Indological Studies

Author(s): H C Bhayani
Publisher: Parshva Prakashan

Page 99

The Dhavala Songs
89
Kuvalayamālā (779 A. D.), a Campū in Prakrit, Sthāņu is described as hearing a Dhavala-Duvahaya sung by a Gūrjara wayfarer while he was spending the night in a temple.
The verse runs as follows: jo ņavi vihure vibhajjaņau, dhavalau kad dhai bhāru, so gotthangana--mandanau, sesau vya jam sāru (p. 59. 1.5).2
"That white bull who does not break down in a catastrophic situation, but pulis the burden through, is the ornament of the herd-station. The rest of the bulls are worthless".
This verse consoled Sthāņu who was down with the grief of his friend's disappearance. It is in Apabhramsa in the form of a Dhavalānyokti. The metre is Dolā. Uddyotana designates it as Dhavala-Duvahaya (p. 59, 1.4), which is almost identical with the designation Dohā-Dhavala as laid down by the Prakrit prosodists. It is also significant that the Dhavala. Duva haya was sung by 2 Gurjara wayfarer i.e a native of the then Gürjara-desa in Western Rājasthāna.
In the Prakrit anthology Vajjālagga3 to be dated possibly in c. 10th century A. D., a whole section (no. 18) relates to Dhavala. It is called Dhavala-vajja. It contains seven Gāthās (no. 179 to 185). All of them are Dhavalānyoktis. They praise the native dependability of the white bull to successfully pull the burden against all odds and even at the cost of his life. This shows that there was a tradition of composing Dhavalas in Prakrit in the Gāthā metre.
Vira's Jambūsāmicariu, an Apabhramśa Sandhibandha on the life of Jambū written in 1020 A.D., has seven Dhavalas. All of them are Prakrit Gāthās (Jambūsāmicariu VII 6 1-7). Of these the first is similar to Vajjālagga 182. So it is quite likely that some of the rest may have been borrowed from earlier sources. Most of these verses contrast the great merits of the white bull with the worthlessness of a lazy bull. The sixth verse is the source of one of the two Apabhramsa Dhavalas cited by Hemacandra in his Grammar (see below).