THE PROBLEM OF SANTA’S PARENTAGE AS PRESENTED IN THE PADMA-PURANA .

In course of our analytical study of the Padma p we had to go through Its Bengal mss which differ a good deal from Its pnnted editions as we have observed before and while exammng the still unpublished Bengal text of Its Patala khanda we came across a few vss contamrng a short account of Santa, whom this text of the Patala-khanda gives out to be a daughter of king Dagaratha of Ayodhya but who has been described In some other sources as a daughter of Lomapada, l king of Anga It IS well known that the question of Santa's parentage IS still a problem to all critical students of the Ram which presents one or other of the above two views In Its different recensions, but un tunately no Illummatmg light has yet been thrown upon this problem by way of reasonable solution have there. fore, felt It necessary to examme this problem cmucally and See what the correct view about Santa's descent was, how a second and Incorrect tradition about Santa's parentage arose, and how It could affect the text of the Ram We think that Our study of the Padma P Will perhaps rematn unfinished If we do not discuss this problem. The name (Lomapada) occurs xn the North watern and Bengal recermons of the Ram but In the South Indian recens on it has been gsven as Romapada As the tbh J gyup and BlafyaP aiso th s name as Inmapada we have thus Pell ng to Romapada wh ch un the also. South rndnn as a general rule use r for I but the orthography dod not make much difference.

It has already been said that the different recenstons It has already been said that the different recensions Of the Ram are not unarumous about Santa's descent from Dasaratha, king of Ayodhya, or from Lomapada, lung of Anga Accordmg to the South Indian recension, as printed in the Kumbhakonam, 2 Vang, press (Calcutta) 3 and Burdwan editions, 4 Dasaratha of Ayodhya was childless (anapatya) and Santa was the daughter of Romapada, king of Anga and a friend and relative of Daiaratha. In this recension 5 the story of RsyaSrnga, which contains the said information about Santa, has been given in sargas 8-11 of the Adi-kanda 6 This is as follows:

Sarga 8 — King Dasaratha of Ayodhya had a glorious and successful reign but no son to continue his line (nasid Vamshakarah sutah). As his austere practices for the birth of a male issue bore no fruit, he thought of performing the horse-sacrifice for the purpose. He consulted his ministers in this matter, and, after coming to a decision about the performance of the sacrifice, asked Sumantra, a minister of his,, to bring immediately to him all elderly people including Vasistha, the family priest. Consequently Sumantra brought in Suyajna, Vamadeva, Javali, KaSyapa, Vasistha and other eminent brahmins to the king’s presence. Dasaratha honoured them and informed them of his intention for duly performing a horse-sacrifice for the birth of a male issue for which he was pining so long Vasistha and others greeted him for his honest wish, advised him to make necessary preparations and to select a site for the sacrifice on the northern bank of the river Sarayu, 7 and assured him of the birth of sons so much desired by him. Being thus encouraged by these brahmins, Dasaratha ordered his ministers to procure necessary materials, to find out a suitable horse, to prepare the sacrificial ground on the northern bank of the Sarayu in accordance with the direction of the bralimias, and to perform the pacificatory rites (Santayah) duly to avoid the disturbances to be created by brahmaraksasas He then entered the harem, informed his queens of the sacrifice he was going to perform, and asked them to get themselves initiated for the purpose.

 

Though the Vang and Burdwan editions have a number of additional lines, their text is very much the same as that of the Kumbhakonam ed mentioned above This substantially agrees with the Vufgate text given by the Bombay cd 4 This ed has the same text a that of the Vaftg Press 1 For this recension we have principally used the Vaftg etf to w hich we have referred m the following pagw The variations, x f any, in the Kumbhakonam and Burdwan editions have bmt noted m the respective cases «

In the Kurabhakcna/n cd the Adi kloda Jias br< n n^med as BJJa Unfa, ’ sarayvAf-coture tire yajfta bhuimr vidhlyatSm. R3m Vaftg ed 18 12a (

Burdwan cd 1 8.12b) This line occurs neither in the Kumbhakonam ed nor in those of the North western and Bengal recensions.

 

Sarga 9_After hcanng DaSaratha’s words Sumantra told him in private about an ancient tale in which he heard that in ancient times Sanatkumara had made a prediction in the presence of other sages about the bird of sons to Dasaratha According to this prediction, a son named Rsyasrnga would be born to Vibhandaka, son of Kashyapa Being brought up in a hermitage romhis very birth Rsyasrnga would be a perfect celibate an have no experience of any human being other than his father At that tame a powerful lung, Romapada by name, would be ruling over Anga Due to a fault of this king there would be a severe drought In hrs kingdom, and the king would Invite suggest10ns from wise brahmms for remedy The latter would advxse him to bnng Rsyasrnga to his kingdom and duly offer lus daughter Santi to lum 8 Being unable to decide how he could bang Rsya{rnga to lus realm, Romapada would ask his pnest and numstcrs to bring the young sage there Out Of fear from the sage the latter would refuse to comply With the king's request and entreat him for exemption. They would, however, think out a safe plan, according to which Romapada could br: ng Rsyagrnga by sending courtesans and gtve Santa In marriage to lum With the result that the god Of ram would send down showers to Romapada's kingdom.

Being assured by Sumantra that th1S Rsyasrnga, the son Inlaw, would cause the birth of sons to him, 9 Dasaratha became very glad and requested him to narrate how Romapada was able to bring Rsyasrnga to his kingdom.

Sarga 10 — In accordance with the king's request Sumantra described the incident as follows.

Romapada’s priest and ministers advised him to send courtesans to lure Rsyasrnga who had experience neither of men nor of the objects of senses and the, pleasures arising therefrom Romapada accepted their advice, and the pnest and the ministers, engaged a number of courtesans, who entered the forest and encamped at a place not very far from Vibhandaka’s hermitage. When wandenng about in the forest Rsyasrnga chanced to see these damsels attired in colourful dresses. As soon as the latter saw the young sage, they approached him singing sweetly, knew his identity by putting questions, and soon formed close intimacy with him. They accompanied him to his hermitage, accepted the rootSy fruits and other things offered by him, delighted him with embraces, gave him various kinds of sweets and delicious food to eat, and then took leave of him with the pretext of returning to their own hermitage Rsyasrnga, who was charmed and powerfully attracted by these acts of the courtesans, felt very anxious, and on the following day went to the place where he had met hjs friends Finding the young sage there the courtesans came forward and invited him to visit their hermitage Rsyasrnga readily accepted their invitation and the latter took this opportunity to lure him to Romapada's kingdom, where, with his arrival, there were heavy showers of rain to the joy of all Romapada welcomed the sage to his capital, pleased him in various ways, and gave his daughter Santa in marriage to him 10 Being duly honoured by Romapada with the offer of all objects of desire the young sage remained there with his wife.

Sarga 11-Sumantra further continued to report Sanat-kumara’s prediction about the birth of sous to Dasaratha.

This prediction was as follows:

“In the family of Iksvaku Will be born a ug y prous king, Dasaratha by name, who Will attarn prospenty and be true to Ins promtse.

And that king will have frrendshrp With the lung of Anga, and to th1S (kmg of Anga) Will bc born a highly blessed daughter named Santa.

The son of the king of Anga Will be known as Romapada That highly renowned king Dasaratha Will approach him and say.

I am childless, O righteous one, bemg directed by you let tlie husband of £ ant-i perfomy my sacrifice (meant) for the continuation of my family.

Then hearing that word of the kmg and deliberating fully with Ins mind tint self possessed one si ill give (to Daiarulti) the husband of £ mrt who Ins already a son.

After accepting tint brahmin, tint king (Dafcirathi) will get reliescd of Ins mental distress and male preparations for tint sacrifice with an extremely delighted mind And king DaXaratha, the lord of people, who wall ha\c desire for attaining fime and be conversant with the sacred law, will worship Rsya< fnga t the best of the twice born people, with folded palms.

For (the performance of) the sacrifice, for (the birth of) progeny, and for (the attainment of) heaven And that lord of his subjects wall attain that desire from tint chief of the twicc-bom people.

And to tins king will be born lour sons of unlimited prowess, who will give stabilitv to Ins line and! > c highly rcnmvnrd among all creatures husband, O lord of the subjects, because (there) a great work his been undertaken”.

In accordance With Dagaratha's request Romapada asked Rsya'rnga to go With his Wife to Dagaratha's capital Rsya'rnga gave his consent, and the tsso friends grected Cach other With folded palms and embraces DaSarqtha thcn took leave of Romapada and started for hrs 0', vn capital He sent swift moving messengers to Ayodhya, directing thc citizen to cleanse and decorate the cnUre City The latter, who were very glad to learn that their king s, vas returning, camed out the royal order, and With the great brahmtn In hts front, king Da'aratha cntcred the finely dccorated City to the delight of all He then took Rsya{rnga to his harem, honoured hirn tn accordance With the dtrccUons of Sastras, and deemed himself successful In hrs mtssxon " Sectng the largceyed Santa thus come With her husband, all the Inmates of the h'lrem were pleased and dchghtcd Being honoured by them and especially by the king, she happily rslded there for some time With the twiccborn (1 c, her husband and son).

The story of Rsyasrnga has also been given in the North-western and Bengal recensions as presented respectively by Bhagavad DattVs ed (which gives the Northwestern text) and those of Aug Gaul A Schlegel, Gaspare Gorresio, and Amareswar Thakur (which present the text of Bengal) In he last three editions (viz, those of Schlegel, Gorresio and Thakur) the above story has been given in Adi kanda, 15 sargas 8 10, but in Bhagavad Datta’s ed it occurs in sarga 8 and sarga 9 (vss 1-37) winch correspond respectu ely to sargas 8 9 and sarga 10 of the other three editions All these four editions lack vss 5 25 of sarga 8 of the South Indian recension (which narrate the incidents beginning from Sumantra’s bringing of Vasistha and others at DaSaratha’s order and ending with Dasharathas advice to his queens to get themselves jmtjstei J for the horse snmftre), and give the story of RsyaSrnga with certain modifications, the most important of which are noted below from sargas 8-10 of Amareswar Thakur’s ed Those points of difference between the four editions mentioned above, which have been found necessary for our purpose, hav p e aho been noted in their respective places.

Sarga 8 — This sarga, though agreeing very much in language and contents with sarga 8, vss 1-4 and sarga 9 of the South Indian recension, has certain variations, the most important of which are the following.

(i) Being asked by DaSaratha to bring Vasistha and all other superiors to him without deW>, Sumantra referred to the ancient tale in which SanatkumSra, had spoken in times of yore about the future birth of sons to Daiaratha Sumantra then reproduced what Sanatkumara had said by way of a prediction about the birth and conduct of RsyaSrfiga and the severe drought m Lomapada's kingdom In this prediction Sanathumara is said to have stated (») that the wise brahmins, consulted by LomapSda for finding out a remedy for the prolonged drought, would advise the king to bring Rsyasrnga and Formally give his ‘daughter Santa to him; 16

(ii) that Lomapada’s priest, administrative officer 3nci counsellors would not be able to enlighten him as to the means to be adopted for bringing RsyaSrnga to his kingdom;

(iii) that even after being ordered by Lomapada to bring Rsya^rnga, his ministers would refuse to go personally for the purpose out of fear from the sage but would undertake to adapt some faultless means to bring the young sage there;

(iv) that after deliberating with his ministers for three days, 17 LomapSda would have RsyaSrnga brought to his wn city by courtesans disguised as sages, and with the young sage's arrival, there would be showers in his kingdom;

and (ri) that the king would formally give to him as wife his own daughter Santa, endowed with an exuberance of beauty, (and) thus that powerful RsyaSmga, a great ascetic, would become the son-in-law of that royal sage Lomapada. 2

Sarga 9 — This sarga corresponds to sarga 10 of the South Indian recension, begins in much the same way as the latter, but in Schlegel, Gorresio and Amareswar Thakur’s editions often gives varied texts with good numbers of additional vss and differs considerably from the corrcsponding sargi in the Soutli Indian recension in its description of the means adopted for luring Rsyairngi to Lomapada’s capital Even between the Bengal and the South Indian recension there arc notable differences m some respects, os will be evident from the peculiarities noted below.

According to the Bengal text as found printed in Amareswar Thahur and Gorrcsio’s editions 1

(i) Lomapadi sent the courtesans m big boats m winch living trees bcanng fruits and Invmg roots and branches hid been planted to give these an appearance of Jicrmitigrs and which had been furnished with fragrant drinks and tasteful sweets and fruits, 2

(ii) the well dressed courtesans! a> in wait for Rs^aSpiga not very far from VibhamJakVs hermitage, hiding themselves behind shrubs and creepers out of fear from the sage, and as soon as the young sigc came out, the) tried to attract his notice b> sporting in various ways, singing melodious songs, and making amorous gestures, 21

(iii) after his first meeting with the courtesans Rsya{rrhga felt a sort of mental unrest and had a sleepless night; Vibhandaka noticed it immediately after his return to the hermitage and enquired about its cause; Rsyagrnga described his pleasant experience, taking the courtesans to be and Vibhandaka warned him saying that it must have been the Raksascs who had assumed such forms for misleading him. 22

(iv) after Rsyaé rnga had bccn taken by the courtesans in a boat to Lomapada's kingdom, Vibhandaka returned to his hermitage with a burden of roots and fruits, looked for Rsyafrnga in all possible quarters including the distant villages, learnt from the cowherds about Lomapada's dedication of those villages in honour of Rsyagrnga, and became glad to know through meditation all that was brought about by Destiny. 23

(v) accompamed by the Inmates of his harem Lomapada received RsyaSrnga With due honour, attended upon him personally for Ins pleasure, and 'Cbecame glad to give to him with a tranquil mind his lotus-eyed daughter Santa as wife 21 ”.

(vi) Vibliandaka heard everything and returned to his hermitage with satisfaction 25.

It is to be noted that as regards the text of sarga 9, SchlegeFs ed. does not agree completely with the other two editions of the Bengal recension. Sometimes it narrates the same incidents in completely different words and with innovations 26; sometimes it arranges in a different order some lines which are common with the other two editions of the Bengal recension 27; sometimes it has lines here and there in common with the South Indian recension, even though both the other two editions of the Bengal recension replace these lines with others 28; sometimes it has additional lines and sometimes it lacks certain lines which occur in the other two editions of the Bengal recension 30.

Much more remarkable is the text of this sarga (9) as comprised in sarga 8 (vss. 31-76) in Bhagavad Datta’s ed. which represents the North-western recension. In this ed there are no vss. agreeing with or corresponding to: (i) Amareswar Thakur’s ed. 1. 9 8-9 (^Gorresio’s ed. 1. 9. 8-9) and SchlegcFs cd I. 9 5-7 and 11a, in which mention has been made of Lomapada’s sending of boats for bringing RsyaSrnga; 14 Ram, Amareswar Thakur’ rd 1 9 61-64 — Gorrcsio’s ed I 9 65 68 (v 1 ca' for 'ah in the last line) ^Schlegel a ed 1 9 66b G9 (reading Madau fcanyam tath5 cXsmai m the first half of v 69b, and Lacking the line ’sintarp Sintena manasa dattvX harjam-avapa sah)

The corresponding vss in Bhagavad Datta sh cd are 1 8 71b»74a, the text of which is very different from that of the above-mentioned vss of the three editions of the Bengal recension.

14 Ram, Amareswar Thakur ed 1 9 66 This vs does not occur in any other ed n See f n 20 above Compare also vss 31 and 56 with Amareswar Thakur cd 1 9 29 and 52 — Gorresio's ed 1 9 30b-3! a and 54b 55a See fn 21 above.

11 Tor an instance sec f n 22 above Compare also line 2 lb (which is the same as Varfg ed f ftf 96, Butdwan ed f £ 0 ffb and Kumbhakonam ed \ 10 9b v i ‘sarvam for ’sattvam) with Amareswar Thakur ed 1 9 10b ( = Gorresioi ed 1 9 10b)

” See for instance, line 22b and 34a M As instances we may mention vss 26, 64b and 66 of Amareswar Thakur ed (of vsbich the first two arc the same ai Gorresio’s ed I 9 27b 28a and 68b)

AmareswarThakur's ed. l. 9. 13-18 (=Gorresio se.

l. 9 13-20a=Sch1ege1's ed. 1. 9 14-20 and 22a), which describe the courtesans' sports, songs and movements;

(iii) Amareswar Thakur's ed. 1.9. 46-47a (=Gorresio's ed l. 9. 48+49a=SchlÖ gel's ed. l. 9.49-50), which mention Vibhandaka's warning to Rsyagrfiga that the Raksases must have assumed beautiful human forms to lead him astray;

(w) Amareswar Thakur's ed. l. 9. 53-60 (=Gorresio's ed. l. 9. ed. l. 9. 5766a), which describe Vibhandaka's return to his hermitage, his search for syain all quarters including the villages, and his satisfaction to learn through meditation all about his son, and (v) Amareswar Thakur's ed. l. 9. 66, which mentions Vibhandaka's return to his hermitage with satisfaction after hearing everything about Rishyashringa.

On the other hand, this ed. has a comparatively large number of vss. in common with the South Indian recension3i, and in narrating the incidents it follows this recension much more than that of Bengal.

 

This Wilt be evident from the following 113t of vss found common to two or more of the different ed'taons.

 

Sarga 10 — This sarga, which corresponds to vss. 1-37 of sarga 9 of Bhagavad Datta’s ed. agrees with sarga 11 of the South Indian recension in some of the details but has two highly important variations, which are as follows: —

(i) Going to narrate how king DaSaratha would bring RsyaSrnga to his capital and have his sacrifice performed by the latter, Sumantra reproduced SanatkumSra’s prophecy as follows:

" Born in the family of Iksvaku there '„yill be a wise king of great fame and true prowess, Daé aratha by name.

That high-souled king will have friendship with the king of Anga; and to this king will be born a highly blessed daughter named Santa.

But Lomapada, king of Afiga, will be That protector of the earth Will make a prayer to king Dagaratha (saying: )

Be pleased friend, to give with a tranquil mmd to me, who am childless, your fair-complexioned daughter Santa for servtng the purpose of a son to me.

Hearang (his) word Dagaratha, who will be ionate by nature, Will then give that Virgin girl Santa to the lord of Afiga.

And after accepting that girl that king will feel reheved Of his mental distress and be glad to return to his own city With a contented heart.

That king Will give that girl to Rsyaé rnga; and Rsya'rnga also Will be glad to have a wife".

(u) After Dagaratha had gone to Lomapada's capital, met Rsva{rnga there, laved there for seven or eight days, and reqested his friend saying the latter ga\c his consent, vent immediately to RsyaSpiga, and said:

 “This king DaSaratha is a very dear friend of mine.

By him this fair-complcxioncd (girl) Santa — his dearest daughter born of his own self, was given to me, who was childless and prayed (to him) for the sake of the rites (to be performed) by a son.

That king, O Brahman, who is as much a father-inlaw to you as I, has taken recourse to you with the object of having a son, O best of the twice-born.

Now, be pleased to conduct the sacrifice of this king who is desirous of having a son, (and) get him out (of this situation) after going from here with (your) wife 63nt.V\

It is to be noted that as regards the text of sarga 10 SchlcgcVs cd, though belonging to the Bengal recension, docs not always agree with Gorresio and AmareswarThakur’s editions. It lias more lines in common with the corresponding sarga (11) of the South Indian recension 55 than the editions of Gorresio and Amareswar Thakur, and almost all these lines also occur in Bhagavad Datta T s cd, representing the North-western recension. Sometimes it follows the South Indian recension as regards readings of certain vss in a few cases it agrees only With the North-western recension an its reading of certain hnesa7; and sometimes it omits lines contained in Gorresio and Amareswar Thakur's editions38.

Bhagavad Datta's ed. on the other hand, though not differing appreciably, as regards contents, from sarga 10 of the Bengal recension, has greater textual affinity With the South Indian recension, with which it has a great number of vss. and words in common than Schlegel's ed.

From the above outlines of the story of Rsyagrnga as occurnnct in the South Indian, North-western and Bengal recensions of the Rim. we learn, among others39 one veryimportant and interesting fact vnth which we are chiefly concerned here. This fact IS as follows. In the South Indian recension Dagaratha is said to have called himself anapatya40, (I.e., one having neither male nor female issue), when he met Lomapada In his capital, and É anta is said to have been the daughter (suta, kanya) of the latter king (Lomapada) 41, there being no mention or indication in this recension that Lomapada took Santa In adoption from Dagaratha, lung of Ayodhya. The North-western and Bengal recensions, on the other hand, declare Lomapada to have been anapatya 42 and give out in clear terms on two occasions that anta was the daughter of Dagaratha, king of Ayodhya, and that Lomapada took her in adoption from Dasaratha and then gave her m marriage to Rsya'rnga.

Thus, the South and North Indian recensions of the Ram. hold perfectly divergent views with regard to the parentage ofSrmta; anti v\f feel bewildered at the question of validity of one of these opposing statements It ii remarkable that vs Idle the South Indian tradition, which gives out Santa to be the daughter of Lomapada, hat been followed by a comparative! ) small number of later writers/ the North Indian tradition/ recorded in the North-western and Jlengal recensions, has liccn enjojing wide popularity from an carl) period, as is shown by its mention in a large number of works. Tor instance, the rtpm-Jk say's that Roiuapida being childless, Dviaratha, son of Aja, gave his daughter S1nt.\ to him in adoption 1, t)ic Skcrda-p. has five vss. t of which the last one states, without menti0mng the name of anta, that after the birth of four sons lang Dasaratha of Ayodhya had a beautiful daughter, whom he gave to the sonless king Lomapada 45, and In the Bengal mss of the Patala-khanda of the Padma-P there are five lines which say.

Then a daughter named Santa was born to that high-souled king Dagaratha of Ayodhya He gave her to his friend, king Lomapada, who was childless, (and) the latter, conversant. With law, considered her as his daughter He gave that extremely charmmg daughter to Rsyagrnga, Vibhandaka's son born a lemme deer.

By his statement made In his Bhatti-kavya that bemg desirous of havzng a son king Dagaratha of Ayodhya had Rsyasrnga brought to lus capital by courtesans, 47 the author seems to Imply that th1S Vang vyeas the father of Santa, and the prelude to hlS famous drama Uttara-rama.canta Bhavabhü u expressly says that c 'king Dasaratha (of Ayodhya) begot a daughter named Santa, whom he gave In adoption to king Lomapada" and that " Rsyaé rnga, son of Vibhandaka, mamed her 48" Among the later writers also there were many who followed the North Indian tradition of Santa’s descent. For instance, in the popular editions of Krttivasa’s Bengali Ram j 49 the story of Santa has been given as follows:

Being mortified by his sonlessness king Dasaratha of Ayodhya mamed again and again until he had seven hundred and fifty wives including KauSalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra and another who was the daughter of a king of the Bhargava family. To this last-mentioned wife of Dasaratha was born an extremely beautiful daughter who had a golden complexion and was consequently named Hemalata. This g: who was also called Santa, was taken in adoption Lomapada, king of Anga > in accordance with a previc understanding with DaSaratha and given in marriage Rsyasrnga, whom Lomapada had lured to his capital means of courtesans sent in decorated boats for the purpose A similar story of Santa is also found in Adbhutacary Rant, and some other works in Bengali. According to Candi vatj’s Ram. Kaikeyi had a daughter named Kukuya and t latter received training from the notorious maid-serva Manthara and used to harass Sita with searching questio about her residence at Lanka. 51 The popularity of the Nor Indian tradition of Santa’s descent from DaSaratha is al shown by Nanda Pandita’s quotation of two vss. (occurrii in the North Indian recensions) in support of taking a gi in adoption 62, S, K, Belvalkari 3 and some other mode] scholars 54 also take Santa to be the daughter of DaSaratl of Ayodhya.

It is needless to multiply examples.

 

PP iv v to his ed or the Adi kS^da, is shown definitely by Kufa’s citation from the Ram in Vltara-rama-canUi Act VI, of the two vss:

prakfty'iuva pnya sita rSmajyism mahitmanab /

pnya bhavab sa tu taya sva gunaix-eva vardhitab / /

tathaiva rimab? tSySb praijebhyopi pnyo’bhavat /

hrdayaip tv-eva janSti pnti yogaqi paraspararn / /

with the mention that these two vss occurred in the last chap of the 'BSla-canta (bala-cantasya antye'dhyaye floiau) It is to be noted that m the North western re tension, as known from Bhagavad Datta’s ed, the first pt is called 'Bala kinda’ and consists of seventytwo sargas, and the above two vss occur in its concluding sarga LXXII (vss I3b-15a, with v 1 ‘abbivardhitah for eva vardhitab in hne 2 and ‘hi for 'tu and 'puritanam for 'parasparam'm line 4) But in Gorresio and Amareswar Thakurs editions, both belonging to the Bengal recension, the first pt, called 'Adikanda’ in both of them, consist of eighty chaps and the above two vss occur not in tti conceding sarga but tn sarga LXXVIII (forming m 13b-J5a m Corresio’j ed and vss 13-14 in that of Amareswtir Thakur) with the readings abhi vardhitab’ for eva vardhitab in the second line and 'hi for ‘tu in the fourth Schlegel a ed, on the other hand, though belonging to the Bengal recension and naming its first pt as B5la k2inda> does not contain the above two vss at all In this ed the Bala kagd^ consist of seventy-seven sargas like the editions of the South Indian recension, ends with the same saiga as that of the latter, and has instead 6f the above two vss, the following three m common with the South Indian recension

pnyS tu siu ramasya dirab pitykrtl lti /

gui> 5d rupa-gush5c-eapi pntir bhuyo vyavardhata / /

tasySi-ca bhartS dvi gunarp hfdaye panvartate /

an taiga tam a pi vyaktam-SkhyaU hrdayaip hfdl / /

tasya bhuyo viie? ei? a maithdl janak5tmaj3 /

devalSbhih sam5 rCpe slti 4nr iva rupujl { /

5chlrgelsed I 77 26-28»=VaAg ed 1 27 26b-28(vJ 'virardha te’ for Vyavandfca t w hue 2) — Burdwan ed 1 77 26-28 (v L same as in the Vafig ea)=Kumbhakonam ed 1 77 33-35 (reading 'abhyavardhata for ‘vyavardhaU m bnc 2 and ‘antaijSUm for 'antargatam in line 4, although five mss read 'antargatam, and adding the line 'hfdayaip eaiva jinlu priu yogb parasparam' cm the authority or only one ms )

" Puma Chandra De'» ed, Adi kSntfa, chaps 29 and 35-39 It is to be noted that both in this ed and in that of Dr N K Bhattashab, Daiaratha is said to have been advised by the blind sage (whose son he had killed through mistake) to have a sacrifice conducted by Bjyaifnga tor the birth of sons (Bhattashabs ed y section 14 p 30

r? yafrge yajha kade putra babe tor and De’s ed, 1, chap 31 ryyaipigo 3Lm tara yajna irambhap).

50 For the boat episode, in which an old courtesan has been introduced as leading tl party, see Puma Chandra IVs ed, chap 36 This episode, ay given in De's ed hashes much influenced by Adbhutacarya's Bengali Ram which also gives out SantA to be t] daughter of Da£ aratha In Dr BhattashaU’s ed of the Adi kSnda, on the other ban this boat episode is much shorter, and there is no mention of any old courtesan For the mention of the use of a boat given the appearance of a hermitage as well i of an old courtesan (jarad yo^} leading the party, tee Afbh (Va/ig ed ), in 111 lj and liO 55

44 Dmesh Chandra Sen, The Bengali Ramayatia pp 196 198

 

Though from the mention of Santa as the daughter of Dasaratha of Ayodhya in the North-western and Bengal recensions of the Ram and from the repetition of this tradi tion in the works of reputed authors like Bhavabhuti it would appear that the North Indian tradition is the correct one, a critical study of all the recensions of the Ram will make one give one’s verdict in favour of the South Indian tradition for the following reasons.

1 In all the three editions of the Bengal recension Santa has been called the ‘dearest daughter’ (pnyatamatmaja) 55 of Dasaratha of Ayodhya In the North western recension also she has been said to have been ‘dearer to DaSaratha than his own self 56 ’ But it is strange that neither m any of the editions of the Bengal text, nor m those of the other recensions known to us there is any mention of Santa’s mother, and there is also no indication of the time of her birth or of the jubilation that could be expected on that occasion We are also not told that any of the wives of Dasaratha gave birth to a daughter As a matter of fact, in the South Indian recension DaSaratha is said to have given himself out to be ‘childless’ (‘anapatya and not ‘aputra’) to his friend Lomapada If Santa was really the daughter of Dasaratha of Ayodhya and especially his first and dearest child, there is absolutely no reason why her mother should not be mentioned even once.

2 In all the recensions Dasaratha is said to have come to the capital of Anga to take RsyaSrnga to Ayodhya with Lomapada’s permission and to have met Santa there, but m none of them there is any mention that Dasaratha or Santa uttered a word, or showed any sign, of love or affection or even of previous acquaintance either during their meeting or after it This behaviour is quite unnatural for a natural father and daughter who have met each other after a long time.

3 We are told m all the editions that Dasaratha sent envoys to Ayodhya, informtng the citizens of Ins appy re urn and asking them to decorate the City, but It IS remarkable that no mention of Santa has been made anywhere in this Connection.

4 After Dagaratha's return to Ayodhya With Rsyagrnga and Santa, the jubilant Inhabitants of the City are said to have given a grand reception to ther lung and to have become glad to See the brahnun who was beng ushered Into the City by the 'king57 Hcrc 'llso, no reference to Santa has been made In any of the editions Had Santa been the daughter and the first Issue of the king of Ayodhya, she would have surely been given a stvarm reception on her arnval after so long a urne, even though she mtght have been given away 111 adoption.

5 After Santa's entrance Into the harem of Dagaratha the ladles there are satd to have felt delighted and to have honoured her, 68 but none found to have been mentioned as her mother or to have received her With motherly affectiOn Even Dagaratha's relation With her was that of 1 espect59 and not of affection.

6 In no recension of the Ram there IS any mention of Or reference to the ceremonies that could be expected on the occasron ofa great king's gung as, vay lus first and dearest child In adoption According to SmrU works, sacnfices and Other rellgrous rites are to be performed durmg the ceremony of adoption.

7 It seems to be quite unlikely that Dagaratha could gave lus only daughter In adoption, when he was not sure Of havmg any other Issue The Smritl works also disallow adoption In the case of an only child.

8 From the outlines of the story of Rsyagrnga Oven above from the different recensions we see that in all these recensions this story has been narrated rn three distinct parts.

In the first part, 60 in which Lomapada has been brought to prominence, we find DaSaratha making preparations for a horsc-sacrifice for the birth of sons and Sumantra briefly narrating to him, on the authority of Sanatkumara’s prediction, the story of Rsyairnga’s birth and nature and Lomapada’s offer of Santa to that > oung sage after having him brought to his capital by courtesans to remedy the prolonged drought in his kingdom; in the second part 61, Sumantra is found to describe elaborately, at DaSaratha's request the means devised and adopted by Lomapada to lure Rsyairnga to his capital; and in the third part® 2, in which Daiaratha figures prominently, this king is said to have met Lomapada in the latteris capital and brought Rs^aSrnga and Santa from there to Ayodhya in accordance with the inscriptions of Sumantra, who had already stated on the authority of SanatkumAra’s prediction that for the birth of sons the sacrifice was to be conducted by Rtyairnga.

Now, if S5nta w as really the daughter of DaSaratha of A> odh)a and if she was taken in adoption by Lomapada for his childlessness, as the Northwestern and Bengal recensions tdl us, we could expect some mention at least to that effect in the first part of the story, where Santa has been mentioned for the first time and said to ha\c been given in marriage to PLsyaSpiga tty Lomapfida. But curiously enough, it is in the third part of the story, as given in the North-western and Bengal recensions, that ainta has been given out on more than one occasion to have been the daughter or Daiaratha of A)odh)A and Lomapada has been said to have approached the latter and taken Santa in adoption from him after making a pra> cr to him for the purpose with the mention of his childlessness. That this new' information about S^ntA (as contained in the North-western and Bengal recensions) is quite irrelevant in the thr part of the story, will be evident from a perusal of the outlines of this story given above; and this awkward position tends to give it a stamp of inauthenticity and later origin.

9. Even the North-western and Bengal recensions, which make Santa the daughter of Dagaratha of Ayodhya in the third part of the story, have, in its first part, the following vs. in common with the South Indian recension:

…

It is to be noted that in this vs. Santa has been called the csuta' (daughter) of Lomapada. In the second part also these two recensions have another vs. in which Santa has been said to be the 'kanya' (daughter) of the same king. A more definite statement as regards the relation between É anta and Lomapada is found in another vs. which is contained in the first part of the story in both these recensions and in which Santa has been called Lomapada's 'own daughter' (svaka duhlta).

From the internal evidences adduced above it appears that the South Indian recension IS correct in taking anta as the daughter of Lomapada of Anga, that in the first twa parts of the st0iY the North-western and Bengal recensions also agree with the South Indian recension as regards Santa's descent from Lomapada, and that the new information, contained in the third part of the story in the North-western and Bengal recensions, about Santa's descent from Dagaratha of Ayodhya and Lomapada's taking her rn adoption, is purely a later fabrication without basis.

The authenticity of the South Indian tradition about Santa's descent from Lomapada is finally established by independent external evidences supplied by early Puranic and Epic traditions For mstance, in their accounts of the royal dynasties the Vayu-p, Matsya-P, Brahma-P and Harivam'a have the Iine which definitely states that Santa was Lomapada’s daughter. In giving the Rama-story in Vana-parvan, chaps. 273-290, the Mbh. refers to the birth of Rama and his three brothers but makes no mention of any daughter having been born to Daiaratha. On the other hand, in its story of Rsyaimga given in chaps. 110-113 of the same Parvan 64 and in its sections on Dana-stuti (praise of gifts) contained in the Santi and the Anuiasana-parvan 65 the Mbh. expressly says that Santa was Lomapada’s daughter (duhitr, suta).

From what has been said above it is evident that Santa was the daughter of king Lomapada of Anga and not of Daiaratha of Ayodhya as is said in the North Indian recensions of the Ram.

It will be interesting here to point out what led to the origin of the North Indian tradition which regards Santa as the daughter of Daiaratha of Ayodhya and gives out that she was taken m adoption by king Lomapada of Anga.

From an examination of the genealogical texts in the Vayu-p, Brahma-p. and HariVamsha we gather the following information about Lomapada and his immediate descendants.

In the royal family ruling over Anga there was a king named Citraratha, who had a son named Daiaratha. This Daiaratha became Veil known 1 (khyata) under the name of Lomapada, and to him a daughter named Santa was bom. Caturanga, who was a hero of great fame (and was also called 'Daé arathi', as the Puranic texts indicate, was-born to Dasaratha (Lomapada) through Rsya#figa's favour."

The Matsya-P. also contains the same information about Dagaratha, Santa and Caturanga but makes the first the grandson of Citraratha and son of Satyaratha.67 The Vigu.p., though taking Santa to be the daughter of king Dagaratha Of Ayodhya and stating that she was given by her father in adoption to king Lomapada, agrees With the V@yu and the Other Puranas mentioned above in its statement that Dasaratha» son of king Citraratha of Anga, was also known as Lomapada So, there is little doubt about the fact that it Was Lomapada's original name 'Dagaratha' which was the main cause of confusion between Dagaratha of Ayodhya and Dagaratha (Lomapada) of Anga, who were contemporaries With the growmg Ignorance of the people of later ages about ancient Indian historical tradition and with the riszng popularity of the Ayodhya family and of Rama as a divine being the name 'Dagaratha' came to be widely used to mean Da{aratha of Ayodhya, and Santa, who must have been known in early times as the daughter of ‘Dasaratha (of Anga), was taken by a section of people to be the daughter of the illustrious Daiaratha of Ayodhya But to account for the well known fact that Lomapada-Dasaratha gave Santa in marriage to Rsyasrnga who had been lured to Ins capital by courtesans, these people fabricated the story that Lomapada, being childless, had approached his fnend DaSaratha of Ayodhya and taken Santa m adoption from him before giving her in marriage to Rsyasrnga.

The above confusion was also encouraged to a great extent by certain words used in the Ram itself For instance, m the line ‘rsyaSmgas tu jamata putrarps tava-vidhasyati 69 ’ (‘but RsyaSmga, the son-m law, will cause the birth of sons to you'), spoken out by Sumantra to king Daiaratha of Ayodhya, the word ‘jamata, being used without the expressed mention of the person to whom Rsyaimga was a sonm law, has been connected with DaSaratha of Ayodhya and taken conveniently in favour of their opinion by those who find reasons to believe in the new tradition of Santa’s parentage Thus, in commenting on the above lme of the Ram Govmdaraja says:

jamata romapadasya dasarathasyapi va /

da5afathasyaurasi santa datta romapadasya / /

although in the South Indian text, on which Govmdaraja comments, there is no mention of Santa's descent from Daiaratha of Ayodhya or of her being taken in adoption by Lomapada Even the famous commentary Ramajana tilaka, which explains the above line as ‘anga raja mitratvasya rajni vaksyamanatvena mitra jamata svasyapj jamata eva lty ato jamatety uktih and thus admits the reasonability of RsyaSmga’s relation as a son m law to Dasaratha of Ayodhya due to the latter's friendship with Lomapada, does not preclude the possibility of Santa’s descent from this Daiaratha and her being taken in adoption by Lomapada of Anga, as he remarks ‘byantaram api agre vaksyate etaduktch’. As a matter of fact, in explaning the word ’sambandhaka’ occurring m the vs.

 

In the North Indian recensions 71, the word ‘asya in the fourth line naturally points to the word ‘anga raja’ which has been used nearer to it than the word ‘daSaratha’ But, curiously enough, some people have connected this word with ‘dasaratha’, for which the word ‘tasya has already been used in the third line It is due to this fact that the word ‘asya is foqnd replaced by ‘tasya ’m some of the mss of the Bengal recension of the Ram 72 and that the story of Santa’s descent from Dasaratha of Ayodhya and her being taken in adoption by Lomapada, has been introduced in the North Indian recensions immediately after the line ‘kanya casya mahabhaga Santa nama Bhavishyati’ We have said above that the occurrence of this story at this place is quite irrele vant As this new story, being perfectly extraneous, could not be inserted conveniently in the first part of the RsyaSmgalegend which was its proper place, it was placed after the above mentioned line by taking the word ‘asya to mean Dasaratha.

From the above analysis of the Rsyasmga legend as well as from a critical comparison of its text as occurring in the different recensions of the Ram we have seen why and how this legend being modified by degrees first in Bhagavad Datta’s ed (representing the North western recension) and then in Schlegel’s ed (belonging to the Bengal recension) has taken its final form in the Bengal text represented by Amareswar Thakur and Gorresio’s editions This is an important fact which explains partially the rise of the Bengal text by gradual modifications from the South Indian one.

 

 

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