We move on to the next work, Hāsya-cūḍā-maṇi
Introduction
Hāsya-cūḍā-maṇi is a śuddha-prahasana consisting of two acts. In general prahasanas rarely go beyond one act. The title of the prahasana neither hints anything about the plot like Mattavilāsa nor it is a combination of the characters like Bhagavad-ajjukam. The title just reflects the confidence of the author when he declares it as the crest-jewel of humour.
The plot again concentrates on some trivial matter, consisting of a preceptor and a student, both irredeemable crooks in search of easy life and money posing as ‘godmen’. They try to fool a procuress who has ‘lost’ some ornaments saying they can find them using some supernatural powers. Meanwhile the daughter of the procuress had stolen those ornaments to give it to her lover to gamble, he has lost money and hopes to recover using these ornaments. The preceptor meanwhile also knows about this and has also assured the gambler that he’ll make him win. He sees the daughter and is instantly smitten. He uses his only genuine power (power of bewitching which he somehow has learnt) to make her his own, but the cunning student sees through this plan and rewrites the mantra so that it applies to the procuress who falls head over heels. The student stays on a tree to watch the fun. Meanwhile the procuress’s attendants, seeking revenge on the preceptor as he had said that they might have been the thieves, finds both the student and the preceptor and wants to kill them. The student tricks them by saying all the treasures which they have buried would be lost if they are killed. The preceptor plays along saying he has a special ointment when applied to the eyes, would ‘reveal’ all the treasures. The attendants and the procuress are blinded and the attendants in turn apply the same to the student and the preceptor resulting in all the five people blinded. Finally the daughter and her lover finds them and washes their eyes resulting in restoration of the vision, the story ends there.
The plot which spans two acts is more complicated compared to both Mattavilāsa and Bhagavad-ajjukam. We base our analysis of this play as found in the book “A collection of six dramas of Vatsaraja” by Chimanlal D Dalal. We also refer to the Kannada translation of the play which is part of the book titled “ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತದ ಮೂರು ಪ್ರಹಸನಗಳು'' by Śatāvadhānī Dr. R. Ganesh. Dr S Ramarathnam’s thesis can also be referred for more details.
The poet
The poet[1] Vatsarāja was the minister of the cālukya king Paramardideva who ruled Gujarat and surrounding areas in the 12th century CE, (1163-1203 CE). This prahasana is part of a collection of six dramas each of which serve as an example to six different types of plays identified by aestheticians of Sanskrit literature.
Dramatis Personae
Sūtradhāra (Stage manager): Introduces the play, sets the stage for the performance. He is happy that the king has come to watch the play (contrast this to Bhagavadajjukam where the Sūtradhāra wants to gain the favour of the king by staging the play later). He is also happy that the audience is erudite.
Pāripārśvika (Stage manager’s assistant): Supports the Sūtradhāra in conducting the initial proceedings. Has only one dialogue where he provides context saying that the play is being staged as part of the nīlakaṇṭhayātrotsava and the king has ordered for it.
Jñānarāśi (The teacher): The guru who unlike the bhagavān is a conman with only one genuine skill. Except that he is he is always scheming to con people. Ironically named as “treasure/heap of knowledge”
Kauṇḍinya (The disciple): The śiṣya who unlike Śāṇḍilya is not just content with finding food, is also an apt disciple to Jñānarāśi in conning people
Kapaṭakeli (The gaṇikā, procuress): Gaṇikā who is always behind money and do not care about even her daughter’s desires.
Madanasundarī (Kapaṭakeli’s daughter): The heroine who wants to support her lover who is a habitual gambler by stealing ornaments from her own house.
Kalākaraṇḍaka (Madanasundarī’s lover): Gambler who has utmost confidence on Jñānarāśi’s prowess to make him win.
Kusumikā, Mudgaraka, Kokila and Pārāvata: Attendants of Kapaṭakeli.
The summary of the plot
The prahasana starts with invocation followed by the entry of Sūtradhāra and his companion Pāripārśvika. We are introduced to the fact that the play is being staged as part of the nīlakaṇṭhayātrotsava and the king himself is in the audience. The play starts with Kapaṭakeli who has just woken up after sound sleep which she happily attributes to the liquor she had consumed on the previous night. Her happiness is cut short by the news given by the attendant Kusumikā that all her ornaments have been stolen. She curses the liquor which made her sleep as though she is dead. She quickly understands that it might be her own daughter Madanasundarī who might have stolen everything to support her lover Kalākaraṇḍaka’s gambling habit. She also introduces the audience to the fact that none in their lineage had this affliction of loving ‘one’ person so dearly. She finally decides to consult someone who has supernatural powers so as to know what has happened to the ornaments. She wakes up her attendant Mudgaraka so that he can accompany her to visit Jñānarāśi, whom she thinks to be possessing supernatural powers. Mudgaraka declares that she got just desserts for her miserly behaviour, finally he is bribed with the prospect of liquor to accompany her. They reach the āśrama of Jñānarāśi who is trying to teach his disciple in vain. We are convinced that the disciple Kauṇḍinya, is foolish, argumentative and cunning. He asks his teacher to teach him kevalīvidyā instead of the useless verses he is making him to learn. When he is told that it is wrong to aspire for wealth, he mocks his teacher saying that he himself might not know kevalīvidyā. Once they become aware of Kapaṭakeli’s presence, Jñānarāśi senses opportunity and starts boasting about his prowess. His disciple, though an obstinate fool when it comes to learning, is no less cunning and tags along with him. She comes in and asks him about the whereabouts of her ornaments. He asks Kauṇḍinya to bring the book of kevalīvidyā and in a pretence to do pūjā, they both make her give away her ring. This follows with some claims about his prowess and a numerical calculation which he fails miserably. He makes her write everyone’s name in her household and pretends to catch the thief by pointing to the name. Unfortunately he fumbles again and points to Kapaṭakeli’s name as he had already forgotten her name which she had just mentioned few minutes ago! Mudgaraka mocks him which makes him realise his folly. To save his face he calls Kapaṭakeli aside and tells her that he purposely picked her name so as to lull the real thief into false security. He also tells her to question Kokila and Pārāvata and asks her to leave. Meanwhile he realises that Kapaṭakeli’s daughter is Madanasundarī, her lover being the habitual gambler Kalākaraṇḍaka, he also remembers that Kalākaraṇḍaka had asked him to perform dhyāna on his behalf so that he can win everything he has lost till now. He moves to the garden with his disciple to perform dhyāna. This ends the first act.
Footnotes
[1]Note most of the details about the author have been taken from the book “A collection of six dramas of Vatsaraja'' and Dr S Ramarathnam’s thesis.
