Mudrarakshasa (literary study)
by Antara Chakravarty | 2015 | 58,556 words
This page relates ‘Use of Vamshasthavila 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.
Go directly to: Footnotes.
2.5. Use of Vaṃśasthavila metre
[Full title: The Chandas employed in Mudrārākṣasa (5). Vaṃśasthavila]
vadantivaṃśasthavilaṃjataujarau[1]
This is the definition of Vaṃśasthavila given by Gaṅgādāsa in his Chandomañjarī. It denotes that in the meter Vaṃśasthavila there are four gaṇas such as ja, ta, ja and ra, having 12 syllables altogether in a quarter. The use of Vaṃśasthavila meter can be seen only once in the drama Mudrārākṣasa. Here, Rākṣasa has compared the king who is entirely dependent on his minister in running the affairs of the state to a suckling, who will not be able to live if separated from his mother’s breast.
Let us scan the verse in the following to determine the meter as Vaṃśasthavila:
| ja | | | ta | | | ja | | | ra | | | ja | | | ta | | | ja | | | ra |
| ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - ⏑ - | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - ⏑ - |
atyucchri |te mantra|ṇi pārthi |ve | ca | viṣṭabhya| pādāvu| patiṣṭha | te |śrīḥ|
| ja | | | ta | | | ja | | | ra | | | ja | | | ta | | | ja | | | ra |
| ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - ⏑ - | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - - ⏑ | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - ⏑ - |
nṛpo'pa|kṛṣṭaḥ sa|civātta|darpaṇaḥ| stanaṅdha|yo’tyanta |śiśuḥ sta|nādiva|
After scanning the verse it becomes clear that this is nothing but an instance of Vaṃśasthavila meter, as, every foot of this meter has got the gaṇas, viz, ja, ta, ja and ra.
According to Kṣemendra, Vaṃśasthavila meter is suitable for depicting the canons of polity, i.e., the ṣāḍguṇya etc.[2] But in this verse only a tint of politics can be seen and not specifically ṣāḍguṇya, though, as a political drama there may be ample scope for this in Mudrārākṣasa.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Ibid., II.66, p.62
[2]:
ṣāḍguṇyapraguṇā nītirvaṃśasthena virājate/Suvṛttatilaka,III.18