The ''Bhagavadajjukam'' (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

; translated as ''The Ascetic and the Courtesan'' or ''The Hermit and the Harlot'') is a Sanskrit

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

composed in the 7th century CE, usually attributed to Bodhayana. However, inscriptional and scholarly evidence indicate that the play was written by the

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...

king

Mahendravarman I Mahendravarman I (600–630 CE) was a Pallava emperor who ruled over realm covering the southern portions of present-day Andhra region and northern regions of what forms present-day Tamil Nadu in India, in the early 7th century. He was a schol ...

, who also wrote a prominent farce known as the

Mattavilasa Prahasana ''Mattavilasa Prahasana'' (Devanagari:मत्तविलासप्रहसन), () is a short one-act Sanskrit play. It is one of the two great one act plays written by Pallava King Mahendravarman I (571– 630CE) in the beginning of the se ...

. It is one of the two earliest surviving examples of a satirical play (or ''prahasana'', one of the ten types of plays described in the treatise ''

Natya Shastra The ''Nāṭya Shāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary b ...

'') in

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

. Featuring witty exchanges, an episode about the transmigration of souls and a discussion on

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

in Hindu

dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

, the comical play was intended to satire heretical doctrines

Characters

*Parivrajaka

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

or master *Shandilya

disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

*Vasantsena

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

*Ramilakacourtesan's lover *Vidushaka

jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

quack doctor Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...

Yamaduta Yamadutas (Sanskrit: यमदूत) are the messengers of death in Hinduism. As the agents of Yama, the god of the netherworld, their role is to take the departed souls of the deceased who do not achieve moksha to Yamaloka. Story of Ajamila ...

, messenger of the lord of death,

Yamaraja Yama (), also known as Kāla and Dharmarāja, is the Hindu god of death and justice, responsible for the dispensation of law and punishment of sinners in his abode, Naraka. He is often identified with Dharmadeva, the personification of ''Dharm ...

Synopsis

The play opens with a discussion on

Hindu

between a master and a disciple, whose attention is drifting towards a woman in the nearby garden. As the discussion goes on, the woman is bitten by a snake and falls dead – an act that deeply affects the disciple. To demonstrate his

yogic Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

power, the master transfers the disciple's soul into the woman's body, who then rises and continues the philosophical discussion.

Translations

The play had been largely forgotten until the 20th century except in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

where it had been part of the traditional Sanskrit theater form known as

Koodiyattam Koodiyattam (; IAST: kūṭiyāṭṭaṁ; ) is a traditional performing art form in the state of Kerala, India. It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit theatre with elements of ''Koothu'', an ancient performing art from the Sangam era. It ...

. After it became more widely known in the 20th century, it was translated into

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

in 1924 by

Veturi Prabhakara Sastri Veturi Prabhakara Sastri (7 February 1888 – 29 August 1950) was a Sanskrit and Telugu scholar, editor, translator and historian. He was born in the town of Pedakallepalli in the Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh. He was known for deciphering ...

, who then got it published in the

Devanagri Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient '' Brāhmī'' script. It is one of the official scripts of India and ...

script through Vavilla Press in 1925. In 1932, the play was translated into

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, ''L'asceta transmutato in etèra'', by the

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

Ferdinando Belloni-Filippi. The first English translation of the play was published by the Dutch Indologist

J. A. B. van Buitenen Johannes Adrianus Bernardus van Buitenen (21 May 1928 – 21 September 1979) was a Dutch Indologist at the University of Chicago where he was the George V. Bobrinskoy Professor of Sanskrit in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizat ...

in the journal ''Mahfil'' (now ''Journal of South Asian Literature'') in 1971 with the title ''The Hermit and the Harlot''.

Performance history

In 1967, the play was directed in Hindi by

Shanta Gandhi Shanta Kalidas Gandhi (20 December 1917 – 6 May 2002) was an Indian theatre director, dancer and playwright who was closely associated with IPTA, the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India. She studied with Indira Gandhi at a resident ...

at the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

. It has often been adapted to be performed as

, a traditional performing art of

. The play continues to be performed in many regional Indian languages. In 2011,

Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panikkar (1 May 1928 – 26 June 2016) was an Indian dramatist, theatre director, and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Kalidasa's ''Vikramorvasiy ...

directed the play at the Ernakulam Town Hall in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

. Other recent productions were held in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *{{cite book, first=Anne, last=Monius , title=Imagining a Place for Buddhism: Literary Culture and Religious Community in Tamil-Speaking South India, publisher=Oxford University Press, year=2001, isbn=9780198032069 Sanskrit plays Indian plays Ancient Indian literature 7th-century plays 7th-century Sanskrit literature 7th-century Indian books Comedy plays Satirical plays Comedy-drama plays