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351 Festivals : One of the popular festivals in ancient times was the celebration of the spring (vasamtasiri, Vasantamasa). To enjoy the beauty of the spring season (vasamtamasamuvajivium)- king Abhayaghosa went to the garden outside the city with the host of his queens, and heaps of flowers. These flowers were probably utilised in the sport of hitting one another with flowers. King Vajjauha similarly went out to a garden in the company of his queens and indulged in water sports with them in a big well (vavi) in the garden². The Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, however, refers to two important festivals associated with two seasons, viz. Mahakomudi and Vasamtajatta and describes them in details. The Mahakomudi festival was celebrated on the full moon day of the autumn (sarada). 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 329-30. This 2. Ibid.; 334, One of the favourite festivals of the Gupta age. See for the literary evidence (e.g. Raghu. IX.46), Saletore, R.N.; Life in the Gupta Age, p. 163. 3. Reference to Mahakaumudimahotsava in the Mudraraksasam (Act III). See Saletore, R.N., op. cit., p. 161.

352 On this day 'the tree of lamps' (divarukkha) 2 was lit with lamps and was worshipped by the people. Throughout the day and especially at night they participated in the revelry of songs, dance and music (gita-nattagamdhavva) played on instruments like the pipe (venu), lyre (vina) and drums (padaha) 1. Several dramatic troupes (pecchanaya-sahassa) visited big cities on such occasions Display of who enacted scenes (kougapecchanaya) with the help of mechanical devises (jamtaniciya) was also made to please the visitors. The scenes represented in such a way in the of festival at Savatthi were from by the stories from the Puranas (loiyasui). At one place they showed Rana in Elsewhere a married woman was shown exile with Sita. ma praying the god for union with the same husband in the next birth while at another place abduction of polomikanna by Indra was represented. The Mahakomudi celebrations attracted a large number of people, and as such gave an ideal opportunity for a rendezvous³. 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, I. 19b. 2. Ibid.; I. 17a. 3. Ibid.; I. 19-20.

353 Outside the town, amidst a carvan of cowherds the gopis danced a rasa to celebrate the occasion¹. More details than those in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa have It was been given in the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa about the spring festival. celebrated on the thirteenth day of the cetta monk, month. On the previous day, the king, through a public declaration invited the subjects to take part in the celebrations which were in a park outside the city. On this auspicious occasion the king with his courtiers (talayara) went to the park in a procession in great pomp and threw a grand feast to the people. Throughout the day invitees enjoyed the feast and entertained themselves with music and songs². Entertainments : It was a very common practice of the kings to 3 entertain themselves with dances. The prince of Camdanapura was accompanied by a troupe of dancers to the The troupe performance of a sacrifice in the forest. entertained the hermits with dance recitals 4+. The dancers at 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, 1.20. 2- Ibid., II. 215b-216b. 3. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 109. 4. Ibid., 293.

354 the court were known as nadaijja (skt. natakiyah) and sometimes sang and enacted popular stories through dance. Vasudeva was entertained in his house by palace-dancers with the story of caravan (sattha) 1. How a sort of prestige was attached to the patronisation of skilled dancers can be very well illustrated from the example of king Damiyari. He ordered two young princess to dispatch the famous dancers from their palace to his court 2. From the appellations, Babbari and Cilaiga -3 it may be observed that they were imported from the countries Babbara ( Skt. Barbara) + and citaya (skt.kirata) 5. 6 Apart from the dancers, which only the affluent could afford to patronise, people entertained themselves at public dramatic performances (picchanaya), which were sometimes enacted by companies of actors who moved from place to place entertaining the people. In these, popular 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 282. 3. Ibid.; 2. Ibid.; 325. 4. See appendix B, 'Babbara' 5. kiratikas were famous in the Epic literature Mbh, Sabha, 48.10. 6. Vasudevahindi(F), 320.

355 mythological stories such as the affair of Ahalla and Vasava¹. The favourite pasttime of the rich, according to the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, was to listen to poetry and music and to see the dance recital (gamdhavvakavvanadanaccana), in the evening, Sometimes courtezans also were invited². Another pastime was to witness the tricks of a juggler. One of the trick-scenes presented by the juggler has been referred to in a simile. A juggler (vijjavadiu) could bring to life a dead person and kill him again³. Amusements : People from various strata of society amused themselves in different ways. Appart from the arts of music, dance and painting which were pursued with the liking of an amateur, people amused themselves with dice+, hunting, birds like peacock, partridge (tittiri)7, female ruidy 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 292. 2. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II. 18 b. 3. anukulabhavidesu jivaveuna puno maresi sundaram midu vijjavadiu iva vippasuttam utthaveuna puno maranim vaheti, Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II.215b. 4. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 11, 25, 206, 253. 5. Ibid.; 124. 6. Ibid.; 89- 7. Ibid.; 181, f vourite in the Gupta period; See Vidya Prakash, "Material Life on Gupta coins" JNSI, Vol. 23, pp. 273-74.

356 goose (cakkavakill, parrot (suka) 2 and sarika, and animals like the monkey ³. Especially the cock fight (juddham kukkudanam) was so popular that it not only interested the commoners+ but also the royalty 5. The 6. custom of fabulous baiting on cock fights has also been referred to b. There is also an idirect reference to ram fight?. Some of the above pursuits of entertainments must have got altogether a different set-up when these appeared in the context of the Gosthis. The gotthi or the club was a peculiar institution wherein generally people of the same taste gathered together and entertained themselves by arranging picnics (ujjanajatta), debates and competitions. Members of a laliyagot thi arranged discussions on various branches of knowledge (vinnananana isaesu) in parks (ujiana), forests (kanana) and assembly halls (sabha) 9. Sometimes two members held funny but witty 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 57. 3- Ibid., 105. 5. Ibid.; 333. 2. Ibid., 249. 4. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 289. 6. Ibid., 289. 333. 7. Vasudeva to test the might of a ram brought by Pajjunna Shta signalled with his finger. The ram strait way rushed at him; Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 94. 8. Ibid. 64. 9. Ibid., 28.

357 competitions. The competitions between Samba and Subhanu stand a good example in this case 1. The king always honoured these clubs by asking them to act as connoisseurs (pasaniya) or judges for the dance recitals arranged for him². Sometimes even members of the royal family, for example a prince, were members of the gotthi. as referred to erlier, the gotthi many times arranged to picnics (uijunajatta) at its convenience. jes Many members at ended it alongwith their family. In such picnics the members entertained themselves with dance, and music+, swing 5, and swimming after the rty lunch. 6 Apart from the lapiyagotthis which were somewhat like the modern 'art-circ鉁� Alles', there were regular dice houses (juyasala, sabha where some of the rich (ibbhaputta) gathered and played dice. These houses seem to have the sanction not only of the soceity but also of the 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 105-06. 2. Ibid., 28. 3. Ibid., 58. 4. Ibid., 64. 嘟� Ibid., 58. 鈥�

358 administration, as many officials of the king are referred to have been the members of the dice house 1. One of the rules of the dice house was that no one was expected to play on credit. The evidence from the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa shows that some of Vasudeva the members of the higher classes in the society mastered many arts because of t eir artistic inclinations. trained a group of dancers (pedaya) at the court of king Bhanu camda, in the art of Bharatanatta 3 Alongwith the fine arts, the elite in the society studied the sastras to widen the horizon of their knowledge. As such, when in the company of those who were of the same disposition they discussed v ricus problems related to their learning. Vasudeva and the envoys of king Jarasandha amused themselves, while on a long journey, with music, poesy, prosody and grammar immar . On his way to the park 1. Vasudevahindi(F), 247-48. In this connection it can be noted that while playing dice there was a formality to be observed. The persons concerned exchanged the signet rings, [Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 253] probably as a guarantee not to cheat each other. 2. Ibid., 210-11. 3. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II. 206a. 4. Ibid., II.201a.

359 out_side the town who discussed various topics in sastras and kalas, with his friends. Their discussion covered subjects like mathematics, grammar, prosody, astronomy, mimansa, samkhas蓹ttha, samkhasattha, satthitamta, Vedas, itihasa and Puranas. literarry part from these tier ry and refined past times, the members of a society also indulged in playing dice (akkha), though it was normally looked upon as a bad habit (vasana) . The story of Nala who lost his entire kingdom to his brother in a game of dice was a patent example e². The other pastimes referred to in the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa 2 was probably more suitable to the warrior class; it was the race of animals. Two brothers, both princes from the royal family of Vesali, had contested such a race. This race was abnormal in the sense that a chariot and a female elephant were to run together. When Vasudeva saw that the owner of the female elephant, who was quite capable to win in case a skilled rider was to gold, was a bit diffident he offered himself as a driver and help him to emerge victorious ³. ed 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, I. 11a. 2. Ibid.; II. 61. 3. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II. 32ab.