Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 47

*Dohada' A Folk-Lore in Ancient India
263
In the Meghaduta of Kalidasa also, we find reflection of a similar popular social custom. The Yaksa says to his messenger (the cloud) that like him the red Āśoka tree (raktāśokaḥ), standing within the premises of his house with fluttering leaves under the pretext of bursting in to flowers and fruits, also must be longing for the kick of the left foot of his dear friend i.e., Yakşiņi herself (vāmapādābhilāși) and emission of wine from her mouth too (vadanamadirā). When Mālavikā had given her stroke to the stem of the tree in act of performing the dohada', the king enquires from her whether her left foot tender like a delicate leaf, was not injured in rendering the task. 10
In the Vikramorvašīyam, Purūravā is depicted as saying to the full blossomed Āśoka tree that shaking by its sides with the force of the wind, it was acknowledging his ignorance about his darling Urvaśī. But if it was a fact, then how was it glowing with full-fragrance, with full-grown lovely flowers, whose petals were being bitten by black bees, without receiving her foot-stroke (padāghāta)".
In the Viddha-śālabhanjikā of Rājasekhara, we find Kurangikā, the female attendant of the queen, feeling annoyed of the jester (Vidūşaka) due to his pinching jokes and consequently threatening him with what the Āśoka tree receives at the time of dohada' (charaṇa-satkāra i.e., foot stroke)". The idea may have resulted in the delightful theme of dohada' a longing peculiarly human in its emotion that plants and trees look for fulfillment.
This popular social custom prevalent among the women folk in ancient India was adopted as a lovely art-motif, vivid and striking specimens of which have been brought to light from different cultural centers of the country right from the Sunga Age.
In a Bharhut railing pillar we find the carving of a semi-dohada motif, which may be treated as a rare specimen of its kind. The lady, a variety of 'women and tree' symbol and identified as 'Chulakokadevatā' or Yakşiņi stands with the right leg fixed on the back of a standing elephant and left one placed on its head. She holds a branch of the Asoka tree by her right arm; and with her left hand and so also with the left leg, firmly grasps its slim stem. The representation suggests the idea of blossoming of the Asoka tree not by kick of the foot but by embrace of a charming lady and as such it, somewhat, differs from the other scenes of dohada' type in strict sense of the technical term (Fig. 1). In another similar semi-'dohada' scene on a Bharhut railing-post, the profusely ornamented Yaksini is depicted as standing on a seated winged horse with her right leg fixed on its back and the left on its head.13
It is significant to note that in one more illustration resembling with semi-'dohada' variety, found in a Bharhut piece preserved in Indian Museum, Calcutta, a profusely ornamented lady (with Yakşiņi features and possessed of muscular strength) is represented as embracing the slender stem of the Āśoka tree by her left arm and left leg, and bending its branch by the right hand, that part of the scene (i.e. the foliage) is partly broken and lost from its precise position in the carved relief. Standing akimbo, her left foot is fixed on the neck of a well decorated horse and the right one on its back (Fig. 2). In another Bharhut example (2nd century B.C.), displayed in Indian Museum, Calcutta, a stout lady, wearing different ornaments and looking like Yakşiņi by her bodily features, is depicted as clasping the thin stalk of a full-bloomed tree by her right hand and the right leg instead of her left one, while standing on a bursting lotus with her left arm gracefully resting on her tender waist(Fig.3).
A railing pillar, adorned with an excellent example of dohada' scene and displayed in the Mathura Museum (Accession number 33.2345, gallery 7), depicts a profusely ornamented nude lady with a broad jewelled girdle around her slender waist under a green Āśoka tree. She holds a lotus along