Part 2: Specialties and Divisions of Gadyakāvya

In ancient time, verse (padya) was more popular than prose (gadya). Prose^[1] was accepted as a touchstone by the poets. Gadyakāvya^[2] (prose) is one of the main divisions of śravyakāvya. In Sanskrit literature, prose is found in the brāhmnical legends of the Yajurveda, the various brāhmaṇas and the great epic Mahābhārata etc. In that time, prose was very simple and conversational. The inscriptions are also accepted as important prose writings from literary point of view. The current of narrative Sanskrit prose is to be found in the fable literature such as the Pañcatantra, the Hitopadeśa and other Didactic fables and in Sanskrit prose-romances. In Sanskrit literature, four famous prose romances are viz., 1. Daśakumāracarita of Daṇḍin, 2.Vāsavadattā of Subandhu, 3.Harṣacarita of Bāṇabhaṭṭa and 4. Kādambarī of Bāṇabhaṭṭa.

In these four prominent prose romances, a reader can find the justification of the saying—

ojaḥ samāsabhūyastametad gadasya jīvitam^[3]

i.e., “Vigour of style and long compounds became the sign of prose romance.”

No other prose kāvya earlier than Subandhu’s Vāsavadattā is available now. The highly ornate prose style and highly developed form of prose is found in the works of Subandhu and Bāṇabhaṭṭa. In their prose, figures of speech like puns, similes, poetic fancies, metaphors and other poetical accompaniments are skillfully incorporated.

The specialty of the gadyakāvya^[4] is that there are no metrical feet anywhere in it. Only prose-compositions are found in it.

Therefore, Daṇḍin defines^[5] gadyakāvya as—

āpadaḥ pādasantāno gadyam,

And suggests^[6] that oja, a profusion of compounds, is the very essential thing in gadyakāvya. The long rolling compounds are accepted as a main feature of prose. Generally, gadyakāvya^[7] four variants viz., muktaka (i.e. there is no compound), vṛttagandhi (i.e., there contains the end of the metre in the passage), utkalikāprāya (i.e., that type of prose where is found the long compound). This type of prose i.e., utkalikāprāya can be seen in the writing of Bāṇabhaṭṭa. Lastly, cūrṇaka (i.e., that type of prose where is seen the short compounds). These four types of prose were used by the prose-writers in particular circumstances.

Again, Sanskrit rhetoricians have divided gadya into two main division viz., kathā and ākhyāyikā.

Kathā and Ākhyāyikā:

The Sanskrit rhetoricians have given different opinions on kathā and ākhyāyikā. Kātyāyana^[8] was the first author who gave the distinctive definition of ākhyāyikā.

The Agnipurāṇa^[9] points out the five divisions of gadyakāvya viz.,

1. ākhyāyikā,
2. kathā,
3. khaṇḍakathā,
4. parikathā
5. and kathānikā.

Bhāmaha^[10] defines kathā and ākhyāyikā more or less similarly . From Bhāmaha’s definition it may be assumed that, in ākhyāyikā there is a detailed acknowledgment of the poet’s family in prose, while a kathā praises family background in verse. The story of a ākhyāyikā is told by a hero who relates his own deeds, but in kathā, the story is told by others, not by the hero himself. The chapters of the ākhyāyikā are called ucchvāsas and contain stanzas in the vaktra and aparavaktra metres, which also suggest future events. But kathā is not divided into sections.

Famous rhetorician Daṇḍin^[11] comments that kathā and ākhyāyikā are the two names of the same group of prose-composition. Viśvanātha Kavirāja also gives the famous modern conception on kathā and ākhyāyikā; that, kathā^[12] contains a fine plot in prose with a verse in ārya, vaktra and aparavaktra metres here and there, and in the beginning there is a tribute in verse and a mention is made of the conduct of the wicked. An ākhyāyikā,^[13] on the other hand, is comparable to a kathā, but, it has in addition an account of the poet’s family and sometimes of the other poets as well. The chapter of a ākhyāyikā is known as ācchvāsa, in which the beginning stanzas are composed in ārya, vaktra and aparavaktra metres, which suggest future events also. Again, it is stated by the Amarasiṃha that kathā^[14] is imaginary and has very little historical value, while ākhyāyikā^[15] deals with matters of history.

To follow the various definitions of the scholars, characteristics of a kathā are abundantly found in Bāṇabhaṭṭa’s Kādambarī, while those of ākhyāyikā dominant in the Harṣacarita.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

gadyaṃ kavīnāṃ nikaṣaṃ vadanti, Kāvyālaṅkārasūtrvṛtti,1.3.21

[2]:

Sāhityadarpaṇa, VI.313

[3]:

Kāvyādarśa,1.80

[4]:

vṛttagandhojjitaṃ gadyam, Sāhityadarpaṇa, VI.330

[5]:

Kāvyādarśa,1.23

[6]:

ojaḥ samāsabhūyastametad gadasya jīvitam, Ibid.,1.80

[7]:

Sāhityadarpaṇa, VI.330-331

[8]:

‘lubākhyāyikabhyo bahulam’ a vārtika on Pāṇini. IV.3.87

[9]:

ākhyāyikā kathā khaṇḍakathā parikathā tathā | kathānikaiti manyante gadyakāvyaṃ ca pañchadhā || Agnipurāṇa, 337.12

[10]:

prakṛtānākulaśrāvyaṃ śabdārthapadavṛttinā |
gadyena yuktodattārthā socchvāsā”khyāyikā matā ||
vṛttamākhyāyate tasyāṃ nāyakena svaceṣṭitam|
vaktraṃ cāparavaktraṃ ca kāle bhāvyārthaśaṃsi ca ||
kaverabhiprāyakṛtairaṅkanaiḥ kaiścidaṅkitā |
kanyāharaṇasaṃgrāmavipralambhodayānvitā ||
na vaktrāparavaktrābhyāṃ yuktā nocchvāsavatyapi |
saṃsakṛtaṃ saṃsakṛtā ceṣṭā kathā’pabhraṃśabhāk tathā ||
anyaiḥ svacaritaṃ tasyāṃ nāyakena tu nocyate |
svaguṇāviskṛtiṃ kuryādabhijātaḥ kathaṃ janaḥ || Kāvyālaṅkāra, I.25-29

[11]:

gadyamākhyāyikā kathā |
iti tasya prabhedo dvau tayorākhyāyikā kila || Kāvyādarśa,I.23

[12]:

kathāyāṃ sarasaṃ vastu gadyaireva vinirmitam |
kvacidatra bhaveāryā kvacidvaktāpavaktrake ||
ādau padairnamaskāraḥ khalādervṛttakīrtanam || Sāhityadarpaṇa, VI.332-333

[13]:

ākhyāyikā kathāvatsātkavervaṃśānukīrtanam |
asyāmanyakavīnāṃ ca vṛttaṃ padyaṃ kvacitkvacit ||
kathāṃśānāṃ vyavaccheda āśvāsa iti badhyte |
āryavaktrāparavaktrāṇāṃ chandasā yena kenacit |
anyāpadeśenāśvāsamukhe bhāvyathasūcanam || Ibid.,VI.334-335

[14]:

pravandhakalpanā kathā, Amarakoṣa, I.6.6

[15]:

ākhyāyikopalabdhārthā, Ibid., I.6.5