Mudrarakshasa (literary study)
by Antara Chakravarty | 2015 | 58,556 words
This page relates ‘Use of Rucira 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.
2.7. Use of Rūcirā metre
[Full title: The Chandas employed in Mudrārākṣasa (7). Rūcirā]
Gaṅgādāsa defined Rūcirā as:
jabhausajaugītirūcirācaturgrahai/[1]
When in the foot of a verse there remain ja, bha, sa, ja and ga gaṇas and the pause come after the first four (catur) syllables and then after every nine (graha) syllables, then it is the Rūcirā meter. This meter has been used in only two places of the drama under study, i.e., in II.3 and V.6. Let us scan the 6th verse of the Vth act where Malayaketu is showing his pathos just after hearing that his father was killed by none other than Rākṣasa:
After being scanned, the verse shows that it has ja, bha, sa, ja and ga gaṇas in every pāda. Therefore the meter used in this verse is Rūcirā.
| ja | | | bha | | | sa | | | ja | | | ga |
| ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - ⏑ ⏑ | | | ⏑ ⏑ - | | | ⏑ - ⏑ | | | - |
śrutaṃ sa| khe║ śrava | ṇavidā |raṇaṃ va | caḥ║
suhṛnmu| khā║ dripu |madhikṛ | tya bhāṣi |taṃ ║
piturva| dha║vyasa |namidaṃ| hi yena | me║
cirāda| pi ║ dvigu |ṇamivā |dya vardha |te║
From scanning the above verse we can find the gaṇas ma, na, ja, ra and ga in every quarter and the pauses after every 3rd and 10th syllable. All these prove that it is a verse having Praharṣiṇī meter.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Chandomañjarī, II.96, p.81