Simhasana Dvatrimsika
Page 17
Notes
Introduction
1. Alberuni’s India, tr. E.C. Sachau and ed. A.T. Embree, New York, 1971.
2. Edgerton. See Note 8 below.
3. By Nandlal Bose, described in the Indian Express of 12.1.1993
4. History of Indian Literature by M. Winternitz, tr. Subhadra Jha, Delhi, 1985. Referred to hereafter as Winternitz.
5. Edgerton. See Notes 8 and Appendix 1 below.
6. Vikram and the Vampire, tr. Sir Richard Burton, London, 1870.
7. Figures within brackets in this and the next paragraph refer to the Table of Contents numbers in the present book.
8. Vikrama’s Adventures by Franklin Edgerton, Harvard Oriental Series, Volumes 26 and 27, Cambridge, 1926. Referred to here as Edgerton.
9. The Kāvya-Portions in the Kathā-Literature, Vol. II by Ludwik Sternbach, Meharchand Lachhmandas, Delhi,1974. Referred to hereafter as Sternbach. This and Edgerton comprise the most detailed studies to date of the Simhāsana Dvātriṃsikā.
10. Sternbach.
11. Winternitz.
12. Edgerton.
13. Sternbach.
14. Sternbach.
15. Winternitz.
16. Sternbach.
17. The sources mentioned are among those traced in detail by Sternbach. Quotations traced by him to a few well-known works have been so identified in subsequent notes.
18. A History of India, Vol. I, by Romila Thapar, London, 1966.
19. Sternbach.
20. In Glimpses of Sanskrit Literature, ed. A.N.D. Haksar, New Delhi, 1995.
21. Sternbach.
22. Stories of Vikramaditya (Simhāsana Dvātriṃ̣sikā) in English by V.A.K. Aiyer, Bombay 1960, contains very different material. It is also described as a retelling and does not specify its source.
23. Sternbach.
24. Winternitz.
25. These are tales 1, 3, 4, 13, 24 and 29. The introductory lines in the first two are drawn from SR, and in the other four from JR.
I. Prologue
1. The elephant-headed god, traditionally invoked at the beginning of an enterprise to keep it free of impediments.
2. The gods respectively of preservation, creation and destruction, and the goddess of learning.
3. This well known verse occurs in many works, including the Panchatantra, the Hitopadeśa and various Chānakya collections. Sternbach.
II. King Bhartrihari and the Fruit of Immortality
1. This verse occurs in the eighth century epic poem Śiśupālavadha by Māgha. Of the preceding four verses the first three are found in the Hitopadeśa and the Panchatantra, while the last is from Bhartrihari Śatakam. Sternbach.
2. The god of love and desire.
IV. Vikrama and the Wicked Yogi
1. The Ramayana story is well known.
2. This story summarizes the plot of the Vetāla Panchaviṃśatikā, mentioned in the Introduction. See also note 31.3.
3. Cf. tale 21.
V. Vikrama gains the Throne
1. The following five verses actually occur in a text on dancing entitled Vasantārajíya, quoted by the writer Katayavema in his commentary on Kalidasa’s Mālavikāgnimitra; the last three occur in Act II of that play. Cf: the critical apparatus in Edgerton.
VI. Vikrama’s Death and the hiding of the Throne
1. Some scholars place the site of this town on the river Ganga opposite modern Allahabad; others locate it on the river Godavari.
VII. The Discovery of the Throne
1. Author of Nītisāra, an eighth century work on governance.
VIII. The Minister’s Tale
1. The following three verses are quotations from the Rati Rahasya of Kokkoka, a twelfth or thirteenth century work on erotics. Edgerton.
IX. The Minister’s Tale continued
1. This verse recurs in tale 31.
2. This verse, ending in the famous maxim vināśakāle viparītabuddhih, is also found in the Mahabharata, the Panchatantra and the Hitopadeśa. Sternbach.
The Thirty-two Tales of the Throne
3. The Four Jewels
1. This verse ends in the well known maxim vasudhaiva kutumbakam, and is also found in the Hitopadeśa, the Panchatantra and various Chānakya anthologies. It is repeated at tale 17 in a slightly different form.
6. Distress and Deceit
1. The fourfold classification of women on the basis of their supposed physical and temperamental characteristics was traditional in later Indian erotic literature. Cf. Note VIII. 1 above.
2. The verse occurs in Sarva Darśana Samgraha of Mādhava (thirteenth or fourteenth century), and has been used to date the present work. Sternbach.
3. The three debts of man were considered as owed respectively to the gods, the seers, and the ancestors, and discharged through offering sacrifices, studying the scriptures, and begetting a son.
7. The Decapitated Duo
1. This refers to the Dāna Khānḍa section of the Chaturvarga Chintāmaṇi of Hemādri (thirteenth century). The author is also mentioned by name in some texts of SR. The reference has been used to date the present work. Sternbach.
8. The Filling of the Lake
1. A type of dance. The description is obviously that of the god Śiva as Natarāja or king of dancers. Bhairava and Parameśvara are also representations of Śiva. Lambodara is another name of the god Ganeśa. Cf. note I. 1.
9. A Courtesan Rescued
1. This and the following equally well known verse, also occur in the Bhartrihari Śatakam. Sternbach.
2. Of the Jyotisha Śāstra, on astronomy. These are Tantra, Horā and Samhitā, concerned respectively with astronomy, horoscopes and natural astrology. Cf. A History of Sanskrit Literature by A.B. Keith, Oxford, 1920.
3. See notes VIII. 1 and 6.1.
12. The Curse on the Callous Wife
1. A shell once used as the smallest unit of currency.
2. A famous ogre in mythology.
13. The Gift of Merit
1. The purāṇa sources of the next seven verses are still to be identified.
2. The holy trinity of Brahmā, Vishnu and Śiva. Edgerton.
3. The warrior caste.
4. Brahmarākshasa in Sanskrit. A person of the priestly caste transformed into a demon as punishment for transgression of his ordained duties.
15. A Friend Indeed
1. The chaplain’s name in Trivikrama in tale 9, where he also seems to be an older man. Both names are taken here from SR.
2. The popular Māgha Melā bathing festival is still held every year at Prayāga, modern Allahabad, during this month which corresponds to December-January.
16. A Springtime Gift
1. The bakula (mimusope elengi) was said to flower when sprayed with a mouthful of wine by a good-looking girl. There are similar literary conceits about the breath from a girl’s mouth, a stroke of her foot, and an embrace from her breast, which bring blossoms to the mango, the asoka and the red amaranth respectively.
18. Vikrama visits the Sun
1. That is, confined under the bridge built by Rama.
2. This proper noun is also used in referring to someone whose name is not known.
3. These are: ruby, pearl, coral, emerald, topaz, diamond, sapphire, garnet and cat’s eye. Each gem is associated with a planet, and together they constitute an auspicious combination still used in Indian jewellery.
4. Equilibrium, energy and inertia; or tranquility, passion and ignorance.
19. The Visit to the Nether World
1. Krishna here refers by the god Vishnu, by another of whose incarnations the righteous giant king Bāli was tricked into gifting his earthly domain. Bāli was then made ruler of the nether world, and the god rewarded his merit by standing guard at his gate.
24. The Judgement of Śālivāhana
1. Of the mercantile caste.
2. This story elaborates on the tale in section VI, in relation to which, however, there are important differences of detail.
3. Th
e references in this sentence are to various divine beings.
4. All four are mythological figures whose charity and renunciation were of heroic proportions. The last named is the Mahabharata character Karna.
5. Cf. tale 19.
6. Cf. tale 20.
25. The Halting of Saturn
1. A sixth century astronomer and astrologer, author of the work Brihatsamhitā. He divided the subject into three sections, cf. note 9.2. The verse which follows is ascribed to him. Sternbach.
2. The father of the hero Rama.
28. The King stops Human Sacrifice
1. Seven manifestations of the Mother Goddess who participated in the battle with the buffalo demon, as described in the Śri Durgā Saptaśati.
2. The verse is sourced to Kalidasa’s Sakuntalā (5.7). Sternbach.
30. The Magician’s Reward
1. Sourced to Kalidasa’s Kumārasambhava (4.33): Sternbach.
31. The Genie’s Tale
1. The tripundra, drawn with three parallel and horizontal lines, and worn by devotees of the god Śiva.
2. The month corresponding to November-December.
3. As with the story in section IV, this tale also summarizes the Vetāla Panchvimśatikā, another work featuring king Vikramaditya. The end here, however, provides a new twist.
4. Characters in the Mahabharata. But this verse does not seem to occur in the epic.
5. Cf. tale 21.
32. The Image of Poverty
1. Cf. section II.
2. Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, was born from the ocean and (next verse) married the god Vishnu. In the latter’s incarnation as Krishna, their son was Kāma, the god of love. These three verses addressed to Lakshmi are in Prākrit in the original.
Epilogue
1. These names are taken from JR. There are some variations in other recensions.
Appendix
1. Edgerton thought that this name should perhaps be Gardabhasena (cf. Gardabha = ass). He refers to the Jaina work Kālakāchārya Kathānaka, in which Vikramaditya’s predecessor king is named Gardabhilla. The work tells how the latter was expelled by the Śakas from Ujjayini, which was reconquered by Vikrama, who established a new era to mark the occasion.
2. The name could also mean a place with pillars. Any connection with the town of Khambat in Gujarat remains to be traced, bearing in mind that this story begins in the land of Gurjarī.
THE BEGINNING
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