Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court: The Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi

by Peterson, Indira Viswanathan

• ISBN13: 9780791456149
• ISBN10: 0791456145
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Indira Viswanathan Peterson provides an introduction to the Sanskrit court epic (mahakavya), an important genre in classical Indian poetry, and the first study of a celebrated sixth-century poem, the Kiratarjuniya (Arjuna and the Hunter) of Bharavi. Sanskrit court epics are shown to be characterized both by formalism and a deep engagement with enduring Indian values.The Kiratarjuniya is the earliest literary treatment of the narrative of the Pandava hero Arjuna's combat with the great god Siva, a seminal episode in the war epic Mahabharata. Through a close analysis of the structural strategies of Bharavi's poem, the author illuminates the aesthetic of the mahakavya genre. Peterson demonstrates that the classical poet uses figurative language, rhetorical devices, and structural design as the primary instruments for advancing his argument, the reconciliation of heroic action, ascetic self control, social duty, and devotion to God. Her discussion of the Kiratarjuniya in relation to its historicalsetting and to renderings of this epic episode in literary texts and temple sculpture of later periods reveals the existence of complex transactions in Indian civilization between the discourses of heroic epic and court poetry, political ideologies and devotional religion, Sanskrit and the regional languages, and classical and folk traditions. Selections from the Kiratarjuniya are presented in poetic translation.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
Acknowledgments	xii
Introduction: The Study of the Sanskrit Court Epic	1	(6)
The Poetics of the Mahakavya	7	(14)
The Setting and Structure of the Kiratarjuniya	21	(26)
Prelude to Action: Epic Speech in Bharavi's Poem	47	(20)
The Debate between the Brothers: Logic, Rhetoric, and Politics in the Court Epic	67	(22)
Landscapes with Women: Bharavi's Descriptive Art	89	(28)
The Conundrum of the Warrior-Ascetic	117	(22)
The Theater of Combat	139	(22)
Wrestling with God: Rasa and Bhakti in the Kiratarjuniya	161	(28)
A Note on the Translation Selections	189	(2)
Appendix A. Draupadi Rebukes Yudhisthira: Kir. I. 27-46	191	(4)
Appendix B. The Journey of the Apsaras: Kir. VII. 1-40	195	(8)
Appendix C. Arjuna's Combat with the Hunter: Kir. XVII. 1-64	203	(12)
Appendix D. The Wrestling Match, Theophany, and Boon: Kir. XVIII. 1-19; 42-48	215	(6)
List of Abbreviations	221	(2)
Notes	223	(46)
Bibliography	269	(20)
Index	289	(14)
Index of References to the Kiratarjuniya	303