SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF AVANTIVARMAN

 

          Among the kings of ancient Kashmir, AvantiVarman, who has established the Utpala dynasty in 855 A.D., was the most magnificent.  He has overthrown Karkotaka kings of Kashmir.  He was the patron of many renowned poets among them Ratnakara and Sivasvamin were praise worth.

          Ratnakara, being a protégé in the court of AvantiVarman composed a long major court epic titled Haravijayam in 50 cantos with 4000 slokas.  He had the titles Raajaanaka, Vageesvara, Vidyaadhipati.  The poem having the mark “ratna”, exhibits the author’s skill in Sabdalankara i.e., figurative poetry.  The poem is valuable for the information it contains on dancing.  The poem describes the slaying of Andhaka-Asura by the Lord Siva.  The description of love sports, gathering of armies and discussions of politics are all long and the style is harsh and over-worked.

          Another poet Sivasvamin, better known as Bhatta Sivasvamin, the contemporary of Ratnakara was a protégé of the same king Avanti-Varman. His poem titled Kappinabhyudayam in 20 cantos describes how a king of the south Kappina by name threatened to attack king Prasenajit of Sraavasti.  Later Kappina was converted into Buddhism.  The author avails himself of the opportunity to deal with the matters that require to be treated in a Mahakavyam.

SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF CHALUKYA KING

The early Chalukyas, sworn enemies of the Pallavas of Kanchi, rose to power in Karnataka of the Kanarese-speaking country in the 600 A.D. and had their first capital Vatapi, modern Badami in the Bijapur district of Bombay Presidency.

The real founder of the dynasty of Vatapi was Pulikesin I, who signalized his accession to power by the performance of the horse-sacrifice.  He has defeated the Pallava king Mahendra Varman I.  The Pallava king, Narasimha Varman I, son and successor of Maahendra  Varman I, retrieved the disasters of his father’s reign, inflicting crushing defeats on Pulikesin and destroying his capital Vatapi.

Then the Chalukya power was revived by Vikramaditya I, son of Pulikesin II, who renewed the struggle against his southern enemies.  His exploits were emulated and even surpassed by his great-grandson, Vikramaditya II also called Chalukya Vikramaditya or Vikramanka Deva, who actually entered the Pallava capital in the 11^th Century A.D. 

The renowned poet Bilhana adorned the court of Chalukya Vikramaditya.  Bilhana was born and educated in Kashmir but he came to the south and became a court poet Chalukya Vikramaditya of Kalyan. He has described the life of his patron Chalukya Vikramaditya in Vikramanka Deva Charitam with 17 cantos.  His account of King Vikramanka Deva and his predecessors was not completed.  In the last canto the poet gives an account of himself and his family.  There is more good poetry than history in this work.  Bilhana’s style is graceful and his descriptions are graphic.

Bilhana has also composed an interesting erotic poem titled ChauraPanchasika of about 50 verses describing the love sports enjoyed by the poet in the company of a beautiful princes with whom he had secret intimacy.  The charming verses are in the form of recollection of the pleasures he had enjoyed in the company of his beloved, by hearing which stricken by the compassion, the king ordered to release him. In the 19^th Century A.D., this work was translated into Tamil by BharatiDasan.

To the authorship of Bilhana, is attributed the Natika type of play titled Karnasundari dealing with the marriage of Kamadeva TrailokyaMalla of Anhilvad in his advanced age with Princess MiyanallDeviof Karnataka.

SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF MAHENDRA VARMAN

          Some of the occupants of the throne were themselves scholars and poets of no mean repute.  Among the royal authors like HarshaVardhana, SundaraPandya, BallalaSena etc., MahendraVarman of Kanchi also deserves Special mention as they left works that are studied even at the present day.

          In this respect, the MahendraVarman also called VicitraCitta= “curious-minded”, in the south, set examples that were initiated by some of the ablest among their successors.

          The MattavilasaPrahasanam was written by Mahendravarman, the Pallava king who was also called MahendraVikraman I in 600-630 A.D.  It is a variety of Prahasana among the ten types Dramas in Sanskrit.  In this Prahasana variety, in which comic element dominates.  Heritics, servants, libertines and degraded persons take part in it.  It is a farce depicting the degraded condition of life led by the adherents of Buddhism and of Kapalika and Pasupata sects of Saivism.  In this work the author describes the city life of Kanchi. Karpata is mentioned as the author of a manual for thieves and a hint to the story of the Kiratarjuniyam of Bharavi are found in this work.

          Dandin the famous poet was patronized by this king Mahendra-Varman in his court.  He was author of many and different genres in Sanskrit literature.  His Gadya Kavyam titled DasaKumaraCaritam is a prose work of considerable merit.  The simple style and the political divisions of India mentioned in it suggest that the work could not have been later than the 7^th century A.D.  Dandin is famous for his simple and graceful style – “Dandinah padalaalityam” is popular saying.

          He is also the author of an Alankara work called Kavyadarsa.  Tradition attributes three works to Dandin “Trayo dandi- prabandhaasca trishu lokeshu visrutaah”.

SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF SUNDARAPANDYA

     

      Sundarapandya also called SundaraPandyadeva ruled the Madurai in Tamil Nadu region in the 500 A.D.  He was the author of the didactic poetry titled “NitiDviShashtika”. 

According to historians, this NitiDvi-Shashtika of 116 verses in the Arya metre composed by SundaraPandya of Madurai, was the earliest work of didactic literature about which some definite information is available.

          Janasraya of 600 A.D., quotes from this work on his Chando-viciti and the great Mimamsaka KumarilaBhatta  of 650 A.D., quotes from other lost works of SundaraPandya.  Therefore his date can be fixed about 500 A.D.  Sankaracarya cite Sundarapandya’s passage but the texts from which they must have been taken are now lost.

          Though many SundaraPandyas are known to South Indian history, the Simmanur inscription of 750 A.D., mentions one sundaraPandya as proficient in all Sanstras that “Samasta saastrarnavaKarnadharo yadudbhavah SundaraPandyaNaamaa”.  He was said to have been an ancestor of Arikesarin and was assigned to about 650 A.D.

SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF VEMABHUPALA

VemaBhupala also called Peddakomati VemaBhupala ruled the mandala called Addanki in Andhra region in the 1403-1420 A.D.  There many poets were patronised by him.  Among them there was a renowned poet by name Vamana-Bhatta Bana who contributed to the Sanskrit literature through his different genres.

Vamanabhattabana was the son of Kotiyajvan and Ommayi and his grandfather was Varadagnichit belonging to the first half of the 15^th Century A.D.  He has written two mahakavyas namely 1. Nalabhyudaya with eight cantos and 2. RaghuviraCharitam with thirty cantos; and four plays namely 1. Kanaklekha Kalyanam with four acts a Natika, 2. SrngaraBhushana-Bana with one act, 3. ParvatiParinayam with five acts and 4.BanasuraVijayam with five acts; one lyric or KhandaKavya HamsaSandesam one aakhyaayika type GadyaKavya titled Veera-NarayanaCharitam or VemaBhupalaCharitam a historical prose romance with four Chapters and two lexico-graphical works namely         1. SabdaCandrika and SabdaRatnakara. 

VamanaBhattaBana described the life of his patron, the king Vemabhupala.  It is in imitation of Kalidasa’s Raaghuvamsam and AbhijnaanaSakuntalam.  Bana’s influence is found at every stage.  The author claims a rank by following the style of Subandhu, Bana, and KaviRaja.

History professors Dr.R.C. Majumdar, Dr. H.C.Raychudhuri and Dr. Kalikinkar Datta mentioned combine that ‘conditions under Turko-Afgans, the period was not entirely barren of important compositions in Sanskrit, religious as well as secular.  The more important plays of the time were HammiraMadaMardana by JayaSinghSuri, PratapaRudraKalyanam by Vidyanatha and ParvatiParinaya of VamanaBhattaBana were composed in Sanskrit.

SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF LAKSHMANASENA OF BENGAL

     In the early 1026 A.D a king of Sena sect, by name SaamanthaSena overthrown in Bengal and established a principality in Western Bengal.  After him came HemanthaSena. VijayaSena, son of HemanthaSena, founded the sovereignty by vanquishing kings of Gaudas, Paalas and the neighbouring princes of North Bihar, Assam and Oriss.  He has laid the foundation of a city VijayaPuram in Western Bengal and a city VikaramaPuram in Eastern Bengal.

The son and successor of VijayaSena was BallaalaSena, a name famous in Bengali legend as the reputed founder of Kulinism, a system of nobility.  He was also credited with the authorship of two notable Sanskrit works, the DaanaSaagarah and the AdbhutaSaagarah.

King LakshmanaSena, son of BallaataSena ruled the Bengal dynasty in 1169 A.D.  On coming to the throne, LakshmanaSena distinguished himself as a conqueror and a patron of learning.  Among the six renowned poets who graced his court namely Umapatidhara, Jayadeva, Sarana, Govardhana, Sruthidhara, and Dhoyi.  The most eminent were Jayadeva, the author of GitaGovindam and Dhoyi, the author of the PavanaDutam.

Jayadeva was the author of lyric GitaGovindam in twelve cantos.   Gitagovindam also known as Ashtapadi forms a blend of lyrical and musical elements. Though there are 3 characters namely Krishna, Radha and a friend of Radha. There is no dialogue in the poem. We have only monologues in the poem addressed by one of the characters to a silent listener. Each canto begins and ends with some stanzas in the usual classical metre and the portions, which are in the form of songs set to prescribed tunes, are introduced between them. These songs are generally composed of 8 musical lines and each song is known as Ashtapadi.   The book on the whole consists of 12 chapters or 24 Ashtapadis. The work describes the love of Krishna and Radha and depicts its various stages like the yearning, expectancy, disappointment, estrangement and reconciliation ending in ultimate joy of their union. The book has always been popular on account of the blending of literary, devotional, musical and mystic elements in it. The book has been commented on by many scholars in our country and translated into English by Edwin Arnold. Like Kalidasa’s ‘maoGadUtma\’ (Meghadhootam) among the erotic lyrics, the ‘gaItgaaoivandma\’ has given rise to number of such compositions. Many poets of the later ages wrote on the same model.

          Dhoyi was another eminent poet in the court of the king LakshmanaSena.  He wrote Pavanadutam describing the love message sent to king LakshmanaSena by a Gandharva maiden Kuvalayavati.  It contains 104 stanzas.  It describes a city called Yayatinagari on the bank of the river Mahanadi.  It contains an interesting description of the Sena capital.

           Rai-Lakhmaniya usally mentioned and identified with LakshmanaSena in the history that he had to flee from Nadia possibly to Eastern Bengal, to a place near Dacca  where the Sena power survived for more than a half century, before the advancing arms of Malik Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad Khaliji towards the close of the 12^th  or early in the 13^th century. Like his father Ballaala Sena, LakshmanaSena was also known for his lavish generosity.

SANSKRIT IN THE REIGN OF YASOVARMAN

           Yasovarman the king of Kanauj ruled in the first part of 8^th Century A.D.   There were two famous poets by name VakpatiRaja and BhavaBhuti patronised by him, in his court.

Vakpatiraja has written a historical poem in Sanskrit named GaudaVadham.  Actually he composed at first in Prakrit language titled Gaudavaho, later it was tran-scripted into Sanskrit.  It describes the defeat of a Gauda prince from the hands of the poet’s patron, the king Yasovarman.  In this poem, VakpatiRaja recorded that the oppressed Earth sought support of Yasovarman for her own safety as well as for that of the Dharma; and that he like Lord Varaha protected both. “Iti sruyate esha kila sareeratvari samsthitam bahusah prathyakshameva deveem pruthiveem pulakayati peedaasu”. In Nalanda inscription too, Yasovarman is described as an illustrious protector of the world “Khyato yo lokapalah”.  The poet left this work incomplete probably because of the defeat and death of his patron Yasovarman in 736 A.D. at the hands of Lalitaditya of Kasshmir.

Bhavabhuti a dramatist and elder contemporary of VakpatiRaja, was the author of three plays MahaviraCharitam, MalatiMadhavam and UttaraRamaCaritam.  From the prologues of these plays it is learnt that his name was Srikantha and that he got the title Bhavabhuti out of devotion of Siva. He was a native of Padmapura in the Vidarbha country. He was the son of Nilakantha and Jatukarni and the grandson of BhattaGopala. He was of Kashyapa Gotra and belonged to the Taittiriya branch of the Krishna YajurVeda. He was deeply learned in rhetoric, Upanishads, Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta and ritualistic lore. His preceptor was one J`nanaNidhi.

Mahaviracaritam in seven acts is the first play of Bhavabhuti. It deals with the life of Rama from his marriage with Sita till his coronation. Ravana sends an envoy to Janaka seeking the hand of Sita. But he is disappointed by Rama’s marriage with Sita. At the instigation of his minister Malyavan, Surpanakha appears in Mithila in the guise of Manthara, the servant of Kaikeyi, demanding Rama’s exile to the forest and Valin attacks Rama who steps into Kishkindha. The wordy duel between Rama and Parasurama is unduly long and mars the effect of the play. It is held that the drama, which Bhavabhuti wrote up to the sloka 46 Act IV, was continued by one Subrahmanya. No reason is however advanced to show what made Bhavabhuti stop abruptly in Act IV.

Malatimadhavam is a Prakarana in ten acts depicting the course of love between Madhava and Malati, respectively son and daughter of the ministers in two different countries. The two ministers are thick friends. Side by side is depicted the growth of love between Makaranda and Madayantika, friends of Madhava and Malati. There are many beautiful but detached scenes. Makaranda dresses himself in the garb of a woman and marries one Nandana who was promised the hand of Malati. He saves Madayantika from the attack of a tiger which incident creates love in them. Malati was twice kidnapped by a Kapalika woman to be offered to the deity but was saved by Madhava on the first occasion and on the second by an associate of Kamandaki a Buddhist nun who took interest in the welfare of Malati and Madhava and helped in getting them married.

In the seven acts of the Uttararamacaritam, Bhavabhuti depicts the story of of the UttaraKanda of the Ramayana. He was influenced by the Kundamala of Dinn`aga, Act II of the Abhijn`anasakuntalam and Venisamhara. The reunion of the lovers is effected by the introduction of a small scene (antarnatika) of the epic story. This play is more a dramatic poem than a drama proper.

Bhavabhuti’s outlook of life is very serious. That is why he has made the love Rama and Sita and of Malati and Madhava appeal more directly with a realistic touch than that of Dushyanta and Sakuntala. Therefore his plays have no place for humour and consequently Vidushaka character is not found in any of his plays. Self-effacement and self-sacrifice characterised his outlook on life and therefore the same is found reflected in his characters.

Heroism dominates the Mahaviracaritam, love the Malatimadhavam and pathos the Uttararamacaritam. The second mentioned is the only where all other sentiments have their due place. Bhavabhuti was earliest dramatist to give prominence to the Karuna rasa in a drama. It is even said that he has excelled not only others but his own self in this play.  ‘Karunyam Bhavabutireva tanute’ and ‘Uttare ramacarite Bhavabutir visishyate’. Bhavabhuti seems to suggest a synthesis of the setiments culminating in Karuna.