Jain Journal 1996 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 14

VRAT PUNYAKUSALA'S INDEBTEDNESS TO MAGHA
Not unlike the Sisupālavadba (XVIII - XX), two of the cantos in the BBM are devoted to the description of the yuddha. The encounter of the rival forces, as detailed in the BBM, is not traceable to either of its main sources. It is unmistakably suggested and inspired by the terrific clash between the armies of Kṛṣṇa and Sisupāla, described with verve in the eighteenth canto of the Maghakāvya. Contos fourteen and fifteen of the BMM are imbued with an aura of the traditional Caritakavyas. Herein are encountered the hackneyed motifs like the gearing up of the soldiery, their self-vaunts, terrific cries of the heady warriors, trumpetings of the elephants and dances of the headless bodies (kabandhas). These mannerisms, howsoever, banal and worthless, owe themselves to Magha (XVII-XVIII) and serve as prelude to the final encounter. It is interesting to find that originating in Magha, these motifs had filtered down to the Viragāthā and Ritiperiods of Hindi poetry and the later Sanskrit Mahākāvyas,and had evoked a measure of esteem. While Magha is lost in the lybrinth of frustrating Citrakāvaya, Punyakuśala has spun out a brilliant sketch of the battle. It is no exaggeration to say that the fifteenth canto of the BBM reflects the poetic talents of the poet more than the ferocity of the clash. Perhaps Punyakusala means to present this conto as an opposite pole to Magha's Citrakāvya, which otherwise had set the norm in describing the 'War : Bharata's duel with Bahubali is doubtless base on the TSSPC., but it seems to have drawn sustenance from the combats detailed in the Kirātārjuniyam and the Siṣupālavadham.
75
The description of the impatience of the women-folk in canto six owes itself to the corresponding description in Magha XIII, where the citydamsels are likewise said to have thronged to have a glimpse of Kṛṣna as he enters Yudhiṣṭhira's metropolis though the two differ in their objectives. He might have drawn upon Kālidāsa's parallel descriptions as well? which seem to have established the motif on a firm footing.
In imitation of Magha, Punyakuśala has described the six traditional seasons that come to wait upon the hero, The entire description in Magha is infested with fearsome yamaka. Punyakusala has resorted to the gimmick in describing the sarat only, and that too in the fifteenth canto, away from the integrated depiction of the six seasons (XVIII. 1-57). Otherwise also Punyakuśala's yamaka does not present in superable difficulty in resolving it.
With 'war' as its focal point, the BBM.,like Magha's poem, has
7. Kumārasambhava, VII. 56-62, Raghuvamsa, VII. 6-11