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| Wednesday, 22 September 2004 |
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Kavsilumina The crest gem of poetry by S. Arandara The best example of a Mahakavya in Sinhalese is the Kavsilumina which is in 15 cantos or sargas, thus fulfilling the most important requirement of a great ornate poem. Its author, King Parakramabahu II, called his poem, kusadavata because it was based on the story of the Kusa Jataka but it has been always known by the title of Kavsilumina, 'the crest-gem of poetry'? The above remark by Dr. C. E. Godakumbura is a fitting introduction to Kavsilumina.
Soratha Thera's argument in a way seems to be logical and insightful. His contention is that the mistake lies in Geiger's misunderstanding of a vital portion of the Mahavamsa in his translation. Let it be the task of scholars for further research. King Vijayabahu of Polonnaruwa ruled from 1186-1187 A.C. whilst King Parakramabahu II of Dambadeniya reigned from 1225-1269 A.C. Kavsilumina is based on the past story of Kusa Jataka on the theme of love lost and love regained. As it contains the tale of an ancient king of India, this poem has almost all the inherent qualities of an epic. Romantic Even if Kavsilumina is looked at from the angle of the modern sense of romantic vein, it excels others due to its excessively romantic element in the original Kusa Jataka. Among the celebrated romances like Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" where the protagonist, a rough and gruff Petruchio humanizes an incorrigibly stubborn, untamed, ill-natured and unmarried woman called Katharina and also like Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice" in which an extremely headstrong and vain woman, Elizabeth Bennet is made to see reality by Darcy, the romantic narrative of Kusa Jataka reigns supreme. No matter there may be a sense of opposition of Romantic values as against Classical virtues. In trying to win over his estranged wife, Prabhavati, King Kusa goes to the extent of even sacrificing his dignity and stooping to the lowest level of washing the dishes, etc at Prabhavati's palace. However ugly he looked outwardly, his heart was overflowing with love and kindness towards Prabhavati. There is a close similarity in the way of bringing the two vixenish women, Katharina and Prabhavati under control. Katharina is transformed on the face of death through starvation designed by Petruchio without letting her free. Prabhavati on the other hand is allowed to run back home like the heroine in the film, "The Trap" screened in the seventies. Prabhavati is, however, confronted with the fear of imminent and certain death by being cut into seven pieces. On the verge of it, she turns out to be an obedient and prudent woman. Kavsilumina in its present form lacks an invocation, eulogy or indication of subject matter at the opening. The extent Kavsilumina begins with an interrogative couplet: "Tama waradasa no - disne dos ma merama, nuwan bahara tama mut - nahamata nodakne kim"? (One does not see one's own flaw but observes fault sin others just as the eye sees everything else except its own eyeball). Paronomasia Couplet-5 is composed in the form of a paronomasia: "Raja Pamini Bosat sat rajun edimada visi wisi tama kara kalak - kalak dasarajadamnen" (After becoming king, the Bodhisattva once vanquished seven powerful kings, dominated an arrogant and elegant woman and ruled the country in keeping with the tenfold royal tenets). Here is an outline of Kusa Jataka. The poet composes stanza - 6 with a tinge of a romantic image of an immature girl with baby bosoms as against the full grown breasts of a young woman. this becomes the romantic nature of the story. The story will unfold like a girl growing to be a maiden: "Lada piyan piyowuru - bindu ewu me da dakwa Pinpiyowuru mandalew - pili mehi witara panem". After a brief mention of the theme, comes a portrayal of the city of Kusavat. The author describes it in stanza - 9 as a woman. Her hips resemble the parapet wall with the moat full of lotuses teemed with bees. The rich poetic concept behind it is charming like the woman's waist which is thinner than her hip. While that woman's hip is the parapet wall, her waist is the moat. Here, the moat is the waistlet worn by the woman, the city. And the jingle-bells hanging from the waistlet are the bees sucking nectar from the lotuses in the moat. The clinking of bells to the rhythmic sway of the hip creates a sweet sound and a splendid sight in the mind of the reader. The second canto consists of a short account of King Kusa's brother, the vice-roy and a description of the evils of married life. Couplet-75, for example, seems to contain the gist of all those evils: "The mere desire of the features of a graceful girl burns a man's heart. Then what will happen if one has consummation with such a beauty?" These are the type of remarks that King Kusa used to make in order to evade the issue of marriage. But at the growing insistence of his parents he made a beautiful statue of a graceful girl with gold and said he would marry a princess who looked identical with that gold statue. Gold statue In the third and fourth cantos, the poet portrays how Kusa's parents sent out messengers in all directions to find out a princess resembling the gold statue and they spotted Prabhavati at Sagala. A description of Prabhavati's beauty from foot to head appears in the fifth canto. Descriptions of evening, night, morning and amorous approaches appear in the sixth and seventh cantos. Stanza-266 in the sixth canto, for instance, portrays nature with a fusion of gentle, cool, fragrant and blowing qualities of the evening breeze. The poet observes them keenly and depicts them picturesquely. The air becomes gentle in the absence of the sun; it gets cool by sweeping over tender leaves; it grows fragrant with the aroma of flowers; and it blows sweetly with the cuckoo's melody. A similar stanza-90 in Muvadevdawatha adduces the reason for coolness as getting wet with dews but it lacks the melodious blowing while all other details are the same. An interesting scene of the erotic rapture with the ladies in his harem is found in couplet-287. A charming lady offered the King with a mugful of wine. There appeared the reflection of her eye in the mug like a petal of a lily. Her face was visible, too. And lo! with the mere sight of it, at the start of the booze-up itself, the king got intoxicated even without sipping a single drought. Intoxication means loss of one's sense. That reflection of the woman's face instantly seduced the king with passionate feelings. Wedding ceremony The eighth canto embodies an account of the arrangements for the wedding ceremony and a portrayal of the summer. The chief counsellor caused it to be done in an unprecedented manner and also not to be outdone in future. A reasonable doubt, however, creeps into the pregnant Prabhavati's mind about the ugly mahout riding on the back of the Royal Tusker seated behind the vice-roy because nobody except the King alone rode on the back of the Royal Tusker. The poet depicts the rainy season in the ninth canto using diverse and difficult verbal figures displaying his poetic craft. Visual shapes of various things are vividly composed by him employing the same words which connote different meanings in different contexts. This may be regarded as a fine opportunity for scholars and students alike to promote their knowledge of the language and the poetics as well. Stanza - 453, for example, is a marvellous structure with the single phoneme, 'n'. I am sure this stanza may have inspired Prof. Sunil Ariyarathne to compose the lyric song, "No na...." sung by Nanda Malini, which is often parodied by youngsters as, "Nona Nagannawa" since the meaning underlying it is abstruse and strange to many. Kavisitumina stanza reads: "Na ni ni nu ne - nan ni na nana, namunana ni nanni - nenina nimna ni" This stanza means that various rivers from multiple sources flowed to the bottom of the ocean touching, while passing the river-side Na trees, diverse treasures, chiefs of elephants or snakes. The sound, "ni" is used here in the contexts of water, river, that particular kind of tree by that name, treasure-trove and "being led." This composition with the same syllable is called "yamaka'. The tenth canto carries a depiction of the autumn and the water-sports. Couplet - 483 reminds me of the leading English Metaphysical Poet, John Donne, in the use of 'conceits' or far - fetched images: "Na angarahi piya - ganda lol bingukala vahal, Vu piyakata yadana - piyaka mene banda tada man" Swarms of bees were attracted by the fragrance emanating from the perfumes applied all over the body of one's favourite maiden. Although the man who loved her could not win her alone, the bees, helped him win her over as the maiden had to cuddle to him in order to get rid of the bees. Apart from it, doesn't this conceit foreshadow Prabhavati's change of mind in the face of death, surrendering to King Kusa, once detested by her, seeking refuge in him to get rid of her suitors and the imminent death - threat? Water demon The crisis of this narrative crops up in the eleventh canto with the desertion of Kusa by Prabhavati after her encounter with the ugly King Kusa like a water-demon in the Royal Pond. Stanza - 524 creates a fear psychosis with aptly used wailing words: "Aho diyarakusek...." Hiding under the lotus leaves, King Kusa suddenly grabs and embraces Prabhavati. Though she is panicked, she is immediately awakened to the fact that it was King Kusa as his touch was familiar to her. Her overwhelming frustration is dramatically evoked in couplet - 531: "Me yak lu ma himi - Pabavat lu ohu vindini" (This devil is said to be my husband; and Prabhavati is supposed to be his spouse. Just as swans do not dwell in puddles made by the hoofs of cattle, I won't have anything to do with him). Inspite of the good counsel offered by the ministers to calm her temper, Prabhavati dared to desert King Kusa. A detailed picture of the grief-stricken Kusa bemoaning his separation from Prabhavati ending up in his arrival in Sagala is the gist of the twelfth canto. Multiplicity of his wailing are not consequent to pathos but due to the loss of sensual gratification. Stanza-558, for instance, is testimony to his heart-rending sorrow: "Pura nura ati - ma lehi didi piyovuru, Sarahu wan peradawas - hida notaweda kese? Prabhavati used to encourage me by thrusting her breasts against my heart full of sexual passion those days which is like embellishing my heart. How can my heart rest free of sorrow?) Disguises Cantos XIII and XIV portray Kusa's attempts at winning back Prabhavati by appearing in various disguises such as assistant to the mahouts, florist, wicker-ware craftsman and cook. The poet vivifies the epic so dramatically that Prabhavati transforms herself from a stubborn woman into an affectionate and obedient soul. Her metamorphosis is slow but steady. The threat of imminent death helps quicken her change of mind. Fulfilling an essential feature of an epic, the poet introduces a war. For this purpose, he employs the supernatural machinery in the form of Sakra who sets the background to it. In the war against the seven suitors to Prabhavati King Madu is defeated and he turns his wrath towards Prabhavati declaring that she would be cut in seven and the pieces distributed among the warring kings for the sake of the country and himself. All this was the evil effect of her desertion of Emperor Kusa. Trembling from the threat, Prabhavati makes the presence of Kusa in the Royal Kitchen known to her father. So, Kusa and Prabhavati are united and make for Kusavat in all their glory. Thus the last canto closes the poem. **** Back **** |
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With regard to its authorship, there is a controversy. Several scholars
including Martin Wickremasinghe attribute its authorship to King
Parakramabahu II. The lonely but daring opponent challenging this view is
Rev. Pundit Weliwitiye Soratha Thera who ascribes it to Prince Kirthisri
Megha who ascended the throne as Vijayabahu II.
