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GAHĀSATTASAİ
B. K. KHADABADI
The Gahasattasai (Gāthāṣaptasati) is one of the most valuable works of ancient Indian literature. It can also be said to have been the first to represent the ancient Indian folk-poetry. From an excessively large number of verses composed in the Mähäräştri Prakrit and in the gaha (arya) metre by different numerous poets, Hala (Satavahana), a king of the Andhrabhṛtyas, selected only seven hundred, edited them and presented them in the form of an anthology under the title Sattasai or Gāhāsattasai. Of these several bear the name of Hala himself.1
Hala (Satavahana) was the 17th King (C. 1st century A.D.) in the line of the Andhrabhṛtyas, who ruled in the Dakṣiņapatha (Southern India). He was proud of, and partial to, the Prakrit language, Himself a poet, he had in his heart a soft corner for poets. Being of an amorous disposition, he led a life of pleasure and liberally extended petronage to literature and writers. Eminent poets like Palitta (Pädalipta) flourished in his court. While collecting these gathãs, he is said to have paid a large amount of money for some of them.
At first this anthology of Prakrit verses was called Gahakoso (Gathakola). It contained about 400 gähäs.2 By the 10th-12th centuries A.D., the number of gähas increased to 700,3 hence the anthology began to be called Sattasai or Gāhāsattasai. The boost in the number of gahas and the change in the title of the anthology gave rise, among some scholars, to a shortlived controversy about the Gahasattasai being quite different from the Gahakoso. The Gahasatrasat (Gathāsaptasati) first appeared in print in India in 1911. But the great Indologist, A. Weber, had edited and presented its complete German Edition as early as 1881.6
The literary and cultural value of the Gähäsattasal is unique. Each gähä in it is a muktaka, an independent lyrical verse complete in itself. Composed by folk-poets or after the pattern of folk-songs," these gähäs evince a lovable style, precise and homely, easy and natural. Most of these gahas depict the joys and sorrows of the love-life of the village people. The scenes, situations and experiences reflected in these gahas could occur in anybody's life. Hence they invariably strike a sympathetic chord among listeners or readers of any clime and time. The natural grace and sweetness of the Prakrit language have imparted to these gähäs a special charm.
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