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Chapter -1 Chapter I CHAPTER -1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Sisupalavadha of Magha (8* century A.D.) is one of the five most popular and famous Mahakavyas (Epic poem) in Sanskrit literature from the hundred of Mahakavyas in Sanskrit composed by different poets during a period of over one thousand four hundred years. Indian critics have named five works, which are known, as Pancamahakcivyani. They are: 1. Raghuvarhsam 2. Kumarasariibhavam of Kalidasa (1" century B.C.), 3. Kiratarjunlyam of Bharavl (6"^ Century A.D.) 4. Sisupalavadham of Magha (8 Century A.D.), 5. Naisadhlyacaritam of Sri Harsa (ll"" Century A.D.). Each of these five has got its own distinctive merits and they are usually studied in the order given above. The style of Kalidasa is simple, natural and graceful while the style of the other three poets is more artistic, labored and vigorous. Bharavl organized a new style and introduced new topics in conformity with rules laid down by Alankarasastra of his period while Magha followed his own example and perfected technique. Sisupalavadham satisfies all the requirements of a Mahakavya, which is defined by Dandin. The origin of great and living classics in literature is surely a mystery of human consciousness - these works seem to arise from depths of collective psyche and resonate with each individual's experience in life. To those of us who have the privilege of reading those centuries later, they seem to have a voice that is quite different from our familiar context and yet there is a connection that transcends the passage of time. The images CHAPTER I and symbols in which these worlcs express their thoughts, reach deep- buried parts of ourselves that we could never imagine existed here to fore. The power of classical literature is such that it defies the passage of time and space; its poets and writers were anchored in a living tradition that was carried on without break or pause and were built successively upon each historical period. In the present thesis, one of these great epics namely Sisupalavadha of Magha is considered for study. Magha is considered to be one of India's finest poets, whose work embodies a rare spirit and grace. He followed Kalidasa in composition and lucidity of style and has indeed, been compared to his predecessor. There is a saying in Sanskrit to the effect that it requires an entire lifetime of study to master a poem like Kalidasa's Meghaduta and the poetry of Magha.' There is also another saying that Magha was a poet who exhausted the entire Sanskrit vocabulary in merely the first nine cantos of his poem. After this canto, it is mentioned that there is no new word that can be found ^ Yet another great poet says that before attempting to read Murari's Anarghardghava one must first read the poetry of Magha."* In a witty double entendre, a Sanskrit saying maintains that the 'luster of Bharavl (a highly esteemed Sanskrit poet of the 5* century A.D.) only shines so long '^ 1^ TT^ ^: ^^ ^ TH ^ H^ W^ ^ fk^ I ^ g^GK q^ R^TTT =^ cl^ J^m ^ ^ I CHAPTER I as Magha has not appeared on the horizon' '*. But the highest encomium paid to him is contained in the following verses: "Kalidasa excels in his similes, Bharavl in his depth of meaning, Dandin in the charm of his words, but Magha excels in all the three qualities." The critical point about Magha's poetry is that he is remarkable and unique for his creative mastery and literary usage of many different and key disciplines of knowledge. These include the fields of astrology, politics, Vedic accent, grammar, dramaturgy, astronomy, zoology, gaja sastra, asva sastra, music, erotic, puranic literature, poetics and philosophy. In his poetry, one encounters almost every known discipline; he is infact an encyclopedic writer par excellence. There is a universal scope in his writing that transcends limitation and division of knowledge. Magha uses his vast understanding and familiarity with these different areas of knowledge to heighten the meaning of human experience that he describes in his poetry. Indeed, Magha is a universal poet not only for his profound understanding of the human heart but also for his integration of different fields of learning. This mastery does not make him only a scholar's poet; he is also fiill of pathos and intimacy. However, this living connection to human experience ^ 1 9^TITN Wm ^^: I CHAPTER I comes through, and from a universal approach that allows him to utilize many different disciplines. There seems to be no branch of learning that is left untouched by Magha. He exhibits deep learning in some of the Sastras in particular. He had specialized in Sabdavidya. He uses all kinds of grammatical peculiarities with ease and refers to the important works on grammar with reverence. Panini's sutras, Patanjali's Mahabhasya, Jayaditya's Kasikavrtti and Jinedrabuddhi's Nyasa and Padamanjari are the major Vyakarana works mentioned. This goes on to only suggest that Magha had supreme mastery over all the conceivable grammatical formations in Panini and had deliberately attempted to include all the niceties and subtleties of word formation and special usages in his writings. On the background of this supposition, it is proposed to study the special usages of all kinds like, words, phrases, idiomatic expressions, etc. of Magha in Sisupalavadha. SURVEY OF EARLIER RESEARCH: It is significant to record in this content that late Prof. Venkatacalam had made a serious attempt to study the special prayagas of Magha and also presented one aspect of this theme in the form of a Sanskrit article in the Journal of the Sanskrit University, Varanasi. (Sasvata susama: 1985). Other than this, no serious attempts have been made to study Magha from CHAPTER I the point of view of Grammar and lexicography. This justifies the endeavor and relevance of the present study. We record here few research works on Sisupalavadha, which are very general. 1. Sisupalavadha Mahakavya ka Dhvanisiddhanta ki Drsti se Adhyana, Prem Chand Sharma, V. V. V. I Hushiarpur, 1994 (Ph. D Thesis) 2. Sisupalavadhasya Shabdasastriyamadhyayanam, Kameshwar Chaudhari, Darbhanga, 2001 (Ph. D Thesis) 3. Sisupalavadha men Bimbavidhana, Deepa Tiwari, Nanital, 1997 (Ph. D Thesis) SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY: As already recorded, the work will be restricted to the first nine cantos only. While analyzing we will be using the commentary of Mallinatha by directly quoting his comments. For the lexical meaning, we have utilized several traditional kosas like Amarakosa, Ramasraml TTka, Medini, Halayudha, Dharani and Vacaspatyam. Concerning the unique nature of the work, we have adopted a methodology that could take care of the theoretical aspect of the work. This work incorporates the methodology of the science of etymology, grammar and lexicography. The peculiar words, idiomatic usages, phrases are meticulously collected from the first nine cantos of Sisupalavadham. Each word is followed by recording its grammatical status, context, explanation. CHAPTER I etymology in Sanskrit formation by quoting suitable grammatical rules, and its meaning in English. In case of words, both primary and secondary i.e. Taddhitas or Krdanta or avayas, a comparison is attempted drawing citation from above mentioned traditional lexicons with following English meaning from V.S. Apte's Sanskrit to English Dictionary and few others. While dealing with the semantic aspects of an expression, the view of ancient commentary like Mallinatha is invariably considered with proper reference. It may be pointed out here to the credit of Mallinatha that he in his commentary tries to explain the grammatical formation of the word quoting/ citing the appropriate sutras from Panini with lexicon meaning in many cases. PLAN OF THE WORK: The thesis is organized in the following line. In the introductory chapter, the problem is introduced along with scope of the work. It is followed by a discussion on the life, date, place, and work of Magha. The second chapter deals with "A note on Magha and his Sisupalavadha", the background of Sisupalavadham. Mahabharata as the source of inspiration and plot, title of Sisupalavadham, Magha's style, Magha's encyclopedic knowledge, Maghas Vocabulary, Grammatical constructions and Alamkara/ stylistic device of Magha. The third chapter deals with peculiar Tinganta forms. In this chapter, we have discussed some selected Tinganta forms from first nine cantos. CHAPTER I giving the grammatical derivation with the help of Panini rules. For instance, Magha used the future tense in the sense of past i.e. 5.M«4lc1 1. 68 'Killed'. He used the suffix 'dac' in the sense of prasmaipada. i.e. 5:<m*<)fd dukhakaroti II. 11 'make me sad'. Chapter four deals with all the primary and secondary grammatical forms including the avyayas. Selected subanta, taddhita, kulanta forms are discussed with the lexicon meaning. The fifth chapter deals with the analysis of the upasargas used in first nine cantos. Different grammatical features of the Upasargas i.e. gati upsargas, Upasargas with Prasmaipdas and Atmanepadas etc are provided. The work is concluded with briefing and summarizing the observations of each chapter. DATE OF MAGHA: There are no unanimous views among the scholars regarding the period of Magha. Some of the evidence is produced here. Poet Magha briefly described his autobiography in the following verses. ^^fiN+Kl g^erteRl ^fkifeF?^7FT ^ m-1 31H^cT^f^JR^[^: ^ ^Sq^: ^STH^cjHmj II ? II ^ Wet cT^^ti^^'M^"^ cTSTFra^ ^: ^^ I CHAPTER I ^ ^%mW3Tm m]H\ ^JTOI ^: 5Rf^ II ^ II m^ Wf\Wi irMM^iWM^^^ ^TRRT ^ I q^ fsM H^H[^dl4l 5^: ^ =fWRN JTFT II V II d^ilkH^: ^ +M^^1fdVl^NIS^= ^1^ ^^^^^ Rl^Mlcrbc|yMH,ll H II We have seen that the autobiography stanzas at the end of the poem do not help us in settling the question, except beyond pointing to the fact that the poet lived in time when Buddhism was in a flourishing condition in India and counted among its followers such cultured men as the poet's grandfather and such king as his royal patron.
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