?f tti
to the
first
a different person than that of the opinion between the
which seems
vjtti.
k&nkd and the
writer of the
kdrikd the
third person as granthakft pardmtfati
There in
kdnkd
is
referred
to in
the
to indicate that the writer of the Jcdrikd IB
in the
10th
the kdrikd
ullasa
there
is
a
difference of %
*
Against So other this it agree with Hharata's. kdrikds may also be pointed out which are adaptations from Vamana and the Dhvanikdrikd. The use of the third person also is often a fashion with the commentators. The supposed point t>rttt,
samasta.vastu-vi$ayam.
can he urged that out of the 142 kdrikas only a fcw
of difference is in reality 8
esa
an elacidttion or modification rather than
difference.
grantha-kftdnena kathamapyasamdptatvdt aparena piiriidiae$atvdt. dvikhaQfa'pi akhanjatayd yad avalhasat* tatra tornghatanaiva hetuh 8 fcfta^ Jn-mammatdcdryya-varyyaHi 1 arikardvadhih
grantho
prabandhah p&ritah e*n vidhti-yailata-stiTina. Arjuna Varmi a commentator of AmaruMaka of the 13th century, in quoling a verse t
from Kdvyaprakdta says, yathodahrta?^ dosanirnaye mamma{aUatabhy3m. Arjuna Varma was almost a contemporary of Mammata and his words are to be trusted. Allata *a work
commences from some part of the 7th
chapter.
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
556 I agree,
with Kane that there
however,
is
no reason
to
suppose that the kdrikds were written by Bharata, for in that case the vrtti
rasakdrikds
the
of
should
not
have supported the
contention of the karika by quoting Bharata.
Abhinavagupta, and to Bhoja, and as in or about 1055 A.D. Kavyaprakafa had commentaries, such as, Bdlacittannraftjinl by Narahari
Maramata refers such must have lived
many
to
Sarasvatltlrtha, Dlpika by Jayantabhatta, both
13th century A.D. viveka
by
;
belonging to the
Kavyadaria by Somesvara, Kdvyaprakaa~
Sridhara,
Kavyaprakafa-darpana
Chandldasa, Kavyaprakdga-dipikd, by by Visvanatha of the 14th century,
Sdhitya-dipikd by Bhaskara, Kdvyaprakdta-vistdrikd by Parama-
nanda CakravarttI, Kdvyaprakata-dipikd by Govinda Thakkura. On this last-mentioned work Vaidyanatha wrote a commentary Prabhd.
Nagojibhatta wrote the Uddyota, Jayarama Nyayapaflcanana wrote a commentary on the KavyaprakaSa called the KavyaprakaSa-tilaka and Srivatsalaficbana wrote Sdrabodhinl. called
Babi wrote a commentary called Madhumati, and Ratnapani Kdvyadarpana. Mahe^vara Nyayalamkara wrote Bhdvdrthacintdmam and Rajanaka Ananda wrote Kdvyaprakda-nidarand. Again, Rajanakaratnakantha wrote a
Narasimha
samuccaya.
Vaidyanatha
Thakkura
commentary
called
Sara-
wrote
Narasimha-rnanlsd, Uddharana-candrikd, Bhimasena Diksita wrote
Sudhdsagara, Baladeva Vidyabhusana wrote a commentory called Sdhitya-kaumudl and a Tippanl called Krsndnandinl. Nagojibhatta wrote two commentaries, Laghuddyota tnnd Brhaduddyota. In addition to this we have a commentary by Vacaspati and also a
commentary by Kamalakara Bbafta.
His work Alamkdra-sarvasva of speech.
He
is
a standard
work on
figures
summarises and compiles the views of Bhamaha,
Udbha^a, Rudrata, Vamana, the Vakrokti-jlvita the Vyaktitiveka and the Dhvanikara, and deals with about 75 arthfclarfikaras in addition to the tiabddlarfikdras,
panaruktivadabhdsa^
RUYYAKA chekanuprasa, He adds a few
vrttamtprasa,
557
yamaka,
more alamkaras
to
latamtprasa
Mammata's
and
list,
citra.
such
as,
parinama, rasavat, preyas, urjjasvi, samahita, bhavodaya, bhacasandhi, bhavafavalata and adds two new alamkaras, vikalpa and vicitra. Vigvanatha was inspired by Ruyyaka and drew some of bis materials
He
nanda.
from
So also did Ekdvall and Kuvalayaalso sometimes criticises some of the older writers, bim.
such as, Abhinava, on the subject of refers
to
Kavyaprakaa.
He
differs
from
abdalamkara and arthalamkara are
principle on which
When Mammata
tinguished.
He also often Mammata on the
alamkara.
said that the
principle
to be
dis-
should
be
anvaya-vyatireka, Euyyaka said that it should be arayarayibhava. The definitions of many of the alamkaras, however, are the
same
as in
There
is
Kavyaprakda. some dispute regarding the authorship
of the
Vrtti.
In the Kavyamala edition the first verse says that the Vrtti 1 This view is also supportbelongs to the author of the Karika. ed by Jayaratha who commented upon the work 75 years later, and so did many of the later writers. But theTanjore MSS. says that the Alamkarasutras were written by his
Ruyyaka supplied the ever,
the
Vrtti.
commentator
2
teacher
In the Trivandrum
Samudrabandha
says
to
which
edition,
how-
the
Vrtti
that
was written by one Marikhuka or Mankha. We know from Mankha's 3rlkantha-carita (25. 26-30) that Mankha was the It appears therefore that there was a tradipupil of Ruyyaka. tion that
Ruyyaka wrote
Mankba wrote the Vrtti. such persons as KumarasvamI
the Karika and
But the conscientious opinion
of
(Ratnapana), Jagannatha, Jayaratha and other writers being on the side that both the Karika and the Vrtti were written by Ruyyaka, we may safely ignore the statement of Samudrabandba
(1300 A.D.)
who
is
a
much later
writer.
8
According to
a
colophon
vfttya tatparyam ucyatt
Alarpkarasorvvasva, Verge 2 '
gurvalaitikarasutranarp vrtty& atparyam ucyate.
P. V. Kane's Introduction to Sdhityadarpana.
1.
558
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
MS.
of the of
the
of
Sahrdaya-llla,
Ruyyaka and he was the son
Eucaka was another name
of Rajanakatilaka.
1
According Jayaratha Ruyyaka wrote a commentary on the Kavyaprakafa called Kavyaprakaa-samketa. The work Alamkara-sarvasva is to
often referred to by later writers merely tion to Kavyalamkara-sarvasva,
such
as,
mimamsa,
Alamkaranusarinl,
as Sarvasva.
In addi-
Ruyyaka wrote many other works, Kavyaprakaa-samketa, NatakaSrikantha-stava,
Vyaktiviveha-vicara^
Sahrdaya-lila,
Sdhitya-mtmamsa, Harsacarita-varttika. As Ruyyaka quotes from Vikramahka-deva-carita, composed about 1085 A.D. according to Biihler, and criticises the Vyaktiviveka and the Kavyaprakafa,
he must'have therefore lived after
1100 A.D. Mankba's 8rlkantha-carila
is said to
posed between 1135 and 1145 A.D., as tains quotation
from
1150
than
earlier
this
work
A.D.
have been
com-
Alamkara-sarvasva con-
must have been composed not The Kavyaprakaa-samketa of
it
Manikyacandra composed between 1159-60 often refers to the Alamkara"Sarvasva was Alamkara-sarvasva. Therefore the probably composed between 1135 and 1153.
2
Of the commentaries Jayaratha's Vimartim was particularly famous. It was probably written sometime in the 13th century. Jayaratba
The
other
wrote also
another
work
called
Samudravandha, was
commentator,
1
See Piscbel's Introduction to fyngara-tilaka (pp. 28-29*.
9
The work was translated
J.B A.8. 1897 held that
it
Tantraloka-viveka. in the court of
into German by Jacob! in Z.D.M.G. 62, 1908. Jacobi in was possible that Buy yak a wrote the sutras and Matikba the Vftti.
See also Haiicand's Kdliddsa.
Buyytika was also the author of Sahrdaya-Hld, published by B. Pischel. See also De's Sanskrit Poetics in which the view held above regarding th identity of authorship of the Vftti
and the KarikA has been subscribed
The
fact that
five
verses of
to.
Srikantfia-carita occur in
to the reason that the $r\kan\ha-carita of
Alahkarasarvatva joay be due
Mafikba was submitted to Buyyaka among others
for criticism
The work has been published first
in the
KavyamJli
series
and the Trivandrum series, the
Alamkara-vimartini and the second, the Vftti of 8 a mud raalso another commentary on it which has not yet been published, which
containing the commentary
bandha.
There
is
by Vidyacakravarttl. It was probably written before Mallinatha's commentary, before the 14th century.
is called Alaqikara-saftjivant
HEMACANDBA Kavivarma who was born
in
1265 A.D. and he
towards the end
of
the 13th century or towards the
flourished
may have
beginning of the 14th century,
VIGBHATA The Vdgbhatdlamkdra is
a
Vagbbata
with a commentary by
has been published Kavyamala series. work containing 260 kdrikds, divided into 5 in
Simhadevagani It
of
I
small
The
the
chapter deals with the nature of Kavya that pratibha is the source of Kavya. Pratibhd, are three conditions and the which lead to abhyasa vyutpatti The second chapter is the successful production of poetry. chapters. and holds
first
which Kavya is written, such as Samskrta, Prdkrta, Apabhrama and BhutaIt divides Kavya into metrical, non-metrical and mixed bhdsd. and deals with the eight dosas of pada> vdkya and artha. The devoted to
the
description
of
languages in
4th chapter deals with the gabdalamkaras, citravakrokti, anuprdsa and yamaka and 35 arthdlamkdras and treats of two styles,
Vaidarbhl and
GaudL
The author was
a
Jaina and his real name in
Prakrt
is
Bahata and he was probably the son of Soma. The examples are mostly the author's own. He probably wrote also a Mahdkdvya called Nemi-nirvana. He probably lived in the first half of the 12th century.
HEMACANDRA His Kavyanuasana but
little
originality.
small work of compilation with written in the form of sutra and
is
It is
a
The sutras were probably called the KdvydnuSdsana and There is a short the vrtti was called Alamkdra-cuddmani. Vrtti some on the containing commentary examples. It is The first deals with the nature of divided into eight chapters. vrtti.
Kavya, regarding what constitutes Kavya, the various meanings of abda and artha. The second deals with rasa^ the third treats
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
560
the fourth guna, the fifth, figures of speech and so also The 7th discusses the various kinds of heroes and the sixth. of
do$a,
and the 8th
heroines
from
tensively
classifies
He
the Kavya.
borrowed ex-
Kaja^ekhara's Katiyamimamsa. KavyaprakaSa, In the commentary, however, be
Dhvanyaloka and Locana. examples,
gives copious successors.
his in
He
little
primarily a grammarian.
is
1088 A.D. and died
but he exercises but
in
influence on
He was
born
1172 A.D.
JAYADEVA His Gandraloka contains 10 chapters first
as
usual
is
dedicated
to
the
of
definition
350
verses.
The
and condition of
poethood and the classification of words, the 2nd to dosa, the 3rd to devices adopted by poets to heighten the charm of their words, the 4th to gunas the 5th to alamkaras, the 6th to rasa, 9
gunibhuta-vyahga, the 9th to The author was the son of to abhidha.
the 7th to vyanjana, the 8th
laksana,
the 10th
Mahadeva
and
Sumitra
Prasanna-Raghava.
He
to
and is
wrote
the
celebrated
from
different
the
Kavya,
author
of
Gltagovinda, who was the son of Bhojadeva and Ramadevi and was an inhabitant of Kenduvilva in Blrbhum, Bengal. It is
much
a
later
work, probably not earlier than the 12th
century A.D.
The
was published first in Madras, 1857, Calcutta, 1874, 1877, and 1906 by Jivananda by Subrahmyanya at in 1908 by Venkatacaryya Sastri, Palghat, 1912 Vizagapatarn by Nirnayasagara Press 1912-1917 with the commentary of text
;
;
;
;
Gandraloka-nigudhartha-dipika. the Budha-raHjanl commentary larfikara
many
The Madras
edition containing
is a commentary on the arthaand on not the whole of the text. section It had also
other commentaries,
such
as,
Saradagama, Candraloka-
by Proddyota Bhat^a, Rakagamasudha by Vi6ve6vara also called Gaga Bhatta, Rama by Vidyanatha Payagunda, a commentary by Vajacandra, 3aradaarvarl by Virupaksa, and prtffeS^a
Candr&loka-dipika by an anonymous writer.
VIDYADHARA
561
BHINUDATTA His Rasa-tarahginl is a work in eight chapters, dealing merely with the various components of rasa, such as, bhava, sthayivyabhicaribhava and various The Rasa-manjarl deals with the nature of the rasas, etc. heroes and heroines and the parts they play. He seems to bhava,
anubhava,
sattvikabhava,
drawn much from Dasa-rupaha. He was the son and belonged to the Videha country on the bank
have
G-ane^vara
the Ganges. 13th or the
of of
He
probably flourished towards the end .of the beginning of the 14th century. His Gita-gaurla seems to have been modelled on Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, and the 12th century A.D. The commentary Rasa-mafljari-praM$a was written in 1428. This also corroborates our conclusion about the date of Bhanudatta
Jayadeva
is
generally
placed
in
1
he flourished
that
sometime
end of the 13th or the
the
at
beginning of the 14th century.
YlDYIDHARA work
His
Ekavali
with
the
Tarald
commentary by
Mallinatha has been published by Trivedi in the Bombay Sanskrit Series. All the examples are "Vidyadhara's own and contain panegyrics of just as
King Narasimha
there are
other
Raghunatha-bhiipatiya.
of
Utkala in
whose court he
lived,
works, e.g., Prataparudra-yaobhiisana,
This work
is
divided into eight chapters
1 Rasamanjarlprakafo was published in Madras 1872 and 1881, with Vyahg&rthakaumudi of Anantapandita and Ratamaftjariprakata of Nago;I Bhatta was published in the Benares Sanskrit Series in 1004 and was also by Vehkatacaryya Sastri, Madras 1909. There were many commentaries as if apart from those mentioned above, such as,
Parimala by Sesacintmani, 17th century, century,
Rasiltaraftjam by
Vyahgyaitha-kaumudi
by
Rasamartjarivikasa by
Gopala Bhatta, son Vilve^vara,
son
of
of
Harivaipda
Laksmldhara,
Qopala Acaryya, 15th
Bhatta,
Samarijasa
Rasamafljarydmoda
Ran^asvamin, Vyahgyartha-dipika by Anandagarman, Bhanubhdva-prakatim
or
by
by Madhava,
RaeikaraGJana by Brajaraja Dlksita, and Rasimanjari-sthulatatparyartha by an anonymous writer. The Rasatarahgini has also a number of commentaries, such as, Naukd by Gang&rama, Rasikaranjani by Venldatta, Setu by J^varSja, RasodadKi by Qanete* Rasodadhi by Mahadeva, Sahityasudha by Nemis&dhu, Ntitanatari by Bhagavadbha^a, a commentary by Divakara, another by Ayodhyapraa&d,
71-1843B
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
562
The
or unmesas.
the nature
first
deals with the conditions of being a poet,
Kavya and discusses the views of Mahimabhatta The 2nd chapter deals with the threefold meanings
of
and others.
the third and fourth and vyanjana with dhvani and gunibhuta-vyanga and the fifth with guna and and the riti, the, sixth with dosa, the seventh with Sabdalamlmra of words, abhidha, laksana,
eighth with arthalamkara.
;
based on the KdvyaMr. Trivedl in his edition of the
The work
is
prakaSa and Alamkarasarvasva. work brings out all the important data
about his date and
it
Ke^ava Nara-
appears that the author was patronised either by
simha (1282-1307) or by Pratapa Narasimha (1307-1327). therefore probably flourished in the 14tb century.
He
1
VTDYANATHA
An
excellent
edition
of
Vidyanatha's Prataparudra-yasabhusana with a commentary called Ratnupana by Mallinatha's son Kumarasvami has been brought out by Trivedl in the Bombay It consists of kiirikas, vrltis, and illustrations. Sanskrit Series.
The
illustrations are all
patron."
The patron
is
also
composed by the writer
said to be a
Prataparudradeva, was at Ekasila (Warangal). or
The work
prakahnas and the following
order
:
heroes,
Kakatlya
called Vlrarudra
or
in
honour of his
king of
Telangana,
Eudra whose
capital
divided into 9 chapters are dealt with in subjects is
nature of Kavya, nature
of nataka, rasa, do.sa,
It deals with guna, gabddlamkara arthalamkara, mUrdlamkara. some new alamkaras not taken up by Mammata, or described by He him, such as, parinama, ullekha, vicitra, and vikalpa. ,
flourished
Ratndpana Mallinatha.
probably in the beginning of is
the
14th.
century.
an excellent commentary by Kumarasvami, son
of
2
On discussions about his date see J.B.R.A.S., Vols, X. & XI; Telacg's article in Indian Antiquary, Vols. II &"$II; Biibler's reports on Sanskrit Manuscripts 1874 Ras&rnaca4udh&1cara t p. 107 see also Dr. De's Sanskrit Poetics and Kane's Introduction to Sahitya,!
;
;
darpana. 9
In addition to Trivedl 'a edition there were
also
two other editions
of the work.
VJSVANATUA
VAGBHATA
563
II
The Kdvydnusdsana of Vagbhata has been published with the Alamkara-tilaka commentary in the Kavyamala Series, written in the form
of
In the
chapters.
and examples. It is divided into 5 he deals with the definition of Kavya and
vrtti
stitra,
first
of poets,
the conditions
the
division
of Kfivya as gwrf//a,
padya and misra and the distinction between mahdkdvya, tikhyayika, katha, campu and misra-kdvya including the 10 rilpakas. The
2nd chapter deals with the 16 dosas, of pada, 14 dosas of cdkya and 14 dosas of artha and 10 gunas according to Dandin and Vamana. But he holds that yunax are really 3 in number, madhuryya, ojas and prasdda and he admits 3 rllis gaudl, vaidarbhl
and
pahcdl't.
arthdlamkdras and
In
mentions
puma,
apara,
dslh.
In the 4th chapter
he
describes
63
rare alamkdras,
mata, ubhayanydsa, bhdva and he deals with 6 sabdalamkaras, e.g.,
yamaka and punaruktavadanuprdsa, takrokti, In the 5th he deals with the rasas and the varieties of 9
He
and heroines.
Rsabha-deva-carita
He was
his
He
probably
wrote a mahdkdvya called
work on metrics, Chando'nuSdsana. Nemikumara and probably lived in the 15th
and
son of
the
century A.D.
drawn
chapter
among them some
lesa 9
dbhdsa. heroes
3rd
le$a, vihita,
anya,
citra,
the
has
materials
a
but
little
originality in his
work and has
from Kdvyamlmdmsd and Kdvyaprakd$a.
VlgVANITHA Visvanatha's Sdhitya-darpana is a very popular work on alamkdra. His great grand-father, Narayana, was a very learned man and had written many works on Alamkara, and his father
Candrasekhara was a poet and he often quotes from his father's work. He mentions two works of his father, Puspamata and
Bhaarnava.
In
all
probability
he was an inhabitant of Orissa
sometimes gives Oriya equivalents of Sanskrit words in bis commentary on Kdvyaprakda. Both his father and he himself
as he
probably
held
high
offices
in the court of the king of Kalifcga,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT
564
He was proSandhi-raigrahika-mahapalra. bably a Vaisnava in religion and was also a poet and he quotes his own verses both in Sanskrit and Prakrt. He wrote a number and had the
title
works such
of other
a as, Rcighava-vilasa, Kuvalayafoa-carita Prakrt kavya, Prabhavatl and Gandrahala (both natikas), and also Praasti-ratnavali and a karambhaka in 16 languages. His 1
There are at least Sahityadarpana was composed in 1384 A.D. 4 commentaries on Sahityadarpana, Suhityadarpana-locana by Sahityadarpana-tippana by Mathuranath Sukla, Sahitya-darpana-vivrti by Rarancarann Tarkavagisa and Sahitya-
Anantadasa,
darpana- prabh a by Goplnatha.
KESAVAMISRA Hi&Alanikara-6ekhara, written as karika, rrtti and examples, has been published in the Kavyamala series. It is said in the vrtti
that the
author
has
were written by one Sauddhodani. The largely from Kavyadarfa, Kavyamimamsa,
karikas
drawn
and It is Dhvanyaloka, Kavyaprakafa, Vcigbhatalamkdra. divided into 8 chapters called ratnas, and deals with the conditions of kavya,
the
dosas,
heroines,
the
rltis,
the
threefold
meanings
and the alamkaras, the nature
gunas
the conventions
of words, the of heroes
and
of poets, subjects to be described in a
rasas. He also regards rasa as kavya, the soul of poetry. The work was written, as the writer says, at the instance of the King Manikyacandra, the son of Dharma-
tricks
candra
who
of
words and the
flourished in the middle ot the 16th century.
APPAYA DIKSITA Appaya wrote 3 works
on
poetics,
Vrtli-varttika in
2
words
and their meanings. Kuvalayais an nanda, elementary treatise of alamkara in which he adds 24 more alamkaras to the 100 alamkaras already given in Gandraloka. chapters dealing
with
His
Citra-mimamsa, in which he deals with dhvani,
third 1
work
is
For a discussion on
his date see P.V. Kane's Introduction to SahityadarpaQa.
565
JAGANNATHA
gunlbhutacyahga and cilrakdtya and treats of a number of alamkaras. Jagannatha in his Rasa-gahgadhara tries to refute the
doctrines
Citramimamsa and
of
calls
work
bis
Citra-
mlmamsa-khaudana, but curiously enough, he stops at apahnuti. Appaya Diksita quotes from Ekavali, Prataparudra-yatobhusana and Alawikara-sarvasva-saftjlvanl and than the 14th century. Dr. Hultzsch
must therefore be in the
Epigraphia
later
Indica,
shows that the Venkatapati referred to iuKuralayananda 1 of Vijayanagara, one of whose grants is dated
Vol. 4,
was Venkata 1601
A.D.
Diksita
Appaya
therefore
flourished
the
in
first
quarter of the 17th century.
JAGANNITHA
The Rasa-gahgadhara of Jagannatha together with its commentary Marma-prakasa by Nugesabhatta has been published in the Kavyamala series. It is a standard work on poetics, of the same rank as Dhvanyaloka and KavyapraM&a. The work consists of kdrikds, vrttis
and examples
which are
all
from the
He often boldly criticises celebrated writers of the past offering his own independent views. He holds that not rasa but rdmanlyakatd is the essence of good Kavya. The author's pen.
1
work suddenly breaks
off
in
with the uttariilamkara and
second
the
chapter
while dealing
Nagesa's commentary also goes no
seems therefore probable that Jagannatha could not work. His vrtti is very erudite and contains
further.
It
complete
his
many views on
the theory of vyaftjana or dhrani and the expression of raxa, which are not In addition to Rasaavailable in any other work of alamkdra.
references to his
the
subject of
gahgadhara and Citra-mlmanisa-khandana he work called Bhaminl-vilasa published by L. the
Kavyamala
Manorama and
He
series.
called
own 1
father
R.
another
Vaidya
in
wrote a criticism of Bhat(oji Dlkita's"
Manomma-kuca-mardana. Tailanga Brahmana who
it
Jagannatha was a his
wrote
Perubhatta,
rQma$lua1(arthapratipadaka$
and tabdalj,
studied
Sesavire^vara. kavyam
The
Rasayahtjadhara.
under title
560
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LlTKKATUHti
He wrote a work Panditaraja was given to him by Shahjahan. called Asafa-vilasa, probably mourning the death of the favourite Khan-Khanan who in
his
1641 A.D. and praises Dara Siko He probably lived in the middle of
died
in
Jagaddbharana.
the 17th century.
1
LATER MINOR WRITERS in Quite a large number of Alamkara works has been written recent times and it may be worthwhile to mention some of their
names
?
Acyuta-Sarma
:
s
Sahitya-sara, a work of 12
chapters,
Ajitasenficaryya's Alamkara-cintamani and Srhgara-maiijari (the writer was a Jaina), Anuratna-mandana or 16th probably of the Jalpa-kalpa-lata
of the 19th century,
Ratna-mandana-gani's
same author, Anantaraya's Sahitya-kalpa-valll, Amrtananda
century, Mugdha-medhakara by the
Kavisamaya-kallola,
Ananta's
Yogin's Alamkara-samgraha
(edited
in Calcutta,
1887, with an
Mallaraja's Rasa-ratna-dlpika, Indrajit's Rasika-priya, Kacchapesvara Diksita's Ramacandra-ya&obhusan(ij
English translation),
Kandalayarya's Alamkara-tirobhiisana, Katyayana Subrahmanya Suri*s Alamkara-kaustubha probably at the end of the 18th century, Kanticandra Mukhopadhyaya's Kavya-dipika (Calcutta 1870 and 1876), Kasllaksmana Kavi's Alamkara-grantha,
Kumbha's Rasaratna-hosa 15th Sahitya-tarahginl, Krsna Diksita's Raghucentury), Krsnabhafcta's Vrtti-dlpika,
Krsna's
,
Krsna Sarman's Mandara-makaranda-campu, natha-bhupaliya, The writer (edited in the Kavyamala and the Rasaprakad) .
was
later
than Appayya Dlksita.
We
have also Kesavabhatta's
Karna-bhusana Rasika-sanjwanl, Gangananda-maithila's It is unnecessary, however, to (probably in the 16th century). enumerate these names of Alamkara works of exceed x>ne hundred in number.
than
Besides
later writers
these, there
Mss. in
more
anonymous works on Alamkara. Quite a large number names have been collected from the catalogue of Sanskrit Dr. S. K. De's Sanskrit Poetics, Vol. I and also in
fifty
of these
are
which
P. V. Kane's Introduction to Sahityadarpa^a.
CHAPTER
II
PRINCIPLES OF LITERARY TASTE AND CRITICISM INTRODUCTORY
Prom of writers
the preceding sketch of the history
of the
old
school
on Alamkara and the works on Alamkara
it may appear with of alamli&ra our Bhamaha that though or begins history have in alanikara must of association the science Bharata, begun
with the grammatical ways of thinking, probably from the 2nd or I have pointed out elsewhere that upamii the 3rd century B. 0. as a dec rated form has been very well investigated by Yaska and
seems natural therefore to think that the early on the subject must have generally concentrated them-
Pfinini. efforts
It
on the discovery of these decorative forms of speech which go by the name of alamkara. A close study of the
selves
Rudradaman shows
inscription of Junfigadh in
clearly that
were accepted as naturally
be
certain
regarded
the other topics of
quite
high*
a
of
ways
dignified
binding in
2nd
the
literary
literary circles.
feasible process
alani1\ara-6astra
from
century A.D. delivery It
may
of
turning to an acute observation
under which a figure of speech becomes really It was found that a literary composition must
of the conditions
an alamkara. first
of all be free
from grammatical errors and must internally
be logically coherent. Kautilya's Artlia&astra gives us fairly elaborate canons for regulating the composition of different types It also became evident to these early inquirers of royal edicts. that different forms of
composition
ways and that these ways character which belonged
of to
became
composition the
effective
were of a structural
composition
could not be located in any particular These were called the nti or mode.
part
in diverse
as a whole
of the
and
composition.
No Alamkara
writer has
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
568
modes
clarified the
matter as to
were called
Gaudl % Pancati, Mcigadhl, and the like. Bbamaha, writer on alamkara, expresses the view that this
the earliest
these different
why
of writings
has nothing to do with the countries which form the basis of the nomenclature. They are merely technical names of different But it is very curious that in any case forms or styles.
forms of style should be associated
different
different important centres
the
remarks found
stray
the
in
Patanjali had noticed that people of
fond of
predilection
to
Thus some had
a
taddhita-pratyaya,
This signifies that already time people in different centres of culture had
mark
their
by their style of composimust have been at one time pretty vast
in
This literature
make
of
compounds.
using long
by Patanjali *s tion.
Vyakarana Mahabhasya that different parts of India were
expressions. exaggerated use of the
an
to
already from
1
others for
made
kinds
different
with the names of
We. know
of culture.
literature
literary tendencies
who
remarkable to an author
lived
somewhere in Northern India. We know also that Vidarbha was within the empire of Pusyamitra at whose sacrifice Patanjali officiated as a priest. Magadha was also a well-known centre of
from the time
culture
of the
Paficala and
Nandas.
Surasena \\ereplacesof culture from very early times; but no ancient literature has come down to us except the Kdmayana
The
and the Mahdbharata. associated with
The
attention
subject of literary style
what may be of
drawn principally that no one before
the to
earlier
the
the
defects
called
writers
subject of
is
naturally
and excellences.
on alamkdra x was thus
style.
We
therefore
find
Dhvanikara and Anandavardhana had
turned to the problem of literary emotion ar.d regarded it as the most essential desideratum in literature. Some indeed emphasised the importance of the figure of speech, but others had emphasised the importance of style and grace. Some had also noticed that
whenever there nature.
It
is
is
not
good poetry the utterance true,
is
of a striking
however, that the subject of literary *v
1
See Patafl jail's Paspatahnika.
569
LITERARY TASTE AND CRITICISM
emotion was not discussed by the writers that came between Bharata and the Dhvanikara. But as Bharata's own remarks about rasa appertained to dramas that were actually played, people were loath to believe that literary emotion occupied as
much
in
place
a
poem
formed
a necessary discussed the fault?
as in
and
part
In a play the dialogues this reason Bharata also
a play. for
and excellences of prose speech and also treated of the figures of speech. In the 16th chapter of his
work he had of
referred to these as signifying the defining
literature.
But excepting Dandin
the
later
concept
had
writers
ignored this view and had been content leaving them as being connected to the construction of a play. Among the alamkaras,
Bharata had counted only upama,
rupaka, dlpaka, and yamaka.
We
discussions on
know
that
fairly
and
both in Panini
elaborate
his
commentators.
upama appears There, can also be little
doubt that Bhamaha, Dandin, Udbhata, Vamana and others had largely been influenced by these views. Only Dandin had Later writers on alamkara had indeed
withstood the temptation. discovered
many
varieties of
upama.
Bharata in discussing about defects and excellences pointed out that the following must be regarded as instances of defects, to e.g., to say the same thing only by a change of words, to commit a break of introduce irrelevant or vulgar things,
thought, or to say anything which is invalid, metrical lapse, the use of words without propriety and full of grammatical errors.
Bhamaha
also
mentions the defects and these are as follows
:
absence of complete sense, repetition, irrelevant speech, doubtful meaning, break of order, break of metre or pause, to make
euphonic combinations anomalous descriptions, principles of art,
what
common
in
wrong
descriptions
and to enter into which are against the
places
usage and reasonings.
differently stated, these agree in essence
counted by Bharata.
Though some-
with
the
In addition to these Bhamaha
other defectflr, e.g., where the sense is forced, unclear, difficult words loss of proper emphasis, use of such
7913483
defects
mentions obscure, as
may
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
570 obstruct the
comprehension of sense, impossible descriptions, vulgar words and vulgar significance or the use of harsh words. When these are compared with the defects pointed out by
Mamma^a we
find that with closer inspection
have come out.
Thus, according
to
many new
Mamrnata
there
defects
are sixteen
kinds of defects of words, e.g., use of harsh words, incorrect words, those not incorrect yet not current in usage, to use words
wrong meaning, to use a word in an obscure sense ignoring the more patent meaning, to use words which are antagonistic to the
in a
words merely for the sake use words in a meaning which it does
emotions that are to be roused, to use the metre, to
of keeping
not possess, obscenity, to use words in a doubtful meaning, to use words in such technical meanings in which they are used only in special works, to use vulgar words, to have recourse to ungraceful meanings, to create obscurities, to lay emphasis on the wrong place, to use words in such a manner that undesirable
and unwholesome suggestions
To
Mammata
these
adds
be apparent, and so forth. defects not of words but of
may
the
words contrary to the intended emotions, to combinations in wrong places, to use more or make euphonic less words than is necessary, to make an idea drop after rising to sentences
to use
:
having finished an idea to take it up the absence of link between connected sentences, not proper importance to an idea, to compose sentences in a height,
after
manner
may
be
not available without making insertions, wrong use breaking of the expected order, to introduce all on
is
meaning of words,
a sudden an unexpected and these,
Mammata
to describe
purport
such a
dependent on the other for its compremake compositions in such a manner that the
that one
hension, to
again, to give
In addition to
contrary emotion.
has spoken of
many
defects of
sense^ such
as,
such things which are not indispensable for the main to use words in such a manner that there ;
of the speech
*
may be
difficulty
in
oneself; to use words
manner such
comprehending the ki a
wrong
that though their
order;
meaning
sense to
;
to
contradict
use sentences
is
comprehended
in
a
the
LITERARY I^ASTE AND CRITICISM
571
purport remains obscure; to speak unconventionally; to speak in a new manner. If
we
consider the above-mentioned
fail
to
enumerated by
defects
Bbamaha and Mammata, we
find that in a higher sense they may be regarded as defects of style. In the modern European concept style signifies the manner in which a particular personaall
Whenever the question of personality comes there comes the question of the way of his enjoyment and the motive that is urged by such an enjoyment. Now, expression to himself.
lity gives
of the defects
many
enumerated are
i.e., defects that delay
the
really defects of
expression,
obscure
its
expression, clarity,
or
effects, the
height of its vigour or bring in associations that Mammata regarded abda and operate to throw it out of gear. artha as being the body of literature. The body should not be
such that
it
might give a
false expression to the
soul within.
It
the soul within that out of the whole nature selects a particular part and enjoys it and returns to the world its enjoyment
is
through the vehicle of thought and language so that
similar
be produced in others. But in the earlier writings of Indian authors of Alamkara the
enjoyments
style
may
was limited
at times the true
to the
mere externals
significance of
wisdom
of
rasa,
it
emotion or obscured
in the
emotional enjoyment had the advantage of
Anandavardbana and Abhinava and as
he had counted as defect whatever of the
and artha though
of
Mammata
peeped in and through them. the deep
of Scibda
wrong channel,
it
or to
its
the
delayed
or arrested
its
partial
such
communication
heightening or laid
apprehension.
From
Vamana no one had
given the right emphasis on aesthetic emotion and for that reason they could not see eye
Bhamaha to eye
to
to
Mammata' s view
ment was what constituted
that detraction from aesthetic enjoydefects.
But Bhamaha had
so cleverly
cannot be gainsaid that he regarded put the whole thing that it the sweetness of emotion as being the fundamental essential of literature.
Against
Mammata
it
may
sort of hesitancy in^such admission.
be said that
THough
we
notice
some
in describing do$a
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERAT?GRtf he defines them as those that hinder the expression of rasa, yet in defining kavya he says Kavya is that which should not be
marred by
defects, should have excellences, but
may
or
may
not
a definition would
not necessarily mean that it is indispensable for poetry to be charged with emotion. Among later writers also Jagannatha did not admit this
have alamkaras.
Now, such
indispensable character of rasa. All the defects that have hitherto
been pointed out lead to an obscurity of comprehension, desirable suggestion or wheeling of the
mind out
impossible description which
the
track
by
misapprehension of always insisted on the fact that to
lead
Bhamaha
aesthetic enjoyment.
of its
un-
the style of poetry should be easy of comprehension for if this is not so then even if the poems are charged with emotions they would fail to affect us. He had in many places contrasted literature
and other sciences
also told us that unless
honey and
as
something
is
bitter
said in
a
He
pills.
striking
had
manner
was no poetry. He was thus in a way hinting that aesthetic emotion and its unobstructed communication constituted the art it
Dandin has not
of poetry.
relation between
said anything very definite
the defects
about the
and the excellences, yet he has ad-
mitted the relativity of some of the defects. He has also said that whatever is not avilable in the Vaidarbhl style should be regarded as defects.
would not be wrong to think that he had regarded be those which were opposed to the excellences. In
It
the defects to
hardly any agreement between
the classification of dosas there
is
the various writers on alanikara.
But it would be unfruitful for But from Bhamaha to Mammata
us to enter into that discussion.
most some in
of
the
have signified the relative character of Thus, the use of harsh words may be a defect
authors
of the dosas.
amorous poetry but
should be an excellence in heroic poetry. has said that it is by the manner of use that a defect
Bhamaha may
be
it
an excellence or 1
8annivea-vi6e$dttu
an excellence
may be
duruktam api tobhate
nllaw palatam abaddham antardle trajam iva kiftcid
aJraya-saundaryad dhatte tobhamasadhvapi
kanta.vilocana-ny
in
Tibetan, such as Axtavighna-kathd,
oertes
on the
Soka-vinodana,
t
The
varna-sarpgrahat Sthula-patti. Fifty
st
Paramattha-bodhi-citta-bhavana*
Manidipamahakaninikadevaparica'Stotra,
$atapaiicaMka*na mastrotra
Chinese:
;
Dasa-ktisala-karma-palha-mTdeta,
kramavarna-samgraha, graha t
to
other works of Asvagho*a also ex
Gant}i8totra"gdthd i
;
Serving a
for
Vajrayanamtilapattisam-
Sarnvfti-bodhi-ciUa-bhavan-opadeta-
following works attributed
Rules
Mahay ana-bhumiguhyavacamula 6d$tra On Ma tree ta see Taranatha's
Schiitz tran-
XXII in German in his Fiinf An experimental translation 1837.
XVIII
Gesange des Bhattikavya in
Many
B.S.S. (1898).
of Mallinatha in
Teacher-,
to
ASvaghosa
exist
in
Dasadustakarmamarga;
Sutralahkdrasastra
Geschichte
des
Buddhismus
in
Indian.
Au6 dem
and
Dharrnika-
Tibetieschen, Petrograd. 1869.
See also F. suhuti in
W. Thomas
Album Kern, Leyden
Also Matrceta
The Works
of
Aryas*ura,
Triratna-dasa
1903, pp. 405 408.
and the Mahdrdja-kanlkdlekhd in Indian Antiquary 32, 1903, pp. 45-60. of Matfceta, Indian A ntiquary, 34. 1905, pp. 146-163. Also ,
Also see Varnanarha-varnand
Kavindra-vacana-samttccaya. (Introduction).
A. 1896,
in J. tic
pp.
447-449,
pp. 455-466.
Also Sylvain Levi, Notes sur le$ Indo-scythes L. de la Vallee Poussin, Documents
Also
n ferities. 1
AryabOra's work Catufysataka was translated into Chinese in 484 A. D.
EDITOR'S NOTES in
been
poetry has
1850
(p.
20
given
The
ff.)
first
''615
by Anderson four cantos
J.B.R.A.
in
English by V. G. Pradhana, Poona, 1897. In Cantos X to XIII the most important have
S., 3,
have been translated into
figures
of
been
illustrated by Bhatti. This section shows with striking similarity Bhamaha, Dandin and Udbhata though there are differences in In Canto XIII the detail. great
speech
bhasa-le$a has been mentioned.
It does not occur in the earliest
which Anandavardhana
Alamhara-sastras^ of
furnishes
one
Cf Trivedi's edition of Bhatti, Vol. II, Notes, p. 9 example. Indian Kane, Kane, Introduction to Antiquary, 1912, p. 208 14 K. ff. De's S. Poetics, Vol. I, Sahityadarpana, p. .
;
;
;
Nobels, Studien Sum 10, Buck des Bhattihavya in p. 50 ff. Le Musdon 37, 1924, p. 281 ff. Ruyyaka also quotes Bhatti;
kavya. liberally
p.
53
Kramadlsvara in his grammar Samksiptasdra quotes from Bhatti. See Zachariae in Bezz. Beitr., 5, 1880,
ff.
the 22nd Book, verse 33, the poet says that like a lamp for those whose eye is grammar, mirror in the hand of the blind or people without
At the end
work
"this
but
is
it
a
like
This poem must be understood with a commentary
grammar. then
is
of
As
a feast for the discerning ones.
is
I
;
only like to deal 1
with experts, fools will fare badly with this poem." Chronologically he may be regarded as being contemporary be regarded as having lived in the 2 court of Sridharasena in Valabhi.
with Bhartrbari.
1
Bhatti
may
vyakhyagamyamidavp kdvyam utsavah sudhiyamalam
vidvat'priyatayd
mayd
II
Bbamaha
I
hatd durmedhasa$cd$min
in criticising this view of Bhatti says
kdvydnyapi yadlmdni
That is, even utsavah sttdhiydmeva hanta durmedhaso hatdh vydkhydcjamydni tdstravat commentaries like the sdstras, then ib is only if poetry has to be understood only through II
I
the enjoyment of the
intelligent
and those who lack
it
are indeed cursed.
This shows
Bhatti was probably a contemporary of Bhamaha or Bhatti but not later. Bhatti has sometimes been associated with Bhamaha to have been may prior Bharirhari and sometimes he has been described as the son of the half-brother of Bhartrhari.
apart from other things that
Some commentators regard him 2
In the
mayd
last verse of
as the son of Srldhara Svamin.
the Bhattfkavya
we have
the
t talabhydrp $ridharasena-narendra-pdlildydm
following line
kavyamidarp
610
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE /
Now
there are four Dharasenas
The
ID Kathiawad).
The
earliest grant of
samvat 332
I,
is
252 samvat of the
Valabhl
of the
probably lived in
Dharasena
Dharasena II
first
(modern Vala Dharasena is not known. Valabhl
571 A.D., and the latest grant of Dharasena IV Valabhl era or 651 A.D. Dharasena I
era, i.e., about is
date of the
in
came
500 A.D. to
Dronasimha, the successor of the throne in 502 A.D. Bhatti may for
He would thus placed between 500 and 600 A.D. be either a contemporary or predecessor of Bhamaha as menbe
therefore
tioned
son of
Some scholars identify him with Bappa who forms the object of a grant made before.
son
senalll, objects
of
this
to
Dharasena IV
identification
(see
p. 92).
Mr. B. 0. Mazumdar
identifies
him with Vatsabhatti
in
by DhruvaDr. Hultzsch
Epigraphica Indica, Vol. I, J.R.A.S. (1904), pp. 395-97
of
Mandasore Sun temple the similarity between the
the
because of
(473 A.D.),
inscription
A.D.).
(653
Bhattibhatta,
and the description of autumn by Bhatti. correct, Bhatti would be living under Dharasena
verses of the inscription this
If
view
is
Keith objects to this view, but both Keith and Mazumdar agree that Bhatti flourished before Bhamaha and Dandin and I.
that he
The
not the Bhartrhari,
is
popularity of Bhatti
may
1
author of the Vakyapadlya. well be judged from the fact that the
2
Bhattikavya has at least twelve commentators. The Bhattikavya is not however the only mahakavya
which
We purpose of illustrating grammar. have to mention in this connection Bhaumaka or Bhattabhima
has been used for the
or
Bhuma
seven 1
1
or
Bhumaka who
cantos.
3
The
wrote the Ravanarjunlija in twentyof Arjuna subject-matter is the fight
See Kane, Introduction to Sahityadarpana, pp. 15 and 16. by SankorScSrya; Subodhinl by Kumudananda
Commentary
commentary by Bha^ibodhinl by NSrayana Vidyavinoda Kaldpadipikd by Pundarikftk?a Mugdhabodhini by Bbaratasena commentary by Malliuatha Vydkhydnanda by Ramacandra; Subodhini by Ramacandra Vacaspati BhaMicandrika by Vidyavincda Kal&padipika
Jayamangala
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
by Vidy&tagara. 3
or 9.
Edited in the K&vyam&ld series, 68, 1900.
Vyojakdvya. 1982, p. 10 ft.
See K. C. Cbatterjee in
I.
H.
under the name Vyo$a 628 and Zachariae, Z. I.J.,
It is also cited Q., 1981,
p.
617
EDITOR'S NOTES
Karttavlrya with Eavana after the legend told in the Ramayana, VII. 31-33. The main purpose of the work is to illustrate the 1 rules of Panini's grammar. Another work of the same kind primarily dedicated secondarily a
to
lexicography
and only 2
the Kavirahasya
is
poem
grammatical
It is by Halayudha. a sort of lexicon of roots (dhatupatha) and at the same time a eulogy of Krsnaraja III of the Rastrakuta family who reigned in
Deccan from 940-956 A.D. cal
Hemacandra to
Kumarapalacarita
epic
also wrote his
own
his
illustrate
histori-
grammar.
Other grammatical poems are the Vasudevavijaya by the poet Vasudeva who probably lived in the court of Vikrama of Calicut in
and the
Kerala,
to
supplement
is
it
a
dhatukavya by
Narayanabhatta.
The
story of
Krsna was
He
Harivilasa.
poem
Harihara, a
Krsna legend
4
in
in
lived
Ramacandra 1484
the
court
of Bhoja.
contemporary
in five cantos.
by Lolimbaraja in
utilised
in Tailinga.
a
of
epic
southern king written
Harivilasa was
wrote
also 5
3
his
Gopalallld
about the
Ksemendra's Dasavatara-carita
Buddha
in its 9th canto deals with the life of
in
which the Buddha
and the Krsna legends have been inter-mingled. 8 Ksemendra's other two works Bhdratamanjari and Ramay ana-manj an are well
known. 7 probably
1
The Bhar ataman j an and written
in
the
Dasavataracarita
were
8
About 200 years
later
1037 and 1066.
it in the Suvftta-tilalca as an example of the Kdvya~4astra. This has been edited in 2 recensions by L. Heller, Greifswald; also see Bhandarkar's Reports on Sanskrit Manuscripts, 1883-1884. See also L. Heiler, Halayndha's Kavirahasya,
Ksemendra quotes
8
Piss., Gottingen, 1894 3
;
Die indischen Worterbucher,
Zachariae,
See Pan4it> Vol. II,
p.
78
f.
;
Weber, Ind.
p. 26.
Streifen III, 210, 3.
and K^araacarya,
p. 120. 4
It
has been published io Pandit
II,
79
if.
and the Kavyamala, Part XI. 1895,
94133. 5
Published in Panfct, Vol. VI. See also Foucher, JA, 1892, and J. J. Published in the Kavyamala series, 1801. Meyer, Altindische Schelmenbucher, T, p. XXXIII ff. A part of Canto IX has been *
translated here. 7
8
Published in the Kavyamala Seelje'vi,
JA. 1885, VI, 420,
series, 66,
1898 and 83, 1903,
618
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Jaina Amaracandra, also called Amaracandra-suri, Amaraparujita and Amarajati wrote an abridgement of the Mahdbharata called the Balabharata.* The work was written under king
Vi&ladeva of Anhilvad, 1243-1261. As there was a tendency of making abridgements from larger poetical works so there was also a tendency of some authors to
make abridgements from
prose works as well.
Thus Abhinanda
Gaudabhinanda wrote his Kadambarl-kathasara in the 9th century in which he abridged Bana's romance .K&dambari* He or
was the son
was the minister In
One
of Bhatta Jayanta.
Saktisvamin
Kashmiri
the
of
of his ancestors
king Muktapida (699-735). of the verses he refers to the dramatist Kajasekhara who
one
was his contemporary. other Abhinanda, the son He had written an epic
He must
distinguished from the of Satananda whose time is not known.
be
Ramacarita in which he
the
called
8
with the story of Rama. The Indian poets, however, turned their attention to other directions also. It is, therefore,
dealt
name of Sandhyakara Nandl, the 4 The verses have a double author of the Ramapalacarita. sense, one applying to the hero Rama and the other to the king well worth noting here the
Ramapala, who of
story
the
lived towards the
killing
of
called the Kicaka-vadha,
sena.
1
written in the Yamaka-kavya
which has a commentary by Janardana-
Published in PancW, Vol. IV- VI and in Kdvyamald 45, 1894.
Ind. strifen 3, 211
it
See also Weber,
in Greek, 1847, Athens.
ZDMG,
D. Galanos pub27, 1873, 170 ff.
;
ff,
In this connection we may mention the name
BchOnberg, K$emendra's Kavikanthdbharana. 3 Buhler, Indian Antiquary 2. 1873, 102 p.
is
The
5
lished a translation of
3
Kicaka
end of the llth century.
ff.
;
of
Padyak&dambari
Thomas"
p. 20.
of
Ksemendra.
Aufrecht
in'
ZDMG.
See
27,
4 quotes a verse where Abhinanda is associated with Kalidasa as being equally celebrated. * Published by MM. Haraprasada Sastrl in J.A.8.B. III, 1910, pp. 1-56. Epigraphica
Indica, Vol. IX, p. 321 I. 258, etc.,
See also H.
ff.
Index, p. 641; Dr.
C.
Bay has
construction; C/. also Raniipraaad Chanda, 5
Ray's Dynastic History of Northern India, used the materials of this book for historical
Modern Review, March, 1035,
p.
349
IT.
Edited with an Introduction, notes and extracts from the commentary of SarvanandaThe word is quoted in the m^nuals of poetics from, tee Dr. 8. K, De, 1929
nag* by
t
EDITOR *S NOTES
619
But two other writers tried to outshine the work of Sandhyakara Nandl by writing two works called the Rdghavapandavlya or the Dvisandhanakavya and the Raghavanaisadhlya^ The first one was written by Dhanafijaya, a Digambara Jaina who probably wrote his work between 1123 and 1140. This work, however, should not be confused with the Raghava1
Kaviraja, which has
pandavlya by
Dhananjaya
man
a Carnatic
is
at least
referred
commentaries.
six
2
by Vadiraja in the lived probably in the 2nd to
(1025 A.D.), who 3 10th Century. The other author of the Raghavapandavlya called Kaviraja
Partivanathacarita half of the
lived in the court of
the
in
lived
divided into
Kamadeva
13 cantos.
4
Kadamva
12th century. This poem is we hear of another Raghava-
the
But
quoted from the Pamparamayana, 1105 A.D.
5
pandavlya was a work which, when read from
from right
to left
it
delineated
the
This Raghavaleft
Rama
delineated the character of
way,
who
the
inscription, dated
the usual
family,
by Srutaklrti. He is referred to in an 1163 and it contains a verse which is
written
pandavlya
of
half
latter
II of the
character
of
to
but the
right
in
when read Pandavas.
We
hear of another Raghavapdnddvlya, which when read from 6 Kaviraja, the right to left, delineated the story of Krsna.
author
the
of
Rdghavapdndavlya
9
was
very famous
a
man.
iu dictionaries and grammacentury onwards beginning with Bhoja (1050 A. D.) as well as The verse I. 7. should be interpreted as an allusion to king Vigrahapala. Cf. tical works. S.
K. De's
edition, p.
A. B. Keith in 1
13.
XIII
S. 0.
S.,
ff.,
V,
93
ff.
;
J.
K. A.
S. 1927,
109
f.
;
B. 8. 0. 8., V. 3, 1929, 502
.,
1. 1928, p. 31.
This work has been published in the Kavyarnala
series,
49 and
it
consists of 18
cantos. 2
Commentaries by Caritravardhana, Padmanandlbhattaraka, Puspadanta, Lak^manapagdita (Saracandrika), Vidvanatba and Sa^adhara fPrafca&j), 3 Cf. A. Beukatasubbiah, in J. B. B. A. 8., 1928, 135 ff. See also K. B. Paftak, J. B. B, A. S., 21, 1904, 1 ff. Bhandarkar, Report on Sanskrit Mss., 18844887, p. 19 ff. ; ;
;
Zacharfae, Die indischen Worterbucher, p. 27 ff. 4 It has been edited with the commentary of SaSadiiara in the Kavyamala series, 62. vi TT. NO *u 5 See Narasiinbtchar, Epigraphica Catnatica, 6 7133, No. See Keith, India Office Catalogue,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
620
Pathak thinks that Kaviraja says that
The
name was Madhavabhatta. no one can rival him in vakrokti. his
1
Our
real
Raghavanaisadhiya
2
written by Haradatta Suri. of the author. Every Averse
was
We
do not exactly know the date here has been interpreted on the one hand as describing Kama's exploits and character and on the other, those of Nala.
There is, however, another Rdghavapandavayadavlya written one by Cidamvara, where every verse can be interpreted in three ways, as describing episodes of the Mahabharata, the Rdmayana and the tirimadbhagavata*
Amaracandra, a pupil the
of
request
Padmananda.* first
of
minister
This work
Jina, Esabha,
is
Jinadatta a
Padma, is of
called the
maha-kavya
19 cantos in which the
He
treated in an ornate style.
-the
at
wrote,
Suri,
life of
the
has written
another work called the Gaturvimati-jinendra-samksipta-caritani, Hemain which he gives an account of the life of the Jinas.
candra had written a maha-kavya in which the lives of the Jinas and Jina poets were described. There is also another work called series,
the
1931,
in
which the
unknown age
called
drawing'
his
of
short
life
the 20th Jina
life of
a poet of
the Trivandrum
in
edited
Munisuvratakavyaratna
is
Amaracandra
Arhaddasa.
24 Jinas had
the
described by
to
draw
in his
materials from Hemacandra.
Kavideva, son of Narayana,
who
wrote a commentary on to Kalidasa, wrote a small
Nalodaya, wrongly attributed kavya called the Kavyaraksasa, to which
the
6
commentary. 1
We
really
know nothing
See K. B. Pathak, J.B.R.A.S., 1905, 11
with him.
The name Kaviraja being used
about the date of the anther of
the
he
added
Bavideva's
of
But Benkatasubbiah
ff.
own
his
does
time. not
agree
make out anything Raghavapandaviya from the reference to the name as a title,
it is
not possible to
Yam ana's
Kdvydlamkdrasutra^tti, IV. 1. 10. kavirdjamavijftdya kutah kavyakriy&darah/ kavir&jaftca vijflaya kutah kavyakriytidarah.f f 9 It has been edited with the Poet's own commentary in the Kfvvyam&la series, 1896. 3 See Aufrecht's Catalog us Catalogorum.
Kaviraja in
:
by H. B. Kapadia, G. 0. S, 68, 1982. Three Reports, p. 834 ff. ; Report IV,
*
Critically edited
5
Peterson,
1883-84, p. 16; Aufrccht, Catalogue Catalogorum
;
Pischel,
p.
CV
;
Bhandarkar, Report,
Z.D.M.G., 1902, 626; J904, 244,
621
EDITOR'S NOTES
The work has 4
commentaries, by Kaviraja (Subodhini), Aufrecht says Krsnacandra, Premadhara, and Vidyakara Migra.
work is attributed to two other persons excluding Ravideva, mz. t Kalidasa and Vararuci. In one commentary
that
the
Vasudeva, son of Ravideva,
is
mentioned as the author of the
1
Nalodaya.
Vasudeva, son of Ravi, to whom the Nalodaya is attributed, wrote 3 other kavyas, the Tripuradahana, the Saurikathodaya and the Yudhisthiravijaya*
We must now mention Kumaradasa's Janakiharana.* Thomas thinks that Kumaradasa
older than
Rajasekhara and probably Aufrecht says that passages from the Jdnaklharana have been quoted by Rayamukuta, who wrote a is
lived in the 7th century.
commentary on the Amarakosa in 1431. According to tradition, Kumaradasa was a Simhalese king, who lived between 517 A.D. and 526 A.D. Kumaradasa's style of writing resembles more that of Kalidasa than that of Bharavi and
The Kiratarjuniya
Magha.
based upon a Mahabharata story, in which considerable modifications have been made. It has been quoted by Vamana in his Alamkdrasutravrtti, by Ksemendra of
Bharavi
is
and by Dhanapala and Raja-sekhara, and some of the anthologies. Its popularity is
in the Suvrttatilaka is
also
quoted in
evident from the fact that
This
book
was
published by
A,
it
has
at least
Hoefer, Sanskrit- Lesebuch, Berlin, 1849,
K. P. Parab, Bombay, 1900; an Italian translation by 33 ff. ; see also Weber, Ind. Streifen, II, 15. 1
Cf.
2
Edited
Bamnatba with
This commentary
20 commentaries.
Iyer, in J.R.A.S., 1925, 263
Belloni-Filippi, in
the P&rthaJcatlia.
86
p.
G.S.A.L,
ff.
;
1906,
ff.
Bajanakaratnakaptha's commentary
is called
4
the Kftvayamala, 60, 1897.
in
See Zachariae, in Z.
1. 1, 4,
1926, 223
ff-
was published in Bombay by G. K. Nandargikar. He wrote also a work, Kum&radasa and hit place in Sanskrit Literature in 1908. Many writers had written 3
It
about the poetry of Kumaradasa, such as, J. d'Alwis, 1870; Zaohariae, Bezz. Beitr, 5, 1880; G. G. A. 1887; Peterson, J. B. B. A. S., 17, 1889, 57 ff; E. Leuiuann, W. Z. K. M. F. W. Thomas, J. B. A. S. 1901, 253 ff A. B. Keith, J. B. A. S , 1901, 1893,226 ff. 678 ff. The work has also been quoted in the Subhasit avail, 24 f. and in other works of
7,
;
;
anthology. 4
By
Damodara
Narahari,
Mifoa
Ekaoatha,
Kasluatha,
(Gaurava-dipani),
Gadasiipha,
Dharmavijaya,
Prakas'a versa,
Bhaglratha,
Jonuraja,
Bbarataeena,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE .Bharavi indulges in many word-tricks. Sometimes there are verses with one alphabet and sometimes he writes verses which
can be read vertically, from right to left and
left to right.
Bharavi
pithy sayings and maxims which are often quoted as rules of conduct. He seems to have been very well read in Indian polity. As for the general estimate of his work, see Dr. De's treatment in the body of the is
famous
particularly
for his
many
book.
With Bharavi our vadha.
1
Magha
and word-tricks. Bharavi.
and
8
The
attention
drawn
is
based
Magha
story
also, I. 287.
Magha' 8
the
8i$upala-
many alamkaras
Bharavi in
also indulges like
2
to
scheme
of
work on
his
based on the
is
Mahabliarata, 11^ 41-45, Indian tradition Magha is
to
According
supposed to have the combination of depth of meaning, richness of imagery and sweetness of words. Magba's 3isupalavadha,
though not a very excellent work
our judgment and poetical among the scholars of India
in
taste, attained a great popularity
as
may
well be judged
by the
fact that there are at
least
16 or
17 commentaries on tbe 8i6updlavadha.* Manohara Sarmft,
Bankimadasa Lokananda, Madbava, Mallinatha, Rajakunda, (V ai$amy oddhdrini), Vinayarama (Pradipikd), Harikantha and the commentary called the Sabd&rthadipikarasabodhini. An excellent) edition of the commentary of Mallinatha has been published from the Nirijayasagara Translated into Schiitz, 1845.
Bombay.
Press,
English
Kirdtdrjuniya has also been quoted in the
The
C.
by
Ka&ka
;
It
was translated
Cappeller
in
H.O
into S. t
German by
Vol. 15.
The
see Kielhorn, Indian Antiquary, 14, 827.
4th canto has been translated by Haberlandt, in tbe Wiener
Landwirtschaftl,
Zeitung,
1883. 1
Published with Mallinitha's commentary by the Nirnaya"igara Press, Bombay. A general translation in prose of the first 11 cantos by Schiitz appeared in 1843
A German
introduction of 2
it
by C. Cappeller appeared in 1915, Stuttgart. of word-trick can be found in XIX, 3,
An example
jajau jo ja
ji jijja ji
tarp tato'
ti
ta ta
U
tut
\
bhdbho'bhibha bhi bhu bhd bhu ra ra
Jaoobi,
W.
Z. K.
M.
ri
ra ri
3, 1889,
n
ra rail
121
ff
;
II
141
ff.
There are corn men laries on the Siiupalabadha by Ananta Devayani, Kavivallabba Caritravardhana, Dinakara CakravartI, Govinda, Candrasekbara (Sandarbhacintctmani) 4
,
t
623
EDITOR'S NOTES
Rajanaka Ratnakara
of of
This by Magha's 8i$upalavadha. 50 cantos and reveals an exhaustive study
written in
is
have Been
influenced
passionately
work
in his Haravijaya appears to
Magha's Stiupalavadha. The poem is based upon a conquest Andhakasura by Siva. But Rajanaka Ratnakara used all the
from various subjects for opportunities of drawing materials drawing his pictures. Thus he brings his knowledge of NUi6astra into prominence in writing Cantos
know-
his
VIII-XVI,
ledge of KamaSastra in the 29th canto and devotes one canto to a
Durga (Gandlstotra}. The same writer another work called the VakroTcti-paftcaSika.
to the goddess
hymn
the author of
The
is
1
who wrote an
other,
epic on the model of
Magha
in
21 cantos, called the Dharmasarmabhyudaya, a life of Dharmawas the Jaina TJaricandra. 2 Haricandra nathatirthankara, than Vakpati who wrote the Gaudavaha and hence must have lived after the 8th century A.D. later
lived
The
been utilised by many writers. Thus works on that subject, such as the Nalacarita,
story of Nala has
we have many Nalacaritra
the
the
kavya),
Nalananda
Nalavarnanakavya
the
Nala-
the Laksmidhara), and the Nalodaya to
(by
drama by Jivavibudha)
(a
Diksita),
(a drama), the Nalayddaoaraghavapandavlya
bhumipala-rupaka (a
drama by Nilakantha
(a
3 which reference has already been made.
Devaraja, Bjrhaspati, Bhagadatta, Bbaglratha, Bbaratasena, Bhavadatta (Tattvakaumudi), Mallinatba (Sarvamkasa), Manes' vara Paficanana (Maghatattvasamuccaya), Laksmlnatha Sarroa, Vallabbadeva Wandehovitausadhi), and Srlrangadeva. 1
Rajanaka Rafcnakara's Haratijaya has
been see
pnblisbed
with the commentary of
W.
Alaka
in
259
Jacobi says that Ratnakara himself says that he followed Bana.
ff.
Dhruva,
the
W.
Kavyamala
Z. K. M.,
Vallabhadeva has 63, 1909, 816
ff.
5,
a ] ready
136
ff.
3
1891,
26
appeared in
22, 1890;
Published in the
KegavSditya, Ganes*a,
Schmidt,
Z.
K. M., 29,
See also K.
H. The Vakrobiipaflcatika with the commentary of the Kavyamala series. Bernheimer in Z. D. M. G., Ratnakara
is
also the author of another work,
Both the works have been quoted by Ruyyaka.
Kavyamala
There was another work This work has DO
also
ff.
gives a resume of the work.
the Dhvanigdthftpafijika. 2
series,
less
Nrsimha
series,
No.
8,
1888; see also Jacobi,
W.
Z. K. M., 3, 1889,
kdvya called the DharmaSarmdbhyudaya by Puspasena. than a dozen commentaries, by Atreya Bba((a, $ditya Suri, of
also called Nrsimhas'rama, Pratijfiajcara Mis*ra, BJjaratasena,
624
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
But the most important work in which the Nala legends have been worked up into a massive kavya is the Naisadhacarita It has been arbitrarily divided into two parts, by Sriharsa. the Purva and the Uttara Naisadha (I-XI and XII-XX1I). The first half was edited by Premcand Tarkavagl^a from the
Sanskrit College, Calcutta, 1836. An edition of the second with the commentary of Narayana was published by
half
B. Roer in the Bibliotheca Indica Series in 1855. l based upon the story of Nala and DamayantI in the Mahabharata. Sriharsa had a thorough knowledge of the AlamkaraSastra, the Kamaastm the Puranas, the Metrics and It
is
9
Grammar and
he tries to
show
all
his learning in this
work.
"
What a difference Winternitz, commenting on it, says between the delicate chastity with which the love between in
:
Nala and DamayantI
is
depicted
in the Mahablidrata and the
on obscenity in Cantos XVI1I-XX of the which describe the love life of the newly
sultry erotics bordering
Naisadhacarita 9
wedded couple."- And yet it cannot be denied that Srlbarsa is a master of language and metrics, an artist in the invention of elaborate plays on words and that he has many good ideas in Sriharsa also shows his philosophical
his description of Nature.
learning and convinces us of his erudition in the Vedanta, Buddhistic Vai^esika, systems and the Carvaka. Nyaya,
Sriharsa was Mukunda
the
author,
we know,
Bhatta, Ravideva (Jatavabodhini),
of
an abstruse
Jlamarsi, son of
dialectical
Vrddhavyasa, Hariratna
(Balabodhini), the Aarthadipika.
complete edition with the commentary of Narftyana was published in the Nirnayasagara Press, Bombay ; W. Yates in his Asiatic Researches, Vol. 20, Part II, Calcutta, 1839, p. 318 ff. has given an excellent Introduction to this work. The whole work has been 1
A
translated into English with critical notes from unpublished commentaries, appendices and vocabulary by Krsnakanta Handiqui, Lahore, 1934. It bad no less than about two dozen
commentaries, by Kajanaka inanda, ISftnadeva, Udayanacarya, Goplnatba (Harahrdaya), Caneh kftih kfti-mude tasyd'bhyudiyddiyam II
79
1843B
II
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
626 of
China
the
to
M alwa.
province of
Sahabuddin about 1194
He was
c
in
Chandawar, His army was destroyed and he was also at
defeated by
Etawah
the
district.
Srlharsa thus
killed.
end of the 12th century A.D. In addition to the Khandanakhandakhadya, he is said to have written two other
lived in the
kavyas called the Vijayapra6asti and the Gaudorvi$akulapraasti.
He
quotes Vacaspati
Udayana who
who
Sriharsa to
belong
attributed to
him
the
carita
the
that
the
Arnavavarnana,
also
quotes
safely regard
Other works
Siva&aktisiddhi,
lvarabhisandhi, and the Sthairyaseems from references in the Naisadha-
the
the Sahasahkacampu, It
vicaranaprakarana.
So we may the 12th century A.D.
to
are
He
976 A.D.
984 A.D.
in
lived
in
lived
Khandanakhandakhadya
was
written
earlier
than the Naisadhacarita.
He
in a debate.
felt so
was defeated by
a
scholar
insulted that he died out of grief.
At the
Tradition runs that his
father
time of his death he told his son
Sriharsa
that
revenge on behalf of his father by debate, his soul would not rest in peace.
unless
defeating his
the same
to
his father
and
after long
he took
opponent in
Sriharsa promised
penances and adoration (cintamanimantra) and
charm But after this he appeared the gift of knowledge and wisdom. so learned that nobody could understand his discussions and then he again adored Durga to make his words intelligible. The goddess prescribed that he should take curd in the night and that thereby he would become more phlegmatic and duller of
Durga he
and so be true
received
a
intelligible
and that he
references in the
offered
special
to
others.
That the
penances to Durga,
Naisadhacarita.
wrote a commentary on
1
The
poet
story is
is
partially
inferable from
Krsnananda not
the
Naisadhacarita, but he also only re-wrote the legend of Nala in an epic, the Sahrdayananda in 15 cantos probably in the 13th century. 2 In the 15th century
1
8
See Pandit
Lakmana
Sastri Dravida's Introduction to the Khan$anakhanH?OR*S
NOTES
627
the
poet Vamanabhattabana (or Abhinavabhattabana) wrote the same legend in his Nalabhyudaya. He was also the author of the Srhgarabhiisana, the Parvatiparinaya and the again,
1
He
imitated the prose style of Bhattabana. 3 Vemabhupala, in whose court the poet Abhinavabana lived, was himself also a learned man and had written the tfrhgaradlpika
Vemabhupalacarita.
He
and the Sahgltacintamani.
From
country.
was the
ruler
of
the
Trilinga
1448 in the
a copper plate, dated the
name
of
Vema, it is possible to determine the time of his father Annavema or Vemabhupala as being the first half of the 15th century when the poet Abhinavabana lived. The style of
the son of
the Nalabhyudaya
We
is
quite simple.
must now mention the name
Mankha and
of
book $rikanthacarita*
the
Kashmir poet
with the story of the destruction of the demon Tripura by Siva, bat this is his
It deals
made only the
occasion for the description of natural scenery in In the 25th different seasons and the amusements of the court.
canto,
1
of
we
which
have a German
Mankha
translation,
A
fragment of 8 cantos of tbis poem has been edited in the Trivandrum Sanskrit No. 3, 1918, by Ganapati gastn. He is also the author of the Vemabhfipdfacarita a prose novel after the style of Ha rsacant a. Vema, the hero of this novel, was still living Series,
t
when Vamnabhattabana Sastri's Introduction 2
wrote, probably in the
and Suali in G.
8.
A.
half of the 15th century.
first
I., 26,
commencement of Vemabhupalacarita bdnakavmdrddanye kdndh khalu sarasa-gadya-saranisu
Thus he says
Cf
.
Gaijapati
214.
at the
:
I
itijagati *rudham-ayao vata sakuto
vdmano'dhund mars^i
II
kavirabhinava-bdnah kdvyaniatyadbhutdrthatn
bhuvanamohita-bhumir ndyako vemabhupah
I
tri-bhuvana>mahaniya.khydtimdneu yogah prakatayati na kewrp pan p.
269
ff.
See Hertel, B.9.G. W., 1902, p 62
ff.
also Jacobi, G.G.A., 1905, p. 380
ff.
ff.
703
EDITOR'S NOTES
There
is
a peculiar story here about
Visnu based on the materials
weaver impersonating as of the Textus Simplicior with the a
additions taken from the later recensions of the Tantrakhyayika. have the Paftcakhyanaka or the Paftcatantra written by
We
the Jaina
formed one
and
monk Purnabhadra
The
1199.
in
of the earliest redactions of
the
Tantrakhyayika Pancatantra stories
from about 200 B.C.
this recension dates probably
A
Kash-
mirian manuscript of it was got by Biihler written in the Sarada character and Hertel had the good fortune to get a copy of this work in the Deccan College Library at Poona. In the many Indian recensions of this work the most important is that which has been commonly called by Western scholars the Textus Ornatior
and
tioned.
its
author
An
is
Purnabhadra
Paul Elmer More.
Mr.
Simplicior and his
published a critical
we have just menwork has been made by
Suri as
English translation of this
Kosegarten's
edition
the
of
Textus
specimen were both uncritical and Hertel edition of it in the Harvard Oriental Series,
1903, though originally the venture was launched by Schmidt. Purnabhadra says in the colophon that by his time the Panca-
become extremely corrupted and the manuscripts were such that the letters were worn out, and correction was made with reference to every letter, word, sentence, episode and Sloka. tantra text had
1
It
probable, as judged from
is
Purnabhadra had
peculiarities, that
some other Prakrt work or
utilised
written in popular dialect.
grammatical
works
2
was made in the year 1659-1660 by the Jaina monk Meghavijaya which was called the Pancakhyanoddhara* It contains some new stories. The chief source for Meghavijaya was a metrical Sanskrit work based upon Pafica-
Another abridged
text
pratipadani prativakyatri pratilcathain
\
Mpurnabhadrasurirvitodhayamasa astramidam See the excellent critical Introduction by Hertel in the Harvard I!
Vols. XI-XII, 1908 and 1912. 1
See Hertel, H.O.S., XII, p. 29
3
See Hertel, Z.D.M.G., 1903,
p.
ff.
689
ff
;
and Z.V.V., 1906,
p.
249
ff .
Oriental
Series,
704
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
khyana-caupal, written in old Guzerati Vaecharaja in the year 1591-92.
Another
text
removed
far
pretty
text appears as a Southern Pancatantra. stories probably derived
There
is
another
Le Pantchatantra on
les
from
monk
Jaina
Purnabhadra's
many new
It contains
from Tamil sources. text
one
by
1
published by Abbe
A. Dubois,
J.
cinq ruses.
In Nepal we have another text called the Tantrakhyana* This edition has slight tinges of Jainism and Buddhism. The compilation)
was probably made
date of the manuscript
is
The most important
not probably later of
all
14th century. than 1484.
at least in the
new works
the
The
based on the Panca-
It seems to probably the Bengali work, Hitopadca. Its chief source seems to be the Northbe wholly a new work.
tantra
is
Western version of the Pancatantra on which the Southern and
The author
Nepalese versions are based.
the
his
gives
name
3
and that of his patron Dhavalacandra in the colophon. The Pancatantra has played an important part in the whole world literature.
Benfey in the Introduction to his translation of the Paiicatantra, shows how the older books of literature of the three
On another Southern
1
text of the Pancatantra , see
Z.D.M.GK, 1906,
p.
769
ff.
and also Hertcl, Z.D.M.O., 1910, p. 68 ff. 3 We have critical forewords by Schlegel and Lassen (Bonn a.Eh., 1829-lbSl) and by P. Peterson, B.S.S., 1887 also Introduction given by Hertel over the text and the author of See also Hertel's article over a MS. of the the Hitopadeta, 1897, and Pancatantra, p. 38 ff. See C. Bendall, J.R.A.S., 1388, p. 465
2
ff
,
;
Hitopadeia, Z.D.M.G., 1901, p. 487 ff. and Zachariae, Z.D.M.G.,61, p. 342 ff. An old Nepalese manuscript dated 1373 exists. Hultzsch has quoted from Magha's Si6upata-vadha a verse in the Hitopade$a. See Hertel's Tantrakhydyika (translated) I. p. 145 ff.
Winternitz points out that in the Httopadea Bhattdrakavara has been used for Sunday, but this reference to *#dra' of the week does not occur in Indian inscriptions before 500 A.D. t
and
it
became universal
after
900 A.D.
There are many translations
;
see
Fleet, J.B.A.S., 1912, p. 1045
of the Hitopadesa, such as by
Max
ff.
Miiller, 1844,
Schoen-
berg, 1884, Fritze, 1888, Hertel, 1895. The West European translation is the English translation by Charles Wilkins, 1787, and the French translation by Lang lea, 1790.
Translations from the
Malay alam. i,
Pancatantra exist in Hindi, Guzerati, Canarese,
Translations of the Pancatantra exist also in Maratjji anfl
Bengali,
Tamil and
in the Brajabbasa, in
EDITOR'S NOTES continents
have been invaded for
705 centuries by the stories
many
of the Paiicatantra.
In the Kathamukha of the Tantrakhyayika an adoration is paid to Manu, Vacaspati, Sukra and ParaSara, Vyasa and
Canakya. Visnusarman here says that he has written the book by examining all works on polity. It is possible that the Pancatantra l
had
utilised the Artha-sastra
of Kautilya
for the
composition of an old Nlti work attributed to Canakya, but the exact relation between Canakya and the Pancatantra
the work.
There
is
also
cannot be determined.
Nothing
details or the time of the
justice that the
is
known regarding any
author and
name Visnusarman
Visnusarman was probably
it
personal has been held with some
pseudonym and that But this can only be a
a
is
Visnugupta.
possible conjecture.
Even before the Pancatantra was rendered into Pehlevi in 570 A.D., it was a very well-known work. The translation was probably made from a North- Western recension into which many interpolations
had crept
Tantrakhyayika Pancatantra.
is
the
in.
Hertel
earliest
to
tries
prove that recension of
available
the the
Hertel holds that the oldest Kashmir version of the
Tantrakhyayika existed as enrly as 200 B.C. This Kashmir version through one or two transmissions was utilised by the
pseudo-Gunadhya in the Kashmirian Brhat-kathd. From these we have Ksemendra's Brhat-katha-tftoka-manjarl about 1040 and Somadeva's Kathd-sarit-sdgara about 1063 to 1082. From the Kashmirian version from another line there came the NorthWest Indian version from which the Pehlevi version was made in 570 A.D. and from this Syriac and Arabic versions were made
which passed on to Asia, North Africa and Europe and after the 5th century from the same North-East Indian recension we have From the the Southern Pancatantra and its Tamil version. 1
manave vdcaspataye tuhrdya paradaraya sasutdya
\
c&nakydya ca mahate namo'stu nrpatdstrakarttjbhyali sakaldrthaSastrasdram jagati samdlokya visnutarmd'pi tantraih paftcabhiretaiScaktira sumanohararp Sastrcw,
39
1343B
II
II
\
706
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
North-East in Bengali
There also
850 A.D.
Indian version
sprang up the
Hitopade$a by the 14th century and also the Nepalese version. sprang up another North-East Indian version after again
which has been
Based upon the
text
of the
collected in
Textus
the Textus Simplicior.
Simplicior
(North- West
Indian recension) and the Kashmir manuscript written in Sarada 1040 and probably character before from certain Prakrt materials
Purnabhadra's
made
was
compilation
in
Guzerat
in 1199.
Holding the date of Canakya from Kautilya's Artha-sastra as being 300 B.C., the Tantrakhyayika must have been written between this limit and 570 A.D., when the work was translated
From many
into Pehlevi.
considerations
we
regard the date of
the original Kashmirian Tantrakhyayika to be 200 B.C.
The Tantrdkhyaijika is but the other name for Paficatantra. It is supposed to be a summary account of the tales that have l The Southern Paftcatantra I. 151 floated through tradition. contains a verse which is identical with Kumara-sambhava II. 55, from which we can infer that it was written after Kalidasa.
The
Nepalese recension is quite undecided. The Hitopadeta of Narayana has a manuscript which is dated 493 date of the
Nepalese era, i.e., 1373 A.D. and it may be assumed that
It it
quotes
Kamandaka and Maglia
was written sometime between
800-1373 A.D.
The
popularity of the Pancatantra
excluding Hertel's works
it
is
evident from the fact that
has at least six
German
translations
Boltz, in 1868, Schoenberg, 1884, Fritze,
by Brockhaus, 1844, by 1888 and another in 1853. ;
It
has been translated into English
by Charles Wilkins, Sir William Jones, Johnson, Max Miiller, Sir Edwin Arnold and by Hale-Wortham and by Manickchand
granthavistarabhirunam balanam alpacetasam bodhdya paficatantrakhyam idam samksipya kathyate I
anyadiyo'pi likhitah 6loko yah prakramagatah
granthavistaradosastena na jayatf
I
* II
I
EDITOR'S NOTES
707
French translation was made by Langles, 17SO, and It was translated in Bengali by LakmlLancerean, 1882.
Jain.
Its
narayana Nyayalankara and also into Brajabhasa and also in Hindi, Hindustani, Marathi, Newari, Persian and Telegu. Hertel had concluded that all the sources of the Pancatantra ;
and the Tantrakhyayika had been derived from a defective original which he designated by the letter T. But notwithstanding what has been said above, this has not been He thought that proved. the sources of the Brhat-katha-mafijarl, Katha-sarit-sagara and
and Pancatantra
Tantrakhyayika
were
derivable
from
two
sources, the original of the Tantrakhyayika and the source of the
other
three groups and
in
part of the
B
version
of the
Tantra-
khyayika itself which he calls K. This also has not been proved and it seems in part implausible also because this would mean that the occurrence of any story in any two of the four versions should be a strong ground for assigning it to the original text. But according to Hertel' s own view, such a significance would be
only the story occurred in both the Tantrakhyayika and one of the K versions. Hertel further assumes apparently without much ground that there was another intermediate
plausible,
"
archetype,
N-W.' which !
the
is
ancestor of the Pehlevi
direct
translation, the Southern Pancatantra group and the Siinplicitor of Biihler and Eielhorn. Further, it can also be argued with
ground that the Tantrakhyayika recension was
sufficient
Its
to others.
sign
of
its
omission of stories
loyalty
to
the
may
ultimate
not
prior
necessarily be the
The recension
source.
containing fuller stories need not necessarily be the later one. The word tantra in the Pancatantra probably means 3astra or siddhdnta. of siddhanta
used
in
3astras
Thus and
Amara-kosa we have tantra in the sense the Anekartha-samgraha the word tantra is
in the in
tha sense of sastra. or
Five Siddhantas.
Pancatantra thus
From
the
name
it
means Five seems that the
Tantrakhyayika represented the main story of the Pancatantra. This explains why the Tantrakhyayika should contain less stories than the Pancatantra.
708
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
BHASA Bhasa was probably a Brahmin and a devotee of Visnu, Our knowledge of Bhasa was first acquired merely from the reference to him along with the other poets Saumilla and dramatists of great distinction
Kaviputra as
But
}
Malavihagnimitra.
and
It
2
The
poet
Saumilla
to
difficult
as Winternitz suggests.
of
in the
say -whether the frame of his dramas
is, however, Kaviputra. Kalidasa had used Bhasa as the model of
Baaa
his
in
introductory
Bhasa with high compli-
verse 16, of his Harsa-carita, refers to 3
by Kalidasa
we know nothing
as yet
mentions Bliasa his in Vakpati In the 9th to commentaries from 12th 800. verse century a
ments.
Gaitdavaho
in
4
drama Svapna-ndtaka But Rajasekhara refers muktdvali to
or
an anthology called SuldiBhasa's Svapna-vasavadattd and Bhasa is generally in a verse in
This was
referred to in most anthologies.
about Bhasa
often quoted.
is
Svapna-vdsavadattd
till
Travancore ten
all
that
was known
1910 when Ganapati Sastri discovered in of Bhasa in palm-leaf MSS. all.
dramas
South one
in
bundle and this was regarded as a good ground for recognising in them the lost dramas of Bhasa. Later, however, two other 5 dramas were found.
There
an
is
initial
difference between the
1 prathitayasasdm bhdsa-saumilla-kaviputrddindm prabandhdnatihramya vartarndnakaveh kdliddsasya kriydydm katharn bahumdnah.
*
Geschichte der indischen Litteratur,
3
siitradhdrahftdrambhair ndtakairbahubhumikaih
p. 184.
sapatdkairya6o lebhe bhdso devakulairiva
1
II
Harsa-carita, *
bhdsammi jalanamitte kantldeve a jassa rahudre sobandhave a bandhammi hdriyande a dnando 800
8
For discussions on Bhasa,
81. 16.
I
II
Introduction
his edition of
to
Monatsschrift,
G.G.A. 1883, p. 183-2 ff Svapnavdsavadattd and Pratimd-nd^aka
VII, 1913,
p.
see Pischel,
G53ff
;
A
A.
Macdoneli, J.R.A.S.,
Slstrl's
Ga^iapafci
;
;
Jacobi,
1913, p. 186
Internal. ff;
V. A.
Smith, Indian Antiquary, 1911, p. 87 ff; Suali in G.S.A.L, 25, 1912, p. 5 ff Hertel, Jinakirtti's Geschichte von Pdla und Gopdla, p. 152 ff; Max Lindenau, Bhdsa-Studien, ein ;
Beitrag zur Qeschichte des altindischen Dramas (Leipzig, 1918). The verses of Bhasa in the anthologies have been collected together and translated
Aufrecht in Ind. Stud. muktdvalif
p.
80
ff
;
17,
J.R.A
168
ff
;
Z.D.M.G.
S., 1891, p.
331
ff.
27, 65; 86,
also pp, 105
370
ff
;
and 159.
and
Peterson,
by
Subhdfita-
NOTES
s
709
ordinary classical drama and the dramas of Bhasa.
we
dramas
nary classical
find
that
In the ordi-
the
after
sutradham
nandl
the
in (nandyante siitradhdrah) But in the steps found dramas the sutradhara in after the newly steps nandl and begins sometimes with an introductory adoration to Visnu as in the Avimaraka and the Dnta-ghatot-
kaca
;
.
and
at other
times starts
with
introducing in
the
usual
manner by suggestion the names of the important personages. In the ordinary classical dramas again we find a little praise of the drama and the name of the author, but it is not so in the newly
The
found dramas.
plays are generally short and
The dramas
one Act.
generally begin with one adoration
But
and end also with one. there
is
in the
dramas
hymn
Bhasa generally
of
same type of the Bharata-vdkya called generally sthawhich a benediction is referred to the king, as in the
the
in
pand
sometimes of
Svapnanataka, the Pratijiia-nataka and the Pancariitra-nataka. The king is often called Rajasimha. We cannot ascertain that this
Rajasimha
The
is
a Pallava king.
natakas of
PratijM-nataka,
Avimaraka,
are
as
follows
Cdrudatta,
Pancaratra,
Svapna-ndtaka,
:
Duta-ghatotkaca,
Karna-bhara, Madhyama-vyiiyoga, Pratima-nataka. These were Abhiseka-ndtaka, Balacurita,
Uru-bhahga, all in
Bhasa
old Kerala characters.
That these dramas were written by one and the same person appears to be certain on account of the identity of style and the fact that some of the verses are repeated from drama to drama and the same ways 1
of speech occur in several
evam aryamiSran vijflapayami aye, kim nu khalu mayi vtjtlapanaoyayre sabda
dramas.
1
\
ahga
I
iva sriiyate
I
patyami.
This passage occurs in Pratitnd and Karna-bhdra.
all
dramas
the
excepting
Pratijila,
Carudatta
Ag*in, the passage
imam
sdyaraparyantam- himavad-vindliya-kundaldm mahtmekatapatrahkam rdjasimliah pratdstu nah II
occurs in Svapqa and Bdla-canta.
Again,
paracakram praiamyatu imdmapi mahiw krtsndrn rdjasimhah pradstu nah
bhacantvarajaso gavah
I
II
I
,
Avimaraka,
710
HISTORY OF SANSKUlt LITERATURE
The Svapna-nataha has been referred to as Svapna-vasavadatta by Abhinavagupta and the name of Bhasa has been referred to by Kalidasa and Bana. The Svapna-nataka appears in another
MS.
evidence that
it
This raised a
dramas.
these
scholars, of
Svapna-vasavadattd. It is from this scanty has been suggested that Bhasa was the author of
as
both
new
the
scholars
dramas
Jacobi
like
Konow
pp. 299-304),
(Festschrift p.
Dr.
Morgenstierne,
Kuhn,
51; of
the
(Giornale della soc. As. Italiana, delta soc. As. Italiana),
Lacote,
the
amongst
publication
Ganapati
SastrT,
Svapna-vasavadatta)
10G
49,
et
seq.
233
1920,
,
Kuhn,
(Festschrift
pp.
Ant.,
Svapna-vasavadatta),
XXV,
Lesny, Dr.
M.
the
of
Ind.
(translation
T.
Winternitz
1916),
Das Indischen drama,
M. Baston
by
discussion
Since
MM.
(translation
(Nachrichten,
Jolly
storm of
Indian and European.
and ff.),
Suali
p. 95), Pavolini (Giornale
Lindenau (Bhasa Dr.
Studieri),
Dr.
Printz,
Barnett,
(B.8.O.S., L, 3, 1920, p. 35 ff.), Dr. Thomas (J.R.A.S., 1922, 79 ff.), Pisharoti, Dr. Sukthankar (J.A.O.S., 40, 1920. 243 ff;
J.B.R.A.S., 1925, p. 126), Bamavatara Pandeya, Bhattanathasvami (Ind. Ant., 45, 1916, 189 ff.). Kane and Stein, A. Banerjee-Sastri Rangacarya, Ruddy,
41,
1921,
1
ff.
;
(J.R.A.S., 1921, p. 367) and many others have continued a controversy since the publication of the Bhasa dramas by MM.
Ganapati Sastrl in 1912. this controversy
it
may
If
one has
well-nigh
fill
to
give
a full
a volume and
yefc
account of the contro-
versy cannot yet be regarded as having reached a conclusive It cannot be expected of us to enter into any elaborate stage. detail about this controversy, but
state
some
it
may
be regarded desirable to
of the salient features regarding the' controversy.
occurs in Pratijfla, Avimiiraka and Abhifeka and the 2nd
line occurs
Again, the passage limpativa tamo'ngani varxativdfljanam nabhaty
asatpurusaseveva occurs in C&rudatta
and Bala-carita.
d^ir viphatatam
gat&
II
I
also
in Paflcar&tra.
EDITOR'S NOTES
MM. Ganapati Sastri came across of natakas in the
Manalikkara
711
a bundle of palm-leaf
MSS.
Matham
near Padmanabhapuram, These MSS. proved to be
written in old Malayalam character.
10 rupakas and subsequently an eleventh riipaka was found and later on he found from one Govinda Pisharodi two natakas of a
similar
named Abhiseka-nataka
character
and
Pratima-nataka.
Subsequently to this he found that the Palace Library of Travancore contained a MS. of each of these two books. So altogether these 13 rupakas were discovered which were never seen or heard of before. In this connection it is
well worth noting that there
is
the practice in
the
Malayalam
country from very ancient times of having Sanskrit natakas staged in the temples by the priests in which often kings participated.
In the ordinary natakas generally a nandl verse is given and then the stage-direction (nandyante sutradharah) but in the
newly
found
(nandyante tatah
dramas we have
first
the
stage-direction
and then we have a
pravi6ati sutradharah)
Again, instead of the word prastdvand these mahgala-Sloka natakas use the sthapana. There is, again, no mention of the name of the author and of the work in the sthapana as is usual to .
find in the prastauana of other
In these dramas again
dramas.
drama a sentence announcing the fact that such and such a drama (giving the name) is finished. In the " dramas of Bhasa we have always a prayer to the effect May our there
is at
the end of the
greatest of kings or
Now,
may
our king rule the land."
since the author's
name
is
not given
in
any of the
dramas, two questions naturally arise (1) who are the authors of the dramas, (2) are they all from the one hand, or they Further questions arise as are written by different men ? :
follows
:
Bhasa
is
Assuming, the
for reasons
presently
author of one or two or
there one Bhasa, or an earlier and a later
to
be
all
these dramas,
Bhasa
;
adduced,
that
was
and about some
of these dramas a further question may be raised as to whether there was more than one drama of the same name written by
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
712 different earlier
or
authors,
and a
The
by two authors
same name, an
the
of
later.
earliest
mention
of
Bhasa
made by Kalidasa
is
and Kaviputra.
Saumilla
Malavikagnimitra along with
in
We
and Kaviputra. MM. practically nothing Ganapati Sastrl has urged that these newly found dramas are His view has been the dramas of this pre-Kalidasa Bhasa.
know
Saumilla
of
by most European scholars excepting Dr. Barnett. Dr. Ottoztein seems to be unable to pronounce any judgment while Dr. Barnett, Pisharoti and Ramavatara Pandeya and endorsed
some other scholars hold that these dramas cannot be
of
any
pre-Kalidasa Bhasa, but that they were probably written sometime in the 7th century A.D.
Regarding the supposition written by the
same author,
tlie
The
sentence kirn vaksyatiti
in
MM.
the Gth Act
all
these
Ganapati
limpatwa occurs both
that
verse
that
in
points -out and Bala-carita.
Sastrl
Cdmdatta
hrdayam parisamkitam me occurs
Svapna-nataka and the 4th Act
of the
Abhiseka and a few such
were
dramas
other
points
of
of
the
similarity can be
detected in the plays.
On
the point that Bhasa was the author of the Svapna-vasavadatta, he refers to the verse of Rajasekhara in the- Kavi-vimara
quoted in the Sukti-muktavali and Bhasa has been spoken of as 1 He also refers to being the author of the Svapna-vasavadatta. Kalidasa's allusion
MM.
Bhasa
to
as
well
as
Bana's.
2
From
this
argues that the word sutradharakrtarambhaih means a reference to the stage-direction found in these dramas
G.
Sastrl
and therefore here Bana's reference proves that these dramas were written by Bhasa and we have the 6loka of Rajasekhara ;
that Svapna-vasavadatta belonged to the group of 1
bhdsaniHakacakre'pi cchekaih kyipte parlksitum
svapnavasavadattasya ddhako'bhunna pavakah 2
I
II
sutradhdrakftaiambhair nfyakairbahubhv.mikaih s a pat ak airy a to lebhe bhdso devakulairiva
I
II
Har$a-cafita t Sloka 16,
Bhasa dramas.
713
EDITOR'S NOTES
Now,
this
appear to be conclusive. Kavi-vimarta in the same con-
argument does not
Pisljaroti refers to the verses of the
text and shows that Rajasekhara there attributes Priyadartika and Ratnaoall to Bhasa. Rajasekhara further in the same context says that Sriharsa made Bhasa a sabhd-kavi. Doubts have also been raised by other scholars as to whether the Kavi1
vimar$a this in
is at all a work of In any case, if Rajasekhara or not. Bhasa was the writer of the Svapna-vdsavadattd he flourished Sriharsa's time and cannot be the pre-KSlidasa Bhasa.
dramas are
begun by the sutradhdra. In the ordinary dramas he is already on the stage, recites the ndnditiloka and then begins the drama. In the newly found dramas, Again,
all
really
suggested, that some one else or the sutradhdra himself recites the ndndl without entering the stage and after the ndndlloka has been recited probably from behind the stage the sutradhdra enters and recites a verse in which he introduces it
is
the principal personages and in the course of that also offers a benediction. Under the circumstances, it is difficult to suppose that
Bana's reference sntradhdrakrtdrambhaih
refers
special feature of the introductory stage-direction of the
Moreover Bana seems krtdrarnbhaih
as
to have introduced
well
as
the
to
the
dramas.
word sutradhdra-
bahubhumikaih and
sapatdkaih
for
maintaining his imagery through a double meaning. Had this not been so and had the verse any intention of referring to the would have applied to the terms bahubhumikaih and sapatdkaih and such new features would ha -e been discoverable in the newly published dramas. special
It
features of Bhasa' s
may
drama
this
be worth while to consider a
few other references.
13th or 14th century, Sarvananda, who wrote a commentary on the Amara-kosa called Amarakosa-tikdsarvasva. In this work there is a reference to the Svapna-vdsavadattd and MM. Sastri holds that there is a reference to the the
probably lived in
1
adau bhdsena
racitd ndftkd priyadarfikd
I
tasya ratnaoali mlnam ratnamalcva rdjate See Pisharoti's article on Bhasa Problem, Indian Historical Quarterly, 1925, p. 103, II
90-1343B
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
714
1 marriage of Udayana with Padmavati and Vasavadatta here.
But owing
to considerations discussed in the
well be doubted whether there
MM.
any reference here
is
it
foot-note, to the
jnay
Svapna-
Again, Abhinavagupta also menand tions Svapna-vasavadattd Daridra-carudatta. Here also we have
vdsavadattd of
no reason
G.
to suppose
Sastri.
that the Daridra-cdrudatta
our Cdrudatta-ndtaka and
all
we can know from
the
is
here
same
as
that there
is
were these two natakas, Svapna-vdsavadatta and Daridra-caru-
and we know
nothing of their authorship. Again, Vamana in the 3rd adhydya of the 4th adhikarana of his Kdvydlahkdra-siitravrtti quotes a passage without naming the book or
datta t
really
author and this passage is found in the There are Svapna-vdsavadattd in the 4th Act.
the
printed text of
quotations from Vamana which may be traced Act of the Pratijnd'ijaugandhardyana and the the Gdrudatta-ndtaka.
The passage
1
in the
2
The
two other
also,
in
the
4th
Act of
1st
verse limpatlva tamo'hgani found
Amara-tlkd-sarvasva
as follows
is
:
dharmdrthakdmabhinnah tatrddyo yathd nandayantydni brdhmanabhojanam dvitiyah svadetam dtmasdt kartum udayanasya padmdvatipannayah arthatfhgdraThe passage has been otherwise strtiyah svapnavdsavadatte tasyaiva vdsavadattdpannayah. trividhah fyhgdrah
put by
MM.
G. Sastri in his Introduction to the Svapna-vdsavadattd
:
svadeSamdtmasdt
kartum udayanasya padmdvatipannayah arthafrrhgdrah svapnavdsavadatte tftiyastasyaivavdsavadattdparinayah kdmatirhgdrah. It will be seen that by translating the word svapna vdsavadatte before trtiya the meaning has been absolutely changed. If the former is the as I suppose it is, then b lie work Svapna-vdsavadat La referred to here, would
right reading
describe Vdsavadattd-parinayah and not Padmavati-parinayah as
is
found in the printed text
Svapna-vdsavadatta published by MM. G. Sastri. Granting that MM. G. Sastrl's reading is correct, we have only the evidence here of a Svapna-vdsavadattd in which two
of the
But
marriages are described of Padmavati and Vasavadatta.
marriage
is
described and even then, as a story
out that there
work
of
is
the printed text only one
in
taken from an older source,
may have been two Svapna-vdsavadattds and
it
it
does not rule
does not prove that
Bbasa.
See Pisharoti's article on Bbasa Problem, Indian Historical Quarterly! 1925. 2 6aracclia$dhkagaurena vdtdviddhena bhdmini 1
kdapupalavenedam
sdtirupdtam.
mukham.
mama
II
Vamana, IV. Cf. 4th
3.
Act of the Svapna-vdsavadatta.
yo bhartt^pinjasya kjte na yudhyet
I
Vamana, V.
2,
Cf. 4th Act, Pratijna-yaugandharayana,
it is
a
EDITOR'S NOTES in
the
Dandin occurs But so far as
of
Kavyadara
and the Garudatta. these
prove practically
dramas or
715 also in
these
the
concerned,
nothing regarding the authorship of the works of the same hand. Again, in
as belonging to the Svapna-vasavadatta, in
are
Balacarita
their being the
3rd uddyota of the Dhvanyaloka-locana a
the
the
text..
printed
This 31oka
MM.
the Svapna-vasavadatta but
is
G.
but
passage is quoted it does not occur
only to be found in Sastri himself admits that
not
we cannot imagine any situation in the Svapna-vasavadatta in which such a passage could have occurred. It is rather curious that an authority like
Abhinavagupta
should
make any
error of
Again, in the explanation of the 85th kdrika of the 6th chapter of the Sahitya-darpana a sloka is referred to as having been quoted from the Bala-carita but this is not available
this type.
in the printed text nor can a proper situation be in
it.
But Bharnaha gives
for
imagined
it,
a description of events in his chapter
on Nydya-virodha which tallies with similar descriptions in the Pratijtta-nataka and a passage from it is found repeated in Prakrt in the
But Bhamaha does not mention anything the ndtaka or its author. Again, the same
same ndtaka.
about the
name
of
reference
that
is
found in Sarvananda's Tika-sarvasva,
in the Ndtaka-laksana-ratna-kosa.
we
In the
is
found
Kaumudl-mahotsava
Avimaraka the hero and Kurang! the heroine not probably a reference to the printed drama Avi-
find reference to
but this
is
maraka.
A
14th century commentary on the tfakuntald says that the siitradhdra of the play Garudatta uses Prakrt and this is testified
in the printed
text
of
the
Garudatta.
The
ATafya-
darpana again mentions a drama called the Daridra-cdrudatta but the verse quoted in the Natya-darpana from the Svapnathough we may imagine a situation for it in Svapna-vasavadatta IV. Again, in the Nataka-laksanaratna-kosa a verse is quoted from the Carudatta, the contents of
vasavadatta
is
not found in
Again, yas&YQ, balirbhavati,
it
etc.
Vamana, V.
1.
C/. 1st Act of the Carudatta-nataka.
716
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT UTERATUlUi
which
traceable to the Mrcchakatika but not to the Carudatta-
is
But we have nowhere
nataka.
in these passages
any reference to Bhasa. Again, Saradatanaya has a quotation in his BhavaIt is not available in prakatiana from the Svapna-vasavadatta the printed text but a situation corresponding to it can be imagined in the 5th Act of the
MM.
Ganapati
Sastri
Svapna-vasavadatta.
refers
In an
article
passage from the Srhgavallth century wherein the plot of
to
a
prakata of Bhojadeva of the the 5th Act of the printed text of the Svapna-vasavadatta is delineated, but unfortunately there is no mention here of Bhasa as the author
however,
of the Svapna-vasavadatta.
1
The Natya-darpana,
mentions Daridra-camdatta but not the author, but he
Svapna-vasavadatta as being a work of Bhasa and 2 gives a quotation from it, as we have already said. Now let us sum up the position. There is undoubtedly an
refers
to the
old pre-Kalidasa Bhasa.
whether
Bhasa
is
known
to
Bana-Bhatta,
Bhasa was the pre-Kalidasa Bhasa or
this
if
we
but
believe
the testimony of the Kavi-vimarsaoi Kaja^ekhara, a contemporary of himself, we do not know. Practically none of the verses quoted in different books as belonging to the Svapna-vasavadatta or other
found in the printed text. Of all the dramas only the Svapna-vasavadatta has been mentioned as being the work
texts, are
Bhasa
of
in
the
Natya-darpana,
but the
quotation does
not
with the text of the printed be ok. The quotation from the Nataka-laksana-ratna-kosa also shows that there existed a version
tally
the Svapna-vasavadatta with at least a different sthapana and there were at least some scenes in it which were not found in of
These and other evidences, when put together, the printed text. lead us to conclude that we are prepared to agree that Bhasa had written the Svapna-vasavadatta. But that the present text 1
The Stngara-pra'ka&a (llth century) describes the padmavatlm asvastharn drafturp, svapnavasavadatte
plot
of
raja
the 5th
Act as follows
samudragjhakarp gal ah
:
I
vasavadattdrp ca svapnavad padmavatirahitarp, ca tadavalokya tasyd eva dayane susvapa svapnasabdena ceha svapnayamanaca vdsavadattdm ababha$e asvapne dadara svdpo va svapnadardanarii vd svapnayitar(i va vivakfitam I
I
I
I
2
Natyadarpana, pp. 53 and 84.
'S
should be
identically the
NOTES
same work
is
more than
what
we
can say. It is strange that there should be no reference to the works of Bhasa that are now attributed to him in the printed texts of the T. S. Series.
It is also strange that the
few
quotations that have referred to the Svapna-vasavadatta should not be available in the printed text and that other references to other
like
texts,
should not
the
be traceable
Bala-carita or to
the
the printed text.
Daridracarudatta
may be that when other MSS. are available such quotations may be traceable. In any case, until such MSS. are But I doubt it very much. available
It
we cannot
vdsavadatta
is
say that the printed text of the Svapnathe Svapna-vasavadatta of pre-Kalidasa Bhasa.
Judging the evidences as a whole it seems to be probable that these works probably are texts adapted from the work of an old
Bhasa by castigation and
insertion to suit the
convenience of
the theatrical audience at the temples in Travancore. this reason that
end, the
name
It is
for
though the name
of the drama is given in the not given, for the editor who could not pass it off as a work of Bhasa
of the author
is
pruned the text of Bhasa before an audience which Neither could he advertise for the editing
for the
was made
improvement
knew what Bhasa's works were. his own name as an editor of Bhasa,
for the convenience
of the text.
It
may
in
of
staging and not
this
connection be
pointed out that the so-called Svapna-vasavadatta of the T. S. Series is actually called the Soapna-nataliam and not the Svapnavasavadatta.
The shortening was unnecessary
if
it
was not
from the Svapna-vasavadatta. The fact that the Vru-bhahga is not a tragedy in one Act but a detached intermediate Act of some drama is also quite obvious. intended
to distinguish
it
seems to me, however, that probably all thess dramas, to whosoever their authorship may be due, were edited either by the
It
by the same circle of editors. Much has been made by the different scholars 'regarding the difference between nandijante sutradharah and nandyante pravi-
same
editor or
ati sutradharah.
It should be observed in this
connection that
718
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
there
be three classes of nandl
may
ttoka, written
by the author
of the
drama, as Vikramorvatl. There
3akuntala and in the
nandl which
performance custom and practice.
As
drama
of
was
is left off as
position
The
been finished. as
this
another class of
is
out
left
consideration
of It
nandyante,
not form
did
is
this
for
reason
the nandl
after
i.e.,
any part and was that
has
drama does not bother himself to what may be the nature of this nandl. The third class nandl was an auspicious verse which was recited by a writer of the
siitradhara,
pariparSvika
3akuntala,
we have
which of
this
within stage-directions.
included
is
the
to local
this
be a mahgalafound both in the
may
an auspicious ceremony to be performed for the drama, which varied differently according
is
of
of the actual
a nandl
intended
is
played.
Then
the poet
is
when was
first
sthapaka.
In
the
auspicious
verse
drama
like the
ya srstih
etc.
poet for the auspicious ending no part of the actual drama that is came the nandl, about the nature of which is
The sutradhdra was
silent.
present on the stage
When
the nandl ceremony was performed. started his speech in order to
over, he
a
the
by
This
work.
the
a
or
the
ceremony introduce the drama.
Bhasa plays the sutradhdra is not supposed to I fancy be present when the nandl ceremony was being done. that this may be due to the fact that some articles of the In the
so-called
auspicious
rights
was made and finished
most
the
When
there.
present
this
nandl
he entered the stage
cases the sort
nandl
temple wherein the play was staged, sutradhdra being of a lower caste was not
the
of
tallies
of
verse
as
and
of
auspicious
recited his
prescribed
with the sutradhara's nandl
rights
own
nandl.
was In
for the sutradhara' s
of
the
so-called
does not tally with the nandl of Kalidasa, for a nandl should be either of 12 or 8 syllables ; which condition -
Bhasa plays was not
;
but
it
satisfied in a
sragdhard or a
ardula-vikridita metre.
Regarding the date of Bhasa, the argument of MM. Ganapati Sastri based on the priority of Bhamaha to Kalidasa
and Bhamaha' s possible reference to the story contained
in
EDITOR'S NOTES
719
seems to be extremely improbable. His statement that Bhamaha was prior to Gunadhya is also wholly
Bhasa's dramas,
Our reasons
unbelievable.
consulted in our
for
this
contention
Bhamaha's
treatment of
may
be
well
date in the Chapter
on Alanikdra
and our note on Gunadhya. But it cannot be gainsaid that Bhasa was already a celebrated and old writer in the time of Kalidasa, for Kalidasa refers to
ya&dh
(of
(nava)
We
well-spread
writer,
as
prathita-
and contrasts himself as a new work is regarded as old (purana).
celebrity)
while Bhasa' s
can, therefore,
him
him
place
safely
There
centuries before Kalidasa.
is
at
two
least
no reference
to
three
to
Bhasa
in
any This documents. Bhasa thus be pre-Kalidasa pre-Kalidasa may believed to have lived in the 3rd century B.C. In the Pratimandtaka (5th Act) a reference is made to a Mdnavlya-Dharrnasdstra, a Bdrhaspatya-ArthaSdstra, a Nydyasdstra
Avimaraka
Medhatithi and a
But nothing can be made out
Prdcetasa-$rdddhakalpa.
The Yogaastra and
of
of
it.
the ArLhasdstra have been referred to in the
But nothing Pratijfid-yaugandhardyana. important can be made out of this for the Yoga$dstra, the Arthasdstra
and the
and the Mdnavlya-Dharmadstra are certainly older than
We
Bhasa.
do
know
not
of
any Nydyasdstra by Medhatithi. In language, the style of Bhasa seems to stand between Kalidasa and A^vaghosa. The Prakrt also is older than that used in the
pLice
Bhasa
century A.D.
Most
On
dramas.
classical
in
the
3rd
this
century
evidence, or
the
Winternitz half
first
would
of the 4th
1
of
the
Krsna and Rama
stories
legends
are
drawn from the
Mahdbharata.
also play their part in the Bdla-carita
and the dramas Pratimd-ndtaka and Abhiseka-ndtaka.
The
story
and Pratijm-yaugandhardyana are drawn from Gunadhya's Brhat-kathd and probably also that of Avimaraka and Daridra-carudatta.
of
the Svapna-ndtaka
1
who
See Lesny, Z.D.M.G., 1917,
believes
Bhaaa
to
have lived
Between 100 and 200 A.D.
affeer
p.
203
ff.,
200 A.D.
sec also Lindeuau,
Bhasa Studien,
p.
14
ff.,
ASvaghosa and Bharata probably lived
720
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
The
of
plays
different people.
Bhasa have been
We
1
may
classified
differently
thus divide them as follows
:
(i)
or (ii) Fiction Udayana plays Svapna and Pratijna Avimdraka and Cdrwdatta; (Hi) the Mahdbharata plays
original
;
plays
the Urubhahga, Madhyama-vydyoga; (iv) Pratimd and Abhiseka altogether 13 plays.
Some
South Indian plays,
of the
e.g
the
,
etc.
Kali) ana-sang andhika,
2
peculiarity.
But the plays
of
Rdmdyana
Matta-vilasa,
and the southern
Tapatl-samvarana, 3aknntala and the Nagananda,
manuscripts of the structural
plays
Duta-ghatotkaca, Duta-vdkya, Karnabhdra, Panca-
Bdlacarita, rtitra,
by the
display
some
Bhasa show
some
(i) they begin with the same stage-. sutradhdra recites only one mahgala-sloka direction. (ii) The and in some of the dramas the dramatic persons are introduced
special structural peculiarity
:
8
in the
mahgala-sloka.*
Karnabhara we have
Excepting
(Hi)
The name of the book is (v) given in the conclusion but the author's name 'is absent, Excepting some of the dramas, they all begin in the sthdpand with the same kind of phraseology /' (in) The epilogues are sthdpand instead of prastdvand.
nearly identical.
(iv)
6
The dramas
of
Bhasa not only ignored the
Ndtya-dstra in introducing death and stage,
but they also used
the
violent
of address 1
p.
from a wife
to
her
husband.
Winternitz, O.Z. IX, followed by Devadhara, Plays,
16; Jahagirdar,
LA
,
1931, pp.
4244; Svarupa,
as
the
a term of
generally the term The dramatic devices is
etc.
Lindenau, Bhasa Studien,
Vision. Introduction, p. 10.
2
See Bhasa .4 Study, Pasalker, 1940. They khalu mayi vijfldpanavyagro abda iva ruyate. 3
action on
word drya-putra
address from a servant, whereas arya-putra
rules of the
all
begin with the
lines
:
aye kinnu
nandyante tatah pravitati siitradharah. Pratijfla, Paficardtra and Pratima.
*
Svapna,
5
evam aryamtirdn vijftapayami. aye kinnu khalu mayi vijnapanavyagre &abda iva ahga pafyami. The Pratt; na t Cdrudatta Avimdraka and Pratimd use a different t
Sruyate.
t
form. 6
They use
the verse
:
imarn sdgaraparyantdm himavad-vindhya-kundaldm
mahtmekdta^atrdhkdyn rdjasimhah pratastu nah (Jarndatta and Duta-ghatotkaca have no epilogues.
U
\
EDITOR'S NOTES are
similar
also
most
in
of
the plays
721 such
;
as, the
constant
becourse to
akafabhasitam, description of battles, duels, etc. The entrance of persons of high ranks preceded by the words
communication
who
a chamberlain,
by
is
The
ussaraha.
ussaraha, events
of
the
intervening
addresses the female door-keeper
somewhat the same phraseology. The door-keeper is often addressed with the same phraseology, such as nivedyatam, nivedyatam. The dramatic characters often kno# what is in
of (ii)
ideas,
such
Narada
the
(i)
as,
(iv)
(v)
best
made
Arjuna's exploits
same terms
also
often
weapon
notice the
in
same kind
of a hero is his
described as inciting quarrels.
is
described as having been gods,
We
1
passing in others' minds.
hand
(Hi) Dhrtarastra
;
is
blind through the jealousy of the with the Kirata is described in the
Dfda-vakya,
Duta-ghatotkaca and
Um-bhdhga
Inference of the existence of cities from the watering of trees.
The idea that kings live in their sacrifices. The dramatic device of patakasthana is used
(vi)
Act
II,
Abhiseka
Pratima, Act Again, (Prati.,
V, Avimaraka, Act
II,
in Pratijna,
Pancaratra, Act
I,
I.
forms of irony and dramatic situations 107) and Abhiseka, II. 18 (p. 27), in Bala.
similar
V. 20
(p.
The same (p. 61) and Panca. (p. 87) are sometimes introduced. The use of expressions are sometimes used in different dramas.
common imagery similar dramatic
of
a
peculiar
scenes
and
character,
even the
the introduction of
use of
similar
unique and vocabulary and the recurrence of the same verses and long prose passages, grammatical solecisms and Prakrt archaisms all go to prove that whatever may have been the
expressions
original
hand.
of
these
plays,
they
all
were the products of the same
2
But howsoever Professor Pusalker and others may try to explain the absence of the verses quoted from Bhasa by other writers in the printed T. S. texts by inventing situations 1
See Bhasa t Pusalker, p.
2
See Bhasa bv Pusalker for details.
8.
where
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
722
might have occurred and by attributing everything to error, the facts remain that these are not found in the'
their verses clerical
T. S. texts^ so even though we are texts originally belonged to the
they suffered
much
alteration
willing to believe that the
author,
it
cannot be denied that
and nothing
is
settled
about the
point that they were written by a pre-Kalidasa Bhasa.
Bana
a
to
refers
Bhasa and
it
Now
reference to a pre-Kalidasa Bhasa.
possible that this
is
is
a
pataka means ahka and
1
and bhumika means composition and change of dress. Bhasa attained fame Thus the verse may be translated thus banner
:
by his introduction of dramas with the stage manager (carpenter) and with many actors and its division in many acts like the houses of gods which are
commenced with
the carpenter's line
and have many floors and banners. In my opinion this suggests that Bhasa was the first to start the classical drama as starting with a Sutradhara and & compound of many players in diverse This would make Bhasa a very old dress and also of many acts. writer who according to Bana gave the structure and form to the
But yet such great fame. Bhasa was the writer of the But we are prepared to agree they now stand.
drama and therefore we have no evidence that
classical
T. S. S. plays, as that though there
changes,
Bhasa.
attained
this
may have been
castigations,
modifications and
on the whole they reveal the composition of the old Since we have placed Kalidasa in the 1st century B.C.
and since we
that
find
there
no A6okan influence of the
is
we also find the great prevalence the time, and for sundry other reasons as
prohibition of sacrifices and since of
image-worship
at
sutradharakftftrambhair na^akairbahubltumikaih
sapatakairyato lebhe bhdso devakulairiva
I
II
Harsa-carita.
pataka vaijayantyarp ca saubhagye'nke dhvaje'pi ca Vitva
bhtimikaracanaydm syad vetantaraparigrahe Medtni
Kulam janapade grhe
feDITOR'S
NOTES
7 23 k
the style and the like, our conjecture is that he was probably a writer of the Mauryya times. It seems also probable that he lived at a time
up
when
the Mahabharata tales had not been worked
The
in the present form.
characterisation of
Duryyodhana and
back to the Pandavas half the kingdom are such radical changes of the story of Mahabharata that no writer could have introduced those tales without giving a rude shock his consent in giving
to
public
at a
feelings
time
when the Mahabharata had been
His tendency to write different present form. types of dramas also supports the view that he was writing at a time when these various forms^f drama were gradually evolving
codified
in
the
out.
In the Duta-kavya a scene from the Udyoga-parva
Bhlsma was being appointed
When
as the general.
is
with a message of conciliation and peace, Duryyodhana
him by looking pulling of Draupadf s
tries
to
at a picture
portraying the scene of the hair and clothes and has a wordy converAfter this he tries to arrest him but Krsna
insult
sation with him.
shows his cosmic form and Duryyodhana weapons, Sudarsana,
away.
depicted.
Krsna comes
Dhrtarastra
away. Krsna's appear but finding Krsna pacified, go The at his feet and mollifies him.
etc., falls
flies
and the appearance of Krsna's weapons are new In the Mahd,modifications on the story of the Mahabharata. portrait scene
bharata, Dhrfcarastra
is
the
Emperor but
here
Duryyodhana
is
the
real Emperor mighty warrior, whereas in the MahaIt is either a vyayoga or a bharata he is only a wicked man.
as well as a
vithi.
KARNA-BHIRA
Kama
to
was appointed general after Drona. drive the chariot where Arjuna was fighting.
for a
moment by
Pandavas and
the
memory
of
his
He He
asked Salya is held back
relationship
with
the
Salya the story of how he received new Para^urama. In the meanwhile, Indra in the
tells
weapons from form of a Brahmin asked
for his natural
arraour
which he gives
724
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT IlTERATOkE
away
to
him
Vimala, a
in
Sakti,
the
of
spite
warning
of
Kama
asks
Kama.
to
Indra sends
Salya.
Salja
to drag the
chariot to the battle-field.
In the Epic, the story of the giving away of the natural armour happens earlier, while the Pandavas were in the forest.
The
introduction of the episode in the midst of the work makes Kama appear nobler. Salya is more sympathetic to Kama than in the Epic.
It is a vydijoga
and
also
an instance of utsrstihdhha.
DUTA-GHATOTKACA In this play Ghatotkaca is represented as going to Dhrtarastra on the death of Abhimanyu, to tell him that this foul
deed will be avenged. Dhrtarastra himself was quite angry with his sons and Jayadratha for the commission of the act and had assured them that nothing would save them from the arrows of The embassy of Ghatotkaca is a new introduction, the Pandavas.
which does not occur
in the Epic.
URU-BHANGA Whereas
Epic the family of Duryyodhana is far away from the battle-field, in this drama after the club-fight between in the
Bhima and Duryyodhana, when Duryyodhana was
struck in
the
thigh against the rules of fight, the poet utilises the opportunity of demonstrating Duryyodhana's softer sentiments towards his father, wife
and
child.
shows great patience dissuade Balarama and Agvatthama also
Duryyodhana
and forbearance in trying to from avenging his death by confesses that he has done
killing
more
to
ill
the
the
Pandavas.
He
also
Pandavas than they
had done to him. It is
an utsrstikahka.
MADHYAMA-VYIYOGA It is a
meeting
of
story
which
is
wholly invented.
Bhima and Ghatotkaca
;
It
depicts
the
the latter was out for secur-
725
EDITOR* S NOTES
ing a victim lor his mother and the three sons of a Brahmin were all vying with one another for being made a victim. The middle
one was chosen but
Ghatotkaca was calling for him as
as
madhyama, madhyama, Bhima appeared on
the scene.
Bhima
Ghatotkaca was able to take him by Bhima then accompanied Ghatotkaca
offers himself as a victim if
force, in to
which he
fails.
Hidimba who recognised him.
this play
Iii
Duryyodhana performed
a sacrifice
with
Drona
Drona requests Duryyodhana to settle with the Pandavas by giving them half the Empire and Duryyodhana agrees if any news of the Pandavas
as the priest
and as the daksina
of
the
sacrifice
would be got within five days. This being fulfilled, Duryyodhana agrees to part with half the kingdom in favour of the Pandavas.
We
have nowhere in the Epic the performance of the sacrifice, agreement with Drona and the final parting of half the kingdom to the Pandavas, which would have made the Kuruksetra battle impossible.
It is a
samavakara.
ABHITCKA
The scene opens
in Kiskindhyfi
and the agreement between
Sugrlva and Rama to help each other. Sugiiva challenges Bali to fight but when he is worsted in the fight, Rama kills him with After the death of
an arrow.
There
is
much
deviation
here
anointed king. description in the
Sugrlva
Bali,
from
the
is
Ramayana. \
BlLA-CARITA It
deals with
elements in
we
it
the
early
which does not
life
tally
of Krsna.
There are some
with the description of Krsna
the
Though dancing of the Gopinis is" of the find amorous scenes described in do not any mentioned, we The girl that is killed the Bhagavata or the Brahma-vaivartta.
as
find elsewhere.
726
HISTORY
SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Ol?
by Kamsa has been given birth killed
Kamsa, the
old king
After Krsna had
Devakl.
to by
Ugrasena was released from prison
and was crowned.
AVIMIRAKA
The
Avimaraka seems to have been taken either from the Brhat-katha or from some floating stories of the time which were taken up by the Brhat-katha yet the story, as it story of the
;
is
appears,
slightly
sarit-sagara.
Kurangi,
It
is
different
a
long
daughter of a
from that found in the KathaIt
story.
king,
refers to
with Avirnaraka,
a prince in disguise in clandestine nataka.
ways.
It
is
the
union of
who was a
also
full-fledged
PRATIMA
The Pratima which story of the
is
a full-fledged nataka,
Ramaydna, with many
plot and as regards the depicting
deviations,
is
based on the
both as
regards
of characters.
PRATIJNA-YAUGANDIIARAYANA It is a story
from the Brhat-kathd with deviations.
In this
play king Pradyota, willing to give his daughter Vasavadatta in marriage to Vatsiraja, took him by a ruse and carried him off to his country.
a cunning
There Vatsaraja
device
fell
in love with Vasavadatta.
By
of the minister
Yaugandharayana, Vatsaraja succeeded in eloping with Vasavadatta. It has been regarded by some as a prakarana and by others as a natika and by others as an ihamrga.
SVAPNA-VA S A VAD ATTA
Udayana Vatsaraja lost a part of his kingdom by the invasion of Aruni. The minister Yaugandharayana conceived of the plan of
making Udayana marry the daughter
of the
king of
EDITOR'S NOTES
727
Magadha in order to make an ally of him for restoring the kingdom conquered by Aruni. Udayana's wife Vasavadatta, agrees with the plan fixed by Yaugandharayaria and arrives at Rajagrha in an arama, posing herself as a sister of Yaugandharayana. Padinavati, the daughter of the Magadha king, comes there and
meets Vasavadatta in disguise. PadmavatI agrees to the request of Yaugandharayana to keep with her Vasavadatta. A rumour is
afloat that there is a great
Lavanaka
at
fire
which both
in
Vasavadatta desYaugandharayana and Vasavadatta perished A betrothal of cribes to PadmavatI the beauty of Udayana. .
PadmavatI with Udayana is arranged. The marriage of Udayana takes place. But the king Udayana, though he had heard of the of death Vasavadatta in the Lavanaka fire and though he had married Padraavati, was still in very much grief for her. In one scene Udayana was asleep on bed and Vasavadatta, mistaking him to be PadmavatI sleeps beside him. But the king, in his
dream
leaves
that
forces
Vasavadatta and recognises Vasavadatta. Udayana then with the combined hastily. for
kingdom. had sent him a
PadmavatI recognises in
the
disguise
of
him and
to
belonged
his
regains vatI A
out
calls
But she
the
of
Magadha, His mother-in-law the Queen ArigaraVasavadatta. picture of Udayana and
in
the
portrait
with
Vasavadatta
king
Avantika,
At
her.
who
was
this
time
Brahmin, who was Yaugandharayana in disguise, announced and Vasavadatta is brought in and when her veil removed, she is recognised and Padmavati pays her homage
a
is
is
to
Vasavadatta.
CiRUDATTA
No of
the
precise story.
Mrcchakatika.
1
For materials
reference
may
information It
is
very
is
available regarding the
closely
allied
to
the
story
source of
the
1
It is a
prakarana.
Bhasa and a masterly treatment A Study, by A. D. Pusalker.
io the study of
be made to
Bhasa
of the subject in detail
728
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
KlLIDASA
Much
date of Kalidasa.
a Brahmin,
of
West about
has been written in the East and the 1
There
is
but early
the
a story that Kalidasa was the son in life he was a cowherd boy. He,
however, succeeded in marrying a princess and being shamed by her, he adored the goddess Kali through whose grace he became 2 a great scholar and poet. Hence his name was Kalidasa.
Another Ceylonese tradition makes him a contemporary of the 3 Hoernle says that poet Kumaradasa of the 6th century A.D. Kalidasa was like a hook to which
many
stories
hanged, although
4
they have no historical validity. All that we may learn from Kalidasa's
own works
is
that
he was probably devoted to Siva. He also adores Visnu as the incarnation of Brahman and he praises Brahman as the original cause of the
1
world.
He
seems to have been quite familiar
See G. Huth, Die Zeit des Kdlidasa, Diss
,
Berlin,
1890 and B. Liebich, Indo-
germanisclie Forschungen, 1912-18, p. 198 ff. 2 See TaranStha's Geschichte des Buddhismus, translated by A. Schiefner,
R. Vasudeva TulKi, Indian Antiquary^ 1878, p.
115
ff;
p.
76
ff;
M.T. Narasirnhiengar, Indian
Antiquary, 1910, p. 236. 3 See T. W. Rhys Davids and C. Beiidall, J.H.A.S., 1888,
W.
to
p.
148
ff.,
and
p.
440;
und Sprache der Singhalesen (Grundriss 1, 10), p. 3 ff. H. M. Vidyfina, J.A.S.B., 1893, p. 212 ff J. B. Seueviratne, The Life of Kalidas, Colombo, 1901. bbu? The life of Kalidasa baa been dramatised in Ceylon. The life of Kalidaaa is found in later Geiger, Literatur
;
;
works he
is
Bhoja-prabandha and
like the
is
current in the oral tradition of the pundits, wherein
said to have been at first a very foolish
which he was
who would
sitting.
A
princess had
made
man who was
cutting the branch of the tree on
the wager that
she would marry the scholar
some of them, Many wanting to take their revenge, put forth Kalidasa as their teacher who was so wise thit he remained silent. By a clever ruse they convinced tha princess of the scholarship of the She kicked him speechless man. The laty discovered her mistake in her bridal night.
The
He
then adored Saras vati and became a great poet and went to see the prinasti ka$cid vag-viJejah. princess asked him what he wanted. He replied
out of her bed. cess.
To immortalise his (Kumar a-sambhava], *
scholars were defeated by her and
defeat her in discussion.
first
speech with the princess he wrote three works beginning with asti
kafoit (Megha-duta)
Grierson and Hoernle, J.A.R.S
,
and vak (Raghu-vamta). also see Die Anekdoten ff, and 699 ff
1906, p. 692
;
uber Kaiiddsa in Ballala's Bhoja-prabandha by Th. Pa vie, J. A. 1854, pp. 386-431 S. M. Natesa Sastri, Ind Ant., 18, p. 40 ff. ; see also Oeschichten wie sie die Pandits von Ujjain noch Jieute erztihlen by Jackson, J.A.O.S., 1901, p. 831 ff. ;
EDITOR'S NOTES the
doctrine
have the
of
geography
over
seems
to
and was well-acquainted with
India
and
India
of
He
1 Samkhya and Yoga.
Vedanta,
much
travelled
729*
outside
He
India.
shows
his.
with the geography of India in his Megha-duta seems that he had carefully observed the actual progress of the monsoon in India. He was a well-known scholar and acquaintance
and
it
often loved to depict the old
He
dharma.
living
the
varnarama-
not only acquainted with the science of poetry dramaturgy but has sufficient knowledge of the pictorial art
and
is
He was
as well.
well-versed in
all
nomy and Grammar, as well as frequently in
and refers
to
many
and uses many
sabddlahkara called yamaka alankdras in it. 8 He had also, as is
been
sufficient
From
singing and dancing.
has
the sciences including Astro2 Erotics and Polity. He
in
places uses the
evident from the Vikramorvati,
it
of
picture
his
that his
suggested
of
knowledge
special
music,
partiality to Ujjayini
home was probably
in Ujjayini.
Vikramorvai has an allusion,, it has been suggested, Vikramaditya, in whose court he might 4 Tradition says that he was one of the nine jewels have lived,
The
title of
the
drama, to
5
of VikramaditycT/s court, the others being Vararuci, Dhanvantari,
Ksapanaka, Amarasimha, Sariku, Vetala-bhatta, Ghatakarpara But this traditional account seems to and Varaha-mihira. See Harris, A n Investigat ion into some of Kaltdasa'a Views, Evanbville, Indiana, 1884 ;M.T. Narasimhi Ivengar, Kdlidasa's Religion and Philosophy Indian Antiquary, 1
t
1910, p. 236 2
ff
also Krisiiamacharya, p. 78
;
See Harapiasada Sastrf, J.B.O.R
ff .
S.,
1916. p.
180.
In his comparisons we find
grammatical terms Hillebrandt, Kalidasa, p. 143 see also p. 20 ff. J N. G. Mazumdar's article in Indian Antiquary, 1918, p. 95; Tucci, R.S.O., 1923, p. 9 ff., A. H. Shah, Kautilya and Kahdasa, in O.J.M.S., Vol. X No. 4 and Vol XI, 1-3. p. 22 ff allusions to technical
;
;
;
p,
35
3
See Hillebrandt, Kaliddsa,
4
See
Bhau Daji
p.
107
ff.
Intioduction
in Nandargikar's
to his edition
of the
Raghu-vamta,
ff.
5
Haraprasad Sastrl,
that KSUdasa's
home was
in
1, 1915, p. 197 ff., thought that it could be proved Pandit Lachaldbar in his article, The Birth-Place
J.B.O.R.S
in Malva.
of Ktlidasa (Delhi University publication
,
No.
I,
1926) says that his
home waa
in
Kashmir.
the Vaidarbhl It is also supposed by many that he was born in Vidarbha because he wrote in J.R G. A.S-, 1926, F. Peterson, 264; BtylejN. G. Mazumder, Indian Antiquary, 1918, p. p. 725.
92
Even Bengal has been 1343B
olai-ned by
some
to have been the birth-place of the poet.
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
730 have
little
historical value.
1
Further,
the astronomer Varaha-
mihira lived probably in the first half of the 6th century. No king at his time had the title of Vikramaditya. The style of Kalidasa as well as his astronomical views are older than those of Varaha-mihira.
2
So
also Dhanvantari,
medical
the author of a
Amarasimha, and be has in his glossary utilised Kalidasa. Ksapanaka was a lexicographer. He wrote a work called the Anekartha-kosa, which is quoted in the Guna-
glossary, is older than 8
ratna-mahodadhi. karpara-kavya.
It
Ghatakarpara wrote a kavya called the Ghatahas commentaries, such as^ those by Valdya-
natha, Yindhye^varlprasada, Taracandra, Govardhana, Ku^alakavi and Abhinavagupta, the last-named one being called the Vararuci is known as a grammarian. Ghatakarpara-kulaka-vrtti.
About 22 books are ascribed to him of which 13 are works on grammar, one on lexicon, the Prakrt Grammar, Prakrlaprakafa, one on medicine, one on raja-niti and two kavyas called the Rakasa-kavya and Vararuci-vakya-kavya and other works.
But
doubtful whether
it is
all
1
It
called
has been sometimes erroneously asserted that Kalidasa had written an astrological which was probally written in the 16th century A.D. see A. Weber,
Z.D.M.G., 1868,
A
p.
708
;
ff.
reference to the nava-ratna is found as early as 948 A.D. in an Inscription in
The
Inscription is
Wilmot and it is
who wrote
Sankuka,
text Jyotirvidabharana
Gaya.
We know
these were written by him;
know one
nothing of Sanku, but we
known.
however
a translation of
it
lost
and
it is
by Charles Wilkins (Asiatic Researches, 1806,
Winternitz says that
Buddha-
only on the evidence of a doubtful copy
Wilmot was a victim
p.
to erroneous belief.
284
ff.)
of
that
See also A.
Holtzmann, Ober den griechischen Ursprung des indischenTierkreises, Karlsruhe, 1841,18 ft"., See also Zachariae, Die indischen Worterbttcher, p. 18 f Fleet, Indian Antiquary, p. 27 ff. ;
1901, p. 3
f.
8
Jacobi, Z.
8
Zachariae, Beitrdge zur indischen
D. M. G., 1876,
p.
304
ff.
Lexibographie, Berlin, 1B83, p. 37. Dhanvantari wrote a Nighanfa called the Dhanvantarinighanta. Other works ascribed to him are :
Ou$adha-prayoga, Kala-jflana, Cikitsa-tattva-vijmna,
Cikitsa-dtpika,
Cikitsa-sara
,
Bala-
cikitsa, Yoga-cintamani, Yoga-dipika, Vidya-prakaSa-cikitsa* Varha-mihira in his Paflcosiddhantika takes 506 A. D. as the epoch year of his calculations. Many works of astronomy
are attributed to him, such
as, B?hat-sainhita, Arutha-jataka, Kalu-cahra, Kriydkairavacandrikd, Jdtaka-kaldnidhi, Jdtaka-sara or Laghu-jataka, Daivajna-vallabha, Paflca-siddh&n* tika,
Pratna-candrika,
V^a-kalika,
Brhat-jdtaka,
Mayura-citrQka,
MfuhMa-grantha,
EDITOR'S NOTES
and
work
a
731
on
alamkara and also a on Bharata's We know nothing of commentary Natya-sastra. Vetalabhatta. Amarasimha was undoubtedly the celebrated
Bhuvanabhyudaya
Amara-kosa or Namalihganutasana. than 37 commentaries, some of which have been
writer of the lexicon called It
had no
less
published and the others are also reputed to be a
tioned
in
how many but many KaKdasa
available in
grammarian and
as
Bopadeva's Kavikalpadruma.
It
the
present
lived in the court of
day
of
believe
say
Vikramaditya, that
at
least
who
Vikramaditya of UjjayinI,
supposed to have started the Vikrama era over the Sakas in the year 58 B. C.
is
men-
difficult to
is
of the nine jewels lived in the court
scholars of
He
manuscripts. such he has been
is
his victory
to signalise
1
There has been a great
Some have 2nd century B.C. 2
Kalidasa. or
controversy regarding
tried to prove that If it could be
the
date of
he belonged to the 1st
proved that Asvaghoa in
Saundardnanda or the Buddha-carita borrowed from Kalidasa, 3 the contention could be proved. But on this point, no infallible his
judgment can be made, though there are evident between the writings of the two authors.
similarities
Skandagupta assumed the title of Vikramaditya as evidenced by numismatic proofs. Chandragupta Chandragupta II and
See Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p 532 ff, 571, 581 (E. J. Rapson) Kielhorn, Indian Antiquary, 1890, p. 316, had for the first time demonstrated that tha Vikraina era waa identical with the Ma lava era. 1
;
*
-article
K. G. Sankara, and K. M. Shembavnekar and Dblrendranath Mukerji in the latter 's (Daulatpur College Magazine, 1934), fried to prove in an uncon-
on the Gupta era
manner
vincing
that the
Gupta
era
was
that Kalidasa lived in the 1st century
Allahabad
is
identical with
B. C.
a scene of a hermitage and
it
A
belongs to the
that the beautiful scene is that of the hermitage
says that
it
Jdtakas.
Sec. J.
XXIX, to prove 3
81
resembles the
R. A.
S. t
reliefs
of
Vikrama
terracotta
of the
era and
thereby to prove
medallion found in
Sunga
Bhita
near
been suggested But Sir John Marshall
period. It has
Sakuntala.
Sanchi and probably represents a
scene from
the
Cambridge History, Vol. I, p. 643, Plate No. Chatterjee's article, The Date of Kalidasa, when he tries
1911, p. 138;
also K$etresh Cli. an earlier date of Kalidasa. ;
Opinions are available on both
ASvaghosa was the borrower, holds the opposite view.
MM.
sides.
While Kgetresh Ch. Chattcrjee holds that
Haraprasada
Sastri,
in J, B. 0. R. S.,
1916, p.
186,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURES II had his capital in Ujjayini. Winternitz, following Bloch, thinks that the Raghuvanita contains allusions to Chandra-
many
gupta
II.
The
1
present writer does not think that there
that Kalidasa lived
Raghuvamta
in
any evidence
is
a
Ujjayinl long time or contains any allusion to Chandragupta II. for
the
that
The
poet Kalidasa, of course, is very reverential to Valmiki, but he does not say of him as a mythical seer of antiquity as living in another
yuga, as Winternitz says.
Jacobi
supposed to have demons-
is
trated that
certain astrological data in Kalidasa's epics reveal an acquaintance with Greek astrology and that the stage of Greek as
astrology
which
works
the
in
represented
correspond to that
Indian
of
evidenced by about the middle of the 4th century A. D. 2 is
shown
has
Biihler
Sun temple
that the author of an inscription in the
astrologers
Pirmicus Meternus
Mandasor, one called Vatsabhatti, had not only imitated the style of Kalidasa but he actually borrowed some of Kalidasa's poems as the model
of his
own
verses.
3
If this is correct,
Kalidasa
and attained fame before the year 473 A. D. writer is
must have
But
as
lived
the present
unable to weigh the astronomical
is
evidence of Jacobi, he of Kalidasa's date to 350 A. D.
unable to place the other limit
But the argument if
at
we can
for his date
believe that
he
being 375 A. D. gains in strength in
lived
the
court
of
Yikramaditya was Vikramaditya Chandragupta II. On this Our conclusion therefore point we have no conclusive evidence.
and that
is
this
Kalidasa Jived pretty
that
century A.D. I
I
now wish
hope,
principle
to
adduce
may throw some of
inheritance
Thomas has *
long before the middle of the 6th
was, we are unable to decide. an altogether new point, which
it
light
in
T. Bloch, Z. D. M. G., 1908,
1
on the date of Kalidasa.
The
Kautilya's Arthafastra differs in a
p.
G71
ff.
In
J.
R. A.
8.,
1909,
p.
740
ff
,
F.
W.
ff.
and
tried to contradict this idea.
Monatsberichte der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften 1873, p. 802 ff.
p,
654
M. G.1876,
Z. D.
3
p,
But how long
251
Die indischen Inschrilten, ff.
p.
18
ff.
and 24
f.
;
also Kielhorn,
N. G. G. W,, 1890,
EDITORS NOTES
33
very significant
manner from those
and others.
Kautilya's Arthadstra, in the chapter on the sons share the father's property. In those
In
Daya-vibhaga, cases
go
that are found in Yajiiavalkya
which any of the sons may be dead,
in
to his direct descendants
man
has no
up
to the
his share
4th generation
;
would
but when
the property would go to the brothers, provided they are living together, as also the daughters. Under certain conditions the nephews also may share, but there is
a
no provision
for the
the
relations,
sons of
a
of
property
inheritors
brothers and
none
son,
person
limited
being
brothers.
In
going
to
distant
to
sons, daughters, the case of those who have
these, the property should go to the king after providing for the maintenance of the wife and the funeral ceremony of of
the deceased excepting in the case of in
Manu
the
or
a
Vedic Brahmin.
Yajiiavalkya smrtis, there
is
1
Now
no such law and
the property of a person may go to his wife and other relations. In the Yajiiavalkya, in the absence of the son or sons the
property the wife 1
would go is
first
not living.
2
to
the
Nowhere
wife and then to daughters, if in the Hindu legal literature
addyakaqt raja haret strl-vrtti-preta-kdryavaryam,
traividyebhyah prayacchet. 8
anyatra srotriya-dravydt,
Artha-tdstra, 111.5.
patni-duhttarascaiva pitarou bhrdtarastathd
I
tatsuta gotrajd bandhu-sisya-sabrahmacdrinah
esdmabhdve purva*ya dhanabhdguttarottarah
II
I
svarydtasya hyaputiasya sarvavarneovayam vidhth Ydjfiavalkya, II.
Mitdk$ara
in.
supporting this view quotes
II
8. 135, 136.
Vfddhamanu
aputrd tiayanaw bhartuh pdlayanti vrate sthitd patnyeva dadydt tatpindairikrtsnatnamsar^i labhetaca I
II
Vjrddhavifgu aaya
aputradhana^i patnyabhiydmi.
Katyayana says patni patyurdhanahari.
Bfhaspati also aays asutasya pramitasya patni tadbhdgaharini.
Manu
says
anapatyasya putrasya mdtd ddyamavdpnuydt
\
mdtaryapt ca vrttaydip piturmatd hareddhanam
Maim
further says pitd haredaputrasya riktharp bhrdtara eva vd
(
II
(IX,
tat
734
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
do we find that there to
is
for the property of a
any provision
the
to
person go king except in those extreme cases where not only no relatives are available but not even a disciple or a class-fellow of the and person (tisya sabrahmacariri) is available.
1
From
a study
of
the
older
legal
treatises
it
appears
that
quite against the spirit of Hindu law that property should be allowed to go to the king. It is only when no relations of desit is
any and class-fellows, are available that the king. In Kautilya's Arthasastra only
cription, not even disciples
property should go to do we find that in the absence of a dayada, property should go to the king but the number of ddyadas or inheritors is extremely limited, as
we have shown above.
This was
probably due to the fact that the Mauryas were greedy and needed wealth and therefore changed the older Hindu laws in their own interest, so
number
that by restricting the
for
transmission
to
inheritors, the state
and by providing king in the absence of such limited could acquire enormous wealth from rich of inheritors
the
merchants and others. of
in
That the Mauryas had the monopoly making images for being sold, shows that they were often want of money and took to such means as selling images
for
money which
is
quite
undignified for a state.
2
It is quite
with such a behaviour of the Mauryas with regard to collection of money by any means whatsoever that they should consistent
revise
the old
secure as
number
much
Hindu law
in
their
favour
so
that they could
property of the people as possible by restricting the and by debarring the wife from inheriting the
of inheritors
property
of the husband.
Now
in the 6th Act of the $akuntala,
the minister sends a letter in which
named Dhanavrddhi had
died
it is
stated that a
merchant
in an accident on the sea leaving
1
Thus Maou (IX, 189) says :-
2
See Panini's rule Jivikarthe capanye and the Bhasya on
itaresarp tu varqandrn, sarvabhave harennrpah
I
it
apanye ityucyate tatredam na siddhali ifivah skandah visdkhah iti. him karanam. mauryaih hirony&rlhibhih arccah prakalpitah. bhavettasu na sydt yastu* etah sarpprati su bhaviyati
II
EDITOR'S NOTES
no child and he had millions
of gold
735 and suggesting
also that
under the circumstances this gold should go to the state. The king, Dusyanta, says that enquiry should be made if he had any among his wives who was pregnant. The Pratihan replies that
one of his whes
is
in a state of
pregnancy and the king
orders that the gold of the merchant should
womb. who was in own days,
the
1
This would lead all
to
go
the
child
in
to the supposition that Kalidasa
probability referring to a law prevalent in his at a time when the Maurya laws of inheritance
lived
were in force even with Hindu kings. so obvious that
we
Kalidasa
later
at
a
think that
This conclusion seems
we may
it
He may
of the Surigas.
period
on
rely
and place have been
came shortly after him. there are any facts which can be
either a contemporary of Agnimitra or
We
have
now
to
see
if
We find from the Gupta adduced against such a conclusion. inscriptions that in the time of Candragupta II or Skandagupta, Brahrainic laws were in force.
We
had performed an Avamedha
know
sacrifice
also
that
Pusyamitra
and
probably thereby sought to establish his claim as an orthodox Hindu king and it is reasonable to imagine that he had made considerable or
wholesale changes in the Maurya Hindu laws. Consequently, it
law and established the old reasonable
to
imagine that Kalidasa lived sometime after Pusyamitra an'd Agnimitra, when the Brahminic renaissance had started and when the inheritance is
law of Yajnavalkya or other Dharma-astras had re-introduced
by the repeal
of
the
Maurya
not
laws.
yet been
Had
he lived
Candragupta II, he would have be based entirely on old Hindu laws and
in later days, say in the time of
found the state laws to
Rajd-(vacayati) viditamastu devapaddnwy dhanavrddhirndma vanik vdripathopanauvyasanena vipannah. sa cdnapatyah. tasya cdnekako^isankhyarii vasu, tadiddnim
1
fivt
rdjasvatdmdpadyate. Vetravati
iti
rutvd devah pramdnamiti.bavisddam) katfarfi khalvanapatyatd
mahddhanatayd
bahupatnikendnena bhavitavyatri tadanvisyatdry, yadi
>
kdcid-
apannasattvdsya bhdryd sydt. Pratihan ddnirp jjeva sakeda urassa se^hino duhida nivcutta-purfisavand tassa ja-d suniadi.
Ftajasa khalu garbhah pitryamjkthan^arhati gatvaivamamdtyam
brulri
\
736
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
had no occasion to refer to a law prevalent during the Maurya time as codified in Kautilya's Arthatiastra.
NoWj we know by a reference to the 4th canto of the Raghuvam&a that Kalidasa was aware of the Yavanas, the Huns and the Persians. Our contacts with the Persians and the Greeks are of very early date and in the 2nd century B.C. the Greeks had invaded the city of Saketa. In the Bhitari inscriptions we have
a
a passage.
1
Prof.
Raychaudhuri in his Political History of Ancient India in commenting on this passage says that the
enemies mentioned in this
Bhitari
e.g., the Pusyamitras and the
of
their
Atilla,
leader,
The Huns
Huns.
gradually
were outsiders,
inscription
after the
death
overcame the resistance of
when king Feroze was killed in 484 A.D. Swarms of these White Huns also assailed the Kusan kingdom of Kabul and thence poured into India. They at first came in a comparatively Persia
and were repelled by Skandagupta in 455 &.!). as is About ten years after evident from the Bhitari inscription. small body
they came in a of
Gandhara
much
greater force and overwhelmed the kingdom and Peshawar and penetrated into the heart of the
The and overthrew the Gupta Empire. leader of this invasion was Toramana, who established himself Thus if as a ruler of Malwa in Central India in A.D. 500.
Gangetic provinces
Kalidasa had made reference
must have written
But
his
after seeing the
Raghuvama sometime
in the inscription of Vatsabhatti he
as a great poet in
Kalidasa's
date
4th century. refers
to
the
473 A.D. and in
We
this
that case would
in
the
is
in India, he
after
455 A.D.
already well-established
would be unaccountable and not be the
first
half of the
assume that when Kalidasa
have, therefore, to
Huns
Huns
68th verse of the 4th Book of the
North beyond Kashmir on the banks of the Indus, he probably refers to some small settlements of Huns who
Raghuvama,
1
pitari
in the
divamupete
bhujabalavijitarir
viplutary,
yah pratitfhapya bhuyah sdsranetrdm
jitamiti paritofdnmatararp
hatanpurita krsno devakirn dbhyupetah
[
II
\
737
EDITOR'S NOTES
had already migrated up
They were undoubtedly
to that region.
White Huns because Kalidasa describes that their cheeks became ruddy through fear of Raghu's prowess. As regards our contact with China, we must first note that the author of the the
Periplus
us of Thinae a
tells
land
of
where the
situated
silk,
whence we may gather that the Chryse was conceived by him as an island lying not only to the east of the Ganges but also to the southward of the Chinese Empire. The great Western State of China, Ts'in, and the This ') city called Thinae (meant probably as the genitive of was its capital, situated not far above the confluence of the sea-coast ends externally,
of Pliny
'
Wei
with
river
the
Hoang-ho The power.
river.
The
Ts'in
of
state
greatest of the Ts'in monarchs from 221-209 B.C., and he was the parson who began the Great Wall and who pushed the Chinese frontier across the Gobi desert making Harai under the Tien-shan
gradually grew in was Ts'in Chi Hwangti,
who
ruled
out-post and" thus preparing the way for direct communication with Bactria. Regular caravan travel between
Mountains
his
China and Bactria
said to have
is
see that Chinese silk very well finds
2nd century B.C. or even
the
route
its
in
place
We
183 B.C. in
India
thus
early
in
But there was another
earlier.
the importation of silk from China by
of
also
begun
way
of the
Brahmaputra Valley, Assam and Eastern Bengal early in the Christian era. We^have thus reasons to believe that if Kalidasa in 2nd lived the century B.C. he would not be unacquainted with
Chinese
mouth
the
exchanged
silk.
of
for
the
A
part of the Chinese trade was localised at
Indus.
frankincense
the
Generally
Chinese
which Was much valued
silk
in
was
China.
yarn passed on to Arabia and Syria and Through A part of the trade thence found its way to the Roman market. also passed through Persia, and Aristotle gives an excellent India the silk
account of
silk
and how
it
was produced.
1
There are some scholars who believe that Kalidasa lived towards the close of the 5th century and was a contemporary of 1
See Schoff
93-1843B
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, pp. 261-270,
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
738
1 In such a case Kalidasa would Kumaragiipta and Skandagupta. have lived from about 390 to 460 A. D. There are others again
who
D. 2
believe that Kalidasa lived in the 6th century A.
But
except for the slight difficulty regarding the possibility of Kalidasa 's knowledge of the Hun settlement in the North, 1 am convinced that there is no other difficulty in holding that Kalidasa lived in the 2nd century B. C. and was probably a
contemporary of Patanjali, the writer of the Maliabhasya. If Kalidasa had a real knowledge of the Huns he would not have
them on the banks
located
Huns, Kaghu passed on part of Afghanistan.
of the Indus.
8
the
After conquering
Kamboja, which was the north-eastern In the Girnar and Dhauli inscriptions of to
4 If Raghu met the Asoka, Kamboja is mentioned as Kambocha. Huns on the banks of the Indus and then passed on to Kamboja
and
if
Indus
the
that part of
M. Chakravarli, J.K.A.S
1
J.K.A.S. 1909,
p. 731
ff.
;
,
such
be
1903, p.
163
as
to
J904, p.
41.,
produce
158
the description of Raghu's conquering expedition in the 4th canto of the in
Die indischen
his
Inschnften,
p. 82,
had warned
B. C.
ff.,
B. Liebich, Indogennan. Forfchungen, 31,
p.
saffron, Mazumdar,
200, relies mainly on
Raghuvamta;
Biihler,
us against
conclusions; see also K. B. Pathak, Indian Antiquary, 1912, p.
making such sweeping 265 ff. A. Gawronski in the ;
Raglm and some connected problems (Roznik OryentaHstyczny, PolmscJtes Archiv fur Orientalistik, Krakau, 1914-1915) sought also to prove on the same grounds that Kalidasa came to the court in the reign of Kunuaragupta and became the famous
work The Digvijaya
poet under
court
of
Konow
Sten
Skandagupta.
in
Festschrift
Wackernagel, 1923,
p.
4,
regards the Kum&ra-sambhava as being written in celebration of the birth of the Gupta Emperor Kumaragupta or of his successor Skandagupta. See also E. Windiach, Geschichle der Sanskritphilologie .Grundriss 2
I,
IB), p. 175, Note
A. F. B. Hoernle, Indian Antiquary, 1912,
defeated or helped to defeat the
Huns
is
2.
p.
150, says
that Yafodharrnnn
the legendary Vikrarnadilya, though
who
Ya^odharman
is
Vikramaditya. Such a view is held by D K. Bhandarkar, (Ann. Bh. Inst., 8, 192Gr27, p. '200 If. and Asutosli Memorial Volume, p. 72 ff.
not
known
to
have ever borne the
title of
;
MM.
Haraprasada Sa^trl
(J.
B.
O.K.
S.,
2,
191G,
p.
Mazurndcr, Ibid, p 388 ff.) believed that Kalidasa belonged between 4U4 and 583 A. D. '
3
The
verse runs aa follows
31
ff.,
to the
p. -391 ff.)
as also B. C.
second half of the period
:
vinitddhvajramaatasya sindhutiravicetfanaih dudhuvurvajinah skandhdn lagnakuhkumakefaran I
tatra
hunavarodhanarp bhartfsu vyaktavikramam kapolapataladeti babhuva raghuces^itam
II
1
II
Raghuvaiya lV> 9
*
67-8
See N, L. De's The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India.
EDITOR'S NOTES
739
he must have passed through the Gandhara country on the border of Kashmir, gone westwards and then southwards to Karaboja. At the time of return he is saiti to have mounted up on the Hima-
and then come down.
laya
It is not described that he crossed thn
Himalayas for reaching the land of the Huns. that Kashmir is the only country that produces
Now, we
know
It
seems,
saffron.
some parts of the Kasmlra-Gandhara country was him as being the home of the Huns. Now, this regarded by would be impossible, for the Huns lived in the Oxus Valley and when they invaded India they over-ran the whole country
therefore, that
and
in
such a case there would be no
in supposing the
meaning
Gandhara-Kasmira country on the banks of the Indus to be the home of the Huns. It may, therefore, be reasonably supposed that Kalidasa had no direct knowledge of the
He
Huns.
knew
only
probably by hearsay that the Huns lived in the north and located them on the banks of the Indus quite erroneously. It is not impossible for a cultured
man
living in the
have heard the name of the White
The
in the north.
reference to the
that he lived at the time of the definite
of the
Huns
knowledge and that they lived somewhere Just as there
is
Kalidasa so there Kalidasa basis
who had
by the
first
the great poet as a 1
is
famous
may have had
all
in the
north.
controversy
1
regarding
It
ft',
the date
of
complete unanimity regarding fame on the most firm
He
half of the 7th century.
Bana and
mentioned by
is
also in an inscription of
the
634,
year
poet. are freely mentioned in the
Hamayana and
such passages were interpolated after the
small settlements in the
(
any
White
were
excepting that they
a
he had
invasion or that
5th century A.
mountains
Northern
Mahabhdrata and
the
yet
and Kielhorn, Eptgraphica Indica,
seems also evident from the researches
Pratasti inscriptions
of
6. p,
of
the 6th century and even
1-12;
tilso
D
it
cannot
The Huns
unearthed by historical
floated into India n3 meieenarics seeking
Refer to the inscription of the Megati temple, Aihole; see
187 J, p 237 p. 190.
yet
Hun
already established his
researches and they may have 2
not
century B. 0. to
2
The Huns
be argued that
a great
2nd
Huns who lived somewhere Huns therefore does not imply
employment.
Fleet, Indian
Antiquary, Indian Antiquary 20, 18U1,
the above scholar that the authors of the of
the inscriptions of
beginning of the 7th century were familiar with Kalidasa's Raghu-vanisa.
Cambodia
of the
740
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE works that pass
Aufrecht has enumerated the names of the
The
under the name of Kalidasa.
verses of
1
the anthologies have been collected by
Some
later poets also called
kalidasa.
3
Kalidasa
Aufrecht
in
quoted
and Thomas.
2
themselves Nava-kalidasa or Abhinava-
were three Kalidasas
It is said thit there
one under
:
Vikramaditya, one under Bhoja and one under the Ernperor 4 In the anthology Harihardvali an Akbarlya Kalidasa Akbar. is
quoted.
But
it
seems certain that Kalidasa was the author of
a
drama
Abhijnana-8akuntala, a dram.i called the Vikramorvasl and a drama called the Malavikagnimitra, an epic prera called the
called the
lyric
poem
poem called the Kwnara-sambhava o the Megha-duta and another lyrical piece called
a semi-epic
Raghuvamsa,
called
,
5
the Rtu-samhara.
regarded as one of the greatest poets of India not only on the testimony of Indian authors but also that of European authors. Kalidasa wrote two epics, Kumara-
Kalidasa has been
sambhava sambhava 1
2
and
Raglm-vam^a,
which
of
Kumara-
probably
is earlier.
Sec Indian Antiquary, 1872, 340
Z D.M.G.,
1885, 300
ff.
:
3
Aufrecht, C.C.,I, 21, 280.
*
Weber, Z.D.M.G.,
ff
and 0.
C., I. 99.
Kavindra-vacana-samuccaya, 30
22, 713; 27, 175
f
ff.
and 182; Peterson, Subhasita, 18
ft.
5
Other works attributed to him are $rhgdra-sataka Srhgdra-tilaka Nahdaya, a poem of 4 cantos, and Dvafairpsatputtalika. A number of other woiks are attributed to Kalidasa t
in Aufrecht
's
Ambdstava,
CatalogoTum;
Catalogus
Candikddanikdlahkara t
Rdkasa-
Puspabdna-vildsa,
Rdma-setu,
Layhu-stava, Vidvadvinodakdvya, Vrnddvana-kdvya, Sihgdra-sdra^ Sydmald-dandaka, Sruta-bodha. I have already spoken of three Kalidasas. But there are kdvya,
In additon to Akbarlyu Kalidasa, we have Kalidasa the writer Kalidasa the writer of Jyotirviddbharana Kalidasa Gangdstava and Mahgaldstaka the writer of Satnt-pardjayathe writer of a lexicon Raina kosa Kalidasa-Ganoka,
at least 7 or 8 Kalidasas. of
;
;
;
scara-ydstra-sdra',
author
of
Kalidasa, the author of
Kunda-pravandha
Tripurasundari'Stuti-kdvya.
MisTa grandfather 6
Kdliddsa
Thus et
see
of
;
MuralUliara.
Hari1idrdvali
t
Most
of these
MSS.
Sarhga-dhara-paddkati
Vart Poelique, Paris, 1917, p
A. Hillebrandt Kaliddsa,
Suddhi-candrikd', Kalidaaa, son of Balabhadra,
Kalidasa, son of Bamagovinda of the 18th century, the author of There is also a Kalidasa Nandin, who was a poet and a Kalidasa
Breslau, 1921.
119
ff.
;
also
are
(the
available.
testimony
A Literary Estimate
of
Kr^nabha^a).
of Kdliddsa
Keith, History of Sanskrit Literature.
by
EDITOR'S NOTES
The Kumara-sambhava
1
741
with the story that the gods
deals
being terrorised by Tarakasura first approached Brahma and then being advised that only a son of Siva could defeat him, tried
through the help of Indra beauty
of Parvati but failed.
to fascinate Siva
with the grace and
Parvati, however, resorted to tapas
and thereby attracted Siva and they were then married. This forms the story of the first eight cantos over which the most celebrated commentator, Mallinatha, has written a
The
other nine cantos deal with the birth of
ship
of
the
army and
gods'
his
leader-
the final destruction of Tarakasura.
has been often doubted with
It
commentary.
Kumara,
justice
whether
the
later
nine
cantos were written by Kalidasa or not. No definite opinion can be pronounced on the nutter. A com?ncntary.on those later nine
1
The
7 cantos of
first
Kumarasambliava were edited and translated
ibto Latin by A. F.
London, 1838. The first 8 cantos with Mallmatha's commentary, edited with English and Bengali translation by Srlsh Oh. CakravartI, Dacca, 1901. Cantos 1-5, with English translation by M. R. Kab and S. R Dharamdhara, Bombay, 1907; with commentary of Mallinatha on sargas I-VI1I and of Sitarami on VIII-XVII, ed. by V. L. 8. Stenzler,
Bansikar,
N
S.P., 4th ed., 1908
1923 (Haridas Sanskrit
series,
;
sargas i-VItt with two commentaries by Ganapati Sastrl in
With commentaries
T.S.S. Nos. 27, 32, 36, 1013-14.
No.
14).
Cantos
ed.
by Kanakalata Thakkitra, Benares, a Sanskrit commentary (Bala*
I-V with
bodhini) by S. D. Gajendragadkar, Introl, translation, etc. 1923. English translation of the
first
seven cantos by R. T,
H.
by
R. D. Karmakar,
Griffith
Bombay,
(The Birth of the War-
God, a Poem by Kalidasa, 2nd Ed., London 1879. German translation of cantos I- VIII in Walter, Munchen-Li-ipzig, 1913. Cantos IIE-V translated into German by
prose by
Hannah Neckel in Be'trage zur SpracJiund VJke-kunde, Festschrift HWebrandt. Halle, A French translation by H. Fanche (Kaliddsa, Oeuvres completes, I860). Cantos 1913. VIII-XVII were 128
ff.,
141
f.
;
III,
Indian scholars 3,
217
ff.,
241
women and in
first
;
on
ff.
published in 88) the this
The
see
Pandit,
Vol I,
1806.
question of the authenticity oi
In
the
same
these cantos
journal
(I,
656,
was discussed by
Weber
story of the
in Z.D.M.G., 27, 174 ff., and Indische Streijen, Ktimdrasambhava was acted in 18 tableaux by Indian
children according to the translation by Griffith at the Court Theatre in .London
March, 1912 (As. Quart. Rev., N. S., 1, 1913, p 327). Many commentaries were written on the Kumarasambhava. such as Padartha dipikd,
Anvaya-lapiM by Krsnapati Sarman; also commentaries by Krnatnitracarya,, Gopalananda by Caritravardhana (Sisuhitaisini), by (SardvaU), by Govindaram* (Dhirailjanika), Jinabha-lra Suri (Bdlabodhini), by Narahari, Narayana, Prabhakara, Brhaspati, Bharatasena
S
f.
and 2S1
ff.
(Bin Beitray
Berlin, 190).
t
1919. 191
has baen doubted f.,
in
J.R.A. S., 1913, 401
many
quarters.
See
wherein he attempts
ff.)
prove that the Rtu samhara is a genuine work of Kalidasa. He 13 supported in it by It is universally believed that it is a genuine B. Keith (J.R A.8., 1912, 1066 ff); work of Kalidasa. Yet in tha Mandiaor inscription of 472 A.D. verses from Rtu-samhara to
A.
are
also found
imitated.
Tt is
curious however that verses Irom the Rtu-samhdra should
not be found quoted either in the works of authority of Sanskrit verse*
240
or in
work?
of
the
ViSv^vara, however, in his 8ad-rtu varnana written in the 18th century imitated verses from t'e Rlu-samhara. 4 The Meglia duta and the Smgara-lilaka were edited by GHJemeister, Bonn, 1811. See Harichand'a Kdlidasa, p
poetics.
There
is
also a
work
Smgara-Sataka, which is attributed Another work called Sydmald-dandalta,
called
a sort of compilation.
It consists of
Kalidasa.
translated into Tibetan
J.B.A.S 6
,
ff.
1903, p. 785
by Che*zy
Oedichte, Vol. II, p. IBggeling's
prose,
is
Tt
u, however,
also attributed to
to the goddess Durga, interspersed with prose and has been as the Sarasvatistotra and Mahgalatfaka (see F. W. Thomas,
hymns
The Mangaldstaka exists also in Sanskrit M3,). M. Dursch, Berlin, 1828 Haeberlin, 120 ff French German translation by Hoefer (Indische (J. A., 1823, IT, p. 8U ff) 129 ff., and Bohlen, Das aUe Indien, Kdnigsberg, 1880, 880 ff. see alsc ff.
Published with translation by G.
translation
to Kalidasa. in
India Office Catalogue, VII, p. 1427
;
;
;
;
f,
EDITOR'S NOTES
753
I have already pointed out that there
is
really
no
justification
in thinking that Kalidasa belonged to the court of Vikraroaditya. But, be that as it may, it appears that Prof. Shemvanekar's article as published in the I,
seems
232-246,
pp.
Journal of the University of Bombay, son of definitely to prove that the
Mahendraditya assumed the century B.C. This would fit
of
Vikramaditya in the 1st with the Vikramaditya tradition
title
in
of Kalidasa as well.
Asvaghosa is generally placed in the 1st Cowell had argued that Kalidasa is indebted to
century A.D.
Since then scholars have been
Asvaghosa.
dubious as to
exact relation between Asvaghosa and Kalidasa. however, that the arguments put forward by
No.
(Allahabad University Studies,
Roy (Sakuntala, Kalidasa
Introduction,
be
to
the
model
pp.
and
seems to
It
19-28)
fountain
the us,
Prof. Chatterjee
80-114)
2, pp.
-
and
prove
definitely
of
Prof.
inspiration
of
We have already shown that the Huns were known Asvaghosa. Indians from pretty early times, and on this subject one
to the
may
U. B.,
245; Allahabad University The Studies, pp. 120-33 J. I. H., Madras, No. 15, pp. 93-102, researches of other scholars, such as Dasaratha Sarman on consult
also
J.
I,
p.
;
Kaumudl-mahotsava, I. H. Q., X, 1763-66; XI, pp. 147-48; Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conferences,
Vol.
Summaries,
VIII;
Bhandarkar's Oriental
Research
pp.
25-26;
Institute^
Poona,
155-57; and Introduction to Pa dma-cndamani. to the
same
direction
century
B.C.
political
and
On
social
that Kalidasa
probably
this subject, particularly as
environment
All lived
Annals
of
XVI,
pp.
these in
point the 1st
regards religious,
and astronomical knowledge of
the period, one
may consult further, Boy's iSaliiintala, Introduc1-19 and tion, pp. 28-30, Vaidya's Loka&ksana, VII, pp. 9-17, K. Roy, Evolution of Glta, pp. 201-22, Dhruva, Thakkar Lectures, pp. 207-13.
We
Apte,
Kane and Paranjpe
also
have a Ghata-karpara as one of the nine jewels in the court
impossible* to say whether this
could be attributed to Kalidasa,
95
1348$
was
actually
written
incline
more
of Vikramaditya. It by that Gha$akarpara or whether
is it
754
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
9
same view.
the
or less
to
adduced
sufficient evidence
Shemvanekar has
Further, Prof.
to prove
(loc. cit.)
that the Guptas
were Vaisnavas and that Chandragupta II was not the first Vikramaditya. For all these reasons I should be inclined to think that Kalidasa lived in the 1st century B.C.
It
may
also
be incidentally mentioned that, judging from internal evidence, one may point out that Kalidasa had no knowledge of the Samkhya as
schemed out by
Igvarakrsna in
Karikas, which
his
were
the 3rd century A.D. It may also be probably written mentioned with force that he had no knowledge of the Samkhya in
that
is
Arada as reported in preached by Buddha-carita, or the Samkhya of the Carakahave been
said to
Asvaghosa's samhita. The knowledge of
Canto II of the
vamfa
is
Samkhya displayed by Kalidasa in Kumara-sambhava and in Canto X of the Raglui-
a positively monistic doctrine as found in the Upanisads,
or rather the
Samkhya philosophy
Indian Philosophy, Vol. IT, p. 461
in the ei
my
Glta (see
History of
scq.).
SUBANDHU the older prose romances (gadya
Among
kumara-carita
,
Kadambarl,
Harsa-carita,
the
kavya),
Vasaradatta,
DasaTilaka-
manjarl, Gadya-cintamani and Vlra-narayana-carita are available,
whereas the
and
prose
work
Trailohya-sundari,
of
Bhatlara-haricandra, referred
though
to
Tarahgavati
by Bana,
are not
easily accessible.
For a
fuller discussion of
Subandhu's date see Introduction
to Vasavadatta published from Srirangam,
datta
of
Subandhu belongs
1906.
1
The Vasava-
the Katha literature.
to
Patanjali
Vasavadatta as an akhyayikd in IV. 2.60 (and not We do not know if Sana's in IV. 3. 87 as Winternitz says).
mentions
reference Cartellieri 1
to
Vasavadatta
(W Z
Published in
K
M,
1,
is
to
1887,
1859, Bibliotheca Indica
this
115 series,
older
ff.),
Vasavadatta,
Thomas
Caicuta,
York,
GUIS, Vo}.
VIII, 1913.
(W Z K M,
with the commentary
Sivarama Tripalbi; English Translation by L. H. Gray from a text
New
but
in
of
Telugu character. See also Weber, Indische Streifen I, 369 ff. p.
EDITOR'S NOTES 12, 1898, 21
hold
(W Z K M,
and Man'kowski
if.)
755
that the reference to Vdsavadatta in
Vasavadatta.
1901,
15,
Bana
246
f .)
Subandhu's
is to
1
B&NA
Many works Candi-sataka,
are
attributed
Bana, such as Kadambari,
to
Parvatl-parinaya-riipaka
Mukuta-taditaka-nataka
,
commentary on Damayanti-kavya, Ksemendra quotes verses of Sarvacarita-niitaka, Harsa-carita. Bana in his Aucitya-vicara-carca and we have verses from Bana his
quoted by Candapala in
in Sukti-mnktavali
The be
well
and Subhfisitavall* Buna's Harsa-carita cannot very Keith says: "Historically we may
historical elements in utilised.
Thus, say that the work is of minimal value,
though in our paucity have this. But chrono-
of actual records
it is something even to weak and logy confused, it is extremely difficult to make out a the identity of the king of Malava, and even the Gaucla king is only indirectly indicated as Sasarika, whose name is given by
is
Bana has not attempted
1
lliuen
Tsang.
the course of events which rendered to
king
come
Malava and a
at
it is difficult
different sects
the
of
pictures
What
he
army,
of
and their relations
The Vdsavadatla has a number
does the
to the
writing
what was long past
supply to history life
Gauda
in or near
not to suppose that he desired,
distance of time, to leave
vague position.
vivid
intelligible
the
for
possible
into hostile contact with Rajyavardhana
considerable
in a
it
make
to
the
of
court,
is
the
of the
Buddhists and the avoca-
commentaries
Tattvadlpani by Jagaddhara, Curnika by Prabbakara, Tattvakaumudl Sivarama and also comby Ran.adeva, Vydkhydyikd by Vikramarddhi, Kdflcana-darpana by mentariea by Srogaragupta and Sarvacandra. 1
commentary by Narasimhasena, by
2
His
Bombay, 1897;
see
Leiden, III,
was published with
Hars.a-carita
BSS
1909, also 2,
ff.
3
See Smith,
*
For a defence
;
:
the
commentary
J. B.
Daji in
B.
EHI, of
R. A.
S.,
X, 1871, 38
by A A. Fiihrer, W. Thomas, London,
of Saiikara
translated into English by B. B. Cowell and F.
;
Bh&u
199
of
Narayana,
ff.
;
also Fuhrer,
W.
p.
Frazer, Literary History of India, p. 255 350 ff. R. Mookerjee, Har-?a, p 50 (I.
fif.
;
him, see Majumdar, Early History of Bengal,
p.
16
ff.
O. C. t VI,
756
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
tions
Brahmin and
a
of
birth of his hero king
his friends."
Harsa
1
Even the time
not also probably correct. His other important work is Kadambarl* It has a
commentaries.
of
of the
2
is
number
4
SUDKAKA
We katika.
have only one work of Suclraka called the MrcchaThe work has attracted much notice in the West. 5
The
discovery
of
probably the original of his Mrcchakatika,
was
which
Cdrudatta by Bliasa,
the
upper limit of Sudraka, the author of the Mrcchakatika, but we cannot decide whether he was prior to Kalidasa or not. Vamana recognises etc.,
him
which
is
fixes the
4; Dandin cites the verse limpativa, found in the Mrcchakatika but it is now known in
III. 2.
to be a citation on the part of
the
author of the
Mrcchakatika
from Bbasa. 1
Keith's History of Sanscrit Literature, pp. 318-19.
2
also 4,
See Winternitz,
Gescliichte,
Vol.
Ill;
Fleet,
Vikramahkadevacarita, Introduction, p 4 and Eapson, J R A S, 1898, 448 ff.
Biihler's
208
ff.,
Indian Antiquary, 1901, 12f ff.
;
;
Epigraphica Indica, 1, 67
see ff.,
3
C.
Edited by Peterson, Bombay, 1883, ESS; Translated with occasional omissions by M. Kidding, London, 1896; see also Weber, Indisehe Striefen, 1, 852 ff. and Lacote in
Melanges Lsarvasva-safijivam, 565 Alarflkar&'Sdra'&amgraha-laghu-vrtti, 545
J87,
395, 612 Almora, 870, 371, 403
Ajaya (river), 390 Ajayapala, 404, 463*
'
Allahabad University Studies, 124*, 753 Allegorical, 332, 874, 479, 481, 485, 487*, 613
747
Amrtabhanu, 319 Amrtalaharl of Jagannfttha,
38'J,
675
Amjtamanthana 687 t
!
,
Awrtanand.1, 73* Amrtatianda Yogin, 500 Amrfodaya, 486 Amsterdam, 91, 510 !:
Amusement,
xxi, Ixxixi
2(),
iM, 351,
Alarfikdra-tdstra, Ixxv, 517, 520, 521. 522, 623, 615 Alaqikdra school, 502, 517, 519, 538, 57J 5SO,
Anacdote or Anecdotal, 83, 427, 428
581,604,628,638 Alaipkdra-ekhara 564
Anahgasertd-harinandi, 475, 086
M3,
627
Anatigabarsa Matraraja, 300, 759
Anangasena (courtesan), 497
t
Alamkdra-irobhuana
,
566
Alarpkdra-sutra*, 557 Alarnkdra-stitTarvrtti , 621
Alarpkdra-tilaka, 563, 687 Alarflkdra'Vimar&'m, 558*, 629
Album Kern, 614* See Cl^zy A. L. Chzy, 140*. A V&ude de la Mwique Hmdite, 522* Alexander, ciii Alex V. Humbold*, 668 Alfred de Musset, liv Allata or Al&ta, 555 Allahabad, 18, 102*, 497*, 586*, 731*, 744*
Anangavana, lix Anangapida, 856 Ananta (author of the
Sdhityakalpa-vaUi), 556 437 Anantabhatta, Anauta, com'i entator, 370* Ai'antadasa, 564 Anantadeva, 468 Anantadevayani, 622* Ananta, King. 96. 401,409, 553, 554, 692 Anantanarayana, 341 Armtanftrayana (god), 477*
INDEX Anantapandita, 561 Anatacarya, Ixxvni Anantfimmfi, 438
*
Arab, Arabia or Arabic, 698, 705, 737, 772 Arabian Sea, cviii
Anantaya, 526, 534, 536 Anargha rdghava, 449-5 *, 462, Anatomical, Ixviii
Architectural, xc, xri, cxi A rchive /tir A nth ropoloyie, 648
Ardhartdrisvara-stotra, 382 Arhaddasa, 620, 775 Arhats, 82 SIT J V.nel. Ariel, 368*, 567', 568 '. Arike&mn, 400, 435 Arisiniha, 331- 363, 67^, 770 !
Anekartha-sartigraha, 707 Anesaki. Ste M. Anesaki Angada, 186, 502, 464 Anhilvad, 343, 351 428, 471, 472'' (Analnllapataka), 603, 618 Anhilwara, cxii, 768 Animal fable, 691 Annals of Orient, Kesearcb, 132 Annales de Musee Guimet, 81 83* Annah of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 629% 753 Annamalainagar, 381 Anoamalai University Sanskrit Scries, 381* Annavema, 627 Annayarya, 439 !
!
,
|:
1
,
Aristophanes,
Iv
Aristotle, 53*, 650, 737
Arjuna, 167, 178, 190, 275, 332, 616, 678, 721,723, 770 Arjunacarila, 686 472, 555*, 668 Arjunavarmadeva, 158 170 AikasvdQjin, 321 Army, 626, 741, 755 Arnava-varnana, 626 Arnnva vivarana, 326 A. li. Kamanatha A\var, 121* Artha, lv\v, Ixxxi, Ixxxv, Ixxxvi, 415, 549, 559, 563, 764
497 s
121*, 122, 157, 158*, 160, 162, 165, 166, 367, 1C8, 170, 173, 177, 186, 197, 209*, 242, 256*, 270, 280*, 299*, 300*, 306, 320, 324,364,366,377,389,394, 401, 411-17, 435, 454, 461, 477, 611,621,665,686, 7(8,
770 Antichiis the Great, cin Antigone, Ixviu
Antiquary, 659, 748 584, 593, 595, 596, 601
546, 552
A N. Upadhye,
343* Annprasa, 526, 528*, 530, 53 J, 536, 537, 559,
,
;
,
-
563, 579, 584
Arthakrama, 522 Aiihapati (in the Kadambari), 225 Arthhapala, (story of), 212, 232 Arlha~$dstra, xiii, Ivin, Ix, xcvii, cxxiv, 15, 105, 522, 567, 643, 698, 701, 705, 706, 719,732,733, 734, 736 Arlha-slesa, 521 85, 86*,
Arthasrhgdra. 714 Arthdlamkdra, 539, 552, 556, 557, 559, 562, 566, 579, 585 Arihdntaranydsa, 5-26, 530, 534, 536 Arf/?opa??id,518, 519, 553 Art of war and weapons, 26 Anmagm, 126*, 129^ Arunagirinatha, 742
Asanga, cvi
Anus'asana-parvan (Mahabbarata), 195 Anustubh (metre), 2*, 14' Anvaya, 537 Anvaya-ldpikd, 741* Anyopadesa-$ataka of Madbusfidana, 403, 674 ; of Nllakantha Dlksifa 403, 764 and of YiSveSvara, 403 Anyokti*muktdvaH 403
Asia, Central, cxi, 22,
t
;
t
139*, 194, 203, 314, 390', 394, 395, 427, 430*, 508, 510. 526, 537, 559 Apahftravarrnan, 211, 281* Apahnuti, 526, 530, 536, 553 Appayya Diksita. 832*, 334, 40), 430^, Ob4, 565, 566, 630, 661, 074, 675, 764, 765 Apraslutapratanisa, 520, 526, 530, 534, 536, viii,
683 Apsarases, 75*, 179, 190, 834, 693 Apte, 455*, 758. See V. S, Apte
560,
Arya, Aryan, or Aryans, v, xxi, Ixv, Ixvn, Ixxi, Ixxii, Ixxxvu, cxxiv, 613*, 633 Asafd-viJdsa, 566
Anuratnamandana 566
Apabhram^a,
!
!
'
%
Anthology, Antholog-cal or Anthologist, xci\, 4,8, 9, 10*, 16, 17'', 40, 104, 119, 120,
Anumdna,
ix
Ardhauiagadhl,
Andhaka (demon), 319, 623 Andhra, c, ci, cvii, 212, 757 Andhrabhrtyas, CM, 241, 757, 761
Anquetil Duperrou, v Anthologia Sanskritica
xxi, cxvi, 89, 673,
Archaism, 10, 15, 105, 343*, 721 Archipelago (Malayan), cxi
760, 761
Ancint India, 92*, 696* Anders Kcmow, 695* Anderson, 615
Anubhava, 539, 561, Anugadara, 201*
779
43,
72,
77,
79*, 211,
705 Asiatic Quarterly Review, 523*, 741* Asiatic Researches, 624*, 660* Asiatic Society of Bengal, 354*, 413*
Asmakavamsa, 527 82,290, 355,
As"oka, viii, cix, ex, cxxiv, 73,
356, 613, 768
ASokadatta, 280*
A6okan ASokan
edicts, 290, 642 inscription, ex, cxx, cxxiv
Afokftyadftoa, cvi, 81*, 82 1 A. S. Ramar.atha Ayyar, 338
?
Assam, 737 Afltak-ilika-LTla. 333 Asiavighnakathd, 614* Panini Atfddhydyi, 336, 611*. See Astroloev, Astronomy or Astronomical, 26*, 499,T 553, 632, 652, 730, 732, 753
780
HISTORY OF 8ANSK1UT LlTERATUHK
A sura Ban a, 403
Dem CD
Asura or Asuras, Ixxi, cxxiii, 50. See Asutosli Memorial Volume, 738*
A6vaghca,
ix, xvi, xviii, Ixxxviii, c, civ,cvi,
4,6. 9*, 10*, 13, 15, 18, 19*, 35, 43, 51, 69-79, 80, 101, 118, 123*, 124, 128*, 156, 164, 167, 200, 316, 845, 364, 378*, 479, 520, 613, 655. ASvalalita (metre), 12, 181" A6vamedbii, 735. 746 ASvaUbaman, 273, 275, 724 ASvavarman (king), cxi A. T. D., 641*
A. Weber, 46*, 52*, 140*, 427*, 498*, 650*. 750*. See Weber. A. W. Eyder, 207, 239 Ayodbya, lxii, cviri, cxvii, 69, 131, 186, 292, 342*, 359,452,604, 746 Ayodhyaprasad, 561* Abbira, cvii, 240*, 249*, 757 Acarya, 768. Actkhyasau-upama, 532 Adhyaraja. cxv, 16, 17 Adiyrantha, 390* idi-kavi, 460 Xdiuatha, temple of. 303 1 Adipurvan (Mahdblidrata] t 140 "=
AnMa, 736 Atiratra-yajvan, 705 Atisayokti, li, 518, 526, 330, 531, 582, 583. 587 Atharvaveda, xiii, h\v, 20, 031 Atithi (king), 746
530,
5JS,
cxv, 272 Aditya Ruri, 623" ,
1
'
Agamodaya
Siiniti Series
Atn, xxv
Ahavamalla, G51 Akhandalakn, lix
A, Tioyer, 660* COS
Akbyaria, 435
dfffcafrflt/id,
180
Aucitya-vicara-carca, 19', li'O, in;*, 299*, 531*, 512, 518, f 04, 75;, 702 A ucitya-viciira-ciwtamani, 535*
7",8K9, 158*, 102*, 16(*, 320*, 413", 414, 500', 553, 551, 620*, 621*, 605*, 708*, 740, 751 Aupacebaudasika (metre), 14 , 120
Aufreebt,
}
1
,
!
',
170*,
0', 2~>8 261, 271, 278-80, 298, 209,306,324, 335, 310, 31*, 319, 350", 352, 353, 357, 35:
t
Conjeeveram
(Kafici), 254, 438, 487
S
764
Connecticut, 421*
Dance
Cora or Caura, 368-', 369, 567, 568 Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarvm, 17 Court, xni, xx, xxxix, Iv, Iviii, Ixi, ciii cix, ex, 5, 53, 121*, 168, 171, 186, 228, 255', 820,334,341, 342*. 350, 353, 364*, 470, 498, 502, 558 ", 561, 563,612, 615,617,625, 627, 645, 657, 667, 679,680,64,731*, 738, 747 753, 754, 767, 768, 774 Court-epic, 41 5
Courtesan, xxxi, xxxviii, Ivi, Ivii, Ixi, Ixxi, Ixxxiii.lxxxvi, 21,78,98, 138, 397, 198, 211,
214,
240,
410,49?, 492, 645, 768 Court-language,
750*
Dancing
Girl, hx, Ixxiii. 198, 390*. 491,
600,
654 Dancjaka
'forest), 151, 153, 293 Dandaka (metre), 285* Dantfaniti, xcvii, 527
497,
498,
643,
xxviii, cxiv, 17, 21*, 28*, 92*, 94, 120*, 155, 174, 178*, 179*, 197, 200, 202, 203, 206-17, 222, 223, 241, 298, 321. 340*, 419, 429, 433,
130,257, 279,
443,
458,
475,476,477*521,527-31, 537,538, 545/
244S 494,
251,252,302,404,
495,
ci
Court-life, Ix, Ixi,
or Dancing, xviii, Ivi, Ivhj, lix, Ixxi, Ixxiv, Ixxvi, Ixxvii, Ixxxiii, Ixxxiv, 20, 44, 45, 50, 56, 62, 67, 213, 390*, 491, 524*,, 631, 632, 634,635, 637, 642-45, 648, 649, 653, 654, 656,676, 693, 725, 729, 749,
461 r 462 Court-poet, 370, 676 Court-theatre, 741 Co*ell. See E. B. Covsell C. R, Devadhar, 101*, 102*, 242*
O.K. Lannaan, 457* C.R. Narasimha Sarma, 159*, 165* Cromwell, Ixvii
Darwin, xx,
648, 563, 569, 572-78, 582,
587,
33*, 191, 237, 434,
590, 592,
593,613, 615, 616, 663, 683, 686, 694, 756, 757, 762 Danish, 756* Dantivarman, 263 Danton, 213 Dantura (in La^aka-melaka), 437 Daradas, 695 Dardic diaicct, 94, 95
788
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Darduka, 433
Df,
Daridra-carudatta, 714, 719 Dorpa.dalanot 407
Delhi, cxvii, 360, 402, 627 Deiuetrios, ciii
Legende van Jfmiitat?a?iana ,268*
Daadu$ta-karmamdrga 614*
Democrary,
Da&fcara, 649 Dafa'kum&racaritd, cxiv, 92*, 206-17,
Demon,
t
231, 232*, 281*, 476, 530, 531, 747,
754,
757
265*, 272, 274*, 299*. 300, ?01*, 369*, 449, 455*. 493, 506*, 634, 657, 688, 760-62 Data-slob* Stotra, 3bO
Datdvatdra-carita, 321*, 324, 617, 692 Das Daswupa ist tier, 550* Das Datum des Candiagomin's und dd*a'*,124*, 656* Dasgupta, 533*
302, 086,
See Dinara
Denarius.
Der Auszug aus dem Paftcatantra 89*. 700* Der Budhismus, 69* Der griechisclie Einfluss im indischen Drama, 52*, 650*
Der Mimus, 650, 651 " Der Textu* Ornatior der Sukasaptati, 425* Der XXV Gesany des Snkan\liatariiam 5
627* Detabhdsd, 684 De^aladevi, 469 Dc&nnaiigala Varyya, 774 Des Cat. Trivandrum Palace, 400* Cat. Madras Oovl. Descriptive X 439* Library, 400* 414 ,
Cat.
Descriptive h'dh-
Das ind. Drama, 45*, 633*, 635*. 671, 7JO Das Kathdkautukani des Srita'a verglichtn*
,
Orient.
,
of
MSS.
in
the
Jaina
Bhandar, 201* Des demon a, xlviii Desopadexa, 108-9 Devabhuti, c ,
629*
De\acandra 769 Devadatta (hetacra), 250, 7G 2 1
Leben des Buddha von Asvaghosa,
73*
Maliabharata, 632*
Paficatantra, 88*, 90* Ramayana, 120*. 635* $ariputra Prakarana Atvaghofa, 76*, 613* Daf), 521, 533*
krit, 314-15, 538-9, 511.
Hrdayabharana,666* H. R. Diwekar, 611* Hrinhikesh Series. 391* H. R. Kapadia, 620* H. Sarma, 8* Huber, 72 702* Hugli, 440 Hultzsch, 132 133', 183*. 189*, 300% 381*, ,
Indian Indian Indian Indian
Review, 417* or Songs, The, 389* studies in honour of Lanman, 209*
Song
Theatre, 761 ^ India Office Cat. 124^ 126*. 2UH, 335' 338 373*, 396*, 421*, 424*, 129*, 438*. 479*, 619*, 665*, 666*, 752* India office Library. 525 ^ India office Ms. 210*. 502% 504* India what it can teach us, 171*, 539 612 Indiens Lttieratur und kultur, x Indische Alterthnniskunde, 5* Jndische Drama, 77* 106*. 240*, 262 272 Indische Essay*, 649* Indische fledichte 660*, 66^, 752 Indische Le'beslyrik, 666* Indtschen Sftruchen, 669 Ind. Litteratur gesch^chte 650 Indo-Aryan, 94 ^ 95 Indo-European, 4t r
,
,
.
'
'
414*, 450*, 467*, 470*, 475*, 476*. 481*, 503*, 565, 613*. 616, 656", 661*, 662", 686.704*, 751*, 75)2 KalatrapatriLa, 491 Kalapadipika, 616* Kala-vilasa, 407-8, 675 Kali, 327, 410, 658* Kalikala-Valmlki, 339 Ka\\Jtel\ 9 494, 687
(commen
666*
Kamalakara Bhatta,
Kane,
Juska, 356
Kalitag
tW
Kandarpa-keli, 494 Kaudarpaketu, Prince, 219-21 Kanduka-krida, 491* Kandnkivatl Princess of Damalipta 212, 216
92 % 695*. See Spider See Takakusu
Takakusu, 256*. J Tayloi, 481* **&
Onent> 646,
812
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
OHoztein, Dr.,712 Ousadha-prayoga, 730* Outlines of the History of Alamka*a Literature, 520* O. Walter, 744*, 764. See Walter Oxford, 11*, 73, 666* Oxford University Press, 74*, 80*, 101*, 277* Oxus Valley, 739
Palrner Boyd, 256*, 759
Pampd-T&mayana 619 t
Paftcab&na-viiaya, 490 Paflcaraira, 101, 109, 112, 113, 710*, 720, 721 Paftcardtra-nataka, 709 Paficaratrins, xcix Pdrlca^ati, 384, 661
272,
709,
Panca*sayaka 498 t
Pada-bhasvartha-candrika, GGG* Pada-candrikd t 207* Pada-diptkd, 207* Padadoa, 552 Pada-dyotini, 666* Pada-maftjari, 528 Padavdkyartha-pailjika, 624* Padanka-duta, 373*, 752
Pailca-siddhantikd, 730* Pafica^ikha, 241*, 762 Paftca-stam, 660* Paflcatantra, 15, 83, 84, 85, 86-92, 95, 98, 155,200, 204, 207, 224, 281, 263*, 400, 419,420,425,614, 670, 673 f 691*, 694*, 696, 699, 700, 701-07 Paflcatantra Reconstructed, The, 88* PaficavatT, 289, 293, 450 Pancakhyana, 89, 704 Parlcdkhyanaka, 703
Paddrtha-dipikd, 741* Padarthas&rtham, 764 Padavali, 575,576,630
Paficakhyanoddhara, 703 Taficanana, 743* Pandit, 126*. 324*, 331^, 382*, 440*, 455*.
Padma, 620 Padmacandra, 476 Padmagupta, 168*, 849-50, 353, 357, 676 Padma-mihira, 355
457*, 462*, 48'/*, 617*, 618*, 664*, 741*, 742*, 751* Pandita-plda-vigarada, 499 Panegyrics, xiv, *cix, ex, 3, 14, 18, 79, 167, 170, 190, 193, 238, 826*, 346, 362, 363,
Pada, 559
minister, 344 Padnnnandibhattaraka, 619*
Padma,
377, 383
Padmanabha, 403* Padmandbhapuram, 711 Padmapada, 663
Panis, 631
Univ. Orient. Publication Series, 73*, 320* Pannalal Choudburi, 379* Pantomime or Pantomimic, 67, 634, 638, 639 642 P. Annjan Achan, 494* Parijai>
Padma-prdbhrtaka, 248. 249, 250, 7(H
Padmapnra, 278 Padmapurana, 138*, 140, 747, 748* Padmasambhava (sage*, cxvi Padmananda, 331*, 344, 400, 620 Padmananda, Jaina, 400 PadmavatI (Jayadeva's wife), 389,
390*,
666
Padmavati (mother
of
the
poet
Soddhala\
481
Padmavati-parinaya, 687 PadmSvati (Udayana's love-lady), 98, 300, 714 Padmavati, wcman-poet, 410 P, 391,392, 396, 415,426*, 410, 485, 066, 667 Radhakrsna, commentator, 658' Radharnman Press, 397 J 468^ 662 Radha-vipralambha, 686 Ragas, 390 Raghava, 340 Raghavabhatta, commeutalor of Suhuntnln. !
;
,
,
140*, 525*, 531*, 748*
Rdghava-naisadhiyn, 341, 619, 620 Rdgliava-pdndava yddavlya, 341, 620
Raghava-pdndaviya
kara.
Rajanaka Ruyyaka, 675
Batnavali, 2ftl* Raines* vara, 05:3 Raitdra (tosa) 692
of Dhauafijaya, 310,
619;
of Kaviraja, 340, 619; Rdghava-vildsa, 564 Rdghacdbhyudaya, 461, 680 Ragbavendra, 381* Rahula Bhatta, 525*
Rafimali-prabodha, 769 Rajndm pratibodlia, 664* Kajyadevi, 226 liajyapala, cxvii
Ha;y8ri, 227, 203 Kajy a \aidhana. 227, 755 Hdkdgama-sudhd, 560 Rfiksasa, Ixxi, Ixxxiv, 465, 693 Rdksasa-kavya, 121, 122*, 720 Raksaaa or Raksasa Pandita, 122, 266-69, 286 Hama, xlix, Ixxix, cxxvii, 40, 114, 130, 131, 154, 183, 186, 187, 286, 288, 289, 292, 293, 300, 303, 325, 338, 339, 341, 342,
318,350,360,374,396, 451, 456, 463-65, 502, 504, 506, 595, 698, 599, 600, 611, 618, 619, 630*, 647, 619*, 604, 665, 763
Rama,
a
dramatist, 469*
Rama-bana-stava, 383*, 665
Rajacudamani Dlksita. 333, 437 \ 472, Rajadeva of Kashmir, 323* 628 Rdjadharma, xcvii
765, 772
Rajagrha, 727 Rftjakunda, 622* Rajamandala, 643* 374* Rajamati', Raja-martanfa, 558 Rajamitra, 527
Rajamrgdhka, 553 Rajamukuta, 611* Bajan&thaj 361*, 437 Rdjaniti samuccaya* 673 Rajapraa$ti, 630 Rajapurl (Kashmir), 360, 6?7 454* Rdjatekhara, Hts Life and Writings, RajaSekhara quoted by Jahlana, 16, 168*. 171, 208*, 300, 417*
Ra;anaka-tilaka, 558 Rdjavali, 554 Rdidvaft-patakd, 359, 677 Ha a Vlraaiiphadeva, 774 Ua.cndra Cola, 470* Rajmdra-karnapura, 363, 674
7,
9*,
10",
Raja&khara Suri, Jaina, 326, 428, 429 Baja&khara the dramat.st, 7* 19, 26, 28*. 29*, 78*, 94*, 120*, 138, 185, 271*, 280, 300, 301*, 814, 381*, 401*, 417*, 444, 448, 450,453-61,462,463,470,471, 561, 525*, 530*, 538, 542, 544, 546, 547*, 553, 560, 642*, 713,716,757, 761,764
Rajastham, 680 Rdjasthani-kheydls, 624* Rdjasuya, c Rajasuya-prabandha 775 R&ja-tarangini, 1J9, 279*. 353-59, 525*. 535*. 544, 628, 677, 682, 692, 757
Ramabhadra, 769 Ramabhadra, commentator, 748* Ramabhadra Dlkfiita, 383, 456,465,489, 665 Ramabhadra, Jaira, 476 Ramabhadrarnba, 361, 417, 679* Kumabha^ta, 396* Ramacandra, author of Gopdlalild, 617 Ndtya-datpana, Ramacandra, author of 105* 120*, 121*, 271*, 450, 462, 463-64, 465,468. 469, 471,473*, 475 Ramacandra Budhendra, 161*, 277*. 437* Ramacandra Ciraftjlva Bhattacarya, 439 Ramacandra, commentator, 616* Ramacandra Kavibharatl, 378
Ramacandra, King, xxx Ramacandra, poet, 342, 370 Ramacandra Sesa, 624* Ramacandra Tailanga, 332* Ramacandra Vaoaspati, 616* Rd'n\acandra'ya3obhusana^ 566 Rdmacandrodaya, 388, 765 Ramaearana Tarkavagl^a, 561
of Abhinanda. 201, 324, 618 Saindhvakara Nandin, 339, 359
Rdma-canta
Rama
cdpa-stava, 383*, 665
Ramadatta, 666 Rftmadasa, 119* Dlksita, 481* Raoiadeva, commentator, 755* Ramadeva Vyasa, 504 Ramagiri, 138, 751 Ramagovinda, 740* Ramakat)ia 774
Bamadaaa
t
;
of
818
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Raina, KaviSvara, Ixxx 468, 510 Rdmakrsna-kdvya, 664 Rdma-kr^na-viloma-kdvya 342 Ratnainaya Surma, 758 Rarannatha, 751 Rama of Devagui, 342 of Kerala, 121* Ramapalocanta, 618 Rainapala, king, 339, 359.618
Recitation, 636, 649. 652, 653 Record of Buddhist Religion, A, 256* Reddi, 299, 433 Redan nnd Aufsdtze, 651*, 669
RaiDakrna
Regimonti, 136*
;
t
Rdmaprasada,658* Harnarsi, 624*
Ramariulra,15c*, 668 Rdmasetu, 740* Rama Tarka vagina, 658* Rainatarana, 6C6* Kama Upa'dhyaya, 751* Rarnavartnanj Maharaja of Travancorv, 752* Ramavarman Vafici, 468 Ramavarma, Pr.nce, 776 Rdmavijaya-mahdkdvya, 63U Rdma-yamakdinava, 338
Rama-
Rdmdbhyndaya Ixxxv, 299, 504 (of deva Vyaaa), 685 (of Yatavarman) Ramadevi, 389 Ramanandanatha, 158* Ramaoanda Raya, 396,
Ixii,
xcviii,
Ixxxviii,
cxxvn,
cxxix, 1, 2, 51,60,69, 101,113, 114, 128*, 131, 133, 150M73*, 177, 183,277, 289, 300, 303, 324. 331. 339, 341, 450, 455, 4G5* 487, 505, 507, 568, 617, 620, 634, 635, 641, 653, 680, 687, 688, 693, 695, 720, 725. 726, 739, 744, 746 Ramayana-campu, 437, 438* Ramayana-kathd-sara, 417 Ramayana-mafljari, 325*, 617, 688
Ramiia, 16, 201, 241, 757 Ramilaka, 16* Rasa-ma, 391,397, 648 Rdsdmrta, 664 Rastrakuta, 336, 435, 470*, 617 Rastraudha king. 361, 679, 772 Rariraudhi-vawia. 360, 679, 772
;
R. G. Ba3ak,243*, 639^ Bhandarkar, 10 121*, 189*, 336*. :340S 396*, 402- 414*, 611*, 612*, 763 R. Gottschall, 616
R G
f
,
.
vi, Ixxiii, 43, 44, 45, 85, 138, 240, 518, 631, 632, 634, 673, 697, 767 ltgveda-jatadya*ta-vikrti~vioarana, 664* Rhetoric or rhetorician, xxvni, cxix, 26*, 27, 29,31, 32,76, 104, 105, 111,116, 122,127*, 147, 148, 153, 160, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 177, 180, 183. 188, 191, 192, 193, 196, 202,204,207, 208, 209*, '213. 221, 223, 224, 233, 236, 270, 272, 275, 277, 278 3M5, 812, 319, #22, 327, 328, 330, 334, 376, 377, 379, 397, 462. See Alamkara and Poetics.
Rgveda,
Rhyme, 334* Rhythm, 207 Richard Schmidt. See R. Schmidi Ridgeway, 47
Ixxix, cxxvii, cxxvui, 61, ]3i, ]86, 286,303, 336, 381, 451,452. 456, 457, 461, 463, 464, 502, 617 Rdvana-vadha or Bhajti-kavya (, 183 85,
Ravana,
186
Rdvana-vadha or Setubandha
(prakrit), 119
Rdvandrjuniya, cxv, 376, 616
Rayapura, 504 7,
;
;
Ramayanasara, 630 RameSvara, 497
Rayamukuta,
1
;
Rewa, 679
Rdmastaprdsa, 383*
Ramavatara Pandeya, 710, 712 Ramayana, vii, xiv, xvii, xxix,xxx, \xxin, lii,
Report, (of Biihlei) 628*; 'ot II. a. Bhandarkai) 7*, 121*, 336*, 340*, 40 2*, 414*, 686 (of Peter 3on) 686 (of 8 e s -gin&iatri) 396" Report of Santlnt and Tamil M5., 320* Reva, 505 Rev, De. la Lingmstique ft de Philologie 181* Recue Arciidologiaquc, 650'
t
468, 511* Rainanuja.cxviii, 487, 495, 661, 768
xlix, h,
J Regnaml, 524*. See 1 RegnauJ. *Reich, 650, 651, 652. See Hermann Reich Religion 01 rfcligious, \i\ xxii, xxix,lvi, Ixv, Ixvi. Ixxi, Ixxu, Ixxiv, ixxix, Ixxxin, Ixxxvii, Jxxxviii, xc. xciii, cxix, 6, 26* 45*, 48, 0, 70, 76, 166, 167*, 208, 22S, 265,291, 354,370, 874, 376-80, 382*, 386, 388, 389, 392, 393, 395, 396, 400, 42ft, 436, 440, 16^, 196, 510, 564, 628, 631,640,64^,643, 645, 648, 649, 650, 652,653,659,666*, 667, 668, 669, 673, 677*, 767 Renaissance of Sanskrit, \vii, 5, 6 12*, 735
8*,
9,
10*.
241*,
621",
767*
R. C. Majumdar, 839*. 612* R. C. Temple, 649* R. D. Banerji, 470*, 612* R. D. Karmakar, 126*, 741* Realism or Realistic, Ixvi, xci, cxxvii. cxxviii, 24,61,153,215,230,29-2, 404,406, 419, 456, 484, 598, 693
Ritual, Ixviu, Ixx, Ixxi, cvi, 49, 633 R.tual drama, 44, 45, 46, 633 Riti 218*, 536, 539, 546, 554, 564, 567, 574-76, 578, 579, 580, 582, 584 Ritinirnaya 521 Rlii schooi, 574, ri80, 581 R. Lenz, 138*, 750* R. L. Mitia or Rajendialala Mitra, 83*, 127* 480*, 485*, 501*, 539*. See Mitra t
t
R. L. Turner, 105* Narasiinha, 529 1 R Narasirphacara 695* Robasena, 24^* Rohinl-mrgdhka, 475, 686-87 Roma Cbaudhnri, 41 6*
R
Romabaisana,
Romance
xiii
or Romantic, xxxi, xxxii, xxxvi, 11*, 21*, 22, 37, 38, 41, 42, 58, 71, 84, 94, 100, 106, 110, 130, 131, 185, 138, 346,
INDEX 147,
2^9,
155,200, 20! ', 202, 205 2'0, 213,214, 215. 2ir,
219,228,232,
231, 235, 253, 256,2(30, 261 315,324, 327, 3V), 316, 432, 471, G7ft, 604. 700
247,
'
236, 265, 35'2,
206
208
819
Rupanathn Tlpadliya^a,
217,' 21*' 2,77, 21!
Hupinika,
277
281
K.
357.
410,
'
or
Roman,
299*,
469-**,
214^
Rfipopama 518
V Krmhnanuirh.itiar 217% 29S*, R W. Fr,,zcr. 755 SLT Fra/.er S
xtv, ca.fjU,
O'J,
82,
Sabda, 547, 550, 571, 575, 578, 581, 582, 591* 764
158
737
Roth, 646 Roy, Prof., 753 Roychaudburi, 736 Roznik Oryentalistyczny\ 738 R. P. Chanda, 326* R. Pischel.47*, 520*, 524*, 646,760".
Sabdatlesa, 521, 534^
Sabdalamkara, 531*, 537, 539, 552-54, 556, 557, 559, 578, 579, 585, 587, 729 Sabdartha-rrtli, 342'
Sabdopama, 553 Sec
Sabha-railjana, 403, 675
Pischel R. P. Oliver, 239*
Sachinandan Goswami, 333* Sacred Books of the Buddhists, 80*
R. Ramamurthi, 271,*, 302 Y R?abha, 620 Rsabha-deva-canta, 563 * R$abha-paftcahka, 430 R Sarma, 8*
Sacrifice or Sacrificial,
R.
Kxv,
cxxii, 725, 745.
Schmidt, 298*, 299*, 316', 319*. 404* Soo Schmidt 407*, 425*, 469^, 747.
R. Simon, 158* R. S. O., 729* R. T. H. Griffith, 741*, 744*
Sadacara, x\xvi Sadananda, 621 Sadasiva, 769 Sadttkti-karnamrlat
568,
631
721
722,
10*, 16*, 17*, 122* 256*, 324*, 889*, 390, 401, 413, 611*, 674 Sahabuddin Gbori, 539 ,
Sahajiya, 391*, 392* Sahaeraksa, 521 Sahokti (alamkara), 534, 536 Sahrdaya, 24, 540*, 541*, 542, 548*, 606 Sali'rdayafila, 558, 675
Sahrdayananda, 331, 626
Riickert.
Ruckert-Nachlese, 666* Ruddy, 710 Rudrabhatta, 157*
Rudradamana,
xvi, xvin, ci. cii, 14, 18, 531
',
567, 613, 654.
Rudramadcva, 158* Rudra Nyayavacaspati, 37 4 561* Samantabhadra, 379 Samarabhata, 198
820
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Samarapungava Dlk?ita, 488 Samasya-purana, a type of Kavya, 338, 874 Samasya-purana poem of Jinadasa, 657 Samavakdra, Ixxxii, Ixxxiv, Ixxxvii, 65, 473, 474, 475, 769 679, 580
S am a v ay a,
Samaya-mdtfkdj 405 Samaya-vidya, xcix Samddhi, 573, 574 Samdhita (atowfcara;,
626,
530,
534,
536,
657
Sam&sokti (alamkdra) , 526, 530, 584,
536
545, 558, 583
Sambasiva Sa?tri, 875*, 414*, 659* Sambat era, 125*, 531*, 553* Sambhaji, 415, 629
SambhaU~mata 676 Sambhu, 363, 402 t
Sambhurdja-canta, 416*, 629 Sambhuraja, Same as Sarubbaj!,
Sambuka, xxx, 746 Samdhilaka,262 SamdhySkard, Nandin, 339, 359, 618, 619 Samgbadasika, 252 GamgUa-cintdmani, 627, 771 Samgita-gahgddhara, 490* SamgUa-mddhava, 396* Samglta-nataka, 468, 511* Sarpgraha of Vyadi on Panini, 685 Samgramapala, 360 Samkalpa-suryodaya, 332, 486*, 487 Samkara (alamkara), 534 Samkara, commentator, 226*, 755* Samkara, dramatist, 490
Samkara
or Sarnkaracarya, xix, xxvii, cxviii,
IP4, 377, 380, 384, 558*, 562*, 566, 580, 616*, 660, 661, 663, 665*, 668,069,675,
748
Samkara Mi6ra, 388*, 390* 666* Samkaiavarman, 401, 674 t
Saniketa, 515, 555 ^oi7ferrta, 530
Sarnk$epa sarlrakasd r a*sarrigraha, 664* Sarnk?cpdmrta, 664* Sarrikfiptasara. 615 SammitTyas, 685 Sartiskfta
Bhd$d
Sarfiskria Sdhiiya-Vtfiaya-
ka Prastava, 625*
Samsf^i (alamkara), 536 Sanmdrabandba, commentator, Samudradatta, 302 Samudragupta, xix, cvi, 18, 263, 268*
Samudra-manthana, Samudrananda, 545
557, 558, 628
cviii, cix, cxiii, cxiv,
Ixxxiv, 473, 479*, 768*
Samvada-sukta, 43*
Samvada-Akbyana, *
3,
43*
santgraha, 614*
Samyag-buddha-lakfana-stotra
Samyaktva-kaumudi, 427 Sanatana, 664 Sandtana-gop&la-kdvya, 416 Sftnafcana Sarma, 751* See SaficI Sanchi, 731*. Sand eh a (alatpkdra) 536 ,
,
613
*
Sandhi-vaigrahika-mahapdtra, 564 Sanghilaka, 762 Sahgita-ketU'4rngdra-Wd-canta, 775 SaHjivani, 751* Sarikara Mi^ra, MM", 666* Sankara samhitd, 742* Sahkardbhyudaya, 772 Sankarftcarya, Gaudiya, 601* Rankar P. Paodjt, 653* gankba, xxv Sankhadbara, 496, 629 Sanku, 5 Sankuka or Amatya Sankuka, T21*, 302, 321*, 349, 523, 535*, 552, 680, 729, 730 Sanskrit College, 624 Sanskrit Chrestomatliie, 256*, 759 Sanskrit Drama, The, or 8. D., 11*, 43*,48*, 49*, 50*, 52*, 125*, 632*, 635*, 654*, 757* Sanskrit Lesibuch, 621*, 660* Sanskrit Poetesses, 416**, 417* Sanskrit Poems of Mayura, The, 168*, 659* See Poems of Mayura
Sansk^t Poetics,
7*. 11*,26*, 29*, 119*, 121*. 309*, 322*, 323*, 331*, 333*-36*, 370*-72*. 381*, 396*, 403*, 404*, 454*, 455*, 462*, 479*, 519*, 520*, 524*, 527*, 529*, 531*, 533*, 549*, 552*, 563*, 558*, 562*, 566 Sahitya Parisat, 372*, 604* Santpoort, 666* Snntrak^ita, cxvi
183*, 361*, 139*, 523*, 55]*, Sanskrit
Saptasati, c, 688 Sarabba (metre' 14* 1
,
Sarabboj of Tanjore, 186 Saiama, 43, 631 Sarasvati, Ivi, 327, 645 Sarasvati-Bhavana Studies, 326 Sarasvati-kanthamani, 538*, 757* Sarasvari-kanthdbharana, 17*, 211*. 241*. 435*. 551-53 Sarasvati-kanthdbharana-mdi]jana, 553* Sarasvati kanlkdbharana-tika, 553* Saraavatitirtba, 555 Sarasvati-stot'a, 762* Sarasvativjlasa Series, 343*, 344* Saiva, a nam* of Buddba, 527 Sarvacanta nataka, cxiii, 755 Sarvadaitana-sartigraha, 767 Sarvajfiamitra, 378 f
Sarvavarman,
ci, cr', ')3
Sarvavidyd-siddhdnta-vainana, 664* Sarvananda-n&ga, 337*, 618* Sarvananda, Vandyaghatlya, 413 Sarvdhga-sundarl, 666* Sarvdrthasiddhi, 74, 264*, 266 Sarvastivada, cv Sarvashvadin, 70, 73 Sa6a, 250 SaSadhara, 340*, 619* Sasandeha (alamkara) Safianka, 755 Sa&kala, 659* Satilekhd 392* Sa^iprabba, 349 Sa&vadana (metie), 13
Sassanian,
ci, cvii,
,
526, 534
INDEX tiatakas, of Amaru, Ixxxix, 155-02 , of Bana 158*, 166, 170-71, 172, 378 of Bhartrhan ;
16, 35, 155, 166, 161-65, 194, 367*, 401* of Mayuia, 155, 156*, 166, 170, 171, 172,'
;
378;
m
general
Ixiv,
Ixxix,
xcix,
157*
160,161,162,166,364, 367-72,399 400 646,659, 669, 671, 672,673 atapaflcdatka-ndmastotra, 614* Satapaftca6atka.stoira t 79, 613* Satapatha Brahmana, 138*, 518, 632 Satatloka-gita, 661 Satasloki. 675 $atarthakavya 767 '
,
Hatire or
Satiric
poem and
104, 197-99, 214, 215,
85,137*
play,
24b',
250, 252
253,
254,265,306,404-11,419, 438,481 492 493, 496 ?atpadi, 661
SatTU"parajaya'8vara--sa$(ra-sura Sattaka, 67, 458* Sattasal,
SaptasatT
740*
Hala. 15,
of
155
15C
157,391,659 Saliva, xlix
Satya'htn6candra, 4(>9, 769 Salyam, 681* Satyatapah-kathodaya, 338* fiaubhika, 11, 48, C36, 037, 640, 642 6auddhod;inl, 501
Saugandhikdharana, 467, 769 SaumilJa or SomiJa, 16, 101, 2ul, 757 Saunaka, xxv. 43*, 611* c, 6
s1
70*,
,
73,
24!
685
361
k
Saundarya-lahari, 660, 661 Sanraseni 'Prakrit), cxx, 49, 213*, 2 J*. 270* 276 ',537 Saurastra, 251 Saurindra M. Tagorc, 271' 4 621 Saiin-kathodaya, 338 Sautrantika, 72, 73 Savara, xix, xx Sadhana-paddhati, 664 Sagaradatta, 302 Sagara-kaumudi, i94, f89 Saxarika, Ixxxi, Ixxxii, 257 yabaeanka, 17*, 757* Sahasdhka-cainpu, 626 Sahajl of Tanjore, 486 Sahabiiddin, 626. Soe Sahabnddin GlKn V
,
J
Sahitya-darpana. 517, 521*, 523*, 524*, 525*, 512, 550*, 552*, 557', 562*. 563, 564, 566, 615, 662*, 687
Sahityadarpana-viVfti, 564 Sdhitya-kalpavall, 566 Sahitya kauwudi, 555, C56 Sahiiya-mimamsfi, 558
Sahitya-ratnakara, 765 S&hitya-sarvasva, 535* Sahitya sara, 566 Sahityasudhd, 561* 566
729,
742,
Sdmkhya-kdrtka, cxiv Sdmya ialamkdra), 539 Sdnanda-govinda, 666^
ftanti-parvdn [Mahabharata], xvn*, 105 Sanli-fataka, 401 Santi-vilasa, 403, 674 Sarabodhini, 556 Saradd-candTika, 292
Saradagama, 560
7J-76
613, 731
Sahttyadarpana-hcana, 564 Sahiryadarpana-prfibha 564 S ah ityadarp ana -\ippaiii, 564
U*, 331 Sakanibhari, 469, 476 Sakya-bhiksu, 252 Salatiirlya, 527 Salibhadra-carita, 344 Salioatha, 666 flalinl (metre), 12, 77*,'l96* Sahvahana, ci, 17*, 201* Sdlivahana-kathd, 424* Samaraja Diksita 370, 486, 500 Samanta Vilasrttradatta, 262 Samaveda 45, 240, 632, 767 Samdnya, 618 Samba, legend of, 169 Samba. paficatika, 3b2, 659 Sdmbopa-purdna, 659* Sam, Iranian story of, 169 ixvi, 72, 278, Sarnkhya, xix, 754
See Sancbi SaQcI, cvi, 635. Sandilya, 525* Sandilya-sutra-tfka, G64^ }5antanava, 519 Santideva, 81*, 675
$attrim$anmata. x\v
Saundarananda,
821
fiarada (script), 196, 390 Saradatanaya, Ixv, lxxx\*. 299, 302*, 494,
506*, 687 Sarada-tilaka (Bbanai, 490, 491, 492* Saradvata, xxxix, Ix, 225 same a* $aradvati-putra-i>r(ikaran(t>
Sdt-
putra-prakarana, 655 Sarahga-rahgadd, 662^ Sdra-samuccaya, 354^ Barasvalabhadra, 252 Sdraco/t, 730* Saravall, commentary, 741^s ^ardulavikildita (metrej.9, 12, 14 , 77*, 121* 158*, 159*. 168, 1TO*, 184*. 196\ 243*. 4 285*. 326*, 373, 382, 261*, 270*, 276 383, 400*, 403*. 410, 456, 461, 462* ,
Sariputra, 655
Sanputra-prakarana,
Ixxxviii,
73,
76-79,
655 fiarugadeva, 390*
garngadhara, 16, 414, 532* Sarngadhara-paddliati, 8*, 333*, 414, 496*. 535*, 740* ^arfigarava, xxxix, Ix, 145 Saingarava, author, 551 Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, 663 Sarvabbaunia-nagara 1 252
417*.
$a$trasiddhdnta'le$a-tika> 664* of Meghaduta, commentator Satvata, 751* Satakarni, cii See Hala Satavacii, Satavahana, ci,
hana
822
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE,
Satatapa, xxv
Sikharini fmetre), 9, 14*, 77*, 159* 196* 270*, 276*, 285*, 329, 372, 380, 883, 660* Siksft, 513
Sattvati (Vrtti), 63, 539
Sayana, Ixx'iii S. B. A., 646, 652*, 655* S B A. W.,47*, 52* S. Bay A., 666* Scberbatskoi, 629* Schmidt, 89*, 623*, 645
Siksd-dataka, 664* Siksapada, 254* Siksa-samuccaya 695 Sikfasatka, 663 Silahara (dynasty), 351
Schonberg, 618*
Silabhattarika,
Scbroeder, 393, 050, 651, 607 SchultbesB, 89* Schyler, 277*
Slladitya,255,428, 759 Sila-duta, 374* Silalin, 52*, 523, 635, 640 Sihlana, 401, 402, 674 Sikh Religion, The, 666* Simhabhupala, 525* Sinhalese, 621, See Sinhalese SirpbavarmaD, 254 Siinbavisnuvarma:), 765 Simhasana-dvatrirps'ika, 11*. 424
S. C.
,
Law, 262*
Sculpture, 625,664
S C. Vidyabhusl.an, 80*, 378 '-79* Scythians, xxii. See Saka R. D. Gajeiidragadkar, 741* Sea voyage, xxiv Stkhara, xx '
Selections from Inscriptions, I? 1 Select Specimens, 262*, 277 Y 646 Select Works of Samkaracftiya, ,
380*,
660*
>'
Sesbratnakara, 667*
Vyasavatsa, 741
See liavanti'vadha Sevyt-sevakopadesfi. 406, 675 Sexology, Ixxv
ftisupala,
Setubandha, cxv,
503,
504,
505,
See Chaya-na^aka ^ee Sahahnddm Ghori, 360.
637, 642, 653*. Gli or i
315, 364
Muhammad,
Shahpur
l
,
372, 566
I, cvii
,
Siddapur Edicts, cxxi
Siddbacandra,229* Siddhacandragani, 756'^ Siddha, poet, 189*, 259 Siddharaja, 768 Siddbaseoa Divakara, lix, 172*, 379 Siddhanta-taitvavindu, 664* Siddhartbaka, 269 Siddhi Narasiipha, 510* Siddhipriya Stotra, 338 Siddhopama, 518 Seiglin, 79* Sikh, 390
Sikbagdaka,
lix
>'
Sitavenga, 54* Sitihantha-vijayahavya, 764 Sitzungsbericlite d Berhnei Ahad, 76*. 849* J^iva, xxxi, xxxii, Ixxi, Kxx, xc, ciii, cv, cvii, cxiii, 50, 93, 128, 102, 107, 171, 179, 241, 258*-, 278, 319-21, 333.
629
xxxv, xlviii, 33, Shakespeare, xxxiv 147, 148, 154, 244. 248, 444, 651 Shemvanekar, Prof 753, 754 Shepherd's Calender, 123
(
of Ccdis, 18 .)
Sifya-httaisini, 751' Sifya-leKhat'RQ*-, 81
G. Kanhere, 661* 119" 501,
King
and
!
Situpala-vadha, 167,' 18H-, 1H9-94, 263S622, 023, 050*,
S. GoJdsch'nidt,
Shah,
Textus
Cinlia-vardbann
of
^esavfresvara, 565 Sefiadri Iyer, 371"
-19,
See
90.
180. 752.. See 133*, 185, Singhalese Singhabhupala, 331, 490*. See Sirnhabhiipala See Soiig Singing, Ivi, Ixxxiii, xviu. Siri-Palitta, 201*, 131 Sin Pulmnayi, 15
Sega Cintamani, 408
Shah Jahan,
89,
Sinhalese,
Sesagiri Sastr,, 320*, 390 Sesa Krfina, 437, 461
Sbahabuddin
Text,
Sindhn, 404 Sindhuraja (Paratnara), 349
Sesa, 521
Shadow-play, 47, 48,
f
Simplicior Sin, Ixxxix, C65*
Seringapatam, 773 Serge d' Olden berg, 81*
S.
416, 41 7
poet
Simile, 2, 14, 15, 24*, 34, 35, 39, 151,169*, 171, 193, 196, 221, 223, 236, 270, 329, 519 See R. Simou Simon, 158*.
Simplicior
Semetic, Ixvii See E. Senart Senart, 685, Senas (of Bengal), 390 Seneca, 141*
woman
141*,
3-W, 341, 352, 391, 393, 623, 627, 629, 030, 047, 048, 060-63 005, 728,741,742 Swadatta, 95*, 119*, 189*, 240*, 249*, 299*, 316*, 323*, 325*. 331*, 332*, 336*, 337*, 340*, 345*, 757 Swadasa, 421, 423, 424, 605 Sivalllarnava, 334, 630, 704 ^iva-mahimnali ~stotra, 3H1, 600 Sivanarayana-dasa, 511* Sivaprasad'Bhattacharjee, 661*
127^,219,
Sivapuri.248* Siva-rahasya, 742*, 743 4 Sivararna, 256*, 4B5, 756*, 759 ^ivararna Tripathin, 217*
tirtha, 396 $iva.sakti-siddhi,3M* 626 ^ivasirnba of Mithila, 426*
Sivaramananda
in,
cxv, 120*, 320-22, 685
508*,
INDEX fiivaji, 629 Sivaparadha-ksamapana-stotra, 380 Sivodaya, 338*
Sornauatba, 765
Somapala, 360, 677 Somapala-vtlasa, 36U,
749
183*, 119*-21*, 159*, 165*. 178% 202*, 208*, 209*, 217*. 211*. 246% 271*, 286*, 299*, 300*, 3)*, 322*, 324*, 326* 831*, 335*, 337', 361*, 370*, 371*, 381*, 391% 396*, 398% 404*, 413*, 415*, 135*, 439*, 454*, 462*, 464*, 505*, 507*, 519*, 52o*, 524*, 529*, 531% 533*, 548*, 549% 552*, 553*, 558*. 562*, 566, 611, See De 618, 619, 656*, 663*, 666*.
b4% 185*
Sophocles, Ixvin
Spandapradlpika, 662 South or Southern India, civ, 400 438, 467, 489, 653*, 720 Southern Guzeiat, 766 Southern Paficatantra, R J South Travancore, 776
248*, 323*, 363*, 403", 455'. 5'23
K. Ramananda Sasiri, 248* Kuppusvami, 298* S. Lefmann, 83* Slesa, 33*, 218*, 221, 334, 335, 337, 33 J, 340*, 341, 342, 359, 526, 530, 534*, 536, See Paionomasia and 563, 571, 576*. (
Pun.
137,
13, 71, 77 % 159*. 9, 165*. 168, 169, 170, 181*. 196*, 261*, 270% 276*, 285% 3-2',), 378, 380,103*. 456, 461, 659
Sragdhara, (metre),
Slesa-kavya, 335, 337 -42 S. Levi, 1, 44*, 70*, 79*, 92*, 93% 95", g ee Levi 101*. 612*, 614-s, GGG Sloka (metre), xxi, Ixiv, 2, 9, 12, 79, 93, 91
Sramana, 422* S. Eangacanar, 703
96,120, 121% 131, 150, 167, 184*, 195, 243*, 327,
45,
270% 275', 285", 3t(% 329% 33f> ,314,359, HV2,
Srautl, 519
323, 103,
tf
Sloka-varttika, 12 Sinaita Paftcopasaka, 391 Smith, cix*. 612, 613, 755
See V. A. Smith
xxii, \xiii, xxiv, xxvi, \\vni, \xix, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxvi, XXMX, \1, \\\ii, Ixii, xoii 290, Ml xcv, xcix, cxviii, 693. See Dharmatastni 16S, 212, 17:"), SaDke-charin, Snake doctor, 491. See Jafigulika
Stnrti,
,
S N. Tadpatrikar, 059* Sobhana, 338, 379 f
,
766
Solecism, 8*, 107, 209, 343*, 72J
Solomon, 387 lix,
278, 559, 631
Somadatta, Prince, 78, 210* Somadeva, 89, 90, 96, 98, 99, 230*, 231, 24J 244*, 280, 694, 696
421,
422%
423,
.
455, 688-92,
Somadeva, Calukya, 341 Somadeva, dramatist, 469, 479* Somadeva Sun, 343*, 432*. 435-36 Somagiri, 387
xivi
S. K Dhavanidbara, 741* SrtQopal Basu Malhh Ltctutes UH Vedanta 'Philosophy, 3SO* ^Jibhutuaja, 535^ See Caitanya Srlcaitanya, 662, 663 Siid-ilta, 340*, 624* Sridama canta, 486, 500 SiTdevI, 340 ^ridhara, author of Kdoyapiahasn-iiveha, 556 STldharadaaa, 390, 101, 418
M, Paranjpe, 256*
Sodcjhala, 324*, 431-3 2, 455 Soka vmodana, 614*
rat? i/a,
^ravasti,'201*, 212,321
406, 123, 424
Sloha-samgfahti, 692
Som,
403%
Sovani, Prof., 520*, 540*, 513Spenser, 230,234, 481 See ,1. S. Speyer Speyer, 82*, 99^, 265*. SpJiota, theory, 520, 527, 605, 60S Sports, Ivi, 20, 491 S. P. Pandit or Pandit 125*, 129% 132*, 136*, 138*.278*, 279 '% 361* Spring festival^ 645 Sraddhotpadasntra, cv
551*, 615*,
S.
S.
,
(
4
S.
324, 404,
677
Soinaprabhacarya, Jama, 342, 362*, 37u, 675, 767 Somananda, 381, 66 L Somes vara, 332, 350*, 362, 466* SomeBvara, commentator, 547-49, 555, 556 SomeSvaradeva, 678 SomeSvara II, 351, 677 SomeSvara ol Kalyana, 341, 769, 770 See Sanmilia Somila. Song, Iviii, lix, 20, 44, 45, 47, 51,62, G7, 139*, 387, 510, 749. See Music
Sita, poetess, 429
Sftarama, KavlSvara, 126 % 127*, 741 < Skandagupta, cxii, 179, 233 Skanda-purana, 334, f-30, 757 S. K. Belvalker, 107*. 277* S. K. Chatlcrjee, 394*, 497* S. K. De, xi, xii,7*, 8*, 26-, 29", 48*,
410*',
Somaprabha, 342*
Slta, xlix, Ixxviii, cxxviii, 40, 114, 131, 185% 187, 247, 286-89, 292-3, 300, 303, 824, 331, 374, 396, 429, 451, 456-57, 463-65, 504, 695, 598, 647, 731, 735, 736, 738, 74ti,
196,
323
Srldhara Press, 418^ ^ildhara Sarasvati, 664 Sndharasena, 528, 615 rldharasvamm, 615*, 660* ^rigadita, 467 Sriharsa, Iviu, cxvi, 325-30, Sol, 129, 553, 625, 626, 627, 629, 666, 681, 758 Suhirapandita, 325, 625 Snkanfha Bhatta, 661 grikantlia-cariia, 19, 322-23, 350*, 38'2*, 557*. 558, 627. 628, 761
Srikantlia-stava, 558
Srikaniha,
title of
Bhavabhuti, 278, 29S
!rik5,nta-nn^ra, 6G6* See Krs^a Siikrsna, 774.
419,
824
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE 391*
Statuary
Sun, 773 See Gild See Bhdgavata
Srimad-bhagavad-gita, 774,
Srimadbhagavata, 385, 620.
,
', 14*, 77* Suvarnfikfi, 613*
T. A. Gopinabh Rao, 843*, 418 See Rabindranath Tagore, xxvii. Tagore Law Lectures, 240* Tailaka, 553*
Suvrata, 355
Tailai^a, 371, 372*, 383, 565, 617, 627
826
HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Tailapa, king, 351 Taine, liv Taittirlya Sakha (Yajurveda), 278 Takakuau, 71*, 656*. See J. Takakusu, 256* Tale, 88, 42, 53, 72, 80, 81, 82, 83-100, 110, 112,116, 155, 172, 195, 198, 200, 205, 206, 211, 212, 214, 215, 216, 220, 227, 230, 231, 234, 235, 261, cU4, 420-29. Tales from Sanskrit Dramatists, 246* Tamil, Ixxviii, 92*. 680, 398*, 704, 705 Tanasukhram Manasukhram Tripathi, 197* Tangyur, 762
TaDJore, 333, 334, 343*. 344*, 361, 417, 464, 465*, 472, 486, 633*, 567, 680, 668, 679* Tanjore Catalogue, 335*, 338*, 341% 396*. 417*, 487* Tantra, viii, Ixxv, 88, 166, 377*, 379, 468, 702, 707 Tantrakhydna, 704 '
Tantrdkhydyika, xiv, 15, 84, 88, 89, 90, 162*, 200, 263*, 614, 694*, 698-707 Tantraloka, 12 Tantrdloka-viveka, 558 Tantrik, cxv, 877, 379, 458, 661 Tan vl (metre), 13
TapatI, 466
Tapati-samvarana, 465, 7'J() Tarala, poet, 454 Tarala commentary, 561 Tarahgadatta, 802, 686 Tarangalold, 201* Tarahgavati, 201, 431, 754 Tataauia (Prakrta), cxxiv Taitva-bo 465*, 166% 479", 518% 550% f51, 552. 558*, 620 627% 630* 6f> r. 662', 663 *. 717, 721. 722, 759, 765 767,771 771.775 Tnvarga, xxv, !\\xvi, l\\\i\, xvui 531" 561,562, 615. Trivedi, 526, r^fl, ,
1
,
s
(
]