Part 1: Śri Dāmodara Miśra: Parentage and Date

As is the case with most of the Sanskrit writers, there is very little information regarding the life of the author of the Hanumannāṭaka. The complete biographical or autobiographical history of Śri Dāmodara Miśra is not available. However, some writers like Dr. Wilson have considered him as mentioned in the Bhojadevasaṃgraha, that he is same with Maithila Dāmodara, the author of Vāṇībhūṣaṇa. Lakṣminātha, the great composer of Prākṛta Piṅgala commentary has also treated him as belonging to the 16^th century. Dr Wilson acknowledged Śri Dāmodara Miśra as a contemporary of Bhoja or of the 11^th century. This opinion is supported by the Bhojaprabandha and Hanumannāṭaka’s commentator Mohandāsa also.^[1]

The historical value of this assumption is strengthened by the fact that in the said composition there are found some old parts also. Some changes in the text have been noticed throughout the centuries. It is observed that quotes from the books of Ānandavardhana, Rājaśekhara and Dhanañjaya^[2] are there in the Hanumannāṭaka.There are found some verses in the Hanumannāṭaka of Śri Dāmodara Miśra from the Dhvanyāloka, the Bālarāmāyaṇa and Daśakumāracarita. As the main old part is related with Śri Hanumat and Vālmīki, so it is impossible to find out the proper time. More than thirty verses of the Anargharāghava of Jayadeva are taken from the Hanumannāṭaka From this point of view it may be said that the date of Śri Dāmodara Miśra is prior to the 13^th century or prior to Jayadeva. However, it is difficult to say about the portion of this composition taken from main old one and how much is taken from other books. Because in this composition in some places there are found some verses taken from the Rāmāyaṇa, Raghuvaṃśa, Uttararāmacarita, Mahāvīracarita, Anargharāghava, Udāttarāghava, Bālarāmāyaṇa etc.^[3]

Having seen the writing skill and style of this Hanumannāṭaka, Dr. Susil Kumar De and Dr. Keith held that the main composition of this Hanumannāṭaka is prior to the 9^th century, but its present edition came into surface near about 11^th century and there were made some changes till the 14^th century.

The Hanumannāṭaka is one of the oldest plays based on the Rāma story. There is found no single opinion regarding its date of composition. Having considered the absence of the dramatic elements like, Prastāvanā, Praveśaka, Viṣkambhaka and Yavanikā it may be said that it is a composition of a very old period when the dramatic elements suggested by dramaturgy did not come to application strictly.^[4]

The play has occupied an important and respectful place among the writers. There may be two reasons of its having such a status-(i) It is an ārṣa (archaic) type of writing, (ii) It bears dominance of Rasas. There are found almost all the rasas delineated in the Hanumannāṭaka

It is an accepted fact that the Hanumannāṭaka is the greatest achievement of Śri Hanumat. Traditionally it is known as Mahānaṭaka also. But the origin manuscript of this play is not available now. Tradition says that Hanumannāṭaka was written by of Śri Hanumat on a piece of stone; but when Vālmīki saw this stone-written play and thought that if this play could come to the readers then the charm and popularity of the Rāmāyaṇa would be decreased. So he requested Hanumat to throw it into the sea. In the reign of Bhoja of Dhārā, this spoilt, stone written work was discovered. Having been charmed at the gracefulness of the play, the king ordered Śri Dāmodara Miśra, his court-poet to remake it.^[5] This edition was known as the western edition. M. Krishnamāchariar also records that Vālmīki became alarmed at the work of Hanumat whom he treated as a rival. The Bhojacarita records an anecdote of some verses attributed to Hanumat, being discovered by a merchant, engraved on rocks on the sea-shore and Bhoja deciphered on the spot a verse which is found in the present drama. In the form in which, it is available now, it is a voluminous work, more a poem than a play and often there are found verses of other authors freely imported into it. The sentiments are lofty and ideas are fanciful.^[6] But in the 2^nd edition of Madhusudana Miśra, the name of the king was written as Vikrama or Vikramāditya in place of Bhoja, who discovered the stone written script of the drama.^[7] This edition is known as Mahānaṭaka. This edition of the drama consists of nine Acts and 791 verses. The whole story is based on the early part of the Rāmāyaṇa. A poet Hanumat has written Khandapraśaṣṭi as series of stotras on Viṣṇu’s incarnation on which there are commentaries by Gangādāsa,, Raghunātha, Jayasomagni and Guṇavijayagni.

Śāradātanaya who wrote Bhāvaprakāśa in 12^th–13^th century A.D. instances Mahānāṭaka as a drama of Saṃgraha type.^[8] Therefore it can be said that the composition of the play got completed during the reign of Bhoja i.e. 11^th century.

The two editions are different from each other. Śri Dāmodara Miśra’s play begins with four benedictory verses eulogizing Rāma. The drama starts without a prelude and with no mention of the Sūtradhāra. It is a narrative type of drama. According to the rhetorician, there must be a Bharatavākya; but it is also not available at the end of the play. The four types of dramatic actions (Āṅgika, Vācika, Āhārya and Sātvika) are also not maintained in this drama.

Śri Dāmodara Miśra belongs to a Brahmin family from the Dīrghaghoṣa dynasty. He is from Mithilā.

Apart from the Hanumannāṭaka (Hanumannāṭaka), Śri Dāmodara Miśra is said to have composed the ‘Vāṇībhūṣaṇa’. This is a book on prosody. In this composition there are found the discussion on metre. However, the book is not available now, though it is referred to by prosodists like Dhiresvarācārya.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Hanumannāṭaka, bhūmikā, p.12

[2]:

ibid.

[3]:

Hanumannāṭaka, p.13, 14

[4]:

Ibid., Preface, p. 25

[5]:

racitamanilaputreṇātha vālmīkinābdhau nihitamamṛtabuddhyā prāṅ mahānāṭakaṃ yat/
sumatinṛpatibhojenoddhṛtaṃ yatkrameṇa grathitamavatu viśvaṃ miśradāmodareṇa// Hanumannāṭaka,XIV, 96

[6]:

History of Classical Sanskrit Literature, p.640

[7]:

eṣa śrīlahanumatā viracite śrīmanmahānāṭake vīraśrīyutarāmacandracarite pratyuddhṛte vikramaiḥ/
miśraśrīmadhusūdanena kavinā sandarbhya sajjīkṛte svargārohaṇanāmako’tra navamo’ṅkaḥ pūrṇa evaitysau//—Mahānāṭaka, IX, 149

[8]:

sarvavṛttivinispannang sarvalakshaṇasamyutam/
samagraṅg tatpratinidhiḥ mahānaṭakamuchyate//—Hanumannāṭaka Introduction, p. 6