Bilhana - The
Minstrel
by Prof. K. N. Dhar
KASHMIR
of yore has been the cradle of Sanskrit lore and
learning. From 9th century A. D. to 12th century A.
D. brightest luminaries in Sanskrit literature have
shone on its firmament. These four hundred years,
roughly speaking, form the crux and the culmination
of what may be called the creative and original
literary activity of Kashmiris in the realm of
Sanskrit language and literature. A galaxy of
rhetoricians, philosophers, poets, and historians
all by their own right brought fame and lustre to
the good name of "Sharada Desa', (the land of
speech) as Kashmir was popularly known then. They
marvellously contributed to the richness of "Deva
Vani" (Speech of gods) and immortalized its
flavour and fragrance in their thought- provoking
treatises.
New theories pertinent to
the soul (content) and body (form) of literature
were propounded. Tenets of literary Indian criticism
were established for the first time in Kashmir. New
standards and norms for evaluating a literary
composition were enunciated; old ones were refuted
by persuasive argumentation. "Aesthetic
element" got its cherished place for the first
time in the books on Poetics and rhetorics. To quote
Dr Raghavan "If there is a prominent Indian
Aesthetics which could be applied to all fine arts,
it is to Kashmir we owe it ." Among these
literary giants Anandvardhana Vamana, Mammatta and
others are prominent.
Such diverse subjects like
dramaturgy and philosophy could ably be handled by
one and the same person like Abhinavagupta. The
versatile genius of Kashmiri scholars is irrefutable
and their erudition unquestionable. Even the
minutest details did not elude their attention.
Their command over language is faultless and their
thought rejuvenating.
Out of such intellectual
climate, enriched all the more by Nature's
extravagant disposition, a unique system of
philosophy was evolved known as "Saiva-Darshan",
which is "the synthesis of the realistic,
idealistic, voluntaristic, absolutic and mystic
current of thought then prevailing in Kashmir."
This system of philosophy, to speak more precisely,
is a happy compromise between "the personal and
the impersonal and the monistic and the dualistic
approaches punctuated with the traditions and terms
of thought and practices of the Buddhists and the
orthodox. " Dr R. K. Kaw has one more
explanation to offer :- "It has laid emphasis
on the need of 'recognition' (Pratyabhijna of 'Self'
(Atman), viz the supreme inheritance of man. The
necessity of supersensuous experience for self-
realisation is rccognized owing to the limitations
of man's sense and reason". Among the host of
such philosophers the name of Somananda and Utpala,
the propounders, and Abhinavagupta the interpreter
deserve special mention.
While all these sons of 'Saraswati'
or 'Sharada' (Goddess of speech or learning)
revelled in their ethereal imagination
understandably forgetting the environments in which
they were living, one polymath Ksemendra did not
lose sight ofthe society in which he was born to
breathe and could feel the ground under his feet, as
the idiom goes. A realist by nature and a satirist
by disposition he tried his hand on a variety of
subjects including poetry, history, rhetorics,
prosody, etc, but his realistic approach is
pronounced throughout. He might indulge in didactics
but the sting of satire is there. He has given a
graphic picture of contemporary society rampant with
seductive Gourtezans, cheating 'banias' and cunning
and corrupt clerks. In the words of Dr. Surya Kanta,
"Ksemendra's comprehensive style, his clarity
of expression, his power to use satire to the best
advantage and his critical insight into literature
have earned for him a place among the masters of
Indian literary tradition."
"History" says
Macdonnel, "is the one weak spot in Indian
literature. It is in fact non-existent."
The conspicuous absence of
historical spirit among the ancient Indian writers
is more due to their out-look on life than to their
incompetence to handle this form of expression. In
spite of this obvious discomfiture, Kashmir has made
a substantial contribution to the art of recording
chronicles in the person of Kalhana whose torch was
kept alive by Jona Raja, Srivara and Prajya Bhatta
in later years. 'Raja Tarangini', a chronicle of the
Kings of Kashmir, is to this day the solitary work
on history pure and simple. Even though with
intermixture of the supernatural and the marvellous,
the historical content of this book is not
altogether authentic, yet it cannot be gainsaid that
Kalhana is certainly the greatest historian in
Sanskrit literature."
Sanskrit as such could not
understandably have been the language of the elite
only as it is often contended, but could fairly be
understood by the people in general. In the absence
of such a hypothesis, such a gigantic literary
activity could not have fructified. This very fact
is further elaborated by Bilhana himself when he
says :
<verses>
"Where even the women
in their household speak Sanskrit and Prakrit as
fluently as their mother-tongue".
This inference is
furthermore corroborated by Stein when he says,
"The continued popular use of Sanskrit even
among Mohammadans is strikingly proved by the
Sanskrit inscription on a tomb in the cemetry of
Bahau- Din -Sahib at Srinagar (A. D. 1484).' It is,
therefore, erroneous to assume that Sanskrit as a
spoken word had lost its pristine glory. "Brief
Sanskrit inscriptions without dates have been found
by me on a number of old Mohammadan tombs in
Srinagar, near Martand and elsewhere." During
this rennaissance when Sanskrit was not only the
vehicle of mental gymnastics at the hands of
Kashmiri scholars but also the spoken word of the
people at large, Bilhana saw the light of the day.
He had already a tradition behind him, a background
worth its weight in gold, forming an indissoluble
part of his soul even if he was physically away from
his motherland.
The first extant reference
about him is given by Kalhana :
<verses>
"Bilhana who had left
Kashmir in the reign of King Kalasa had been made by
Parmadi, the Lord of Karnata, his Chief Pandit";
when travelling on elephants through the
hill-country of Karnata his parasol was borne aloft
before the king. When he heard that the liberal
Harsa was like a kinsman to true poets, he thought
even so great a splendour a deception.
Some of his verses are also
found in 'Kavya Prakasa' of Mammatta and 'Balabodhinivriti'
of Katantra; some of his didactic verses not found
in the works ascribed to him are also given in the
anthologies, This also goes to prove that Bilhana
had attained sufficient amount of popularity in his
home land even though he had been physically away
from it.
However, the credit of
unearthing this "Jewel amongst Kashmir Poets''
goes to Dr. Buhler and that also, paradoxically
enough, outside Kashmir. In 1877 A. D. while in
search of Sanskrit manuscripts, he came across an
old palm-leaf edition of "Vikramankadeva
Caritam" in Jaisalmer, formerly a central
Indian State and now a part of Rajasthan.
In the Calcutta edition of
Rajatarangini Rilhana is given instead of Bilhana.
The astute doctor without any hesitation identified
this Rilhana as Bilhana- subsequent research on this
subject only confirmed his view. In the Sarda
characters "Ra" and "Ba" are apt
to be confused owing to their seemingly alike
symbols; so the scribe while transcribing the
original Sarda characters into Devanagari script
must have made this mistake unwittingly. In a later
critical edition of Rajatarangini by Dr. Stein, the
name Bilhana is correctly given.
The name as such is not of
Sanskrit origin. Perhaps it has a Dardic base and
might have connoted some meaning in the local
dialect. This needs to be looked into. The same can
be said about Kalhana whom some critics have
identified with Kalyana, given in Mankha's "Sri
Kanth Caritam". But this inference does not
hold water. Barring some prominent names which have
a Sanskritic base, the majority of names seems to
have been derived from the local dialect e.g.
Mammatta and other names ending in "tta".
Bilhana does not leave us
guessing as regards his birth place "He does
not wish to remain under a bushel." He gives a
candid description of the village in which he was
born :
<verses>
"There is at a
distance of two and a half kosas from Pravara Pura (Srinagar)
a rising plateau named Jayawan in which there is a
spring of Takshaka (serpent king) of crystal clear
water, veritably a disc to chop away the head of
Kaliyuga ready to annihilate the "Dharma".
Quite close to it is a village endowed with the
virtues, opulence and all fame named Khonmukh."
This Khunmukh Village is
even to-day as exactly situated as it was given by
Bilhana some eight hundred years ago. In some
editions the name Khonmusa is given which according
to Buhler is the correct word. He had advanced a
theory that the copyist must have been a Jaina who
pronounce "Sa" and "Kha" alike,
such as Katimosha: Qaimoh, Ratimosha: Romoh. This
theory cannot be termed as correct as it is a
conjecture only. I have tried to provide an answer
to this controversy like this. The final "ausa"
sound is generally changed to "oh" in
Kashmiri as in 'Pausa' to 'Poh', and the medial
sound "O" and "U" are not
clearly distinguished by Kashmiris. So the "Khonmukh"
as given by Bilhana has come to be pronounced as
"Khunmuh". In modern vernaculars also
"Mukha" (Sanskrit) has changed to "Munha".
There may be one more cause for this confusion of
"Kha" and "Sa". Again the "Sarada"
characters might be responsible for this. Even today
the Pandits of Kashmir knowing Sarada script
sometimes refer sarcastically to a new entrant to
their ranks in the words: "can he differentiate
between 'sa' and 'ma" ? This clearly goes to
prove that the various symbols in Sarada are apt to
be confused; only a profound scho]ar with an
immaculate knowledge of the intricacies of this
script can be relied upon for genuine text.
This "Khunmuh"
village is situated on a 'rising mound' (a
table-land, exactly speaking) near the Srinagar
Jammu National Highway, when it branches off to the
left near Pandrethan at a distance of five miles
from Srinagar. In this volcanoic range are situated
Zevan, Wuyan and Khrewa also. It is at a distance of
seven miles from Srinagar as pointed out by the poet
one and a half "gavyuti". 'Gavyuti' is
roughly taken to be equal to four miles.
The 'Takshaka Naga' as
alluded to above in the Sloka under reference has
undergone cultural conquest. There is a grave-yard
adjacent to it. The water is not as crystal clear as
was known to the poet. It is not also altogether
circular in shape now. The saffron fields and the
vine-yards are even to-day as luxuriant in their
brilliance as in the days of the poet. Only the
Vitasta (Jhelum) seems to have gone farther way from
it perhaps by a distance of two to three miles.
Rivers do change their course and it is a
geographical phenomenon which will take its toll on
any part of the globe.
In these surroundings our
poet was born of 'Jyeshta Kalasha' and 'Naga Devi.
His father Jyeshta Kalasha was a commentator of
Mahabhashya of Patanjali. In a way his illustrious
father bequeathed to him as an heirloom the love for
Sanskrit Muse.
No exact date of his birth
or death can be given for obvious reasons. Even
though he has written profusely about himself, yet
he has not given us the dates with mathematical
precision. In order to arrive at some conclusions
regarding the years in which he flourished we have
to rely on stray references about him in the works
of his successors or contemporaries, or on the
indirect evidence to be culled out from his
writings. Happily for us Kalhana has made a
reference to the years in which he left Kashmir. He
went for a sojourn to Central India in the reign of
King Kalasa. King Kalasa was the son of King Ananta
whose rule commenced from Saptarsi Samvat 4 i.e.
1029 A.D. to Saptarsi Samvat 39 i. e. 1064 A.D.
Towards the end of his rule he performed the
Abhisheka (Anointing ceremony) of his son and made
over his kingdom to him in his life-time in Saptrsi
Samvat 41, i.e 1066 A.D. This can safely be fixed as
the date for the departure of Bilhana to Central
India. The immediate predecessor of Bilhana, the
Polymath Kshemendra gives this detail about the
kings and indirectly helps us to form a rough view
of the range of years in which Bilhana lived.
Kalhana makes another
reference to him when he enjoyed the partonge of
Parmadi of Karnata. The Vikram as given by Bilhana
has been identified as King Chalukya Vikramaditya VI
of Kalyan who reigned form 1076 A.D. to 1127 A.D.
Thus it is clear that this illustrious poet reached
"Kalyan" ten years in advance of
Vikramaditya's enthronement. During this decade
Bilhana must have made a name by his talent and
erudition which consequently arrested the attention
of the king who rewarded him munificiently and
bestowed on him the title of "Vidyapati"
(the Master of learning).
So it secms probable that
Bilhana lived between the last two quarters of the
eleventh century. Probably the poet was cut short in
his life by 1088 A.D. as he has ignored his patron's
biggest military campaign to the south in his
Vikramankadevacaritam. This great expedition, had
Bilhana been living at that time, could not have
been ignored by him while smaller campaigns have
been elaborately narrated by him in his
Vikramankadevacaritam. Thus we can rightly assume
that the span of life of our poet outside Kashmir
ranges from 1066 A.D, when Kalasha ascended the
throne of Kashmir, to 1088 A.D. when his patron
started his military campaign towards the south.
However, this assertion cannot be termed as final
because :
(i) It can also be possible
that he must have left Kashmir not in the first year
of Kalasa's reign. Kalhana explicitly says that he
left during the reign of King Kalasa. It might be
any year.
(ii) Moreover, he might
have fallen into dis-favour of his patron, as the
kings have generally been whimsical by nature.
Because of this dis-favour Bilhana no longer
eulogized him in his memoirs.
One more point also
deserves attention in this respect. What could have
been the possible age of Bilhana when he chose to
try his fortune outside Kashmir. Taking the state of
communications and the time it took to travel from
North to Central India he could not have been a
minor. He would not have been allowed to risk his
life on such a hazardous jourlley had he not been
quite mature and seasoned. Let us assume the lowest
limit of his age and fix it at 25, if not more. So
broadly speaking, our poet lived from 1041 A.D. to
1088 A.D. i e. forty eight years, not a span worth
its name in view of the standards obtaining at that
time. Hence it seems plausible that he lived even
after 1088 A.D., might be a retired life; and when
he actually breathed his last, remains hidden in the
womb of time.
Bilhana, as the tradition
goes, has three compositions to his credit: "Vikramankadeva
Caritam"- a historical Kavya, 'Caur Panchasika-
a lyric of fifty stanzas and a small drama of four
acts "Karna Sundari". One more book "Bilhana
Caritam", ostensibly an autobiography, has also
been ascribed to him. But in it the name of the
writer does not appear any where. It may have been
written by one of his admirers who preferred to
remain unknown. Moreover the details and dates given
in it do not agree with those given in Vikramanka
Deva Caritam.
Out of these three
compositions only the Vikramankadeva Caritam reaches
the highest water-mark. It is definitely a work of
mature judgment and composed demeanour. It must have
been written before 1088 A. D., for the great
expedition of that king to the south, which occurred
in that year is not mentioned by the poet. This
kavya consists of 18 cantos while the last canto is
devoted to the personal account of the poet. In
these 18 chapters the number of verses roughly comes
to 2500. In this composition history has been wedded
to romance and war. King Vikramaditya, his patron,
is portrayed in brightest possible colours. His
valour, his charitable disposition, his love for
fine-arts have been lavishly praised. The
description of seasons, the landscape and other
relevant topics occupy the largest space in the
book. The historical content is definitely
subservient to the poetic fancy :
<verses>
"Like the buzzing of
bees engaged in collecting honey, like the new
sprout of the vernal damsel, like the blowing of
auspicious conches on a birth-day, the spring set
in. "
About the erotic sense of
love, he has to say :
<verses>
"O Lord of Night (the
moon), I have a spotless beloved in my bosom. What
will you do with your spotted one (beloved) ? Pour
out to me wine in your goblet studded with gems. Are
you not conversant with the 'spot' in your
lap."
The two introductory verses
of the Kashmirian manuscript of 'Caur Panchashika',
the genuineness of which is corroborated by Bilhana
himself, show that it was written in Kalyana before
the poet had obtained the favour of the king Vikrama.
The mention of Lord of Kuntala and indignant address
to his envious rivals and enemies prove this. It is
often ascribed to "Caur Kavi" which is not
a name but a pseudonym for Bilhana. It is definitely
the offspring of a corrupt reacling in the colophon
:-
<verses>
(Thus end the fifty verses
of amor by Caura)
"Caurpancasika"
(the fifty stanzas of a thief) or the
"love-lament" aptly called by Sir Edwin
Arnold is a lyric of a poet ready to mount the
scaffold for enticing a princess. During this
fateful suspense when the life of the poet hangs by
a slender thread, the reminiscences of the days
spent in the sweet company of the princess oppress
the heart of the lover and he ventilates these in a
powerful and pathetic versified form. The refrain of
each stanza begins with even today. At places the
imagination of the poet borders on sensuality :
<verses>
"Oh me ! I was the bee
who sucked his fill Prom fragrant chalice of that
gold-leaved flower, Breast deep. Know I not well how
it did thrill Beneath mine eager clasping in that
hour, When love waxed well-nigh cruel in quick
kisses, And passion welcomed hurts that mixed with
blisses."
The theme of this lyric
according to tradition is a leaf from the personal
experience of the poet. This can be also an imagined
situation which the poets can visualize easily by
virtue of their innate productive faculties. The
freshness of the poem is eternal.
"Karna-Sundari"
is the name of the heroine of the drama bearing the
same name. Usually the dramatists in Sanskrit have
named their compositions after their heroines.
Kalidasa also did the same. In this small drama of
four Acts is a love episode between Karna Sundari, a
princess and Karna Raj, son of Bhimadeva, a scion of
Chalukya dynsty. Like other Sanskrit dramas it is
more of a dramatic poem than a drama. The story is
common-place with a happy blending of history and
imagirlation. Prose pieces are simple and short.
Prakrits have also been laudably employed. Bilhana
puts the following compliment in the mouth of the
King for the beauty of his beloved: "On account
of being put in fire the lustre of gold is darkened
as if with the smoke; the moon is robbed of its
resplendence like a leaf bereft of red hue; the
creeper-like bow of cupid is ineffective, the beauty
of the world having gone to sleep. Why only the
plaintain groves shine before her in their pride?
"
It can now safely be
asserted that Vikramankadeva Caritam is the poet's
last work, and these other two works precede it.
Both these works, the lyric and the drama, do not
portray perfect craftsmanship in respect of the
technique of the language.
Bilhana essentially is a
romantic poet. Romantic poetry baldly speaking is
the acme of poet's individuality. At the roots of
this poetry we perceive the all-pervading sentiment
of this romantic instinct inherent in man. Our poet
does not dabble in high sounding philosophical dicta
like Somananda and others which are definitely
beyond the comprehension of an ordinary man. He does
not either indulge in hair-splitting argumentation
on the ingredients of literature as Mammatta and
others did. He does not also tag history with legend
like Kalhana and his retinue. He also fights shy of
indicting the society like Ksemendra. Like a truly
romantic poet he translates his emotions as they
ooze forth in his heart. He weaves a world of his
own in which the inebriating influence of vines and
the golden hue of saffron form the woof and the
warp. To speak precisely he lives in his
imagination.
Bilhana's 'forte' is
love-milk of human kindness. "The love
portrayed by Indian poets is not of the ideal type,
of the sensuous type; but yet they reveal great
delicacy of feelings and refinement of thought.
"He holds a mirror to human feelings in a
masterly way and at the same time keeps the nature
an eyewitness to this all. He delineates human
feelings in the background of Natural surroundings,
so that the throbs of man and Nature beat in unison.
"By the artistic use of pathetic fallacy the
lyric-poets blend Nature and Man into one
inseparable whole."
The natural beauty of
Kashmir can definitely give fillip to the creative
imagination of a poet. While in Central India he
enshrined the sweet memory of this land of
"learning, saffron, ice-water and grapes,
making it a superparadise," in the innermost
sanctuary of his heart. This very faculty impelled
him to write exuberant poetry pulsating with his
emotions inherent while in Kashmir and acquired
while in Kalyan. His language is flowery and his
diction flawless.
Unlike his predecessor
Ksemendra, he does not seem to believe that the
figures of speech (Alankaras) are external
embellishments only. He makes use of these profusely
and in a dexterous way. His similes are apt and
impressive. Even though he uses a variety of metres
in his compositions, yet his favourite is andakranta''
in which metre Kalidasa has couched his immortal
lyric "Cloud Messenger".
Consequently when he takes
pride in narrating the two peerless products of his
Motherland, it seems no exaggeration:
<verses>
"Verily saffron and
the poetic prowess are born of the same womb,
outside Sarda Desa (Kashmir) I have not seen these
two sprout forth."
To crown all, in the
portrayal of human feelings punctuated with the
sobering influence of love and all the more
accentuated with the extravagantly kind- hearted
disposition of Nature none can excel him in his
home-land. He drinks at the fountain of love - a
synonym of life - to his fill; older critics perhaps
were right when they classed him with Kalidasa and
compared the talent of the former and the latter to
the "lustruous hair" and the
"coquetry" of the "charming Lady of
poetry" respectively.
Bilhana has been fortunate
enough to receive recognition in his life time, a
phenomenon very rare with sanskrit writers. Usually
their talents have been sung in panegyrics when they
leave their mortal frame. This all goes to
substantiate that Bilhana epitomizes in himself a
dexterous mastery over sound and sense. His facile
pen could clothe any imagination that would strike
his fancy in proper words and in proper order. He
might have at times spent much ink while eulogizing
the virtues of his patron, even then he believed in
the golden mean - a synthesis between fact and
fiction. He paid back his gratitude to the King in
words pulsating with sincerity, pregnant with
scholarship and endowed with vibrant emotions. No
other better repayment could be imagined. So when he
says :
<verses>
"There is no hamlet or
village or even Metropolis; That is no forest or
garden or land devoted to learning where the wise,
the dull, the old, the young, the women and men, one
and all, do not recite his poems with utmost exhilaration."
It does not jar on our ears
as hyperbole or pedantry. It is a statement of facts
which may not be palatable to a few, only because it
comes from the mouth of the poet himself.
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