Srngaramanjari Katha

Author(s): Bhojdev, Kalpalata K Munshi
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 79

ŚṚNGARAMANJARIKATHA
in particular, is found in the request of Bhoja's friends to him to narrate a tale:
56
तदतिनिबिडकौतुकाचान्तचेतसामस्माकं प्रीत्यै व्युत्पत्तये च कामप्यपूर्वी व्युत्पाद्य कथां कथयतु स्वामी (p. 1 )
From this we gather that the present work serves two of the above-mentioned ends of the poet, namely, priti and vyutpatti. The tales, obviously, give delight, and thus serve the first purpose, while the morals they convey expound some of the topics of Poetics and Erotics and thus serve the second purpose by advancing knowledge.
In this chapter we shall deal with the second purpose. It attempts to teach the maxims or rules of conduct a courtesan has to follow regarding the shaping of her own way of living by a thorough understanding of the different kinds of attachments and the ways of men, and thus making a success of harlotry as a pro
fession.
The first four stories explain the topic of raga or attachment. Raga is a technical term which has been explained in detail in the SP by Bhoja. It will be discussed later. The remaining nine tales expound the maxims a courtesan has to follow to make her life a
success.
In the books on Erotics and Poetics these subjects have been discussed. In the present work, however, though the topics remain mainly identical, they are presented in a literary garb which rescues them from the otherwise inevitable unsavouriness noticeable in some works of a similar character.
On analysing the stories we find, as said above, that the varieties of raga have been illustrated in the first four stories. The topic is introduced in a simple manner. Viṣamaśīlā tells Sṛngāramañjarī that the world is full of persons of different natures; every man has his own ideas and leanings; when he comes to a courtesan his mind is 'coloured' by some sort of attachment which varies in degree and kind from that of other persons; his attitude is also different and, therefore, to understand the attitude of a man it is essential for her to ascertain the exact shade of his 'attachment'. She can then deal with him to her advantage.
After this. cautionary admonition Vişamaśila enumerates the different kinds of rāgas and classifies them into four divisions of Nilirāga, Mañjiṣṭhäräga, Kusumbharaga and Haridrārāga. The others, representing as they do only the shades of these four, are also included and, therefore, these four alone have been described in detail in the stories.