3. Guṇa and Rīti applied by Viśākhadatta

Viśākhadatta has made a good use of all the three guṇas, viz. Mādhurya, Oja and Prasāda in his magnum opus Mudrārākṣasa. It is a drama having Vīra as its predominant sentiment. Therefore, it is obvious to find Oja-guṇa in abundance in this drama. Yet the inadequacy of other two guṇas can’t be felt. The dramatist has applied the Oja-guṇa while delineating Vīrarasa as well as Raudra and Vībhatsa-rasa.

The use of letters having Oja-guṇa in the case of Vīra-rasa can be exemplified as follows:

āsvāditadviradaśoṇitaśoṇaśobhāṃ sandhyāruṇāmiva kalāṃ śaśalāñchanasya/
jṛmbhāvidāritamukhasya mukhātsphurantiṃ ko hartumicchati hareḥ paribhūya draṅṣṭrāṃ//^[1]

Herein, the terms like āsvāditadviradaśoṇitaśoṇaśobhāṃ, sandhyāruṇām, śaśalāñchanasya etc. are packed with long compounds. Moreover, the use of śa; conjoined letters ra, ṣa and ṭa has made the verse an instance of Oja-guṇa and thus stimulated the Vīrarasa.

Likewise, in the following verse with the use of conjoined repha and dva and the letters like śa, ṣa, ṭa etc., which are the properties of oja guṇa, heightened the Vīra rasa of Rākṣasa:

prākāraṃ paritaḥ śarāsanadharaiḥ kṣipraṃ parikramyatāṃ dvāreṣu dvuradaiḥ pratidvipaghaṭābhedakṣamaiḥ sthīyatām/
tyaktyvā mṛtyubhayaṃ prahartumanasaḥ śatrorbale durable te niryāntu mayā sahaikamanaso yeṣāmabhīṣṭaṃ yaśaḥ//^[2]

Again, there is a beautiful speech of Malayaketu, the long compounded words and letters of which are capable of illuminating the vigorous mood of any connoisseur.

The verse is as follows—

uttuṅgāstuṅgakūlaṃ srutamadasalilāḥ prasyandisalilaṃ śyāmāḥ śyāmopakaṅṭadrumamatimukharāḥ kallolamukharam/
srotaḥkhātāvasīdattaṭamurudaśanairutsāditataṭāḥ śoṇaṃ sindūraśoṇā mama gajapatayo’pāsyantu śataśaḥ//^[3]

The richness in long compounds, ample use of śa and the letters of ṭa varga have made this verse a masterpiece having Oja-guṇa.

Apart from Vīrarasa, Viśākhadatta has showed his mastery over using the Ojaguṇa while exhibiting Raudra-rasa.

cf. śocayanto’vanatairnarādhipabhayād dhikśabdagarbhairmukhairmāmagrāsanato’vakṛṣṭamavaśaṃ ye dṛṣṭavantaḥ purā/
te paśyanti tathaiva samprati janā nandaṃ mayā sānvayaṃ siṃheneva gajendramadriśikharāt siṃhāsanāt pātitaṃ//^[4]

In Mudrārākṣasa, the use of Vībhatsa rasa is very less in number.

Viśākhadatta has used this rasa only once. But there also he has employed this rasa with full grace.

As mentioned earlier, Vībhats-rasa becomes more appealing where there is the implication of Oja-guṇa, likewise, following the norms, Viśākhadatta rightly implied Oja-guṇa in his only verse containing Vībhatsa-rasa which runs thus:

gṛdhrairābaddhacakraṃ viyati vicalitairdīrghaniṣkampapakṣai rdhūmairdhvastārkabhāsāṃ saghanamiva diśāṃ maṇḍalaṃ darśayantaḥ/
nandairānandayantaḥ pitṛvananilayān prāṇinaḥ paśya caitān nirvāntyadyāpi naite snutabahalavasāvāhinā havyavāhāḥ//^[5]

In this way, the use of Oja-guṇa can be seen in the delineation of Vīra and Raudra rasa in many places all over the drama.

Again in some other places Raudra-rasa is rather constructed with Prasāda guṇa.

For instance, a speech of Cāṇakya in the first act there is a verse, where the padas are very clear and easily understandable yet expressing potency of Raudra-rasa:

ullaṅghayanmama samujjvalataḥ pratāpaṃ kopasya nandakulakānanadhūmaketoḥ/
sadyaḥ parātmaparimānavivekamūḍhaḥ kaḥ śālabhena vidhinā labhatāṃ vināśaṃ //^[6]

Prasāda is a guṇa that can cope with all kinds of rasas. In this drama we can also find ample use of Prasāda-guṇa maintaining the pace with Vira, Karuna, Raudra and Śānta rasa.

Like that of Vībhatsa, Śṛṅgāra-rasa is used in the drama only once. Herein our dramatist got the chance to use Mādhurya-guṇa.

Thus this is the only place in the entire drama where Mādhurya-guṇa is employed.—

cf. vāmāṃ bāhulatāṃ niveśya śithilaṃ kaṇṭhe vivṛttānanā skandhe dakṣinayā balānnihitayāpyaṅke patantyā muhuḥ/
gāḍhāliṅganasaṅgapīḍitamukhaṃ yasyodyamāśaṅkinī mauryasyorasi nādhunāpi kurute vāmetaraṃ śrīḥ stanaṃ//^[7]

Here in this verse the repeated use of conjugal letters like ṅka, ṅga, ṇṭha, ndha and short compounded words like gāḍhāliṅganasaṅgapīḍitamukhaṃ etc. indicated towards the employment of Mādhurya guṇa.

Viśākhadatta has chosen Gauḍī rīti in the drama and given prime focus on it. All over the drama the adoption of Gauḍī rīti can be seen, as Viśākhadatta laid emphasis on using Oja guṇa. The above cited examples of Oja guṇa, such as, uttuṅgāstuṅgakūlaṃ, śocayanto’ vanatairnarādhipabhayād etc. are also marvelous instances of Gauḍī style.

In the fifth act, the adoption of Vaidarbhī rīti is seen through the speech of Rākṣasa, where in a Svagatokti he appreciates the political intrigues of his enemy—

cf.—

lekho’yaṃ na mameti nottaramidaṃ mudra madīyā yataḥ sauhārdraṃ śakaṭena khaṇḍitamiti śraddheyametat katham?
maurye bhūṣaṇavikrayaṃ narapatau ko nāma sambhāvayet? tasmāt sampratipattireva hi varaṃ na grāmyamatrottaram/^[8]

Here the letters exhibiting Mādhurya-guṇa are found in plenty. Moreover, the verse is devoid of compounded words. Therefore, this is an instance of Vaidarbhī-rīti for sure. Over and above, in most of the places where Mādhurya-guṇa is employed by the dramatist, are also the examples of Vaidarbhī-rīti in the drama.

Again in the third act when Cāṇakya prohibited Candragupta to perform the kaumudīmahotsava uttered a verse where the adoption of Gauḍī-rīti is worth noticeable.

The verse runs thus—

ambhodhīnāṃ tamālaprabhavakisalayasyāmavelāvanānā-māpārebhyaścaturṇāṃ caṭulatimikulakṣobhitāntarjalānām/
mālevājñā sapuṣpā tava nṛpatiśatairuhyate yā śirobhiḥ sā mayyeva skhalantī kathayati vinayālaṃkṛtaṃ te prabhutvam//^[9]

In this instance, the letters denoting Mādhurya-guṇa and Oja-guṇa cannot be found. Rather this verse consists of letters denoting prasāda guṇa. Moreover, in the expressions tamālaprabhavakisalayasyāmavelāvanānām and caṭulatimikulakṣobhitāntarjalānām sets of six compounded words are to be found. Thus this is an excellent example of Pāñcālī-rīti.

Besides, Viśākhadatta does not even fail to give importance to Lāṭi-rīti. This rīti has got an opportunity to get associated with this drama due to the skills of our dramatist who used this rīti in describing the perplexity of Rākṣasa in the second act of the play.

Rākṣasa while contemplating of the annihilation of Cāṇakya and Candragupta became perplexed with the result that his own intrigues bore and expressed thus—

vṛṣṇīnāmiva nītivikramaguṇavyāpāraśāntadviṣāṃ nandānāṃ vipule kule’karuṇayā nīte niyatyākṣayam/
cintāveśasamākulena manasā rātrindiva jāgrataḥ saiveyaṃ mama citrakarmaracanā bhittiṃ vinā vartate//^[10]

This verse is a combination of Vīra and Karuṇa-rasa. Besides, it runs in the mid of Vaidarbhī and Pāñcālī. Therefore it is to be assumed as the example of Lāṭi-rīti.

In this way Viśākhadatta has used all the rītis in this drama, and his expertise in adoption of all these rīti is worth praising.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Mudrārākṣasa, I.8

[2]:

Ibid., II.13

[3]:

IV.16

[4]:

Ibid., I.12

[5]:

Ibid., III.28

[6]:

I.10

[7]:

Ibid., II.12

[8]:

V.18

[9]:

III.24

[10]:

Ibid., II.4