[[Mohan K.V 2013-10-06, 20:16:23 Source]]
सदास्वादः
दैवं वर्णय येन सोऽपि सहसा नीतः कथाशेषताम्
(daivaṃ varṇaya yena so’pi sahasā nītaḥ kathā-śeṣatām)
Meaning
“[Instead,] Speak of Fate, which caused even him to pass on to legend”. ‘nītaḥ kathā-śeṣatām’ literally means ‘led away to only-legend-remaining-ness’ Who is this apparently great man? Read on!
Context
One day, King Bhoja was on a tour of his southern provinces. He was passing along the coast, when he noticed a half-submerged boulder. It seemed to have something written on it. On closer inspection, he could make out this half-verse (in puṣpitāgrā metre):
इह खलु विषमः पुराकृतानां
भवति हि जन्तुषु कर्मणां विपाकः ।
iha khalu viṣamaḥ purākṛtānāṃ
bhavati hi jantuṣu karmaṇāṃ vipākaḥ |
“Alas, the effects of one’s past karma catch up fast…”
He tried reading the rest of it, but it was below the water. He got back to his tent, and told the retinue of poets traveling with him about his discovery. They took it as a challenge, and tried composing the second half of the verse. They had varying degrees of success, but something suddenly seemed to click when Kālidāsa gave his ‘solution’:
इह खलु विषमः पुराकृतानां
भवति हि जन्तुषु कर्मणां विपाकः ।
शिवशिरसि शिरांसि यानि रेजुः
शिव शिव तानि लुठन्ति गृध्रपादैः ।14.49।
iha khalu viṣamaḥ purākṛtānāṃ
bhavati hi jantuṣu karmaṇāṃ vipākaḥ |
śivaśirasi śirāṃsi yāni rejuḥ
śiva śiva tāni luṭhanti gṛdhrapādaiḥ |14.49|
“Alas, the effects of one’s past karma catch up fast. The heads which rejoiced in the presence of Lord Shiva himself – Oh God! – vultures roll them around!”
The poet is referring here to the death of Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was such a great devotee of Lord Shiva that he didn’t think twice to sacrifice his own ten heads to him – and yet, when his fortunes faded, even his closeness to the Lord could do nothing to protect him.
Of all possible examples to demonstrate the power of Fate, Kālidāsa chose this one – and it instantly struck a chord with Bhoja. His curiosity redoubled, and he got his army to excavate the boulder and other surrounding boulders. The verse was indeed on the same subject that Kālidāsa had so presciently guessed! Soon, they discovered that a great work of poetry was carved on them, and in a tiny colophon, Hanumān himself was said to be the author.
This is the legend behind the Hanumannāṭaka, the work from which today’s phrase is taken. It’s a cute legend, and the actual origin is equally interesting! Contrary to its name, the Hanumannāṭaka (also called the Mahānāṭaka) isn’t really a play – it is a retelling of the story of the Rāmāyaṇa using famous verses from classical Sanskrit works! We don’t know who the author is, but we can say that he was extremely well-read: his borrowings span centuries of work, from Kālidāsa and Bhavabhūti to later poets like Digṇāga and several tens of unknown poets. It is very similar to the Bhoja-prabandha, in that it is really an anthology, but arranged in such a way that it tells a reasonably coherent story. Judging from the age of its sources, it is about 1000 years old.
The best way to appreciate the work is simply as a collection of gems; let’s do just that by diving in:
Just after marrying Sīta, young Rāma is returning to Ayodhya when he suddenly comes across the fearsome Paraśurāma. The latter is angry because Rāma broke the Shiva-dhanus, the same bow that he had given to Janaka. Rāma tries to be conciliatory towards him, but Paraśurāma is in no mood to talk. He doesn’t know he’s outmatched in both wit and valor, and tries insulting Rāma. Rāma has a ready reply, in the very same line!
रे रे क्षत्रकुलाधम! – प्रकटितं ब्राह्मण्यमस्त्रेण ते
नन्वेकां रजनीचरीं त्वम् अवधीः – मता न मे, ताटका ।
निःक्षत्रं कृतवान् अहं वसुमतीं – कोऽहं तदा सत्यवाक् ?
दृष्टो नैव पराजयो मम पुरा – अद्यास्ति तद्वैभवम् !
re re kṣatrakulādhama! – prakaṭitaṃ brāhmaṇyamastreṇa te
nanvekāṃ rajanīcarīṃ tvam avadhīḥ – matā na me, tāṭakā |
niḥkṣatraṃ kṛtavān ahaṃ vasumatīṃ – ko’haṃ tadā satyavāk ?
dṛṣṭo naiva parājayo mama purā – adyāsti tadvaibhavam !
[Paraśurāma] “You are a disgrace to the Kṣatriya race!” – [Rāma] “Sir, your weapon shows your strict adherence to your race”
“You stooped so low as to kill a woman!” – “Yes, I killed the demon Tāṭaka, but at least not my own mother!”
“I exterminated the Kṣatriyas!” – “Oh really? Then what am I, O ever-truthful one?”
“I have never seen defeat!” – “Well, that glory too will be yours today!”
The pungency of the sarcasm and mocking is what gives strength to this verse! Brahmins must not indulge in violence – and yet, Paraśurāma is proud of his weapon and his violent past, and Rāma calls him out on this in the first line. Next, it is a disgrace for a Kṣatriya to kill a woman. But Rāma counters that he killed a dangerous demon, while the accuser bore the ignominy of killing his own mother, Reṇukā! Next, in his heyday, Paraśurāma had indeed exterminated the Kṣatriyas; but right now, he’s merely dwelling on past glories. Finally, he resorts to empty boasting, which Rāma smoothly demolishes with a zinger.
This exchange reminds us of an anonymous quip about the video game Tetris: “If Tetris has taught me anything, it is that accomplishments disappear and errors pile up.” :-) Even the best of Sanskrit poets would be impressed by the philosophical depth of the metaphors that the game has inspired!
Moving on, Jaṭāyu, just as he is trying to stop Rāvaṇa from carrying out his misdeed, speaks thus:
जन्म ब्रह्मकुले हरार्चन-विधौ कृत्वा शिरःकृन्तनं
शक्तिः वज्रिणि घोर-दण्ड-दलन-व्यापार-शक्तं मनः ।
हेलोल्लासित-केलि-कन्दुक-निभः कैलास उत्पाटितः
तत्किं रावण लज्जसे न हरसे चौर्येण पत्नीं रघोः ।4.8।
janma brahmakule harārcana-vidhau kṛtvā śiraḥkṛntanaṃ
śaktiḥ vajriṇi ghora-daṇḍa-dalana-vyāpāra-śaktaṃ manaḥ |
helollāsita-keli-kanduka-nibhaḥ kailāsa utpāṭitaḥ
tat kiṃ rāvaṇa lajjase na harase cauryeṇa patnīṃ raghoḥ |4.8|
“You were born in the purest of families; you pleased Lord Shiva himself with your penance of cutting of your very heads; your mind was so disciplined that it did not waver at even that sacrifice; you lifted up the great Mount Kailāsa as if it were a play-ball – and yet, how can you stoop to an act so low as stealing another man’s wife?”
The poet comes close to our own hearts here. If a man born into unfortunate circumstances, with no guidance and no opportunity to better himself, commits a crime, we feel only pity. But when someone who should have known better takes the wrong path, that is when it truly hurts us, and society. Even today, we suffer far more from the ‘white collar’ crime of educated men in influential posts than from the acts of passion of ordinary men. The poet Kṣemendra writes:
भग्नदन्त इव व्यालः श्रेयान् मूर्खखलो वरः ।
पक्षवान् इव कृष्णाहिः न त्वेमं खलपण्डितः ॥
bhagnadanta iva vyālaḥ śreyān mūrkhakhalo varaḥ |
pakṣavān iva kṛṣṇāhiḥ na tvemaṃ khalapaṇḍitaḥ ||
“It is far better to deal with a wicked, dumb man than to deal with a wicked but learned one. The former is like an elephant with a broken tusk, but the latter is a serpent with wings.”
Later in the work, Hanumān comes back from his recon of Lanka, and gives Rāma the happy news that Sītā is alive. In untrammelled joy, Rāma hugs Hanumān. But Hanumān has a curious reaction – shyness and embarrassment. Why?
पीतो नाम्बुनिधिः न कोणपपुरी निष्पिष्य चूर्णीकृता
नानीतानि शिरांसि राक्षसपतेः नानायि सीता मया ।
आश्लेषार्पण-पारितोषिकम् अहं नार्हामि वार्ताहरो
जल्पन्नित्यनिलात्मजः स जयति व्रीडाजडो राघवे ।६।३६।
pīto nāmbunidhiḥ na koṇapapurī niṣpiṣya cūrṇīkṛtā
nānītāni śirāṃsi rākṣasapateḥ nānāyi sītā mayā |
āśleṣārpaṇa-pāritoṣikam ahaṃ nārhāmi vārtāharo
jalpannityanilātmajaḥ sa jayati vrīḍājaḍo rāghave |6.36|
“I didn’t drink up the ocean [to let you quickly unite with Sītā]; I didn’t crush Lankā to pieces;
I didn’t bring you the heads of Rāvaṇa, and I didn’t bring you Sītā.
All I did was carry messages – I don’t deserve this grateful embrace of yours” –
Mumbling thus, Hanumān felt embarrassed when Rāma hugged him.
What a beautiful character portrait! A deeply insightful quote about love goes, “A true lover always feels in debt to the one he loves”. Hanumān here is a direct example – for God’s sake, he jumped across the very ocean and risked his life at the hands of Rāvaṇa for the sake of friendship with Rāma, and even then he feels he’s done nothing. This feeling of never have done enough is possibly the truest hallmark of love.
The Hanumannāṭaka also features verses of impressive cleverness:
भवित्री रम्भोरु त्रिदशवदनग्लानिरधुना
स ते रामः स्थाता न युधि पुरतो लक्ष्मण-सखः ।
इयं यास्यत्युच्चैः विपदम् अधुना वानरचमूः
लघिष्ठेदं षष्ठाक्षर-पर-विलोपात् पठ पुनः ।10.12।
bhavitrī rambhoru tridaśa-vadana-glāniradhunā
sa te rāmaḥ sthātā na yudhi purato lakṣmaṇa-sakhaḥ |
iyaṃ yāsyatyuccaiḥ vipadam adhunā vānaracamūḥ
laghiṣṭhedaṃ ṣaṣṭhākṣara-para-vilopāt paṭha punaḥ |10.12|
[Rāvaṇa says] “My dear, the gods will lose face today.
Your Rāma will not stand in the battlefield.
This monkey army will soon go to ruin.”
[Sītā smiles and says] “Take out the seventh syllable and speak each line again!”
Whoa whoa whoa, what is this? Let’s try it out. The seventh word in the first line is ‘tri’. Taking it out, it reads, “bhavitrī rambhoru daśa-vadana-glāniradhunā” “Today the ten-headed one will fall”!!! tri-daśa means ‘god’, vadana face and glāni fall; so tri-daśa-vadana-glāni means “the gods will lose face”, but daśa-vadana-glāni means “the ten-headed one (Rāvaṇa) will fall”! The second line is simpler: the seventh syllable is ‘na’, which when taken out makes the line say “Your Rāma will stand in the battlefield”. In the third line, the seventh syllable is ‘vi’ of ‘vipadam’. ‘Vipad’ means ‘calamity’, but ‘pad’ simply means a ‘step’ or ‘step forward’ – so, “The monkey army will soon step forward!”
If Sītā was this dextrous with words in the state she was in, we can’t imagine how poor Rāma would have fared in their recreational word puzzles. :-)
Near the end of the work, we find this remarkably introspective verse with which we’ll conclude:
यद्भग्नं धनुरीश्वरस्य समरे यज्जामदग्न्यो जितः
त्यक्ता येन गुरोर्गिरा वसुमती सेतुः पयोदौ कृतः ।
एकैकं दशकन्धर-क्षयकृतो रामस्य किं वर्ण्यते
दैवं वर्णय येन सोऽपि सहसा नीतः कथाशेषताम् ।14.93।
yadbhagnaṃ dhanurīśvarasya samare yajjāmadagnyo jitaḥ
tyaktā yena gurorgirā vasumatī setuḥ payodau kṛtaḥ |
ekaikaṃ daśakandhara-kṣayakṛto rāmasya kiṃ varṇyate
daivaṃ varṇaya yena so’pi sahasā nītaḥ kathāśeṣatām |14.93|
“Yes, he broke Shiva’s bow; he won over Paraśurāma;
he let go of a kingdom just because of his father’s request; he built a bridge across the ocean;
he single-handedly killed the ten-headed Rāvaṇa – yes, Rāma did all that, but for a moment instead of speaking of him,
Speak of Fate, which caused even him to pass on to legend.”
Thought for today
One the greatest TV shows ever created, Breaking Bad, came to a close this week. It tells the story of a brilliant high school chemistry teacher who takes a small wrong turn with all the right intentions, but his ego causes him to veer further and further away. In telling this story, the creators also gave a brilliant, trenchant view of modern society – so brilliant, that the show is already on the syllabus of several film schools around the world. This light Sanskrit verse, with the shocked questions of a passerby and the cool nonchalance of a beggar, appears to be a fitting tribute to its theme:
“भिक्षो मांस-विषेवणं प्रकुरुषे?” “किं तेन मद्यम् विना!”
“मद्यं चापि तव-प्रियं?” “प्रियम् अहो वेश्याङ्गनाभिः सह!”
“वेश्या द्रव्य-रुचिः; कुतस् तव धनं?” “द्यूतेन चौर्येण वा”
“चौर्य-द्यूत-परिग्रहोऽपि भवता?” “भ्रष्टस्य कान्या गतिः?”
“bhikṣo māṃsa-viṣevaṇaṃ prakuruṣe?” “kiṃ tena madyam vinā!”
“madyaṃ cāpi tava-priyaṃ?” “priyam aho veśyāṅganābhiḥ saha!”
“veśyā dravya-ruciḥ; kutas tava dhanaṃ?” “dyūtena cauryeṇa vā”
“caurya-dyūta-parigraho’pi bhavatā?” “bhraṣṭasya kānyā gatiḥ?”
“Beggar, are you eating meat?!” “Yes, but what fun is it without wine?”
“What?! You’ve developed a drinking habit as well?!” “Yes, though I’d really like some courtesans to come as well.”
“Where do you get the money for this?!” “Oh well, by gambling or theft…”
“My God! You’re into those as well?” “What else do you expect from a depraved man?”
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