ARTOLA - HARIJĪVANA MISRA & HIS PLAYS "King Ráma Simha promoted eager activity in the field of poetry and the arts and he was devoted to natakas, sāṭakas, prahasanas, ākhyānas and prabandhas; he was resplendent like the royal swan on the milky ocean of the literature of the purānas, together with the Ramayana and the Mahabharata" Thus, fifty-five years after his death, Rāma Simha was praised for his interest in all of these fields. During his life-time this same high praise was heard in his own court, for in the prastāvanā of the Syngäraväpikä, a four-act natika of Visvanatha Mahadeva Ranade, the sutradhara says that his court, filled with poets and wise men, laughs at heaven (divam hasati); the brahmans there rejoice with the discussions of different sciences and literature. His generosity to all of them was so great according to this court playwright that even Brahma would not create another liberal donor like him (Brahmapyanyam vadanyam srjati na). Several of the prahasanas of Harijivana Miśra mention as one of the favourite courtly diversions the discussions of pandits on a variety of subjects. Before he composed the Adbhutatarañga, Harijivana Miśra may already have had a fine reputation as a pandit who actively took part in the literary discussions which Râma Simha attended. Perhaps in these discussions it was evident to the Maharaja that Harijivana Misra had a particularly keen sense of humour and therefore Rama Simha encouraged him to compose prahasanas which could be staged in the palace. seem 5 ADBHUTATARANGA In writing the Adbhutatarańga, Harijivana Miśra does not to have felt the influence of any previous writers of Cf. Eggeting's Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of the Indian Office, pt.VII (London, 1904), pp. 1615-18, for a detailed description of the play. Information on the author has been given by Gode, op.cit., pp.259-73. ARTOLA - ADBHUTATARANGA prahasanas. The play is unique in that, instead of being a one-act comedy-farce, it is actually a three-act piece in which each act comprises a different prahasana. Unity of time and place are maintained, and each act corresponds to a divison of day so that the third act ends with the arrival of dawn. The common factor is that the plot of each act unfolds in a royal court. We get the impression that the author witnessed himself the action of each prahasana, and that by emphasizing the caricatural side of his personages, by exaggerating their characteristics, he has produced a series of scenes which were easy to amalgamate. The three acts are quite unequal in interest, in literary merit and in humour. In each one an amazing thing (adbhuta) occurs, and hence the title Adbhutataranga, the waves of marvel. The text of the first act is better preserved than that of the others. The second act concerns the activities of some low characters, including a drunkard, who have gained entrance into the court. The third act is merely a satire on the behaviour of vaisnava ascetics. What begins as a simple religious ceremony, the vaisnavadikṣā, ends in a free-for-all. Who should perform the ceremony and how, is the occasion for a great dispute and it is settled only by coarse slapstick. The first act is sufficiently interesting to be described in detail. 5 Gaudharasa Misra, a vaiṣṇava brahmana, enters the court of King Madanangavikrama. Hypocritically he blesses the king although he knows that the latter had ruined his father. The king, expecting a ceremonious salutation instead of a blessing rebukes him and threatens punishment. Who will pronounce the proper punishment? It must be a brahman well-versed in dharma sastra. The king has his door keepers summon Vidhava-vidhvamsaka. He turns out to be more of a hypocrite than Gaudharasa Miśra. The description of him attests to this:
