In the second act, the king of Nissantānagrāma by name Saṅgrāmavisara arrives there with his friend named Viśvāsaghātuka. Madanamañjarī, who realises that he was a rich man, speaks to him in a welcoming and pleasant manner; he, however, was a namesake king only. He had to borrow money to buy a dog; he had no means to even earn to repay the debt.
A brāhmaṇa named Mithyāśukla arrives there. The following verse describes his name –
brāhmaṇya-darpa-paripṛṣṭa-viriñci-śīlaḥ
śambhorapi vratavidhāvupahāsa-śīlaḥ|
kūpāṃbudhauta-kapilāmbara-veṣavartī
dambha-priyaḥ sphurati vañcaka-cakravartī||
Another brāhmaṇa called Puṅkaṭa-miśra also comes there. The verse below describes him –
gurorgiraḥ pañca-dinān-upāsya
vedānta-śāstrāṇi dina-trayaṃ ca|
amī samāghrāta vitarka-vādāḥ
samāgatāḥ puṅkaṭa-miśrapādāḥ||
The following is a segment of the conversation that takes place between them –
Mithyā: You adhere to the ekadaṇḍa-mata, right? How then do you have miśra in your name?
Puṅkaṭa: We substantiate both karma-mīmāṃsā and brahma-mīmāṃsā; as we possess the knowledge of both darśanas, we are called miśras.
Mithyā: Aren’t the two the same? They don’t contradict each other. Tell me, why are you named miśra? Also, you are a vedāntin. Is your advaita sapramāṇa or apramāṇa? If you claim that there is pramāṇa, it is dvaita; and if there isn’t, how is it advaita?
Puṅkaṭa: We certainly have pramāṇas. But it is not an exclusive entity.
Mithyā: If you are claiming that the pramāṇa and prameya are the same, the discussion on vedānta is growing serious.
Puṅkaṭa: Let us give up these dry arguments. We have come here to care for Madana-mañjarī’s health…
They thus get into a heated debate. Mithyāśukla forces Puṅkaṭa away by pushing on his neck. Another person called Vyasanakāra comes there; Digambara gets into a business deal with him and sends him away. Finally, only Sabhāsalī and Digambara remain there as Madana-mañjarī’s suitors; Digambara grows impatient and declares that he would be happy if he could possess Danturā, and grants that Sabhāsalī can have Madana-mañjarī; thus, a wedding ceremony for Jaṭāsura and Danturā is arranged. A jaṅgama named Caturveda comes to the spot and decks Digambara using flowers of the arka plant. He blesses the couple with the following verses –
doṣākara-mukhīm-enāṃ danturāṃ prāpya caṇḍikām|
bhaja tvaṃ śūlinaḥ kāntiṃ śmaśānāśrama-vāsinaḥ||
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyuḥ dhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca|
tasmād-aparihārye'the na tvaṃ śoticum-arhasi||
He is offered two gallnuts as the fees for performing this ‘paurohitya’. The play ends with the bharata-vākya uttered by Sabhāsalī.
The prahasana does not even have a reasonable storyline; the plot is not sophisticated either; the play has quite a lot of humour connected with the names of the characters, their professions, skills, and behaviour. (Cf. the third act of Prabodha-Candrodaya) The ‘humour’ in the play is largely vulgar, and we have not mentioned it here either. However, while describing Madana-mañjarī, all ‘laṭaka’s seem to recite poetic verses. Puṅkaṭa-miśra describes her in the following manner –
udgrīvayan dharaṇi-maṇḍalam-aprayatnāt
āvarjayannamara-vṛnda-mukkhāmbujāni|
asyā vinodayati kasya na citta-vṛttiṃ
prāsāda-śaila-śikhara-praṇayī mukhenduḥ||
lāvaṇyāmṛta-sarasī-lalita-gatirvikaca-kamala-dala-nayanā|
kasya na madana-śarāsanavidhuramanastāpam-apaharati||
If we were to even try to imagine the society of the period that gave birth to such prahasanas, we are certainly not going to hold it in great regard.
Unmatta-prahasana, Kandarpa-keli, Kāleya-kutūhala, Kautuka-ratnākara, Kautuka-sarvasva, Deva-durgati-prahasana, Dhūrta-carita, Dhūrta-nartaka-prahasana, Dhūrta-viḍambana, Dhūrta-samāgama, Nāṭa-vāṭa-prahasana, Palāṇḍu-maṇḍana, Bhagavadajjuka, Bhānu-prabandha, Muṇḍita-prahasana, Lambodara-prahasana (Prahasana-nāṭaka?), Vinoda-raṅga-prahasana, Sāndra-kutūhala, Subhagānanda, Somavallī-yogānanda-prahasana, Hāsya-cūḍāmaṇi, Hāsyārṇava, Hṛdaya-govinda – these are the prahasanas we currently know of.
To be continued ...
The current series of articles is an enlarged adaptation of Prof. A. R. Krishnasastri's Kannada treatise Saṃskṛta-nāṭaka. They are presented along with additional information and footnotes by Arjun Bharadwaj.
