Kirātārjunīya (Sanskrit: किरातार्जुनीय, Of Arjuna and the Kirāta) is a Sanskrit kavya by Bhāravi, written in the 6th century or earlier. It is an epic poem in eighteen cantos describing the combat between Arjuna and lord Shiva in the guise of a kirāta or mountain-dwelling hunter. Along with the Naiṣadhacarita and the Śiśupālavadha, it is considered to be one of the three best among the six Sanskrit mahakavyas, or great epics.^[1]

Contents 1 Synopsis and appraisal 2 Linguistic ingenuity 3 Offshoots and commentaries 4 Notes 5 Further reading 6 External links

[edit] Synopsis and appraisal

The Kirātārjunīya predominantly features the Vīra rasa, or the mood of valour.^[2], and expands upon a minor episode in the Vana Parva ("Forest book") in the Mahabharata. While the Pandavas are exiled in the forest, Draupadi and Bhima incite Yudhisthira to declare war with the Kauravas, while he does not relent. Finally, Arjuna, at the instruction of Indra, propitiates Lord Shiva with penance (tapasya) in the forest. Pleased by his austerities, Lord Shiva decides to reward him. When a demon named Muka, in the form of a wild boar, charges toward Arjuna, Shiva appears in the form of a Kirāta, a wild mountaineer. Arjuna and the Kirāta simultaneously shoot an arrow at the boar, and kill it. They argue over who shot first, and a battle ensues. They fight for a long time, and Arjuna is shocked that he cannot conquer this Kirāta. Finally, he recognises the god, and surrenders to him. Shiva, pleased with his bravery, gives him the powerful weapon, the Pashupatastra, which later in the Mahabharata aids him against Karna and the Kauravas during the Kurukshetra war.^[3][4]

Over a tenth of the verses from this work are quoted in various anthologies and works on poetics. The most popular verse is the 37th from the eighth canto, which describes nymphs bathing in a river, and is noted for its beauty. Another verse from the fifth canto (utphulla sthalanalini...) is noted for its imagery, and has given Bharavi the sobriquet of "Chhatra Bharavi",^[5][6] as he describes the pollen of the lotus flowers being blown by the wind into a golden umbrella (Chhatra) in the sky. Thus, for having verses that are pleasing to lay people as well as clever verses appreciated by scholars, the work is considered to have 'harmony' or 'appropriateness' at all levels, and has been said to possess samastalokarañjakatva, the quality of delighting all the people.^[7]

The Kirātārjunīya is the only known work of Bharavi. It "is regarded to be the most powerful poem in the Sanskrit language".^[8] A. K. Warder considers it the "most perfect epic available to us", over Aśvaghoṣa's Buddhacarita, noting its greater force of expression, with more concentration and polish in every detail. Despite using extremely difficult language and rejoicing in the finer points of Sanskrit grammar, Bharavi achieves conciseness and directness. His alliteration, "crisp texture of sound", and choice of metre closely correspond to the narrative.^[9]

[edit] Linguistic ingenuity

The work is known for its brevity, depth (arthagauravam), and verbal complexity. At times, the narrative is secondary to the interlaced descriptions, elaborate metaphors and similes, and display of mastery in the Sanskrit language.^[6] Notably, its fifteenth canto contains chitrakavya, decorative composition, including the fifteenth verse with "elaborate rhythmic consonance"^[10] noted for consisting of just one consonant:^[9][11][12]

Devanagiri न नोननुन्नो नुन्नोनो नाना नानानना ननु । नुन्नोऽनुन्नो ननुन्नेनो नानेन नुन्ननुन्ननुत् ॥

IAST na nonanunno nunnono nānā nānānanā nanu । nunno'nunno nanunneno nānena nunnanunnanut ॥

Translation: "О ye many-faced ones (nānānanā), he indeed (nanu) is not a man (na nā) who is defeated by an inferior (ūna-nunno), and that man is no man (nā-anā) who persecutes one weaker than himself (nunnono). He whose leader is not defeated (na-nunneno) though overcome is not vanquished (nunno'nunno); he who persecutes the completely vanquished (nunna-nunna-nut) is not without sin (nānenā)."^[13]

The 25th verse from the same canto is an example of the form of verse that the Sanskrit aestheticians call sarvatobhadra, "good from every direction": each line (pada) of it is a palindrome, and the verse is unchanged when read vertically down or up as well:^[9]

देवाकानिनि कावादे वाहिकास्वस्वकाहि वा । काकारेभभरे का का निस्वश्रव्यव्यश्रस्वनि ॥	de vā kā ni ni kā vā de vā hi kā sva sva kā hi vā kā kā re bha bha re kā kā ni sva śra vya vya śra sva ni (and the lines reversed) ni sva śra vya vya śra sva ni kā kā re bha bha re kā kā vā hi kā sva sva kā hi vā de vā kā ni ni kā vā de
devākānini kāvāde vāhikāsvasvakāhi vā । kākārebhabhare kā kā nisvaśravyavyaśrasvani ॥

Translation: "O man who desires war! This is that battlefield which excites even the gods, where the battle is not of words. Here people fight and stake their lives not for themselves but for others. This field is full of herds of maddened elephants. Here those who are eager for battle and even those who are not very eager, have to fight."^[14]

Similarly, the 23rd verse of the fifteenth canto is the same as the 22nd verse read backwards, syllable for syllable.^[9]

[edit] Offshoots and commentaries

Bharavi's "power of description and dignity of style" were an inspiration for Māgha's Shishupala Vadha, which is modelled after the Kirātārjunīya and seeks to surpass it .^[15] While Bharavi uses 19 different types of metres, Māgha uses 23; while Bharavi praises Shiva, Māgha extols Vishnu; and he has his own instances of one-consonant (dādadoduddaduddādī…) and sarvatobhadra palindromic verses.^[6]

A vyayoga (a kind of play), also named Kirātārjunīya and based on Bharavi's work, was produced by the Sanskrit dramatist Vatsaraja in the 12th or 13th century.^[16]

The authoritative commentary on the Kirātārjunīya, as on the other five mahakayvas, is by Mallinātha (c. 1500 CE). His commentary on the Kirātārjunīya is known as the Ghaṇṭāpatha (the Bell-Road) and explains the multiple layers of compounds and figures of speech present in the verses.^[17]

The first Western translation of the poem was by Carl Cappeller into German, published by the Harvard Oriental Series in 1912.^[18] There have since been six or more partial translations into English.^[19]

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• A. K. Warder (2004), Indian Kāvya literature, Part 1, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., pp. 198–233, ISBN 9788120804456, http://books.google.com/books?id=jTlLXw46g-cC&pg=PA198 
• Roodbergen, J.A.F. (1984). Mallinātha's Ghaṇṭāpatha on the Kirātārjunīya, I-VI. Brill Archive. ISBN 9004070184. http://books.google.com/books?id=AM0UAAAAIAAJ&. 
• Peterson, Indira Viswanathan (2003). Design and rhetoric in a Sanskrit court epic: the Kirātārjunīya of Bhāravi. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791456145. 
• Har, Saktipada (1983), Bhāravi and Kirātārjunīyam: A Critical Study, Calcutta: Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar 
• A bibliography, as of 1912

[edit] External links

• Original text with Sanskrit commentary: Bhāravi (1885), Nārāyaṇa Bālakṛishṇa Godabole; Kāśināth Pāṇḍurang Paraba, eds., The Kirâtârjunîya of Bhâravi: with the commentary (the Ghaṇtâpatha) of Mallinâtha, Nirṇaya-Sâgara press 
• Transliterated text at GRETIL
• Kairata Parva, translation of the part of the Vana Parva that contains the story.