6. CHAPTER I MAHĀKĀVYA I

CHAPTER I MAHĀKĀVYA I

Pingalitürana and his three works, the Raghavapandavıyam, the Kaläpurnodayam and the Prabhava tipradyumnam, are well known to every student of Telugu literature. Though he was rec ognised as a poet of consıderable merit by writers and lākshanıkas of the later period, his main work, the Kalapurnodayam, did not receive the proper appreciation it deserved. It may not be an ex aggeration to say that, if Surana had not written Raghavapandaviyam, his other works would have been altoghether lost and cleanly forgotten. The fact that it does not enjoy today even so much popularity as Manucaritra and Vasucaritra with our pandits brought up in the old tradition, is a clear indication that Surana was always for creative onginality, while his age was for the old and the conventional. Neither the poets, nor the lakshanikas of the later perod did ever read or care to under- stand the profundity of the school of rasadhvant, once for all firmly establshed by Abhinavagupta. Their souls, perhaps, were com- pletely lost in the mirage of the Alankarika school of the deca- dence. Word-play, stale incidents, lifeless episodes of love and hackneyed descriptions of the city, etc. seem to have found much favour wtih them. The more a writer exhibited his scholarship, hs capacity for slesa and bandha, the more they held him in great esteem. A good story depictinig a vast and profound human expenence had perhaps but little attraction for them. That was why Ramarajabhusana without the least hesitation could come out with the statement that stones of pure creation are glass beads while stories handed down by tradition are natural gems.1 This sort of prejudice is probably rooted in our very schools of phuosophy which maintain invanably that knowledge is abso- lute, that there is no scope whatsoever for new things,and that the ultimate object of man, after all,is to realise the Absolute that

G. V. Knshna Rao

exists already. When such is the prevailing notion, it is scarcely any wonder that neither Surana's contemporary world nor the literary elite of the succeeding generations cared to pay the proper attention that Kalāpurnodayam deserved. This remark, however, does not rule out the fact that Surana was paid homage by some writers here and there2; and , as a matter of fact, one or two commentanes wre written.3 Another writer tried to give the story in a nut shell.4 What is stressed here is that the Kalapūrnodayam was perhaps not studied in its proper perspective, understood as an organic whole and valued accordingly. Of course there have been some attempts to interpret that poem since the eighteen nineties, but their achievement, as it will be examined later on, appears to fall short of what one might reasonably expect. Sürana, the great poet and profound thinker, was always for novelty and onginal creation. As he explicitly mentions with prıde, the Garudapuranam, the Rāghavapandaviyam, the 2 Kalāpūmodayam and the Prabhavatipradyumnam are his main works, the first being a translation. It is rather surprising why he began his poetic career by translating a work which is considered inauspicious and read only at funerals. Since this work is lost, the aspects that attracted him, and the objects he achieved in it are quite unknown. His second poem, the Raghava pandaviyam is a dvyarthi kavya, the first of its kınd in Telugu literature. It describes both the stories of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in lucid and simple language. And its greatness lies in his skill in bringing out both the meanings by simple and familier words without any trace of pedantry. Though it lacks rasa, as any kāvya of this type is bound to do, it is far better than those of the later writers. They might have handled more difficult themes which could not easily be treated simultaneously in one and the same poem; they might have written tryarthi or caturarthi kāvyas, kavyas conveying three or four meanings, but they were quite unable to achieve the simplicity, lucidity and beauty attained by Surana. This work enabled the poet to take his contemporary world by surprise and force it to recognise his merit. For the first time wrters and läksanikas came to know that surana, if he had

Studies in Kalapurnodayam

chosen to follow the traditions, could have easily excelled any writer of the day; and so admitted him to the rank of the laksanika kau Had he not written this work, alll his other available works might have met with the same fate as that of the Garudapuranam. The Prabhavathi pradyumnam, his last mentioned poem, is a pecu- liar work combining both the Nataka style and the Mahaprabandha marga of his times. The Kalapurnodayam, the subject of this essay, is beyond doubt, sui geners. To understand its meaning and significance it is necessary to know the charac- teristics its form and content. Just as the suggested idea of a sentence cannot be known without grasping the denotative and connotative meanings of the words in their syntactical relation, so also the suggested idea of a poem cannot be known without a clear analysis of its form and content. In the hight of the latter alone can one distinguish and appreciate which features and characteristics are determined by the exigencies ofform and con- -tent, and which by the motive force of the poem. Therefore, it devolves upon one to know the characteristics of the Mahakavya or Mahaprabandha to which literary form the poet explicitly and repeatedly assigns his work5. The term Mahakavya6 or Mahaprabandha6 has come into vogue in Telugu since Nannicoda's use ofıt in Kumarasambhavam. Tikkana used the term Prabandha in the Mahābharata, but one cannot say definitely that he used it in a technical sense though some scholars like Mr. Ramakrishnayya (Korada) maintain posi- tively that he did.7 But to students of Alankara Sästra it is well known that the word prabandha is a synonym of kavya, for Vamana in the glossary of his Kāvyālankārasutras mentions it. Mahäprabandha is nothing more than the Mahakavya which is a species of poem, but not a great poem as its verbal meaning de- notes. II

When the Mahäprabandha is only a synonym of the Mahākāvya, itneeds no separate proof that it has a special con- notation, for it has been defined since the sixth century onwards by the Ālankarikäs. Before trying to form a clear and definite

G. V. Krishna Rao

conception ofit, it is necessary to trace its history in this context. As far as is known, Bhamaha is the earlest crtic to define this concept. His idea of a Mahakavya, when analysed and expressed in terms of plot, characterisation, construction and the particu- lar type of experience it has to give, may be summarised as fol- lows :- The theme of the Mahakavya must be one borrowed from tradition, and must invanably describe noble characters and great deeds. It must be great in magnitude and sublime in content. This does not, however. mean that it may be too long to be grasped in its totality. Diplomacy, sending embassies, tours, wars and glones of the hero, should be its contents, and it must have a prosperous and happy ending. Besides, it must conform to the ways of the world. The hero must be one of high birth, endowed with noble character, wide learning, lovable qualities and great prowess. When such a character is the hero, it is of course natu- ral for him to overcome difficulties and emerge victonious at the 4 end. The plot, when it is great in magnitude, falls into cantos or chapters, and these are to be closely connected, as in the case of Nataka. That means, it must contain the five sandhis mentioned in the Natyasästra and the Dasarupaka. In the first part, the seed of the plot is to be made partially visible. In the third its development, culminating in the attainment or the reverse, is to be delineated and the search after it is to be depicted.The fourth which deals with the investigation is to be followed by the last nirvähana sandhi, wherein all the threads are gathered and the plot is brought to its happy ending.9 It is not desirable to begin the story with descnptions of the valour, learning and greatness of the nval of the hero and to get him killed in the end in order that the hero's greatness might be established As the rival of the hero is not to dominate the story. and enjoy and participate in the success, so also he is not to be shown at all in the beginning in attractive colours. In matters of expression, vulgarity of words should be com- pletely avoided, and, on the other hand, the plot must have a great significance. The narrative should be strewn with figures of speech which owe their existence to vakroktz.10

Studies in Kalapurnodayam

As to the experience which the Mahakavya is to give, Bhamaha seems never to have clearly analysed it for himself. No doubt he insists that it should be beautified, but never cares to grasp the characteristics of the Beautiful. That is why he says that the Mahakavya should contain all the rasas separately. And from this it is evident that these rasas are nothing but rasavad- alankaras and that these should pervade the poem. This experi- ence, while describing the fourfold human value, should relate, as he postulates, chiefly to the acquisition of wealth. 10 Dandin who was the second Alankarika to wnte on this particular topic, while agreeing with Bhamaha, added a few more details. The theme, he says, must contain also descriptions of cities, seas, mountains, seasons, sun - rise and moon-nse, of parks, sports in water, drunken-bouts, and of amorous dalliance, of separation oflovers, and descnptions of the birth and wedlock of princes, of diplomacy, the sending of ambassadors, of tours, battles and of the hero's glories, Different episodes and incidents sholuld be presented in different places. Regarding its structure, 5

the poem should begin either with invocation or with homage, or with an indication of the subject with which it proposes to deal. The cantos or chapters should be neither too short nor too long; and the metres therein must be pleasant to the ear. Each canto should end in such metres as differ from those of the body. While differing with his predecessor on the mode of presenting the he- ro's nval, Dandin says, "to describe the heredity, valour, learning and other attainments of the hero's rival at first, and then to describe the hero's excellence by the defeat of his foe - this method too appeals to us." He has nothing more to add to the nature of the expenence of the Mahakavya except that the body of the poem consists in words having the desired meaning (istarthavacchinna padaval) and that the gunas are very important. If a poem fails to include a few of the elements of the eighteen fold description mentioned above, does it fail to be a Mahakavya? To this Dandin replies :- "Even if a few of the said elements are lacking, a poem does not diminish in value provided the excellence of those that have been adopted pleases the scholars."12

G. V. Knshna Rao

While Udbhata did not deal with this literary form, Vamana advised the readers to consult other works in regard to the ele- ments and construction of the story. The first Telugu poet to mention and wrıte a Mahakavya is Nannicoda. According to him it consists of descriptions of the eighteen kinds of objects given by Dandın. Without saying anything further about the plot and construction, he maintains that the poem should be sustained by the gunas, filled with the nine rasas and the bhavas and adorned by the thirty-sıx alankaras Another interesting point to be noted here is that he mentions separately that the poem should be enjoyable. This clearly indicates that Nannicoda's conception of the relation between rasa and alankāra is exactly like that of Udbhata who gives the number of the figures of speech relating to the meanng as thirty-six, and that of rasas as nine.13 Vıdyānātha, the author of the Prataparudriya, also defines ths type of kavya, but he does not provide anything new. He 6 says that the poem which describes the eighteen objects enumer- ated by Dandın is a Mahakavya. With the latter he agrees that it does not cease to be a Mahākāvya if it omits a few of these ele- ments. 14 Vinnakota Peddana sımply echoes the same idea in Kavyālankāracūdāmanı, 15 The next Alankänka who has discussed all the charactens- tics of the Mahākavya in the minutest detail is Visvanātha. As to the objects to be described in a Mahākāvya, he advocates the inclusion of the three sandhyas, the dusk, darkness, day, hunt- ing expeditions, sages, heaven, and yamas in addition to the eight- een items given by Dandın. As regards the hero, he must be ei- ther a divine person or a dhirodatta ksattrya born into a noble family. A number of princes belonging to one and the same high family may be the heroes of the theme. As to the structure, the poem must open with a benediction or invocation, or a suggestion of the theme Very occasionally, it may begin with the censure of the bad, or with the praise of the good. The canto must be composed in a single metre. In the whole poem there may be one canto which contains vanous metres. At

Studies ın Kalapumodayam

the end of every preceding canto, the story of the succeeding canto should be suggested. Though the poem should be neither too short nor too long, it should consist of more than eight cantos. All the sandlus of the Nataka are to be ın the Mahākāvya, mak- ing it thus an organic whole. Regarding the nature of the expenence the Mahākāvya should give. Visvanatha is more clear and definte than the previ- ously mentioned Alankarıkas. Setting aside the claims of alankarās gunās and ntıs, he insists that a Mahakavya should have one of the three rasas, srngara, ura and santa as the main, and all the rest as subsidiary Generally, the Mahakavya is con- ducive to the attainment of the fourfold human value; but it is enough if it helps the realisation of any one of the four.16 With the foregoing definitions of the great Alankārkas in view, one can have a fair conception of this particular type of kavya To put its characteristics in a nut-shell: 7 1) The plot should be either borrowed from tradition or in- vented by the poet, and should contain the eighteen or twenty-six elements rounded off with a happy ending 11) The hero must be a dıvine person or a dhiroaatta ksattrıya If equal importance is given to a number of characters, such persons must be the descendants of one and the same no- ble faimily of a princely class. 1i1) The poem which begins with benediction, or invocation, or indication of the theme, or censure of the bad, or praise of the good should have more than eight cantos which are neither too short nor too long. Except one, each of them should be composed in a single metre, with different ones at the end, suggesting the story of the succeeding canto. The whole structure must be organic with the five sandhis Iv) Lastly, one of the three rasas, 'srngara, uira and 'santa, must be the principal rasa with the rest of the nine subor- dinate to it. It must help to realise the fourfold human value, or any one of the four.

G. V. Knshna Rao