ARTOLA - HARUITVANA MISRA & HIS PLAYS Sri Madhava Krishna Sarma. In an article in The Adyar Library Bulletin (XV, 1951, pp. 68-71) the latter has described for the first time the six manuscripts in the Bikaner collection. What we learn from his description is that each one is written in Devanagari and, with the exception of one of them, the Adbhutatarañga, they are brief, as we would expect prahasanas to be. The Ghrtakulyávali is unfortunately incomplete: at least two folia towards the end are missing, which in a short manuscript of seven folia means that the more important part of the text is lacking. The other five manuscripts are complete, and on the basis of copies of them which are in the possession of Prof. Raghavan it is possible to discuss their contents. Taken all together, the prahasanas of Harijivana Miśra are a substantial contribution to the comic theatre of India. · Although they do not have great literary value, they should not be neglected in any discussion of Sanskrit dramatic literature. My object here will be to analyse those prahasanas of Harijivana Misra which I have been studying, and in the case of one of them, the Sahrdayananda, Prof.Raghavan will add his analysis of it since its subject matter has a special interest for him and he is eminently better qualified to discuss it. The first play which Harijivana Miśra composed was not on a voluntary basis. He informs us in the colophon of the Adbhutataranga that he was ordered to write this prahasana by Mahārāja Rāma Simha I (1635-1689) of Amber. From this we may assume that it was the desire of his royal master to have this play performed in the palace at Amber. We learn from the Italian adventurer, Nicolo Manucci, who visited several of the courts of the Maharajas who were loyal to Aurangzib, that it was considered an honour to witness dances, plays and the chase. Manucci himself 2 Nicolo Manucci, Storia do Mogor, London 1907, vol. II, p.173. ARTOLA - HARUIVANA MISRA & HIS PLAYS was in the employ of the father of Rama Simha, known as the Mirza Raja, Jaya Simha I (1605-1667). Both of the rulers were well-known for their patronage of Sanskrit and Hindi literature, and with regard to the latter, the important works of Bihari Lal and his nephew Kulapatimiśra were written under their auspices'. Harijivana Misra, a Gauda brāhmaṇa who came originally from the most north-eastern part of Rajasthan, must have received the benefits of the patronage of both the Maharajas, or at least that of Rama Simha I. Râma Simha was first and foremost a warrior and much of his life was spent on the field of battle in support of the military endeavours of Aurangzib. By comparison with those of the austere court of Aurangzib the activities in Amber seem flamboyant, mainly because they were enhanced by a jovial and good-natured Maharaja who had much affection for literature, art and music, and who provided for his court as many enjoyable entertainments as possible. We learn that this is true from at least two Sanskrit sources, one of which was written in the time of Rama Simha and the other in that of his successors, Jaya Simha II and his son Isvara Simha. In the first sarga of the Isvaravilāsa (composed about 1744), Krsna Kavi describes Rama Simha's devotion to literature and the arts in the following verse (No.42) Kavyālāpa-kalakalapa-kalanā-kaurühalotkarşakah prodyannāṭaka-sāṭaka-prahasanakhyana- prabandhotsukaḥ śrīrāmāyaṇa-bharatadi-vilasatpaurana-vägvistara- kṣīrāmbhonidhi-rājahamsaruciraḥ Srt-Ramasimho nrpaḥ ||* 3 M.L.Sharma, "Jaipur's Patronage to Art & Literature Journal of the Rajasthan Institute of Historical Research, II (1965), pp.1-8. 3 4 Krsna Kavi, varavilusa, ed. by Bhatta Shri. Mathuranatha, Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jaipur, 1958, p.31. Cf. also P.K. Gode, Studies Indian Literary History, vol.II (Bombay, 1954), pp.279-87
