South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

second act a pleasure-garden (lîlôdyânam or pramadôdyânam) on the Dhârâgiri, a hill near the city (ll. 6, 12, 31, v. 30, ll. 36 and 75).

The dramatis personæ are ; The stage-manager (sûtradhâra) ; the actress (naṭî) ; king Arjunavarman ; the jester Vidagdha ; queen Sarvakalâ ; her maid Kanakalêkhâ ; the royal gardener Kusumâkara ; his wife Vasantalîlâ ; and the heroine Pârijâtamañjarî or Vijayaśrî. The king and Kusumâkara speak Sanskṛit, the remaining persons Prâkṛit─ Śaurasênî in the prose passages, and Mâhârâshṭrî in the verses. The pretty verses of the bards, which are recited behind the stage, are also in Prâkṛit.^[1]

In the prologue (âmukham, l. 15) the stage-manager informs the actress that, when the army of Jayasiṁha took to flight and the victorious Arjunavarman was still seated on his war-elephant, a cluster of blossoms of a celestial tree (pârijâta-mañjarî) fell on his breast and, on touching it, was transformed into a beautiful maiden, while a voice from heaven spoke thus :

“ Enjoying this lovely, auspicious Vijayaśrî, thou, O lord of Dhârâ, shalt become equal to Bhôjadêva ” (v. 6).

The stage-manager further explains this miracle in a somewhat complicated verse (7), which has probably to be translated as follows :─

“ The Chaulukya king’s daughter, (who was an incarnation of) the goddess Jayaśrî (i.e. the goddess of victory) herself, (and) who, having found her death in the defeat, caused to be irrigated the young forest of tamâla-trees, which was the grief of (her) father, through the waves of the tears of the harem,─ she (is) this cluster of blossoms of the celestial tree (svardruma-mañjarî), which, after being hidden in a bud, developed into a lady.”

To shelter her from the public gaze, the king placed her under the care of his chamberlain Kusumâkara, who was in charge of the royal gardens, and whose wife Vasantalîlâ waited on her in an emerald pavilion on the Dhârâgiri hill.

The first act bears the title ‘ the spring-festival ’ (vasantôtsava, l. 31). It describes the king viewing his sporting subjects from the top of his palace in the company of the jester, the queen and her maid.

In the introductory scene (vishkambhaka, l. 39) of the second act, Kusumâkara and Vasantalîlâ compare notes on the mutual passion of the heroine and the king.

The title of the second act is ‘ the reflecting ear-ring ’ (tâḍaṅka-darpaṇa, l. 82). The king, accompanied by the jester, repairs to the pleasure-garden, in order to witness a ceremony performed by the queen : the marriage of a mango-tree to a spring-creeper. Vasantalîlâ and the heroine watch the proceedings from behind a tree. Bending aside the branches, the former reveals to the king the image of his beloved, reflected in the queen’s car-ring. The king’s delight and confusion arouse the suspicious of the queen, who leaves abruptly together with her maid. The heroine and Vasantalîlâ also withdraw. At the advice of the jester, who reminds the king of the proverb that ‘ killed and eaten comes to the same ’ (l. 59), both follow them to the emerald pavilion. The king’s tête-à-tête is interrupted by the appearance of Kanakalêkhâ, who is the bearer of the ear-jewel and of an ironical message from the queen. The king tries in vain to hide Pârijâtamañjarî behind his back. At the end he leaves her in order to pacify his jealous queen. The heroine also departs, threatening to commit suicide, and Vasantalîlâ follows her.

The foregoing summary of the two preserved acts will remind the reader of another, well-known drama─ the Ratnâvalî. The poet Madana, no doubt, derived the plot of his work from this or similar nâṭikâs. But, as the hero of the new drama was a living and reigning king, it is unlikely that the chief persons who appear on the stage together with him were pure inventions
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^[1] Vv. 17-19 and 28 ; but vv. 72-74 are in Sanskṛit.