Shringara-manjari-katha (IAST: Śṛṅgāra-mañjarī-kathā, "Stories for Shringara-manjari") is an 11th-century Sanskrit-language storybook from India. Attributed to king Bhoja, it has been partially recovered from a fragmentary manuscript. It contains a frame story, in which a courtesan's mother instructs her daughter on how to deal with men of various characters, through 13 sub-stories.
Manuscript
Shringara-manjari-katha is known from a fragmentary palm-leaf manuscript found at the Jaisalmer Jnana Bhandara (or Brihad-Jnana-Kosha), a Jain repository. The manuscript is written in Devanagari script in black ink, and the characters indicate use of a reed pen. Based on the page numbers, it appears that the complete text was written on 158 leaves, each measuring 11.7 x 2 inches. Out of these, 16 leaves are missing and 26 leaves are fragmented. The leaves are divided into two pages, with string holes in the centre. Generally, there are six lines on a page, but some narrow leaves have only five lines. The lines are written on both sides of the leaves, and each line contains 52-55 letters.
The scribe appears to have been well-versed with the writing technique, but not with the language. He made several grammatical and other textual mistakes, which may have resulted from carelessness or a defective source manuscript. The scribe has corrected a small number of errors by altering, canceling, or inserting letters. For example, an altered letter is indicated by two minor strokes.
The manuscript has a sentence mentioning the date of composition in the Shaka era, but the portion that mentions the date is lost. Other manuscripts with same handwriting were discovered in the same collection, but they are also undated. The style of writing matches with the style used in other manuscripts dated to 11th and 12th centuries. Based on this, and the condition of the leaves, the manuscript can be dated to 12th century or earlier.
Critical edition
In 1874, Indologist Georg Bühler noticed the manuscript, and described it in a short paragraph. In 1916, C. D. Dalal listed it in his Catalogue Of Manuscripts in the Jesalmere Bhandaras. In 1941, M. Krishnamachariar attempted to obtain the manuscript, but the Dewan of the Jaisalmer State replied that the manuscript had several missing and unnumbered pages, and some of its pages were mixed with another manuscript.
In 1942, Jain scholar Muni Jinvijay spent five months in Jaisalmer to examine various manuscripts. He found 15-20 palm leaves in the Shringara-manjari-katha manuscript, and had them copied. Later, he found several palm leaves in same handwriting while checking other manuscripts. He consolidated all the surviving palm leaves belonging to the Shringara-manjari-katha manuscript.
In 1945, Jinvijay asked his Ph.D. student Kalpalata Munshi to work on a critical edition of the text. Munshi's edition and translation was published in 1959, by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. She corrected several scribal mistakes, and added punctuation and paragraphs for easier reading. She did not translate the small fragments, and the twelfth story, which is lost.
Authorship
The text names the Paramara king Bhoja (r.c. 1010–1055 CE) as its author. The first four stanzas of the work pay homage to Sarasvati, and the fifth stanza mentions Bhoja-raja as the author. The concluding verse again names Maharajadhiraja Parameshvara Shri (royal title) Bhoja-deva as the author. The colophon of each story in the book also names Bhoja as its author. The story is set in Bhoja's capital, Dhara, and greatly praises the city.
Bhoja was known as a patron of scholars and poets, and according to some scholars, several works attributed to him were actually written by his courtiers. Kalpalata Munshi asserts that Shringara-manjari-katha was authored by Bhoja himself. According to her, the text aims to illustrate the various types of rāga (attachment) presented in the Shringara-Prakasha, another work attributed to Bhoja. The title of the text (and the name of its heroine) appears to have some connection with Bhoja's theory of Shringara rasa, which is also presented in the Shringara-Prakasha. Historian Daud Ali (2016) believes that the text was most likely composed by a courtier of Bhoja.
Contents
King Bhoja and his companions are sitting in his palace garden, in his capital Dhara. At the request of his courtiers, Bhoja starts telling a frame story set in Dhara. He first glorifies Dhara as a great city, and then turns to a mechanical doll (yantra-putraka), commanding it to speak. The doll begins to speak, and glorifies Bhoja.
Bhoja then resumes his story, describing his favourite courtesan (ganika) Shringara-manjari as a beautiful, educated, and talented woman. The king describes her mother Vishama-shila as an old, unattractive, and deceptive woman having the skills required to manage courtesans.
Then, the actual frame story begins: Vishama-shila is concerned that one day her daughter Shringara-manjari may be cheated by rogue men, and therefore, educates her about the character of different types of men, by telling her thirteen short stories.
The tale of Ravi-datta
Ravi-datta was born in a Brahmin family of Kundinapura, and mastered all the Vedas and the shastras by the age of 16 years. His father Soma-datta instructed him on several topics, including that of prostitutes. After the death of his parents, his friends convinced him to attend the festive procession of the god of love (Madana). Although this was against what his parents had taught him, Ravi-datta attended the event, and became infatuated with a courtesan named Vinaya-vati.
Vinaya-vati recognized him as an easy prey, and invited him home through her friend Sangamika. Ravi-datta was initially apprehensive, but ultimately agreed. He started visiting her everyday, and gradually, lost all his wealth to her. When Ravi-datta had no more money left, she sent a message to him through Sangamika, asking him to not visit her for a few days, as she would be with a wealthy merchant named Vasu-datta.
After some days, Ravi-datta visited Vinaya-vati's house, but her servants refused to let him in. He met Sangamika, but she refused to recognize him. He made repeated attempts to meet Vinaya-vati, but each time, her servants ridiculed him, and turned him away. Despite this, Ravi-datta's attachment for Vinaya-vati did not decrease. He kept thinking about her for the rest of his life, and considered himself lucky whenever he had an opportunity to look at her.
Vishama-shila explains that Ravi-datta's attachment like was like indigo. Just like a cloth dyed in indigo does not lose its colour even after being washed several times, a man with this character does not give up his attachment even after being ruined. She declares that the secret teachings of prostitution yielded good results once the nature of such men was known.
The tale of Vikrama-simha
One day, Prince Vikrama-simha of Tamalipti, was roaming around in the locality of courtesans. There, he saw Malatika, the daughter of the procurer Ekadamshtra. He was attracted to Malatika, and asked his servant Priyamvadaka to arrange a meeting with her. Malatika said that her livelihood depended on a merchant named Vasu-datta because of a contract, and Vikrama-simha will have to wait until she could find an excuse to meet him.
Vikrama-simha waited patiently for the entire rainy season. One day, Malatika sent her messenger Madhukarika to invite him to her place. He visited her, and once gratified, gave her much wealth before leaving. The next portion is lost, but the subsequent text suggests that Vikrama-simha felt offended for some reason. He stopped visiting Malatika, stopped sending her gifts, and his attachment for her gradually decreased.
Vishama-simha explains that Vikrama-simha's attachment was like rubia cordifolia root (mañjiṣṭhā). Just like a cloth dyed in it gradually fades in colour when washed, such a man gradually loses his attachment when offended. Therefore, a courtesan should not offend such men.
The tale of Madhava
A procurer named Bhujanga-vagura lived in the city of Vidisha. Her daughter Kuvalayavali was a beautiful young woman. One day, Madhava - a wealthy man and a student of the Vedas - returned to Vidisha from Simhala-dvipa. He learned of Kuvalayavali's beauty, and paid much money to spend a night with her. Kuvalayavali was pleased with him and started inviting him often. Gradually, she deprived him of all his wealth.
To avoid being seen as a ruined man, Madhava decided to leave Vidisha and go to Malaya country to earn wealth. Kuvalayavali cried and tried to stop him. Madhava refused to stay, but before leaving, gifted her his expensive upper garment. Kuvalayavali and her mother Bhujanga-vagura followed him for some distance, and then the mother asked him to give Kuvalayavali a token of remembrance. When Madhava said that he did not have anything left, she suggested that he give her the clothes remaining on his body. Madhava agreed, but said that he was feeling shy because there were many travelers on the road. He asked the women to follow him to a lonely spot where he could remove his clothes and give them to Kuvalayavali. When they reached a lonely spot, Madhava attacked Bhujanga-vagura: he threw her on the ground, and cut her nose and ears. He declared that this was a token of remembrance that she would never forget, and then left.
Vishama-shila explains that Madhava's attachment was like safflower (kusumbha). Just like a cloth dyed in safflower is not suitable for washing or exposing to heat, a man with this character becomes estranged and evil when offended. Therefore, a courtesan should take the wealth of such a man without offending him.
The tale of Sura-dharman
A poor man named Sura-dharman lived in the Hastigrama village of Brahmins, located on the banks of the Ganges river. He obtained a precious jewel by worshipping the deity of the sea. He was concerned about losing the jewel, so he cut open his thigh, and hid it there. To avoid being seen as the owner of a precious jewel, he started feigning madness, and wandered around, saying only the words "Mother knows".
After several days, Sura-dharman came to Ujjayini, the capital of king Vikramaditya. The king's courtesan Deva-datta was always looking for rich men to fleece. One day, she came across Sura-dharman and realized that he must be feigning madness to hide something precious. She brought him home, and made several attempts to find his secret, at the cost of neglecting the king. However, even after six months, Sura-dharman did not say anything except "Mother knows".
One day, Sura-dharman decided to leave, concerned that Deva-datta will be able to find his secret if he stayed any longer. Deva-datta threatened to immolate herself, but still failed to stop him from leaving. Deva-datta took this as a personal defeat, and decided to make a final attempt to stop him by faking her death.
Following Deva-datta's plan, two girls met on the road where Sura-dharman was walking. One girl informed the other that Deva-datta had fallen in love with a madman, and died after he left her. When Sura-dharman heard this, he told the girls that he was the person responsible for her death, and ran back to her house. At the house, Deva-datta played dead, surrounded by other people. The procurer cried and rebuked Sura-dharman for destroying their happiness. Feeling sorry, Sura-dharman gave the jewel to the procurer, and decided to commit suicide to be with Deva-datta. Just then, Deva-datta opened her eyes, and a rumour spread that she had miraculously risen from dead when her lover came to her. Sura-dharman lived happily with Deva-datta for some days, but then, she kicked him out.