Literary tobacciana 2

Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of the consumption of tobacco in any form, but the documentation of a lesser-known sub-genre of Indic literature.

While my previous post was about an elaborate tobacco-smoking device, today's quotes, both penned by the Bengali scholar Purnachandra De Udbhatasagara in the late 19th / early 20th century, relate to a more primitive (but no less popular) means of administering nicotine to oneself: taking snuff. The word nasya (नस्य) originally referred to any substance with (purported) health benefits that is taken in through the nostrils (it occurs in this sense in the proto-medical treatises of Sushruta and Charaka), but was specialized in more recent times to denote snuff, at least in the eastern languages (Maithili, Oriya, Bengali, Assamese). 

(1) Devanagari text:

नस्यं भूसुरसूरिसेवितमलं नस्यं सुसेवे स्वयं
नस्येनैव विकाशते कविकुलं नस्याय तस्मै नमः|
नस्याच्छस्यतमं न चास्ति भुवने नस्यस्य वश्योऽस्म्यहं
नस्ये मे नियतं विराजतु मनो हे नस्य मामुद्धर||

– उद्भटसागर

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

nasyaM bhUsurasUrisevitamalaM nasyaM suseve svayaM
nasyenaiva vikAzate kavikulaM nasyAya tasmai namaH| 

nasyAcchasyatamaM na cAsti bhuvane nasyasya vazyo(a)smyahaM
nasye me niyataM virAjatu mano he nasya mAmuddhara||

– Purnachandra De Udbhatasagara

Loose translation: Snuff is greatly enjoyed by Brahmins and scholars; I myself enjoy Snuff; it is by (the grace of) Snuff that the literary community flourishes; I offer my salutations to that Snuff; there is nothing worthier of praise in the world than Snuff; I am in the thrall of Snuff; May my mind dwell on Snuff eternally; O Snuff! Deliver me!

Source: Udbhata Sagara Part II Verse 241

Notes:  The word used for "Brahmin" here is bhUsura (भूसुर), "earth-god". 

This snippet is evidently a parody of a class of devotional verses (that double as mnemonic devices for students of grammar) in which the name of a deity is repeated, suffixed with all case-endings in the correct order; here is an example from the same anthology (Udbhata Sagara Part II Verse 15) in adoration of Ramachandra:

रामो राजमणिः सदा विजयते रामं रमेशं भजे रामेणाभिहता निशाचरचमू रामाय तस्मै नमः|

रामान्नास्ति शुभायनं परतरं रामस्य दासोऽस्म्यहं रामे चित्तलयः सदा भवतु मे भो राम मामुद्धर|| 

(2) Devanagari text:

अब्धिं गोष्पदवत् पविं यवसवत् सूर्यञ्च खद्योतवन्
मेरुं मृत्कणवद् दवं तुहिनवद् भूमीपतिं भृत्यवत्|
चिन्तारत्नचयं शिलाशकलवद् देहं निजं भारवद्
भक्तः पश्यति यस्य तद् विजयतां नस्यं परब्रह्मवत्||

– उद्भटसागर

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

abdhiM goSpadavat paviM yavasavat sUryaJca khadyotavat
meruM mRtkaNavad davaM tuhinavad bhUmIpatiM bhRtyavat|

cintAratnacayaM zilAsakalavad dehaM nijaM bhAravad
bhaktaH pazyati yasya tad vijayatAM nasyaM parabrahmavat||

– Purnachandra De Udbhatasagara

Loose translation: Glory to Snuff which is just like Parabrahman for one devoted to Snuff views the ocean as a puddle, the thunderbolt as a bunch of grass, the Sun as a firefly, the mythical mountain Meru as a particle of earth, wildfire as snow, the king as a servant, the greatest of worries as mere gravel, and one's own body as a burden.

Source:  Udbhata Sagara Part III Verse 397.

Notes:  The word that I have translated as puddle above is goSpada (गोष्पद) which primarily denotes a small puddle formed by water filling up a bovine animal's hoof-print! I have translated pavi (पवि) and yavasa (यवस) in accordance with the commentary provided in the printed version of the anthology that I consulted.

Parabrahman, a word used in many philosophical traditions of the Indian Subcontinent, is usually translated as something along the lines of "supreme / ultimate / universal reality" although it is understood somewhat differently by different schools of thought. It is said that when one realizes Parabrahman, one starts seeing the insignificance of items, individuals, and ideas generally considered grand or formidable, and becomes eager to free oneself from all worldly ties (so that one's corporeal existence itself feels like an encumbrance). On the other hand, nicotine, being a stimulant drug, can induce euphoria as well as lightheadedness / dizziness (देहं निजं भारवद् . . . पश्यति).