Bharavi and Kiratarjuniyam: PanchaMahakavya
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Bharavi and Kiratarjuneeyam
Bharavi is one of the most renowned poets of Sanskrit Literature. His only work available today is the poem “Kiratarjuneeyam” which has earned itself a place amongst the five Mahakavyas of Sanskrit Literature.
As with most Sanskrit poets, very few concrete details are available about Bharavi’s life. Based on references from Avantisundarikatha of Dandi and Aihole inscrptions, it is largely belived that Bharavi’s real name was Damodar who belonged to Southern India. He may have been a court poet of King Simhavishnu of Pallava dynasty between 550-600 AD. Bharavi, which literally means the Radiant Sun may have been a title he earned due to his illustrious compositions.
A very famous shloka of Bharavi goes like this:
“Sahasa vidadheeta na kriyamaviveko paramapadampadam
Vrunute hi vimrushakarinam gunalubdha swayameva sampadam. (II.30)
This means that one should not act in haste without thinking. Unthoughtful actions lead to unfavourable situations. The wealth that is attracted to virtues, will itself choose to be with a thoughtful master.
A folklore says that Bharavi, in order to earn some money, presented this verse to a rich merchant who paid a good price for it. The merchant framed it in his bedroom. One day, when he returned from his tour, he saw a young man sleeping beside his wife. In anger, he was about to murder this young man, when suddenly his eyes fell on this framed verse and he stepped back to think. He then woke up his wife and asked for an explanation. The wife told him that this young man is none other than their long-lost son who had returned after many years. The merchant was glad that he did not kill his own son.
The Poem Kiratarjuneeyam is a Mahakavya in 18 Cantos based on Mahabharata. The title of the composition refers to the encounter between two characters, Kirat meaning hunter or forest-dweller (Here, it is Lord Shiva in guise of a Kirat) and Arjun, one of the five Pandava brothers. It describes the event where Arjun went in the Himalayas to do penance to acquire Pashupatastra and Shiva tested his calibre by engaging in a fight with him.
The above incident is narrated briefly in the Vana Parva of Mahabharata. However, Bharavi has transformed it into an elaborate Kavya by giving graphic descriptions of nature, detailed discussions of Statecraft and politics and elaborate description of battle. The prominent sentiment of the composition is Veer Rasa, that is, sentiment of courage.
Let us discuss the setting of this composition. The Pandavas are suffering their twelve year long banishment in Dvaita forest.
In the first canto, Yudhishshthira sends a spy to know how Duryodhan is ruling Hastinapur and the feedback received says that Duryodhan is fulfilling his duties as a King very efficiently. This angers Draupadi who advises Yudhishthira to wage war against Duryodhan right away. She strongly feels that Duryodhan will never keep his word of giving back their kingdom without a fight.
In the second Canto, Bheem supports Draupadi’s argument but Yudhishshthira insists on completion of banishment period, which he feels is the right thing to do.
In the third Canto, Rishi Vedavyaas seconds the thoughts of Draupadi and advises Yudhishshthira to utilize their time in banishment to prepare for a war by acquiring Divyastras or divine weapons. He insists that Arjun should please Gods like Indra and Shiva to receive such Divyastras. Arjun follows his instructions and proceeds to Himalayas and starts his penance on Indrakeel mountain.
Here onwards, the plot takes a pause and the poet takes over. From fourth Canto onwards, to as far as the tenth Canto, the poem is purely descriptive. The objects of description include the autumn, the Himalayas, the Indrakeel mountain, the Gandharvas, the heavenly maidens popularly known as Apsaras, the water sports, dawn and dusk, attempts of Apsaras to distract Arjun from his penance and so on. These cantos are full of different figures of speech, an attempt to show many skills of the poet.
In the eleventh and twelfth Canto, Indra appears before Arjun and advises him to please Shiva for acquiring the weapons he desires.
Fourteenth to Eighteenth Cantoes deal with the actual encounter between Shiva in the form of a Kirat and Arjun which gives this composition its title. In the end of course, Arjun receives Shiva’s blessings and acquires Pashupatastra. He then returns to Dvait forest with his mission accomplished.
Excellent rendition. Keep doing more like this
Thank uou for your words of encouragement 🙏🙏
Very informative video ma'am. The background music is also soothing.
Thank you so much.. do share with friends and family
I hope this reaches maximum number of people
So much research and hard work must have gone into making this informative and detailed video. Thank you so much for that. As someone who really loves 'Sanskrit Sahitya', this video was a treat for my eyes.
Also I am glad that you mentioned 17.64 verse, it was one of my favourite too.
13.18 is another masterpiece where Bhagawan Shiv stretches his bow and due to which body of snake vasuki (who was tied as 'pratyancha' on the bow) is streched and he spits fire from his mouth. I liked this verse so much because it has very good mixture of 'veer rasa' and 'adbhut rasa'. And it also has this very effect where the reader imagines this whole scene in a slow motion effect. I would like to have your views too on this. And once again thank you for these videos.
Goodd morning mam. learnt from video that how should we arrival in conclusion/ decision in social life. with single letter how the shloka has been versed and since ancient time pictografy and columnised way the poem versed. pronouncement of sholaka even difficult word have been made in simplified mam by u.🙏
Thanks a lot for your kind worda
A compelling and informative introduction to this classic of Sanskrit literature, The noted Indologist A. K. Warder once wrote that Bharavi's epic is the finest example of a mahakavya that has come down to the present day. It would be so gratifying to be able to learn more about the poet's life, so much lost to history save the brilliance preserved in the poem itself.
Very informative
Amazing...
Thanks a lot 😊
Bharavi and Damodara were rofferent people!!!
Sri M. R. Kavi identifies Damodara with Bharavi in his Introduction to the Avantisundarikathāsāra. This view seems to he based on the verse,
sa mēdhāvī kavirvidvān bhārviḥ prabha(vaṃ)vō girām।
anuruddhyākarōnmaitrīṃ narēndrē viṣṇuvardhanī(nē)।। ' (1.23)
in the work, where the Editor has taken "prabhavō" to be the correct reading in consonance with the other words in the prathamā vibhakti in the first half of the verse and not "prabhavaṃ" as seen in the manuscript. The Ms. of the work in the Travancore University Mss. Library (No. C. O. 1688) reads it a "bhāraviṃ prabhavaṃ girām". This must be taken as the correct reading, as otherwise, the word "anuruddhya" cannot be connected with any other word.
The passage "yataḥ kauśikakumarō mahāśaivaṃ mahāprabhāvaṃ gavāṃ pabhavaṃ pradīptabhāsaṃ bhāraviṃ ravimivēnduranuruddhya darśa iva puṇyakarmaṇi viṣṇuvardhanākhyē rājasūnau pranayamanvabadhnāt।"
in the Katha also lends support only to this view. So the identification of Damodara with Bhāravi is incorrect. Therefore, the idea we get is that through Bharavi, Damodara came to the court of Vişnuvardhana. They were thus contemporaries.