Mudrarakshasa (literary study)
by Antara Chakravarty | 2015 | 58,556 words
This page relates ‘Use of Upajati metre’ of the English study on the Mudrarakshasa: an ancient Sanskrit dramatic play (Nataka) authored by Vishakhadatta which deals with the life of king Chandragupta. This study investigates the Mudra Rakshasa from a literary perspective, such as metrics, themes, rhetorics and other poetical elements. Chandragupta ruled the Mauryan Empire during the 4th century BCE, hence this text can also be studied as a historical textbook of ancient India.
2.4. Use of Upajāti metre
[Full title: The Chandas employed in Mudrārākṣasa (4). Upajāti]
In the Chandomañjarī Gaṅgādāsa has defined Upajāti as:—
anantarodīritalakṣmabhājau pādau yadīyāvupajātayastāḥ/
itthaṃ kilānyāsvapi miśritāsu vadantijātiṣvidameva nāma//[1]
From the above definition it can be known that the Upajāti meter is the combination of two different meters namely Indravajrā and Upendravajrā, i.e., If in a verse, one pāda is constructed with Indravajrā meter and another pāda is consisted Upendravajrā then the meter Upajāti occurs. Besides Indravajrā and Upendravajrā, Upajāti meter also can be constructed with some other meters as well. There are 11 syllables in a foot of the Upajāti meter. Mixture of two different meters can lead to change of the rhythm of a verse leading again in the diversion in attention of the audience. Perhaps for this reason, our dramatist has used this verse only twice, i.e., in act II.2 and IV.13. According to Kṣemendra’s observation for Upajāti, this meter required for in describing the beauty of the heroine, the Ālambanavibhāva of Śṛṅgārarasa and also in describing spring season and its various phenomena.[2] But as Mudrārākṣasa is a drama devoid of heroine, the point of describing the beauty or the Ālambanavibhāva of Śṛṅgārarasa cannot be possible here, yet our dramatist has used this meter in describing the nature of the rājalakṣmī, whom he has personified in both the above mentioned verses.
Now let us scrutinize one of these two verses in the following:
| ta | | | ta | | | ja | | | ga | | | ga | | | ta | | | ta | | | ja | | | ga | | | ga |
| - - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - | | | - | | | - - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - | | | - |
atyucchri |te mantra|ṇi pārthi |ve | ca | viṣṭabhya| pādāvu| patiṣṭha | te |śrīḥ|
| ta | | | ta | | | ja | | | ga | | | ga | | | ja | | | ta | | | ja | | | ga | | | ga |
| - - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - | | | ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - | | | ⏑ |
sā strīsva |bhāvāda |sadā bha |ra |sya | tayordva |yoreka |taraṃ ja |hā |ti||[3]
Now, after scanning the verse we have got that the first three pādas are made of Indravajrāchandas and the last pāda is made of Upendravajrā meter, as, in the Upendravajrā the first syllable is short and the rest are the same as Indravajrā—
upendravajrāprathamelaghausā.[4]
It is to be noted that the last syllables in the first, third and the fourth pādas though short become long or guru automatically following the norms of prosody.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Ibid., II.43,P.56
[2]:
śṛṅgārālambanodāranāyikārūpavarṇanam/ vasantāditadaṅgañca sacchāyamupajātibhiḥ//Ibid. III.17
[3]:
Mudrārākṣasa, IV.13
[4]:
Chandomañjarī, II.42,p.46