Hanuman Nataka (critical study)
by Nurima Yeasmin | 2015 | 41,386 words
This page relates ‘Influence of other Poets upon Shri Damodara Mishra’ of the English study on the Hanuman-nataka written by Shri Damodara Mishra in the 11th century. The Hanumannataka is a Mahanataka—a fourteen-act Sanskrit drama dealing with the story of Rama and Hanumat (Hanuman) and presents the events in the lifes of Rama, Sita, Ravana and Hanuman (the son of Anjana and Vayu—the God of the Winds) based on the Ramayana story.
2. Influence of other Poets upon Śrī Dāmodara Miśra
Śrī Dāmodara Miśra, the author of the Hanumannāṭaka, is found to be influenced much by the writing skill of some noted poets who flourished prior to him.
As the story of the Hanumannāṭaka is taken from the Rāmāyaṇa it may be said that Śrī Dāmodara Miśra is influenced by Vālmīki. In some places he makes certain changes from the original, but in most places the author does not make any change.
In Sanskrit literature, it is observed that many later poets are influenced by Kālidāsa. Śrī Dāmodara Miśra is also influenced by him. In the Hanumannāṭaka we find only one verse from the Abhijñanaśakuntalam.[1] Another verse is quoted from the Raghuvaṃsa of Kālidāsa in the Hanumannāṭaka[2] As one verse of Uttararāmacarita (UC) is quoted in the Hanumannāṭaka, so it may be said that Śrī Dāmodara Miśra is also influenced by the great dramatist Bhavabhūti.[3] Also there are found two verses from Bhavabhūti’s Mahāvīracarita.[4]
Śrī Dāmodara Miśra is also influenced by the dramatist Jayadeva. There are ten verses found in the Hanumannāṭaka taken from Jayadeva’s Prasannarāghava. The verses ādvīpātparato’pyamī…[5] bho brahmanbhavata …[6], hāraḥ kaṇṭhe…[7], svairaṃ kairava …[8], mātastātaḥ kva yātaḥ …[9], rāme prāpte …[10], hā rāma hā ramaṇa… …[11], adyaivāsya vibhīṣaṇasya śaraṇāpannasya …[12], virama virama…[13] and paśyodeti viyogino …[14] of the Hanumannāṭaka are taken from the Prasannarāghava.
Śrī Dāmodara Miśra as noticed in the Hanumannāṭaka, is also influenced by Murāri, the author of the drama Anargharāghava (AR). There are found thirty-one verses from the Anargharāghava in the Hanumannāṭaka
There are two verses mentioned in the Hanumannāṭaka taken from the Bhojaprabandha of Vallalasena.[15]
A good number of former poets made impact upon the author of Hanumannāṭaka The dramatist could not resist his temptation to quote some stanzas from the earlier writers. As a result, there arises the scope for criticizing the Hanumannāṭaka as a mere compilation of so many slokas of earlier writers. Perhaps, this was done out of reverence to those great writers, and may it be further that Śrī Dāmodara Miśra found no more suitable lines than those of these writers, befitting the context.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
grīvābhaṅgābhirāmaṃ muhuranupatati spandane baddhdṛṣṭiḥ paścārdhena praviṣṭaḥ śarapatanabhayād bhūyasā pūrvakāyam/
darbhairdhāvalīḍaiḥ śramavivṛtamukhabhraṅśibhiḥ kīrṇavartmā paśyodvignaplutatvādviyati bahutaraṃ stokamurvyāṃ prayāti // Hanumannāṭaka,IV.3, Abhijñānaśakuntala, I.7
[2]:
ājanma brahmacārī pṛthulabhujaśilāstambhavibhrājamāna jyāghātaśreṇisanjñāntaritavasumatīcakrajaitrapraśastiḥ/
vakṣaḥpīṭhe ghanāstrabraṇakiṇakaṭhine saṅkṣṇubānaḥ pṛṣatkān prāpto rājanyagoṣṭhīvanagajamṛgayākautukī jāmadagnyaḥ// Hanumannāṭaka., I.31, ṚgvedaXI.64
[3]:
[4]:
(i) utpattirjamadagnitaḥ bhagavāndevaḥ pinākī guru vīryaṃ yattu na yadgirāmanupathaṃ vyaktaṃ hi tatkarmabhiḥ
tyāgaḥ saptasamudramudritamahīnirvyājadānāvadhiḥ styaṃ brahmataponidherbhagavataḥ kiṃ vā na lokottaram// Hanumannāṭaka.,I.53, Mahāvīra-carita,II.36
(ii) utkṛtyotkṛtya garbhānapi śakalayituṃ kṣatrasantānaroṣā duddāmasyaikaviṅśatyavadhi viśasataḥ sarvato rājavaṃśyān/
pitryam tadraktapūrṇaprativacanamaho mandamandāyamana-krodhāgneḥ sarvato me sa khalu na viditaḥ sarvabhūtaiḥ svabhāvaḥ// Hanumannāṭaka, I.36, Mahāvīra-carita II.48
[5]:
[6]:
bho brahmanbhavatā samaṃ na ghaṭate saṅgramavartāpi no sarve hīnabalā vayaṃ balavatāṃ yūyaṃ sthitā mūrdhani/
yasmādekaguṇaṃ śarāsanamidaṃ suvyaktamurvībhujā masmākaṃ bhavato yato navaguṇaṃ yajñopavītaṃ balam// Hanumannāṭaka, I.40, PR., IV.25
[7]:
[8]:
[9]:
[10]:
[11]:
hā rāma hā ramaṇa hā jagadekavīra hā nātha hā raghupate kimupekṣase mām/
itthaṃ videhatanayāṃ muhurālapantī mādāya rākṣasapatirnabhasā jagāma// Hanumannāṭaka, IV. 14, PR., V.45
[12]:
adyaivāsya vibhiṣaṇasya śaraṇāpannasya mūrdhnā nate rānṛṇyāya dadātyayaṃ raghupatirtaṅkādhipatyaśriyam/
etasyaiva bhujāviha pratibhuvau sugrīvarājyārpaṇe trailokyaprathimānasatyacaritāḥ sarve vayaṃ sākṣiṇah// Hanumannāṭaka, VII.13, PR., VII.12
[13]:
[14]:
paśyodeti viyogino danamapiḥ sṛṅgāravīkṣāmaṇih prauḍānaṅgabhujaṅgamastakamaniścaṇḍīścaḍāmaṇiḥ/
tārāmauktikahāranāyakamaṇiḥ kandarpasīmantinī kāñcāmadyamaṇiścakorapariṣaccintāmaṇiścandramāḥ// Hanumannāṭaka, XIV.63,PR., VII.59