''Sugata Saurabha'' () is an epic poem in

Nepal Bhasa Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhas ...

Chittadhar Hridaya Chittadhar Hridaya (; born Chittadhar Tuladhar; 19 May 1906 – 9 June 1982) was a Nepalese poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest literary figures from Nepal in the 20th century. The title of Kavi Keshari (Lion among Poets) was conferred o ...

(1906 – 1982), one of the greatest literary figures from Nepal in the 20th century. ''Sugata Saurabha'', meaning “The Fragrant Life of the Buddha”, is based on the life story of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

Written in jail

''Sugata Saurabha'' is Hridaya's greatest work which he composed while in prison from 1941 to 1945 in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

. He was given a six-year jail sentence for writing a poem in his mother tongue, which the autocratic

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star Films * Rana (2012 film), an Indian Kannada-language action drama * Rana, a 1998 Telugu-language action film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy * R ...

regime sought to suppress. Hridaya wrote ''Sugata Saurabha'' in secret in prison, and his sister Moti Laxmi Upasika would smuggle out the scraps of paper on which he had scribbled the verses when she brought him his food.

The storyline

''Sugata Saurabha'' relates the Buddha's life from birth to enlightenment to death in 19 chapters. The life story is based on classical sources, but Hridaya has filled in details from the Nepalese sociocultural context where they are not mentioned. The epic has been described as providing an aesthetically pleasing and doctrinally sound comprehensive account of the Buddha's life, and a magnum opus in

Nepal Bhasa literature The Newar language of Nepal has the fourth oldest literature tradition among the Sino-Tibetan languages (after Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese). The earliest known document in Newar is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates from 1114 duri ...

. The 19 chapters in ''Sugata Saurabha'' are entitled: 1. Lumbinī 2. Family Tree 3. Nativity 4. Mother 5. A Pleasant Childhood 6. Education 7. Marriage 8. The Great Renunciation 9. Yashodharā 10. Attaining Enlightenment 11. The Basic Teachings 12. The Blessed One in Kapilavastu 13. Handsome Nanda 14. The Great Lay Disciple 15. Twelve Years of Itinerant Preaching 16. A Dispute over Water 17. The Monastery Built by Vishākhā 18. Devadatta's Sacrilege and 19. Entry into Nirvāna.

First publication

Hridaya finished the epic in 1946, a year after he was released from prison. ''Sugata Saurabha'' was first published from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India in 1949. Artist

Chandra Man Singh Maskey Chandra Man Singh Maskey (; 1900–1984) was a Nepalese artist who was one of the leaders in the development of contemporary art in Nepal in the early 20th century. Maskey spearheaded the trend of creating art using new techniques for its aesthet ...

, who was in jail with Hridaya for alleged political activities, did the color illustrations in ''Sugata Saurabha''.

English translations

Two English versions of ''Sugata Saurabha'' have been published. In 1998, an English translation by Tirtha Raj Tuladhar was published by the Nepal Bhasa Academy, Kathmandu. In 2010,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

published an English translation by Todd T. Lewis and Subarna Man Tuladhar. Lewis and Tuladhar won the 2011 Toshihide Numata Book Prize awarded by the Center for Buddhist Studies at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, Berkeley for their translation of the epic.

References

{{Reflist 1946 poems Epic poems Buddhist poetry Nepalese epics 1949 books Newar language Depictions of Gautama Buddha in literature