Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 13

JANUARY, 1929]
matter of fact manner that "Devadâsa for his part cut off the nose of that wicked wife." He had caught her flagrante delicto himself. Every conceivable form of punishment has been employed in the world in such circumstances, but this particular method has been found in Mexico and Peru. This does not, however, presume connection between the Indian and the Central American custom, and the fact of such distribution need not disturb us, as the idea might well have arisen spontaneously out of the mere exasperation of men against unfaithful wives. Cutting off noses as a punishment for evil doing is not confined to cases of adultery or to women in this volume, and is again alluded to on pp. 60, 61 and 65, where the noses of robbers are cut off as a fitting punishment for such malefactors.
NOTES ON THE KATHA SARIT SAGARA
7
Indian princes and notables have at all times married by some form of marriage women of all degrees, an instructive story of the views of Somadeva's time towards unfaithful wives of humble or low origin is to be found in The Story of Devadatta (pp. 129 ff.), where Devadatta, son of Jayadatta "a certain petty monarch", is married regularly to the daughter of Vasudatta, a merchant of Pâtaliputra (Patna). She was therefore of a lower grade socially than her husband and Devadatta's comments on finding her unfaithful are noteworthy : "How can a female crow leave the male crow to take pleasure in a cuckoo?.... Of what importance is a woman as valueless as straw? (p. 131)." However, when the unhappy woman learns that she has been found out, "her heart afflicted by the misfortune of her unchastity having been discovered, in its agony, broke," and "she departed this life as unmourned as if she had never lived (p. 132)."
3. Forms of Marriage.
I dwelt on the forms of marriage occurring in the Katha Sarit Sagara in the Foreword to Vol. I, and I propose to add somewhat to my remarks now. The Gandharva form, i.e., irregular marriage by mutual consent, occurs twice in this Volume. On p. 5 a prince finds a water-borne maiden in a basket, and "marries her on the spot by the Gandharva ceremony of marriage." Here we have the kind of marriage that Aryan princes entered into with unknown girls. In this case the girl was a "merchant's daughter," who "dwelt on the bank of the Ganges in a city named Makandika."
Again, in The Story of Vidishaka, the hero, who was (p. 58) "a virtuous Brahman [of Ujjayinî], the bravest of the brave," marries an immortal maiden at her personal request (p. 66): "the noble Vidûshaka, when the Vidyadharî [magic-holding immortal] Bhadra addressed him this style [' for your sake I am here, and so, handsome hero, I surrender myself to you marry me '], agreed that moment and married her by the Gândharva ceremony."
Of regular marriages there are several instances. At p. 69 the girl of misfortune, Dubkhalabdika, marries the king of Kachchhapa in full form. The next instance is notable. "A sky-roaming Vidyadhara [immortal]" is (p. 141) cursed by Siva, is born in Vallabhi as a mortal son to Madhâdana, a merchant, and is named Vasudatta; but as a mortal he is married regularly to Manovatî, a Vidyadharî and so immortal. She had been wandering in the Himâlayas. By him she has a son, Hiranyadatta, who also lives to be married regularly (p. 148).
In The Story of Jimútavahana, which is a continuation of the last tale, the hero, "honoured by the king of the Siddhas [semi-immortals of the Eastern Himalayas] received in regular usage the hand of Malayavati (p. 150)," who in a former life had been closely connected with Manovati. But in this story the different 'lives' are so mixed up that it would require a genealogical tree to make out the relationship. In the long Story of the Golden City, at p.. 231 occurs another regular marriage of the true Indian type. The hero Saktideva "arrived at home and told the story [of his wanderings ] to his wife Vindumatî, and with her consent he married that Princess Vindurekha."
In another long story, Asokadatta and Vijayadatta, which Mr. Penzer tells us has parallels in German and Sicilian fairy tales, "a great Brahman, named Govindasvamin, living on a great royal grant of land on the banks of the Yamuna" has the two sons named above. Of