The Sanskrit drama : $b in its origin, development, theory and practiceKeith, Arthur Berriedale
History
The Sanskrit drama : $b in its origin, development, theory and practice
Keith, Arthur Berriedale
Sanskrit drama -- History and criticism
An example of a Jain allegory of comparatively early date is afforded
by the Moharājaparājaya, [529] the conquest of King Confusion,
describing the conversion of the Caulukya king of Gujarāt, Kumārapāla,
to Jainism, his prohibition of the killing of animals, and his
cessation from the practice of confiscating the property of persons
dying without heirs in the realm, as a result of the efforts of the
famous sage, Hemacandra. The author, Yaçaḥpāla, was the son of a
minister Dhanadeva and Rukmiṇī, of the Moḍha Bania caste, and he served
the Cakravartin Abhayadeva or Abhayapāla, who reigned after Kumārapāla
from A.D. 1229–32. The play is in five Acts, and all the personages
save the king, Hemacandra, and the Vidūṣaka, are personifications of
qualities, good and evil. The play was performed on the occasion of the
festival of the idol of Mahāvira at the Kumāravihāra, or temple erected
by Kumārapāla, at Thārāpadra, where the author seems to have been
governor or resident.
The play begins with an invocation in three stanzas of the Tīrthakaras,
Ṛṣabha, Pārçva, and Mahāvīra, followed by the usual dialogue of the
Sūtradhāra and the actress, his wife. Then are introduced Kumārapāla
with the Vidūṣaka, to whom enter Jñānadarpaṇa, the Mirror of Knowledge,
the spy who has been sent to report on the affairs of King Confusion.
He reports the successful siege by Confusion of the city of Man’s Mind,
whose king, Vivekacandra, the Moon of Discrimination, has been forced
to flee accompanied by his bride Calm, and his daughter Kṛpāsundarī, in
whom Compassion is incorporated, and of whose escape Kumārapāla learns
with joy. The spy further reports a meeting with Kīrtimañjarī, the
Garland of Fame, daughter of Good Conduct by his wife Polity, and
herself wife of Kumārapāla. She complains that the king has turned from
her and her brother, Pratāpa, Valour, owing to the efforts of a Jain
monk. She has, therefore, sought the aid of Confusion and he is
preparing to attack Kumārapāla. The spy, however, disappoints her by
answering her inquiry as to the victory in the struggle by insisting
that it will be Confusion that must fall. The king expresses his
determination to overthrow Confusion, and the announcement of the hour
of worship by bards terminates the Act.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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