Nitikatha-sahitya in Classical Sanskrit

As Mammata states, the advice of an ethical teachings is one of the purposes of Kavya literature in Sanskrit. In different branches of Kavya literature, thousands of beautiful verses

9 dealing with ethics are available. Ethical teachings dealt with in the Sanskrit verses are in the form of prohibition, injunction, denouncement, praise, etc. In fact, the bliss that a Sahrdaya relishes by reading a Dhvani Kavya, is obtained by reading a subhasita of ethical importance. It is never exaggeration. In the history of classical literature, many texts in prose and poetry are found. Following are some of the Sanskrit texts on fable literature which are quite noteworthy here. 1. Simhasanadvatrimsika or Vikramacaritra : It is a collection of thirty-two tales. The throne was a gift from Indra to Vikramaditya and when Salivahana vanquished and killed him in battle, the throne was buried in the earth. King Bhoja by chance unearthed it, and as he was ascending the throne, images of maidens sculptured on the throne became animated and related the tales in praise of Vikramaditya to Bhoja and regained their liberty. There are various versions of this work which are attributed to Kalidasa, Ramachandra, Siva and Siddhasena Divakara, Ksemankara a Jain, who lived at the beginning of the 14 th Century A.D. These are written in prose, with verses at the beginning and condensed the tales. The south Indian version is generally known as Vikramarkacarita. There are north Indian versions, one in verse and are considerably different and both are anonymous. In Bengal, the recension is ascribed to Vararuci and is mostly Ksemendra's.

10 2. Sukasaptatikatha : This is a collection of seventy clever stories of erotic nature but of ultimate didactic import. It is said that Narada related the stories to Indra in his assembly in the form of parrot and that any one who hears the story attains all ends. Once Devadasa kept a parrot and when the king sent him away to a distant country with intent to seduce his wife, the parrot to whom Devadasa entrusted the care of his family began to relate each night one story to her, keeping her interested in it till dawn, and by the end of seventy stories the husband returned and all was well. There are three recensions of this work, ornator and simplictor of B.Schmidt (who has edited a Marathi version), the first by Cintamani Bhatta and second later by a Svetambara Jain and a third by Devadutta, son of Purusottamadeva. 3. Vetalapancavimsati : This is a series of twenty-five stories, very old in origin. Ksemendra and Somadeva relate the same stories in their poems. Independently, we have versions by Sivadasa in prose and verse, and by Jambhaladatta in prose and one anonymous in prose. Vallabhadasa's work is an abbreviation. There is also Vetalavimsati of Venkatabhatta. Tales relating to Vikrama are found in Ananta's Viracarita and Sivadasa's Salivahanacarita in the anonymous Vikramodaya, in the Jain work Pancadandachatra-prabandha and Nandisayagnika's Vikramarka-carita. Vikramasenacarita is Sniversit

11 a collection of stories like Vikramarkacarita narrated to king Vikramasena of Pratisthana by a vampire stationed on Simsupa tree. 4. Further, Merutunga's Prabandhacintamani and Rajasekhara's Prabandakosa contain quasi-historical narratives. Hemachandra's Trisastisalakapurusacarita and its supplement Parisistaparva contain much folk-fore, besides tales mythical and biographical. 5. Then Siddharsi was the pupil of Saddarsin. His Upamitabhava-prapancakatha was written in the year 962 (Viranirvana ?) which would mean Sam. 492 (436 AD.). This tallies with the date of Haribhadra (who died in Sam. 585). 6. Lalitavistara for Siddharsi's edification, Peterson says (PR, IV.5) "Of the fact that Siddha and Megha were cousins, there appears to be no reasonable doubt. Their common grandfather was Suprabhadeva, minister of the king of the time of Srimala in Gurjaradesa. Suprabhadeva had two sons, Datta and Subhankara. Megha (who tells us himself that he was the son of Dattaka and the grandson of Suprabhadeva) was the son of the one and Siddha the son of the other. 7. Prabhacandra's " Prabhavacarita was revised by Pradyumnasuri about 1250 A.D. It is a collection of stories in verse, mostly biographical notices in 22 chapters. It is probably based on a similar work of Hemacandra.

12 8. Somacandra was pupil of Ratnasekhara of Tapa Gaccha. He wrote his Kathamahodadhi, a collection of one hundred and twenty-six jain stories, in 1504 (1448 AD) beginning with the story of Karpuraprakara. • 9. Bharatakadvatrimsika contains thirty-two stories of Jain origin, satirical of Brahmin usages. 10. Jagannathamisra's Kathaprakasa is a collection of tales taken from various sources and contains interesting episodes. The fourth story relates the sufferings of Bharavi during his sojourn in his father-in-law's home. Jagannatha was the son of Laksmana of Radhivamsa and lived about the 17 th century AD. 11. Kathakosa is a collection of twenty-seven tales, illustrating in simple prose and usual fruits of different actions of men, such as kindness, worship, anger, avarice, etc. 12. In Citrasenapadmavati-katha a small poem, Rajavallabha Pathata, pupil of Mahimacandra or Malucandrasuri, gives the fable of Citrasena and Padmavati. "These were a pair of swans in their previous birth and dwelt in a lake in a Campakavana on the boundary of Campa. Once upon a time in mid day, a merchant came up to the bank of the lake and put up there with his Caravan. The merchant bathed in the lake, worshipped Jina and after having prepared food, waited for a guest, when a sage fasting for more than a month happened to pass by him. The merchant was exceedingly glad to meet with such a guest, and took him to this place and supplied him with the best food

13 sufficient to satisfy his hunger. The pair praised this action of the merchant with all heart, and in consequence of that virtue, they were born as prince Citrasena and princess Padmavati in their next birth and became husband and wife. This was composed in Sam. 1524 [1580 A.D.]. 13. Kalikacaryakatha: In prose it gives the tale of Kalikacarya, a Jain Sthavira. Samayasundara, pupil of Sakalacandra, composed it. It narrates also the ancient tales of the establishment of the Vikrama and Saka. According to it, Saka kings took their name from the Saka coast or bank and were defenders of the Jaina faith until Vikramaditya conquered them. But one hundred and thirty-five years after that conquest, there was a Saka king who destroyed the successor of Vikramaditya and set up an era of his own. 14. Kavikunjara's Rajasekharacarita or Sabharanjanaprabandha is a poem inculcating morals of means of stories abridged from those which are said to have been originally related in the court of Rajasekhara and which were afterwards repeated by Rajasekhara Subuddhi. 15. Vidyapati's Purusapariksa is a collection of forty-four stories and has been noticed. Ananda's Madhuanalakatha relates in prose the story of Madhvanala and Kamakandala. 16. The Muktacarita is anonymous. In simple prose, it narrates the story of the miraculous power of pearls sown and

14 grown by Krsna on arable fields for the delectation of Satyabhama. 17. Srivara's Kathakautuka gives the story of Yusuf and Zulaika from the well-known poem of Jaini. It was composed during the reign of Sultan Zainulabdin in 15 th century A.D. The Sanskrit translation of "Aladin and Wonderful Lamp" from the Arabian Nights by Appasastri Rasivadekar excels the original in narration. Narayana Balakrsna has a Sanskrit rendering of the Aesop's fables, Isabanitikatha. The Sulemacarita by Kalyanamalla relates the story of Solomon and David from Old Testament. There are following Jain stories in prose: 1. The Sripalacarita of Jayakirtisuri, 2. The Hiraprasna of Kirtivijayagani, 3. The Amaradatta-mitranandacarita of Bhavacandrasuri, 4. The Dhanadattacarita of Bhavacandra, *5. The Bhavanabhanukevalicarita of Hamsagani, 6. The Rupasenacarita, 7. The Kamaghatanakatha, 8. The Ratnasekharacarita of Dayavardhanagani; The following are in verse: 1. The Ambalacarita Uttarakumaracarita of Carucandra, 2. The Padmacarita of Subhavardhana, Universit { A =

15 3. The Balabhadracarita of Subhavardanaghani, 4. The Vimalanathacarita of Jnanasagara, 5. The Vimalasahacarita of Indrahamsagani, 6. The Udayanarajacarita of Mallisena, ·7. The Vijayacandracarita of Candraprabha Mahattara, 8. The Sahasankacarita of Mahesvara. The following are other books of tales: 1. The Kathalathamanjari of Narayana Sastri, 2. The Kathavali of G. Ramaswami Sastrin, 3. The Purusapariksa by Laksmanasiva, 4. The Kathakusumamanjari (anonymous), 5. The Madanasukhacapetika of Laksminarayana, 6. The Sudamacaritra of Srinivasa, 7. The Suryanacarita of Candrasekhara, 8. The Katharnava of Sivadasa, 9. The Tarakabrahmakatha (anonymous), and 10. The Pramathacarita of Brahmavidyadhvarin. "In the Kathapancaka, Mrs. Krsnarao of Bombay depicts five careers of sadness and dispair and inculcates the high Indian ideal of pity and forgiveness. In the pathetic tales of the dejected young widow and the fisher folk, the blame seems to be thrown on the hard tyranny of social laws and customs rather than on the individuals. The old widow in whom the motherly

16 instinct triumphs over vengeance, and the generous youth who rises above nature and self-interest to rid the people of a heartless tyrant are full of tragic dignity." Ratnasimha's Maithilesacarita is a poem on the present dynasty of Darbhanga. Rudrasimha's Vignanatharangini describes the life of a mythical king Sankaradasa. It was composed in 1411 A.D. Sankara's Sankaracetovilasa is a poetical biography by Zamindar Cetasimha. Panduranga's Vijayapurakatha, composed in 1808 A.D., contains an account of Bijapur and its Musalman sovereigns. Udayaraja's Rajavinoda describes the greatness of Mohammad Begadha of Ahmedabad, a king of Gujarat. Avadanas of Buddhist literature are illustrating stories appended to ethical and religious precepts. They were well known long before the Christian era. Of these the Avadanasataka is the earliest extant and was translated into Chinese in the 3 rd century A.D. The collection of legend known as Divyavadana is of great merit generally in prose, but interspersed with verses of various metres. Aryasena's Jatakavali contains tales illustrating the various supreme qualities of Buddha. Besides the Avadanakalpalata of Ksemendra, in which his son Somendra added the last tale, there are the Vratavadanamala, the Bhadrakalpavadana, the Dvavimsatyavadana etc. The Saddharmapundarika of Mahayana school gives tales in prose and verse suggesting religion and didactic instruction. }

17 Apart from all these works on fable literature, some other texts are also there. Among those, Canakyaniti a collection of moral precepts is prevalent in the name of Canakya. It consists of five hundred and seventy-six verses dealing with many social aspects of daily life. So also Chandragomi, the author of Chandravyakarana, has composed the Sisyalekha-dharma-kavya. It consists of one hundred and fourteen verses describing the nature of life. It prohibits a person from treading the wrong path but impels to make efforts to lead meaningful life. Moreover the Niti-Dvisastika of Sundarapandya is said to be written in the fifth century A.D. In an inscription of 750 A.D., Sundarapandya, is mentioned as a successor of Arikesari. In Classical Sanskrit literature, the 1) Brhatkatha of Gunadhya is the earliest regular collection of fables. Gunadhya is considered on par with Valmiki and Vyasa. It is a rich collection of hundreds of interesting stories. Basing on this, Ksemendra of Kashmir and Somadeva wrote the Brhatkathamanjari and the Kathasaritsagara respectively. Next to Kathasaritsagara, the Pancatantra stands out in the fable literature. The contents of the Pancatantra are elucidated further. 2) The Tantrakhyana or Tantrakhyayika is a form of the Pancatantra, manuscripts of which, belonging to Kashmir and is itself in two subrecenssions, in one of which there are more

18 verses and more prose. According to Hertel "it is the only version which contains the unabbreviated and not intentionally altered language of the author, which no other Indian Pancatantra version has preserved, while the Pahlavi translation distorts it by numerous misunderstandings." But according to Edgerton, "In short, the difference between the Tantrakhyayika and the other versions, in their relations to the original, is a difference of degree and not a difference of kind. All are to a considerable extent original. All are to a not considerable extent unoriginal. On the whole, the Tantrakhyayika contains more of the original than of any other. In this respect, it is surpassed by the Southern Pancatantra, which was much less unoriginal material than the Tantrakhyayika, and probably less than any other version, except the greatly abbreviated and versified Somadeva."6 3) Hitopadesa: It is a far later version of the Pancatantra and has been more popular with the students of Sanskrit literature. Avowedly based on the Pancatantra, the Hitopadesa is a work with a plan original in itself of Narayana. Instead of five books, the Hitopadesa has only four. Its third book has as its frame a story, which is only a remote reflex of the Pancatantra Book III. The frame of its fourth book is wholly • 5. 6. Q. M. Krishnamachariar, History of Classical Sanskrit Literature, p. 425. Ibid., pp. 425-26 Universit

19 new though evidently intended as a companion piece to Book III and suggested by the title of the original Pancatantra's III book. Book IV of the Pancatantra is wholly emitted; the stories of Book V, including the frame story, are included as emboxt stories in third and fourth books of the Hitopadesa. Several of the emboxt stories of Pancatantra Book I, are transferred to the Hitopadesa's new Book IV; those of Pancatantra Book III, are impartially divided between Hitopadesa. Books III and IV : not a new stories of the first three books of the Pancatantra are emitted altogether, and various stories not found in the Pancatantra are inserted in all four books of the Hitopadesa, presumably from the un-named "other works referred to by Narayana". 4) The Pancopakhyanasangraha or Kathamrtanidhi of Ananta Bhatta professes to preserve the whole of the narrative Pancatantra. Each fable is designed to illustrate and exemplify some reflection on worldly vicissitudes or some precept for human conduct, and the illustration is as frequently drawn from an imaginary adventure of animal existence, and this mixture is in some degree a peculiarity in the Hindu plan of fabling or story telling. 5) Pancatantra: This is one of the most famous works of the Sanskrit katha (story) genre. It is so called because it runs into five sections each dealing with a different subject. The

20 stories are presented in the form of instructions given by the aged priest Visnusarma to the dullard sons of a certain king. By means of the fable, cleverly weaving one tale within another, Visnusarma teaches them the science of statecraft and imparts an understanding of human nature. A number of gnomic stanzas are inserted in the prose narrative, succintly summing up the morals each tale. The Beast-fable is probably foreshadowed in those relaxed passages in Vedic literature where animals are represented as talking and behaving like men, to suggest a satire or point a moral. Thus, in the Upanisads we find Satyakama instructed first by a bull, then by a flamingo, then by an aquatic bird. In the Chandogya Upanisad there is a lively picture of dogs' reciting mantras like priests and howling for food. Many characters in the Mahabharata for didactic or satirical purpose narrate beastfables, as we have seen. The low-relief sculpture at Bharhut shows that the Buddhist tradition had absorbed the beast-fable as far back as the second century B.C. The Jataka stories incorporate them. The floating mass of beast-fables has been brilliantly edited in the Pancatantra, mainly with the help of a frame-story. King Amara Sakti of Mahilaropya in Deccan is in difficulties because his sons seem to be incorrigibly dull and will not learn anything. He seeks the help of Visnusarma who manages the difficult task by teaching through fables.