Chapter 2 - The Kalikapurana as a Shastrakavya

Rajasekhara, in the 2 nd ch. of the Kavyamimamsa, observes that composition (Vangmaya) is of two types sastra and kavya - 'iha hi vangmayamubhayatha sastram kavyam ca'. 1 sastra is again of two types 2 apauruseya and pauruseya. 'apauruseyam srutih ² - the sruti or veda is said to be apauruseya i.e., not created by man. But the Purana is that kind of sastra which is created by man. 3 'pauruseyam tu puranam'. Mammata also refers to the Vedas as sastra which impart knowledge just like a Lord 'prabhu sammita sabda pradhana vedadisastrebhyah etc. 14 A close relation between the Vedas and 1. Kavyamimaemsa, 2, p. 7. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid, p. 12. 4. Kavyaprakasa, 1, p. 5.

64 the Puranas have been pointed out by different authorities. Puranas mainly deal with the Vedic facts and legends dasadha'.6 *vedakhyanopanibandhana prayam puranamastaThe Puranas stand close to the Itihasas in nature, because both Itihasa and Purana are meant for expounding the meaning of the Vedic knowledge. The oft quoted verse says that the Itihasas and the Purinas are meant to simplify the Vedic knowledge, because the Vedas are afraid of the little learned one by thinking that 'he may kill me' 7 Rajasekhara wants to say further that Itihasa is a special type of Purana 8 'puranapravibhedaevaitihasah'. Rajasekhara points out to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as the examples 9 of Itihasa. A closer affinity among the Vedas, Itihasas 5. Vide, ch. I of this dissertation. 6. Kavyamimamsa, 2. p. 12 7. itihasapuranabhyam vedam samupabrnhayet vibheti alpasrutad vedo mamayam praharisyati Mahabharata, 1. 269, VP, 1.201, pp. 5.2.52, SP, 5.1.05 8. Kavyamimamsa, 2. p. 13 9. 'tatra ramayanam bharatam caudaharane' Ibid.

65 and Puranas was noticed by earlier thinkers also. 10 This it has been recognised that the Puranas are endowed with the characteristics of gastra. 'sasanat sastra 11 sastra has been difined in this way by the lexicons, and accordingly the gastras govern definite subjects. The Puranas also lays down certain rules and regulations on various subjects beginning from rites and rituals to medicine and politics. 12 13 The Kalikapurana also prescribes norms on kingship, womanhood, 14 devotee etc. besides on various rituals. It also deals with various technical matters of Vedanta, Samkhya, Nyaya etc. 15 Because of dealing with all these technical matters the Kalikapurana can be designated as a gastra. 10. Vide ch. I of this dissertation. 11. Bangla Visvakosa, Vol. 20, p. 337. 12. Kalikapurana, 84. 13. Ibid, 19. 53-54, 59.49 14. Ibid, ch. 71 15. Ibid, chs. 25, 26

66 The rhetoricians have observed the presence of literary elements even in the gastras. Rajasekhara considers the alamkarasastra as the seventh anga of the Veda, along with other six limbs such as siksa, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Chandas and Jyotisa. He asserts that the knowledge of Alankara is very much essential for clear understanding of the Vedic texts. He further points out to a verse from Mundaka Upanisad 17 which contains Atisayokti Alamkara. The content and idea of the verse are very technical and philosophical in character. But without clear knowledge about the Atisayokti Alamkara one cannot go through the philosophical implication of the verse. Alamkara is a literary embelishment. By considering necessity of the study of Alamkarasastra in the context of the study of the Veda, Rajasekhara has indirectly spoken of the presence of literary elements in the Vedasastra. 16. upakarakatvadalamkarah saptamamangam 17. Kavyamimamsa, 2. p. 9 dva suparna sayuja sakhaya samanam brksam parissvajate tayoranyah pipplam svadvatti anasnannyo abhicakasi- 3.1.1.

67 Itihasas are also considered as gastra and as such Mahabharata is also a fastra. Anandavardhana in his Dhvanyaloka, third udyota points out to that aspect of Mahabharata which is endowed with poetic elements. After a long discourse in the fourth udyota, Anandavardhana concludes that as a sastra the main objective of the Mahabharata is to establish the ideal of moksa, the fourth purusartha as the goal of life and as a kevya it is to give the relish of Santarasa or the sentiment of quietism to the reader. 18 Now the question is, if the poetic elements can be traced out from the Sastras like the Vedas and the Itihasas, can't there be such literary element in the Puranas also ? The Mahabharata has been referred to as a sastra 18. mahabharatepi sastrarupe kavyacchayanvayini brsnipandavabirasevasanvai manasyadayini samaptimupanibandhata mahamunina vairagyajananatatparyam pradhanyena svaprabandhasya darsayata moksalaksanah purusarthah santorasasya mukhyataya vivakse visayatvena sucitah Dhanyaloka, 4. p. 551.

68 endowed with the beauty of Kavya 'mahabharatepi sastrarupe kavyaccha-yanvayini'. Thus Purinas can also be qualified as 'kavyacchayanvayini sastra'. Bhojaraja classifies the non-dramatic poetic compositions into twentyfour types in the ch. 12 th of his Srmgaraprakasa. Those are akhyayika, upakhyanam, nidar- sanam, pravahlika, manthulika, manikulya, katha, parikatha, khandakatha, upakatha, brhatkatha, campuh, pravabandhah, kandabandah, sargabandhah, asvasakabandhah, sandhibandhah, avaskandhabandhah, kavyasastram, sastrakavyam, kosah, sanghatah, samhita, sahityaprakasa. 19 Among all these types of metrical works"sestra-kavya has reference to a 19. anabhineyah sravyah, so'pyakhyayikadibhedat caturbinsati prakaro bhavati akhyayika, upakhyanam, nidarsanam, pravahlika, manthulika, manikulya, katha, parikatha, khandakatha, upakatha, brhatkatha, campuh, pravabandhah, kandabandah, sargabandhah, asvasakabandhah, sandhibandhah, avaskandhabandhah, kavyasastram, sastrakavyam, kosah, sanghatah, samhita, sahityaprakasa. srngaraprakasa, 12. Vol. 2, • P. 412.

69 technical subject treated poetically or in a literary 193 manner. Here Kamandakiya nitisara and Rativilesa have been cited as the examples of gastrakavya. These works deal with a purely technical subject which is presented in metre and is endowed with literary qualities. In the like way Puranas also deal with various topics relating to Dharmasastra, Arthasestra, Ayurveda, Darsana and so on. The Kalikapurana also incorporates some of these topics as stated earlier and those are presented in a story-telling manner, containing dramatic and poetic properties which will be sorted out in the following discussions. Again Rejasekhara in the fifth chapter of the Kavyamimamsa, classifies the poets in three categories such as sastrakavi, 20 kavyakavi and ubhayakavi. Among them sastrakavis can again be divided into three categories, 21 such as 19 a. Raghavan, Bhoja's Srngara Prakasa, p. 607. 20. pratibhabyutpattimamsca kavih kevirityucayate saca tridha sastrakavih kavyakavirubhayakavisca, Kavyamimamsa, 5, p. 85. 21. tatra tridha sastrakavih yah sastram bidhatte, yasca sastram kavyam sambi- dhatte, yo'pi kavye sastrartha nidhatte Ibid, p. 87.

70 (i) those who write only technical works, (ii) those who incorporate poetry in the technical works, (iii) those who insert technical material in poetical works. The authors of Rativilasa and Bhattikevya can be placed in the first and the third category respectively and the author of the Kalikapurana may be placed in the second category. the poetical elements like guna, Alamkara etc., the author has borrowed some portions of the story of Kalidase's Besides using Kumarasambhavam and Raghuvamsam for the Kalikapurana A number of ideas and expressions found in the works like Magha's sisunalavadham find places in the Kalikapurana Moreover, the description of rivers like sipra, Candrabhaga, mountains like Himalaya, Kailasa, cities like Pragjyotisapura, Durjaya etc. are presented here in an elaborate epic style. The beauty of moon, twilight and sky and beauty of woman are all presented in much grandeur, which will be discussed by and by. Thus the author of the Kalikapurana incorporates poetry and poetical material in his work. Considering the views of the ancient thinkers the author

71 of the Kalikapurana can be designated as a sastrakavi, who incorporates kavya in sastra. According to A.K. Warder, one of the modern scholars, Kavya means literature as a form of art. He distinguishes the Kavya from three other branches of composition : * " (1) Scriptures or canonical works agama; (2) tradition or history i.e., itihasa and (3) systematic treatises on 22 any subject i.e. sastra"." The Vedas, Brahmanas, Buddhist, Tripitakas, Saiva and Vaisnava scriptures etc. are counted under the first category. The second category, i.e., the tradition includes the Mahabharata associated with the Puranas. Under the third category any technical or systematic work is included, along with the commentaries of any kind. According to this classification, the Puranes are distinguished from the Kavya and they are given equal 22. 23. A.K. Warder, Indian Kavya Literature, Vol. I, p. 1. Ibid.

72 status with the Itihasas. The Vedic and the Puranic sources also count both these types of compositions at the same level as have already discussed in the previous chapter. On the otherhand, Warder terms the Mahabharata as epic and admits that "the epic is indisputably poetry, at least in its more original parts, though it is primarily regarded 24 history". If according to this scholar the Purana 25 resembles the Mahabharata in style, then the poetry in the Puranas must also be recognised as literary art. In the same way, the literary merits of the Roveda has been judged by M.M. Sharma, another modern scholar of these times, in his essay, 'The literary beauty of the Raveda'. 26 24. Ibid, p. 2 25. Ibid. 26. M.M. Sharma, Samjna, Dec. 1995 to Feb 1996, March 1996 to May 1996.

73 From the above discussion, it has become clear that Sastres very often incorporate Kavya in them. It has also been well observed that some kavyas also combine Sastra with poetry, such two kavyas are the Naisedhacarite of sriharsa and the Ravanavadha of Bhatti which unite philosophy and grammar respectively with poetry. Thus, it is not surprising to find some overlapping between kavya and gastra or kavya and Itihasa. Considering the views of the ancient and modern critics as well as the contents of the Kalikapurana, it can be concluded that the XP is a sastrakavya which combines gastra and kavya in such a proportion that it deserves appreciation of the scholars.