HISTORICAL KAVYAS IN SANSKRIT

  

         History as a separate subject has not been dealt with in Sanskrit literature. Indians as a class did not possess the historical sense as it is understood by the westerners. No doubt they have described the great exploits of their national heroes like Rama, Krishna, Arjuna etc. But they have not recorded faithfully the various events that took place in their lives. Yet there are some writers who have recorded some historical events in their works. But they have done it in their own way. Their main purpose was to write MahaKavyas according to the rules and praise their patrons, while historical events were treated only as secondary matter. Therefore the Mahakavyas which recorded historical can be said to be one of the sources of the history of ancient India. Many of these works do not give correct chronology of events. That was due the fact that many of the poets were patronised by the Kings and hence the poets wanted to please their patrons. The lack of historical sense among the Indians is also attributed to their philosophy of life as insignificant. The inscriptions such as those of ‘va%saBai+ Éd`Qaamana\ hirsaona: (Vatsabhatti, Rudradhaman, Harisena) and other authors record certain historical events. But most of these inscriptions belong to Gupta period. Among the writers of historical Kavyas Bana, Bilhana and Kalhana are popular.

Bana’s Harshacaritam:

         The first important work of a decidedly historical nature in Sanskrit literature is ‘hYa-cairtma\’ (Harshacaritam) of ‘baaNa:’ (Bana) belonging to the first half of the 7^th C.A.D. We have in the ‘hYa-cairtma\’ (Harshacaritam) a combination of history and romance so that we cannot take the work as purely historical. In the preface to the book Bana has paid his tribute to his predecessors in literature and left us a record of his literary antecedents. The historical value of Harshacaritam is attested by Hieun-Tsang, the Chinese traveller who had elaborated some of the details found in the course of his travels in India during the same period. Bana gives his autobiography and later describes an account of his ancestors. Then he describes the dynasty of Harsha tracing it from Pushpabhooti. It abruptly comes to an end with the rescue of princess Rajyasri. Some are of the opinion that Bana was snatched away by death before he could complete his book. But the most reasonable explanation is the defeat of Harsha by Pulakesin II later on, accounted for the discontinuation of the work. Though the total amount of historical material gathered from the book is meagre and though there is intermingling of fact and fancies the book is one of the important sources for the history of Harshvardhana of Kanauj.

Bilhana’s Vikramankadevacaritam

         ‘ivaËmaa=\kdovacairtma\’ is an important work in the field of historical Kavyas. It is Kashmir that has contributed substantially to the historical literature in Sanskrit through the great poets like Bilhana, Kalhana etc. Bilhana was a contemporary of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya the 6^th of Kalyan who lived between 1076 and 1127A.D. This Vikrama bestowed many gifts on the poet who in turn composed this work in 17 cantos describing the career of his patron. The poem treats elaborately with the fortune of the Chalukyas. It begins with a brief and stray account of some of the predecessors of the Chalukya Dynasty and then narrates the story of Vikrama’s accession to the throne after dethroning his older brother Someshwara and of his war with his own younger brother Jayasimha. The supernatural element plays a predominant role in the story and the intervention of Shiva in the affairs of the hero is of frequent occurrence. The historical material occupies only a portion while the bulk of the work is devoted to the description of seasons, the landscape and such other items of poetic interest. The poet’s style is fairly pleasing and he avoids long compounds. The poet is a master of graphic description of nature. Towards the close of the poem the poet has given an account of himself and his family. Bilhana has also written ‘caaOrpHcaaiSaka’(Chaurapanchasika) a lyric, and ‘kNa-saundrI’ (Karnasundari), a drama.

 

                                              Kalhana’s Rajatarangini

          ‘rajatri=\gaNaI’ is perhaps the greatest of historical Kavyas. Kalhana’s father ‘campk’ (Champaka) was a minister in the court of King ‘hYa-:’ of Kashmir. This enabled the historians to probe into the happenings of royal families. Like a true historian he has given dispassionate and complete account of the Kashmirian kings from the very early period. He had to rely on the local traditions for the history of early period and therefore much value cannot be attached to the dates given by him. But he gives an account on the contemporary Kashmirian kings and faithfully records the historical facts. But here too there are many episodes, which are not believable under ordinary circumstances. Gods and demons are frequently described as interfering in the affairs of Kashmir and in the fortune of its rulers.    Kalhana was a moralist. He wanted to present historical facts in such a way that they could educate the readers. He has faithfully recorded the drawbacks of kings and ministers.

            During his period he found the country not being ruled well. The soldiers were greedy and the priests were playing prominent roles and the people were pleasure loving. Kalhana has taken an unbiased attitude towards the happenings in the royal household. Hence his work is of very high historical value. Among the sources may be mentioned an early chronicle by name ‘naIlamazpuraNama\’ (Neelamatha Puranam) of Kashmirian history.

            He belongs to the 11^th century AD. He must have lived up to the 1^st half of the 12^th century AD as he describes the history of Kashmir up to the reign of Jayasimha of the 1^st half of the 12^th century AD. Poet Jona Raja and after him his student Shrivara continued the subject of Kalhana’s poem up to their own ages.