(; "Bhatti's Poem") is a Sanskrit-language poem dating from the 7th century CE, in the formal genre of the "great poem" (mahākāvya). It focuses on two deeply rooted Sanskrit traditions, the Ramayana and Panini's grammar, while incorporating numerous other traditions, in a rich mix of science and art, poetically retelling the adventures of Rama and a compendium of examples of grammar and rhetoric.Keith, A. B. 1928. A History of Sanskrit literature. Oxford: The Clarendon press. As literature, it is often considered to withstand comparison with the best of Sanskrit poetry.
The also has ("The Death of ") as an alternative title. It is improbable that this was the original title as Ravana's death is only one short episode in the whole poem. It may have acquired this title to distinguish it from other works concerning themselves with the deeds of .
The poem is the earliest example of an "instructional poem" or . That is, not a treatise written in verse but an imaginative piece of literature which is also intended to be instructive in specific subjects. To modern tastes, however, this can create an unpardonable artificiality in the composition. To the critics of late classical times in India technical virtuosity was much admired. Much of the s popular success could also be ascribed to the fact that it must have been useful as a textbook.
The author
The author, , describes himself at the end of the book: "I composed this poem in Valabhi which is protected by Narendra, son of Shri-dhara, hence may the fame of that king increase, since the king causes joy among his subjects." ( 22.35) Even this eulogy is unreliable since variant readings of the verse show that his patron may have been Śrī Dharasena. Either way, the composition of the poem is placed at about 600 CE.
The form of the poem
In form the is a “great poem” (mahākāvya). It fits well within the definition of this genre given later by in his “Mirror of Poetry” the Kāvyādarśa:S. K. Belvalkar. 1924. Kāvyādarśa of . Sanskrit Text and English Translation. Poona: The Oriental Book-supplying Agency. It springs from a historical incident or is otherwise based on some fact; it turns upon the fruition of the fourfold ends and its hero is clever and noble; By descriptions of cities, oceans, mountains, seasons and risings of the moon or the sun; through sportings in garden or water, and festivities of drinking and love; Through sentiments-of-love-in-separation and through marriages, by descriptions of the birth-and-rise of princes, and likewise through state-counsel, embassy, advance, battle, and the hero’s triumph; Embellished; not too condensed, and pervaded all through with poetic sentiments and emotions; with cantos none too lengthy and having agreeable metres and well-formed joints, And in each case furnished with an ending in a different metre—such a poem possessing good figures-of-speech wins the people’s heart and endures longer than even a kalpa. Kāvyādarśa 1.15–19 trans. Belvalkar. itihāsa-kath’’-ôdbhūtam, itarad vā sad-āśrayam, | , , | , , | ; , | , | . || Kāvyādarśa 1.15–19 Its subject matter is the life of a hero who is at once a human soldier yet divine. Each canto has a uniform metre and there is one canto (canto 10) deploying a variety of metres. The end of each canto suggests the topic for the next. The main sentiment or rasa of the poem is “heroism”, (vīrya). The poem through its form and subject matter is conducive to the attainment of the four aims of human life (): “righteousness” (dharma), “wealth and power,” (artha), “pleasure” (kāma) and “spiritual liberation” (). ’s Poem contains descriptions of cities, the ocean, mountains, seasons, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and the sports of love and sex. Five such poems are traditionally enumerated in addition to which our work is sometimes named the sixth. The five are the Goodall, Dominic and Isaacson, Harunaga, 2003. The Raghupañcikā of Vallabhadeva, being the earliest commentary on the of Kālidāsa, Critical Edition with Introduction and Notes, Volume 1. Groningen : Egbert Forsten. (“Lineage of Raghu”) and the Kumārasambhava (“Birth of the war God KumAra/KartikEya/Muruga”) of Kālidāsa, the Śiśupālavadha (“Slaying of Śiśupāla”) of Māgha,Durgaprasada. 2000. Śiśupālavadha of Magha. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, K.S.S. no. 77. Kirātārjunīya (“Arjuna and the Mountain Man”) of Bharavi and the (“Adventures of the Prince of Nishadha”) of . The multitude of manuscripts found in libraries demonstrates the popularity of the and the thirteen extant and eight further attested commentaries instantiate its importance to the tradition.Narang, Satya Pal. 1969. , A Study. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Purpose and content
“’s Poem” has two purposes: it is both a poetic retelling of the adventures of Rāma and a compendium of examples of grammar and rhetoric for the student. As literature, cantos 1, 2 and 10 in particular stand comparison with the best of Sanskrit poetry. The provides a comprehensive exemplification of Sanskrit grammar in use and a good introduction to the science (śāstra) of poetics or rhetoric (, lit. ornament). It also gives a taste of the Prakrit language (a major component in every Sanskrit drama) in easily accessible form. Finally it tells the compelling story of Prince Rāma in simple, elegant Sanskrit: this is the faithfully retold.
The , 'Eight Books'
The learned Indian curriculum in late classical times had at its heart a system of grammatical study and linguistic analysis.Filliozat. 2002 The Sanskrit Language: An Overview — History and Structure, Linguistic and Philosophical Representations, Uses and Users. Indica Books. The core texts for this study were the notoriously difficult “Eight Chapters” () of , the sine qua non of learning composed in the 4th century BCE, and arguably the most remarkable and indeed foundational text in the history of linguistics. Not only is the a description of a language unmatched in totality for any language until the nineteenth century, but it is also presented in the most compact form possible through the use of an elaborate and sophisticated metalanguage, again unknown anywhere else in linguistics before modern times. This grammar of had been the object of intense study for the ten centuries prior to the composition of “’s Poem”. It was plainly ’s purpose to provide a study aid to ’s text by using the examples already provided in the existing grammatical commentaries in the context of the gripping and morally improving story of the . To the dry bones of this grammar has given juicy flesh in his poem. The same could be said for poetics, prosody and Prakrit. The intention of the author was to teach these advanced sciences through a relatively easy and pleasant medium. In his own words: This composition is like a lamp to those whose those who perceive the meaning of words and like a hand mirror for a blind man to those without grammar. This poem, which is to be understood by means of a commentary, is a joy to those sufficiently learned: through my fondness for the scholar I have here slighted the dullard. 22.33–34. The traditional story given to account for the technical or shastric nature of the poem goes that ’s class on grammar was one day disturbed by an elephant ambling between him and his pupils. This bestial interruption necessitated an interdiction of study for a year as prescribed by the solemn law books. To ensure that no vital study time was lost our poem was composed as a means of teaching grammar without resorting to an actual grammatical text.
The Structure of the Text
The as a pedagogic text canto and verse Topic “Diverse Rules” 1.1-5.96 n/a Miscellaneous sutras "The Illustration of Particular Topics" 5.97-100 3.2.17-23 The affix 5.104-6.4 3.1.35-41 The suffix ām in the periphrastic perfect 6.8-10 1.4.51 Double accusatives 6.16-34 3.1.43-66 Aorists using sĪC substitutes for the affix CLI 6.35-39 3.1.78 The affix ŚnaM for the present tense system of class 7 verbs 6.46-67 3.1.96-132 The future passive participles or gerundives and related forms formed from the affixes tavya, tavyaT, anīyaR, yaT, Kyap, and 6.71-86 3.1.133-150 Words formed with nirupapada affixes 6.87-93 3.2.1-15 Words formed with affixes 6.94-111 3.2.28-50 Words formed with affixes KHaŚ and KhaC 6.112-143 3.2.51-116 Words formed with affixes 7.1-25 3.2.134-175 7.28-34 3.3.1-21 affixes 7.34-85 3.3.18-128 The affix GhaÑ 7.91-107 1.2.1-26 8.1-69 1.3.12-93 Ātmanepada (middle voice) affixes 8.70-84 1.4.24-54 The use of cases under the adhikāra ‘kārake’ 8.85-93 1.4.83-98 karmapravacanīya prepositions 8.94-130 2.3.1-73 vibhakti, case inflection 9.8-11 7.2.1-7 The suffix sIC and of the parasmaipada aorist 9.12-22 7.2.8-30 The prohibition of 9.23-57 7.2.35-78 The use if 9.58-66 8.3.34-48 in compounds 9.67-91 8.3.55-118 Retroflexion of s 9.92-109 8.4.1-39 Retroflexion of n , "The Charms of Poetry", figures of speech, , rasa, Prakrit 10.1-22 n/a Figures of sound, 10.23-75 n/a Figures of sense, 11 n/a or ‘sweetness’ 12 n/a Bhāvikatva rasa, ‘intensity of expression’ 13 n/a , simultaneous Prakrit and Sanskrit "The Illustration of Finite Verb Forms" 14 n/a The perfect tense 15 n/a The aorist tense 16 n/a The simple future 17 n/a The imperfect tense 18 n/a The present tense 19 n/a The optative mood 20 n/a The imperative mood 21 n/a The conditional mood 22 n/a The periphrastic future
Grammar
“Diverse Rules”
In the first section of the poem, the “Diverse Rules”, where the intention appears to be the illustration of miscellaneous rules, it is not obvious how to determine which specific rule if any is intended to be exemplified in any particular verse. Hundreds of rules could in theory be applicable. The commentators assist somewhat where they cite those rules which they think to be worth quoting in that context. The other guide is the Sanskrit language itself: it is likely that the most unusual or aberrant forms would have been exemplified. The frequent coincidence of these two heuristic principles is also helpful. Where the word in the verse is also given as an example in the grammatical texts then we can be almost certain about the topic. It could be conjectured at this point that within this section of “Diverse Rules” those verses which were intended to illustrate the grammar would be those without figures of speech or at least with very simple figures. That supposition would be consistent with the lack of ornament in some sections of the poem and would also explain why there is such a marked distinction between ’s high style in canto 1 and much of 2 and his plainer style in much of the rest of the poem. It may be that “’s Poem” was first intended to be a typical courtly epic or “high kāvya” and that the idea of creating this new genre of educational poem or “śāstra-kāvya” evolved as the poem was being composed. This is supported by the progression in styles from highly ornate poetry in the first two cantos, through unadorned verse with no apparent systematic exemplification of grammar, the so-called “Diverse Rules Section” , to the second major section from near the end of canto 5 until the end of canto 9, the "Illustration of Particular Topics".
"The Illustration of Particular Topics" The is the "Illustration of Particular Topics" in which the verses exemplify in sequence long series of rules from the “IAST|Aṣṭādhyāyī”. Here again poetry is subjugated to the pedagogic purpose of exemplification: the metre is the humble or śloka and there are few figures of speech to decorate the tale. This change of metre from the longer 44 syllable upajāti for the first three cantos to the shorter and simpler 32 syllable for the next six may also be indicative of a gradually evolving intention.
How does “’s Poem” illustrate grammar?