The Samaya Mātrikā (
en: ''The Courtesan's Keeper'') is a
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
written by the 11th-century Kashmiri poet
Kshemendra
Kshemendra (; ) was an 11th-century Sanskrit polymath-poet, satirist, philosopher, historian, dramatist, translator and art-critic from Kashmir in India.
Biography
Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured, and affluent family. His father was ...
. Originally written in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, the work has since been translated into English by
A. N. D. Haksar.
Description
History
''Samaya Matrika'', or ''The Courtesan's Keeper'', was written by the Kashmiri poet Kshemendra. The poet was born in Kashmir in the 11th century, and much of his body of work was set in the Kashmir region. He studied both
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
and
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, and was versed in several
vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
texts.
[Warder, Anthony Kennedy (1992). ''Indian Kāvya Literature: The art of storytelling''. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publ. . pp. 365] After years of recording, abridging, and translating various texts, the poet began to produce his own works, one of which would become ''Samaya Matrika''.
[Kshemendra (2011). ''Three Satires: From Ancient Kashmir''. Translated by Haksar, A. N. D. Penguin Books. .] The work was produced post 1037, the year in which the author began to transition to writing original content.
While many of his works were poems, historical epics, and abridgments of Hindu texts, ''Samaya Matrika'' was written to be a work of satire.
The work pokes fun at the upper class (nobles and merchants), the clergy, the poor, the seasonal harvest, and the government. In doing so, the document has been cited as providing historians an insight into the day-to-day lives of people in the Medieval-era Kashmir valley.
The story takes place in an urban setting, and there are notably a few mentions of far-away Chinese and Turkish peoples.
Plot
The work of satire follows the exploits of Kankali, a worldly Kashmiri
courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...
who is given ward-ship over a younger woman, Kalavati.
The two travel throughout Kashmir, with Kankali using her
shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, Magic (paranormal), sorcery, Incantation, ...
abilities to instruct her younger ward in the ways of the world; these lessons and observations in turn show Kalavati the general silliness of people.
Kankali is also keen to point out the contradictions seen in people's behavior, such as priests re-selling temple offerings and monks breaking their vows. Alternatively, Kankali shows her ward the unsung nobility of others, such as a porter who carries water to nearby fields for farming and a noble magistrate who shirks personal wealth to deal fairly with the people.
References
{{reflist
Indian satire
Kashmiri literature