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________________ MIA. Miscellany H. C. Bhayani 1. INTERPRETATION OF SOME PASSAGES OF THE GAUDAVAHO* N.G. Suru has rendered a great service to the students of Prakrit literature by giving a careful English translation alongwith explanatory notes, of the highly important but equally difficult Mahakavya, the Gaudavaho of Vakpatiraja, written about 730 A. C. Below I discuss interpretation of some of its verses and offer alternative renderings. (1) V. I. ER-HOT-foruyfe-UCT-TT fua i Suru's translation : "a white sacred thread) which was, as if, a fibre of lotus-stalk extracted while coming out through the belly of Visnu." His notes : The white sacred thread is imagined by the poet as the lotus-fibre extracted and suspended over the body of Brahma, as he came out of the belly of Visnu.' But that is rather the umbilical cord which is attached to the new-born child. (2) V. 7. t-the-f31-THSTI Suru's translation : " He had seized in his clutches a mass of clouds in His roaring fury." Rather it should be rendered as 'He had seized in his clutches a mass of clouds, being angry at their thunder.' The lion is conventionally described as roaring on hearing the thunder. (3) V.175. isfazi. The verse describes the condition of the snakes burning in the fire of Pralaya. islast in the expression isfa37-401-ESM-fufc37-4 4t is rendered by Suru with Sk. alustan, and translated as 'dancing'. But here islah is a variant spelling of 75fa3t, which is past passive participle of gq = Sk. 7 to spread' (PSM. s.v.; Prakrit Grammar, 8,4,137; DN. 5, 5). Fumes of smoke become pent up under the spread out hoods, not under dancing hoods. (4) V. 260. ZIRTE maggesu guru balA vea-gADha-NivaDaMta koDi-TaMkehi / uccariUrNa va lihaMti je TaAre khura-uDehi // The marching horses produce clapping sounds with their hooves, which also leave their imprints on the dusty road. This is described by means of an original Utpreksa. The horses as it were utter and write the letter ta with their hooves as they gallop along. The image is that of a learner of alphabets who writes a letter first pronouncing it loudly. In his Notes, Suru explains that the hooves left imprints' shaped like the Devanagari . Gaudavaho, ed. N. G. Suru, Prakrit Text Series, no. 18. Ahmedabad 1975.
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________________ Vol. II-1996 MIA. Miscellany 19 letter 2. But strictly speaking it can be the shape of the letter ta that we find in the script of the first half of the eighth century. In the late Maitraka and post-Maitraka inscriptions we find the exactly horse-shoe like form of ta along with others slightly different, and this fairly matches with the shape of imprints left by the hooves of horses as described by Vakpatiraja. (5) V. 317, 479. uff/3. jaNa-diNNa-kesa kalaNA-lomasa-kalusehi kaMpamuppesi / veAlehi va paDiaggiAirA vAu-daMDehi // The afsoft|3||$t is interpreted by Suru as 'keeping the courtyard awake during night'. But arscsts of sufin31st rather means 'the courtyard attended or frequented by gusts of stormy winds' vicifT34 = SG137 = Sk. u t , here meaning attended'. The verse means : The courtyard of 'the temple of Vindhyavasini when it was subject to gusts of wind that lifted mass of dust and loops of shaven hair, caused shivers, because of the apparitions, thus produced of vapourous, shadowy figures of goblins (wildly dangling their hair). In V. 479 also uis137 has the sense of attended by i. e. 'accompanied or marked by'. 3750T-fait-U17-T37UT-T37-4fe1131731 means 'marked by the red glow of jewels on their pink spread out hoods.' (6) V. 333 HUTCUT-FMEHR-a-furcaftrat 370g tuha dhAraNa-kkhamo kIrai vva pANu vAhaNa-saveNa // Suru has translated the verse as follows: "Your carrier corpse, indeed, makes itself (strong) and capable to bear you, its strength being brought about, even in its dead state, by its body which can easily breathe.' There is a patent absurdity here. How can a corpse be said to be capable of breathing easily, when it cannot breathe at all ? Suru himself has felt this when he observes that this is a fantastic idea (Notes on V. 333). I think 3HH is a corrupt reading for the original UsAya i.e. Sk. ucchrAya, utsedha 'swelling'. A corpse gets swiftly swollen (sulahUsAya) and this condition of attainment of gaurava qualifies it as devIvAhana. (7) V. 341. gang atitra-gasm-afago Tu-faafini maaNAhi malaya-vicchitti-vibbhamaM saMpai raeNa // Suru's translation : "The dust on the round face, turned in curling knots in the absence of any ointment (olimbha), wears an appearance of thickly besmeared sandal paste (to alleviate) love's pangs." In his Notes : The absence of oily ointment (iftur912).....pangs of love torment (HISTUTISE) The verse is quite misunderstood, because of the failure to grasp the meanings of the words olibhAbhAva and maaNAhi. The latter derives from Sk. mRganAbhi 'musk'. mayaNAhi-malaya-vicchitti means the decorative designs (vicchitti) drawn by means of musk
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________________ 20 H. C. Bhayani Nirgrantha and sandle-paste. The idea is that the curvilinear configurations produced by the white ants in the dust deposited on the face of the corpse gives the illusion of decorative designs drawn with musk and sandal-paste. The commentator rightly renders 311191 with upadehikA (white ant). madanAdhi is a wrong rendering of mayaNAhi. It should be, as said above, mRganAbhi. DN. 1,153 gives olibhA in the sense of Pk. uddehI, Sk upadehikA. DN. 1, 56 has given set as a variant of gaden i.e. 3uclear. Both words mean 'white ant. See PSM, DSS, and SDP pp. 64,767 (where Ramanujasvamin's misinterpretation is corrected). For cognates, NIA derivatives see CDIAL 2178. (8) V. 495. - T-fafoto/34-FACE-5107-STAT-alesi jAaM NIsAmaNNaM parihA-valayaM NahaM cea // The sense of the verse is not correctly grasped by Suru. = my means 'the citygate', not 'balcony'. UTHIHUUT means 'unique', not 'generality. ure=yfreat means 'moat (around the city), not 'rampart'. The idea of the verse is that when the city was lifted high in the sky, the citizens curious to know what was happening went apprehensively as far as the city-gate. They saw a yawning gap beyond. Thus instead of the usual ditch surrounding the city, they now saw a unique ditch in the form of the sky itself. U E4UUT is frequently used in Apabhramsa in the sense of Sk. 31 'unique', 'extraordinary'. See for example Paumacariya of Svayambhu (Part 1, Glossary). 2. ON THE APPELATIONS MADANAMANJUKA AND HEPPHAGA IN SOME BRHATKATHA VERSIONS In the various Sanskrit versions (recasts, adaptations etc.) of Gunadhya's Vaddakaha (Brhatkatha), the name of Naravahanadatta's queen and the heroine is found with formal variation: Madanamanjuka, (Brhatkathaslokasamgraha), Madanamancuka (Kathasaritsagara', Brhatkathamanjari), Madanamanjusa (Karakandacariu). The Natakalaksanaratnakosa refers to a drama (now lost), the title of which occurs as *Madanamanjuka' at one place (p. 134) and as 'Madanamanjula' at another (p.274). From the citations it is clear that its plot is based on the episode of Naravahanadatta living with Madanamancuka disguised as Prabhavati through the latter's magic powers ('Kathasaritsagara', 106.; Tawney-Penzers' Translation, vol. 8, p.37; elsewhere also, Jain, The Vasudevahindi, p. 517, infra.) Among these variants Madanamanjuk, is the basic form. Sk. -;- would change to fin Paisaci. Hence Madanamancuka was its form in the Vaddakaha'. Madanamanjusa and Madanamanjula (if it is not a scribal mistake) are later variations. Etymologically madanamanjuka can be interpreted as 'as beautiful or sweet as the God of Love. If madanamancuka was the original form, it can mean the couch or throne of the God of Love. Both are appropriate as the name of the extraordinarily beautiful daughter of a courtesan. But mancuka as a derivative from manca with the diminutive-endearing suffix -uka- is otherwise unattested. Hence it is suggested that madanamancuka is secondary
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________________ Vol. 11-1996 MIA. Miscellany 21 A parallel, but rather complex, case is that of the name of the Vidyadharas that were hostile to the hero, Naravahanadatta / Vasudeva, regarding which various Vaddakaha versions show confusion. It is found as Hepphaa/Hephaa/Hephaga in the Vasudevahindi, as Ipphaka in the Brhatkathaslokasangraha and as Ityaka in the Kathasaritsagara (Jain, op. cit., p. 34). It is quite difficult to decide which was the original form and what is its etymological meaning. Possibly ipphaka was the original form: ityaka is a corruption. In Prakrit we have several cases of -h- being added to the initial vowel of a word. (For the prothesis of h in Prakrit see Pischel SS 338) Accordingly ipphaka > hipphaka >> hepphaka (oga) (-i- changed -e- before a cluster : Pischel SS 119) can be suggested as the likely development. hepha(g)a is an orthographic variation. Even if this surmise is considered plausible, ipphaka as a form remains impenetrable. It is doubtful to suggest Sk. ismaka as the source word. Compare isma 'name of Kama', ismin 'impetuous' (MW.). For the development -$m- > -pph- this would presuppose : see Pischel, SS 422. 3. ON THE PRAKRIT METRE NIJJHAIYA (Nirdhyayika / Nidhyayika) (1) Regarding the designation and the structure of the Prakrit metre Nijjhaiya, there are some differences among the classical manuals of metres, namely the Janasrayi of Janasraya (end of the six century A. C.), the Svayambhucchandas of Svayambhu (ninth century A. C.) and the Chandonusasana of Hemacandra (c. mid 12th century A.C.). In the Janasrayi, which has treated some popular Matra-metres (really Prakrit metres) as Sanskrit metre, the metre named Nirdhyayika (5.46) has 17 Matras per line, divided as 4+4+ u-u+ uuu- (or -u-). In the Vrttajatisamuccaya, the metre is called either Niddhaia (1.4, 4.16, 4.33) or Nivvaia (1. 26, 1. 30). The commentator calls it Nirvapita at all those places. Its structure is the same as given in the Janasrayi. In the Svayambhucchandas, the folios of the Manuscript which probably contained treatment of this metre are missing. In the Chandonusasana, this metre is called Nirdhyayika (Pk. Nijjhaia) (4.76). It is of three types according to the number of Matras per line : 17 (4+4+3+3+3), 14 (5+3+3+3) or 19 (5+5+3+3+3). Of these, the first type is similar to that defined in the Janasrayi and the Vrttajatisamuccaya. Velankar, possibly following the commentator of the Vrttajatisamuccaya, who has rendered Pk. tikalaya as Sk. trikalaka, thinks (Chandonusasana, Introduction p. X) that the designation occurring as Trikalaya shows the influence of the Prakrit term, tikalaa. But trikalaya can be well taken as trikalaya 'that whose cadence depends on a triad.' It is synonym with Tribhangi (Chandonusasana.) Besides occurring individually, Nirdhyayika occurred also as the middle constituent of
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________________ H. C. Bhayani Nirgrantha a three-unit complex metre. In the Janasrayi it is called Trikalaya (5.59) which is made up of Adhikaksara + Nirdhyayika + Gitika. The Vrttajatisamuccaya has described Tikalaya similarly (4.43,44). In fact, Trikalaya (c. 2nd to 4th cent. A. C.) or Tribhangi were a type of songs whose text had three constituents in different metres functioning as a unit. Velankar calls such metres 'Strophic metres' on the analogy of the triadic structure of the Greek chorus. (2) In several later texts of the Jaina Ardhamagadhi canon, we come across a traditional list of 72 arts (bavattari kalao) (with a few later additions), in the Jnatadharmakatha, Rajaprasniya, Aupapatika, and Samavaya. A comparative table has been given in the Thanamgasuttam and Samavayamgasuttam.' (pp. 758-761). Among these occur the names of ajja, paheliya, magahiya, gaha, giya and siloya (i.e. Arya, Prahelika, Magadhika, Gatha, Gitika and sloka). These are wellknown Prakrit metres (the last one of course is Sanskrit). Evidently, this means the art of composing and singing songs whose text was in the afore-mentioned metres. Now, in the Rajaprasniya list there is one more names, namely niddaiya. This is nothing but a corrupt form of nijjhaiya described here in the first section. The correct form is nijjhaiya (Sk. nirdhyayika / nidhyayika. -ddha- (in the Vrttajatisamuccaya) or -dda. (in the Rajaprasniya) is a scribal error. The Sanskrit rendering nirvapita by the commentator of the Vrttajatisamuccaya is also, I think, based on niddhaia (< nirdhyayika, read or copied as niyvaia, which was then understood as Sk. nirvapita). As the Nijjhaia lyrics were already known to the Janasrayi at the end of the sixth century in the South, they can be taken as being in vogue and popular, along with the songs in metres like Arya, Magadhika, Gitika, in the vicinity of that century. The Rajaprasniya alone has got that name. It would be, therefore, reasonable to date its list of the arts in that century. (4) ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE SONG-TEXT OF THE LASYANGA SAINDHAVA In his systematic treatment of the Lasyangas, based on various dramaturgical sources, Raghavan has pointed out that, according to the Abhinavabharati, in the case of the Lasyanga called Saindhava, the song text should be in Prakrit. According to the Natakalaksanaratna-kosa, which, following the 'Dasarupaka' and others, consider the Lasyangas as specially connected with Bhana, defines Saindhava as Sankha-valaya-dharanadi-sindhudesabhasa-visesa-gita-vadya-visayam (p. 274). This means that, in the Saindhava Lasyanga, the song-text should be in the Saindhava dialect. The Bhavaprakasana also gives this definition briefly, perhaps wrongly reading srrikhala for Sankha (p. 246, b: 5-6). Abhinavagupta, while discussing this Lasyanga, quotes from (1) Ranaka's 'Cudamani' Dombika, from (2) Bhejjala's Radhavipralambha Rasakarka, and from (3) Bhatta Tauta's work. Now, the few quotations that are available from the 'Cudamani' and the "Radhavipralambha' indicate that the former had some passages in Apabhramsa language and the latter, some passages in Prakrit. In this
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________________ Vol. II-1996 MIA, Miscellany 23 connection, it is to be noted that Anandavardhana, while pointing out how there are endless literary modes of expressing a theme (ukti-vaicitrya), mentions one that is based on a particular language or dialect and illustrates this with the following verse composed by himself : mahu mahu itti bhaNaMtaho, vaccei kAlu jaNassu / to-vi Na deuppaNaddaNau, goarihoi maNassu // Now, the language of the verse is standard Apabhramsa, but in Abhinavagupta's 'Locana', the language is designated as Saindhavabhasa, 'the dialect of Sindhudesa'. If we put these points together, it seems probable that, in the performance of some dramatic works, when the Saindhava Lasyangya was employed, the language of the song text was, sometimes at least, Apabhramsa. 5. THE ILLUSTRATION OF UTTHAKKA CITED IN THE SVAYAMBHUCCHANDAS The eighth chapter (but really the 14th if we include the Purvabhaga portion) of the Svayambhucchandas, called 'Utthakadayah (i.e. Treatment of Utthakka and other metres) opens with the definition as illustration of the metre Utthakka. It is defined as follows: jai tiNi hoti pAdAvasANa, jamaA-vi hoti pAdAvasANa / utthakka hoI tau tuhu~-vijANa, pAANa tANa xx tahuM vijANa // (The last line is defective) 'If each line has three pa-ganas and ends with a da-gana, and if the yamaka occurs, you know it to be the metre Utthakka-- x!' This is illustrated there with the following verse : dhaaTu-NariMdUsAsaNeNa, visameNa suTU dUsAsaNeNa / jaI maI Na bhaggu dUsAsaNeNa, to paheNa jAmi dUsAsaNeNa // (maha in the printed text is corrected as maI) 'If I, Duhsasana, who is a life-breath of the emperor Dhrtarastra, who is difficult to deal with and is highly uncontrollable, does not force (the opponent) to flee, I may pass away by the path ruled by evil.' Now, this citation, given anonymously by Svayambhu, can be identified from his epic poem Ritthanemicariya (or Harivarsapurana) as 5.,5,4 / 5-6 : In the MSS. the lines 2 and 3 are exchanged. These words are spoken by Duhsasana who takes up the challenge to confront and defeat Abhimanyu. The latter has broken through and entered the Cakravyuha and he is inflicting defeat after defeat on all the top seasoned Kuru warriors. This identification has several important implications: (1) This confirms that the Svayambhucchandas was written after the Ritthanemicariya : (2) The anonymous
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________________ H. C. Bhayani Nirgrantha citations given in the Svayambhucchandas are from Svayambhu's own poems : (3) The whole of the fourth Kadavaka of the 55th Sandhi of the Ritthanemicariya is composed in the Utthakka metre. It must have been one of the favourite metres with the Apabhramsa poets, as both Svayambhu and Hemacandra have treated it, but so far we have no knowledge about its occurrence in any other Apabhramsa poem. It is in the tradition of the Apabhramsa metres like Adilla and Madilla and the Prakrit metres of the Galitaka class which characteristically employed the Yamaka. REFERENCES : Chandonusasana of Hemacandra, Ed. H. D. Velankar, Bombay 1961. Janasrayi (Prakrit section) = Appendix to Chandonusasana (ed. Velankar, pp. 240.2-240.16). (The Janasrayi is an old work on Sanskrit metres composed by some Pandit at the Court of King Janasraya, who is generally identified with Madhavavarman I of the Visnukundin dynasty who ruled over the district of Krishna and Godavari towards the end of the sixth century A. D. - Velankar). Thanangasuttam and Samavayamgasuttam, Ed. Muni Jambuvijaya, Bombay 1985. Svayambhucchandas of Svayambhu : Ed. H. D. Velankar, Jodhpur 1962. The Vasudevahindi, L. D. Series 59, Jagadishcandra Jain, Ahmedabad 1977, Vrttajatisamuccaya of Virahanka : Ed. H. D. Velankar, Jodhpur 1962. DN. Desinamamala of Hemacandra. DSS. Desisabda Kosa.