Shishupala-vadha (Study)
by Shila Chakraborty | 2018 | 112,267 words
This page relates ‘Knowledge of Dharma-shastra in the Shishupalavadha’ of the study on the Shishupala-vadha (in English) in the light of Manusamhita (law and religious duties) and Arthashastra (science of politics and warfare). The Shishupalavadha is an epic poem (Mahakavya) written by Magha in the 7th century AD. It consists of 1800 Sanskrit verses spread over twenty chapters and narrates the details of the king of the Chedis.
Knowledge of Dharma-śāstra in the Śiśupālavadha
Māgha has shown in the third canto of his epic that smṛti-śāstra is according to Veda.
“uddhṛtyamedhaistat eva tīyamarthaṃ munindrairiva sampraṇītāḥ |
ālokayāmāsa hariḥ patantīrnadīḥ smṛtīrvedamivāmvuraśim |” 3.75 ||[1]
Poet Māgha has discussed this deep theory of Dharma in his epic.
The rules of Dharma are not easily understandable—
“athavā na dharmamasuvodhasamayamavayāta vāliśaḥ ||” 15.19 ||[2]
Śrīkṛṣṇa’s sequence of creation has been felt in the context of the description of creation theory in the Sixty seventh verse of fourteenth canto of the Śiśupālavadha.
“pūrvamegha kila sṛṣṭavānapastāsu vīryamaṇivāryamādadhau |
tacca kāraṇamabhūddhiraṇmayaṃ vrahmaṇo'sṛjadasavidaṃ jagat ||” 14.67 ||[3]
The theory of sequence of birth is identified according to Dharmaśāstra in the ninth verse of the ninth canto of the Śiśupālavadha:
“drutaśātakumbhanibhamaṃśumato vapurardhamagnavapuṣaḥ payasi |
rurūce viriñcinakhabhinnavṛhajjagadaṇḍakaikatarakhaṇḍamiva ||” 9.9 ||[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
ibid., p. 143.
[2]:
ibid., p. 605
[3]:
ibid., p. 584.
[4]:
ibid., p. 348.