Dasarupaka (critical study)
by Anuru Ranjan Mishra | 2015 | 106,293 words
This page relates 鈥楥haracters in the Lilavati-Vithi鈥� of the English study of the Dasarupaka of Dhananjaya: an important work on Hindu dramaturgy (Natya-shastra) from the tenth century dealing with the ten divisions of Sanskrit drama (nata), describing their technical aspects and essential dramaturgical principals. These ten types of drama are categorised based on the plot (vastu), hero (neta) and sentiment (rasa)
Part 7 - Characters in the 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨-痴墨迟丑墨
According to the 狈腻峁瓂补艣腻蝉迟谤补, 痴墨迟丑墨 should have two characters.
The 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨v墨th墨 has two noble characters present on the stage, i.e.
- 痴颈诲奴峁办补 and
- the king V墨rap膩la.
The other characters are indicated by the technical way called 鈥�腻办腻艣补产丑腻峁迟补鈥�. The other characters seem to remain off the stage. They are: 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨, 碍补濒腻惫补迟墨, Kandalik膩, Kelim膩l膩, Siddhimat墨 and then 狈补峁� and 厂奴迟谤补诲丑腻谤补 in the prologue.
痴颈诲奴峁办补 鈥�
Here 痴颈诲奴峁办补 is a friend of the king and is a Br膩hmin and his name is 痴补颈丑腻蝉颈办补. He helps the king to marry 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨, through the help of 驰辞驳颈苍墨 Siddhimat墨 who convinces the queen through her magical power. The queen saw the lord 艢颈惫补 in the dream, who orders her to arrange the marriage of 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 to the king and in exchange she would be the crowned queen, when the king will be the emperor. The king V墨rap膩la, is saddened by the love for 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨, he takes the 痴颈诲奴峁办补 to the B膩lody膩na and becomes even more saddened, by seeing rains.
However, 痴颈诲奴峁办补 amuses the king through his words, for instance,
鈥�bho vayasya bhavatvevam, ka岣� 艣uktibha帽janabhayena mukt膩valimujjhati鈥�
鈥�(尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨v墨th墨, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.12)
alam 惫颈峁Ｄ乨别苍补, when time will come you will get 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨. 痴颈诲奴峁办补 is straightforward, but rigid in nature. He does not express what he thinks in his mind.
When 痴颈诲奴峁办补 and Siddhimat墨 were discussing something secret, Kandalik膩 accidentally reaches there; so 痴颈诲奴峁办补 stops conversation and says to her,
鈥�etanno rahasyabh膩峁峁嘺m bhartre鈥檖i m膩 prak膩艣ayeti, d峁涐笉ha丑峁沝补测补岣� khalu vaih膩sikabr膩hma峁嘺岣�, tad yog墨艣var墨mev膩nuvartat膩m 产丑补惫补迟墨鈥�
鈥�(尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨v墨th墨, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.8).
However, 痴颈诲奴峁办补 makes embarrassment to the king by his humorous nature. For instance, when the love letter of 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 falls somewhereand the queen comes to know about it and the king has been made to suffer.
The 痴颈诲奴峁办补 approaches Bhadrasiddhi, the snake charmer and saves queen鈥檚 life and he feels it is an extraordinary act done by him,
鈥�办辞鈥檛谤补 蝉补峁僤别丑补岣�, yatr膩s膩dh膩ra峁嘺 pray膩so vaih膩sikabr膩mha峁嘺岣�鈥�
鈥�(尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨v墨th墨, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.24).
The 痴颈诲奴峁办补 is a Br膩mha峁嘺and he is very proud of that,
鈥�膩岣� katham mah膩br膩mha峁噊 d膩sy膩岣� p膩dayo岣� pra峁嚹乵am karoti鈥�
鈥�(尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨v墨th墨, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.13).
His role is very important in the playand it helps much to develop the plot.
V墨rap膩la 鈥�
V墨rap膩la is the hero of the play and the king of Kuntala. He loves 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨, the daughter of the king of 碍补谤峁嚹佱弓补办补, but the queen 碍补濒腻惫补迟墨 is an obstruction. She tries to make their love unsuccessful. The king feels very sad about it in the rainy season.
When the king comes to know about the love letter of Lil膩vat墨, he becomes relaxed for the moment:
However, in the next moment, he becomes worried because of the queen鈥檚 anger:
鈥�kintu kandalik膩 devy膩岣� kopam dvigu峁嘺yi峁ati鈥�
鈥�(verse.29).
The king becomes worried after getting the news that queen is bitten by the snake and she is unconscious.
Since the king loves the queen, he gave a word that he does not have any affair with any other woman:
鈥�艣补辫别鈥檋补尘 p膩dapa峁卥eruh膩bhy膩m yadi bhavati 尘补诲墨测补尘 箩腻迟耻 肠别迟辞鈥档测补诲腻蝉迟丑补尘鈥�
鈥�(verse.46).
However, when the queen leaves, he feels the absence of 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨. The king V墨rap膩la becomes extremely angry getting the news of abduction of 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨, by T膩mr膩k峁. By defeating him, he gets back 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨.
碍补濒腻惫补迟墨 鈥�
碍补濒腻惫补迟墨 is the crowned queen of V墨rap膩la. She is always worried and jealous. She creates misunderstanding between the king and 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨, with the fear of loss of love. She is grateful to Bhadrasiddhi, the snake charmer, who saves her life. However, since 碍补濒腻惫补迟墨 is the first queen of the king, she is the well-wisher of the king as well.When she comes to know from lord 艢颈惫补 that one day the king will be the emperor, she becomes extremely happy and allows 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 to marry the king.
尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨鈥�
尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 is the heroine of the play and the daughter of the king of Karnataka. She was kept by her father in the custody of 碍补濒腻惫补迟墨 due to the fear of abduction by enemies.
She is very beautifuland after seeing her, the king V墨rap膩la falls in love with her:
鈥�api khalu ku艣alam me netrayor膩yat膩n膩mapi 鈥︹�︹��..da艣anavasanabimbe 肠腻谤耻峁嚹乶腻尘补尘奴苍腻尘鈥�
鈥�(verse.22).
尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 is also in love with the king and extremely sad, as she could not marry the king.
In deep distress, she quits eating, bathing and sleeping, remembering the king,
鈥�na sn膩ne na ca bhojane na 艣ayane dhatte man膩g膩daram n膩datte 鈥︹�︹�墨rap膩lavirah膩ll墨l膩vat墨 d奴yate鈥�
鈥�(verse.11).
尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 finally sends a love letter to the king through the friend Kelim膩l膩 to save her, since he is the protector of the earth. At the end, she gets to marry the king, feels happy and proud. It should be noted here that since she is belonging to another, she is said to be 鈥�辫补谤补办墨测腻鈥� type of heroine.
Kandalik膩 鈥�
Kandalik膩 is the close and dear friend of the queen 碍补濒腻惫补迟墨. She is introduced in the drama, when 痴颈诲奴峁办补 drops the love letter of 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 and she gets it. Kandalik膩 informs the love affair of the king to the queen and the queen becomes angry with the king.
Since 痴颈诲奴峁办补 is the friend of the king and Kandalik膩 is the friend of the queen, they both joke about the love affair with each other,
鈥�vaih膩sika! tv膩m kamapi 艣濒辞办补尘补诲丑测腻辫补测颈峁腻尘颈,
tasm膩nmama p膩dayo岣� pra峁嚹乵am kuru.鈥�
鈥�(尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨v墨th墨, Trivandrum Univ. Pub., p.13).
Kelim膩l膩 鈥�
Kelim膩l膩 is a dear friend of 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨 and she helps her in every way. She sends love letter of L墨l膩vt墨 to the king through 痴颈诲奴峁办补. She is introduced in the drama first in the 惫颈峁尘产丑补办补.
Bhadrasiddhi 鈥�
Bhadrasiddhi is a snake charmer. He saves the life of the queen, when she is bitten by the snake. Actually, Bhadrasiddhi is only 痴颈诲奴峁办补 痴补颈丑腻蝉颈办补, who changed his costume and entered into the palace in the form of a snake charmer. The king however, could not recognize him because of the different costume.
Siddhimat墨 鈥�
Siddhimat墨 is a female ascetic (驰辞驳颈苍墨). Her magical power helps the king to get 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨. 痴颈诲奴峁办补 introduces Siddhimat墨 to the king for his help. Through her magical power, she sends illusory snake to bite the queen. Again, the queen dreams of the king becoming the emperor through her magical power and the queen allows the marriage of the king and 尝墨濒腻惫补迟墨.