The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice c15.s5: 5. The Veṇīsaṃhāra

The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice c15.s5

Language: English

5. The Veṇīsaṃhāra

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Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa has chosen as his topic³ one episode from the great epic and has endeavoured to make it capable of dramatic representation. One of the worst of the insults heaped on Draupadī in the gambling scene of the epic is the dragging of her by the hair before the assembly by Duḥçāsana, one of the Kauravas. Draupadī vows never to braid her hair again until the insult is avenged, as it ultimately is.

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³ Ed. J. Grill, Leipzig, 1871; Bombay, 1905; trs. S. M. Tagore, Calcutta, 1880. Traces of different recensions exist.

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Act I shows Bhīma in conversation with Sahadeva as they await the result of Kṛṣṇa’s visit as an envoy to seek to settle the fued between Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas; Bhīma shows his insolent confidence in his power and his bitter anger, by declaring that he will break with Yudhiṣṭhira if he makes peace before the insult to Draupadī has been avenged. Sahadeva in vain seeks to appease him, and Draupadī adds to his bitterness by relating a fresh insult in a careless allusion by Duryodhana’s queen. Kṛṣṇa returns, nothing effected; indeed he has had to use his magic arms to escape detention in the enemies’ camp. War is inevitable, but Draupadī, more human now, bids her husbands take care of their lives against the enemy. Act II opens with an ominous dream of Bhānumatī, Duryodhana’s queen: an ichneumon (nakula) has slain a hundred serpents; it is a presage that the Pāṇḍavas—of whom Nakula is one—will slay the hundred Kauravas. The king, overhearing but not understanding, thinks he is betrayed; learning the truth, at first he inclines to fear, but shakes off the temporary depression. The queen offers oblation to the sun to remove the evil omen; the king appears to comfort her: a storm arises, and they seek security in a pavilion, where they indulge in passages of love. Then appears the mother of Jayadratha of Sindhu, slayer of Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, who fears the revenge of the Pāṇḍavas; Duryodhana makes light of her fears; he despises the resentment of the Pāṇḍavas, gloating over the remembrance of the insults heaped on Draupadī. Finally he mounts his chariot for the battle. Act III presents an episode of horror but also of power: a Rākṣasī and her husband feed on the blood and flesh of the dead on the battlefield; they have been summoned thither, for Ghaṭotkaca, son of Hiḍimbā by Bhīma, is dead, and his demon mother has bidden them attend Bhīma in his revenge on the Kuru host. They see the first-fruits in Droṇa’s death at the hands of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, when he lets fall his arms, deceived by the lie of his son’s death. They retire before Aṣvatthāman who advances, but is filled with grief when he learns of the treacherous device which cost his father’s life. His uncle Kṛpa consoles him, and bids him ask Duryodhana for the command in the battle. But in the meantime Karṇa has poisoned Duryodhana’s mind; Droṇa had fought, only to win the imperial authority for his son, and has sacrificed his life in disappointment at the failure of his plans. Kṛpa and Aṣvatthāman come up; Duryodhana condoles, Karṇa sneers, Aṣvatthāman asks for the command, but is refused it, as Karṇa has been promised it. Aṣvatthāman quarrels with Karṇa, and a duel is barely prevented; Aṣvatthāman accuses Duryodhana of partiality, and will fight no more. Their disputes are interrupted by Bhīma’s boast that he will now slay Duḥṣāsana; Karṇa at Aṣvatthāman’s instigation makes ready to rescue him, Duryodhana follows suit, Aṣvatthāman would go also, but is stayed by a voice from heaven and can only bid Kṛpa lend his aid.

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In Act IV Duryodhana is brought in wounded; recovering, he learns of Duḥṣāsana’s death and a Kuru disaster; a messenger from Karṇa tells in a long Prākṛit speech of the death of Karṇa’s son, and gives an appeal for aid written in Karṇa’s blood. Duryodhana makes ready for battle, but is interrupted by the arrival of his parents, Dhṛtarāṣtra and Gāndhārī with Sañjaya, whose advent begins Act V. The aged couple and Sañjaya urge in vain Duryodhana to peace; he refuses, and again, hearing of Karṇa’s death, unaided, is ready to part for the field, when Arjuna and Bhīma appear; Bhīma insists on their saluting with insults their uncle; Duryodhana reproves them, but Arjuna insists that it is just retribution for the acquiescence of the aged king in Draupadī’s ill-treatment. Duryodhana defies Bhīma, who would fight, but Arjuna forbids, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s summons takes them away. Aṣvatthāman arrives, and seeks reconciliation with Duryodhana, who receives him coldly; he withdraws, followed by Sañjaya, bidden by Dhṛtarāṣtra to appease him.

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Act VI tells us from an announcement to Yudhiṣṭhira and Draupadī of Duryodhana’s death at Bhīma’s hands. But a Cārvāka comes in who tells a very different story; Bhīma and Arjuna are dead. Yudhiṣṭhira and Draupadī resolve on death, and the Cārvāka, who is really a Rākṣasa, departs in glee. When, however, they are about to die, a noise is heard; Yudhiṣṭhira, deeming it Duryodhana, rushes to arms, while Draupadī runs away, and is caught by her hair by Bhīma, whom Yudhiṣṭhira seizes. The ludicrous error is discovered, and Draupadī binds up at last her locks. Arjuna and Vāsudeva arrive, the Cārvāka has been slain by Nakula, and all is well.

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The play is on the whole undramatic, for the action is choked by narrative, and the vast abundance of detail served up in this form confuses and destroys interest. Yet the characterization is good; Duryodhana, as in the later Indian tradition, is unlovable; he is proud and arrogant, self-confident, vain, and selfish; he laughs at Bhānumatī’s fears and has no sympathy for the maternal anxiety of Jayadratha’s mother. He is suspicious of Droṇa and Açvatthāman, and thus deprives himself of their effective aid; Karṇa, whose jealous advice he accepts, he leaves to perish. Bhīma again is a bloodthirsty and boastful bully; Arjuna is equally valiant, but he is less an undisciplined savage, while Kṛṣṇa intervenes with wise moderation. Yudhiṣṭhira is, as ever, grave and more concerned with the interest of his subjects than his personal feelings. Horror and pathos are not lacking, but the love interest is certainly not effective, and it may be that it was forced on the author by tradition rather than any thought of producing a real interest of itself. Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa’s slavish fidelity to rule brought him censure even from Indian critics.

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The style of the play is clear and not lacking either in force or dignity; dismayed by the dream of Bhānumatī Duryodhana comforts himself.¹ Aṅgiras says:

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¹ ii. 41.

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*grahaṇāṃ caritaṃ svapno nimittāny upayācitam*
*phalanti kākatālīyaṃ tebhyaḥ prajñā na bibhyati.*

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‘The movements of the planets, dreams, omens, oblations, bear fruit by accident; therefore wise men fear them not.’ Graceful is his address to Bhānumatī if out of place:²

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² ii. 47.

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*kuru ghanoru padāni çanaiḥ çanair : api vimuñca gatiṃ parivepinīm*
*patasi bāhulatopanibandhanam : mama nipīdaya gāḍham uraḥsthalam.*

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‘O firm-limbed one, make slow thy steps; stay thy trembling gait; thou dost fall into the shelter of my arms; clasp me closely in thine embrace.’ But any display of tenderness is abnormal in Duryodhana; he rebukes his aged mother when she urges him to save his life by coming to terms with the enemy:³

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³ v. 120.

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*mātaḥ kim apy asadṛçaṃ vikṛtaṃ vacas te : sukṣatriyā kva bhavati kva ca dīnataiṣā*
*nirvatsale sutaçatasya vipattim etām : tvaṃ nānucintayasi rakṣasi mām ayogyam.*

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‘O mother, strange and unseemly is thy bidding. Ill accord thy noble birth and this faintness of spirit. Shame on thee, without natural affection, in that thou dost forget the cruel fate of thy hundred sons in seeking to save my life.’ (In vain is Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s manly appeal to him :¹

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¹ v. 122.

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dāyādā na yayor balena gaṇitās tau Droṇabhīṣmau hatau
Karṇasyātmajam agrataḥ camayato bhītaṃ jagat Phālgunāt
vatsānāṃ nidhanena me tvayi ripuḥ çeṣapratijño 'dhunā
krodhaṃ vairiṣu muñca vatsa pitarāv andhāv imau pālaya.

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‘Slain are Droṇa and Bhīṣma whose peers none were deemed in might; all shrank in terror before Arjuna as he slew Karṇa’s son before his eyes; my dear ones slain, the foe’s whole aim is against thee now; lay aside thine anger with thy foes, and guard these thy blind parents.’ (Admirably expressed is Bhīma’s wild fury when he disdains Yudhiṣṭhira’s effort to secure peace :²

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² i. 15.

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mathnāmi Kauravaçataṃ samare na kopād : Duḥçāsanasya
rudhiraṃ na pibāmy urastaḥ
saṃcūrṇayāmi gadayā na Suyodhanoru : sandhiṃ karotu
bhavatāṃ nṛpatiḥ paṇena.

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‘Shall I not in anger crush the hundred Kauravas in battle; shall I not drink the blood from Duḥçāsana’s breast; shall I not break with my club the thighs of Duryodhana, although your master buy peace at a price?’ (Admirable also is his description of the sacrifice of battle :³

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³ i. 25.

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catvāro vayam ṛtvijaḥ sa bhagavān karmopadeṣṭā hariḥ
saṃgrāmādhvaradīkṣito narapatiḥ patnī gṛhītavratā
Kauravyāḥ paçavaḥ priyāparibhavakleçopaçāntiḥ phalam
rājanyopanimantraṇāya rasati sphītaṃ yaçodundubhiḥ.

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‘We are the four priests, and the blessed Hari himself directs the rite; the king has consecrated himself for the sacrament of battle, the queen has taken on herself the vow; the Kauravyas are the victims, the end to be achieved the extinction of our loved one’s bitterness of shame at the insult done her; loudly the drum of fame summons the warrior to the fray.’ Equally effective is his summing up of his feat :⁴

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⁴ vi. 197.

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bhūmau kṣiptaṃ çarīraṃ nihitam idam asṛk candanam
Bhīmagātre

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*lakṣmīr ārye niṣaṇṇā caturudadhipayaḥsīmayā sārdham urvyā* *bhṛtyā mitrāṇi yodhāḥ Kurukulam akhilaṃ dagdham etadraṇāgnau* *nāmaikaṃ yad bravīṣi kṣitipa tad adhunā Dhārtarāṣṭrasya ceṣam.*

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‘His body is cast upon the ground; his blood is smeared as sandal paste on Bhīma’s limbs; the goddess of fortune, with the earth bounded by the waters of the four oceans, rests on my noble brother’s lap; servants, friends, warriors, the whole house of the Kurus has been burned in this fire of battle; the name alone, O king, is left of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s race.’ Effective is the appeal which Dhṛtarāṣṭra bids the faithful Sañjaya address to the righteously indignant Aṣvatthāman:¹

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¹ v. 157.

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*smarati na bhavān pītaṃ stanyaṃ cirāya sahāmunā* *mama ca malinaṃ kṣaumam bālye tvadaṅgavivartanaiḥ* *anujanidhanasphītāc chokād atipraṇayāc ca tad—* *vikṛtavacane māsmin krodhaç ciraṃ kriyatāṃ tvayā.*

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‘Forget not the milk which thou didst so long drink from the same breast with him; forget not my robe that thy childish feet so often soiled in play; his grief is bitter for the death of the younger brother whom he loved so dearly; be not, therefore, wroth for the unjust words he hath spoken to thee.’

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On the other hand, we find in Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa many of the defects of Bhavabhūti, in special the fondness for long compounds both in Prākṛt and in Sanskrit prose² and the same straining after effect which gives such a description of the battle as that vouchsafed to Draupadī by Bhīma, when she warns him nor to be overrash in battle:³

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² E. g. vi, p. 87 (Sanskrit); v, p. 59 (Prākṛt).

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³ i. 27.

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*anyonyāsphālabhinnadviparudhiravasāmāṃsamastiṣkapaṅke* *magnānāṃ syandanānām upari kṛtapadanyāsavikrāntapattau* *sphītāsṛkpānagoṣṭhīrasadaçivaçivātūryanṛtyatkabandhe* *saṃgrāmaikārṇavāntaḥpayasi vicarituṃ paṇḍitāḥ Pāṇḍuputrāḥ.*

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‘The sons of Pāṇḍu are well skilled to disport in the waters of the ocean of the battle, wherein dance headless corpses to the music of the unholy jackals, that yell in joy as they drink the thick blood of the dead, and the footmen in their valour leap over the chariots that are sunk in the mud of the blood, fat, flesh, and brains of the elephants shattered in mutual onslaught.’ The adaptation of sound to sense here is doubtless admirable, and the picture drawn is vivid in a painful degree, but the style is too laboured to be attractive to modern taste.

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None the less Nārāyaṇa has the merit, shared by Viçākha-datta, of fire and energy; much of the fierce dialogue is brutal and violent, but it lives with a reality and warmth which is lacking in the tedious contests in boasting, which burden all the descriptions in the Rāma dramas of the meeting of Rāma and Paraçurāma. Duryodhana is not behind Bhīma himself in insolence, though perhaps more subtle than that of the violent son of the Wind-god :¹

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¹ v. 146.

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*kṛṣṭā keçeṣu bhāryā tava tava ca paços tasya rājñas tayor vā*
*pratyakṣaṃ bhūpatīnām mama bhuvanapater ājñayā dyūtadāsī*
*tasmin vairānubandhe vada kim apakṛtaṃ tair hatā ye narendrā*
*bāhvor vīryātibhāradraviṇagurumadam māṃ ajitvaiva darpaḥ.*

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‘Thy wife—whether thine, O beast, or that king’s or the twins’—was seized by the hair, in the presence of all the princes, by my command as lord of the earth, she won as my slave at the dice. With this abiding cause of hatred between us, say what wrong was wrought by the kings whom thou hast slain? When thou hast not conquered me, why vainly dost thou boast of the cumbrous strength of thy huge arms?’

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Violent as is the language, there is some excuse for it in the extraordinarily heartless character of Bhīma’s address to the ill-fated Dhṛtarāṣṭra, which almost justifies the recalling of the disgraceful slight put on Draupadī:²

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² v. 144.

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*nihatāçeṣakauravyaḥ kṣībo Duḥçāsanāsṛjā*
*bhaṅktā Duryodhanasyorvor Bhīmo ’yaṃ çirasā nataḥ.*

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‘Bhīma bows low his head before thy feet, Bhīma who has slain all the scions of Kuru, who is drunk with the blood of Duḥçāsana, and who shall shatter the thighs of Duryodhana.’ Effectively contrasted is the stern, but courteous rebuke addressed by Yudhiṣṭhira to Kṛṣṇa’s elder brother:³

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³ vi. 178.

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*jñātiprītir manasi na kṛtā kṣatriyāṇāṃ na dharmo*
*rūḍhaṃ sakhyam tad api gaṇitaṃ nānujasyārjunena*
*tulyaḥ kāmam bhavatu bhavataḥ çiṣyayoḥ snehabandhaḥ*
*ko’yaṃ panthā yad asi vimukho mandabhāgye mayi tvam?*

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‘Thou hast forgotten the love due to kindred blood, thou hast violated the law of the warrior, thou hast ignored the deep friendship between thy younger brother and Arjuna. Granted that thy love for both thy pupils may be equal, nevertheless what is the cause that thou dost show hostility to me in my misfortune?’

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These and many other passages are cited by the writers on poetics who find in the *Veṇīsaṃhāra* an inexhaustible mine of illustration of the theory which doubtless deeply affected the author in his composition. They do not, however, eulogize him blindly; the love scene with Bhānumatī is definitely treated as out of place.¹

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¹ SD. 408. Lévi, however, is in error (TI. i. 35, 224) in suggesting that SD. 406 censures as inappropriate Duryodhana and Karṇa’s dialogue in Act III.

Cites (3)

Veṇīsaṃhāra — Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa, Sanskrit
Sāhityadarpaṇa — Viśvanātha Kavirāja, Sanskrit
Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit