Part 7 - Characters in the Līlāvatī-Vīthī

According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, Vīthī should have two characters.

The Līlāvatīvīthī has two noble characters present on the stage, i.e.

1. Vidūṣaka and
2. the king Vīrapāla.

The other characters are indicated by the technical way called “ākāśabhāṣita”. The other characters seem to remain off the stage. They are: Līlāvatī, Kalāvatī, Kandalikā, Kelimālā, Siddhimatī and then Naṭī and Sūtradhāra in the prologue.

Vidūṣaka –

Here Vidūṣaka is a friend of the king and is a Brāhmin and his name is Vaihāsika. He helps the king to marry Līlāvatī, through the help of Yoginī Siddhimatī who convinces the queen through her magical power. The queen saw the lord Śiva in the dream, who orders her to arrange the marriage of Līlāvatī to the king and in exchange she would be the crowned queen, when the king will be the emperor. The king Vīrapāla, is saddened by the love for Līlāvatī, he takes the Vidūṣaka to the Bālodyāna and becomes even more saddened, by seeing rains.

However, Vidūṣaka amuses the king through his words, for instance,

“bho vayasya bhavatvevam, kaḥ śuktibhañjanabhayena muktāvalimujjhati”
  –(Līlāvatīvīthī, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.12)

alam viṣādena, when time will come you will get Līlāvatī. Vidūṣaka is straightforward, but rigid in nature. He does not express what he thinks in his mind.

When Vidūṣaka and Siddhimatī were discussing something secret, Kandalikā accidentally reaches there; so Vidūṣaka stops conversation and says to her,

“etanno rahasyabhāṣaṇam bhartre’pi mā prakāśayeti, dṛḍhahṛdayaḥ khalu vaihāsikabrāhmaṇaḥ, tad yogīśvarīmevānuvartatām bhavatī”
  –(Līlāvatīvīthī, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.8).

However, Vidūṣaka makes embarrassment to the king by his humorous nature. For instance, when the love letter of Līlāvatī falls somewhereand the queen comes to know about it and the king has been made to suffer.

The Vidūṣaka approaches Bhadrasiddhi, the snake charmer and saves queen’s life and he feels it is an extraordinary act done by him,

“ko’tra saṃdehaḥ, yatrāsādhāraṇa prayāso vaihāsikabrāmhaṇaḥ”
  –(Līlāvatīvīthī, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.24).

The Vidūṣaka is a Brāmhaṇaand he is very proud of that,

“āḥ katham mahābrāmhaṇo dāsyāḥ pādayoḥ praṇāmam karoti”
  –(Līlāvatīvīthī, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.13).

His role is very important in the playand it helps much to develop the plot.

Vīrapāla –

Vīrapāla is the hero of the play and the king of Kuntala. He loves Līlāvatī, the daughter of the king of Karṇāṭaka, but the queen Kalāvatī is an obstruction. She tries to make their love unsuccessful. The king feels very sad about it in the rainy season.

When the king comes to know about the love letter of Lilāvatī, he becomes relaxed for the moment:

“hṛdaya svasti bhavate parītāpamapākuru”
  –(verse.29),

However, in the next moment, he becomes worried because of the queen’s anger:

“kintu kandalikā devyāḥ kopam dviguṇayiṣyati”
  –(verse.29).

The king becomes worried after getting the news that queen is bitten by the snake and she is unconscious.

Since the king loves the queen, he gave a word that he does not have any affair with any other woman:

“śape’ham pādapaṅkeruhābhyām yadi bhavati madīyam jātu ceto’nyadāstham”
  –(verse.46).

However, when the queen leaves, he feels the absence of Līlāvatī. The king Vīrapāla becomes extremely angry getting the news of abduction of Līlāvatī, by Tāmrākṣa. By defeating him, he gets back Līlāvatī.

Kalāvatī –

Kalāvatī is the crowned queen of Vīrapāla. She is always worried and jealous. She creates misunderstanding between the king and Līlāvatī, with the fear of loss of love. She is grateful to Bhadrasiddhi, the snake charmer, who saves her life. However, since Kalāvatī is the first queen of the king, she is the well-wisher of the king as well.When she comes to know from lord Śiva that one day the king will be the emperor, she becomes extremely happy and allows Līlāvatī to marry the king.

Līlāvatī–

Līlāvatī is the heroine of the play and the daughter of the king of Karnataka. She was kept by her father in the custody of Kalāvatī due to the fear of abduction by enemies.

She is very beautifuland after seeing her, the king Vīrapāla falls in love with her:

“api khalu kuśalam me netrayorāyatānāmapi ………..daśanavasanabimbe cāruṇānāmamūnām”
  –(verse.22).

Līlāvatī is also in love with the king and extremely sad, as she could not marry the king.

In deep distress, she quits eating, bathing and sleeping, remembering the king,

“na snāne na ca bhojane na śayane dhatte manāgādaram nādatte ………vīrapālavirahāllīlāvatī dūyate”
  –(verse.11).

Līlāvatī finally sends a love letter to the king through the friend Kelimālā to save her, since he is the protector of the earth. At the end, she gets to marry the king, feels happy and proud. It should be noted here that since she is belonging to another, she is said to be “parakīyā” type of heroine.

Kandalikā –

Kandalikā is the close and dear friend of the queen Kalāvatī. She is introduced in the drama, when Vidūṣaka drops the love letter of Līlāvatī and she gets it. Kandalikā informs the love affair of the king to the queen and the queen becomes angry with the king.

Since Vidūṣaka is the friend of the king and Kandalikā is the friend of the queen, they both joke about the love affair with each other,

“vaihāsika! tvām kamapi ślokamadhyāpayiṣyāmi,
tasmānmama pādayoḥ praṇāmam kuru.”
  –(Līlāvatīvīthī, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.13).

Kelimālā –

Kelimālā is a dear friend of Līlāvatī and she helps her in every way. She sends love letter of Līlāvtī to the king through Vidūṣaka. She is introduced in the drama first in the viṣkmbhaka.

Bhadrasiddhi –

Bhadrasiddhi is a snake charmer. He saves the life of the queen, when she is bitten by the snake. Actually, Bhadrasiddhi is only Vidūṣaka Vaihāsika, who changed his costume and entered into the palace in the form of a snake charmer. The king however, could not recognize him because of the different costume.

Siddhimatī –

Siddhimatī is a female ascetic (Yoginī). Her magical power helps the king to get Līlāvatī. Vidūṣaka introduces Siddhimatī to the king for his help. Through her magical power, she sends illusory snake to bite the queen. Again, the queen dreams of the king becoming the emperor through her magical power and the queen allows the marriage of the king and Līlāvatī.