Part 12 - Society in the Samudramanthana

Vatsarāja was the minister and poet in the court of Candel kings, mostly under Paramarddideva and Trailokyavarmdeva. Paramarddideva was flourished in 11th to 12th century A.D. He was succeeded by Trailokyavarmdeva who seems to have lasted till about the end of the first half of the 13^th A.D. In this period, foreign invaders had attacked India. Particularly Mughals invaded all parts of India. Therefore, the social life, cultural heritage and political authority were destroyed. The history says (Sisir Kumar Mitra, 1958, The early rulers of Khajuraho) that Paramarddideva or Parimal Candel, the grandson of Madanavarman and the son of Yaśovarman II, was the last Candel ruler of eminence. He occupied the throne early in life in 1166 A.D., at the age of five, when his father Yaśovarman II, died after a short reign. He was the leader of youth. He administered the entire dominion inherited by him, quite efficiently and peacefully. He was defeated by of Prithiviraja Chauhan in 1182-83A.D. and Jejabhukti or modern Bundelkhand came under Prithiviraja Chauhan. After his death, his son Trailokyavarman succeeded him in 1203A.D. He recovered Mahoba from Pajjun Rai, the “Thānāpati” of Prithiviraja and held the territory between Kāliñjar and Gayā, till he himself was defeated and killed by Binaeuddin, a Musalman and the Governer of Bāyanā.

The Candella rulers were very systematic and organized. The king was pivot of the administrative structure. They had realized the importance of the seven characteristics of the administration (saptāni aṅgāni), viz. the king (svāmī), the minister (amātya), the realm (janapada), the capital (durga), the treasury (koṣa), the army (bala)and the ally (mitra). Samudramanthana states that the duty of the king is to protect the people and to keep their promise. This was the open door to the heaven for the king. Revenue and treasury (koṣa) was related to the administration. The in charge of the treasury was a minister. Land was the chief revenue source of Candel’s. They levied taxes on land and crop, water, stone, profit of various things and cultivable waste.

Society under Paramardideva consisted of Brahmin, Kṣatriya, Vaiśyaand Śūdra. The Brāhmaṇa in the society was the highest and he lived in accordance with the dharma or sacred laws of the Hindus. The Candel Rājputs regarded themselves as the true representatives of the Kṣatriya caste; and they claimed to descend from the moon god (candra-vaṃśa). Brāhmaṇa ministers very often guided them. Brāhmaṇas were active in the professions of teaching, minister-ship, court-poet, priest and judge. Kṣatriyas were protecting the land and people. The Vaiśyas were the heads of the business and the Śūdras were agriculturists and serving the upper castes.

The religion of Candels was Hinduism. They were followers of Śiva and Viṣṇu. They were active in erecting temples of Śiva and Viṣṇu. In addition to Hindus, there were Jains, Buddhists in the society. The Nāndī verses of Samudramanthana clarify that the Candels were the Śaivas and believed in the Śaivism.

They were the worshippers of Śiva and Pārvatī in the form of Rudra, Rudrāṇī, Bhavānī etc.

“arcyatām samprati bhagavatī bhavānī”
  –(Samudramanthana, C. Dalal, p.157)”,

“bhagavatīm rudrāṇīmarcayiṣyati”
  –(SM., C. Dalal, p.154) and

“bhadram bhaviṣyati nirvahaṇam rudraprasādena”
  –(Samudramanthana, C. Dalal, p.189).

The Samudramanthana indicates that the Vaiṣṇavism was also prevalent in the form of the worshipping of the portrait of Kṛṣṇa,

“pūjyatām citralikhito madhusūdanaḥ”
  – (Samudramanthana, C. Dalal, p.158).

Economy was based on agriculture. Agriculture was the main occupation of people. The plough (hala) was used for the cultivation. The agricultural produces were measured by the “droṇa”, consisting of sixteen “prasthas”. It was common in the society. Additionally some people were also engaged in other professions such as art and crafts.The Candels were using coins for trade and exchange. Kīrtivarman was the first Candel king who minted coins in his name. The gold coins showed the figures of Lakṣmī and Pārvatī and the copper coins showed the figure of Hanumāna. The main traders were the Śreṣṭhis. Art and crafts like painting, erecting temples flourished in this period. The painting of loversand gods used to be presented as the gifts to the dearer ones.

In the Samudramanthana, Padmaka had presented the portrait of Kṛṣṇa to Lakṣmī for worshiping,

“gatayāpi viṣṇupadyā darśitā viṣṇorālikhitā lakṣmīḥ”
  –(Samudramanthana, C. Dalal, p.150).

The Candel kings had built famous temples like Khajurāho and erected many Inscriptions and Plates.

Travel constituted one of the major objectives of the drama. Citizens were using elephantand horse for travel. They used chariots for the travel by roadand boats for the travel by waterways.

For instance, the Samudramanthana described the elephant which was used for traveling,

“nūnameṣā kuñjaramāruhya lakṣmīḥ sameti”
  –(Samudramanthana, C. Dalal, p.155)”.

Various types of literature of Brāhmaṇical studies, like Sanskrit and Literature, Kāvya, Alaṃkāras, Chandasand Jyotiṣa constituted one of the objectives of drama. The great poet and minister Vatsarāja has served the kings like Paramardideva and Trailokyavarman for long. He has written six rare types of dramas. The Samudramanthana, which was also written by Vatsarāja, was staged by the order of the king Paramardideva, at the time of early morning.

Chimanlal D. Dalal (1918, Rūpakaṣaṭka, Introduction) states that:

“Paramardideva was liberal. That he was a man of letters and a poet too is testified by his composition of long praśasti to Śiva, which however, seems to have been composed by Vatsarāja, as it contains the verse “dāsye’haṃ” (verse. 1), found in the Karpūracarita”.