An analysis of the dramatic structure of Kalidasa's "Abhinjanasakunthalam"

by sherrin (student)

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Dramatic structure of Abhijnanasakuntalam: An analysis

Submitted by

Sherrin Rajan

11/PELA/002

The Abhinjanasakunthalam is regarded as the very first Indian play to be translated into a western language. After the translation by Sir William Jones, there were about forty six translations in twelve European languages. Some English translations are “The Fatal Ring: an Indian drama” by Sir William Jones, “The Lost Ring: an Indian drama “by Sir Monier Monier Williams and “Sakuntala and other works” by Arthur W. Ryder.

In the thesis by Tripti Mund , it is mentioned that the Abhinjanasakunthalam contains over two hundred verses. These verses are mostly uttered by the major characters. The language spoken by them is Sanskrit. The division of language spoken by the character is according to the social status. Vidushaka speaks Prakrit, Maharastri is spoken by high class women, children and royal servants. The other attendants of the royal palace speak Magadhi. The low class people like cowherds, robbers, gamblers speak varieties of prakrit like Abhiri, Paisaci and Avanti. ( Mund 24, 25) The themes for any Sanskrit play are usually from history or epic legend. But the dramatist mixes it up with his own fictitious inventions like Kalidasa has done it many places in his Abhinjanasakunthalam. The play commences with Nandi followed by the prologue wherein the stage manager with his wife or assistant introduces the actors and informs the audience of the play. Apart from religious festivals, marriage, birth the Sanskrit stage adhered to the high ideals of Indian culture. The theme of the play is based on the Indian philosophy that true love is immortal. Rabindranath Tagore has explained this theme of love in Kalidasa’s Sakuntala and says that Kalidasa has shown that while infatuation leads to failure beneficence achieves complete fruition, that beauty is constant only when upheld by virtue, that the highest form of love is the tranquil, controlled and beneficent form, that in regulation lies the true charm and lawless excess, speedy corruption of beauty. He refuses to acknowledge passion as the supreme glory of love; he proclaims goodness as the final goal of love. (krishnamachariar 590)

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As mentioned before most Sanskrit plays begin with a prayer or a Nandi. The Nandi is essentially addressed to a deity. For Kalidasa it was Lord Siva. According to the essay by Lockwood and Bhatt, classical dramatists have taken the body of verse and infused it with genetic elements and this is the first source of the organic continuity in the structure of a Sanskrit play. The Nandi is thus an embryo of the play. (Lockwood & Bhatt 1) A mere read through would not reveal the inner meanings of the Nandi because many ideas are just suggested, which makes it all the more complex for even a well read reader to grasp. The meanings become clearer as the play proceeds. Following this the sthapaka suggests the story by a simple beginning or by naming the character, as in Sakuntalam. The sthapaka then pleases the audience with songs descriptive of some seasons. The Prasthavana is of two types- the Prarochana and the Aamukha. Here the sutradhara holds conversations with the actress or the assistant, bearing on the subject.

The classical Indian idea of drama is that of a work representing the march of the three worlds. Bharata speaks of it as a sacrifice. This idea comes from the Purusa sukta of the Rg-Veda , where the whole world is seen as a sacrifice. According to A. Berriedale Keith, Indian tradition gives drama a divine origin and close connections to the Vedas. (Keith 12). The most potent idea of the drama being a sacrifice appears in the Nandi or the prologue. There are two important levels of suggestiveness- cosmic creation, which is seen in the purusa sukta of the Rg-Veda and pro-creation, also mentioned in the Rg Veda. In Sakuntalam, “the Nandi begins with a reference to the foremost creation of the creator which suggests the Waters (the female) at the cosmic level Sakuntala, the daughter of an apsara, at the erotic- procreative level.” (Bhatt-pg 18) the first two clauses of the Nandi therefore suggest the union of fire and water, implying also the structure of drama as a sacrifice since fire and water are inevitable elements in a sacrifice.

Since according to the Natya - Sastra, the Nandi should hint at the characters in the play proper and through words and meaning at the dramatic plot, the two clauses refer to Sakuntala and Dusyanta respectively identified with water and fire, the two principles of creation. The sutradhara or the director of the play and the nati or the heroine is to be reborn as the hero and the heroine later in the play proper. Nandi is followed by the sutradhara’s speech to the nati which is connotative of the sringara rasa. Implied meanings can be found in plenty in the verses which come after the sutradhara’s speech. For instance, the verse uttered by the nati when asked by the sutradhara to entertain the audience by singing a song about the summer season, explicitly states the pleasures of nature in early summer but at a higher level it also has a suggestive sexual implication. The song also is a prelude to the happenings towards the end of act three.

“When plunging deep into water’s a pleasure

When the trumpet flower adds to the fragrance of the forest breeze,

When deep- shade induced sleep

At the end of a playful day is heavenly” (3)

The trumpet flower and the shade induced sleep at the end of a playful day have resonances to the love episode in act three. The nati’s song –

“Softly, softly bees kiss

The filament’s tender crest

Of the sirisa flower

Adorning gentle, sensuous women” (4) (Lockwood & Bhatt21)

On a basic level of meaning the song just implies the movement of bees around the crest of the sirisa flower which are worn by women. Nati gives an erotic note to this where the bee represents a passionate lover kissing his beloved.

Structure of Sanskrit drama is identified in five stages, called Avasthas or states of mind in plot movement. The five Avasthas are “Aarambh or the beginning, Yatna or the effort (to bring out the rasa), Prapthyasha or the prospect, Niyatapti or the removal of obstacles, Phalagam which refers to obtaining the desired result” (Sanskrit drama – introduction). In Sakuntalam the linearity of this structure can be traced. Aarambh or the beginning is the Nandi or the invocation and the subsequent prologue, Yatna is to be seen at the point where Dusyanta and Sakuntala falls in love and their romance intertwined in the sentiments of sringara, both vipralambha and samyoga, Prapthyasha could consist of the events beginning from Sakuntala’s separation from Dusyanta, including the curse of Durvasav until Niyapati which comprises the straightening out of all the conflicts faced by the hero and the heroine. Finally Phalagam is the happy ending of the play which is the possible reunion of the major characters. The microcosmic world created by the dramatist includes the semi dramatic world- Purvaranga, comprises the music, performance, dance followed by the Nandi and Prastavana and the completely dramatic world i.e.; the play proper. There is thus a transition of the audience from the world of everyday reality to a dramatic world of the play proper. This is accomplished with the introduction of music and dance, the invocation or Nandi and the hinting within the Nandi through the speeches of the sutradhara and other minor characters.

The play proper is meta-drama with reference to the prastavana or prologue. The concept of meta –drama or play within a play gives rise to the idea of the multiple roles of the sutradhara. In Sakuntalam, the sutradhara is the stage director as well as the creator and he holds the thread of the play and the action by doubling his identity as the director and the hero. In Sakuntalam, Dusyanta is the alter ego of the Sutradhara. Dusyanta, a king of the lunar race, happens to see sakuntala in the course of his hunting expedition and falls in love with her at first sight itself. This leads to their marriage according to the gandhrava rites. The story then proceeds to Dushyanta’s life as a king oblivious of the existence of his son. Sakuntala, who is cursed by sage durvasa, goes to the king but Dusyanta is unable to recognize her. Later however, the king remembers everything at the sight of the signet ring that he had given her. The play ends on a happy note of a possible reunion of the hero and the heroine.

Kalidasa has however made a few additions to the story of sakuntala in the Mahabharata. The simple and quite unromantic account in the Mahabharata, is transformed thus. In the Mahabharata, sakuntala herself narrates the history of her birth to the king and their marriage is not a problem to them. Kalidasa created two characters, Anasuya and Priyamvada to make this entire situation more romantic and charming. The innocent and simple life of sakuntala and her maidens and the frankness of their minds are presented at the very beginning of the play proper to enhance the beauty of the play. Another deviation from the original is that sakuntala agrees to marry Dusyanta in the gandharva form of marriage on the condition that the son born to them should be recognized as the heir to his throne. Yet kalidasa with his imaginative genius weaves a tale so beautiful that the original is almost forgotten. “The curse of the sage Durvasas, the loss of the ring in the tirtha, and the consequent forgetfulness of the king are all a result of kalidasa’s creative excellence.” (Kale 47) The last two acts are purely original though.

Apart from the deviations and the structural implications like the Nandi and the prasthavana, other features of Sanskrit drama are clearly exemplified in Sakuntalam. Temporary union, separation and reunion are typical of Sanskrit plays. The first three acts of Sakuntalam could be associated with temporary union. The hunting expedition, the invitation of the hermits to Dusyanta for keeping guard in the hermitage for a few days and the love followed by the consummation of it are the three events in “ascending” order found in the first three acts. (Kale 50) Then the descent begins. The separation of the lovers and the consequent curse and loss of memory constitutes the misery of the characters. The curse of Durvasas which becomes the main reason for the separation happens in the fourth act. It develops throughout the fifth and the sixth act where there is a culmination of the pain in separation. This end when the story reaches a high point in the seventh act, where Dusyanta goes up to heaven to regain sakuntala.

According to M.R Kale, Sakuntalam does not appear to have been written with the strictest attention to all canons of Sanskrit dramaturgy; only the main lines as laid down by Bharata and other old writers, have been followed. There is the benediction (Nandi) and the Bharatavakya as in the other plays. At the end of the prelude, Dusyanta who is a hero of the Dhirodatta class begins the play. Their union in marriage is the focus and the whole plot is to be rallied towards achieving this goal.

On a general note, Sakuntalam is said to be the most widely read work of Kalidasa, like Raghuvamsa. It is a love drama belonging to the class of Rupakas which is known as ‘Nataka’. It is said to be highly elegant in language and style and consists of beautiful similes and comparisons. “The metres are fairly shorter and musical.” ( Kale 53) The solid proof of the plays superior nature in its language and story is the very fact that it has been translated into various languages across the globe invariable of the limitations it might face in terms of tradition and culture reflected in the plot. The play however is indicative of the various conventions of Sanskrit drama and the structure of Sanskrit drama is more or less followed showing justice to the story in Vyasa Mahabharata.

Bibliography

Primary source –

Ed.by. B. Stoler Miller. Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection. Kalidasa.

Secondary source -

Thapar. Romila. Sakuntala Texts, Readings, Histories.Columbia University Press.New Delhi, 1999. Print.

M. R. Kale. The Abhinjanasakuntalam of Kalidasa.Motilal Banarsidass.Delhi.1969.Print.

Vishnu Bhatt. Michael Lockwood. Metatheatre and Sanskrit drama. Tambaram research associates.Madras.2005.Print.

Keith. A.Berriedale. The Sanskrit Drama: In its Origin, development theory and practice. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi.1992.Print.

Krishnamachariar,M. History of classical Sanskrit literature.Madras:Tirumalai-Tirupati Devasthamas Press. 1937.Print.

“Intoduction-to-sanskrit-drama-sanskrit.” Ipeclass.blogspot.in. 11/09/2012 <http://jpeclass.blogspot.in/2010/08/intoduction-to-sanskrit-drama-sanskrit.html>