Rāghavapāndaviya
Rāghavapāndaviya, composed by ace poet Kavirāja is an epic poem of 13 sections consisting of six hundred and sixty eight verses.
Rāghavapāndaviya is an epic which is written by Kavirāja. It narrated the stories of Rama and the Pandavas. This is evident from the title of the poem, Rāghavapāndaviya, that the epic poem is a unique blend of the lives of Shri Ram, the descendent of Raghu and the sons of Pandu.
Rāghavapāndaviya is an epic which is written by Kavirāja. It narrated the stories of Rama and the Pandavas. This is evident from the title of the poem, Rāghavapāndaviya, that the epic poem is a unique blend of the lives of Shri Ram, the descendent of Raghu and the sons of Pandu.
Rāghavapāndaviya is a unique attempt made by the poet to create verses where each verse was capable of giving two meanings – one applicable to Ramayana and one to Mahābhārata. Which means that the one meaning would describe the life of Shri Ram and the other would describe the life of the Pandavas.
It uses identical events in the two stories, to provide a natural joint to the epic poem. For example, in both the series the archery was a common way to with the heroine. In Ramayana, Lord Rama lifted the bow to win the hand of Devi Sītā in Sītā Svayamvara, similarly in Mahabharata, Arjuna had to cross the test of archery in order to win the hand of Draupadī in her Svayamvara.
It uses identical events in the two stories, to provide a natural joint to the epic poem. For example, in both the series the archery was a common way to with the heroine. In Ramayana, Lord Rama lifted the bow to win the hand of Devi Sītā in Sītā Svayamvara, similarly in Mahabharata, Arjuna had to cross the test of archery in order to win the hand of Draupadī in her Svayamvara.
There are 668 verses in this epic poem. The most unique feature of this poem is that each verse that one verse encompasses two different meanings simultaneously– One in relation with Ramayana and the other in relation with Mahabharata.
Where the meaning of a verse relating to Ramayana is in reference to Rāghava (Rāma) and Rāvaṇa, the alternate Mahābhārata meaning replaces the characters with Yudhiṣṭhira and Duryodhana. While omitting certain episodes, many descriptions and references with similar notions seem to have been made in order to maintain the unique nature of this epic poem. These descriptions include: deer, mountains, forests, nature of makeup or Śṛṅgāra, sages and rishis, concepts of heaven and hell, descriptions and references of war and the journey towards it, victory, marriage etc.
The poet has used references like the mighty merging of the river ganga with the ocean, in order to cleverly merge unique aspects of Ramayana and Mahabharata in a single verse of the poem.
At the end of each section of the poem, Kavirāja seems to have quoted the name of his patron and protector – King Kāmadeva II.
Where the meaning of a verse relating to Ramayana is in reference to Rāghava (Rāma) and Rāvaṇa, the alternate Mahābhārata meaning replaces the characters with Yudhiṣṭhira and Duryodhana. While omitting certain episodes, many descriptions and references with similar notions seem to have been made in order to maintain the unique nature of this epic poem. These descriptions include: deer, mountains, forests, nature of makeup or Śṛṅgāra, sages and rishis, concepts of heaven and hell, descriptions and references of war and the journey towards it, victory, marriage etc.
The poet has used references like the mighty merging of the river ganga with the ocean, in order to cleverly merge unique aspects of Ramayana and Mahabharata in a single verse of the poem.
At the end of each section of the poem, Kavirāja seems to have quoted the name of his patron and protector – King Kāmadeva II.
Sanskrit poems with double or multiple meanings is a unique contribution to the Indian culture and the literary space of our knowledge system. This genre was developed around the 12th and 13th century and had found new vogue among the people during this time. The poems conveyed multiple meanings (anekarthakāvya) and was defined by the constant deployment of semantic isotopy.
The understanding of such poems was based upon common literary practices, shared by poets and readers and the latter were perfectly able to decipher the various meanings because they were at the same time aware of the rules of the work they were going to read and duly informed of the different stories it referred to.
Rāghavapāndaviya, focuses on the "Story of the Scion of Raghu and the Sons of Pāṇḍu", It was composed by Kavirāja around the 12th century and attempts to summarise the two major epics of India, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, through the exact same and unique words.
The poem, as already mentioned multiple times, conveys two meanings - both meanings are related to the story of Rāma and that of the sons of Pāṇḍu. The use of poetical and linguistic devices which have been used to convey two meanings at the same time are: inversion of the qualifying property and the qualified object, inversion of the subject and the object of comparison, double segmentation of the same phrase and use of polysemic words.
This genre of poetry is now a very important part of scholarly poetry and it is addressed to a readership that is able to comprehend, communicate and possibly educate fellow or new scholars.
It is without doubt a very complex composition that presented immense interpretive challenges and literary complexity. Nevertheless, it is still widely read and appreciated for the intelligent composition.
The understanding of such poems was based upon common literary practices, shared by poets and readers and the latter were perfectly able to decipher the various meanings because they were at the same time aware of the rules of the work they were going to read and duly informed of the different stories it referred to.
Rāghavapāndaviya, focuses on the "Story of the Scion of Raghu and the Sons of Pāṇḍu", It was composed by Kavirāja around the 12th century and attempts to summarise the two major epics of India, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, through the exact same and unique words.
The poem, as already mentioned multiple times, conveys two meanings - both meanings are related to the story of Rāma and that of the sons of Pāṇḍu. The use of poetical and linguistic devices which have been used to convey two meanings at the same time are: inversion of the qualifying property and the qualified object, inversion of the subject and the object of comparison, double segmentation of the same phrase and use of polysemic words.
This genre of poetry is now a very important part of scholarly poetry and it is addressed to a readership that is able to comprehend, communicate and possibly educate fellow or new scholars.
It is without doubt a very complex composition that presented immense interpretive challenges and literary complexity. Nevertheless, it is still widely read and appreciated for the intelligent composition.
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