Component-I (A) – Personal Details

Component-I (A) – Personal details:

Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.

Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati . & Dr. K. Muniratnam Director i/c, Epigraphy, ASI, Mysore.

Prof. Susmita Basu Majumdar Dept. of AIHC, University of Calcutta.

Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.

Component-I (B) – Description of module:

Subject Name Indian Culture

Paper Name Indian Epigraphy

Module Name/Title Literary Inscriptions : An Overview

Module Id IC / IEP / 34

Pre requisites

Objectives

Keywords

E-text (Quadrant-I) : Epigraphic sources have been used extensively for reading early Indian history. There are more than one lakh inscriptions reported from the Indian subcontinent and the number is increasing as inscriptions are being discovered regularly. On the basis of the commonness of content Richard Saloman has divided the inscriptions found in the Indian subcontinent into ten broad categories. These are as follows: 1. Royal donative and panegyric-Prasasti 2. Land grants- Copper Plate charters 3. Private Donations 4. Memorial inscriptions 5. Label inscriptions 6. Pilgrim’s and Travelers’ records 7. Cultic inscriptions 8. Literary inscriptions 9. Seal inscriptions 10. Miscellaneous inscriptions Of these ten categories the least number of inscriptions belong to the literary genre yet theu are quite significant. The term literary reveals that the content is primarily literary, but they are found engraved mainly on stone and walls. This category of inscriptions have brought forth some dramas and poems the texts of which are otherwise unknown. The question is that why these dramas were incised on stone? Among dramas on stone we have three major dramas i.e. the Lalitvigraharāja-nāṭaka and Harakeli-nāṭaka from Ajmer and the Pārijātamañjarī-nāṭikā or Vijayaśrī-nāṭikā from Dhar. Of these the Pārijātamañjarī-nāṭikā is also mentioned by the poet as a praśasti of reigning Paramara king, Arjunavarman (early 13th century CE). Thus the composer intended to glorify the king in whose court he was adorned also as his rājaguru or the royal preceptor. Though this is a praśasti or eulogy of the patron yet it can be considered essentially as literary creation as the composer himself mentions it as a nāṭikā. Most of these dramas are in the form of prasastis which also shows

that they were to be orally transmitted or enacted so that the masses are aware about the achievement of their ruler. Among literary inscriptions we also have some poetries which are found engraved on stone. Scholars in the past had considered Sitabenga inscription (c. 3rd- 2nd century BCE, Chhattisgarh) as the earliest poetry on stone but recently the present author has shown that this was not a poetry and neither can the site of Ramgarh caves (which has the two caves i.e. Sitabenga and Jogimara) be considered as an amphitheatre. Most of the literary inscriptions are from Madhya Pradesh. Some poems on stone have been reported from Dhar which can be called śatakas. The term śataka literally means 100 verses. Such poems are engraved on the walls of the Bhojaśālā at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh. Of the two śatakas mentioned above a peculiar character is that the authorship of both have been assigned to the celebrated Paramāra king Bhoja (first half of the 11th century CE). Bhoja shifted his capital from Ujjain to Dhārā and it became a great centre of learning as Bhoja was connoisseur of litterateurs. Even if the first śataka may be attributed to him but the second one i.e. the Avani Kūrmaśataka was definitely not his composition as the tone of the second one praising Bhoja himself is unlikely to have been his own composition. Both the śatakas begin with an invocation to Śiva. The name Kūrmaśataka is misleading and creates a confusion that these are poems in praise of the Kūrma incarnation of Viṣṇu. However these are all Śaiva compositions. In the first śataka Śiva is portrayed as lord of Pārvati. Pischel believed that the poems are dedicated to the kūrma or tortoise incarnation of Viṣṇu. But this is not the case as the verses clearly indicate that here the ādi kūrma has been praised. The śatakas are important from the point of view of kūrma symbolism and its development. Here the kūrma has been seen as the supporter of the earth and the analogy is with the ruler who also supports the earth like the ādi kūrma. In the second one Śiva’s Kaṅkāla mūrti has been praised. This form of Śiva is more popular in Southern part of the subcontinent which might also indicate that the poet who conceptualized the opening verses in the second śataka probably hailed from South India. These two śatakas have 109 verses each. As far as their literary value is concerned these are not of high order. There are other poems inscribed on stone which are also attributed to Bhoja and have been discovered from Dhar. Among these are the Khaḍga śataka and Kodaṇḍa kāvya also attributed to Paramāra king Bhoja; however, the poems could very well be works of his court poets. The language of these poems is Mahāraṣṭrī Prakrit. It is surprising that towards the end of the early medieval period there was again a revival of Prakrit literature and compositions in literary Prakrit were patronized. The quality of such compositions were not of high order yet the use of an obsolete language is quite interesting as by this time in most of the places regional languages were the lingua franca. Saloman also mentions about a few other compositions which can be considered under this genre of literary inscriptions. These are not dramas they were known as khaṇḍa and mahā- kāvyas such as the huge Rājapraśasti-mahākāvya of Raṇachoḍa in twenty-four sargas inscribed at Udaypur; though in form the Udaypur inscription is a mahākāvya, in content it is primarily eulogistic and dedicatory. However there are a few other records which are not purely literary inscriptions but their literary value is unmistakable. D. B. Diskalkar considered some compositions which are no doubt important from literary angle. Among which he considers the Junagarh praśasti of Rudradāman, Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta and the Aihole praśasti. Along with this he also mentions a few more

inscriptions like the Dudhpani rock inscription of Udayamana (c. 8th century CE) which is highly poetical. All these acan also be included in the literary inscription category. The dramas on stone have not been recovered fully. They have either been destroyed or only limited portions have been discovered. Fr example the drama Pārijātamañjarī is an unfinished one and was engraved on a pair of stones of which one is lost. This is mentioned as a nātikā and also a praśasti by thecomposer. The play was composed by a poet who was also the royal preceptor or rājaguru named Madana alias Bālasarasvati. It contains the story of Vijayaśrī or Pārijātamañjarī, Princess of Gurjara and daughter of Jayasiṁha, and her love affair followed by marriage to the victor over her father, Arjunavarman, a Paramara king. Besides being a nātikā or a play consisting of four acts this is also called a. The play breaks off at the end of Act II. The rest of the play is probably on the other slab which is missing. It may be possible to reconstruct it with the help of Śriharsha’s Ratnavali by which author seems to have been quite influenced. The characters in the play speak Sanskrit and Prakrit. The Prakrit passages in the play present a unique feature in that they are all in Saurasenī, even the prose passages, and not Mahārāshṭrī which is a deviation from the regular norm. The theme of the drama belongs to the typical vasantotsava naṭaka genre. It was for live performance in the sura sadana or hall or open space for performances in the temple of Goddess Sāradā. Madana, the composer, also claims, as was the trend, that he has composed a fresh play. The first act is Vasantotsavaḥ and the second act is named in Prakrit as Tāḍaṅka darpana i.e. the reflecting earring. This drama falls into a format of the Vasantotsava dramas which have a more or less uniform theme wherein the chief male character hails from a royal background with the burden of royal duties delegated to an able minister. The heroine is a maiden who is of the ‘simple’ or mugdha type and her identity is not revealed till the climax. The heroine by default hails also from a royal background which becomes the reason for the ultimate union with the hero. Polygamy is the norm in case of the hero and the heroine is never the chief queen; but their nuptial ties seem to be solemnized in secrecy, awaiting a social approval. This approval finally comes from the chief queen who delves into a ploy to harm the heroine and finally when she realizes the royal descent of the heroine she herself agrees to tie the knots for them i.e. her husband and the heroine. The chief queen here is of the jyesṭhā category of heroines. This model, advocated by most composers, is followed by Kālidāsa in his ‘Mālavikāgnimitra’ and by Śriharsa in his ‘Priyadarśikā’ and ‘Ratnāvali’. It is also the theme of the ‘Viddhasalabhanjika‘ by Rājaśekhara. However, it seems that Madana in this instance was mostly influenced by the ‘Ratnāvali’. Or in other words Madana was also trying to justify the literary skills by showing that he was well conversant with all the major literary creations of this genre. At the end of the second act the name of the engraver is mentioned in the drama Pārijātamañjarī which actually created a confusion giving an impression that this is the end of the composition. Either one has to infer that two engravers were engaged in the act of engraving and both signed their name at the end after finishing their portions and the first stone thus has the name of Ramadeva who was the engraver of this one. Or it may be assumed that since two stones were used the engraver was skeptical of losing of a stone in future and safely engraved his name after accomplishing his work on each one. Madana’s statement about the second stone thus helps us to assume that we have lost the second stone. Moreover the play is named after the heroine i.e. Pārijātamañjarī which also means that at the end she will not be humiliated. Whereas at the end of act two her position seems

to be highly insecure. The vasantotsava format helps us to assume what would have been the format of this play. At the end of act four the play will end in a happy situation wherein the chief queen would solemnize the marriage between Arjunavarman, her husband and Pārijātamañjarī who is the princess i.e. daughter of the Chaulukya king Jayasimha defeated in the battle by Arjunavarman. The audience here in this case seem to be highly educated and erudite and well acquainted with the plays of this genre or else it would be difficult to enjoy the performance of such a play. It is also interesting to note that those who had gathered to experience this play were fluent in both Sanskrit and different forms of Prakrit. Thus the audience was an elite audience is beyond any doubt. Among dramas on stone as already discussed we also have two more dramas. These are presently located in the Ardhai-din-ka –Jhonpra mosque, on lower slope of the Taragarh hill at Ajmer. The characters are Nagari of the 12th century CE. These inscriptions contain portions of two hitherto unknown plays, one of which is entitledLalita Vigraharāja nāṭakawhich was composed in honour of the king Vigraharājadēva of Śākambhari , by the Mahākavi Sōmadēva, while the other i.e. Harakēli-nāṭaka composed by Vigraharājadēva himself. Three stones bearing the text of the drama have been found till now, which bear three acts of the nāṭaka of these three, two are incomplete and only 4th act has been found intact. Another stone bearing act-1 was also discovered later. According to Nāṭyaśāstra, nāṭaka usually has 5-10 acts or episodes. Hence major portion of this drama has been lost. Kielhorn mentions the name of princess Dēsaladēvi who was the principal female character of the drama. On the basis of act-3 & 4 the story of the play can be reconstructed. Like Parijātamanjari this is also in the form of a praśasti, of Chahamana king Vigraharājadēva who has been also mentioned as Śākambhariśvara. This one is also partially retrieved thought the actual nature of the drama is very easily traceable. The composers of these dramas had limited scope as they had to make these short and precise at the same time lucid. As these were to be engraved on stone there length had to be taken care off. There are many similarities which may be a kind of plagiarism but intentional. This is a way of claiming legitimacy or displaying their well-read status. For example Pārijātamanjari resonates Ratnāvali of Śrīharsha and act 3 of Lalitavigraharāja resonates a sequence of Vāsavadattā of Subandhu. Here the principal character of the play is none else but Vigraharāja IV. Bhāskara, the engraver is credited with the incision of another inscription of Vigraharāja Visāladēva which mentions 1210 Vikrama Sanvat i.e. 1153 CE. Bhāskara’s genealogy is also quite interesting. He is mentioned as the son of Mahipati and grandson of learned Govinda, who was born in a family of Huṇa princes and was on account of his manifold excellences, was a favorite of king Bhoja. Engraver Bhāskara provides his genealogy from his grandfather Govinda and also tries to flaunt the connection with Bhoja who is hailed as an ideal and iconic ruler. For the female characters, particularly Śasiprabhā the composer has used Saurasēni and Magadhi Prakrits. It is interesting to note that for the Turushka prisoners and spy the composer uses Māgadhī, an eastern variety of Prakrit. In Sanskrit plays where both Sanskrit and Prakrit has been used usually the king and elite male speak in Sanskrit and rest in Prākrit; especially the female character would always speak Prākrit. This drama provide interesting insights into the espionage system in early medieval times and the role of the dūta or the envoy.

An inscription of Ajayarāja found from this mosque suggests that it was a Vishṇu temple which was turned into a mosque by Qutbuddin Aibak. All these temples were large and spacious with sadanas for enacting plays and hence suitable to be turned into Jama mosques for mosques for performing the Friday mass prayers. The Harakeli nāṭaka is also incomplete and only name of the second act i.e. Lingodbhava (not the act) and the almost complete fifth and the last act Krauñcha vijayais found engraved. That this was the last act of the drama is proved by concluding statement at the end “Harakeli natakam samāptam”. It was also engraved by Bhaskara. It is distinctly mentioned as a composition of maharajadhiraja and paramesvara, the illustrious Vigraharajadeva of Śākambhari (line 37). It opens with a conversation between Śiva and Gauri among the others characters are the Viduṣaka, Arjuna, Muka and Pratihāra. Vigraharaja praises his own creation by putting the words in Śiva’s mouth, who tells Gauri that Vigraharaja has so delighted him with his Harakeli nāṭaka that they must see him too. Vigraharāja then enters and speaks in favour of his composition and then the Lord assures him that his fame as a poet will last forever. Siva then sent Vigraharāja to rule his kingdom of Śākambhari and Śiva with his attendants proceeds for Kailāśa. We may also assume that the character of Vigraharāja could have been played by the king himself. This drama has the reflections of Bhāravi’s ‘Kirātārjuniyam’ in portions; it also draws upon the Mahābhārata. Vigraharāja also tried to emulate Paramāra Bhoja and match him in literary creations. The study of such literary creations on stone is imperative to understand the actual activities that were carried on in the society. Language and themes of the dramas also help us to understand the mind of the early medieval audience and what was the trend in the contemporary culture. The permanency or the perpetuity of the record reflects the wish of the composers to make them and their patrons immortal and their compositions ageless by engraving them on stones. However as far as the literary quality or standard of such works are concerned these are much inferior to the compositions of the litterateurs who composed and documented their creations on palm leaves, birch barks or other manuscripts or even passed them on orally. This is a fact worth mentioning that all the dramas engraved on stone i.e. Lalita Vigraharāja nāṭaka andHarakeli-nāṭaka andthe Pārijātamañjarī nātikā have been discovered from mosques. The Kamal Maula mosque at Dhar was earlier a Jaina temple and Adhai-din-kā- jhopra where the two inscriptions are found was a brahmanical temple. Incising of large texts of such dramas on stone was not an easy task. The length of the literary works was the biggest hurdle in the way of them being turned into epigraphic texts. Yet the patron opted for this medium only for the sake of seeking immortality for his composition. The composer seems to have been often aware that his text was meant to be engraved on stone; hence, he had to keep in mind the compactness of his text at the time of the composition. This also is likely to have affected the quality and style of the literary piece. It is also possible that those who were acquainted with stone as a medium had decided to experiment with literary genre and this was the reason of the relatively inferior quality of these engraved literary creations. Often these are praśastis and this style gained popularity only in this central zone around Dhar or ancient Dhārā. In and around this place we also find the varṇa-nāga-kripānikas or the sarpabandha inscriptions which are cryptic formulas for learning grammar. Thus the temple complexes, which were the sites of these engraved literary pieces, functioned as hubs of learning grammar and literature. These subjects evidently generated avid interests

among the literate urbane people in and around Dhar, if not in the whole of Malwa region. Such inscriptions are also reported from Un (Madhya Pradesh).