To , *

tTbe IRo^al Hsiatfc

of Greed Britain and Ireland,

THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED

As an humble contribution to its admirable work
of Oriental Research.

§ AN3KRIT is the name given to the ancient literary Ian-
guage of India. In it are written the ancient, scriptures
of the Vedic and the Puranic religion. It occupies the
same position within the bounds of the Indian continent, as
Latin and Greek do in the Western world. All have been
the independent fountain-heads of many later offshoots
in the form of vernaculars and all have been the standards
for imitation and assimilation. The sciences of Comparative
Philology and Mythology owe their origin to what has been
termed c the Discovery of Sanskrit.’ The affinity that exists
among the various Indo-Aryan languages has greatly
helped to unravel the past history of man. “To the
Sanskrit, the antiquity and extent of its literary docu¬
ments, the transparency of its grammatical structure, the
comparatively primitive state of its accent-system and
thorough grammatical treatment it has early received at the
hands :of native scholars* must ever secure the foremost
place in the comparative study of Indo-Aryan researches.”

The history of Sanskrit affords considerable scope for a
study of the growth* of language. It presents distinct
varieties of speech which are linked together exactly as
Modern English is with the Anglo-Saxon. The most
ancient form is that composing the text of the Rig Veda
Samihta. Consisting of ten books, it was the work of

different rishis, probably of various periods and transmitted
by oral tradition in their families. Despite the minute
distinctions in the language of the Rik Samhita, we may
for all practical purposes treat the Vedic variety of Sans¬
krit as a compact dialect. Prominently, this dialect presents
some peculiarities of form and usage, which we shall Sum

up below/

(i) The nominative plural of nouns ending in ^ is

as well as as or ^T*j the

instrumental being or 2^5 j /

(ii) The nominative and the vocative dual andplural

of nouns in^f not rarely end in®iT af M*Wl TMW
*T5RT ficTTR; j

(iii) The instrumental singular of feminine nouns in

f is occassionally formed by lengthening the
vowel as Midi and fidT; ;

(iv) The locative singular termination is often elided

as 5 MTrr^;

(v) The vowel cases of nouns in 3“ are formed by

ordinary rules of euphonic combination as
or and the instrumental by affixing

WT or MT or as or

(vi) The dative of the personal pronouns ends in ^

as 3^ or

(vii) The parasmipada first person plural termination

is qfa as PfWWflt, and of the third
person plural is ^ or Td as or ^9*

(viii) The cT of the atmanepada terminations is often
' dropped as and instead of there

IX

•(ix) In the place of the imperative second person
plural, there are cT, cTff, ^T*T and cTIcJ as |T%cI,
#Tgff and ^fcTF^

<x) Eight different forms of the mood ^ signifying
condition, are everywhere abundant as SHIT
cTiRqg;

<xi) Roots are not restricted to particular conjugations
and at the caprice of the Rishi the same comes
to more than one class ;

<xii) The infinitive suffixes are %, W'T, cfet an( j

^ and RT^Tcft; the

accusatives of some nouns are treated as
infinitives governed by STfj, as .

the terminations cft^ and occur whe( }
combined with as T^RcTT; or j

the potendal participles are denoted by the
suffixes and ^ as ^Sciq, W^JTTf,

and *fi#»$ the indeclinable past ends
in as some forms as qfj^j are also

met with,

{xlii) A variety of verbal derivatives as Mkl 0 handsome ),
and {product) are frequent.

(xiv) A large number of words which have become
obsolete or lost their significance in later
Sanskrit are everywhere abundant as
33 and SpffftT

These peculiarities are noted because these are the
most frequent and the most salient. Many others are
mentioned by Panini, which the small compass of this

X

sketch cannot classify. Nor do they admit of any syste¬
matic arrangement. The Vedic dialect is the first record
of the Sanskrit tongue, from which by processes of phonetic
decay and natural elision the later language has been
perfected.

The Brahmanas of the Rik and the Yajus present the-
second stage in the development. Many of the peculiar
words had already become obsolete, the declensions had
approached mostly the classical grammar. The roots have
no indiscriminate conjugation. The subjunctive is almost
gone out of use. The indeclinable past and the gerundial
infinitive end in and ^; verbal forms of all moods and
tenses are seen in abundance. Still there are the touches
of, the vedic relationship and archaisms are not rare:—

(i) Some feminine nouns have common forms for the-

dative and the genitive, as tJT*T 5i r ;

(ii) The «T of the third person is often dropped as

before, as ^cTT OTFTmTST ;

(iii) Some of the aorist forms do not follow the rules

of Panini, a r ^ 3!W 3?ciT:; ,

(iv) Some ntiqauated words occur as fy shaft)

FTSTcf ( referee) ** 375 ^ prosperous).

The Aitereya Brahmana quotes some gathas which are
obviously more archaic than the rest of the work. Notwith¬
standing these irregularities, the Brahmanas are “the best
representatives extant of the verbal portion of that lanr-
guage of which Panini writes the grammar, though he did

XI

not mean these when he spoke of the bhasha” The gradual
and perhaps rapid progress in the symmetry and simplicity
of the language has still to be accelerated by the work of
later authors and their writings furnish an ample illustra¬
tion of the next stage of linguistic development.

Yaska's Nirukta forms the intermediate link between the
Vedic and the non-Vedic literature. It is not devoid of
archaic expression, for we meet with such phrases as
1 *5n*FcT: ’ {unable to teach) and WTW

{invested with sovereignty ). But we have no- clue to the
dawn of a change of style from simplicity to complexity.
To the same period in the history of Sanskrit belongs
Paninu His Ashtadhyayi is based on the grammar of
the bhasha . No language has survived to us that literally
represents Panini’s standard of dialect. Perhaps the later
Brahmanas are the only best representatives. At any rate
there is no portion of the existing Sanskrit literature that
accurately represents Panini’s Sanskrit, as regards the verbs
and the nominal derivatives. Probably his grammar had
for its basis the vernacular language of his day. Yaska
and Panini stand to us the authorities on record of that
form of the language which immediately followed the purely
Vedic stage.

Times had advanced, and with it the language.
Paninas bhasha could no longer stand stationary. The
operation of the concurrent causes of linguistic progress
had by the days of Katyayana and Patanjali modified
Panini’s denotation and introduced new changes in the

-grammar Of the language or in the scope of the aphorisms.
Katyayana's Vartikas and P atari] alis Mahabhashya are
-devoted to the proper interpretation of the sutras and to
the apt introduction of the missing links. If to Katyayana’s
eyes 10,000 inaccuracies are discernible in Panini, the only
explanation must be that to Panini they were not inaccura¬
cies, but by Katyayana’s time the language had progressed
and necessitated a fresh appendix or erratum in Paninas
.grammatical treatise. The period of intervention must
have been sufficiently long to allow old grammatical forms
^o become obsolete and even incorrect and words and their
-meanings to become antiquated and even ununderstanda-
•able. We may advantageously note a few of those promi¬
nent charges:— ^

(i) Panini in a special rule says that fcTC has

for its neuter in the Vedas. Obviously he in¬
tended to exhaust the list. Katyayana has to
add to it;

(ii) Panini, when he says ^1,

would imply that each form has no other sense
than that of a bird; but Katyayana adds that
both the forms are optional in the sense of
* birds/ while in any other sense they represent
separate words;

(iii) The vocative singular of neuter nouns ending in

such as is but Katyayana would
add an optional ;

(iv) Some feminine formations are not noticed by

Panini, which Katyayana is forced to allow, as

wraKr and aqrsqpft.

I

xih

Katyayana substitutes for it

(-> ™e d t/e

sr^s ~

■t*. Jy special attention. This cannot b
said of Panini. Many of his words
ed in the later language as >)

‘ . (, bargain ), {priest).

To sum up : ■ In Panini's time a good many wot*’ *mi

. „,wh afterwards became obsolete,,

expressions were current which a , 3 time and

verbal forms were commonly u=ed to K y y
some gtammauca. forms were »f d

latterwhichdtdmotextst in Pa

therefore is founded .on the l u p

as illustrated by the epic and poetic literature, though he

gi.es occasional sanction to the archaisms of Pamm on the

principle of.titerary tolerance. Patanjali shows but few
forms traryihg from. Katyayana and his treatise marks n
stage in the growth of the language.

Hefe then the Sanskrit language had assumed a shape,
true to its name. The later epics, poems and dramas do
not show any progress in the grammar, structure ^
signification of the language, though as regards style, they
class themselves into an isolated species of literary co
position. For all practical purposes, the language a
perfected by the work of Katyayana and Patanjali ha
been the standard of later literature, and these are now the

XIV

acknowledged authorities on all points concerning the
grammar or construction of the Sanskrit speech.

These two broad phases of the Sanskrit language_the

Vedic and the Classical—admit of a corresponding classifi¬
cation in the body of the literature itself. The Vedic and
the classical periods, which, as we have seen, are but the
manifestation of the same language, partly overlap each
other. They do not mark any strictly chronological
succession. However some of the later works are assigned
to the first period more for their subject-matter and their
archaic style than for any just claim to a high antiquity.
The classical portion is entirely a product of artificial
growth in the sense that its vehicle at least after .the dawn
of the Christian era was not the language of the general
body of the people, but of a small and educated class. This
language, as constitutes the vast expanse of the Classical
Sanskrit literature, is the subject of our consideration. “ It
would be a mistake to suppose that Sanskrit literature
came into being only at the close of the Vedic period or
that it merely forms its continuation and development.”
As a profane literature, it must in its earliest phases, which
are lost, have been contemporaneous with the religious
literature of the Vedas. The Rig Veda contains hymns
of a narrative character. The Brahmanas have a number
o short legends, partly in prose and partly in verse. The
Nirukta contains many prose tales and the Brihaddevata
forms the oldest existing collection of Vedic legend. Here
then is the origin of Sanskrit epic poetry. At the head of
the epic literature stand the Ramayanaand the Mahabha-

XV

rata. The heavy volume and diverse matter of these works
have given rise to many fanciful theories am 9$ g oriental
scholars. Some of the* most prominent will be noticed in
due detail in the accompanying pages. For the present,
the theory of Pro /. Holtzmann as to the nature .and origin of
the Mahabharata deserves a short review : The traditionaj
stock of legends were first worked upinto a precise shape
by some Buddhist poets and this version, showing a deci¬
ded prediliction for the Kaurava party as the representation
of Buddhist principles, was afterwards revised in a contrary
sense at the time of the Brahminical reaction by the vota¬
ries of Vishnu, when the Buddhistic features were generally
modified into Saivite tendencies and prominence was given
to the divine nature of Krishna as an incarnation. It is
but right that the Brahminical priests should have deemed
it desirable to subject the traditional memorials of Kshatri-
ya chivalry and prestige to their own censorship and adapt
them to their own canons of religion and civil law. This
theory subverts all truth and tradition. It is not right to
suppose that modifications and innovations especially in
the religious character of sectarian works are so easily
accomplished. No single Buddhistic record offers any
ground for this theory. If such a standard work as the
Mahabharata were included in the catalogue of the
Buddhistic literature, certainly it cannot be dreamt that
the Brahminical transformation could ever have been
possible, so as to entirely erase from the huge mass all
traces of the Buddhistic coloring. Clear demonstration is
•elsewhere made that the epic long preceded the dawn of
the Buddhistic era. If any work has been the immemorial

standard of the ethics of the Vedic religion, it is pre-emi¬
nently the Mahabharata. Modern scholars see this and
recognise the shallowness of Prof. Holtzmann’s theory..
Products of scholarly intellects, wrongs are honorably
termed theories and the burden of disproving false accus¬
ations are thrown upon helpless Indian readers. But this
instance is not alone; it has its parallels. The denial of the
authorship of the Malavikagnimitra to Kalidasa by Weber
and the assignment of the modern Puranas to a late period
of the Christian era by Wilson are other illustrations of
Holtzmann’s precept. India must however be grateful ta
European scholars for the deep interest they have evinced
In oriental literature* and for the keen incentive they have
given to historical investigations.

The Kavyas or artificial epics are modelled after the
manner of the Ramayana. They are generally writings of
considerable length and elaborateness of construction, indi¬
cating $ narrative, the character and incidents of which are
of a lofty historical or a supernatural tone or expressing a
recital of the events of ordinary or domestic life generally
of a contemporary character. These Poems, Kavyas, are
the subject of the whole science of Rhetoric; so that in
the words of Mammata, a Kavya is thus characterised:—

'1^1'ctWfR jgfcgfrrcTT^cTT-'

°ra*TT ^ Sfrrsq |»>

XVII

Thus a Kavya is that which touches the inmost chords
of the human mind and diffusing itself into the crevices of
the heart works up a lasting sense of delight# It is “an
expression in beautiful form and melodious language of
the best thoughts and noblest emotions, which the spectacle
of life awakens in the finest souls. Among the authors
of this artificial poetry, the names of Kalidasa , Magha and
JHarsha are advantageously noted, for in the course of these
centuries, they mark the deterioration of poetic style*
*“ While in the old epic poetry form is subordinated to
matter, it is of primary importance in the Kavyas, the
matter becomes more and more merely a means for the
display of tricks of style. The later the author of a Kavya
is, the more he seeks to win the admiration of his audience
by the cleverness of his conceits and the ingenuity of his
diction, appealing always to the head rather than the heart.
Even the very best of the Kavyas were composed in more
strict conformity with fixed rules than the poetry of any
»other country. For not only is the language cjpminated
by the grammatical rules of Panini, but the style is regulated
by the elaborate laws about various forms o( alliteration
and figures of speech laid down in the treatises on poetics.”
As records of Hindu manners and customs they are
unrivalled for their authenticity. As works of poetic art,
lyrical beauty and natural tenderness, they have no peer
in the world’s literary history.

The Indian drama must unhesitatingly be described as
purely native In its origin. “ The Muhamadans whe n
-they overran India brought no drama with them. The
B

XVUl

Persians, the Arabs, the Greeks were without a national
theatre. It would be absurd to suppose the Indian drama
to havepwed anything to the Chinese and their offshoots.
On the other hand there is no real evidence for assuming
any influence of Greek example upon the Indian drama at
any stage of its progress. Finally it had passed into its
decline before the dramatic literature of modern Europe
had sprung into being.” An enquiry into the origin of the
Indian drama is but a metaphysical theorisation. For
purely literary excellence it holds its own against the
advanced theatrical literature of the world. However it
cannot m the present state be described as national in the
widest sense of the term; it is, in short, the drama of
the literary class, but as such it manifests many of the
noblest, most refined as well as the most characteristic
features of the Hindu religion and civilization. "Clothing
itself in a diction always ornate and tropical, in which the
prose is the warp and the poetry the weft, in which words
become aHusions, allusions similes, and similes metaphors,
e n tan rama essentially depended upon its literary
qualities and on the familiar sanctity of its favourite themes
for such effect as it was able to produce. It weaves the
■wreaths of idyllic fancies in an unbroken chain, adding to
its avounte and familiar blossoms ever fresh blossoms
ffonr an inexhaustible garden,” Nor is it unequal to depict
t , G graGdeur aspects of nature in her mighty forests and on-
tiie shores of the ocean. The full extent of the existing
dramatic literature has not seen the light yet, but the exis¬
tence of a considerable number of dramas can be confidently
asserted. Dramatic writing has not ceased among modem-

XIX

Indian scholars. Perhaps these modern plays smack more
of our contemporary tastes and reflect more the influence
of European literature. Living authors there are, whose
works, at least some of them, rightly deserve to be named
along with the ancient classic writings. . Mr. Nat ay ana
Sasirtar, Bhattasri and Balasarasvaii as he has been termed,
is the reputed author of ninety-four dramas. A wonderful
feet of a literary genius!! The lack of encouragement of liv¬
ing authors has been the sole cause of the obscurity of his
writings. Among those pieces that have seen the press are
the Milhileeyatn , the Sarmishthavijayam and the KaJidvikuna-
nam, of which the last is considered to .be his master-piece.
The style is uniformly amusing but the evils of later day
poetry are not always avoided. He is a master of literary.
Sanskrit and fancies are rich in poetic flights. Two
romances in prose are yet in MSS. form, one of which
describes the story and revelry of the Makhotsavam at
Kumbakonam. But the prose-style requires a scholar to
appreciate. The descriptions must be commented upon
by the author himself.and to a beginner his work would be
beyond attraction. Some of the speeches are most elegantly
written and the fluency of his vocabulary is unsurpassed.
Among other later innovations upon the strict style of
dramatic composition is the division' of acts into scenes,
which is obviously an imitation . of western modes of
composition. The Dhruvatapas of Mr. Padmanabhacharya,
recently published in Coimbatore introduces such a division,
but disregards the rhetorical precepts of dramatic construe--
tion. The .language cannot be said to be easy but it
is scholarly and some of ideas are an expression of the

XX

social life of our own days. Such a device must certainly
facilitate the adaptation of the Indian drama to the modern
stage. Another step has been laudably adopted—the
translation and adaptation of foreign plays into Sanskrit.
Among these must be mentioned the Vasantika-swapnam of
Mr. R. Krishnamachariar, which reproduces the story of
the Mid-summer Night’s Dream of Shakespeare. The
language is lucid and simple, but the omission of the
original division into scenes has not facilitated representa¬
tion. Still the acts are not too long, so as to make us feel
a tediousness in the dramatic construction. But as regards
the practicability of the theatrical representation of the
Indian dramas, there is nothing highly in its favour. They
are fit for the hall not for the stage. They are superior
literary compositions, not histrionic entertainments. They
require a scholar for their appreciation, not the mob. The
most ancient however of the Indian dramas are eminently
fitted for representation, while the later suffer under the
same disabilities as we have noticed in the case of the
artificial poems. The same gradual deterioration in the
style of the dramatic writings is observable and Sndraka
Bhavabhutui and Mur art are apply chosen to illustrate it.

The “ Victorian Age ’’ of English Literature is essential¬
ly an age of prose-fiction. Unfortunately this remark
cannot find a parallel illustration from the whole of
Sanskrit literature. The catalogue of prose romances is
very thin and the very few works, that have come down to
us, all belong to the later or artificial period. The ground¬
work, however, of this romance composition was uncons-

ciously developing in the Vedic period. The language of
the Brahmanas, the Sutras, the Bhashyas, all these contri¬
buted to the formation of a suitable style for a novel kind
of literary composition.

The history of literary styles of composition is indi¬
genous in origin and inperceptible in growth. Primitive
people adapt themselves to such modes of writing as are
naturally fitted to their own stages of civilization. The
climatic exigencies of a country, the geographical pecu¬
liarities, the fertility and richness of the soil, the nature
of the government and the civilization around, all these
contribute not a little towards the formation of a man.
The Arcadian mountaineer, isolated from the rest of the
civilized Greece by an impassable barrier of hills and inhaling
the air of a swampy atmosphere, could not be expected to
be of an inventive and ingenious mind. The South
African savage ever on the verge of starvation, not know¬
ing of to-morrow but half satisfied with what he chases
out to-day, unaffected by the frequent climatic changes*
driven through thorny woods in season and out of season*
cannot be expected to boast of a literature nor of a civiliza¬
tion, ancestral or his own. Whereas, the ancient Hindus*
long ago emigrating from the unfertile regions of the
Central Asian plateau and settling themselves happily in
the basin of the three rivers of Hindustan were enamoured
of the beauty of the sky-clad summits of the Hymalayan
mount and the fertility of the soil which the benign hand
of Providence blessed with crops, timely and fruitful. All
this could not but kindle* in the minds of the semi-savage

xxn

Aryan settlers, the desire to express themselves in the best
language they could. “The origin of poetry," says Sayce
“ is from a wish to set forth in clear and distinct language
the ideas which possess the mind.” A sort of musical
rhythm and emphasis was essential to this and this they
found in poetry.

Secondly, “ Ancient India,” says W. W. Hunter “ is
essentially philosophic in its ideas and actions.” The
ancient sages, as we learn from a perusal of the Vedic
literature, spent their lives in philosophic contemplations
and their earnest endeavours have been rightly rewarded by
the praises of succeeding generations. A common philoso¬
phical creed, it is the opinion of some scholars, must have
prevailed in India long before the crystallisation of ratio¬
nalistic inquiry into separate systems. On examination,
this common creed should have descended to the Gangetic
plain along with the Aryan settlers from the central
Asiatic regions. To an expression of such philosophic
inquiry or contemplation, they found poetry better adapted
than prose. This conjecture is supported by a sentence
of Emerson’s: "Poetry is the perpetual endeavour to
express the spirit of the thing, to search the life and reason
which causes the brute body to exist or desist. All words
df such inquiry are poems.”

_ Again, “ India is singularly the land of poetry.” The
Hindu mind, dreamy, mystic and speculative, with the
imaginary side more highly developed than the active*
naturally had a mania for poetry more than for anything

xxiii

else. Prose is the special property of the active, as poetry"
is of the grave and the imaginative.

Lastly, the natural tendency of primitive compositions
leaned towards poetry rather than prose. The poems of
Homer, the songs of Caedmon were preserved from time
immemorial by rhapsodists who earned their livelihood
by singing these works and who transmitted them from
age to age through blindly getting them by rote—of course
with so many changes incidental to such a mode of pre¬
servation. Such was the case in India too. Therefore, in
an archaic society, when writing—much less printing—was
unknown, when personal communication was in its embryo,
oral tradition was the only means of safeguarding their
time-honoured literature and for such oral transmission, it is
obvious, they found poetry preferable to prose.

These four causes answer the question of the scarcity
of early Sanskrit prose. The overthrow of the Brahminic
pedantry by the teachings of Gautama and Kapila was
followed by the sutra age which in its turn was supplanted
by the Bhashya period. The genius of the Hindu nation
had by this time eminently become practical and the
immense development of ideas had tended to encourage
individuality of character and to give importance to
private and domestic life. As a consequence the literature
of fiction showed signsjof speedy progress. The names
of I)andin % Bana and Vadibhasimha stand foremost in the
list of Indian romances. The self same eye of time, that
noticed the brilliant advancement of Sanskrit romance for

XXIV

centuries more than seven, saw the decline and downfall
of such lofty poetic ideas. Modem representatives of these
romances, the Champus of the last century, lay no claim
to any elegance at all. Their authors hardly deserve the
credit of an aesthetic taste. The earlier Champus were an
amusing composition and the tempering of prose with
verse was happily accomplished. The reformation has long
since set in. A struggle has commenced in the land to go
beyond the dead forms of literary composition and to
recover what is pure, nourishing and life-gjving. The
translation of some of the tales of Shakespere into elegant
Sanskrit prose and the epitomical redaction of Bana’s
invaluable romance are a concrete manifestation of the
imperceptible progress of literary ideas.

In this brief description of the poetry, the prose and
the drama of Sanskrit, we have been speaking of a gradual
deterioration in the simplicity of language and lucidity of
composition. For a clear understanding of the causes of
Such a decline in the merit of literary writings, the history
Of styles had better be traced since the Vedic beginnings.
The earliest literature presents a fluent and simple style of
composition. The sentences are short and verbal forms
are abundant. Attributive and nominal expressions do not
find a place therein. This construction is facilitated by a
Succession of concise ideas, which gives it a sort of simple
grace and fine-cut structure. This then is the form of the
Brahmana language. It lacks not striking thoughts, bold
expression and impressive reasoning. Leaving out of
account the unnatural appearance of the sutra style—which

XXV

was not however a literary composition—we come to Yaska
and his Nirukta. Scientific as it Is, the language of Yaska
often reminds us of the earlier writings. The frequency of
verbal forms were current during the time of Panini. It
was after the epoch of the Ashtadhyayi that a change had
come over literary styles. Attributes attracted greater
attention and compounds could alone compress long
dependent sentences into the needed form. * In argument
the ablative of an abstract noun saves a long periphrasis/
The minute rules of Panini for constructing the innumerable
verbal forms facilitated this mania for conciseness of expres¬
sion. Thus the fluent or simple style came gradually to be
displaced by the formative or attributive style. To this
was added the richness and flexibility of the Sanskrit
language itself, which allowed any sort of twisting and
punning of the literary vocabulary. The Puranas and the
Itihasas were composed at the transitional stage in the
history of literary styles. They present at the same
time the simplicity of the earlier language and the com¬
plexity of the later composition. So do the earliest-
specimens of poetic and dramatic literature. Hence the
natural and not improbable conclusion is that if an author
shows an easy and elegant style and if the flow of his
language is more natural, it must be either his taste is too
aesthetic for his age or his work must be assigned to an
early period in the history of literature. This artificial
style was greatly developed in the field of philosophy and
dialectics. PatanjalPs language is most simple, lucid ana
impressive. The sentences are short and such as one;
would use in oral disputations. No tiring compounds, no

XXVI

•intricate constructions are to be traced therein. The
ideas are easily intelligible. The forms of words are all
-similar to the earlier dramas or the Puranas. Sabaraswamin
has a lively style, though this presents a further stage
in the downward progress. Now the philosophical style
sets in and continues to a degree of mischief which is now
Jbeyond all reformation. Sankara represents the middle
stage. His explanations are aided by dialectic termino¬
logy. Involved construction and attributive qualification
form the chief marring instruments. But his language is
fluent and perspicuous, but not petrified as that of later
writers. The last stage is reached in the works of the
Naiyayikas. These latter hate the use of verbs. The
-ablative singular and the indeclinable particles play a
prominent part in their composition. Nouns are abstract
-and even participles are rare. The style is one of solidified
-formulae, rather of a varying discourse. Thus the end is
that the movement which started with the simple sentence
-and predicative construction has run up to a stage where
the original character is entirely modified and the Sanskrit
language has become a language of abstract nouns and
•compound words,

This rapid deterioration in the style of scientific com¬
position had a corresponding influence on the language of
literary writings. The earlier works of prose or poetry
are simple, natural and suggestive; the later are complex,
strained and unnatural. Sri Harsha can never reflect
Kalidasa, nor can Trivikrama compare with Dandin. The
characteristics of this latter style are thus summarised:-^

xxvii

Very few verbal forms are used besides those of such-
ileuses as the present and the future; participles are fre¬
quently met with ; the verbal forms of some roots, especially
•of those belonging to the less comprehensive classes, have
gone out of use and in their place we often have a noun
-expressive of the special action and a verb expressive of
action generally; compound words are abnormally long

and tedious poetic description obscures the thread of the
narrative.

The literature of the Hindus, extensive and valuable as
it is, includes scarcely any work of a historical character#
The genius of the Hindu nation was from its dawn opposed
to chronicles. This lack of external evidence among the
^authors of this vast literature seriously impedes historical
^research and chronological arrangement. Hence it is that
the early history of India it still a moddle of conjectures
and inferences. The earliest landmark would naturally be
the age of Buddha and his reform. Here then there is the
‘'usual uncertainty. The ground is slippery and the Bud¬
dhists among themselves are widely diverged in their
views. “Among the Northern Buddhists fourteen different
accounts are found, ranging from B. C. 2422 to B. C. 546;
the eras of Southern Buddhists on the contrary must agree
-with each other and all of them start from B. C. 544. This
latter chronology has been recently adopted as the correct
one on the ground it accords best with these conditions.”
‘The next historical datum is afforded by the annals of the
Maurya dynasty. Sir William Jones was the first to identi¬
fy the Sandracotus of the Greek history with Chandragupta*

xxviii

the founder of the Mauryan dynasty, whose date 315:
R. C. gives us a starting point, wherefrom to reconstruct
a rough outline of the history of early India between-
the sixth and third century R. C. The reign of Asoka
forms to us an undisputed part of Indian history. His edicts
are inscriptions on rocks and pillars, the most invaluable
from linguistic, religious and political points of view. A.
word about them will not be out of place. These edicts
published in the tenth and twelfth years of Asoka’s reign (253,
and 251 R. C.) are found in distinct places in the extreme
East and West of India. As revealed in these engraved'
records, the spoken dialect was essentially the same
throughout the wide and fertile regions lying between the
Vindhya and the Himalayas and between the mouths of
the Indus and the Ganges. The language appears in three
varieties, which may be named the Punjab , the Ujjaim
and the Magadhi , These point to a transitional stage
between Sanskrit and Pali. “ The language of the inscrip¬
tions,” says Princep r ‘ although necessarily that of their
date and probably that In which the first propagators of
Buddhism expounded their doctrines, seems.to have been-
the spoken language of the people of Upper India than a*,
form of speech peculiar to a class of religionists or a sacred
language, and its use in the edicts of Piyadasi* although-
incompatible with their Buddhistic origin, cannot be
accepted as a conclusive proof that they originated from a
peculiar form of religious helief.” The mention of thev
names of some contemporary foreign kings as Ptolemy,..
Antiochus and Antigonus gives strength to the chronologi¬
cal data afforded by independent sources. The progress-

■of language, the state of religion and the contact with
foreigners—these are prominently reflected in the records of
Asoka.

For a few centuries after Asoka, coins and inscriptions
-are the only source of information* The Kushana branch
of the Graeco-Bactrian race established a powerful domi¬
nion under Kazulo Kadphises. His immediate successor
Kanishka forms a noteworthy personage in Indian History
and his date 78 A. D. marks the beginning of an era,
concurrent with the Salivahanasaka of Southern India.
'This limit is otherwise remarkable, as we shall see later on,
-as the starting point of all oriental research in Indian
chronology and to it has been accorded an infalliable
authority ; so much so the system has obtained a prescrip¬
tive claim, too petrified to allow of any questioning
demonstration. From the fourth century A. D. the copper¬
plate records become more numerous. Epigraphical and
numismatic discoveries have likewise facilitated research.
But still these have not given us any continuous history.
Numerous blanks are yet to be patched up, which can only be
done by means of reason or conjecture. Besides the notices
of foreign writers are remarkable as furnishing authentic
information regarding contemporary India. “ The travels
of Fa-Hian and Hiouen Thsang have supplied many
important data for the periods to which they belong, while
the minute and careful state records of the Chinese have
.not only given us valuable details as to the history of
the barbarous Scythian tribes, whose movements on the
^northern frontier of India in the first century of the

XXX

Christian era would otherwise be so obscene, but have-
further preserved to us the names of numerous Sramanas-
who visited India in the interests of Buddhism, as well as-
the notices of embassies between China and India, all
bearing witness to the close intercourse maintained between*
the two countries. The particulars of the information they*
have contributed to the literary history of India will be
noticed in their proper places. The seventh century brings
us some genuine history. It opens with the supremacy of*
Harshavardhana Siladitya II, the hero of Bana’s romance*,
whose durbar was the scene of the patronage of conr
temporary art and literature. About the same time occured
the disruption of the early Chalukya kingdom, whosr
numerous dated inscriptions record many references to
literary history. From the eighth century onwards, synchro¬
nisms, internal evidence and contemporary notices combine
to fix with tolerably certainty the period of the more famous-
writers. (

Of the quasi-historical works we have known a few.
Most importantare the Satrunjaya-Makatmy a oiDhananjay .
the Harskackariia of Bana, the Vikramankadeva-chayita of
Bilhana and the Taranginis of Kalhana , Srivara and
Jonaraja . 1 '

Kalhana’s Rajatarangini attracts our closest attention.
As a chronicle of Kashmirian annals, it is perhaps a true
representation. Its importance in literary history iff
founded on the variety , and completeness of traditional
information it gives of; past, history comprising a long:

period of about 3500 years- Kalhana was the son of
Champaka and was by birth a brahmin of Kashmir- His
father was a fervent worshipper of the Tirthas of Nandik-
shetra and was in life a loyal official of the court of King
Harsha. He wrote the introduction to his work in 1148-
A. D. Kalhana’s account of Kashmir begins in 628 of the-
Laukika era and ends with 4203- The first book forms
the narrative of the Gonanda dynasty and embraces an*
interval of 2233 years and the rest of the work describes
the history of five successive dynasties ending with the
reign of Jayasimha. Kalhana’s account is a purely poetical"
amplification of the text of th q Nilamata. In judging of the
* story of Gonanda and his descendants as told in the latter,,,
there is a deliberate attempt made to connect special
Kashmirian legends with those of India proper and
particularly the Mahabharata. The true value of the
alleged connection between the story of Gonanda and th§
Great War can thus be easily estimated. Yet it is the
imaginary synchronism with a legendary event, which
Kalhana has chosen as the fundamental datum for his*
chronological system. For he derives 653 Kali as the
initial year of Gonanda rule from the traditional date of the
coronation of Yudhisthira.

It cannot be disputed that Kalhana’s work has in it
many stories of a legendary character and the basis of his
^chronology is founded on slippery tradition. The radical
Indian scholar, however, argues for Kalhana and the
authenticity of his record. He says, modern scholars-
start with the axiom that Kanishka ruled about 78 A. D.,,

xxxii

tout Kalhana’s Kanishka can by no means be assigned to
that date. The Rajatarangini gives after Kanfshk? a long
•line of kings whose reigns make up more than 2330 years
to the date of its own composition. If Kanishka were
placed in 78 A. D., then Kalhana will go up to 2408 A. D.
■and we are only in the beginning of the 20th century.
The History of the Advaitacharyas invariably furnishes us
with the exact dates of birth and death of a long succession
-of priests and so do ithe Guruparampara stories of the
Dravidian saints of Southern India. It is unfortunate,
therefore, that if an ancient record conflicts with our
-conclusions, the record comes to be misinterpreted or dis¬
credited, rather than our conclusions are altered by a
scrutinising demonstration.

Apart from the plausibility of these arguments, Indian
tradition is not free from all taint of mythologica
uncertainty. It requires time before the elements of tradi¬
tional chronology can be sifted and arranged to keep
correspondence with the accepted system of literary dates
To the eye of a rationalistic observer, the data of th«
Yuga calculation cannot be acceptable. A scholar of Madras
9 ias recently proved that the historical Kaliyuga could no'
be traced further back than 1500 B. C. In this unsettlec
condition of literary opinion, we leave the question again
•Open for a scientific and; critical examination.

*'* v r • / 7.

T^ese prefatory pages will now introduce the reader to
a. study of'Ore ClasSical’Sanskrit literature.' Amidst othe
work of a,student's life, [ had but a short leisure for this

f ‘"V

•*

xxxiii

compilation. This must sufficiently account for all defects
of composition or arrangement, I do not profess to pass
any of the views herein set forth purely as my own* I
do not claim any originality or excellence to these pages.
The scheme of oriental research as perfected by the learned
scholars of Europe has been the cause of all progress in the
literary history of India. I have endeavoured to sum¬
marise within a small compass the results of the latest
inquiries into Indian studies. If any credit is due to this
work, it is because at its foundation lie the admirable
fruits of Indian scholarship. Most important of all, I ex¬
press my sincere indebtedness to my own countrymen R. C»
Dutt, Bhandarkar and R, L. Mitra for their grand contri¬
butions to the history of Indian civilization. My thanks
are due to the Proprietor of the Vaijayanti Press for his
sincere interest in the success of my labours. With the
strong hope, then, that the matter will be better appreciated
than the manner, I venture to present the book to the
judgment of the literary world.

Triplicate, 1

Madras, 26th Oct, ipo6.J ARISENAMACHARYA.

?

CNOTENTS.

Pages.

Preface

...

... vii

Chapter I.

The Antiquity of Sanskrit Literature

... I

»7

II.

The Periods of Literature

••• 3

5 )

III.

Epic Poetry ...

... 8

77

IV.

The Kavyas or Artificial Epics ...

— 34

77

V.

The Indian Drama

... 52

77

VI.

The Dramatic Writings

... 63

5 )

VII.

Lyrical and Didactic Poetry

... 114

7 )

VIII.

Sanskrit Prose

... 129

7 '

IX.

Fables and Fairy Tales...

... 150

V

X.

Rhetoric ? Metric and Dramaturgy

... 156

' !

3237

THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

OF

SANSKRIT LITERATURE.

CHAPTER I.

THE ANTIQUITY OF SANSKRIT
LITERATURE.

f jHE sacred literature of India, inferior to none in variety
Or extent, is superior to all others in nobility of thought,
m sanctity of spirit and in generality of comprehension!
In beauty or prolixity, it can vie with any other literature
ancient or modern. Despite the various impediments to the
steady development of the language, despite the successive dis¬
turbances, internal and external, which India had to encounter
ever since the dawn of history, she has successfully held up to
the world her archaic literary map, which meagre outline
alone favourably compares with the literature of any other
nation of the globe. The keenest researches of modern'
scholars have not enlightened the dark recesses of India's
early literary history. 'The beginnings of her civilization
are yet in obscurity. Relatively to any other language of the

ancient world, the antiquity of Sanskrit has an unquestioned
priority..

2

‘ ‘ The literature of India passes generally for the most
apdi >i.«ra,u,, of which wo peso* wntton «=ords »d

- _pnr it was argued that,

justly so • r* i M hp aDDealed to, according

/ft Astronomical data could be appealed , *

to which the Vedas would date from about 1400

(ii) One* of’ the Buddhistic eras could be relied upon

according to which a reformer was supposed to
have arisen in the sixth century B.C. m oppositmn
to Brahminical heirarchy ; f ,

(iii) The period when Panini flourished had been referred

to the 4 th century B. G, and from this as a starting
point, conclusions as to the period of literary deve¬
lopment before him could be deduced.

These reasons recent research has proved to be baseless
and the conclusion itself may be grounded on the accompany-

ung data ^ ^ more ancient parts of the Rig Veda, the
Aryans appear to have dwelt in the North Western
frontiers of India and thence gradually advanced
farther eastward. The writings of the following
period treat of accounts of internal conflict with
the aboriginal races. If these are compared and
connected with the accounts by Megasthenes, it is
clear that at his time the Brahmanisation of
Hindustan was already complete.

(ii) In the songs of the Rik, the robust spirit of the
people gives expression to the feeling of its relation
’ to nature with a spontaneous freshness and simpli¬

city. Beginnin g with this nature worship, we trace
" The first two chapters ate based or Weber and Mac DoneU.

3

in Indian literature the gradual progress of Hindu
religious ideas through all their phases which de¬
velopment must have taken time abnor mall y long,
enough to bring the earliest skirts of Indian litera-
ture to an archaic age.

(iii) Prof. Max Muller’s earliest estimate of 1200 £. C.,
appears to be much near the mark. A lapse of
three centuries from 1300 to 1000 B. C. amply
accounts for the difference between what is oldest
and newest in Vedic Hymn poetry.

<iv) The recent theory of Prof. Jacobi of Bonn, fixes the
date back to at least 4000 B.C. The theory is
based on astronomical calculations connected with
a change in the beginning of the seasons, which
e supposes had taken place since the time of the
Rig Veda. But this estimate is falsified by the
assumption of a doubtful and improbable meaning
in a Vedic word, which forms the very starting
point of the theory.

CHAPTER II.

The history of Indian literature falls into two periods : the
Vedic and the Classical.

I. The Vedic period 1500—200 B. G.

The Vedic literature comprises the four Vedas : the Rik
the Yajus, the Saman and the Atharvan. Each of these has
three forms or parts, the Samhita, the Brahmana and the
Upamshad portions.

The Samhita of the Rik is purely a lyrical collection
forming the immediate source of the other three. The next

4

two are made up of verses and ritual formulae, meant to be
recited at Sacrifices. The Atharva Samhita resembles the Rik
in that it forms a store of songs, devoted to sacrifices mostly in
connection with incantations and magical charms.

The Brahmanic period comprehends “ the first establish¬
ment of the three-fold ceremonial, the composition of the
individual Brahmanas and the formation of the Charanas. ,r
They connect the sacrificial songs and formulas with the
sacrificial rite by pointing out on the one hand their direct
relation, and on the other their symbolical connection with
each other. The general nature of these works is marked by
shallow but masterly grandiloquence, by prepossessed conceit
but antiquarian sincerity. In the words of Prof. Eggeling,
these works deserve to be studied as a physician studies the
twaddle of idiots or the raving of mad men. With all this,
the composition lacks not striking thoughts, bold expression
and logical reasoning. The Brahmanas of the Rik generally
refer to the duties of the Hotr ; of the Saman, to those of
Udgatr ; of the Yajus, to. the actual performance of the
sacrifice. They are valuable to us as the earliest records of
Sanskrit prose.

The Sutra literature has its claim to our attention, in that
it forms a connecting Jink between the Vedic and the later
Sanskrit. The Sutras themselves are most artificial, most
enigmatical. 1 Sutra’ means a ‘string ’ and compatibly with this
sense, all works of this style are nothing but one uninterrupt¬
ed chain of short sentences linked together in a most concise
form. “ Even the apparent simplicity ” says Colebrooke,.

vanishes in the perplexity of structure. The endless
pursuit of exceptions and limitations so disjoins the general
precepts, that the reader cannot keep in view their intended

5

connection. He wanders in an intricate maze and the clew
of the labyrinth is continually slipping from his hands.”
^ Though not very valuable from an artistic point of view, they
from a literary composition, the most curious and the most
ingenious the history of literature has ever seen.

II. The Classical Period.

Vhe direct data attesting the posteriority of this period
consist in these facts :—

(i) That its opening phases everywhere presuppose the

Vedic period as entirely closed ;

(ii) That its oldest portions are regularly based on the

Vedic literature;

(iii) That the relations of life have now all arrived at a

stage of development of which in the first period
£> we can only trace the germs and the beginning.

The distinction between the periods is also by changes in
language and subject matter.

' First, as regards language :—

1. The special characteristics in the second period are so
significant, that it appropriately furnishes the name for the.
period, whereas the Vedic period receives its designation from
the works composing it.

2. Among the various dialects of the different Indo-aryau
tribes, a greater unity had been established after their emi¬
gration into India, as the natural result of their intermingling

• in their new home. The grammatical study of the Vedas fixed
the frame of the language so that the generally recognised
Bhasha had arisen. The estrangement of the civic language

6

from that of the mass accelerated by the assimilation of the-
aboriginal races resulted in the formation of the popular
dialects, the prakrifs —proceeding from the original Bkasha by
the assimilation of consonants and by the curtailment or loss^
of termination.

3. The phonetic condition of Sanskrit remains almost
exactly the same as that of the earliest Vedic. In the matter
of grammatical forms, the language shows itself almost station¬
ary. Hardly any new formations or inflexions make their
appearence yet. The most notable of these grammatical
changes were the disappearance of the subjunctive mood and
the reduction of a dozen infinitives to a single one. In declen¬
sion the change consisted chiefly in the dropping of a number
of synonymous forms.

4. The vocabulary of the language has undergone the
greatest modifications. It has been extended by derivation
and composition according to recognised types. Numerous
words though old seem to be new, because they happen by
accident not to occur in the Vedic literature. Many new
words have come in through continental borrowings from ai
lower stratum of language, while already existing words have
undergone great changes of meaning.

Secondly , as regards the subject matter :—

1. The Vedic literature handles its various subjects only
in their details and almost solely in their relation to sacrifice,,,
whereas the classical discusses them in their general relations.

2. In the former a simple and compact prose had grad¬
ually been developed, but in the latter this form is abandoned

7

and a rhythmic one adopted in its stead, which is employed
exclusively even for strictly scientific exposition.

During the classical epoch, Brahmanic culture was intro
duced into and overspread the southern portion of the conti¬
nent. This period, embracing in general secular subjects,
achieved distinction in many branches of literature, in national
as well as Court Epic, in lyric, especially didactic poetry, in the
drama, in the fairy tales, fables and romances. Everywhere,
we find much true beauty, which is however marred by
obscurity of style and the ever increasing taint of artificiality-
These works are in no way dominated by a sense of harmony
and proportion. The tendency has been towards exaggeration
manifesting in all directions. Among these are ;—

(i) The almost incredible development of detail in

+ ritual observance ;

(ii) The extraordinary excesses of asceticism ;

(iii) The grotesque representations of mythology in art ;

(iv) The frequent employment of vast numbers in des¬

cription ;

(v) The immense bulk of the epics ;

(vi) The unparalleled conciseness of one of the forms of
prose ;

(vii) The huge compounds employed in later prose roman¬
ces.

The total lack of historical sense is so characteristic that
there appears an entire lack of chronology. Two causes
account for this :—

(i) Early India wrote no history, because it never made
any. Ancient India never went through a struggle
for life like the Greeks and the Romans in the

8

Persian and the Punic wars, such as would have
welded the isolated tribes and developed political
genius.

(ii) The Brahmins, the dominant learned class, had early
embraced the doctrine that all action and existence
area positive evil and could therefore have felt little
inclination/ to chronicle historical events.

CHAPTER III.

EPIC POETRY.

Epic poetry, as distinguished from lyrical, has this principal
characteristic, that it should confine itself more to external
action than to internal feelings. H§nce Epos is a natural
expression of national life. When nations begin to grow up in
ideas and civilization and consequently to reason and to specu¬
late, their minds are turned inwards. Then the spontaneous
Outburst of epic song ceases and other kinds of refined poetry
have their origin.

From the earliest times songs in celebration of great heroes
were Current in India, handed down by rhapsody and tradi¬
tion. Ancient Vedic legends name not a few of such heroes
and even the later epic personages are found to act in the
same Vedic cycles in which the vedic poetry moves. The
Vedic traditions were not yet obliterated from the recollec¬
tions of the people, when the epic poems began to be written,
nor did they lose their currency when by the efforts of the
Brahmin priests all the remains of epic songs were collected
into a large body in the form of the Mahabharata. In the
songs of praise to the Vedic deities we have the beginnings of

9

«epic poetry. The age of the Grihya Sutras testifies to the use
of the Itihasas at sacrifices and many of the Brahmanas
themselves have some passages called Itihasas and Akhya-
yikas. When compared with the later forms, the Vedic legends
put on a primitive air and their style and mode are rude and
simple.

Thus we have to look to the Vedas themselves for the
source of Epic poetry. Epic literature, then, with its only
representatives, the two leading epics, must have had its ear¬
liest composition in the pre-buddhistic era, at a period not
later than the 5th century B. C. For,

1. The Ramayana records no case of Sati. Except in the
single instance of Madri, Pandu’s wife, none of the widows of
slain heroes immolate themselves with their husbands. This
proves the beginning of the practice of Sati. This rare and no
reference to such an important custom in the earliest literary
records of poetry leads to the assignment of both these compo¬
sitions to a period before the third century B.C., when Megas-
thenes found it well prevalent as far east as Magadha.

2. The first construction of the poems must have been
anterior to the actual establishment of Buddhism. Only one
direct mention of Buddha occurs in the Ramayana and the con¬
text there proves that it must be an unmistakable interpolation.
Nor does the Mahabharata make any such direct reference,
though it, must be admitted that there are allusions to the
development of rationalistic inquiry and sceptic materialism.

3. The evidence of the Asoka inscriptions proves that by
the 3rd century B. C. the provincial prakrit dialects had

10

already become the vernaculars. If the first redaction of the
epic poems had not been considerably earlier, we could not
have expected the language to be unalloyed by the influence
or the vernacular tongues.

4. Dion Chrysostomos, a Greek writer of the first century
records the existence in his time of Indian epic poetry, indi¬
cating their resemblance to the Homeric poems and their
currency in India long before the fourth century B C

kpic poetry, then, which forms the starting point of the
classical Sanskrit hterature, falls into two classes, the Itihasa-
pincuius and the Kuvycis .

oECTION L

The Mahabharata represents the Itihasa group. It
weaves nto it epic and didactic matter, divided into
books called parvam, with the Harivamsa as a supplement.
The extant recension may be regarded under a three-fold
aspect—as a work relating events of an historic character as a
record of mythological and legendary lore, as the source
whence specially the military caste was to obtain its instruc¬
tion m all matters concerning their welfare in this and their
bliss m future life. In one sense this work is the source of
all the Puranas and as a document for antiquity, unrivalled
for religious statesmanship.

Prof. Mac Donell discovers three distinct stages in the-
augmentation of the text:_

(i) The disconnected battle-songs, originally current as-
immemorial folklore, were worked up into a con¬
nected epic plot with the history of the Kuru

%

race:

II

as its basis. This period makes Brahma, the high¬
est God. This must therefore have preceded the
Buddha era.

(ii) Handed down by rhapsodists, the body of the epic

got unusually swelled up. The two Gods, Siva and
Vishnu are introduced on a level with Brahma,
and Krishna appears as a Vaishnavite incarnation.

(iii) The sectarian division was already prominent by the

time of Megasthenes and mention is made of Hindu
temples and Buddhistic mounds. The reference to
the Yavanas and the Pahlavas makes also probable
an extension of the epic just after 300 B. C.

This epic is a traditional record of an early period of
Hindu history, compiled and modelled by them to suit a
special purpose of their own, that of imposing their own law
on the Kshatriyas. u The fabric of this voluminous epos was
not built in a day. Different times supplied different materials
for it and with the importance of the object the greatness of
the task increased.”

In dealing with this traditional lore of the military caste,.
the authors would have to meet three categories of facts:—
facts which were more or less in accordance with the religious
and political system to be established and consolidated by
them ; facts, if not in harmony, yet not antagonistic ; and facts
entirely opposed to it. Of these the first would be lauded,
the second tolerated and so the third could only be explained
away, because they could not be suppressed, as being too
deeply rooted in tradition and consequently as having the
strongest presumption in favour of their authenticity,
five-maled marriage of Draupadi.

12

(i) Polyandry never found any place in the Brahminical
Code or in the habits of the Hindu and if in spite of
its thorough offensiveness it was imputed to the
very heroes of the great Epos, there seems to have
been no alternative but to admit it as a historic
fact. If this marriage was a real event, it throws
at once the fight of the Pandavas to such a remote
antiquity as to leave behind, not only Manu, but
even those Vedic writings of Aswalayana and others
on whose writings the ancient law of India is based.
<ii) The institution of caste did not exist in the Vedic
period. It was however fully recognised by Manu’s
time. During the Vedic age a warrior like Viswa-
mitra could aspire to be a Brahmin or a brahmin
like Vasista could be a warrior, but Manu does not
allow such a confusion of occupations. It recurs
only at the latest period of Hinduism. The “ dis¬
guise of the Pandavas ” must have been highly
objectionable after the foundation of caste. “ False
boasting of a higher caste,” is an offence according
to Manu, ranked along with the murder of a
brahmin.

<m) The Law of Marriage and Inheritance. There are
passages where their contents and the law-book
differ considerably. It is impossible to assume the
occurrences mentioned are innovations on Manu;—
(a) Vichitra-virya died childless and Vyasa begot two sons
on his widows. Manu allows it only in the case of
Sudras. Even there the procreation is limited to a
single offspring. Both these must have been
unknown to Vyasa, for the other was a Kshatriya
and Vyasa being a Brahmin procreated not only

more than one child for the benefit of his relative,,
but so far as his belief went there.

(b) Bhishma, making mention of the marriage notions*
of his time when chosing the daughters of Banares
to wife to his brother, differs from Manu. He
says “Men of military caste exalt and practise
the self-choice mode and the law-giver calls the
choicest of all wives, her, who has been carried
off by force.”

In, the Mahabharata, therefore, a state of society is depicted,
that is anterior to the Code of Manu and an investigation of
those portions would show that this society differs from the
society mirrored by the ancient Code not only in regard to
positive law but in customs and morality.

Further testimonies as to the age of the Mahabharata :—

1. Panini teaches us the accent of Maha in Mahabharata
and that the termination Aka must be applied to Vasudeva
and Arjuna to form derivatives. There is a subtlety, which how¬
ever shows that the epic characters had come to be regarded
as demi-gods. But it is not unlikely that Panini was led to'
put them together because they were always associated to¬
gether in the minds of the people as they are in this epic. In
a third Sutra we have Yudhistira.

2. In Patanjali’s work, we have the names of Bhima,.
Sahadeva and Nakula, mentioned as descendants of Kuru.
In another place, where Patanjali comments on Panini III,
ii, 122. “ Dharmena sma Kuravo Yudhyante ” it appears, that
the war was considered as having taken place at a very .remote
time.

14

3. The Brahmanas must have gone before the Sutras.
Aitereya mentions Janamejaya and Bharata as powerful kings.

4. Aswalayana (about 350 B. C.) names Bharata and Maha-
bharata in his Grihya Sutras.

S About A. D. 80, Dion Chrysostom writes “ Even among
the Indians, they say, Homer’s poetry is sung, having been
translated by them in their own dialect and tongue and the
Indians are well-acquainted in the sufferings of Piam, the
lamentations of Andromache and the prowess of Achilles and
Hector.” These allusions keep close correspondence with
leading incidents in our epic.

6. “ It has as its basis a war waged on the soil of Hin-

• dustan between Aryan tribes and therefore properly belong¬
ing to a time when their settlement in India and the subjuga¬
tion and brahminisation of the native inhabitants had already
been accomplished. Of the epic in its extant form only about
one-fourth relates to this conflict and the myths that have
been associated with it, while the elements composing the
remainder do not belong to it at all and have only the loosest
possible connection therewith as well as with each other.
.Even at the portion, which is recognisable as the origi¬
nal basis—that relating to war—many generations must have
laboured; before the text attained to an approximately settled
shape.”— Web&y*

7. In one of the Nasik inscriptions dated 394 A. D.,
Gokarniputra’s prowess is compared to that of Bhima and
Arjuna. Another inscription of Dharwar bears 373 ° * n

• era of the Mahabharata War corresponding to Saka 360 or

A. D. 638. It thus appears that about the 6th century, the
war which forms the theme of the epic was considered to
have taken place 4000 years before.

The Mahabharata is not so much a poem as an encyclo¬
paedia of Hindu law, ethics and mythology, Indian tradition
.assigns the authorship of this vast poem to Vyasa, to whom
also is attributed the arrangement of the Puranas. The
principal story occupies little more than a fifth of the whole,
hut this lowest layer is overlaid by successive incrustations so
.as to obscure the very recognition of the substratum.

The poem relates the story of the great war between the
Pandavas and the Kauravas, both descendants of the lunar
race, concluding in the victory of the former and the installa¬
tion of King Yudhistira on the throne of Hastinapura. But
the Great Epic stops not here, but it responds most truly to
the deeper emotions of Hinduism. “ It instils a more sublime
moral that all who desire rest must aim at union with the
Infinite.” The concluding chapters lead us to the sublime
description of the renunciation of their kingdom by the
Pandava princes, prior to their ascent to the celestial world.

Commentaries.~ u The best known commentator of the
"Mahabharata is Nilakanta, who lived at Kurupara to the West
of Godavari in Maharashtra and according to Burnell belongs
to the sixteenth century. Older is Arjuna Misra, whose com¬
mentary appears in the Calcutta edition of 1875. The earlier
commentator is Sarvagna Narayana, large fragments of whose
notes have been preserved and who cannot have written later
than the 2nd half of the 14th century, but may be somewhat
Qlder . ,, —Mac Donel}.

16

Section II.

The Ramayana.—The immortal epic of Valmiki is
undoubtedly one of the gems of literature—indeed some
considering it as the Kohinoor of the literary region, which
has, for centuries and from time immemorial, shedding un¬
paralleled and undying halo upon the domain presided over
by “ the vision and faculty divine.” The author is regarded
a risk* or a seer and he says he was a contemporary of Rama
His hermitage lay on the banks of the Ganges, and there Sita
was delivered of her twin sons, whose foster-father he was
“It is quite possible that, as the Ramayana is said to have~
ansen m the race of the Ikshvakus, many legends were afloat
at the royal court, which were woven together in a poetic-

form, m conformity to the rules of rhetoric by Valmiki, the
first poet.” }

Modem research has proved ,ha, ,he epic k mel of”fhe
Ramayana must have been completed before the S th centut
B.C., and the present recensions assumed this form n 7
centuries before the Christian era Th form t lree

T of Rama i„

“W-a.Valmiki.spoemeoocludesw'r'r” a “' red

and Sita, the y, M . is made u.k.A/' 1 "'"™ °f Rama.

C “P le the of the F,„ v ta e ' “"T ° flh «

the same time traces that they were LJa ^ being at
original source of the legend.” The / A ^ al ° ng in the

Jataka moreover ha&

*7

imbedded into it a verse from the Ramayana in a slightly
vernacular form. Hence our poem precedes the Jataka age*

2. The Greeks are mentioned only twice and that under
the vague name of Yavanas, which word embraces not only
the Greeks but many of those alien races that had from time
to time made inroads on N. W. India. The theory of the
translation of the Greek poems into the Indian epics has no
standing ground. So our epic composition must have pre¬
ceded the Greek invasions.

3. The city of Pataliputra was built about 400 B. C. under
'Kalasoka and which about 350 B. C. became the capital of an
empire. While the Ramayana refers to cities of Eastern
Hindustan, it makes no mention of this important city* The
only deduction is that the composition of the poem preceded
the foundation of the city.

4. The capital of the Kosala Kingdom is called Ayodhya in
the poem, whereas the name Saketa is given to it by the
Buddhists and the Jains. It is said that Lava fixed his seat of
•Government at Sravasti. Our poem must have been composed
when the old capital Ayodhya was not yet deserted and by
Buddha’s time the Kosala capital was under King Prasenajit
of Sravasti* ,

5. The Ramayana speaks of Mithila and Visala as two
-independent principalities, whereas by Buddha’s time they
were united into the single city of Vaisali under an oligarchi¬
cal Government.

6. The patriarchal form of Government as depicted in the

2

tmSZ/ly ,L“ nZ/ThfaV 118 e,ist ““ of ““Pi«

kingdoms set up in ffll ,d!,«“ * ^ h « <*

7- The conquest of CevJon bv v-
“«-y B. C. Even before , 1^1‘T K ° k pia “ •= >he 5*
°“ d the P»P«tn- belief wal u, 'f™' »» <iarkly known

tte country. ^ ZSr 8ia “ S

^“““Wi^eonguLc^d ,!' ' ”*» -0

started^ emPireS Kke that of the Andh* RatIOOalistic Period 4

S e cT SCh °° 1S «**>■>« r ° Se t0 and ^

tht 1 K ,St The Kaffla ^a in "a Centuri *>

therefore be referred to a neri^ ° ngulaI shape must

-bjugation of Southern Ind^^ anterior * the Aryan

XXXXtreuXeT ^ i£ra '™ ° f **»««-

' mp0,t “'summarised below •1””“'’’ ° f wkid ‘ U»

T Prof. Weber.—.<'l n t L p

the very outset in tC^onTT^ fod ^-selves fr 0D >
upon histoncal ground in so far as th ^T 7 3nd we 0nl y move
lustoncal fact, *&., to the spread he allegory is applied to an

h ®°te especially to Ceylon. Th^ Ration to the (

y The characters are not

19

historical figures but merely personifications of certain occur¬
rences and situations. Sita, in the first place, whose abduction
b y a giant demon and her subsequent recovery by her husband
Rama, constitute the plot of the entire poem, is but the field-
farrow to whom divine honors were paid in the songs of the
Rile and in the Grihya ritual. She accordingly represents
Aryan husbandry, which has to be protected by Rama—whom
I regard as originally indentical with Balarama ‘■hala'brit' ‘ the
pZoztgh-bearer,' though the two were afterwards separated
against the attacks of the predatory aborigines. These latter
appear to be demons and giants ; whereas those natives who
were well-disposed towards the Aryan civilization are repre¬
sented as monkeys—a comparison which was doubtless not
exactly intended to be flattering and which rests on the
striking ugliness of the Indian aborigines as compared with
the Aryan race.”

\

IT. /?. C. DutL—“ The Ram&yana is utterly valueless as a
narrative of historical events and incidents. The heroes are
myths, pure and simple. Sita, the field-furrow, had received
divine honors from the time of the Rig Veda and had been
worshipped as a goddess. When cultivation gradually spread
towards Southern India, it was not difficult to invent a poetical-
myth that Sita was carried to the south. And when this
goddess and woman—the noblest creation of human imagi¬
nation—had acquired a distinct and lovely individuality, she
was naturally described as the daughter of the holiest and most
learned King on record, Janaka of the Videhas 1

u But who is Rama, described as Sita^s.husband and King of
the Kosalas ? The later Puranas tell us he was an incarnation,
of Vishnu—but Vishnu himself had not risen to prominence,

20

at the time at which we are speaking! Indra was the chief
of the Gods in the Epic period. In the Sutra literature we
team that Sita the furrow goddess is the wife of Indra. Is 4
it then an untenable conjecture that Rama, the hero of the
Ramayana, is in his original conception like Arjuna, the hero
of the Mahabharata, only a new edition of the Indra of the
Eig Veda, battling with the demons of drought ? The myth
of Indra has thus been mixed up with the epic which des¬
cribes a historic war in Northern India, and the epic which
describes the historic conquest of Southern India? ”

IIL Prof. Jacobi .—“ The foundation of the Ramayana
would be a celestial myth of the Veda transformed into a
narrative of earthly adventures according to a not uncommon
development Sita can be traced to the Rig Veda, where she
appears as the Furrow personified and invoked as a goddess.

In some of the Grihya-sutras, she again appears as a genius of
the plough-field, is praised as a being of great beauty and is
accounted the wife of Indra or Parjanya the rain-god. There
are traces of this origin in the Ramayana itself. For Sita is
represented, as having emerged from the earth, when her
father Janaka was once ploughing and at last disappears under¬
ground in the arms of the goddess Earth. Her husband Rama
would be no other than Indra, and his conflict with Ravana
would represent the Indra-Vritrd myth of the Rig Veda. This
identification is confirmed by the name of Ravana’s son being
Indrajit or Indra-Satru, the latter being actually an epithet of
/ Vritra in the Rig Veda. Ravana’s most notable feat, the rape
of Sita, has its prototype in the stealing of the cows recovered
by Indra. Hanumat, the chief of the monkeys and Rama’s
ally in the recovery of Sita, is the son of the wittd-god with
the patronymic Maruti and is described as flying hundreds of

21

leagues through the air to find Sita. Hence in his figure per¬
haps survives a reminiscence of Indra’s alliance with the Maruts
in his conflict with Vritra and the dog Sarama who as Indra s
messenger crosses the waters of the Rasa and tracks the cows
occurs as the name of the demoness who consoles Sita m her

captivity.”

The body of the work is divided into seven Kattdas, the
Bala the Ayodhya, the Aranya, the Kishkindka, the Sundara
the Yuddha and the Uttar a. But the plot admits of four broad
landmarks, corresponding to the chief epochs m Rama s life.

1. His youth ; his education and residence at the royal
court; his marriage ; his installation as crown prince.

2 . The circumstances leading to his banishment and his
exile in the forest.

3. His war with the giants and the recovery of Sita.

4. His return to Ayodhya; his coronation ; and his re-
banishment of Sita,

Whatever may have been the fanciful interpretations of
modern theorists, the Epic has maintained its unity of plot and
action for centuries more than twenty and it has withstood
both as regards construction and proportion the intellectual
onsets of keen criticism. In Baconian language, it can be said
that the Ramayana has come home to the business an
bosoms of all men. Influence on life is the true test of real
art and that our poem has had in abundance. Cosmogony
and theogony, folklore and tradition, mythology and history

have all found a part “ in the weaving of this mighty web and
woof of magic drapery evolved by Valmiki.” For a picture of
Hindu life of the tenth century, writes Dutt, when the Kosalas
and the Videhas had by long residence in the Gangetic valley
become law-abiding and priest-ridden, learned and polished,
enervated and dutiful, we would refer our readers to the
Ramayana. The classical excellence and perspecuity of its
style, ;the exquisite suggestions of poetic tenderness, the
graphic delineations of heroic history, the deepest acquaintance
with Nature’s grandest scenes and the observed proportion of
paragraphic classification—all this gains for Valmiki the presi¬
dential chair in the pantheon of the world’s poetic geniuses*

Section III.

The Epics Compared.

* i. As to subject matter.—The Mahabharata is the oldest
representative of the Itihasa group, whereas the Ramayana is
but a Kavya—the first of the kind.

2 . Both of these have a main leading story whereon
many other narratives are engrafted. But in the Mahabharata
the main narrative plays a minor part, simply serving to inter*
weave a vast collection of unconnected myths and precepts,
while in the Ramayana the minor episodes never eclipse
the importance of the dominant story. The solid character is
never broken and the principal subject never impeded by
didactic discourses or sententious maxims.

3 . The epics belong to different periods and different dis*
tricts* Not only was a large part of the Mahabharata composed
later than the Ramayana but they belong respectively to the
West and East of Hindustan,

23

4* The circle of territory embraced by the story of Rama-
yaoa reaches to the Videhas in the east, to the Surastras in the
south-west and to the Vindhya and Dandaka in the south,
and therefore more restricted in area, while the Mahabharata
represents the Aryan settlers as having spread themselves to
the mouths of the Ganges, to the Coromandel and the Malabar
Coasts* Even Ceylon brings them tribute.

5* The religious system of the Mahabharata is far more
catholic and popular. The idea of the supreme importance of
the hero is not strong. Krishna is by no means the head of
the Hindu pantheon. In the Ramayana, Rama's divinity is
undisputed and Rama's character in a way illustrates the one¬
sided exclusion of Brahminism*

6 . The Ramayana forms the first source of recorded infor¬
mation of the tenets of Hinduism as perfected by the
Brahminical influence. We can discern no confusion of reli¬
gious principles and the growth of spiritual ideas has reached
an unmistakable position, whereas the Mahabharata reflects
the mutilated character of Hinduism and a confused combina¬
tion of monotheism and polytheism, of orthodox intolerance
and materialistic Catholicism.

7 * “ Notwithstanding wild ideas and absurd figments, the
Mahabharata contains many more illustrations of real life
and of domestic and social manners than the sister epic."

8 . Though simple and natural in style and language the

Mahabharata comprehends a diversity of composition, resort¬
ing at times to loose and irregular constructions and exhibit¬
ing complex grammatical forms, vedic and archaic. The bulk

Of the Ramayana, on the other hand, worked up as it is by one-
author, presents a uniform simplicity of style and metre

tinn rT qU1 ^ iS Pr ° Ved by the absence of s ^died elabora--
tion of diction.”

(m) As to their relative priority.—Professor Weber has

muTth theth "° ry that ^composition of the Mahabharata
« w ave Preceded that of the Ramayana. So also Mr. Dutt-
vve must premise even as a picture of life the Ramayana is

the fi POSten ,° r t0 the Mahabharata * We miss in the Ramayana,
~ aDd th6 f ° Ud ^ertion of the Kshatriyas-
. Mahabharata and the subordination of the peoole to
the priestly caste is.more complete.” P P t0 ‘

The traditional belief of the orthodox Hindus as to rh«
decided priority of Valmiki’s poem is apparently shaken bv th
acceptance of these theories. Tradition as '

ica people, still it is not so undefended as it may at fir«t V '
sight seem to be. External and internal evident there

trad-ti t0 thC “ 0dern the ° ry 3nd corrob orate Indian
tradition. In some cases the very words and arguments of the

theiV ^ ^ thUS SUm n^our 6 defensive-

* e ZJE27 occur in

zzfzzff - is “££££

Valmiki Book Vlare oSted‘ * arata Book VII, two lines of i

hharata Book III a Ramoi ™ dlctl0n * In -Maha-

a Ramopakhyana based on the larger epic,.

25

some of the verses closely resembling the original, is related
and Vyasa postulates that the story of Rama was too popular
to need any detail.

Such direct references cannot fail to convince us of the-
priority of the Ramayana.. But the negativists try to explain it
away by the plea that these are later interpolations . This argu¬
ment, if it can be called so, is a very useful weapon for many
modem scholars when their theory can make no other stand.

“ When the pistol misses fire they knock you down with the-
butt-end of it.” What does the orthodox Hindu gain by pur¬
posely interpolating unimportant references and arguing the*
feigned priority of the one epic to the other ? If the original of
the Mahabharata did not contain any references to the Rama-
yana, they had no business in such interpolation and they
are not a whit better in their religious or spiritual beliefs...
The Mahabharata loses not, nor does the Ramayana gain, a
particle of their belief or regard by questions of chronological-
priority or posteriority. For it is in the inherent nature of the •
Hindu mind to disregard all questions of history. If the*
Ramayana had really been composed later, how is this fact
accounted for—that the Mahabharata war, the most important
incident as it is in the world’s history, fails to have the least
reference to it in Valmiki’s work ? Valmiki’s ignorance of the-
Great War cannot stand as an argument. Nor can the sanctity
of Kurukshetrabe less conspicuous than that of Sringiberapura
so as to lose mention of it in a religious work as the Ramayana.
Therefore it must be conclusively granted that the argument
of interpolation fails, as it has neither purpose nor probability^*,.
It is however a hobby for many European critics in their
study of Oriental works, whose archaic constructions are rarely
palatable to their modern tastes.

26

, ^ 18 an admission that the epics abound

yperboles. Banging from the sacrifice of J=>at,
the return of Rama to Ayodhya in the mrial c
ent appears an evolution of the poet’s intellect
.^represents its actors as never moving in an ■
u m the latter ” says Weber himself “ h
everywhere predominates and a number of w<
sonages are introduced, to whom the possibilit

•existence cannot be denied.” No scholar c

improbability fa gam b,fa g , o( ,

Besides the Mahabharata deals with men and
■monkeys. An advanced race of men can place
“ the stor y of a ten-headed monster. The e:
into the world’s history, the more simple and
world is. So the Ramayana must have been cc
thelndian public had yet time to grow practic;

3. Risbyasringa is represented in the Ram ay
ever m solitude and unseen by men or women,
of a hind and had a horn on his head. The int,

mythical character like this demonstrates the an
"Work,

is J' JVv® Mahahharata Adiparvan a house ol
s erected by a Mecha called Purockana at tl

thecae h Da ' Ag f VidUra ’ tryiDg t0 reveal
n a M K° USe t0 hlS fri6ndS tbe Pa * da vas, ta
UUUnderst00d the accor
pulous The war-portion of the same epic nam es

2ll a p" M f ha KiDgS taki “g P a « in the ™
a Parva 26 ’ 93, H9, 122 ). On the contrary f

2 7

.makes no such references at all and the only few allusions
to the Yavanas do not prove alien interference in politics. The
.signification of 4 Yavana * is not the same as that of 4 Mlecha.
It is therefore safe to deduce that at the time of the Ramayana
foreign influence was not felt, at any rate not enough to give
the foreigners a territorial dominion in the international policy
of Indian States.

5 . The geographical account of Valtniki regarding Southern
India denies the existence of any civilifed kingdoms there.
On the other hand the country South of the Vindhya range is
the haunt of savage demons like Viradha and Kabandha. In the
royal invitations at Dasaritha’s Court no one King of Southern
India has a summons, nor does Rama in his journey south¬
wards make alliance with a civilized prince. On the other
hand the Kings of Southern India have a prominent reception
at the Rajasuya sacrifice of Yudhistira. The geographical
sketch of Bharata-varsha as given io the Bhishma-parva
shows a very intimate acquaintance with the advanced states
of the Dekhan. Hence, since the days of the Ramayana the
country has from a political point of view made a decided
advance.

6 . The test of archery at the marriage of Sita had better be
compared with that at Draupadi-Swayamvara. The latter
indicates an obvious advance in the dexterity of the test. In the
construction of the army also, we see an improvement in the
science of war. Rama’s army knows not of varied dispositions,
whereas in the Bharata war the plan of Vyuhas or arrays has
already been devised, by means of which a small force can
withstand a powerful one. The ordered supervision of the
commandants, the regular signals of colored standards, the

applausive roars of victorious combatants—all these never miss-
a detailed delineation in the battles of the Great War. The
complexity in the development of martial tactics shows a sign*
of a later age.

7 . The encyclopaedic variety of the contents of the*
Mahabharata together with its vastness of knowledge in every
line of science or art shows a rapid progress from the age of
Valmiki. Vyasa notes law and science reduced to a system,,
whereas no idea of # codification is discernible in the Rama-
yana.

8 . The character of Sita is advantageously compared with*
that of Draupadi. Sita is simpler and more cowardly. She-
exhorts the reluctant Rama to permit her company to the*
woods. Draupadi musters her strength to argue the justice
of Yudhistira’s authority to pawn his wife when once he has
enslaved himself. Sita belongs to an age of ignorance and
cowardice ; Draupadi of wisdom and courage. Draupadi’s-
religious convictions are looser than the god-fearing instinct
of the daughter of Janaka.

9- The rigour of patriarchal ties and institutions is palpa¬
bly visible in the history of Rama. The disintegration of the
presbyterian respect enjoined by Hindu canons of conduct has*
set in by the time of the Mahabharata. Rama is a model son,,
innocently submissive to paternal mandate ; Bharata, the para¬
gon of a brother ,* Sugriva, the standard of a friend. Rama
says: «TTcR?cTm WftlW: I A sense of sincere

duty animates Valmiki’s characters and the pivot of Rama’s
victory is the truthfulness of his adherents. Quite the
reverse is the case in the Mahabharata. Bhima is ready to*

29

^revolt against Y u dhistira, if only ho should consent to a con¬
ciliation. He is impatient to throw off the Kaurava princes,
•despite their promise of self-slavery on a failure at dice.
Salya readily takes the side of the Kurus. Business and self-
seeking overrides the feeling of truthful responsibility.

Otherwise too the age of the Mahabharata is corrupt and
■degenerate. For victory’s sake every crime is readily com¬
mitted from false evidence and forgery to robbery and
murder. Duryodhana’s attempt to poisAi his own kinsmen
-or Yudhistira’s abetment at Drona’s murder are sufficient
instances.

This state of corruption and degeneracy clearly points to a
later sceptic state of society.

10. Ravana carries off iSita by force and she would not
allow her to be touched by Hanuman, when he proposes to
take her on his back to Rama’s abode. Even after victory
she has to pass through an ordeal of fire for admission to the
•queenship. Similarly in the Kamyaka forest Jayathratha
abducts Draupadi by force and is easily received again without
-any test of good conduct by her husbands. Apparently
Rama’s contemporaries had a stricter notion of morality
and wifely duty and. stronger was the faith in the interposition
-of Providence. The relaxation in such religious and ethical
beliefs proves an advance in the age of the Mahabharata.

11. Valmiki does not transmit his poem by written records.
He composes it and chooses Kusa and Lava to get it by heart
and to put to lyre and singing. On the other hand, Vyasa is
trad itionally known to have dictated his work and Ganesa put

it in writing and so the first means of transmission was in
writing. The conjecture is that at the time of the composition
of the Ramayana writing was unknown or the practice of
writing was in its embryo.

12 . Lastly the racy and elegant style of Valmiki—a sign of
antiquity—contrasts itself most favourably with that of the-
rugged and laboured language of the Mahabharata.

These argument, then, must suffice to convince any
negativist of the futility of his theory, “ The heroes of the
Ramayana are somewhat tame and common place personages,,
very respectful to priests, very anxious to conform to the rules

of decorum and etiquette.” If this were a negativisms

argument, his counsel must only throw out his brief. On the
contrary that very tameness of heroes and priestly domination
is a sign of antiquity. When people learn to reason and
argue, priests can no longer claim predominance. Priests can-
only be u wits among lords” and not 44 lords among wits.”
Orthodox Hindu tradition is not after all a deception to the
eyes of a sober observer.

Section IV.

The Puranas.

The Puranas now deserve attention, as constituting at*
important department of Sanskrit literature in their connec¬
tion with the later phases of Brahminism as manifested in the
religious doctrine of emanation, incarnation and triple mani¬
festation. The term 4 Purana* signifies 4 old tradition 1 and the
ancient narratives eighteen in number are said to have been
compiled by the venerable sage Vyasa, the supposed founder
of the Vedanta School of philosophy. The range of their

3i

contents is encyclopedical. They are histories of Gods, as
opposed to Itihasas, the histories of heroic men. The theo ogy
they teach is anything but simple, uniform or consistent.

Every Parana is supposed to treat of only five topics:-
(I ) The creation of the universe (2) Its destruction and re-crea¬
tion (3) The geneology of Gods (4) The periods ofithe anuts*
U)The history of the Solar and Lunar races of Kings It was
this characteristic of a Parana that made Amarasimha cal 1
Pancha-Lakshani. The fact, that very* few Puranas now
extant answer to this index of contents and that the abstract
given in the Matsya Purana of the subjects of the other
Puranas does not tally with the extant works, proves the-
theory that the modem Puranas are but recensions or epitomes
of more ancient originals. The mythology of t e urana
is more developed than that of the Mahabharata.

Prof Wilson assigns the composition of these works to a-
period later than the 6th century A. D. “They offer” he,

“ characteristic peculiarities of a more modern escrip 1 ,

the paramount importance which they assign to mdra ma
divinities, in the variety and purport of the rites addressed tn
* them and in the invention of new legends illustrative of t e
power and graciousness of those divinities and of the efficacy
of implicit devotion to them.” The Professor further discovers,
allusions to circumstances, which make the assignment o a
comparatively recent date indisputable. As a culminating,
remark, he adds “ they were pious frauds for temporary p

poses.”

The deductions which occasioned the learned scholar's-
remarks are. based on internal evidence, the authority o£

which modern research questions on all sides. Sectarianism
consists in the exclusive and not merely preferential worship
of any divinity* The Puranas as a whole do not prohibit the
worship of any god, but the sectarianism goes to the extent of
recommending a particular deity in preference to all others.
Passages are not rare in the Puranas, where all the deities are
described as occupying an equal scale in the Hindu pantheon.
.Again the Professor seems to have given greater weight to the
'internal testimony from those passages, which he thinks have
a modern appearance, than to that which results from those
parts which the Puranas must have contained from their first
composition, in order to entitle them to a sacred character and
to that reverence with which these works have been regarded
by the Hindus. But the fixing of a possible date when the
Puranas received their present form is a question of little or
mo consequence, when it is admitted that there is abundant
positive and circumstantial evidence of the prevalence of the
doctrines which they teach, the currency of the legends which
they narrate and the integrity of the institutions which they
describe, at least three centuries before the Christian era.
They cannot, therefore, be pious frauds in subservience to
sectarian imposture. What more conclusive evidence of their
antiquity can be required than their containing a correct des¬
cription of the doctrines and institutions of the Hindu religion,
which were prevalent in India three centuries before the
Christian era? For it is probable more that the present
Puranas are the same works as were than extant, than that
eighteen persons should have each conceived 1300 years after¬
wards the design of writing a Purana and should have been
able to compile or compose so accurately 18 different works
which correspond so exactly in most of their minute parti¬
culars. Of course it must be admitted that their present form

33

is an adulterated one, occasioned by causes incidental to the
mode of preservation and the voluminousness of the works
themselves. Later accretions and interpolations there might
have been and these in themselves cannot make the whole
body of works modern. The language of the prose of the
Vishnu Purana is quite in keeping with this view. We shall
glean out a particular instance :—

I T%gcT

II Vishnu IV.—ii—91.

These lines speak for themselves. Not the slightest artificia¬
lity is noticeable in them. The idea flows and the later
figurative embellishments are seen in their embryo. This
style certainly deserves to precede the period ofSudraka’s.

very sources of Dandies style are discernible here. The
refined wording, the musical choice of words and the natural¬
ness of the flow of expression are the chief characteristics of
this prose and therefore the Puranas not undeservedly mark
* a transition from the Sutras to the Artificial Romance.

According to the traditional classification, the number of
the Puranas is eighteen. They are subdivided into three
Classes based on the predominance of one of the three princi¬
ples of external existence— goodness, darkness and passion
i. The Satvika puranas—Vishnu, Narada, Bhagavata,
Garuda, Padma and Varaha.

ii. The Tamasa puranas—Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Saiva,
Skanda and Agni.

3 '

34

iii. The Rajasa puranas—Brahmanda, Vaivarta, Markan-
deya, Bhavishyat and Brahma.

The first two groups chiefly devote themselves to the
commendation of Vishnu and Siva, while the third promotes
the claims of individual forms as Krishna, Devi and Ganesa.
The present Puranas are numbered at 400,000 couplets.

The • Upapuranas have the same characteristics as the
Puranas. One of them contains the episode of Adhyatrna
Ramayana, supposed to be a spiritual version of Valmiki’s
poem. TheTantras are a later development of the doctrines-
of the Puranic creed. They are the writings of saktas or
votaries of the female energies of some divinity, mostly the
■wife of Siva. Such ideas are not altogether absent in the
Puranic works. But in the Tantras they assume a peculiar
character owing to the admixture of magic performances and
mystic rites of perhaps an indelicate nature. Amarasimha
knows not of them. Among these are the Kularnava
SyamaluTuhasyu and Rahhutantra.

CHAPTER IV. . .

THE KAVYAS OR ARTIFICIAL EPICS.

The Ramayana stands at the head of the Kavya branch of
Sanskrit literature. In its composition it answers in every
minute detail to the description of a Mahakavya as defined by
Poetics. In perfection or in spontaneity the later poems can
in no way compare themselves favourably with the work of
Valmiki. The Mababhashya of Pafanjali has literary evidence-

35

to show that the Kavya literature was eminently flourishing
during the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era.

The earliest poem next to that of Valmiki that has
survived the wreck of time is the Buddha-Charita of Asva-
ghosha. He was a brahmin of Eastern India, who after his
conversion by Vasumitra, the President, of the Buddhistic
council, settled in Kashmir and became the twelfth Buddhist
patriarch.* He was a contemporary of Kanishka and so belongs
to the first century A. D. His Buddha-charita is a Maha
Kavya celebrating the legend of Buddha. It was translated
into Chinese about A. D., 414—421. He is also the .reputed
author of Alankaralhka Sastra. His style is very simple and v
graceful and seems immediately descended from the language
of Valmiki and the mischievous artificialities of later works
are not at all noticeable. There is so much of similarity
between his fancies and Kalidasa’s that many scholars are of
opinion that one of these must have copied from the other.

Here comes the Dark Age in the history of Kavya poetry.
For centuries more than three, no work of the kind survived
to us, so that this datum became the foundation of the
famous Renaissance Theory of Max Muller—that in conse¬
quence of the- Scythian incursions the Indians ceased from
literary activity for some centuries and that the age of King
Vikramaditya of Ujjain about t the middle of the 6th century,
y/as the golden age of Sanskrit poetry. The merits of the
theory itself as based on Fergusson’s hypothesis will be dis¬
cussed in a later chapter. But epigraphical research in recent
years has brought to light a mass.of literary work, which

* His sermons were so impressive that horses shed tears and would notf
eat fodder before him. Hence his name.

37

begins iii the tenth and ends with the fifteenth canto. The
Poem closes rather abruptly with the death of the voluptuous
^g^imitra. The tradition is that the poem is longer than it
really now is. Indigenous Indian scholars opine that the
seq u el to the history of the Raghu-race has been lost to us. :
Kalidasa’s works generally have a natural conclusion and the
rhetorical canons enjoin either a benediction or a happy Comple¬
tion of tGe story at the conclusion of a poem. The last canto
presents to us the widowed Queen of Agnivarma on the throne
in trust for a posthumous prince, whose history we know
not. The people are anxiously awaiting the birth of a pros¬
perous prince. This curiosity our poem does not abate.
Certainly Kalidasa was not the poet to leave his work open
to rightful criticism. He was more aesthetic and delicate in
his tastes. “ His object might have been to connect some one
of the dynasties of Kings existing in his time with the race
anciently descended from the Sun.” Either Kalidasa could
not finish his poem or the work has not descended to us in its
entirety.

The Kumara-Sambhava —another poem of 17 cantos—
opens with the courtship and wedding of Siva and Uma and
concludes with the destruction of the demon Taraka by
Kumara or the War-God. In short the Birth of the War-God
is the subject of the poem.

Kalidasa’s poems have been taken as a standard of poetic
perfection and natural melody. His similies are apt and strik¬
ing and it needs no effort to understand him. The story of the
Raghuvamsa has more matter and has consequently to avoid
all detail and to run fast over the narration. The story of the
Kumara-Sambhava has less stuff and necessarily affords the

38

cjtjt for - his artistic paiating and deiiheat!o “.

tr e scnption find a longer pace in the latter. The

52 ?. ET 7 i! S" *” “ d -%-£

® atrBn i®ya-Mahatmya—a pom of , 4
T- aT.T fT- “ Valabhi ”» te K ”S Siladity. (605.

and !» *li ^ C ° DSlsts for the most Part of popular folk-lore
d legend and there is little of history in it.

thffiSt'blt Kira ? rjUniya ’ a P° em of 18 “Dios, describes
aLeer 7^ T? ^ SiVa in the « arb <* • mount-
Z Znl T t0& are ° CCUpied With ^ description of

and so h Pr ° P T* Bharavi deSCT ibes the Maharashtra countiy
“^ed r » " be " > ° ged ,h " eK - B « ** 1- « been

an inscrinf -4 ^ 1S m ® Dtloned alon S with Kalidasa’s in ~~
an inscription dated Saka 556 (A.D., 634). Besides in an

:z*z ° !776 ** ■— o'

zrzz

Bharat’s work to have become popular and’ famousTv thfe

cT^msZ b “° r p r lo ,he ,a,ter “ f ° f * •*»

amS; H S ™ 5 <lraWO fr ° m “•”<* ™ are very

amusmg His language cannot be called easy or simple*
M^oath, caUs it ? P «■

mth that of Magha and has been the stldard^r
and gravity. standard of vigour

The fifteenth canto illustrates all linHe IT 7 ;----

described in Dandin’s Kavyadarsa. Verba gymnastics as

i

"V

i

39

Kumaradasa’s Janakiharanam a poem of 15 cantos
opens with a description of Ayodhya and carries the tale in
detail up to Rama’s marriage. The rest of the story is dis¬
posed of in a few chapters. The author was a King of Ceylon
of the 6 th century A. D. and son of Moudgalyayana.

Bhatti’s Ravaha-vadha, a peom of 22 cantos, relates the
•story of Rama. The question of the identity of Bhatti and
Bhartrihari is not finally settled. The negativists say that the
confusion arose from the fact that Bhatti is a prakritised form
of Bhartri. The poet was patronised by Sri Dharasena of
Vallabhi, who is referred to as a Makarajaadhiraj. From the
fact that the Vallabhi Kingdom was never free from vassalage
except under Dharasena IV (641-651 A.D.), it is conjuctured
that our poet flourished somewhere about this time. The so-
called poem aims at illustrating the intricate grammatical
forms based on the aphorisms of Panini and the minute
•quibbles of rhetorical devices, yet the language shows out his
’readiness of vocabulary and the perfectness of grammatical
’Studies. With all its defects the poem does not miss occasional
lines noted for lyrical beauty and poetic fancy.

Harichandra’s Dharmasarmabhyudaya, a long poem
of 21 cantos, describes the life of Dharmanatha, the fifteenth
Thirthakara. The author was the son of Ardradeva and a
Kayastha of the Digambara Jain sect. Rajasekhara alludes to
him in the first act of Kurpuramanjari and the work must
therefore fall somewhere about the eighth century A.D.

Abhinanda’s Kadambarikathasara epitomises the story
•Qf Bana’s Kadambari in verse. The author was born in
Kashmir, but seems to have lived in the Gauda country. His

40

fourth ancestor Saktiswamin is mentioned at the court of
Muktapida (726 A. D.). His patron was the Yuvaraja Hara-
varsha of the family of Dharmapala. The Lochana of the 10th
century refers to it and so our poet must have Jived in the gtk
century.

The Kapphanabhyudaya is a rare poem still in manu¬
script form. The author calls himself Bhattasiva Swamin
and is identical with the poet quoted in the Subhashitavali of
Vallabhadeva. He was one of the poets of the court of
Avantivarman of Kashmir (855-884 A. D.). It is a Mahakavya
and closely resembles Magha’s work in diction and style.

Ratnakara’s Haravijaya—A long poem of 50 cantos*
The authpr was a Kashmirian poet and according to Kalhana
(Raj. V., 34) became famous under Avantivarman (855-884
A. D.) ; but his own statement that he was a servant Brihaspati,
i.e* Jayapida (779-813) would place him earlier* His other
works are Vakrokti-panchasika and Dhwanigaihapanchika, of
which the former is a collection of crocked sayings in the form
of a dialogue between Siva and Parvati.

Magha is represented according to the Bhoja-prabandha*
as a contemporary of King Bhoja of Dhar. Anandavardhana
of the 9th century quotes him and Magha himself refers to
Jinendrabuddhi. This latter datum assigns the poet to a
period not later than the 9th century and no earlier than the
6th. The period of Magha’s activity, says Duff, would be-
about 860 A. D. The poet calls himself the son of Dattaka and
grandson of Suprabha. Only one work of his, the Sisupala-
vadha, has come down to us. A Mahakavya of 26 cantos^
it has maintained ifs place 3$ a classical poem through these*

4 *

centuries. At times the thoughts are voluptuous, but every¬
where his width of knowledge is apparent. In style he
compares with Bharavi and is less stiff than Harsha. Its plot
relates to Krishna’s slaying of Sisupala. The Rajasuya sacrifice
of Yudhistira is described wherein Sisupala’s misconduct to
Krishna the immediate cause of the war—is carefully deline¬
ated. The three last cantos are solely devoted to the actual
warfare.

Kaviraja's Raghava-Pandaviya —a poem celebrating:
the story of the Kosalas and Kauravas at the same time..
The ideas are founded on the choice of words and the parano-
niasia on them. The poet’s history is utterly in the dark, but
he appears to have flourished about the beginning of the Qthr
century. The name Kaviraja appears to bean epithet rather
than the name proper. Duff’s chronology makes Srutakirti
the author of the poem whose name is mentioned in an ins¬
cription dated 1130 A. D. In that case the poem must be
assigned to about the 10th or nth centuries,

Padmagupta’s Navasahasankacharita is a poem writ¬
ten in honor of Smdhuraja. The author was a poet-laureate
under the Parama King Munja ( 974 — 995 ) and Sindhuraja
(995—1010) and so the work was composed about the end of
the IOth century.

Bilhana was born in the village of Konamukha near
Pravarapura, of Jyestakalasa and Magadevi in the race of the -
Kausikas. Passing the career of education at Kashmir, he
dwelt near Mathura engaged in playful disputes with the
Pandits of Brindavan. He . had made a special study of
grammar and poetics and now began his tour to distant royaL

42

courts. Having visited Dahala (Bundlekhand) and Oudh, he
performed his devotions at Somnath. His tour extended South
to Rameswara, when he turned back and finally there Vikrama
gave him the place of Vidyapati in his Court at Kalyan. The
third and the fourth quarters of the Utk century embrace in all
..probability the career of Bilhana. For,

(') The two Kings Ananta and Kalasa referred to by
Bilhana as having passed away before him did
according to General Cunningham reign from 1028
to 1088 A. D.

{ii) The story as related in the Vikrama Charita concludes
with a Chola war and is silent as regards the expedi¬
tion of 1088 beyond the Narmada.

fin) Kalhana says (Raj. VII, 936) that Bilhana lived to see
Harsha, son of Kalasa on the throne.

(iv) Bilhana mentions Karna of Dahala as his patron,

whose kingdom was destroyed by Somes vara I.
The latter died about 1069. Bilhana’s reference
must therefore he dated earlier.

(v) Bilhana speaks of Bhoja of Dhar as a contemporary

to whom he omitted to pay a visit.

The Vikramankadevacharita, a Mahakavya in 18 cantos,
•describes the life of the poet’s patron Vikrama. His other
-work the Chaurapanchasika describes his company with a royal
princess Sasilekha whose tutor he was and with whom he had
a Gandharva intrigue. His drama Karnasundari will find a
place in a later chapter.

As a poet Bilhana ranks high. The difficulty of transform¬
ing hls tory into poetry did really mar his high poetic merits.

43

hut still his Panchasika has much of genuine feeling, poetic
fancy and musical harmony. u Really beautiful passages occur
in every canto. One of the most touching is the description
of Ahavamalla’s death. Biihana’s verse is musical and flowing
and his language simple. professes to write in the Vat-
darbharili

Kshemendra is known to have flouiished in Kashmir
under the patronage of King Ananta. He was a Saivate in his
earlier years until he was converted into a Vaishnava Bhaga-
vata by the instructions of Somacharya. He underwent his
poetic studies under the famous Abhinavagupta. His Samaya -
matrika , a poem describing the arts and tricks of women, on the
plan of Kuttinimatam, gives the date of its composition as the
25th year of the Kashmirian cycle in 1050 A. D. His Chiira-
iharaia is a drama obviously based on the wonders of the
Great War. Lavanyavati and Muktavali are known to be
short poems. Dasavatara-ckarita describes the story of the
ten incarnations of Vishnu. Chaturvargasangraha is a concise
exposition of the whole dictum oydie four great motives of
human activity. Besides his work was one of epitomes of
more voluminous books. His Bharatamanjari summarises in
easy poetry the eighteen parvams of Vyasa’s work, .thereby
indicating to us that at his time the Mahabharata had a form
similar to that we have to-day. So does his Ramayctna manjatu
Brikatkathamanjati translates into Sanskrit poetry the original
of Gunadhya’s, supposed to have been written in the Paisachi
language. His summaries are clearly woven and even the
minor incidents of the original have at least an indirect refe¬
rence. His language does not display much of the later
poetic decay apd his poetry does in many instances resemble
that of Bilhana.

44

if.

Jalhana’s Somapalavilasa is a poem describing the life-
of King Somapala of Rajapuri near Kashmir. This king was
defeated by Sussala in 1118 A. D. and the work must be
assigned to the first half of the twelfth century . He is
referred to as a contemporary by Mankha and as the author
of a short poem called Mugthopadesa . ;

Abhayadeva’s Jayantavijayam is a poem in 19 cantos.
The author was a pupil of Vijayachandra and third in succession*
to Jinasekharasuri, who flourished about samvat 1204, (114&
A. D.)

Sri Harsha was born of Heera and Mamalladevi. His
father was a court-pandit of King Vijayachandra of Kanouj.
Routed in ^ competition by a fellow poet, his father retired
from public service and importuned his son on his death-bed to*
avenge his disgrace. Entrusting his family cares to his kins¬
men, Harsha proceeded to educate himself and in a few years-
was master of Chiniamani mantram y kindly communicated to
him by a venerable sage on the Ganges. Thereby he could
withstand any opponents in learning and his thought and*
language could flow unceasingly. He visited the royal court
again and composed the Naishadhiya-charita at the king's-
request. The work then met with the wide approval of the'
learned assemblies of Kashmir and honored by a personal
acceptance by the Sarasvati on the peeikam there. He bore
the title of Narabharaii . The jealous queen who called herself
Kalabhariti could not bear this and attempted to disgrace
Harsha, whereupon he resorted to the banks of the Ganges to-
spend the rest of his life as an ascetic. Jayantachandra ruled 1
over Kanouj in the 12th century and necessarily Harsha must
have flourished about the same time. External evidence?
besides this ampty justifies this conclusion:— / ,

45

(i) No genuine edition of the Sarasvati-kantabharana
quotes any of Harsha’s verses.

{ii) Raj asekhara, the younger, assigns the composition
of the poem to somewhere about U74 A. D., for
Jayachandra’s minister’s pilgrimage to Somnath was
* later than Harsha’s return from Kashmir.

•(in) Chanda’s Prithiviraja-rasau, which has been under¬
stood as describing Harsha as a predecessor of
Kalidasa, must have been composed far later than
the Prabandhakosa, perhaps in the 14th century.
The interpretation put on Chanda’s wording is not
at all acceptable.

{i v) Raj asekhara’s account of Jayantachandra closely tallies
with Harsha’s hints and references.

(v) The Naishadha-dipika, a commentary by Chandu, is
dated A. D. 1296 and calls the poem c navam ’ or new.

The Naishadhiyacharitamisa Mahakavya of the highest
■renown in all India. It describes the story of Nala, the king of
IMishadha; his love to Damayanti, the Vidarbha princess; his
message through a swan; Damayanti’s marriage by self-choice
•with all its vicissitudes; and her happy company at the royal
palace. The extant work contains twenty-two cantos, where
it seems to be complete. Tradition carries it further to the
length of 60 or 120 cantos. It is hoped that the rest of the
work is still hidden in some of the unransacked libraries.
'The work is a masterpiece of Harsha. His ideas, though at
titties far-fetched, are yet fine and imaginative. All mythology
5 $ at his fingers? ends. Rhetoric he rides over. He sees no
end to the flow of his description. Still we cannot see in him
that ease or falicity of expression that is characteristic of
Sudraka or Kalidasa. To the best learned pandit his language

young child of five years for an entry into the monastic order.
The mother willingly gave him away and he was initiated
under the name of Changadeva. On a tour of pilgrimage he
stayed at Karnavati in the house of Udayanamantri. His-
father who ran in quest of him found that his child had
already realised the essence of an ascetic’s life. As a test he.
put his hand in the blazing fire and instantly the bony arm.
was turned to gold r hence his appellation Hemachandra. He
had a respectable reception and patronage at the court of tfae-
Chalukya Kings of Anhilvid in Guzerat where he spent the
rest of his life till his death in 1173 A. D. He was almost a
minister at the royal durbar and through his influence Jainism
was encouraged and Fikaras to the number 1400 were con¬
structed. Laws against cruelty to animals were enacted and
meat consumption,was prohibited; However his partiality to
Brahminism is, said to have been equally praise-worthy. His
Kumarapala-charita is, a long poem, the first twenty cantos
of which are Sanskrit and the last eight prakrit. Hence it was
called .Dvyasrayakavya. The history of Anhilvid princes is
given in detail, ending in an enthusiastic appreciation of King
Kumarapala. The work appears to have solely been written,
to illustrate Hemacharya’s Sutras. Besides Hemachandra is-
a grammarian, rhetorician and lexicographer. Among his
works are Abhidhana- Chintamani, Desinamamala, Anekartha-
mala, Chhandonusasana and Alankara- Chudamani.

' Vasudeva’s Yudhisthiravijaya has 8 chapters. A pupil
of Bharatbignru, the author flourished under Kulasekhara of.
the iMh century A. D. (Ind. AnU VI, 143.)

Amarachandra’s Balabharata narrates the story'of the
Mphab'harata ip the order of the Parvans: ; The author was

apumlofjmadm.or Vagbhata. He became a genius by kh

s am»„„,,pa. At the colin of VilaWeia ^ 7

” <J) *! pr ° ved hi “ e,f » ”>»t powerful poet and thence-

Wdhe stayed.hetea'one. He wtote also

! "• He thet ' for ' a °" rished *l>out the

middle of the 13th century.

Viranandi’s Cbandraprabhacharita i s a poem of i 7
antos. It begins with a description of King Kanakaprabha
and his line and closes with Indra’s incarnation as Jina The
last canto summarises -the tenets of the Jain religion. The
author must have lived somewhere near Gujrat and his latest
date cannot be above the 13th century.

Krishnananda’a Sahridayananda is a poem giving an

SnX V nt’ K t g ° f NiShadha ‘ He ™ * Kayaltha

Sandhi-Vigrahika. He is quoted in the Sahitya-darpana and

£ W V° have commented on the Naishadhiyacharita.
e must therefore be assigned to about the 13th century .

Somesvara was a native of Guzarat and belonged to a class

!.Tr:- He flourished between 1179-1262 A D., under
King s Bhimadeva and Visaladeva. His Kirtikaumudi describes
the greatness of a Chalukya prince. His Surathotsavam is
a poem in 15 cantos, narrating the history of Surathaofthe
Uiaitra race. The description of the Hymalayas is most
delightful. The killing of Sumbha and Dhiimralochana is
most vividly depicted. The style follows Bilhana as also the
narration. His Ramasatakam is devoted to the praise of Rama*

Vedanta Desika was born in 4369 year of Kali and
■ ived 108 years. Thus his period was between 1268 and 1376

49

A. D.—the times of the Muslim invasions of the Dekhan. His
scholastic career was over when he was barely * twenty and his
life for the rest was one of ceaseless literary activity. His
collected works number about 121—separate treatises of which
only eight are literary works proper* The Yaddvabhyudaya , a
long epic after the manner of Kalidasa’s work, describes the
advent arid life of Sri Krishna. The Rughuvira-gadya is a
short prose poem. The Paduka^suhctsta ^ a series of one thou¬
sand verses in praise of Rama’s Sandals, was composed in a
single night in a competitive literary duel. Desika’s work was
more in the field of Logic and Thelogy. He was the follower
of the Ramanuja School of Vedanta philosophy. His memor¬
able work for the Vaishnava Sect has made him a saint of their
Church and his image is worshipped to this day. He was at
home in every branch of art or literature ; so much so he was
named a ‘ Sarva-tantra-svatantra . ’ u Great as Desika was as a
scholar and poet, yet from the point of view of universal
literature, we cannot well say there is much of originality
either in the choice of his subjects or in his manner of treat¬
ing them. Perhaps this was largely a fault with all the writers
of Sanskrit during that period. Yet our author’s works are
characterised by fluency of style and command over the force
and fecundity of language not easily met with in latter-day
scholarship/’

Chandrachuda was the son of Purushottama Bhatta-.
He must have flourished near Benares about the end of the
15th centmy. His Rartavirya- Vij&yam — a. long poem of 14
cantos—describes the story of Kartavirya. The descriptions
are in the style of Harsha’s but the language not so stiff or
obscure. He has a greater grace and melody about his
verse. . .

4

jo

Govinda-makhm was born of Sri Dhalli and Kuppamba in
tbe race of Sandilya. He was patronised by one Achyuta-
bhupala and himself in his later life was the minister of
Kondama-Naik. The small mantapams he caused to be con¬
structed by that prince are still to be seen on the banks
of the Kaveri near Kumbakonam. His name is likewise
associated with the gifts of many Agrahatowis • Once when he
was dwelling in the Madhyarjunakshetra he had an interview
with Appayya-dikshit, who highly pleased by the learning
of Govinda condescended to comment on his Kalpataru>
an epitome of the Skad-darsanu Hence Govinda must be
assigned partly to the latter half of the 16th and partly to the
former of the i/th century. His fiativamsasara-charilatn ,
a long poem of 23 cantos, describes the story as related in the
Harivamsa. His language especially in this poem is unstrained
and natural. We miss here the tediousness of the original and
the story is presented to us in a most palatable and attractive
poetry.

Venkatesvara was the son of Srinivasa. He was a
Vaishnavifce by religion and of the Atreya clan. Born near
Kanchi in 1595 A. D., he lived for more than fifty years. The
exact date of his demise is not known. His Ramachandrodayam
is a long poem of thirty cantos describing the history of Rama
—which on his own authority was composed at Benares in the
fortieth year of his life, i.e. y 1635 A.D. The poet himself
suras up his story; y

f^rcTT stf: J

srrarra spf: |j”

Nilakantba was a descendant of the famous Appayya-
dikshit. His father was Narayana and mother BhumidevL

5 1

He had four brothers all well-versed in Sanskrit learning and
all of them gifted with the poetic muse. He was a staunch
Saivite by religion and he was best at the Srikantha philo¬
sophy. His Nilakanthavijayam , a champu kavya, has the date
of its composition :—

stptct: T% 5 T II ”

This year 4138 of Kali corresponds to 1637 A.D. There¬
fore Nilakantha must doubtless have flourished in the first
half of the 17th century. His Sivalilantava is a long poem
of 22 cantos describing the history and actions of Siva* It
•comprehends in itself all the legends that make up the whole
range of Siva’s incarnation. His Gang avatar ana a poem of
eight cantos—describes the story of the descent of the celestial
Ganges to the human world by the efforts of Bhagiratha.
Among his minor poems may be mentioned Kalivtdambanam^
Sabharanjanam and Anyapadesa-Satakam. As a poet, Nila¬
kantha ranks high. His fancies are highly imaginative, his
sentiments fine and his language natural. His style has been

thus described: “

Laxmipati was the fourth son ofVisvarupa. He flourish¬
ed in the troubled times consequent on the death of Aurang-
zeb. His Avadullackaritam is a long poem on the life of the
King-maker Sayyid Abdulla. It presents no division into
sargas or chapters. There is a frequent influx of Persian,
words due to the contact with the Muhamadan public.

52

chapter v.

THE INDIAN DRAMA.

bu- b-j. ^ jyssit'iss

^Sbake*^* °llure scorn her owh image and the

to *h®* ^*»e h^ °7the time,’ her form aftd pressure.” Epic
^ age ^ of th u e , ’ nnlv as a passive fact, merely

poetry represents past 01 T ^ action it relates

reporting what has tae ^ in itse lf over which man
appears a determined ^ ^ „ uniqtt8

hat no control. The purp vivid an d impres-

,n No other form of poetry ^ cerna l world and of

picture of the nature of man, of the external won

the relation subsisting between man and the externa

A central idea in every drama is the first requisite all other
actions and events being duly subordinated tout. The
ZZ lnd acts of a drama must have their end »• ndmg
thgTaudienee gradually towards a definite goal. Besides
centraHdea a moral ideal must be present. The sole purpose
might to be the elevation of character through the mculcaUon
of sound morals and the illustration of their benefits. ^ Th«
subject of a drama is but action, and actions are inconceivable
without ethical conditions. Hence the inevitable result i#
that most dramas, whether intended by the poet or not, at#
invested with a moral ideal. “The Hindu drama, like the
Elizabethan, bursts on us in full flush of perfection, and its
beginnings, the unskilled stammerings of the voice which
charm us with its plenitude of harmony, are lost to us. The
natural cause for this seems to be the printing press which

53

creates an artificial immortality and embalms for the bewilder¬
ment of future generations the still-born efforts of an infant
muse.” The invention of the Indian dramatic entertainments
is usually ascribed to Bfiarata Muni, but according to others
they had a still more elevated origin and the art having been
gathered from the Vedas by Brahma was by him communi¬
cated to the Muni. This is on its face a legend. Three
theories have been advanced as to the origin of the Sanskrit

Dramn

1. It had its origin in religious solemnities and spectacles.
But as the most ancient of the dramas treat of civil life and
never speak of religious ceremonies and as allegorical dramas
after the manner of the English moralities were .of very late
growth in the Sanskrit theatre, we must premise that this
theory can have no foundation.

2. Professor Weber supposes that the Sanskrit drama had
its beginnings •“ in the influence of the Greeks wielded on the
Hindus." This is a mere conjecture and the statement proves
mo settled opinion on the part of the learned theorist, who in
the very next sentence writes “ no internal connection, how-
•ever, with the Greek drama exists.”

The Sanskrit drama had unmistakably an indigenous origin.
It had begun to he cultivated from the sixth century B. C. and
.passed into lethargy by the fourteenth century .A. D. No
historical records point to any relations between the Greeks
and the Hindus prior to Alexander’s invasion. The few
traditions that have come down to us regarding the matter
are too vague and uncertain to warrant us in drawing any
sound conclusion. The very fact that the Indian drama he$ya

54

to be cultivated in the sixth century B. C., sufficiently proves-
that it could not have had any Greek origin.

Another objection is perhaps graver. Dramas are classified
by modem critics, Schlegel among others, into classical and
romantic. The Greek tragedy belongs to the classical type,,
whereas the Sanskrit drama is by universal consent admitted
to be romantic. Conceding for a moment the possibility of the-
Greek origin, is it conceivable that the copy would be so
utterly different from the original? They belong to two

opposite schools utterly alien to each other in construction,.,
taste and sentiment.

A third objection appears to be more natural. In the
ordinary course of things science or art with a foreign
ongm must be expected to have some borrowed terminology.
The most staking example is seen in the case of Indian
Astronomy The Hindus found it impossible to borrow
the principles of Greek astronomy without the words in.
which they were clothed. More than this two separate works
called the Romaka and Yavana siddhantas have a distinct
place ass lg ned to them in the Indian astronomical literature,.
No such transference of technical terms we can discern in the,
case of the drama. Except the allegation that the word'
Tavamka is a derivative from Yavana, the science of Indian
dramaturgy makes use of technical terms of pure indigenous
origin. Regarding the allegation itself, Indian etymologists,
dtave the term from the root ^ the sense big,

beh n^T More" 0 ^ ** ° f the 3Ctors ^ling-

behind it. Moreover the word Yavana has not been univer

afpS a^ 3 r nFn f ° r ^ GreekS ‘ *

PP nd perhaps an indiscriminate one* Hence, the.

55

mere existence of the word Yavanika , exhibiting by chance a
formative resemblance to a term vague in itself, can carry no
weight with it. Lastty, all institutions, sciences or arts that
have their origin in religion are admittedly home-sprung. The
Sanskrit drama as invariably written and exhibited at religious
festivals and congregations cannot have a foreign origin.

These theories are obviously advanced at random to dis¬
honour the half-refined capabilities of primitive Indians and
the natural tendencies of their time-honoured institutions.
No wonder, therefore, they have as usual sought their way
back to their original sources and are now no more rewarded
than with oblivion and ignominy.

3. Music, dialogue, gesticulation and imitation may be
^ confidently asserted the precursors of Sanskrit drama, be it on
a secular or religious basis.

Music in its theoretical as well as its practical aspect may be
traced in India as far as the Vedic age. Men who presided at
sacrifices and those who witnessed them were not satisfied with
the dull incantations of the Hotris or with the monotonous
recitations of the Adhvaryus. Something to charm the people,
something to elevate their imagination was the need. And
this want was soon, supplied by the formation of a third class of
priests called Udgatris. Their business at sacrifices was to chant
the Saman which was totally borrowed from the Rig Veda and
was adapted to singing. Thus the primeval cultivation of the
science and art of music is to be found in the Samaveda.

Dialogue, being an impressive form of composition, was
often employed in the Vedic, Epic, and Rationalistic periods

5 ^

ol Sanskrit Literature. In the Rig Veda we occasionally find
conversations between supernatural beings and Rishis. As
examples, the conversation of Indra, Agastya. and Maruts
and the dialogue between Yama and Yami, may be men¬
tioned. The epics may be called actual dialogues, the whole of
the Mahabharata being composed in the form of a dialogue
between Suta and his disciples. The Upanishads contain
many dialogues of which the pathetic conversation between
Ti ajnavalkya and his wife Maitreyi on the occasion of their
mutual separation, may be pointed out as an instance.

are ° f ^ instruments ^ which languages

formed. Though gestures cannot express «n>h X"

same degree of fecility all that can be expressed h i *
nage, they are the rude beginnings 0 f every
Even the most polished languages of the worlrl 7 gUage -
of the iar g o ns ^: t 0, d ‘ s h ;j ^ t ^ h “ V-k

*““ m " *»% eloquence whether i, be for , u
purpose or for the purpose of the «n u X rh etoncal
Thu. we .ee the u.eL^fou'tt

WM.nct of the human race All acting • 7 J d pr,mar Y
goturee. The law, „f ge.tfcuh.tict, deduct fro!"““ ° f

*ud of peculiar characteristics of nartoualittc'k d “' r ““ r ’

- “ * *"»*»

without which man W onw' _ lmi tation 1S an innate
in childhood and youth this facult ^ ’• ^ be6n what he is.
while in manhood it lies dorm 7 ^ ^ the hlghest activity
—• Our ^.SgSTterjr “ Se b '“■

■ as 9 u - r manners and

57

actions are acquired by' imitation. The method of dramatic
art is imitation in the way of action.

U In all likelihood, the germ of the dramatic representa¬
tions of the Hindus as of the Greeks is to be sought for in
public exhibitions of dancing, which consisted at first of simple
^movements of the body executed in harmony with singing
and music. Very soon dancing was extended to include
pantomimic gesticulations accompanied with more elaborate
-musical performances, and these gesticulations were aided by
occasional exclamations between the intervals of singing.
.Finally natural language took the place of music and singing,
while gesticulation became merely subservient to emphasis
in dramatic dialogue*” (Monier Williams).

The terms denoting the drama and acting are derived from
the same root l nat .’ Besides the fact of the identity of deriva¬
tion, the Dasarupa says, “ Acting is the imitation of
•conditions ; Rupa is so called because it is to be seen, and
Rupaka from the artificial assumption of forms by actors.”
Corresponding to the several stages in the development of
Sanskrit dramas, five modes of early dramatic representation
.are noted

(i) Nqtya or dramatic representations proper.

(ii) Nrityq or gesticulation without language.

(iii) Nritta or pure dancing without any admixture of
gesture or language.

<(iv) & ^v) Tandava and Rasy a : These were merely styles of
- dancing, the former being so named from Tandu an

; , ., r attendant of Siva whom the God instructed in it,

\ - while.the other was “taught by Parvati to the

.... princess Ushja, who. instructed the Gopis of Dwaraka,

58

and by them
Sourashtra the
regions.”

communicated to the women of
art passed to the females of various.

The date of the origin.

i» made by Paninfto^ .hilht^

& c G “: s d t “; iini ,n ** -** «-*

Besides we have another % ateSt dat * ° f the Nat y a sutras.
books of the Bud^Jriste.^Th 65 ^ 0 ^ a ® 5r< ^ e ^ by the sacred
- Buddha ~ «*-

of • 1>e addnced fr °" * b -“

fact the Buddha preached ia'p^ltor p"i

a r 7 ‘ in^ “ ,

the uneducated masses. Th” «ryf“ t ^ fa'” "“ ll “ bta “
Prakrit estabiishea the statement "ha the fenta «” *

= d „dif~ ~

simplicity of dicta and the deveiopnLV the “eta!

59

it is absurd to suppose that it was the first drama that ever
came out of a Sanskrit poet’s hands. It is like arguing that
Ben Jonson was the first English dramatist, Panini the first
Sanskrit grammarian or Vergil the first Latin poet. In the
absence of anything urged to the contrary, we must clearly
conclude that the drama ascribed to the royal author Sudraka*
is the result of a long and laborious cultivation of the
scence and art of dramaturgy at least from the 6th century
B.C., to which period we have referred the Natyasutras.

Section III.

The Dramatic Arrangement.

Every drama opens with a prelude or introduction, in which
the audience are made acquainted with the author, his work,
the actors, and such part of the prior events as is necessary for
the Spectators to know. The actors of the prelude were never
more than two, the manager and one of his company, either
an actor or actress, and they led immediately into the-
business of the drama. The first part of this introduction is*
termed the JPurva-ranga and opens with a prayer, invoking
In a benedictory formula the protection of some deity in*
favour of the audience. This is termed the Nandt , or that
which is the cause of gratification to men and gods. There-
is a difference of opinion as to who recites the Nandl^ and*'
th© commentator on the Mudra-Raksham observes, “that it is-
equally correct to supply the ellipse after nandycmte by either
fatkati « reads,’ or fravicaii 1 enters; 1 in the former case the
Sutradhara reciting the Nandt % and then continuing the
Induction ; in the latter the benediction being pronounced by
a different individual.” The Sutradhara, according to the.

6o

technical description of him, “ was to be well-versed in light
'literature, as narrative, plays and.poetry; he should be familiar
-with various people, experienced in dramatic details and
•conversant with different mechanical arts.” The prayer is
‘■usually often followed by some account of the author of the
piece, m which most of the authors “give a long description

itis/h genea0gles 9nd 05 their Q.wp .attainments, while
it s a characteristic of Kalidasa’s writings that they all begin

with a charmingly modest introduction, marked by great
■ iffidence; and m some places, the mention of the author is

•little more than the particularisation of his name. The notice

of the author is in general followed by a complimentary

- % faV ° Ur ° f the 3udience > « d th e manager

-occasionally gives a dramatic representation of himself and

his concerns m a dialogue between himself and one of his com¬
pany, either an actor or an actress, who is termed theX.
P ZZ \ 0V aSS ° Clate - The COnclusion of the prelude, termed

tftZe? 7 the audieaCe f0r the eotrance of one

-abrunr T ? erS °° ages > whois adr oitfy introduced by some

him as in thT^r ^ by sim P ly " a ™°g

' “ Tu u akuntala and Malavikagnimitra, or by uttering
something be is supposed to overhear, and to which he
•advances to reply, as in the Mritchakati and Mudra-Rakshasa.

he play being thus opened, is carried forward in scenes and
acts, each scene being marked by the entrance of one charac¬
ter, and the exit of another ; for in general the stage is never
Wt empty m the course of the act, nor does total change of
place often occur. Contrivances have been resorted to, to fill
up the seeming chasm which such an interruption as a total
a °f, ? ae u qUireS ’ afld t0 avoid such solecism which the
-Xd toYe ^ " ««ced ? is 1

6i

Of these, two are personages ; the interpreter and intro- -
ducer; the Vishkambhaka and the Pravecaka. These are*
members of the theatrical company, apparently, who may be-
supposed to sit by, and upon any interruption in the regular
course of the piece, explain to the audience its course and
object. The Vishkambhaka , it is said, may appear at the*
beginning, in the middle or at the end of an act: the Prove -
caka, it is said, may appear only between the acts. But this is
contradicted by the constant practice, for in every place the
Pravecaka indicates a change of scene. The duty of the
Pravecaka was probably of a very simple nature and he merely
announced the change of scene and approach of a certain
character. The Vishkambhaka had a more diversified duty, and
besides filling up all the blanks in the story, he was expected to
divert the audience by his wit and repartee. The employment
of the Vishkambhaka and Pravecaka is indicated by a simple
naming of them, and what either is to do or say is left to the
person who fills the character.

The first act or the Ankamuhha furnishes a due to the
subject Of the whole story and the ensuing acts carry on the *
business of the story to its final development in the last/
The piece closes, as it began, with a benediction or prayer,.
which is always repeated by the principal personage, who
expresses his wishes for general plenty and happiness*

Section IV.

Ifcp Characteristics.

The Indian drama presents an obvious analogy to the ■
tragedy of the Greeks, which was “the imitation of a solemn *
and perfect action, of adequate importance, told in pleasing:

62

■language, exhibiting the several elements of dramatic composi¬
tion, in its different parts represented through the instrument¬
ality of agents not by narration, and purifying the affections of
human nature by the influence of pity and terror.”

In the Sanskrit dramas there is a total absence of the dis
t,notion between Tragedy and Comedy. They never offer a
•calamitous conclusion, which, as Johnson remarks, was enough
to constitute a Tragedy; and although they excite all the
•emotions of the human breast, terror and pity included they

-th^rn G ? Ct f I 1 ”" ° bjCCt by leaViDg 3 PaiHful ’ m P ress ion' upon
the mind of the spectator. “ They are mixed composition S P in

-which joy and sorrow, happiness and misery, are woven in a

mingled web-tragi-comic representations, i'n which good and

evil, right and wrong, truth and falsehood, Lre aUowed to bl ”d

“tT fUSl ° n d T g thG firSt ^ the drama. lZ t

act harmony is always restored, order succeeds to disorder tran-

perpLxed byT™ ’ ^ ** ° f ** SpeCtator > longer
purged an J * aPParCnt 3SCendaDc y of ovil, is soothed and

^^eS^rH^" ie ^ inthe m ° ral 16330,1 d6ducible

P - Hindus m fact have no tragedy, and tragic

catastrophe is prohibited by a positive rule. The death of either
he hero or the heroine is never to be announced and death
must invariably be inflicted out of the view of the specie

mdleT'Z t0P,CS b0ItiIe defi>,lce ’ !ole ““ ™pZtions'

—* **■* >«„ ^ ma^eZot” &

The Dramatic Unities.

“ With regard to the unities we have that of action fullv
.recognised and a simplicity of business is enjoined quite in tte

■spirit of the Greek drama. The unity of place ns not noticed
.as might have been expected from the probable absence of aU
scenic embellishment. The unity of time is curiously m
fied, conformably to a principle which may satisfy the most
fastidious and the time required for the fable elapses invanabty
between the acts. In practice, there is generally less latitude
than the rule indicates and the duration of an act is very
-commonly that of representation, the night elapsing m t e

interval.”

The Hindu drama confines itself “ neither to the crimes
„ the absurdities of mankind ; neither to the momentous
changes nor lighter vicissitudes of life ; neither to the teraor,
of dfstiss noAhe gaieties of prosperity.” They interweave
sorrow and seriousness with mirth and levity. The Hindus m
fact have no tragedy. “ In truth, however, says H. H. W Iso
“ the individual and social organisation of the native of 1
is unfavourable to the development of towering passion an
whatever poets or philosophers might have intimated against
at ary, there is no doubt that the regions of physrerd
Suability have everbeenandstiUare thoseof moral extremes.

CHAPTER VI.

THE dramatic writings.

The Sanskrit drat. -- ^^"tS

Z &tchristn era his »m. do» to Foremost among
+he reasons that can be adduced to account for the loss ot
this dramatic literature stands the fact of the absence o a^pro.
per machinery of preservation. The mnlriphcuon of MSS.

6 4

was therefore a difficult and expensive process. The Brahmans-
With their marvellous memory never cared to recite the-
dramas and to propagate dramatic literature orally since the
drama formed no part of their sacred scripture. Besides the-
works of a certain dramatist became the property of a-
particular class of professional actors who deliberately with¬
held publishing them and with whom necessarily the dramas
themselves became extinct.

The one drama that survived this wreck is the Mrit cha-
katika. Sudraka is the reputed author and the prologue-
gives him a high place in arms and in letters. He lived a
hundred years and then burnt himself leaving his kingdom'
to his son.

Tradition includes him among the universal monarchs Of
India and places him between Cbandragupta and Vikramaditya.
The late Col. Wilford considers him the same with the
founder of the Andhra dynasty of Magadha Kings, succeeding
to the throne by deposing his master, the last of the Kanwa
race, to whom he was minister. It 'is further asserted in the
Kumarika-Khanda of the Skanda Purana that in the year 3800-
Kali a great King Sudraka would reign. This date is 190 A. D„
Therefore Sudraka must be that king. '

A work of Sudraka’s reign, this may be considered the-
oldest specimen Of the Hindu drama, arid internal evidence
there is ample to support the viewi—

1. Hie style of the play is simple, uria'ffificial arid free front
rhetoric* devices with which similar work teem. Such a
simplicity cattnot be attributed to any m Of school. .

65

2. The peculiarity in the language of Samsthanaka. His
citations of literary passages are from the two great Epics and
“ not even one from the Puranic legends.” Therefore Wilson
suspects that the drama was written prior to the composition
of the Puranasor at least before the stories they contain had
acquired by their aggregation familiar and popular currency...

[ N . B .—This argument is not verified. The slaying of
Sumbha and Nisumbha by Durga forms the theme of the
Markandeya Purana. So are the destruction of Daksha’s
sacrifice and the killing of Krouncha by Kartikeya.]

3. Hindu law prohibits suicide everywhere but Prayag.
But the breach of the law by Sudraka without any odium
for the violation leads Wilson to think that the society of the
drama preceded law.

[N.B .—The subsequent foot-note of Wilson invalidates this
assertion. . ‘That the practice of voluntary cremation was
observed at the beginning of Kali we know from classical
authority.’ Besides suicide was sometimes permitted and
regarded meritorious, e.g n in Sarvaswara sacrifice.].

4. .The love of a respectable brahmin for a courtesan

though prohibited in the Kali age indicates perhaps a period
anterior to the prohibition. . ..

5. “The accuracy with which Buddhist observances are
adverted to and the flourishing condition . in - which the
Buddhists are represented to exist.” In the second century the
worship of Buddha was prevalent in India and it is clear that
the play was written in the days of their prosperity.

5

66

6. Weber bases his argument on the use of the word
Nanaka (I-23)—a term borrowed from the coins of Kanerki
a king who reigned about 40 A. D. Bat there is no reason
to suppose that the Goddess Naina did not similarly occur on-

“nt^To. 50 25 t0 the dram after the

“Theplay though long has considerable dramatic merit
the plot being ingeniously developed and the interest n ’
sustained by a rapid succession of stirring events and Dict.^
qoely (bversified scenes of everyday life. The character^
Samsthanaka, a vicious dissipated man, stands in ZZ
contrast to that of Charudatta. As the one 8

generosity, so the other stands in bold r r e 15 3 pattern of
dtaent of the low* fonoa depralfty”" 5"^' a ' embo -

Vasantasena, a beautiful and wealthv lad £ Theheroi “e-

to the strict standard of moralitv not • 7 ’ 3 th ° Ugh acc °rding

be described as conforming to^ might StiU

The third act contains a humoro^ ' m ' Rded bberal woman.

a “°” w * * b “^.

oolty «dth whS aT to'drat f' pi0t “ arra ”8e<J, the toge-

ness and felidty of the diction are so lhe boId '

°wn dramatists. The asides and 7 Unworth y of our

entrances, rhe manner, attitude a^d ^T’ exits a *d.

tones of voice, tears ^ s i , gait ° f the speakers, their
indicated as to a and™ dramt “ “ re «“ lar 'r

Thename of Bbasa is

His fame as a dramatisthas beenTadhltJ™*^ Uteratu ™-

traditionallyconceded, but no

67

evidexi ce has been preserved to test the merit of the tradition.
DaociI n and Bana had already recognised the greatness of
Bhass* i n the field of letters. Modern theories identify his
personality with that of Dhavaka or Ghatcikarpara . The
three beautiful dramas ascribed to King Harsha and the two
musical lyrics in the name of Ghatakarpara are consequently
argued to be the production of his mighty poetic intellect.
Apart: from the real value of these theories, his dramatic
genins is unquestionable. Orthodox tradition ascribes twenty-
four dramas to his authorship, not one of which has seen the
light of the modern press. If as these theories premise he
were of the most humiliating trade of a washerman, this may
sufficiently account for his oblivion. At least the names of
three of his works we have known on reliable authority. The
Uda.£ta~raghava develops the eminent side of the character of
Rama. The Svapna-vasavadatta occupies itself with the story of
Uday ana’s marriage with Vasavadatta. The Kiranavali is said
to be a natika in the mode of the Ratnavali. From the rare
quotations from these works in later works on rhetoric, we can
safely-form an estimate of Bhasa’s poetry. His work is one of
natural sweetness. His dramas, as Bana says, were orderly and
principled. Variety of character pleased him most. Indeed
in originality of conception and versatility of imagery, he was a
wort lay fore-runner of him, who had found an immortal place
among the nine gems of the learned assembly of the renowned
Vikramaditya.

Next in the list of dramatists comes Kalidasa, the
greatest of all. But it is to be regretted that his greatness
has not been concurrent with a correct history of his own life
or writings.' If any part df Indian chronology is unsettled, it
is the age of Kalidasa, whereinto the brightest light of

68

modem research has not penetrated. In this diversity of
opinion some of the pertinent theories had better be examined.

- Hipfolite Eanche assigns Kalidasa to the reign of the

.posthumous child that ascended the throne on the death of
the voluptuous King Agnimitra. This would take back Kali¬
dasa to about the eighth century B. C.

If Kalidasa were to be a contemporary of a.reigning king,
his omission to give any history of his own ruler is unaccount¬
able. Besides, as we had already said, the Raghuvamsa cannot
he said to be a complete poem. Tradition says that the
.sequel to the history of Solar Kings has been yet unrecovered.
The simple fact that Kalidasa’s account closes there cannot
conclusively prove the end of the dynasty itself. The Vishnu-
purana mentions a list of thirty-seven Kangs after Agnimitra.
Bhavabhuti’s age is with tolerable certainty fixed tothe eighth
century A. D. Granting Fanche’s theory, there is a wide gap
of sixteen centuries between them—which long distance of
time must have caused a corresponding change in style and
language. The artificiality of diction discernible in Bhavabhuti
can at the.most allow an interval of five centuries and no
more.

... Sir...William Jones places Kalidasa in the first century
B. C. This date rests on no other foundation than that of
tradition which runs to the effect that there was once a king
named Vikramaditya, who after defeating the Sakas or
Scythians established, the Samvat era which commences 57
B.C. Thus runs, the mernorial verse r v

69.

Here,'there "are involved two questions of importance :—

: _ _• ;

Was there such : a prince as Vikramaditya, the destroyer of
tie Mlechas, the founder of the Samvat era, who reigned in
tie ist century B. C.?

1. The belief in a Vikramaditya rests on tradition. But it
$ also confirmed by the Pathavali of Merutunga, who says that

after Nabhovahana* G-ardhabhilla ruled at Ujjain for 13 years*
irhen Sri Kulikacharya, on account of the violence offered to his
ister Saraswati, uprooted him and established the Saka Kings
it Ujjain, They ruled there for four years. His son Vikrama-
litya regained the kingdom of Ujjain and commenced the
b^ikrama Samvat era. This took place 470 years after Vira’s era.
JThe Saka era began 605 years after Vira Nirvana.” Thus it is
jeen that a Vikramaditya ruled 135 years before the Saka era.

2. Some^ antiquarians doubt the very historical existence
oi such a prince, saying there is absolutely no documentary-
evidence, in the first century B. C. Fergusson however at-
temped a theory. He arrives at the following conclusions

(i) That the Vikramaditya who conquered the Sakas at
the battle of Karur was Harsha of Ujjain \

.j ; (iij That he died about 550 A. D.;

(iii) That before 1000 A. D., when the struggle with the
Buddhists was over and a new era was opening for
• Hindu religion, the -Hindus sbught to establish sbme
new method of marking time—to supersede the

; Buddhist Saka era of Kanishka;

• (vi) That the Guptas and the Kings of Valabhi having
then passed -away, in looking for some name or

70

; event of sufficient importance to mark the com¬
mencement of a new era, they hit on the name of
Vikramaditya as the most illustrious known to
them and his victory at Karur, the most important
* event of his reign.

(vii) That, since the date of victory A. D. 544 was too
recent to be adopted, they antedated the epoch by
ten cycles of sixty years, thus arriving at JB. C. 56
and not content with this devised another era,
which they called the Harsha era from the other
part of his name and the epoch of which was fixed
at B. C. 456 by placing it ten even centuries be¬
fore the date of Karur. It is an actual fact that
the name of Vikrama does not occur in connection
with the era of B. C. 57 until a comparatively
recent date.

But this theory of Mr. Fergusson’s is vitiated throughout
by the undue reliance which he placed on the quasi-historical
records of the Rajatarangini. The early chronology of Kash¬
mir has still to be fixed and the means of adjusting it are to
be found in A. D. 533 as the date of Mihirakula, who accord¬
ing to the book itself reigned in 8th century B. C. And if the
date of Harsha of Ujjain is really dependent on the date of
Hiranya of Kashmir, it certainly cannot be placed as early as
6th. century A. D.

Besides, the new Mandassor inscription, which was com¬
posed and engraved when the year 529 had expired from the
tribal constitution of the Malavas, gives us, through his
feudatory Bandhuvarman, the date of the year 403 of the same
era for Kumara-gupta. This proves :—

7i

!• That Kumaragupta dynastic dates and with them those
•of his father Chandragupta II and his son Skandagupta, which
belong -undeniably to the same series and also any other which
can be shown to run uniformly with them, must be referred
to the epoch 319-320 A. D., brought to notice by Albeiuni
-and substantiated by the Veyavala inscription of Vallabhi
Sam vat 945.

2. That under another name connecting with the Malava
tribe, the Vikrama era did undoubtedly exist anterior to A. D.
” 544 ) which, as we have seen, was held by Fergusson to be
the year in which it was invented. These results are of
course independent of the question whether the early Guptas
-established an era of their own with the above-mentioned
•epoch or they only adopted the era of some other dynasty*

Thus Fergusson’s theory collapses and the tradition on
which our belief in the Vikrama of the 1st century B. C. really
-exists is in this instance corroboratedby a fact.

Did the celebrated nine gems flourish at the court of a
Vikramaditya of B. C. 56 ? The only authority in support of
the affirmation is the Jyotirvidabharana, the authenticity of
-which is highly questionable. The tradition moreover does
not speak as to the identity of this Vikrama with the founder
of the Samvat era. Besides the evidence of language is against
the tradition. Houen Thsang places Harsha Siiaditya about
580 A. D. and makes Vikramaditya his immediate predecessor.
Again Varahamihira, who is included among the nine gems,
gives the date of the composition of his Brihat Samhita and
this is the sixth century A. D. Against this negative evidence,
the tradition that the nine gems were contemporaries makes
no stand.

72

Again Dr. Bhau Daji has fixed the first half of the sixth:
century A. D. and this date is acquisced in by many of the
celebrated antiquarians of the present day. The ratio bearing.
m this conclusion may be arranged as follows :—

** ♦ ■ .

(I) Kalidasa has been known to be one of the gems of
Vikrama’s Court. Of these Varahamihira died in?
A. D„ 387, as appears from a commentary on Brahma
Gupta. Colebrooke had already assigned to him
the close of the fifth century of the Christian era from
a calculation of the position of the stars affirmed as
actual in his time by Varahamihira.

(ii) A line in the Meghaduta ...I. 14, affords

another datum for fixing the date. The suggested*
sense according to Mallinatha refers to a pointed
allusion to the poets Dingnaga and Nichula, con¬
temporaries of Kalidasa. Of these the former is a
celebrated name in the Pramana Sastra or Logic.
From the life of Bhagavat Buddha by Ratnadharma-
raja, we learn that Dingnaga was the pupil of the
Buddhist Arya Asanga in Nyaya 900 years after
the death of Buddha and this Asanga was the elder'
brother and teacher of Vasubandhu. Hiouen Thsangr
tells us that the latter was the contemporary of
Vikrama of Sravasti. According to Fergusson, the
reign ofSiladitya Pratapasila ends in 580 A. D. He
ruled, as Ferista says, fifty years and was preceded
by Vikrama whose reign must therefore have ended
in 530 A. D;

(iii) Besides Kalidasa must have lived after Aryabhata.*
(A.D, 499) because he displays a knowledge of
scientific astronomy borrowed from the Greeks.

73

But this argument may seem weak: “ A passage in the*
Raghuvamsa XIV. 40 has been erroneously adduced in
support of the astronomical argument, as implying that
eclipses of the moon are due to the shadow of the earth ;;
it really refers only to the spots in the moon as causedf in
accordance with the doctrine of the Puranas, by a reflection*
of the earth.”

- His religion :—From the fact that Kalidasa invariably-
invokes Siva at the beginning of his works, it would be wrong
to infer he was a strict Saivite. His veneration for Vishnu
appears to have been even greater than that of Siva. For his
works abound in passages extolling the attributes of Vishnu,,
whom he seems to consider the head of the Hindu pantheon.
In,language used by Vaishnava 'works, he describes Vishnu as
tjhe deity of whom all the other Gods including Siva are but
so many different manifestations (Ragbu X. 16—17). On the
other hand Kumara-Sambhava II assigns to Brahma the same
high attributes as those assigned to Vishnu which would show
Kalidasa to be no more a Saiva than a Vaishnava or a Bramo*
In one place he says all are one.

“ The mythological notions of the author, as inferable from
the benedictory stanzas opening the three plays, are rather
adverse to a remote antiquity, as the worship of any indivi¬
dual deity as a Supreme being and with Bhakthi or Faith
appears to bean innovation in Hindu ritual and theology of a
comparatively modern period. At the same time, the worship
of Saiva undoubtedly prevailed in the Dekhan at the com¬
mencement of the Christian era and Vikramaditya, the patron-
of Kalidasa, is traditionally represented as devoted to Siva an&
his Consort.— H . H. Wilson .