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Right from the Vedic period, the contribution of women in all walks of human life, in all spheres of human activity, has been notable in the heritage of Indian culture, although their position in the society is found to be not uniform. In the ancient period, their status was determined in terms of their nature and accomplishments, and the situation in which they were placed. "Ancient Indian sculptures serve as a mirror of social life and one notices women in the company of their husbands at secular as well as religious gatherings, thus pointing to their active participation in social activities. ;They created endowments and gave donations for religious purposes, and their names are recorded in the inscriptions. Some of them activity participated in administrtion, functioning sometimes as regents on behalf of their minor sons like Prabhavati Gupta, Naganika and Balasri (did). There are also references to talented and highly educated ladies. Some also served as distinguished teacher (upadhyaya or upadhyayi)".1 Even in the literary activities, women did not lag behind. Having been the lovers of literature from the earliest times, they rubbed shoulders with men either in writing kavyas or in acting in dramas and proved themselves none the inferior to men. Women had a share in the composing of Vedas, as the Vedas themselves ascertain. More than twenty suktas written by women have brought immemorial renown to them. Even the deeper problems of philosophy were probed into by talented ladies like Gargi and Maitreyi, but this was probably discouraged in later times. The Grihya sutra mentions uttering of Vedic mantras by the wife at ceremonies along with her husband suggesting that women were fairly educated and were able to participate in sacrifices. Since the men had realized that unless women actively participated and extended whole-hearted co-operation to any creative activity that is undertaken, it would not be fruitful, they never

condescended to keep women in the dark. Even Manu is of the opinion that woman should be treated with great respect, for the success of every activity, both worldly and other-worldly and depends upon their being happy. Hence the statement of Manu is oft quoted : yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devatah | 2 yatraitastu na pujyante sarvastatra phalah kriyah || 56 || P. 113 The contribution of women was not limited to the writing of Vedic verses, but it extended to the sphere of creative and secular writings. They were also accomplished in singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. Rajasekhara refers to women's competence in political skill and mentions the example of princess, daughters of high officials and even courtesans who were poetesses as well as adept in the sciences (Sastras). His own wife, Avanti Sundari, from a noble family, was learned and talented and her views on rhetorics are quoted by this poet-cumdramatist. On one occasion he says: purusavat yosito'pi kavibhaveyuh | samskaro hratmani samavati, na strainam paurusam vibhagamapeksate | 1,4 sruyante ca rajaputryo mahamatya duhitaro ganikah kautukabharyasca sastraprahata budhdayah kavayamsca 1. 4 However, it is very unfortunate that in the fast flow of time, a number of literary works composed by the poetesses, have been lost. In the centuries that followed the Vedic Age, since the Epic Age, the degeneration of the society set in. A corollary was the definite deterioration in the status of women. The women were suppressed and equated with the sudras. They were segregated and confined to the four-walls of their home. This unfortunate development lost to the vast Sanskrit literature, many gems of literary talent that otherwise would have enriched it to a great extent. However, whenever provided with an opportunity, the poetesses did emerge 2

out and carve a niche for themselves in the annuals of Sanskrit literature, irrepressible and unsuppressable as they were. It should be mentioned that between 16 th century and 18 th century, poetesses by name Bharati, Vijjita,Mohanangi, Gangadevi, Ramabhadramba etc., adorned the world of Sanskrit literature. Gangadevi wrote the 'Madhuravijayam' which deals with the story of the conquest of Madhurai by the King Kampana. A poetess Vijjika by name, explains with all justification of Goddess Sarasvati. Hence she takes an objection to Dandin's claim as regards Sarasvati as being sarvasukla fully white. nilotpaladalasyamam vijjikam mam ajanata | vrthaiva dandina protkta sarva sukla sarasvati | | Ramambika has translated into Sanskrit, the entire Telugu-Ramayana by Raghunatharaya. A female Sanskrit scholar has composed a Sanskrit drama which deals with, how the authoress won over many pandits in the royal assembly of Rajasthan. From these, we can unhesitatingly concluded that the contribution of poetesses to the Sanskrit literature is no mean. It is simply impossible to ignore the works of these poetesses. The great poet Bhavabhuti has warned us against looking down upon the creative ability and poetic faculty of women just because they are women. Thus he says: 6 gunah pujasthanam gunisu na ca lingam na ca vayah IV. 11 (Bhavabhuti, Uttararamacharitam IV 11). One such illustrious poetess was Tirumalamba, who wrote Varadambikaparinaya campu, a campu during the first half of the 16 th century. She was the beloved queen of Achutaraya an emperor of vijayanagara, who ruled between A.D. 1529 and 1542. Her work narrates the story of Acutarayas marriage with Varadambika daughter of Salaga chief, 3

closing after making Cina Venkatadri the emperor's son by her, the heirapparent to the throne. It is according to Dr. Maan singh, one of the few the historical kavyas in the Sanskrit literature .7 Not all the facts related in this campu, are historical, however Dr. Vasundhara Filliozat points out several unhistorical elements included in it. The father of Acyuta, Narasimha was never a crowned king. But, the poetess says that he was seated on the throne of Vijayanagara (Vidyapuri) and deals at length with his conquests over various kings including the Sultan of Manuva, which, in fact was conquered by Krishnadevaraya in A.D. 1521. Another unhistorical fact mentioned by the poetess is that soon. after the death of Narasa, Acyuta, was nominated a king. "Between Narasa, and Acyuta,there were two kings Bhujabal Narasimha who ruled over the kingdom for a short period of four years (1505-1509) and abdicated the throne in favour of his younger brother Krishnadevaraya under whom, the Kingdom reached its zenith of glory" 8 Whereas Acyuta is presented with big moustaches in a portrait at Tirupati, taking fancy for beards, the poetess says that the king had a thin line of beards. No Hindu king of Vijayanagara period is presented with beards. Referring to these and some other unhistorical facts narrated therein, Dr Vasundhara Filliozat has concluded in these words, "On the whole this campu kavya Varadambikaparinaya should be read as a piece of literar work and not as a serious historical kavya unlike the works of Dindima poets of Vijayanagara period. This campu, no doubt a masterpiece in the field of literature, by a poetess, is not a reliable work, so far as historical details are concerned" In fact such objections can be raised against even ;such historical works like Kalhana's Rajatarangini, which tells the story of the kings of Kashmir, Banas g 4

Harsacaritam, which narrates the story of king Harsa and Dandin's Dasakumarcaritam, which deals with the story of the royal youths. There is good deal in all these works which does not partake of the nature of correct history. That is why it is not an easy task to write Indias past history in the frame of literature. Some ideas of meagre history, sprinkled very aften by literary works, may sub stantiate the basis of a preconceived history. The literary works are also not free from misperception and prejudices of their authors. The historians, therefore, need to develop an objective outlook which is possible by taking recourse to Archeological, epigraphical and numismatic recources in order to cross-check the facts mentioned in the literary works. Given this background, the present campu forms an important literary source in the reconstruction of the history of Vijayanagara empire, a glorious episode in the annals of the mediaeval history of India. What is of prime concern to us, however, is the literary merit of Varadambikaparinaya campu, which we have chosen for a critical study and appraisal. In this enterprise, of necessity we have overlooked the unhistorical facts that are related in it. Critically examined, with reference to other historical works, however, are the date, life and works of the poetess Tirumalamba, in course of the following pages. Before that it is essential in the first place, to examine as to what constitutes a campu since the present work too is a campu. A brief history of campu Kavyas is also given along side. Campu is that kind of literary composition in which there is a balanced mixture of both prose and poetry. Campu is defined as a kind of elaborate and highly artificial composition in which the same subject is continued through alterations in prose and verse 10 According M.Winternitz,"The campus form a particular type of kavya. 5 01

They are poetical compositions in which verses in ornate metres and ornate prose are mixed up together without letting either the metrical verse or prose 12 + form become dominant 3. That is to say, both the verses and prose are equally say,both important. If some verses are found in narrative works like pancatantra, they are present only to emphasize a movement, or reiterate an old saying. On the contrary, "the campu is a particular type of literature in which verses do not serve any purpose other than what is served by prose' of 214 ose">12 Dandin a poet of 6 th century A.D. has defined campu as a mixture prose and poetry in his KavyaDarsa 13 The same defination although in different forms, adding here and there a new element, has come down to us through Viswanatha. Bhoja tothe most recent authors. When did the campu form of literature originate is not definitely known to us. But Krishnamachar's opines that it came into vogue about the begining of the Christain era. We can be sure that by the time of Dandin, Campu must have developed to the full stature since Dandin has given us a definition of Campu, which holds good even today. However, no earlier Campu Kavyas are available. Nevertheless, literary works containing both verse and prose were in existance even before the Christain era commenced, although in the strictest sense of the term, they can not be considered as campus. For instance, Taittiriya Samhita Maitrayani Samhita, and Kathaka Samhita, of Krishayajurveda contain both prose and verse. By this, one can easily conclude that the mixed style was very much in practice in the ancient period. In the 33 rd canto of the Aitareya Brahmana of Rgveda is Hariscandropakhyana which is even earlier example of this style. A portion of it, is quoted below: yam nvimam putramicchanti ye vijananti ye ca na | CO 6

7 kimsvitputrena vindate tanma acandava narada iti | 21pr || sa ekaya prsto dasabhih pratyuvaca iti | rnamasmin samnayatyamrtatvam ca gacchati | pita putrasya jatasya pasyecejivato mukham || 15 pr 2 | | . 15 16 Another instance of poetry being interspered with prose can be found in the first Adhyaya or chapter of Kenopanishad. Like wise, in the Prasna, Mundaka, Katha Upanisads, also this mixed style is found. Among the inscriptions, the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta, which was composed by Harisena is a fine blend of prose and poetry. The modern researchers have called it as "Prashasti Kavya" an altogether new category, yet if we go strictly by the classification by lakshanikas, the name campu is more appropriate for it. The earliest campu, that is available to us is the Nalacampu, composed by Trivikrama Bhatta in 915 A.D. campus became very popular, thus in the 10 th century A.D. and they were largely composed in south India. Some of the popular campus are Yasastilaka Campu written by Somedeva in 951 A.D. Bharatacamputilaka by Laksmana, Bhagavata campu by Abhinava Kalidasa in early 11 th century etc., in keeping with glorious tradition of campu. Tirumalamba has written the present Varadambikaparinaya Campu. It is laden with all those intricacies that characterise a triditional Sanskrit prose, and the charms that characterise the poetry. The prime object of the poetess in writing this campu is to display the beauty of Sanskrit prose, and variety of imagery, as was doubtless the case with Subhandu, Dandin and Bana. This and the other facts shall reveal to us by the ventures made in the following chapters to explore the world of Tirumalamba,as represented in her work, which is of extreme beauty and elegance, in fact the only Sanskrit romance written by a woman Sanskritist.

The importance of the present study lies in the fact that apart from the scholarly edition of the text of Varadambikaparinaya campu., published by Dr.Laxman Swarup, and an equally scholarly translation of the text into English by prof Suryakanta, very few studies have been undertaken. A few articles dealing with some aspect of the campu or the other have been published. At any rate, no attempt has been made to study the campu as a whole, in order to bring out all the literary merits there of. We propose to make such an attempt in the present study. In the present study the theories of poetics on Rasa, Alam kara, Riti, Guna etc., propounded by the Sanskrit literary critics, are applied to the study and assessment of the different aspects of this campu. The development of the theme, the various descriptions, the characterisation, the language andstyle etc., of the poetess are studied critically with suitable illustrations from the text and other texts whenever some point is made, by way of comparison and application of theoretical principles. A sincere attempt, thus, to highlight the different aspects of the campu, and the literary merits thereof in their proper perspective is made in this critical study. In order to make the study as exhaustive as possible, the following scheme of arrangement as well as discussion of the material is adopted: Chapter I: Life, Date, and Works of Tirumalamba. ChapterII: The Art of Narration ChapterIII: Descriptions in the Varadambikaparinaya campu. ChapterIV: Characterisation in Varadambikaparinaya campu. Chapter V Alankaras in the Varadambikaparinaya campu. Chapter VI: Rasa delineation in the Varadambikaparinaya campu. Chapter VII: An Appraisal of the study and conclusions. 00

Before placing humbly this thesis into the hands of scholars as a bonafide work of my sincere study and research, I sincerely express my sense of gratitude to the scholars from whose works I have derived information and more importantly inspiration to formulate my views on the different aspects of the campu under study. 9

REFERENCES 1. P. N. Chopra & others " A social & economic History of India" Macmillan India. Dehli 1974 P. 100 2. Manu Smrti. Pandit Haagovind Sastri Chawkamba Sanskit series office Varanasi, 1979. P. 113 3. Rajasekhara, Kapura Manjari Ed. N. G. Suru Aryabhusana press Baroda 1960. P.4 4. Rajasekhara Kavyamimasa, Ed. Pt. Kedarnatha Sharma Bihar Rastrabasha parisad Patna 1954 X P. 130. 5. Prof. K.T. Pandurangi, Sanskritakaviyatriyaru Mysore University, 1965. P. 11 6. Bhavabhuti Uttraramacaritam by P.V. Kane, Translation C.S. Joshi Bombay 1915 P. 103. 7. Dr. Maan Singh, The Varadambika parinaya, A literary estimate, Sharada pradipa, Annual Jurnal of indological Research institute, Dwarka, 1972. Vol. XII P. 174. 8. Dr. Vasundhara Filliozat, Unhistoical statements in Varadambikaparinaya, Campu Mythic society quarterly journal, Bangalore April, June 1977 P.42. 9. Dr. Vasundhara Filliozat, Ibid. P. 43. 10. V. S. Apte, Sanskrit, English Dictionay, Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi Varanasi, 1970. P. 203 10

11. M. Wimternitz, History of Indian literatue, Vol. III part I, Motilal Banarasidasa Delhi 1963. P. 454. 12. M. Winternitz. Ibid. PP. 454. 13. Dandin, Kavya Darsha (Ed.) S. Vishwanathan Balamanorama press Mylapore Madras 1963. P. 39. misrani natakadini tesamanyatra vistarah | gadhapadhamayi kaciccampurityabhidhiyate || 1-31. 14. Kishnamachari, History of classical Sanskrit literature, Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi 1970 P. 476. 15. Chhowinatha Tripati, critical and Historical study of Campu Kavys, Chowkamba series, 1965 P. 57. 16. Dr. K. Krishnamoorthy, Sanskrit Kavya, Mysore University prasanarga 1974, P. 418. 11