Society as depicted in the Chaturbhani (study)
by Mridusmita Bharadwaj | 2022 | 64,215 words
This page relates ‘Satire based on fraudulent Pavitraka’ of the study on the Chaturbhani: a collection of four Bhanas which represents a genre of dramatic performance peculiar to the ancient Indian tradition of theater and performing arts (i.e. Natya-Shastra). More specifically, this study examines the historical, literary, cultural, and satirical aspects of ancient Indian society as reflected in these four Sanskrit plays.
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Part 2.4 - Satire based on fraudulent Pavitraka
[Full title: Humour and Satire in the Padmapābhṛtaka (4) Satire based on fraudulent Pavitraka]
Viṭa meets the judge’s son named Pavitraka, a follower of Vaishnavism who has a secret love affair with a courtesan, though he claims to be a man of purity. In the public road, Pavitraka pretends to avoid the contacts of the strangers, wearing wet clothes and closing his nostrils with two fingers[1], but he never hesitates to visit quarters of courtesans to copulate with Vāruṇikā. Viṭa calls him a roguish person. For Viṭa, Pavitraka is decent only in appearance, but well trained with hypocrisy.[2] He is also a companion of the dishonest people and Viṭa by nature, wicked and attached to the courtesans. All these deeds are against the good conduct of a follower of Vaishnavism.[3]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
..rājamārge’viditajanasaṃsparśaṃ pariharanniva saṃgṛhītārdravasanaḥ saṃkucitasarvāṅgo nāsikādvayamaṅgulīdvayena… Padmapābhṛtaka, p. 21-22
[2]:
ākṛtimātrabhadrako bhavān mithyācāravinīto hyasi / Ibid., p.23
[3]:
aṃgho sajjanasabrahmacārin viṭapāraśava, caukṣapiśāco veśyāprasaṅgaśceti;ācāraviruddhametad …./ Ibid., p.23