This is a sequel to my post on thoughts that the beating of drums evoked in poetic minds of yore.
The meter of the following verse is rather unusual, I think. Any information in this regard would be highly appreciated.
Devanagari text:
The meter of the following verse is rather unusual, I think. Any information in this regard would be highly appreciated.
Devanagari text:
मतिरेव बलाद् गरीयसी
यदभावे करिणामियं दशा|
इति घोषयतीव डिण्डिमः
करिणो हस्तिपकाहतः क्वणन्||
यदभावे करिणामियं दशा|
इति घोषयतीव डिण्डिमः
करिणो हस्तिपकाहतः क्वणन्||
matireva balAd garIyasI
yadabhAve kariNAmiyaM dazA|
yadabhAve kariNAmiyaM dazA|
iti ghoSayatIva DiNDimaH
kariNo hastipakAhataH kvaNan||
kariNo hastipakAhataH kvaNan||
– Anonymous
Loose translation: "Intellect is superior to (physical) strength; it is the lack of the former that lands elephants in this state (of subservience to human beings)" – this is what the kettledrum carried on top of an elephant seems to announce as it rattles, struck by the mahout's hand(s).
Source: The prolific scholar Pandit Jibananda Vidyasagara Bhattacharya and the poet-anthologist Purnachandra De Kabyaratna Udbhatasagara have both published this couplet as Verse 8 of Gunaratna (गुणरत्न), "the jewel of virtues", a collection of 13 independent verses attributed to the renowned 8th century poet-playwright Bhavabhuti (भवभूति); the opening verse of this collection is indeed the prefatory benediction of his most famous play Malatimadhava (मालतीमाधव) but the authenticity of the rest is difficult to ascertain.
Notes: At least one Sanskrit lexicon (हारावली) mentions a particular type of drum that is placed on the back of a (domesticated) elephant and beaten by the mahout on certain occasions (which I will elaborate on in a minute) – it is termed gajaDhakkA (गजढक्का), "elephant-drum", or madAmnAta (मदाम्नात). In this context, mada (मद), a word cognate with present-day English musth or must, denotes the periodic frenzy that affects bull elephants, and also the fluid (temporin / "ichor" / "rut-fluid") that oozes from certain glands on the animal's body during this period; AmnAta (आम्नात), in general, connotes mention, recollection, practice, or transmission through generations.
The Sanskrit dictionary Shabdakalpadruma compiled in Bengal in the 19th century seems to suggest that this drum was beaten in order to work up a frenzy in an elephant (मदाय मत्ततोद्रेकाय आम्नायते वाद्यते), while its nearly contemporaneous lexicon Vacaspatyam appears to contradict itself by first stating in its entry for गजढक्का that the drum was sounded to signal the onset of musth (हस्तिमदसूचनार्थकृतशब्दायां गजोपरिस्थढक्कायाम्) and then saying in its entry for मदाम्नात that the same sound indicated the cessation of this phase of "madness" (मदस्यातिक्रमे आम्नातः). The first of these three claims is dubious – elephant musth cannot be induced and no one would want to induce it anyway, given how dangerous it is to approach these giants during this period of erratic and aggressive behavior. My conjecture is that a mahout would carry a special drum next to himself while riding an elephant in a public place and, if and when he saw the telltale signs of musth, he would grab the drum, leap off, and bolt down the street, beating the drum to warn passers-by. This is borne out by another interesting reference in Sanskrit belles lettres to a musth-announcing drum, in Verse 247 of Govardhana Acharya's 12th century magnum opus Aryasaptashapti:
Source: The prolific scholar Pandit Jibananda Vidyasagara Bhattacharya and the poet-anthologist Purnachandra De Kabyaratna Udbhatasagara have both published this couplet as Verse 8 of Gunaratna (गुणरत्न), "the jewel of virtues", a collection of 13 independent verses attributed to the renowned 8th century poet-playwright Bhavabhuti (भवभूति); the opening verse of this collection is indeed the prefatory benediction of his most famous play Malatimadhava (मालतीमाधव) but the authenticity of the rest is difficult to ascertain.
Notes: At least one Sanskrit lexicon (हारावली) mentions a particular type of drum that is placed on the back of a (domesticated) elephant and beaten by the mahout on certain occasions (which I will elaborate on in a minute) – it is termed gajaDhakkA (गजढक्का), "elephant-drum", or madAmnAta (मदाम्नात). In this context, mada (मद), a word cognate with present-day English musth or must, denotes the periodic frenzy that affects bull elephants, and also the fluid (temporin / "ichor" / "rut-fluid") that oozes from certain glands on the animal's body during this period; AmnAta (आम्नात), in general, connotes mention, recollection, practice, or transmission through generations.
The Sanskrit dictionary Shabdakalpadruma compiled in Bengal in the 19th century seems to suggest that this drum was beaten in order to work up a frenzy in an elephant (मदाय मत्ततोद्रेकाय आम्नायते वाद्यते), while its nearly contemporaneous lexicon Vacaspatyam appears to contradict itself by first stating in its entry for गजढक्का that the drum was sounded to signal the onset of musth (हस्तिमदसूचनार्थकृतशब्दायां गजोपरिस्थढक्कायाम्) and then saying in its entry for मदाम्नात that the same sound indicated the cessation of this phase of "madness" (मदस्यातिक्रमे आम्नातः). The first of these three claims is dubious – elephant musth cannot be induced and no one would want to induce it anyway, given how dangerous it is to approach these giants during this period of erratic and aggressive behavior. My conjecture is that a mahout would carry a special drum next to himself while riding an elephant in a public place and, if and when he saw the telltale signs of musth, he would grab the drum, leap off, and bolt down the street, beating the drum to warn passers-by. This is borne out by another interesting reference in Sanskrit belles lettres to a musth-announcing drum, in Verse 247 of Govardhana Acharya's 12th century magnum opus Aryasaptashapti:
ढक्कामाहत्य मदं वितन्वते करिण इव चिरं पुरुषाः|
स्त्रीणां करिणीनामिव मदः पुनः* स्वकुलनाशाय||
variant: *सदा
DhakkAmAhatya madaM vitanvate kariNa iva ciraM puruSAH|
stINAM kariNInAmiva madaH punaH svakulanAzAya||
"Men have been banging drums for a long time to publicize their 'frenzy' just like (they do for announcing) that of bull elephants.
But the same 'frenzy' in women, as well as that in cow elephants, brings their own family to ruin."
[The 18th century commentator Mahamahopadhyaya Bhavaninatha Mishra (alias Sachala Upadhyaya) of Mithila, in his commentary Rasapradipika (रसप्रदीपिका) interprets वितन्वते as विस्तारयन्ति, "(they all) spread" (मदं विस्तारयन्ति = तत्पुरोगाः लोकपलायनार्थं ढक्कां वादयन्ति).]
According to Indic elephant lore, musth occurs very rarely in (gregarious) female elephants, but when it does, they end up fighting and hurting others in their own herd; musth bulls, on the other hand, are solitary in the wild, and are always accompanied by experienced caretakers in an urban environment, hence (effectively) less likely to cause damage. मद, applied to humans, can refer to inebriation, sexual arousal, or arrogance; so the message of this didactic epigram (decidedly sexist from a modern point of view) is that women should always abstain from मद. The justification provided by the above commentator is that the male मद has a higher frequency and visibility (यूनां मदः प्रसिद्धो न लोकपराभवाय), so people who could be adversely affected by it can take protective measures, just as pedestrians know to take flight whenever they hear the mahout's drum beating; but female मद, being unexpected and non-obvious, can work in more treacherous ways and can get the family reputation tarnished, for example.
P.S. All this has nothing to do with my personal beliefs; I am just trying to make sense of ancient literary creations alluding to a practice that is now either uncommon or extinct.
We can now fully appreciate how apt the use of the elephant-drum in today's quote is, as a signifier of the ingenuity of humankind in exploiting a mighty beast for its own purposes whilst safeguarding itself from potential harm when things appear to be getting out of hand!
No comments:
Post a Comment