Scholarly squabbles 3: Father-son correspondence

In the early part of the second millennium CE, the Sena dynasty [see also this], originally from the Karnataka region, established a powerful empire in what is now eastern India and Bangladesh, and maintained it for well over a century. The two preeminent monarchs of this dynasty were Ballala Sena (बल्लालसेन) and his son-and-successor Lakshmana Sena (लक्ष्मणसेन); the former is traditionally held responsible for the genesis of several caste and sub-caste identities peculiar to the Bengali Hindu community. If the following anecdote is to be believed, this father-son duo also had a flair for (passive-aggressive) poetry! 

(1) In all biographical accounts of Ballala Sena, it is recorded that, late in life, he got involved with a much younger and exceptionally beautiful low-caste woman. In Vallalacharita (वल्लालचरित), completed in 1510 CE and authored by Ananda Bhatta (आनन्दभट्ट), a descendant of the "Deccan Brahmin" Ananta Bhatta (अनन्तभट्ट) who was "induced to settle in Bengal by the grant of a village" by Ballala himself [Haraprasad Shastri], this woman introduces herself as a चर्मारकोरितनया, i.e. a woman of Chamar and Kori lineage. I have also found her being described as a member of either the Chandala (चण्डाल) or the Hari (হাড়ি; हड्डिक) community; sometimes she is given the name Padmini (पद्मिनी) or Shilavati (शीलावती). But what all sources do agree on is that this indiscretion on part of the self-proclaimed Brahmakshatriya (ब्रह्मक्षत्रिय) sovereign did not go down very well with many high-caste men in his kingdom, including his adult son Lakshmana Sena. In at least one telling of the story, the crown prince was away on a military expedition when he learned that his father had brought his new bride (or betrothed in some accounts) to live with him in his royal palace. Lakshmana immediately sent a letter to the king containing the following verse .... addressed to water!

Devanagari text:

शैत्यं नाम गुणस्तवैव सहजः¹ स्वाभाविकी स्वच्छता
किं ब्रूमः शुचितां भवन्ति शुचयः² स्पर्शेन यस्यापरे|

किं चान्यत् कथयामि ते स्तुतिपदं यज्जीविनां जीवनं³
त्वं चेन्नीचपथेन गच्छसि पयः कस्त्वां निरोद्धुं क्षमः||
variants: ¹तदनु; ² भजन्त्यशुचयः;
³किं चातः परमं तव स्तुतिपदं त्वं जीवनं जीविनां / किं वातः परमस्ति ते स्तुतिपदं यज्जीवनं देहिनां / किं वातः परमुच्यते यज्जीवनं देहिनां

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

zaityaM nAma guNastavaiva sahajaH svAbhAvikI svacchatA
kiM brUmaH zucitAM bhavanti zucayaH sparzena yasyApare|

kiM cAnyat kathayAmi te stutipadaM yajjIvinAM jIvanaM
tvaM cennIcapathena gacchasi payaH kastvAM niroddhuM kSamaH||

Loose translation: Coolness is, verily, one of your innate attributes, and clarity is just as natural to you. And what is to be said about the purity of that which purifies others by its (mere) touch? What other (/ higher) words of praise could I offer you? For you are the very source of life for all creatures. O Water! If (in spite of these virtues,) you (choose to) take a downward course, who has the power to stand in your way?

Notes: स्वच्छ is, primarily, "transparent" or "clear", but can also mean "clean" or "pure". 

(2) Ballala had the following reply sent to Lakshmana. Remember that this is a father talking to his son. 

Devanagari text:

तापो नापगतस्तृषा न च कृशा धौता न धूलिस्तनो-*
र्न स्वच्छन्दमकारि कन्दकवलः का नाम केलीकथा|

दूरोत्क्षिप्तकरेण हन्त करिणा स्पृष्टा न वा पद्मिनी
प्रारब्धो मधुपैरकारणमहो झङ्कारकोलाहलः**||
variants: *धूली तनो-; **झाङ्कारकोलाहलः

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

tApo nApagatastRSA na ca kRzA dhautA na dhUlistano-
rna svacchandamakAri kandakavalaH kA nAma kelIkathA|

dUrotkSiptakareNa hanta kariNA spRSTA na vA padminI
prArabdho madhupairakAraNamaho jhAGkArakolAhalaH||

Loose translation: Neither has his body heat abated, nor is his thirst quenched, nor has the dust been washed away from his frame; he is yet to indulge in mouthfuls of root tubers [here, lotus rhizomes, presumably], let alone frolicking about (in the water). Alas! The bull elephant has not so much as touched the lotus-clump with his long, extended trunk; and lo! Without rhyme or reason, (these) honeybees are (already) causing (such) a stir with their bombilations!

Notes: What do bees have to do with an elephant, you ask? In Indic literature, honeybees are said to swarm the heads of musth bull elephants, lured in by the scent of the temporin oozing from the latter's facial glands, and are celebrated by some authors as adventitious ornaments for the majestic beasts, and denounced by others as a nuisance (as here).

Note that the word used for "an elephant's trunk" here is कर which can also refer to a human hand, and पद्मिनी, literally "a clump of day-blooming lotuses", is also the technical term for the foremost of the four categories of women recognized (mainly) in treatises on sex. 
[P.S. I have a feeling that this verse is the reason why the name पद्मिनी has come to be applied to this wife of Ballala.]

(3) Ballala might have been confident that this poetic retort would be enough to embarrass his son into silence, but Lakshmana proved him wrong: He continued to expostulate with his father, this time invoking cosmic phenomena [see notes for an explanation of the wordplay]:

Devanagari text:

परीवादस्तथ्यो भवति वितथो वापि महतां
तथाप्युच्चैर्धाम्नो* हरति महिमानं जनरवः|

तुलोत्तीर्णस्यापि प्रकटितहताशेषतमसो
रवेस्तादृक् तेजो न हि भवति कन्यां गतवतः||
*variant: अतथ्यस्तथ्यो वा

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

parIvAdastathyo bhavati vitatho vApi mahatAM
tathApyuccairdhAmno harati mahimAnaM janaravaH|

tulottIrNasyApi prakaTitahatAzeSatamaso
ravestAdRk tejo na ki bhavati kanyAM gatavataH||

Loose translation: Whenever a great personality becomes the subject of gossip, be it justified or unfounded, such public clamor erodes the reputation of the luminary; the Sun dispels darkness completely by his mere appearance, but once it has stayed in Virgo, it no longer has the splendor it had before, even after it passes through Libra. 

Notes: Lakshmana cleverly uses the relation between the zodiac circle and the change of seasons to compare his father to the Sun: The autumnal equinox falls within the Sun's transit through Virgo (कन्यां गतवतः), and after the Sun traverses Libra (तुलोत्तीर्णस्य), the next zodiac sign on the ecliptic, it gets dimmer and dimmer as winter sets in (in the Northern Hemisphere). Now, कन्यां गतवतः can also be translated as "pertaining to him who has been associated with (or has had intercourse with) a girl", and तुलोत्तीर्णस्य can be interpreted as "pertaining to him who has successfully accomplished being weighed on a balance", i.e. one whose true worth has been ascertained. Lakshmana's import is that, once a public figure has been embroiled in scandal, especially of the sexual kind, they can never return to their pristine glory, even (if and) after they are officially exonerated. The word uccairdhAman (उच्चैर्धामन्), "possessing intense effulgence", is an interesting word that completes the comparison of the powerful king to the Sun.

(4) Ballala closed the conversation with the following lines in his own defense.

Devanagari text:

सुधांशोर्जातेयं कथमपि कलङ्कस्य कणिका
विधातुर्दोषोऽयं न च गुणनिधेस्तस्य किमपि|

स किं नात्रेः पुत्त्रो न किमु हरचूडार्चनमणि-
र्न वा हन्ति ध्वान्तं जगदुपरि किं वा न वसति||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

sudhAMzorjAteyaM kathamapi kalaGkasya kaNikA
vidhAturdoSo(a)yaM na ca guNanidhestasya kimapi|

sa kiM nAtreH puttro na kimu haracUDArcanamaNi-
rna vA hanti dhvAntaM jagadupari kiM vA na vasati||

Loose translation: This tiny blemish that somehow appears on the Moon is the fault of the Creator (Brahma) and not by any means of that repository of virtues (i.e. the Moon); for is he (still) not the son of the sage Atri as well as Shiva's crown jewel? Does he (still) not destroy darkness, and live (high) above the world (of mortals)?

Notes: Ballala is, obviously, not quite denying (what he himself deems) his peccadillo, but is shifting the bulk of the blame to the vidhAtR (विधातृ), "ordainer / maker / bestower", of his kalaGka (कलङ्क), "stigma", i.e. holding his Maker (or Fate) responsible for the foibles of his flesh. At the same time, he is accusing his detractors of overlooking his long list of virtues. 

I will conclude by pointing out how apt I think Ballala's likening of himself to the Moon is, for the Senas claimed to be scions of the lunar dynasty. हरचूडार्चनमणिः may or may not be an allusion to the fact that Ballala was a devotee of Shiva; the allegorical significance of the last quarter is straightforward.

---

Source: This sequence of verses, along with the alleged historical context, is recorded in many late 19th-early 20th century anthologies printed in Bengal: Pandit Jibananda Vidyasagara in his Kavyasangraha (काव्यसङ्ग्रह) Part I, and Purnachandra De Kabyaratna Udbhatasagara, in his Udbhata Shloka Maalaa, quote this quartet as Verses 17-20 of a small collection titled Padyasangraha (पद्यसङ्ग्रह) and attributed to Kavibhatta (कविभट्ट). 

Variants of (1) occur as Verse 52 (anonymous) of Chapter 14 of the 17th century Padyaracana, as Verse 6 of the chapter on miscellaneous allegorical verses (संकीर्णान्योक्तयः) in Subhashita Ratnakara, and as Verse 14 of the chapter on miscellaneous allegorical verses (संकीर्णान्योक्तयः) in Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara which itself cites the treatise Alankara Kaustubha (अलङ्कारकौस्तुभ) as its source. Shaarngadharapaddhati (Verse 923) and Padyaracana (Chapter 14 Verse 68) both contain (3), and both attribute it to Lakshmana Sena instead of Ballala Sena! Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara includes (3) in its chapter on general morals (सामान्यनीतिः) as Verse 977, and (4) in its chapter on fate / destiny / chance (दैवाख्यानम्) as Verse 90.

Literary tobacciana 6

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.

(1) An important component of many religious / spiritual practices of Indic origin [see this and this, for instance] is japa (जप), "the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name" (Wikipedia); it is by performing the japa of a mantra (a sequence of syllables believed to be imbued with special powers) a prescribed number of times, along with a set of other rituals of course, that a spiritual practitioner attains siddhi (सिद्धि), i.e. success in the spiritual endeavor that they embarked on – specifically, the power to wield that mantra for a pre-specified range of purposes.

Devanagari text:

जपादौ च जपान्ते च जपमध्ये पुनः पुनः|
विना तमालपत्रेण जपसिद्धिर्न जायते||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

japAdau ca japAnte ca japamadhye punaH punaH|
vinA tamAlapatreNa japasiddhirna jAyate||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: Without (using) the tobacco leaf in the beginning of a japa session, at its completion, and over and over again in between, the japa ritual does not come to fruition.

Source: Babu Gulabrai's 1933 Hindi treatise on poetics, titled Navarasa (नवरस). 

(2) This snippet belongs with these other examples of wordplay based on one of the Indic names of tobacco: tamAkhu (तमाखु). Recall that the mount of the god Ganesha is a mouse, one of the Sanskrit words for which is Akhu (आखु).

Devanagari text:

तमाखुवाहनः पायात् तमाखुं यः प्रशंसति|
तमाखुवाहनो हन्यात् तमाखुं यश्च निन्दति||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

tamAkhuvAhanaH pAyAt tamAkhuM yaH prazaMsati|
tamAkhuvAhano hanyAt tamAkhuM yazca nindati||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: May the Rodent-rider protect him who glorifies tobacco; may the Rodent-rider destroy him who maligns tobacco.

Source:  Gurunarayan Sukul's 1952 Hindi book Subhashit Aur Vinod.

(3) To be honest, I do not fully understand the verse I am about to share next; I have just translated it in accordance with the Bengali rendering provided in the anthology where I found it.

Devanagari text:

न नस्यग्रहणेनापि मूर्खो भवति पण्डितः|
एवं परिच्छदेऽपूर्वे सति स्याद् याचको न हि||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

na nasyagrahaNenApi mUrkho bhavati paNDitaH|
evaM paricchade(a)pUrve sati syAd yAcako na hi||

– Anonymous 

Loose translation: A dullard does not become a scholar by merely taking snuff. Likewise, even if someone is in an excellent outfit, could they (still) not be a charity-seeker?

Source:  Udbhata Chandrika Volume I Part 3 Verse 18.

Notes: apUrva (अपूर्व) is literally "unprecedented / unsurpassed".

At some point in time, taking snuff must have become a symbol of scholarship as much as smoking a pipe was (and, perhaps, still is) seen as a mark of aristocracy or intellectual superiority in Western cultures.

The Divine Drunkard 2

This is a sequel to my previous post on the drunken "pastimes" of Balarama. And, as a bonus, here's some footage of an instance of Balarama's Raasa Yatra (रासयात्रा; রাসযাত্রা), one of the very few festivals dedicated primarily to this deity.

(1) This salutation to Balabhadra was probably meant to double as a cautionary tale about how inebriation prevents one from performing extremely important (and rewarding) duties.

Devanagari text:

सुरापीतो गोत्र*स्खलनपरिवृद्धाधिकरुषः
प्रसादं रेवत्या जनयितुमनीशः कथमपि|
विचम्बुन् संश्लिष्यन् स्तनवसनमस्यन्नविरतं
मधून्मादाविष्टः स किल बलभद्रो विजयते||

– लक्ष्मीधर

*This is almost surely an error; I think it should be गात्र (gAtra), and I have translated accordingly.

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

surApIto gotraskhalanaparivRddhAdhikaruSaH
prasAdaM revatyA janayitumanIzaH kathamapi|
vicumban saMzliSyan stanavasanamasyannavirataM
madhUnmAdAviSTaH sa kila balabhadro vijayate||

– Lakshmidhara 

Loose translation: Having quaffed spirituous liquor, his anger progressively intensified by his (own) body-parts faltering, unable to gratify (his wife) Revati by any means, (in spite of) kissing (her) eagerly, holding (her) in a tight embrace, and persistently casting away the cloth covering her breasts – glory to that Balabhadra who is overwhelmed by alcohol-induced intoxication.

Source: Saduktikarnamrita Verse 236.

(2) An accomplished poet's take on a drunk man's gibberish:

Devanagari text:

भभभ्रमति किं मही ललललम्बते चन्द्रमाः

कृकृष्ण ववद द्रुतं हहहसन्ति किं वृष्णयः|

शिशीधु मुमुमुञ्च मे ववववक्त्रमित्यादिकं

मदस्खलितमालपन् हलधरः श्रियं वः क्रियात्||

– पुरुषोत्तमदेव 

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

bha-bha-bhramati kiM mahI la-la-la-lambate candramAH

kR-kRSNa va-vada drutaM ha-ha-hasanti kiM vRSNayaH|

zizIdhu mu-mu-muJca me va-va-va-vaktramityAdikaM

mada-skhalitamAlapan haladharaH zriyaM vaH kriyAt||

– Purushottama Deva

Loose translation: "Why is the (surface of the) earth t-t-turning around? Why is the moon d-d-d-dangling? K-Krishna! Tell me quickly why the Vrishnis are l-l-laughing! W-Wine! L-Leave my m-m-m-mouth!^{[see notes]}" – as he spews these words muddled by intoxication, may the Plow-bearer bring about your welfare.

Or

"Is the (surface) of the earth t-t-turning around? Is the moon d-d-d-dangling? K-Krishna! Tell me quickly whether the Vrishnis are l-l-laughing! W-Wine! L-Leave my m-m-m-mouth!" – as he spews these words muddled by intoxication, may the Plow-bearer bring about your welfare.

Source: Subhashita Ratnakosha Verse 127: Verse 24 of Chapter 6 (हरिव्रज्या, "the chapter on Hari"); Saduktikarnamrita Verse 238: भभभ्रमति मेदिनी . . . मुमुमुञ्च मे पपपपानपात्रे स्थितं. 

Notes: Since the word शीधु, "spirituous liquor (especially that produced from molasses)", has the neuter gender, शीधु is one of its acceptable (singular-number) vocative forms. Hence, I have interpreted the part []शीधु []मुञ्च मे []वक्त्रम् as follows: In a passing moment of clarity, Balarama realizes that his current predicament is due to alcohol, and that he needs to get it out of his system; but, being still heavily drunk, he decides that verbally instructing the beverage to depart from his mouth is the best course of action!

The alternate reading []शीधु []मुञ्च मे []पानपात्रे स्थितं can be translated as "let go of the liquor contained in my drinking vessel", i.e. Balarama is asking someone to stop trying to snatch his wine cup away from his hand; this person could be Krishna himself since he is addressed explicitly in the second quarter of the verse (in this reading, शीधु is in the singular-number accusative case).

(3) The appeal of the following nugget of surreal humor relies on one polysemous word dvijarAj (द्विजराज्): The two specific meanings applicable here are "greatest among the twice-born" and "the Moon". The word dvija can be applied to a male initiate of any caste that practices an initiation ceremony or rite of passage regarded as a second birth, specifically the upanayana (उपनयन) or sacred thread investiture; but, usually, it refers only to a practicing Brahmin. In most Indic moral codes, the consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited for Brahmins. 

I am not sure what the dvija in dvijarAj means when the latter serves as an appellation of the Moon. 

Devanagari text:

निष्पात्याशु हिमांशुमण्डलमधः पीत्वा तदन्तःसुधां
कृत्वैनं चषकं हसन्निति हलापानाय कौतूहलात्|

भो देव द्विजराजि मादृशि सुरास्पर्शोऽपि न श्रेयसे
मा मुञ्चेति तदर्थितो हलधरः पायादपायाज्जगत्||

– रामचन्द्र 

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

niSpAtyAzu himAMzumaNDalamadhaH pItvA tadantaHsudhAM
kRtvainaM caSakaM hasanniti halApAnAya kautUhalAt|

bho deva dvijarAji mAdrzi surAsparzo(a)pi na zreyase
mA muJceti tadarthito haladharaH pAyAdapAyAjjagat||

– Ramachandra 

Loose translation:  Having felled the lunar orb swiftly, he guzzled all the nectar contained in it, and (then), with a smile, made it his cup for drinking booze^{[see notes]}, out of curiosity; "My Lord! It is not propitious for such a dvijarAj as myself to even come in contact with spirituous liquor! Please let go of me!" – thus besought by the Moon, may the Plow-bearer deliver the world from destruction.

Source: Padyaracana Chapter 2 Verse 20.

Notes: A word for "spirituous liquor" recorded by many lexicographers is hAlA (हाला), often described as a provincial / rustic term; the poet here has, evidently, used the variant halA (हला) to fit the meter. I do not think this should be considered a serious defect since hAlA is not part of "standard" Sanskrit vocabulary anyway.

In mythology, the moon is the "repository and producer of nectar or ambrosia, which is supposed to be distilled in its rays" (Monier-Williams); there are several names of the moon derived from this belief: sudhAMzu (सुधांशु), sudhAkara (सुधाकर), etc. This might have something to do with the (alleged) connection between the phases of the moon and the enigmatic soma creeper [see also this] which is the source of the soma drink frequently glorified in Vedic literature. Balarama's desire to drink liquor – and that, too, of the provincial variety (as indicated by the use of the word halA) – after having tasted the most sublime of all beverages is quite amusing.