Satirical works of Kshemendra (study)

by Arpana Devi | 2017 | 60,954 words

This page relates ‘Kshemendra’s Works’ part of the study on the Satirical works of Kshemendra: an 11th century poet from Kashmir, who composed three satirical works. Kshemendra himself says that in composing the satirical works his only motive is to reform the mindset of the people.—He exposes all the vices and follies prevailing in the society with the intention to reform it.

10. Kṣemendra’s Works

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Kṣemendra is such an unusual literary figure who enriched the Sanskrit Literature with his numerous works on variety of subjects. He acquired a prominent place among the contemporary scholars due to his worthy contribution to Sanskrit Literature. Kṣemendra compiled lots of book on different branches of Sanskrit literature, which proves his versatile genius. Kṣemendra composed outstanding works on rhetoric, prosody, kāvya, mahākavya etc. Many didactic and satirical works also came out from his fertile pen.

A century and a quarter ago, Kṣemendra’s works were known only through references in Kalhaṇa’s Rājataraṅgiṇī and in some anthologies. In modern times, Dr. A.C. Buhlar’s discovery of a copy of Kṣemendra’s Bṛhatkathāmañjarī (1871) in the palace of Tanjor marks the august beginning of the poet’s reappearance into reality.^[1] Until 1871, the works of Kṣemendra were not obtainable. Different works composed by Kṣemendra were recovered from 1871 onwards by many scholars of India and abroad. From the recoveries, it is found that Kṣemendra composed more than thirty works.

It is to be mentioned that all his works are not met with in printed form. Some of them are located in manuscript and some works are known by name only. In some of his own works, Kṣemendra mentions the name of his unknown works, while quoting verses as an example of rhetoric and prosody. These works are not available to the readers.

A list of published works of Kṣemendra is placed herein. On the basis of the nature of the published works, the works may be divided into the following heads-

1. Poetical Epitoms:

a. Rāmāyaṇamañjarī;
b. Bhāratamañjarī;
c. Bṛhatkathāmañjarī;
d. Daśāvatāracarita;
e. Avadānakalpalatā;

2. Poetics and Metrics:

a. Aucityavicāracarcā;
b. Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa;
c. Suvṛttatilaka;

3. Satirical Works:

a. Kalāvilāsa;
b. Deśopadeśa;
c. Narmamālā;

4. Didactic Poems:

a. Cārucaryā;
b. Caturvargasaṃgraha;
c. Sevyasevakopadeśa;
d. Darpadalana;
e. Samayamātṛkā;

5. Miscellaneous Works:

a. Lokaprakāśa;
b. Nītikalpataru;

In the list of published works some scholars included the Vyāsāṣṭaka as a separate work of Kṣemendra, but it is included in the epilogue of the Bhāratamañjarī in praise of Vyāsa. A list of Kṣemendra’s unpublished works may be placed herein. Kṣemendra mentions the name of these works in his own works viz. Aucityavicāracarcā, Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa and the Suvṛttatilaka Therefore, there can be no doubt regarding its genuineness. In these works, he quotes different verses from the works which are not available and known only by names only. These works will be listed below along with the works in which it has been mentioned.

Aucityavicāracarcā:

a. Kavikarṇikā (P.5)
b. Lāvanyavatī (p.34)
c. Munimatamīmāṃsā (P.20)
d. Nītilatā (P.21)
e. Lalitaratnamālā (P.39)
f. Muktāvalī (P.51)
g. Vinayavallī (P.9)
h. Avasarasāra (P.34)
i. Citrabhārata (P.53)
j. Vātsāyanasūtrasāra (P.64)

Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa:

a. Śasivaṃsa (III.P.76)
b. Padyakādambarī (III.P.76)
c. Kanakajānakī (III. P.78)
d. Amṛtataraṅga (III.P.86)

Suvṛttatilaka:

a. Pavanapañcāśikā (III.P.122)

Besides these above mentioned works, Kṣemendra is ascribed to compose some other works also. In the Rājataraṅgiṇī^[2] the work Nṛpāvalī is mentioned to be composed by Kṣemendra.

The work is also known as Rājāvalī. The work is about the description of the kings of Kashmir. The work is not available.

The Hastiprakāśa is also another work which is ascribed to Kṣemendra, but it is doubtful.^[3]

The Kṣemendraprakāśa is another work ascribed to him.^[4]

Two other works namely Śīlāśataka^[5] and Dānapārijata^[6] are also said to be the works of Kṣemendra.

Spandanirṇaya and Spandasandoha are two other works which are supposed to be written by Kṣemendra. But, these can hardly be the works of Kṣemendra Vyāsadāsa and Buhlar also admits this fact. The author as suggested by Buhlar may be taken to be identical with Kṣemarāja, another pupil of Abhinavagupta and a commentator on philosophic works.^[7]

A book entitled Ekaśṛṅga is ascribed to one Kṣemendra who is also considered to be different from Kṣemendra Vyāsadāsa.^[8]

Likewise, Kṣemendra, the author of Madanamahārṇava; Bhūdhara’s son Kṣemendra, the author of Lipiviveka and Matṛkāviveka; Haribhaṭṭa’s son Kṣemendra, the author of the commentary on the Sārasvataprakrīyā; musician Kṣemendra, the author of Rāgamālā; Kṣemendra, the author of Gītāniṣyanda quoted by Śivānanda; Kṣemendra, the author of the commentary on Nītisāra are different person from the poet Kṣemendra Vyāsadāsa.

Pādatāḍitaka MS Kaul Shastri, the editor of The Deśopadeśa and Narmamālā of Kṣemendra, does not accept Kṣemendra as the author of the Lokaprakāśa For him, Lokaprakāśa seems to be the work of a third rate writer of the Mughal period.^[9] As a matter of fact, it seems to have been written by a number of persons including Kṣemendra. Though, Būhlar describes it as a Kośa yet, in fact, it is both a lexicon and a manual dealing with various aspects of the life and administrations of Kashmir.^[10]