Kalhana

The Great Poet-Historian of Ancient Kashmir

The very name of Kalhana brings to our minds the vision of wonder and splendour that was Kashmir. Francis Young Husband remarks: "Kashmir, a country of such a striking natural beauty, sure at some periods of history must have produced a refined and noble people. Amid these glorious mountains, breathing this free and bracing air and brightened by constant sunshine, there must have sprung a strong, virile and yet aesthetic race". And it is to this race from the pre-historic time to 1150 A.D. that Kalhana holds his colourful mirror. Packed into the pages of his Rajtarangini is a massive amount of information and wisdom presented in a deeply fascinating and illuminating Sanskrit poetry. Written about eight hundred years ago, during 1149-50, Rajtarangini is a glorious history and a beauteous poem, replete with the charm of Kalhana's noble, melodious and graceful Sanskrit language.

KALHANA AS A MAN

Poetry-narrative poetry especially-acquired interest, importance and intensity of appeal in proportion to the personality of the poet that it reflects. We must know the indefinable essence of the poet's mind, the je ne sais guoi that distinguishes him from others and that endows him with a peculiar fascination. Not much is known about the life of Kalhana. It is only in the colophons of his work and from his successor Jona Raja that we know some facts about his origin and person. Kalhana was the son of Campka, who was a "dwarpati", a commandant of the king Harsha who ruled from A.D. 1089-1101. When Jayasimha ascended the throne of Kashmir after the death of Sussala in A.D. 1127, Kalhana became his court poet.

Undoubtedly, this must have given the poet-historian an opportunity to have a close-up of the contemporary political scene of the state. He had received an excellent education, which amply equipped him for the colossal task that he intended to undertake. We can, from his voluminous book, easily trace the outlines of his life as a student. He was acquainted with the older standard Kavyas such as Raghuvansha, and Meghadutta. He also had meticulously studied Bilhana's historical poem Vikramankadevacharita of Kanauj. Kalhana had an intimate knowledge of the great epic Mahabharata, for we find numerous references to this book in Rajtarangini. We have sufficient indication of his literary training as there are frequent allusions and references to particular poets and scholars. Besides he had made a deep study of Jotishsasha. He had also received training in rhetoric, grammar and poetics.

Kalhana appears to have been a sober-minded historian of an unfeigned character.No doubt, he had aversion for material rise and rewards, and he seems to have possessed coruscating wit and wisdom. In an endearing naivete in Kalhana were compounded goodness, charity, learning, piety, and a belief in the good of everyone. Even though he was a staunch Hindu Brahmin yet he had deep sympathy and affection for Buddhism and what it professed.

KALHANA AND HISTORY

There are two aspects of Rajtarangini like the two sides of a coin, one is historical and the other is poetic. Am Toynbee opines that' in any age of any society the study of history like other social activities, is governed by the dominant tendencies of the time and place". In the days Kalhana lived, all the social, cultural and political activities revolved round the person of the king; he was the pivot. And the "Divine Right of Democracy" as against the "Divine Right of the Kings" was unknown in those days. In the bonds of the feudal system of the benign kind, the people saw a symbol of the true brotherhood of Man. Therefore, in those days, as to Carlyle in the present days, "history was the essence of innumerable biographies. It is the record of great personalities". Thus Kalhana also gives us the "river of kings" and does not expatiate upon the socio-economic and other problems of the common people. He thought, as was the belief in those days, that a spiritual logic governs the lives of the great men-kings, queens, ministers, etc., which the Greeks called Nemesis and we may call law. Therefore, his job, in the words of R.G. Col lingwood, was "to tell man what man is by telling him what man has done".

Secondly, in those days, history was a special branch of literature and Prof. G.M. Trevelyan also holds that "while the historical facts should be scientific in method, the exposition of them for the reader should partake of the nature of art, the art of written word, commonly called literature". As regards Kalhana's philosophy of history, it was based on the Hindu theory of Karma, actions of the present existence as also of the past one. These form the causes for the effects. Kalhana was a staunch Brahmin. He owes to Brahminism a taste for intellectuality, the habit and need for it and, to a great extent, a pride in it. Combined with a natural gift of a wellbalanced temperament and a keen intelligence, that influence endowed him with a spiritual faculty and a profound belief in the high ideal of renunciation. At many places he tried to show that this world was but a vanity fair and depicted that vanity of human wishes. He showered encomiums on kings who, in the later stage of life,. renounced the world and went to the woods to seek God.

No man worked more consciously at his subjectthan he, no writerhas tried to test the facts as scrupulously as was then possible, or preserving more judicial detachment. The first three books of Rajtarangini, no doubt, are a coat of many colours, yet for all its composite character it is not a thing of patch-work quality, but a harmonious assortment of myths, tales and true history. Kalhana desired to set down the truth as far as he could know. For the earlier part of his chronicle he assiduously collected and studied the works of previous writers and borrowed from the oral tradition and mythology but in the contemporary records (from the fourth book onwards) he wrote of things he had seen or heard in many instances, because of his early high position, he had been in personal contact with the warriors, statesmen and ministers. He could even handle the state documents and hence the value of his records. About the history of contemporary times as well, he writes frankly and fearlessly so that he could have almost been involved in a libel action had he lived in these times. He has studied the chronicles with gems of enchanting anecdotes but these too open to us a window into the past, for inspite of a certain wildness and riotous imagination, there is a considerable amount of general and local topography to be gleaned from these fantastic tales. But, even for a modern critic he has one rare quality, that is, the power of vitalizing the past for us, which compensates for so many defects, like lack of reasonableness.

A few names, those of Parvarsena II, Lalitaditya, Jayapida, Avantivarman, Queen Didda, Sussala and Jayasimha, etc. stand out among a host of petty kings, most of whom, as Kalhana says, resemble the bubbles produced in the water by a downpour of rain. They did little to merit the remembrance by posterity.

Parvarsena II. Matrigupta, the Brahmin ruler of Kashmir, turned a recluse at the death of his patron Vikramaditya and left for Banaras to spend his last days in worship and meditation. Parvarsena, who was then in Kangra, marched on to Kashmir to recover the throne of his forefathers. Thus in 580 A.D. he ascended the throne and made his name immortal by founding the city of Parvarsenagar, the present city of Srinagar. In Rajtarangini, we find the reflection of shimmering Srinagar of his time which, was an Elysium for its happy denizens.

Lalitaditya. He was a great conqueror and his extensive conquests made the kingdom of Kashmir the most powerful empire in India. In this he was helped by the commander of his army, Mulchander, a scion of the ruling family of Nagarkot, Kangra. Lalitaditya is also considered as founder of Hindu art and the Sun-Temple of Martand stands a living testimony to his greatness.

Jayapida. He too made many conquests and was a great patron of art and letters. His benefactions to Brahmins are laudable. But, in the later part of his life, he became Mephistophelian in character and conduct. At the end he fell a victim to divine vengeance when a Brahmin of Tula Mula cursed the king for his arrogance.

Avantivarman. He ruled from 853 A.D. and his period was one of consolidation, peace and prosperity. In his time there was a great engineer Suya, who rescued Kashmir from a devastating flood. The river Jhelum, which is a gullet of Kashmir, had got clogged with waste matter, stones and earth. By a clever stratagem, Suya got the blockade of the river cleared by a rabble. His artefact canals helped to bring the bounteous harvests and thereby the country became affluent. Avantivarman found the town of Avantipura and built a great temple of Surya there. Its ruins rank among the most magnificent monuments of ancient Kashmir.

Queen Didda. Abhimanu, who was on the throne from 958 A.D. to 972 A.D., was a child when he ascended the throne and so his mother became the regent and exercised all royal powers herself. She ruled with an iron hand with the help of her minister, Phalguna, who belonged to Poonch. This minister, who was earlier dismissed by her and then recalled, became her favourite and also her paramour. She led a life of dissipation which was her undoing. During her rule a large part of Srinagar was burnt.

Sussala. He became the king in 1112 A.D. and after wreaking vengeance upon his brother's assassins, ruled peacefully but in 1128 he was murdered. During his rule administration was not corrupt and there was absence of low moral and political standard as in the time of his predecessors.

Jayasimha. He ruled from A.D. 1128-55. He was a model for Machiavelli's prince, for he gained his ends by sheer diplomacy. He conquered his enemies by this method and brought peace to the Valley. He had an able and astute commander of the army, Mulchander, a scion of the ruling family of Nagarkot, Kangra.

The special merit of Kalhana is his impartiality and independence and even of Harsha, under whom his father served, he speaks with asperity. In the later parts of the chronicle he shows a profound sense of historical truthfulness. In the topographical details he is marvellously exact. Dr. Sunil Chander Ray says: "But he does not act as a mere reporter. Kalhana, the narrator ofevents and Kalhana, the thinker who explains the facts by causes and effects and exposes the principles which underline them are one and invisible self, who does not marshal the facts to illustrate his thesis, much does he manipulate them to fit a doctrine of his own; his philosophy waits upon the facts and does not govern them".

According to Suresh Chander Bannerji, the ancientpoetical works of Kashmir can be divided into the following classes:

(i) Poems with historical themes

(ii) Didactic and satirical poetry

(iii) Court-epics

(iv) Devotional poems

(v) Anthologies

(vi) Miscellaneous poems

Kalhana looked upon himself in the light of a poet and with the following words he introduces his book:

"Worthy of praise is that power of true poets, whatever it may be, which surpasses even the stream of nectar, in as much as by their own bodies of glory as well as those of others obtain immortality. Who else but poets resembling Prajapatis and able to bring forth lovely productions can place the past before the eyes of man?" These words suffice to show that his Rajtarangini belongs to the first genre. The form and style suited for this type of a poem does not allow the lavish and luxuriant use of the subtle arts of Alamkarshastras, and though he had received thorough training in rhetorics, the Alamkarshastra and had a good mastery of Sanskrit kavya and the principles underlying them, he still falls victim to "amplification" and rhetorical frills and ornamentation at frequent places.

Stein says that Kalhana avoids, to a great extent, the use of endless similes, the hackneyed description of seasons, scenery, etc. Rajtaranginl, comparatively free from these burdensome embellishments, shows, to a great extent, directness and simplicity of diction. Poetry (Kavya), the ancient poets defined as "speech, the soul of which was Rasa ".

According to R.S. Pandit, there were eight Rasas or sentiments

I. Sringara (Love)

II. Hasya (Mirth)

III. Karuna (Pity)

IV. Yira (Heroism)

V. Raudra (Anger or fury)

VI. Bhayanaka (Terror)

VII. Bibhatsa (Disgust)

VIII. Santa (Tranquility or contentment

These being the essence of poetry, one finds them in the verses of Rajtarangini. According to Stein, it is the Santarasa, or the sentiment of resignation which is exhibited in the various component parts of the poem. Unfortunately, the deep desire of emphasizing this Rasa is found supreme in many long stories ofrenunciation and tragic ends of the kings. In describing the individual characters of such kings this sentiment plays a dominant part.

But all other Rasas are found in various parts of the narratives. In fact, at different places, particularly at the beginning and at the end of each cantos, the metres are changed to suit the particular Rasa Rajtarangini essentially contains narrative poetry and such a poetry deals with incidents and actions rather than with thought and emotion. But this is a vague division. The prominent feature is the narrative poetry which usually contains a story and makes liberal use of description. Rajtarangini too contains the story element, the narrative element and description blended harmoniously.

The Story element. The book is bedecked with a number of significant and inspiring incidents in the very life-stories of the kings. It is not without purpose that he brings stories of high romance in the books. Some of these stories are masterpieces ofcharm and restrained horror and show Kalhana's interest in occult and witchcraft. These stories are part and parcel of the main history. Take, for example, one of King Sandhiman, who was a minister of Jayendra. He was a man of remarkable intelligence. Some sycophants of the king poisoned the ears of the king against Sandhiman and he was put in a prison and after ten years, when the king was on the death-bed, he ordered that he should be killed. His Guru Isana heard of it and went to the cremation ground to perform the last rites. He found Sandhiman's body eaten by wolves. Isana pulled down the skeleton and found on its forehead inscribed these words:

"Poverty so long as there is life, ten years imprisonment, death on the top of the stake and then there will be sovereignty".

Isana, the Guru remained there to see the fulfillment of the prophecy. And once at midnight he saw, Yognis, the celestial beings, were repairing the dead body. Then they brought life to it. Thus Sandhiman became alive and in the company of his Guru entered the city of Srinagar and the people crowned him as their king.

Similarly, there are other romantic stories, for example, the lovestory of King Durlabhaka and the wife of a bania from Rohtak, from whose union was born the great King Lalitaditya; the love of Chakarvarrnan for a dancing girl Hamsi, whom he made his chief queen. Then there is the odyssey of Jayapida and the sacrifice of his servant for him. The book abounds in innumerable beautiful stories which are like pearls strung on the thread of history.

Kalhana saw history as a pageant sweeping by with tableau, characters and moments of high drama. But behind the changing scenes was a movement, a pattern which he discovered and tried to interpret. He saw the stories of the kings and the great struggles as expression ofmoral destiny and felt, in the lives of the kings, queens and other men, the "still sad music of humanity". He has made the dry bones of his characters live for us and they move with easy conviction.

NARRATION

Kalhana actually knows how to tell his tales and historical events, how to weave his stories into patterns of pleasing poetry, how to narrate in felicitous words. He has this gift in a facile and abounding measure. Kalhana's narration contains beautiful passages which are full of force and vigour and many flourishes. The phrases and the language used are sweet and clear. One may note with what charm Kalhana narrates the meeting of King Jayapida with the dancing girl Kamla:

Kamla, the dancing girl too

saw with wonder the wondrous

king with an uncommon mien.

The maid by mellifluous conversation

conducted him to Kamla's abode.

The king was struck with her courtesy

her tenderness, her grace, her loveliness.

When the moon had risen

she took him to her chamber of repose.

There lying on a golden couch,

elated by the inebriating wine practised

the arts of amour on the Emperor.

But when he did not untie the nether garments

Kamla felt humble and humiliated.

The king clasped her to his big bosom

and softly and sadly said:

"It's not, oh, beauteous one,

with eyes like the lotus petal,

that you have not touched my heart,

but my misfortunes of the moment

make me the offender".

How sweet and amorous are some portions of his narration-they are the very ambrosia for the sensuous.

DRAMATIC POWER

His lengthy subject matter did not allow him the use of dramatic narration but still he displays the use of dramatic force in the treatment of certain incidents, which are full of pathos and pain. The end of the ill-fated Harsha, staggering to his doom, his helplessness, betrayal and desertion by all are clearly narrated with dramatic art. The following lines may, in this connection, be noted:

History of Harsha is wondrous and woeful

as of reincarnate Rama or marvellous Mahabharata

Like the lightning in the clouds

fortune is fidgety and forsakes;

sudden rise has a sudden fall;

men proud of pep and power

with love and lure for gold

are never satiated with riches.

The king and concubines in his harem

But none wept, none felt sorrow

at his tragic time.

Many a servant who danced to his tune

forsook him and left him forlorn

How sad! men leave not mundane matters

and take to woods on seeing

the heartlessness of people;

whose minds are engrossed in pleasures.

We know not where from we come

nor where we go hereafter.

Between the two eternities

we toss on the rock of life,

like actors we act our sad part

and then depart.

DESCRIPTION

The descriptions given by Kalhana are fresh and vivid. The language corresponds to the sentiment and the kind of effect he wants to produce in the mind of the reader. We shudder to read of the shocking sight of Harsha's end:

On the bank of the river

Stood the king, sadly saw the Damaras

dark and ugly, on the opposite bank.

The queens, fair as fairies

Fresh and fragrant with rosy ornaments

were on sudden dismayed.

The king entered his magnificent mansion

with hundred doors, perspiring,

his armour slipping from shoulders;

his hair dishevelled;

with no ornaments in ears;

his lips pale and parched

which he licked with his tongue.

Pathetically he gazed at his queens,

who with sad steps and languished looks

climbed up and set the palace on fire.

The dark Damaras rushed in

and made away with cloth, the

glittering pearls and plates and darling damsels.

The lovely queens perishing in the leaping flames.

The bursting sounds of burning houses

were roarings of summer clouds on the sea.

The king's kingdom gone, his glory gone;

All, all gone, he yearned to die

not knowing where to lay his head.

Thus Kalhana, when fired by the dramatic dealings of his subject into descriptive writing of the highest kind, can be eloquent and impressive without being in any way flamboyant or verbose. He beautifully and succinctly describes Kashmir as:

"Learning, high dwelling houses, saffron, iced water, grapes and the like-what is common place there is difficult to secure in Paradise".

One can enjoy the descriptive splendour in the story of king Durlabhaka's love for the wife of a merchant from Rohtak, Nona:

The king was entertained by Nona

in his magnificent mansion

lighted by bright stones

his wife was exalted in charm and loveliness

Full breasts she had, charm of exquisite hip

Ah! the very spirit of felicity in love.

She kindled great passion in the king,

without gaining contact he felt

she was ambrosia of bliss who

had touched him in the marrow.

The lady-love looked with a slight turn of face

and herself was struck with the dart of love.

Equally eloquent and impressive is Jayapida's end. Kalhana's description of his death has the "solemn inevitability of Greek drama and is a masterpiece of restrained horror". He gives a good picture of the courts of various kings and queens chivvying and slobbering over their favourites.

CHARACTERIZATION

His verses open for us the magic casements through which we have a glimpse of the world of his time. We see the swaggering soldiers, the noble or quixotic kings, high-born maidens, sparkling dancing girls, odious hypocrites, cantakerous queens, supernatural beings and even common men drawn with rare skill. There is a prodigious number of such characters in the book whom he had boldly and brilliantly observed or heard of and his lively and prolific pen has drawn them with realism and historical truth. Kalhana has concentrated on the nuances of character and all his characters are individualised and throb with life and with infinite credibility. In fact, they are all described with the authenticity which springs from direct knowledge. Of course, he does not probe into the inner workings of their minds; this he could not do for he was essentially a historian and could see them from the outside.

In most of his tragic characters, there is some fraility, which brings about them their tragedy:

"Chakarvarman loves flattery and those who flattered him; Hayendra's ears could be poisoned easily. Thus his courtiers poisoned his ears against his ablest minister Sandhimati. Harsha suffered from his lackadaisical nature and outrageously neglected the state affairs. In the end he takes refuge in a beggar's hovel where he is hunted down and mercilessly killed.

Sussala had the terrible spirit of vengeance. And then the great Lalitaditya, the "meteor of his conquest lured (him) too far".

He uses great poetic power in the description of his characters, for example, he describes Jaluka thus: The English rendering has been done by J.C. Dutt.

About Jayasimha he writes:

"Then became king, that son of Jaluka, leader of men and gods, who with the nectar of his glory rendered gleaming white the cosmic world".

"His talk which, though indistinct owing to his youth, is full of dignity, resembles the sound, soft with nectar, which issued when the ocean was churned".

USES OF FIGURES

According to Alamkarasastras, the essential elements of kavya are metaphors, similes, puns and the endless varieties of poetic figures. Kalhana makes frequent use of these rhetorical ornaments in some particular portions, more or less episodic. The length of the history he has to narrate, Kalhana himself explains, puts fetters on his own pen and it was difficult for him to make a liberal use of such embellishments. If we have to find out his dexterity and skill in writing in florid style we must read such incidents as Chakravarman's and Sussala's triumphant entries into the capital or Bhikscan's last fight. Note some of these similes found in his book:

1. "As the approach of the monsoon is known by the frisking bucking of the heifers, by the ascent to the tree tops of the serpents, by the transport of their eggs by the families of ants, so now the king considering through evil portents that disaster was close at hand set about preparing for adequate measures".

2. "Now in the beginning of the year ninety six the Damara horde was ready to swoop down like a glacier at the touch of heat".

3. "for the former, seated on an elephant, with a drawn sword was always roaming about absorbing from the land all that was valuable just as the sun sucks of moisture".

Rajtarangini is full of wise maxims and proverbs, for example:

1. "The sun does not come to his spouse in the evening without conquering the whole world".

2. "Mean persons who have failed in the competition for fame and who have lost their sleep on account of poverty of merit injure through jealousy the lives of those who are blessed with intelligence".

3. "There is not a son of harlot who is immoral, no one is free from treason who has been a suspect, no one who talks little speaks uselessly, no one who is not a government servant has an ungrateful mind; no one is a m iser but one born in the house of him who refuses to give in charity; no one is continually miserable save the envious; none is universally ridiculed but he who is of mature age; none is hostile to the father if not begotten by another; there is none lustful who is not devoid of shame ; no one is greater miscreant than he who has a little learning".

4. " He who has been the support for his rise to a high place the king cuts him down, like a woodcutter the branch of the tree by which he has gone up, when he is coming down".

KALHANA'S PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS

In the Middle Ages, in Kashmir, cosmic force, the animating principles of Indian Pantheism, was worshipped under the name of Shiva. Shiva represents the sublime aspect of God. A profound philosophy, known as Kashmir Shaivism, had developed since the ninth century, which inspired the artist, the sculptor as well as the poet. Kalhana too had perfect devotion to Lord Shiva and his cognition, conation and affection, the three functions of his mind, seem to have come to have Shiva alone as their end. Thus Kalhana believes that man's mind should flow constantly towards Shiva- and make it get absorbed there. The faith of Kalhana in Lord Shiva is known by the fact that each book of Rajtarangini starts with his payer to the Lord.

Besides, he believed in the power of Fate and the influence of spiritual merits from the previous births. Kalhana, musing over the incomprehensive power of Destiny argues:

"Occupied in different affairs, with the limitation of dependence, everyone strives to frustrate Fate's Persistent operations with energy. It is amazing that its wondrous power, even in these conditions, comes to light, through whose might the success of various events is achieved free from hindrance".

But the main philosophy which he emphasises in rhetorical language is renunciation which governs the didactic feature in his book. The transitory nature of all mundane glory, the uncertainty ofroyal possessions and the retribution which inevitably follow offences against the moral laws, these are lessons which Kalhana never tires of impressing upon his readers. Thus Kalhana insists on moral endurance, moral duty and moral individuality, obedience to the eternal laws of right, resistance to the oppression of outward and inward evil.

CONCLUSION

But his subject-matter and insistent awareness of moral mission made him too self-conscious, deprived his poetry of high imagination, rather made it in many portions banal and broke the wings of his songbirds, to some extent, in such places. Moreover, to a modern man with scientific outlook, some parts would appear just a balderdash and the beliefthat Destiny always holds a Damocles' sword on one's neck too is hardly tenable now. Dr. Sunit Chander Ray, however, believed that "in spite of historical materials in the early portions of his work, Kalhana's splendour of imagination, depth and range of thought and above all the power of centralizing many talents to a single purpose had given his Rajtarangini a literary immortality".