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''Ratnavali'' (Precious Garland) is a
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 ...
drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named
Udayana
Udayana, ( Devanagari: उदयन) also known as Udayanācārya (Udyanacharya, or Master Udayana), (circa 975 - 1050 CE) was an Indian philosopher and logician of the tenth century of the Nyaya school who attempted to devise a rational theo ...
. It is attributed to the Indian emperor
Harsha
Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajy ...
(606–648).
It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of
Holi
Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
, the festival of Colours have been found in this text.
[Origins of Holi]
''BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.
''Ratnāvalī'' subtitled (''rajaparikatha'') is also the title of a 3rd-century (?) Buddhist philosophical work by
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
, a discourse addressed to an Indian king (possibly a
Satavahana
The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the la ...
monarch).
Main characters
*
Udayana
Udayana, ( Devanagari: उदयन) also known as Udayanācārya (Udyanacharya, or Master Udayana), (circa 975 - 1050 CE) was an Indian philosopher and logician of the tenth century of the Nyaya school who attempted to devise a rational theo ...
(aka Vatsaraja)- The hero, King of
Kaushambi
* Ratnavali (Sagarika)- The heroine, daughter of King Vikramabahu
* Vasavadatta - Queen, wife of Udayana
* Susangata - Bosom friend of Sagarika
* Vasanthaka (Vidusaka)- The hero's companion and Court-wit
* Yaugandharayana- The Chief Minister of Kaushambi
* Vikramabahu- The King of Sinhala
* Vijayaverma- Commander-in-chief of the King
* Babravya- The Chamberlain of the King
* Vasubhuthi- The Minister of Vikramabahu
* Aiyndrajalika- A magician
* Medhavini (Sarika)- A talking bird
Synopsis
Udayana, King of Kaushambi, is both valiant and romantic. He is happily married to
Vasavadatta, princess of a neighboring kingdom, and the story of their courtship and wedding is the subject of an earlier work, ''
Svapnavasavadattam,'' written by
Bhāsa
Bhāsa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit, predating Kalidasa. His name was already well-known by the 1st century BCE and he belongs to the late-Mauryan (322-184 BCE) period at the earliest, but the thirt ...
.
Udayana is well-served by Yaugandharayana, an extremely loyal and astute, if rather presumptuous and devious minister. Yaugandharayana now wishes the king to marry Ratnavali, princess of the distant island kingdom of Simhala (presumably
Sri Lanka). This is because a sage had prophesied that the man who marries Ratnavali would become a ''Sarvabhauma'' (
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
). Incidentally, Ratnavali's father, king Vikramabahu of Simhala, is Vasavadatta's uncle. He is aware that Udayana and Vasavadatta are unusually close to each other (because they had married for love), and that a second wife would either be unhappy herself or make his niece Vasavadatta unhappy. He is therefore initially reluctant to accept the proposal of marriage which the minister makes to him. While the envoys from Kaushambi are still in Simhala with the proposal, the news reaches them that Queen Vasavadatta is dead, having perished in a fire which engulfed a hunting camp at Lavanaka. This news is in fact a falsehood initiated by the devious minister in order to facilitate the second marriage. King Vikramabahu is however taken in by the ploy, and agrees to give his daughter in marriage to Udayana. The necessary preparations are made, and Princess Ratnavali embarks on a ship to make the voyage to Kaushambi and her new life as queen of that kingdom.
Unfortunately, a storm crosses their path and the ship gets wrecked. Ratnavali alone is rescued by a passing merchant ship, and reaches the mainland safely. She however does not reveal her identity as princess of Simhala to the people who rescue her, because she is fearful of being held for political ransom, that her father or fiancée will be made to give up territories to secure her release. She therefore pretends to be suffering from amnesia. The merchants who rescue her are impressed by her rich garments, her refined speech and cultivated manners. They infer from all this that she is a lady of noble birth. Therefore, when they reach their native land (which is Kaushambi, by a coincidence), they place the nameless maiden in the custody of minister Yaugandharayana. By this time, news of the shipwreck and the loss of Princess Ratnavali has reached Kaushambi. The minister immediately recognizes that the girl rescued from the sea and suffering from amnesia is almost certainly the princess. He also sees the situation as an opportunity to reconcile Vasavadatta to the idea of receiving a co-wife. He gives the rescued girl a new name, "Sagarika," ("Ocean-lady"), takes her to the queen and asks her to keep the homeless waif as a maid. The queen agrees, and "Sagarika" becomes Vasavadatta's maid.
Once, in the cupid festival, Sagarika sees Udayana and instantly falls in love with him. Sagarika sits in a grove and keeps herself occupied in drawing Udayana's picture and fantasizing about him. Her shrewd friend Susangatha finds her, takes the picture into her hands and draws the picture of Sagarika by the side of the king. Sagarika confesses her love to Susangatha and a bird Sarika hears the conversation. Suddenly, there is a panic in the grove because of an escaped monkey and the maidens run away from there.
After a while, the Udayana and his jester enter the grove and hear the bird Sarika reproduce the ladies' conversation. They find the picture Sagarika and Susangatha have drawn, and Udayana finds it alluring. By this time, the two maidens return and overhear the conversation of the king and his jester, and see that Udayana is interested in Sagarika. Susangatha then makes a plan to bring Udayana and Sagarika together, but Vasavadatta (Udayana's first wife) also finds the picture when walking in the grove. Susangatha's plan is destroyed by the angry Vasavadatta and she leaves the grove without accepting Udayana's words of appeasement.
In the third act, the jester and Susangata hatch a plan to make Udayana and Sagarika meet. Sagarika disguises herself as Vasavadatta, and Susangata as her maid. They go to meet Udayana, who has been told of the plan and is expecting Sagarika to come in Vasavadatta's disguise. But the real Vasavadatta learns of this plan and also sets off to meet Udayana. Vasavadatta reaches him first, but Udayana mistakes her for Sagarika and declares that he loves her. Vasavadatta is very angry at Udayana for the second time, and reproaches him and walks away. Sagarika learns that their plan has again been foiled, and ties a noose to her neck wanting to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Udayana is frantically searching for the real Vasavadatta, and finds Sagarika about to die. He mistakes her for the real Vasavadatta, and saves her. Afterwards, the two recognize each other and finally they have a chance to declare their love. But at exactly the same moment, Vasavadatta, having calmed down, comes back to Udayana ready for appeasement. She is outraged for the third time on seeing Sagarika and Udayana together, and throws Sagarika into prison.
In the fourth act, no one knows where Sagarika is imprisoned by Vasavadatta. Suddenly, there is heard a news of the royal harem catching fire. It turns out that Sagarika is kept there, and Vasavadatta turns remorseful. She implores Udayana to run to her rescue. Udayana comes out safely from the fire with Sagarika. It is later revealed that the entire fire was a trick by a magician. At this tense moment, Babhravya and Vasubhuti recognize Sagarika to be the Simhala princess. Yaugandharayana enters and reveals himself to be the plotter. Vasavadatta now gladly brings about the marriage of Udayana and Ratnavali, her cousin, relying on the prophecy.
Sources
A
Natika should be based on an invented love-story according to Sahityadarpana. But this play, although a natika, does not present to us an entirely original story.
The Udayana legend is found in both Jaina and Bauddha literature besides the Kathasaritsagara, Brihatkathamanjari and Brihatkathalokasangraha. The Jaina legends are not earlier than the 12th century, while the Bauddha ones are of about 4th century.
Many distinguished poets of
ancient India
According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
, who flourished before
Harsha
Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajy ...
, have referred to the love of Udayana and Vasavadatta, and the devotion of Yougandharayana for his master Udayana. This shows how popular the story of Udayana was even in Ancient India.
Kalidasa has referred to Udayana in his
Meghaduta.
Śudraka refers in his
Mricchakatika to the devotion of minister Yaugandharayana to Udayana.
Bhāsa
Bhāsa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit, predating Kalidasa. His name was already well-known by the 1st century BCE and he belongs to the late-Mauryan (322-184 BCE) period at the earliest, but the thirt ...
has dramatized the story in his two plays Pratignayougandharayanam and Swapnavāsadattam.
In conclusion, it can be said that it is not unlikely that
Harsha
Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajy ...
took the frame-work of the Udayana story from either the Bauddha literature or some early version of the Brihatkatha and dramatized it in his own way. Although the story is not entirely invented, it must be admitted that the treatment of it at
Harsha
Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajy ...
's hands is quite original and that the play on the whole is a very charming one.
Adaptations
The play has been adapted to film in
Indian cinema
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...
as ''Ratnavali'' in 1922 by Jyotish Bannerjee and C. Legrand, in 1924 by Manilal Joshi, and in 1945 by Surendra Desai.
See also
*
List of Sanskrit plays in English translation
* ''
Nagananda
''Nagananda'' (''Joy of the Serpents'') is a Sanskrit play attributed to emperor Harsha (ruled 606 C.E. - 648 C.E.).
''Nagananda'' is among the most acclaimed Sanskrit dramas. Through five acts, it tells the popular story of Vidyadhar King Jimut ...
''
* ''
Priyadarsika''
References
{{Authority control
Ancient Indian literature
Sanskrit texts
7th-century plays
7th-century Indian books
Sanskrit plays
Indian plays adapted into films
Comedy plays
Comedy theatre
Indian satire
Indian comedy
Indian humour