Part 15 - Conclusion

Rāmapāṇivāda, the author of the Lilāvatī (Līlāvatīvīthī) is renowned poet of eighteenth century A.D. and he was serving under various kings in the south Malabar. He has composed various types of Sanskrit works, like Dramas, Kāvyas and Campu.

The plot of the Līlāvatīvīthī is the imagination of the poetand describes the story of the king Vīrapāla and the queen Līlāvatī. The plot of the Līlāvatīvīthī is excellent and it suits Vīthī type of drama.

The Līlāvatīvīthī has followed almost all the rules prescribed by Bharata and Dhanañjaya. However, it must be noted that all the thirteen types of ancillaries of vīthī are not applied in the Līlāvatīvīthī, but, only few of them like continuance (avalagita), abrupt dialogue (udghātyaka), enigma (nālikā) are employed. Further, there is no use of gentle dance or lāsya in the drama. Perhaps, Rāmapāṇivāda did not feel the necessity of lāsya in the Vīthī type of drama, which is actually conducted in the way of dialogue, by two characters on the stage.

Bharata prescribes all the three types of characters such as noble, middle and low in such a drama. However, Dhanañjaya thinks that all the three types of characters are not necessary, as any character can be reflected in this type of drama. The Līlāvatī subscribes to neither of the views fullyand uses only two noble characters in it. As regards the number of characters in the Vīthī, it must be noted that the author has introduced only two noble characters, i.e. the Vidūṣaka and the King on the stage and for other characters “ākāśabhāṣita”is used and they are represented from off the stage.

As to the styles (vṛtti), Bharata prescribes verbal style (bhāraṭīvṛtti) for Vīthī whereas Dhananjaya prescribes gay style (kaiśikīvṛtti) for this. However, the Līlāvatī combines both the views and employs both the styles, i.e. verbal style (bhāraṭīvṛtti) and gay styles (kaiśikīvṛtti).

Now as regards sentiment. According to Dhanañjaya, Vīthī type of drama should be dominated primarily by the erotic (śṛṅgāra) sentiment. However, Bharata does not prescribe the erotic (śṛṅgāra) sentiment to be the predominant sentiment in Vīthī. Accordingly, Rāmapāṇivāda’s Līlāvatīvīthī, consists of both erotic (śṛṅgāra) and laughter (hāsya) as the main sentiments. However, laughter (hāsya) sentiment is very sparsely used and other sentiments like heroic (vīra), terrible (bhayānaka) and marvellous (adbhuta) are used only as subordinate sentiments.

It should be noted that as per the rules of Dhanañjaya, the Līlāvatīvīthī has applied both junctures (sandhi), i.e. opening (mukha) and concluding (nirvahaṇa), with the combination of actions and elements like beginning, attainment of the resultand seed and denouement.

It should be noted that the Līlāvatīvīthī, which is a monologue type of drama, has employed technical aspects, such as benedictory (nāndī), prologue (prastāvanā), conversation with imaginary person (ākāśabhāṣita) and other mentioned in the drama.

Rāmapāṇivāda, however, does not give much information about the society of that period in the drama. It was almost the beginning of modern era, when he flourished. He served as the poet under various kings like Mārtaṇḍavarman and other mentioned in the drama. In this period, Kerala was ruled well by the kings and therefore, the people were living peacefully. Though the outsiders like Dutch, Muslims and Parsis had already entered into the state, the society was not disturbed because of the powerful ruling of the kings like Mārtaṇḍavarman.

Again, it should be noted that Kerala was very well advanced and so women were free to study and work like men. Even women were engaged in practicing blackmagic. The Līlāvatīvīthī indicates the incidents such as the abduction of Līlāvatī and the acceptance of the second marriage of the king by the queen Kalāvatī.

Therefore, overall, the Līlāvatīvīthī is an excellent type of Vīthī by Rāmapāṇivāda.

[Table of Comparison]