6. Impact of Urbanization: Literary Gleanings

It is interesting to observe that the description about village is rather incidental, not deliberate in Sanskrit literature. On the other hand, copious graphic descriptions of the forest and of the city are seen. If one follows the technical rules for the composition of a Mahākāvya, representations or descriptions of the cities, as those of oceans, mountains etc. are the essential ingredients^[1]. In Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa we can find a detailed description about the characteristics of an ideal city^[2]. Other thn Ayodhyā, there are two other major cities called Laṅkā and Kiṣkindhā also mentioned in Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa, but the aim of Vālmīki is to expose Ayodhyā under the category of an ideal city. For this reason he virtually constructed a role model for being effected for all the cities.

The chapter Nāgarakavṛtta-prakaraṇa of Vātsyāyana-kāmasūtra opens with a recommendation about where young persons of all varṇas, entering the life of a householder after completing education, should reside at the places like nagara, kharvaṭa, mahat or the place where good people inhabited^[3]; there may be different good places to live in, but the list gives priority to nagara, the city. Another important reference on details about an ideal city-life in a very detailed manner can be seen in the Caturbhāṇi plays^[4]. Some of the visible examples are as follows. In the play Ubhayābhisārikā, the character (viṭa) describes the beauty and characteristics of the city named Kusumapura^[5]. Here it is stated that, only the various physical components do not make a city; a city is what its inhabitants make of it. In short the entire beauty is concluded thus; “Due to the people’s lack of any fear, their constant taking part in festivals with happy faces, their graceful wearing of jewels, and their gorgeous decorations of the body with garlands, scents and fine clothes, their interest in various diverting sports and for their other equally well-known qualities, the earth with Pāṭaliputra as her tilaka appears, as it were, like heaven” (Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya, 2003: 123).

Another statement about the same city depicted in the play Dhūrta-Viṭa Samvāda thus: “It is in the fitness of things that the city of Kusumapura, unlike the other cities, enjoys in the world an unexceptionable reputation. Many are the high buildings in it. From its very dense population as well as its heaps of merchandise, people are astonished to mark its special opulence. But what are there to be astonished at? There are other wealthy cities are abundant in literature. But there are certain uncommon features too. It has been said: “Here donors are plentiful; arts are prized; woman’s company can be enjoyed through polished manners; the rich are neither conceited nor jealous [one another]; men are not without learning, they esteem highly one another’s merits and are grateful [to their benefactors]. [In short] even Gods can find happiness in this city after quitting heaven”^[6] (Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya, 2003: 123).

Kālidāsa in Mālavikāgnimitra stated about the standard or quality of livelihood in a single sentence, which emphatically pronounces upon the foolishness of getting gems tested in a village when the commercial city exists, the expression leaving one in no doubt about the unquestionable supremacy of service available in a city^[7].

There are many more examples about the glorification of city and city life which can be quoted from different texts like Śūdraka’s Mṛccakaṭika.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

nagarārṇavaśailartu candrārkodayavarṇanaiḥ | udyānasalilakrīḍāmadhupānaratotsavaiḥ || (kāvyādarśaḥ, 1. 16)

[2]:

Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa, 1. 5

[3]:

gṛhītavidyaḥ pratigrahajayakrayanirveśādhigatairarthairanvayāgatairubhayairvā gārhasthyamadhigamya nāgarakavṛttaṃ varteta | nagare kharvaṭe mahati vā sajjanāśraye sthanam ||  (kāmasūtra, 1. 4. 1-2)

[4]:

Caturbhāṇi is a collection of Four Bhāṇa plays namely; Padmaprābhṛtakam of Śūdraka, Dhūrttaviṭasamvādah of Īśvaradatta, Ubhayābhisārikā of Vararuci and Pādatāḍitakam of Śyāmilaka respectively

[5]:

aho! kusumapurarājamārgasya parā śrīḥ | iha hi-susiktasaṃbhṛṣṭoccāvacakusumopahārā anyagṛhāṇāṃ vāsagṛhāyante rathyāḥ | nānāvidhānāṃ paṇyasamudāyānāṃ krayavikrayavyāpṛtajanena śobhante'ntarāpaṇamukhāni | brahmodāharaṇasaṃgītadhanurjyāghoṣairanyo'nyamabhivyāharantīva prāsādapaṅktyaḥ | kvacidudghāṭitagavākṣeṣu prāsādamegheṣu rathyāvalokanakutūhalāḥ śobhante pramadāvidyutaḥ kailāsaparvatāntargatā ivāpsarasaḥ | api ca, pravarahayagajarathagatā itastataḥ paricalantaḥ śobhante mahāmātramukhyāḥ | taruṇajananayanamanoharaṇasamarthāścārulīlāḥ sthanavinyastabhūṣaṇāḥ suranagaravarayuvatiśriyamapahasantyaḥ paricaranti preṣyayuvatayaḥ | sarvajananayanabhramarairāpīyamānamukhakamalaśobhā rathyānuprahārthamiva pādapracāralīlāmanubhavanti gaṇikādārikāḥ | kiṃ bahunāsarvairvītabhayaiḥ prahṛṣṭavadanairnityotsavavyāpṛtaiḥ śrīmadratnavibhūṣaṇāṅgaracanaiḥ sraggandhavastrojjvalaiḥ | krīḍāsaukhyaparāyaṇairviracitaprakhyātanānāguṇairbhūmiḥ pāṭaliputracārutilakā svargāyate sāmpratam ||

[6]:

sthane khalu kusumapurasyānanyanagarasadṛśī nagaramityaviśeṣagrāhiṇī pṛthivyāṃ sthitā kīrtiḥ | bahūni khalvasya purasya gṛhāṇyucchrāyavanti | paṇyasamudāyājjanabāhulyāśca tāṃstāṃśca samṛddhiviśeṣān dṛṣṭvā vismayate janaḥ | tatra ko vismayaḥ? santi hyānyānyapi samṛddhimanti purāṇi | yetvasya niḥsādhāraṇā guṇāstān vakṣyāmaḥ | tathā hidātāraḥ sulabhāḥ kalā bahumatā dākṣiṇyabhogyāḥ striyo nonmattā dhanino na matsarayutā vidyāvinītā narāḥ | sarvaḥ śiṣṭakathaḥparasparaguṇagrāhī kṛtajño janaḥ śakyaṃ bho nagare surairapi divaṃ santyajya labdhuṃ sukham ||

[7]:

alamupālambhena | pattane vidyamāne'pi grāme ratnaparīkṣā || (mālavikāgnimitram, 1)