Rmyaa Studies I.

The Krauca-Vadha Episode in the Vlmki Rmyaa

Author(s): Ch. Vaudeville
Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Aug. - Sep., 1963), pp. 327-
335
Published by: American Oriental Society
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KENNEDY AND VAN DER WAERDEN: The World-Year of the Persians 327
Our conclusion is that the Persian original of the
ZIj-i Shah contained a table of mean motions, fol-
lowed by tables for computing corrections to obtain
the true places of the planets according to the
" Method of the Persians." This gives us a pretty
clear idea of the general form of the tables. The
earlier redactions of the tables may have differed
in the constants of the mean motions and in the
maximum equations, but the general form of the
tables must have been the same. Ultimately, the
Persians must have got the idea of a Kanon from
the Greeks.
RAMAYANA STUDIES I
THE KRAUgCA-VADHA EPISODE IN THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA
CH. VAUDEVILLE
PARIS
THE KRAUNCA-VADHA EPISODE, narrated in
sarga 2 of the Balakiinda of the VAlmiki Rdma-
yana, is connected with the birth of the first sloka,
uttered by sage VYlmiki when he was afflicted by
grief, sooka, on hearing the piteable cries of a
female krauici-bird, deprived from her mate.'
Just as sargas 1 and 3 in the Balakainda of the
vulgate Rdmayana purport to " explain" why and
how the Rdmdyana came into existence, and which
were the circumstances which induced Valmiki to
begin his great tale, so the Kraufica-vadha episode,
in sarga 2, is supposed to account for the birth of
the Rloka, the principal metre used in the Ramd-
yana. This pretty tale appears at first sight as a
kind of fancy, a flight of imagination due to one
of the later rhapsodists who composed the Bala-
kadpa. Scholars and translators in general did
not attach much importance to the episode, and
contented themselves with a passing remark on the
invraisemblance and fanciful character of the de-
rivation Rloka < sooka which seems to be hinted at
in the episode, while crediting ValmIki with hav-
ing given its final form to the epic Rloka, or having
been the first to write an epic entirely in sloka.2
A closer examination of the Kraufica-vadha epi-
sode, however, suggests that the passage is not so
meaningless as it appears and that it does not
concern the origin of the epic Rloka metre as such.
It rather refers to an ancient tale or popular belief
concerning the origin of lyrical poetry, which has
a bearing on the origins of the ValmIki Rdmdyana
itself.
PLACE OF THE KRAUNCA-VADHA EPISODE IN
VAL. R. I. 2.
The Ramayana scholars, Holzmann, H. Jacobi,
followed by C. Bulcke, have convincingly shown
1
The episode is famous in Indian tradition, and is
referred to in AMvaghosa's Buddhacarita, Kaliddsa's
Raghuvamha and in the works of the Kashmirian poeti-
cians, but the latter seem to have understood that it
was the female bird which had been killed by the Nisada,
and the male bird which was lamenting its loss. (On
the interpretation of this divergence, see G. H. Bhatt,
"The Krauficavadha in Dhvanydloka and Kdvyami-
mamsa," JOI vol. IX (1959), p. 148f., and Ch. Vaude-
ville, " A further note on Kraufcavadha in Dhvanydloka
and KAvyamimams&," JOI vol. XI (1961), p. 122 f.).
The story was also famous outside India, as it is alluded
to in a 7th century inscription found in a Valmiki
temple in Cambodia, cf. C. Buleke, Rdma-katha, Prayag,
1950, p. 240, who refers to BEFEO, vol. 28, p. 147 and
JOI vol. VI, p. 117.
Our references to the Valmiki text of the Balakanda
are to the Baroda edition of the Vdlmlki Rdmayania
(Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1958).
2
P. V. Kane, in History of Sanskrit Poetics, 1951, p.
320, note 1, is very affirmative: "Thus the Bdlaknida
states the origin of the classical Sanskrit Aloka and also
contil us the germs of the rasa theory." H. Jacobi, in
Das RIimayana, Bonn, 1893 [English translation of the
same by S. N. Ghosal, Baroda, 1960; our references are
to the latter] says: " If this legend is based on any fact,
the same appears to be that the epic Aloka in its regular
form first emerges in the poem of Valmiki." (Jacobi,
o. c., p. 62). Jacobi's view seems to have been accepted
by Winternitz (A History of Indian Literature, I, p.
480). Hopkins, in The Great Epic of India, p. 65, re-
jects the idea that Vdlmiki is the "inventor" of the
Sloka: "We must let pass the statement of the Rdma-
yana itself that V&lmlki invented the Aloka verse, though
Valmiki may have been the first to set out to write an
epic in Alokas . . . ." Also, in note 2 to the same page:
" That Valmiki could not have " invented the Aloka " is
shown by the presence of an earlier form of Aloka in the
Brahmanic literature retained in the Mahabharata."
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328 VAUDEVILLE: Rarmdyana Studies I: The
"
Kraufica-vadha" Episode
that the bulk of the Bdlakanda (and also of the
Uttarakdnda) is a later addition to the Valmiki
Rdmdyana, and cannot belong to the Adi-ramayana
nor be the work of Valmiki himself (who, more-
over, is mentioned in the third person). Jacobi,
however, assumes that, after the addition of the
Bdlakanda, the former introduction to the "Adi-
Ramayania" or "Diaskeuse" was transferred to
the Bdlakdnda itself; the same scholar, therefore,
proposed to find the real introduction to the Adi-
Ramayana in vv. 1-4 of the 5th sarga, which consist
of a Rdma-stuti.3
The first and third sargas of the present (vul-
gate) Rdmdyana give a table of contents of the
same. Of these two accounts, the first is obviously
the older, since it does not include the contents
of kind.as 1 and 7, which are given in sarga 3.
Sarga 1 gives an account of the circumstances
in which the Ramayana appeared, how it was " re-
vealed " by divine Ndrada to the great sage
Vdlmiki. We notice that the first two verses of
sarga 3 are linked to the last verses of sarga 1 in
a natural way: having heard Narada's tale,
Valmiki concentrates on the subject and then
makes bold to recite it in his turn:
grutvd vastu samagramn taddharmdtma dharma-
samhitam
vyaktatmanvesate bhiiyo yadvrttam tasya dhimatah |
4
upaprhyodakam samyanmunih sthitva krtainjalih
pracindgresu darbhesu dharmeninvesate gatim 1
Val. R. 1. 3, 1-2.
It is likely that the contents of the first sarga,
plus the two first verses of the third sarga com-
posed a kind of prologue added to the Adi-Radm-
yana. And it is interesting to note that this
prologue refers to the poem as raghuvaimsasya
caritam, i. e., "the history of the Raghu dynasty."
On the contrary, there is hardly any continuity
between the last verses of sarga 1 and the vv. 3 f.
of sarga 2, which describe VYlmlki coming to bathe
in the Tamasd river, in company of his disciple
Bharadvdja, and which form the introduction to
the Kraufica-vadha episode. The hiatus is all the
more apparent as the first verse of sarga 2 seems
to be a mere repetition of the first verse of sarga 3,
quoted above:
naradasya tu tatvakyam grutvd vdkyavisaradah
piijayamasa dharmdtmd sahahisyo mahdmunih j /
VA. R. I. 2, 1.
Thus the Kraufica-vadha episode appears sand-
wiched between the last verse of sarga 1 and the
first verse of sarga 3 which is its natural con-
tinuation, the two first verses of sarga 2 being
added, rather clumsily, to provide the missing link
with the former sarga.
The Kraufica-vadha tale, which begins in I. 2,3,
is interrupted rather abruptly after v. 21; I. 2, 22
introduces the god Brahma who comes to induce
VYlmlki to sing Rama's glories " in slokas." How-
ever, this encouragement is hardly needed, as it
appears from I. 3, vv. 1-2, quoted above. But v.
21 finds a natural continuation in vv. 27-28 (whilst
v. 26, which belongs to the Brahma-VYlmiki dia-
logue is merely a repetition of v. 21). Brahma
withdraws from the scene in v. 37, and the three
stanzas that follow, i.e., vv. 38-39-40 seem to be
the natural conclusion of the Krauica-vadha epi-
sode. The last verse of sarga 2 (I. 2, 41) mentions
that Vdlmlki composed a "poem on the praise of
Rama" (yasaskaram kavyam) in hundreds of
slokas Valmiki's authorship is re-affirmed in the
first verse of sarga 4 (I. 4, 1), but this time the
work is mentioned as "a great caritac" (caritam
krtsnam). It follows from this analysis that the
Kraufica-vadha episode narrated in I. 2, vv. 3-21,
vv. 27-28 and vv. 38-40 is certainly independent of
the Brahma-Valmiki dialogue, the latter being a
late addition, clumsily interpolated in the former.
Leaving aside the contents of the later summary
of events found in I. 3, vv. 3 f., we can already
distinguish a kind of double prologue to the
Vdlmiki Ramayana:
a. Val. R. I. 1; 2, vv. 22-37 (vv. 27-28 excepted);
3, 1-2 give a mythological explanation of the origin
of the Rama-legend, which is supposed to have
been the object of a kind of revelation by Narada
to VYlmiki, the latter obeying an injunction from
god Brahma.
b. Val. R. I. 2, vv. 3-21, 27-28, 38-40 and I, 4
develop on a purely natural plane. The origin of
sloka is explained by a pretty tale, but the origin
of the Rama-legend itself apparently is no prob-
lem, and sage Valmiki needs no special provocation
3 Jacobi, o. c., p. 44, " We should seek the beginning of
the poem in the 5th canto," i. e., Val. R. I. 5, 1-4. Jacobi,
ibid. p. 46, has attempted a reconstruction of the begin-
ning of the text of the Adi-RAmAyana in this way:
I. 5, 1-7; I. 6, 2-3-4; I. 18, 16, 22, 35 followed up to II. 1,
5 ff. (His references are to the Gujarati Printing Press
edition of the Ramayana, Bombay.)
4A group of mss. belonging to the Southern recension
insert 7 more stanzas after I. 3, 1. Cf. Baroda ed. p.
[29], 154.*
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VAUDEVILLE: Ramayana Studies I: The "Krauiica-vadha" Episode 329
to take up his theme, as can be induced from the
first verse of sarga 4:
prdptardjyasya rdmasya vdtmikirbhagavanrsih I
cakara caritam krtsnam vicitrapadamdtmavdn II
krtvd tu tanmahdprdjfiah sabhavisyaM sahottaram
cintayamdnasya ko nvetatprayunjiydditi prabuhu
Val. R. I. 4, 1-2.
The words praiptarajyasya rdmasya, "when
Rdma got his kingdom," suggest that V5lmiki was
the family bard of the Iksvdkus, whose duty it was
to sing his master's praise after he has acceded to
the throne of his ancestors. Here the only diffi-
culty seems to be: how to account for the transmis-
sion of the poem? The fact that the poem was in
the mouths of the professional ballad-singers
known as Kusllavas had to be explained. The
Kusllavas were no court-poets or royal bards, but
low-caste street musicians.6 How could they be in
possession of that noble work dealing with the
glories of Rdma? The purpose of sarga 4 is clearly
to alleviate the difficulty by showing how the
musicians' low status was heightened by the very
nobility of their theme, and finally turned into
some kind of respectable ascetics.
It is logical to assume that the "natural" pro-
logue is the older of the two. This prologue sug-
gests that the -!di-Rdmdyana appeared to its
hearers both as a wonderful achievement and as a
curious novelty: the deep pathos of Valmiki's
legend, its universal appeal, joined to a new refine-
ment in style, caused the world to wonder. To the
audience of the KusIlavas, the Iksvdku Prince
Rdma must have been a well-known figure, the
hero of some itihdsa or kirti told by a sitta of the
Raghu family-but Vdlmiki's poem was something
new, and unique. Their question cannot have
been: " Where did Vdlmiki hear the Rama-
legend? ", but rather: "Where did he take his
inspiration? How did he come to sing the old tale
in such pathetic and melodious strains? And how
is that wonderful poem found on the lips of mere
Kusllavas?" The pretty tale of the Kraufica-
vadha, as we shall see, is precisely a Kusllava
answer to such questions. It does not explain the
origin of the Rdma-legend, not even how this par-
ticular legend became Vdlmiki's theme. Its evi-
dent purpose is to explain how "sloka" was once
born of
"
s'oka," and to justify the KusIlavas claim
over it.
THE KRAUUNCA-VADHA EPISODE.
a. Summary of contents.
vv. 3-8: Setting of the scene: Valmiki comes to
the Tamasa river to bathe.
vv. 9-14: Vdlmmki sees a pair of sweet-voiced
Kraufica birds. The male is killed by a
Nisdda. VYlmiki is moved by sorrow
(sooka) on hearing the piteable lament of
the female bird. He curses the Nisdda,
and his words take the shape of a sloka.
vv. 15-17: VYlmlki wonders at his own utterance
and stresses the relation between sokca
and sloka.
vv. 18-21: ValmIki reflects on what has come to
pass, and,
vv. 27-28: being under the influence of sooka,
repeats the same sloka.
vv. 38-40: VYlmiki's disciples sing the sloka again
and again after their Master. Conclu-
sion: sloka has attained the status of
slo7ca.
Before attempting an interpretation of the epi-
sode, we must focus our attention on the key-
words: lcraufica, soca and stoka.
b. The Kraufica bird.
The word kraufica shows the vrddhi of krufic or
krufica (Hindi kunjh), a well-known species of
migrator water-birds, the "Demoiselle crane"
(Anthropoides virgo). The word is often and
approximatively translated by French courlieu,
English curlew or snipe, German Schneipe. Kruitc
is already mentioned in the Yajur-Veda Samhitds,
where the faculty of separating milk from water in
drinking the latter (vipana) is attributed to it.7
5
After I. 4, 1, some mss. (Dt, D4. 6. 8. 9. 14) and
Commentaries (Cr. m. g. t.) insert another Aloka, in
which VAlmIki's poem is said to include "twenty-
thousand Alokas "; but this verse is an interpolation; cf.
Baroda ed. p. [36], 196.*
6 On the low status of musicians cf. Jacobi o. c., pp.
51-52, and notes 8) and 9); also Ranade, Religious and
Social Reform, p. 185. Jacobi stresses the point that
" these musicians must be distinguished from the court
minstrels, sfltas." That low status may well have been
that of ValmIki himself. On the latter, see C. Bulcke,
o. c., p. 37-40, and " About ValmIki," JOI vol. VIII, 1959,
p. 121 f.; G. H. Bhatt, " On Valmlki," JOI vol. IX, 1959-
1960, p. 1 if.
7
Cf. C. R. Lanman, "The milk-drinking hamsas of
Sanskrit poetry," JAOS 19, 1898, p. 151 ff., who refers to
four equivalent passages in the Vedic SamhitAs and the
TAittiriya BrAhmana. In Maitrayani-Samhit& III. 11, 6,
Krufle seems to be the name of an Angirasa:
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330 VAUDEVILLE:
Rdminyan.a Studies I: The "Krauiica-vadha" Episode
In Vedic literature, kraufica is not an equivalent
of krufic, but always a musical term, at least in
older texts. It refers to a note, svara, in TS II, 5,
II, 3-9); to several sdman in Tdnd. B. XI. 1, 18-
19, XIII. 11, 19-20, XIV. 11, 29, XIII. 9, 10-11:
to a particular gana in Ch. Up. 22, 1; to an aga in
JUB I, 37, 1-4. The kraufica note or tone is
always given as the highest, and connected with the
Asuras and with Brhaspati.8 As a sdman, in sacri-
ficial context, its proper use seems to be for calling
(or creating) what is "wished for."
9
When used in reference to birds, kraufica does
not apply to a particular species, but to a whole
class of aquatic birds endowed with a krufic-like
voice, a class which includes, besides the krufic, the
hamsa and sdrasa bird.10 Birds of that class regu-
larly appear in Indian folk-tales as love-messengers
from very ancient times, one well-known example
being the hamsa sent by Damayant! to Nala in the
Nalopaklhyna of the Mahdbharata. In the Epic,
in the Kavya and also in folk-literature, the female
of those species frequently appears as a symbol of
an afflicted wife, mourning in separation from her
Lord, cf. VMl. R. II. 39, 40 = jafnre 'tha tdsam san-
nadah kraudcindm iva nisvanah / and II. 76, 21
kraunicindm iva narinam ninadastatra susruve /
But, there, the kraunic is often replaced by an
equivalent word kurari: thus Draupadl, abandoned
in the forest by Nala is compared to a kurari (Mbh.
III, 60, 19: kurarimiva), similarly SItM abandoned
by Rdma in Raghuv. 14, 68: vigra kurariva bhiiyah.
In later Vedic literature (cf. Taitt. Ar. I. 31, 2)
and in the Epic, krauica is given as the proper
name of a winged mountain which was shot at and
pierced by Skanda (Kartikeya) with a dart given
to him by Agni. The legend is developed in the
VYyu and VYmana-Purdna, and frequently alluded
to in Pauranic and Kdvya literature, where the
epithets kraufica-darana, kaufica-nisfidana are fre-
quently attributed to Skanda (once to Parasu-
Rama in Megh. v. 59). Sometimes the Kraunca
shot at by Skanda is given as an Asura.11 The
Pauranic stories are clearly based on an old myth
about the "piercing" or a divine kraui ca-bird
(i. e., a bird with a kraunca-voice): all such birds
must have been taboo, as evidenced in Manu-smrti
XI. 136, which prescribes the gift of a cow to a
Brahmin as an atonement for the killing of a
7crauiica.
In the passage under consideration, it is clear
that the Kraunacas are presented as a kind of sweet-
singing birds, going in a pair:
adbhyadh ksiradh vy-apibat kru'A dangiraso dhiya
Kruic Angirasa is also mentioned in Tand.. B. XIII. 9,
and II, 20, as the name of a seer who sings the saman
Krauiica.
8
Cf. A. B. Keith, The Veda of the Black Yajur School
entitled Tdittiriyd-Samhitd (HOS) Pt I, p. 201, the de-
scription of the part of the Hotr in the new-moon and
full-moon sacrifice in TS. V. 11, 3-9:
"He sacrifices sitting; verily he finds support in
this world. In that, he repeats the kraufica note,
that is connected with the Asuras; in the low note,
that is connected with men; and in the intermediate,
that is connected with the gods."
In note 3, p. 201, Keith remarks: " probably a high one."
In JUB I. 37, there are given three aga: the lowest
(mandra) belongs to Agni, the middle one, which is
"loud and noisy" (ghosiny upabdimati) belongs to
Indra; the third one (presumably the highest one)
belongs to all the gods (cf. H. Oertel, "The Jdiminlya
or Talavakdra Upanisad Bhramana, Text, Translation
and Notes," in JAOS 16, 1896, p. 79f.). From I. 37, 6,
one infers that the highest dgd is the krauica, which
belongs to Brhaspati (atha yd krduica sd brhaspatyd).
9
Cf. JB III, 32, Caland, Auswalh, N. 173, translated
in a note p. 268, in W. Caland, Pancavim8'a-Brrahmana
(=Tn.d. B.), Calcutta, 1931:
"Kruflc of the Angiras-clan obtained a day that
was isya as it were; ( . . . ) isya, as it were, is this
second day; ... .) There was (then) only one single
day. This Krunic of the Angiras-clan desired: May
I form a (second) day out of the (now only ex-
istent) day. He saw this saman and practised it in
lauding. Thereupon, he formed a (second) day out
of the (single) day . . . It is this day, forsooth,
that the Angiras Krunic by drinking discriminates."
In Tand. B. the kraunica-saman is mentioned four times
in a ten-days period which is the principal part of a
twelve-day Soma sacrifice (XI. 10, 18-19; XIII. 11, 19-
20; XIII. 9, 10-11; XIV. 11, 29). By singing this
saman, the priest creates and forms the day isya, i. e.,
"the hoped-for day" or "the day which should be
found." Dr. H. Heestermaann notes that the expression
isya meaning "day" is never found out of this context.
There must be an allusion to a popular motif, distinct
from the vipdna which is attributed to krauiica-birds.
It is likely that a "Krunica-like song" or "tone" was
already associated with the idea of "desire, longing"
for a second (=for a mate ?).
10
The collective meaning of the word krauiica, applied
to birds, can be inferred from a passage of Sayania's
Commentary on TB. II. 6, 2.: yathd loke krui krauica-
paksi (quoted by Lanman, o. c., p. 158). Krun-kraulhca-
paksi can only mean: kruicldi paksi: "Krufic and the
like."
11 Cf. Hopkins, Epic Mythology, p. 9 and 228; Wilson,
VP p. 137-138, note 10. Wilson notes: " Kraufica is
sometimes considered to be the name of a Asura; but
this is perhaps some misapprehension of the Pauranic
legend by the grammarians, springing out of the syno-
nyms of Kartikeya, KrauncAri, Krauficadarana, etc."
But it is more likely that the Asura Krauflca typifies
the ancient association of the Kraufica note or tone with
the Asuras; (cf. note 8).
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VAUDEVILLE: Rimdyana Studies I: The "Kraufica-vadha" Episode 331
dadarsa bhagavanstatra krauficayoscarunihvanam
The birds known as krufica (lcunjh), like the
hamsa, however, do not go in pairs, but in flocks,
so that particular species can hardly be intended
there. On the other hand, VYlmiki says that the
Nisada pierced the male Kraufica with his arrow
while the latter was 1cdmamohita "infatuated or
intoxicated with love." This may allude to the
peculiar kind of courtship indulged in by the
Sarasa birds (another bird of the krauftca class)
who go dancing about in a rather spectacular
way.12 The Sarasa birds go by pairs, as also do
the famous Cakravaka birds. But the couple of
bird-lovers remain anonymous here: the poet does
not mention their particular species: he simply
introduces them as a couple of charming musi-
cians, tenderly in love with one another.
c. sloka and eoka.
The Vedic use of the word Rloka; (whose ety-
mology is uncertain) also brings musical associa-
tions. In the Rg-Veda, sloka means a cry, also the
noise of the Soma pressing stones, of chariots. In
RV 3. 53, 10, sloka is given as the cry of the harysa
bird and the priests themselves are compared to
the hamsas: hamsa, iva Icrnutha slokam adribhih.
L. Renou remarks that sloka is "un terme volon-
tiers para-musical." 13 There is no evidence that
sloka has been used in Vedic literature as the name
of a particular metre.14
The association between kraunica meaning a
musical tone, a type of chant, and secondarily a
class of water-birds with a pathetic call (such a
Icrauflca, sdrasa, hamsa) on the one hand, and
Rloka, meaning a "rythmic cry," especially as
uttered by the same kind of birds, is a natural
association and must be very ancient, as already
indicated in RV 3. 53, 10 where sloka is connected
with hamsa. The Valmikian episode under con-
sideration is another illustration of the same asso-
ciation, but it introduces a romantic element, ap-
parently based on popular belief: the cry of those
water-birds is caused by sorrow or mourning, soka,
so that the sloka sung by lcrauiica birds is really
"born of ?oka" and expresses pathos, karunam.
As we have seen, in the folk-tales, it is to the
female of the species the Icraunca or 7curarn that
this mournful lament is attributed.
The despair of the Kraufc! bird on witnessing
the slaughter of her mate is described in the
Valmikian episode with a deliberate touch of
anthropomorphism:
tam so nitaparitangam vestamanam mahitale
bhdrya tu nihatam drstva rudava karunam giram
VA. R. I. 2, 11.
"Seeing him thus slain and rolling in the dust, be-
smeared with blood, his wife began to lament in a
pitiful voice [or
"
with a mournful song]."
The old word gir means: "invocation, praise,
song" and also "voice." Here, the meaning "a
mournful song" is all the more probable as the
aggrieved KraufacI bird is explicitly mentioned as
a " wife" (bharya), separated from her noble
spouse. The word dvija in I. 2, 12 suggests that
the Kraufica bird is conceived as a Brahman or as
a prince. And it is the karua gfir, the mournful
song or pathetic lament of the Krauiici which
awakens karunyam, pity or sympathy, in Vdlmiki's
soul, and which impels him to curse the sinful
Nisdda in the famous verse:
mdnisdda pratistham tvam agamah hdhvatih samah
yat krauficamithunad ekam avadhih kdmamohitamjj
VAl. R. I. 2, 14.
This verse, which is supposed to be the first
sloka ever uttered, is found with few variant read-
ings in all manuscripts of the three recensions of
the VYlmiki Rdmdyana, and is quoted or alluded
to in a number of other works, in reference to the
origins of the same Rdmdyana.15 However, it is
12
Cf. Salim Ali, The book of Indian birds, 6th ed. p.
87: " During breeding season, sarasa pairs indulge in
ludicrous and spectacular dancing display, bowing
mutually, prancing, with outward wings and leaping
around each other." This evokes the apex khepari-
bhramd, found in a variant reading for the section line
of I.2, 11, (cf. Baroda ed. p. [23], 135*):
drstva kraufThi rudodarta karunam kheparibhramd
Boetlingk in the St Petersbourg Dictionary translates
kheparibhrama by " in Lufe umherfliegend." Salim Ali
has also noted the reputation of the Sarasa pair for
fidelity and conjugal devotion," "which has won for the
species popular reverence and devotion."
13
L. Renou, Etudes v6diques et panineennes IV, p. 31.
14
The s1oka mentioned in JB II. 27; II. 438; III. 338,
351, 367, 373, 385 are not classical Alokas. They are
verses stating, under a more or less enigmatic form,
truths concerning e. g., the connections between the
phrases of the year or the pranas and liturgical details.
They are rather to be taken as " utterances
"
and their
metre appears to be variable; similarly the s1oka quoted
in Tand. B. XXIV. 18, 4-7 in relation with the vratya
sacrifice.
15
The verse is quoted verbatim in Bhavabhfiti's Ut-
tararamacarita II, 5, Ksemendra's Ramdyanamai jari
I. 19, Anandavardhana's Dhvanydloka (Kdvyam1la ed.
N. 25) and Abhinavagupta's Locana Commentary on the
Dhvanydloka (p. 160 in the Madras ed.). About the
interpretation given to the verse by the Kashmirian
poeticians, cf. supra note 1. AAvaghosa in Buddhacarita
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332 VAUDEVILLE: Rdmdyaia Studies I: The " Kraufica-vadha" Episode
not a regular epic sloka, but a vipula verse, com-
ing nearer to the late Vedic anustubh. Besides,
the use of the augmented form agamah with ma
is not grammatically correct: one would expect
ma ... gamah; the anomaly which must have been
sensed by the copyist of the Dig and Si ms, which
give the form agamah (from verb d-gam) instead of
agamah.16
The word pratistha means "resting-place, resi-
dence, dwelling" and, secondarily, "honour,
fame." The first line of the verse has generally
been understood as meaning: "Thou shalt never
attain fame"; but the first sense of the word
appears more fitting in the context. The maledic-
tion must be: "O Nisdda, thou shalt remain for
ever without a dwelling " (i. e., " thou shalt be con-
demned to wander forever,") a malediction which
is consistent with the half-nomadic habits of the
Nisadas, an aboriginal tribe of hunters and fisher-
men.17 There is evidently a correspondence be-
tween the word pratistha, " dwelling," and the
word ni4sada, "settler."
However, this malediction, as it appears in the
Kraufica-vadha episode, is anomalous: the cruel
Nisdda is abruptly introduced and disappears in
the same way: we do not hear of his subsequent
fate, and of the effect of the malediction; more
unexpected still is the fact that the malediction is
not voiced by the aggrieved Krauficl, but by the
sage VYlmiki, an occasional spectator. It is the
"wife" of the dvija bird who should have cursed
the Nisdda, just as the young hermit's father,
bereaved from his son, curses king Dasaratha in
the Ayodhyakianda (II. 64, 56). One may surmise
that the verse is a quotation from an older ballad,
in which a cruel Nisdda was cursed by a female
Kraufac! bird, symbolising a sorrowful wife sepa-
rated from her Lord.
The following verses, 15-17, establish the rela-
tion soka-sloka. The second line of verse 15:
sokartendsya sakuneh kim idam vyahrtam maya
shows that VYlmiki uttered the malediction while
he was affected by the " soka of that bird," or by
" sorrow on account of that bird." V. 17 is a deli-
cate interpretation. Addressing his disciple
Bharadvaja, Vdlmiki says:
padabaddho'ksarasamastantrilayasamanvitah I
Aokdrtasya pravrtto me Aloko bhavatu nanyatha
VA. R. I. 2, 17.
We notice, first of all, that the "definition" of
the sloka which is given in this verse does not
allude to the rules of the classical sloka: the s'oka
alluded to here is simply a stanza made of four
quarters (pada), each with an even number of
syllables, and corresponding to a laya (measure)
on the tantri or lute. We may doubt that this
purports to be a "definition" at all, as it does not
mention the characteristics of the metre as such,
i.e., the metrical and semantical arrangement of
the pddas in pairs (the typical couplet form of the
sloka) and the peculiar metrical fall of each pada
in one hemistich. If this is to be taken as a
definition, then it is so wide as to include under
the name of sloka all the ancient types of quat-
rains, from the old Vedic tristubh and jagati to
the later Vedic anustubh and pre-classical s'oka,
since the number of syllables in a pdda is not pre-
cised.18 On the other hand, the sloka referred to
here is clearly a geyaripacka, i. e., a type of verse
not simply recited or chanted, but sung with musi-
cal accompaniment, a typically popular form of
entertainment. Here we find again the ancient
Vedic association of s'oka with music.19 In verse
I. 49, recalling the event, replaces the word Aloka by
padyam:
valmikanadahca sasarja padyam
jagrantha yan na cyavano maharsih
"A cry of Valmiki gave birth to the "verse" (or
" metre "?) "
which the great Isi Cyavana had not composed."
"6 Cf. Baroda ed. p. 24, and G. H. Bhatt, " BAlakAnda
in Ksemendra's RAmAyan1amanjarl," JOI vol. VII, p. 180-
181. The reading dlabdha1h instead of agamah in the
latter work seems to be an attempt on the part of
Ksemendra to do away with the anomalous form
agamah.
'17
The Nisadas appear in later SamhitAs and in the
Brahmanas as wild Non-Aryan tribes of hunters, fisher-
men and robbers. It seems that the word is a general
term for non-Aryan tribes, rather than the name of a
particular one. The name nisdda, from ni-sad, means
"settlers" and it appears from Vedic literature that
these were at least partly sedentary at the time of the
BrAhmanas. The ritual of the Viivajit sacrifice requires
a temporary residence with Nisadas; cf. Macdonell,
Vedic Index, and Weber, Indische Studien 9, 340. The
Brhatsamhitd of Varahamitra (XIV. 10) recognizes a
"kingdom" (rdstra) of NisAdas in the South-East of
Madhyadega.
18
Hopkins (o. c., p. 266 and note 2) has shown that
o1oka, in the broad sense, is equivalent to gatha. In
Mbh. XII. 192, 5if., one unannounced Aloka follows the
introductory verse, then more prose, and, with the words
bhavanti 'ca 'tra glokdh, follow one 41oka and two
tristubh: Hopkins concludes: " evidently s1oka here does
not mean tristubh, but includes them with 'Aloka'
proper."
19 Hopkins (o. c., p. 51) shows that 4loka, though
synonymous with gatha, may be either sung or recited.
But the very word gatha reflects older conditions where
bards actually sang with the accompaniment of the
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VAUDEVILLE: Rdmdyana Studies I: The "Kraufica-vadha" Episode 333
39, we find the same view expressed again about
four pddas with an equal number of syllables being
characteristic of Rloka, born of soka.
The second line of verse 17 brings the doublet
Rloka-soka. It seems that all commentators and
European translators have taken the word Rloka as
a predicate in the last pada; Rloko bhavatu
nanyatha. Dutt translates:
"As it has come out of my sorrow (4oka), let it there-
fore go forth as hloka." 20
and Roussel, in his French translation of the
VYlmiki Rdmdyana:
"Cette parole, liee par des padas aux syllabes
symdtriques, accompagnde d'instruments a cordes et
cadencee, puisque je 1'ai prononcde dans mon affliction,
que ce soit un Aloka, pas autre chose."
If we take sloko as a predicate, the subject of
bhavatu is not expressed and should be understood.
But, taking sloko as a predicate after bhavatu is
not satisfactory, as bhavatu ndnyathd is a well-
known expression used after a prediction or
malediction, with the meaning of: " let those words
not be altered," " let it be so." ?loka should rather
be taken here in the ancient meaning of " rythmed,
musical uttereance," as the subject of the verb
bhavatu:
"Let this sloka (which is divided in padas, etc.),
uttered by me, afflicted by the hoka of that bird,
endure for ever."
The words bhavatu nanyatha may be interpreted
here as meaning either "let the form of the sloka
be not altered," or "let this malediction be not
altered." The importance given to the form of the
sloka in the first line of the verse suggests that the
former interpretation is to be preferred. Here, the
malediction seems already forgotten, and the sage
wonders at the beautiful lyrical quatrain born of
soka. ?loka, therefore, is a musical quatrain not
etymologically derived, but inspired by sooka, and
which found its first expression in the pathetic
song (karuna gir) of a Kraufaci-bird.
Far from being fortuitous, the association sokWa-
sloka is strongly emphasized in two more verses,
vv. 28 and 39, which complete the episode by show-
ing the transmission of the same sloka:
socanneva muhuh krauficim upa h2okam imam punah
jagdvantargatamand bhiltv& gokaparayanah|
Val. R. I. 2, 38.
Most of the commentators and translators of the
Rdmayana have joined upa and sloka into one
word: upasloka. Jacobi writes hesitantingly " sein:
Mitleid in einem Upasloka ( ?) losringt." 21 But
there is no such word as upasloka. It is much
more likely that upa is to be taken here as a sepa-
rable prefix, and that it should be joined to the
following verb jagava. Upa-ga means "join in
singing" (cf. the meaning of the prefix upa- in
upaicrama: doing something for another, helping
in"). The verse, therefore, should be translated:
"Lamenting incessantly, he joined the Krauficl in
singing this sloka again,
Being lost in his thoughts and a victim of soka."
The wording of the verse suggests that the sloca
sung by VlmIlki is the very song (gir) of the
lamenting Krauficl, in which he has joined spon-
taneously, as he himself came under the influence
of soka.
V. 38 introduces Vdlmiki's disciples, who, in
their turn, join in the singing of the same sloca:
tasya *isyastatah sarve jaguh Alokam imam punahl
muhurmuhuh priyamaunih prahugca bhrhavismitah |
Val. R. I. 2, 38.
"Then his disciples began to chant the Aloka all
together in their turn, and they repeated it again and
again, with great pleasure and wonder."
In v. 39, which refers to v. 17, we find the
natural conclusion of the Kraufica-vadha episode:
samiksaigcaturbhiryah pddairgito maharsitzd
so'nuvydharandd bhfzyah siokah glokatvamdgatah l
"This Aoka which was sung (gitah) by the great Rsi,
with four pddas and an equal number of syllables [in
each], through being repeated (anuvyaharanddbhilyah:
" sung after") has attained to the nature of Aloka.'
This last verse appears a little enigmatic. It
adds nothing to the definition of sloca, given
above, but it seems to imply that it is sokca itself
which turned into sloca, or assumed "the nature
of slolca"
(slocatvam),22
when it was sung by a
tantri. This is also what is implied in this passage: the
Kugilavas, to whom the Adi-RAmAyana was entrusted
were not mere reciters, but also singers and musicians.
20 Cf. also M. N. Sen: "And since it is born of my
Shoka (grief), let it be known as Sloka (or Verse)."
Griffith: "The measured form of words I spoke In
shock of grief be termed a sloke."
21
Jacobi, Das Rdmdyawna p. 140.
22
Cf. Raghuvamga 14. 70:
nisaddaviddhdndajadarganotthah glokatvamdpadyata
yaya hokah
and Dhvanydloka I. 5:
krauftcadvandvaviyogotthah sokah s'lokatvamdgatah.
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334 VAUDEVILLE: Rdmjyanta Studies I: The "Krauitca-vadha" Episode
Kraufci bird, then repeated by Valmiki, and again
repeated by Valmiki's disciples.
This verse has embarassed the commentators of
the VYlmlki Rdmdyana. Several manuscripts,
with the commentaries of Mahesvaratirtha and
Govindardja, show a correction Rlokah [secundo
manu] instead of sookah.
The Kataka Commentary of Kataka Yogindra
explains:
"Those words which have ooka as a subject, on ac-
count of their remembering the episode, being repeated
again, by chance remain changed into Aloka."
So, here, sooka is explained as sokavisayakasabda;
but the commentary of Govindardja seems to fol-
low more closely the text:
"By the reading hoka hlokatvamdgatah, one must
understand that hloka made of hoka may be called
hoka."
The Sanskrit root suc does not mean only "to
feel pain
"
or "to regret," but also "to lament
"
and "to mourn," especially to mourn the loss of a
dear one, and is used in this sense in the Mehd-
bharata, often coupled with vilapa.23 Thus soka
has also the double meaning of "sorrow" and
"lament"; a "lament" may be sung, and, as we
have just seen, VYlmIki and his disciples join in
the mournful song (karuna gir 24) of the Kraufiac
bird.
The Kraufica-vadha episode suggests the pre-
existence of popular songs or ballads on the theme
of separation, whose a female singing bird of the
kraufica type, symbolising a wife, expresses her
sorrow in pathetic strains. If we suppose that this
type of songs were popularly known as soka or
soka-vilapa, and were sung with the accompani-
ment of the tantri, the meaning of verse 39 is
clear:
"The lament [of the Kraufic! bird] sung by the great
]si, by being repeated after, gained the nature (or
attained the status) of Aloka (lyrical utterance) ."
What seems to be alluded to in this verse is the
passage from a form of folk-song (sokca) to lyrical
poetry of a high order (sloka) such as is found in
Vdlmiki's noble work. The Kraufica-vadha epi-
sode does not explain the birth of the sloca metre,
but it clearly suggests that Valmiki derived his
inspiration from a type of folk-balled sung in the
pathetic mood. As we have already seen, it is
likely that the famous verse ma nisdda . . ., which
Valmiki "sings after" the Krauncl-bird, is itself
a quotation from a well-known ballad of this type.
The association sloca-soca is not found in the
Brahmd-VYlmiki dialogue which follows the
Kraufca-vadha episode. There, Brahma inter-
venes in order to convince Valmiki that he should
tell the story of the Ra-mayana (rmaryanasya
kath~d) in "slokas." It is likely that the slokas
here mentioned do refer to the particular metre of
this name, but this dialogue, as we have shown, is
artificially linked to the Kraufca-vadha episode,
and is probably a later addition.
The contents of the 4th sarga mainly agree with
the Kraufca-vadha episode. The "great Rdmd-
yana " which VYlmiki teaches to the two KusuTlavas,
wonderful singers and musicians (gayakau), com-
pared to the celestial Gandharvas, is a poem des-
tined to be both recited and sung25 with the ac-
companiment of the tantri. And the hermits them-
selves are so enthralled by the "sweetness" (ma-
dhura) of the song that they bestow on the poor
Kus'Ilavas the apparel of hermits, as a mark of
their new dignity.
CONCLUSION
Besides pointing at folk-poetry as the main
source of inspiration for the Adi-Rdmayana,
the
introduction of the Krauica-vadha as a prologue
to the poem, suggests that the rhapsodes sensed an
analogy between the heroine of the tale, the
Kraufic!-bird, and the heroine of ValmIki's poem,
Sltd. A Krauficl-bird symbolises a faithful wife
tormented by the pain of separation, such as the
faithful Sltd in the Sundarakinda. It may well be
that the pativratd Sita, was the central figure of
the Xdi-Rdmdyana.26 In fact, in Balakanda I. 4, 6,
the subject of "the great Ramayana" is summed
up without any reference to IRma himself:
23
Cf. Mbh. III. 60, 19:
karunam bahu socantim vildpantim muhurmuhuh
Mbh. III. 60, 21:
ndtmdnam Aocati tathdyathd Aocati naisadham
also Val. R. III. 6:
rajiah Aoka-vildpaca.
24 It is worth noting that the word karuna (karuinyam)
which occurs three times in the passage (v. 11 karunam
giram; v. 12 kdrunyam; v. 13 karunaveditvdd) is from
the root kri: " to pour out, scatter"; the primitive sense
of karuna is "lamentable," that which draws out an
expression of pain or compassion.
25
It is referred to as gita in I. 4, 16; however a gita
may also be recited; cf. Hopkins, o. c., p. 51 and supra
note 19.
26 Cf. the opinion of Winternitz, A History of Sanskrit
Literature, vol. II, p. 513.
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VAUDEVILLE: Rimdyana Studies I: The " Krauitca-vadha" Episode 335
kavyam rdmayanam krtsnam sitdydscaritam mahat
paulastyavadhamityevam cakdra caritavratahi
VAl R. I. 4, 6.
"He [VdImiki] taught them the great RAmAyana, that
is to say the SUtR-legend and the legend of the de-
struction of Paulastya."
The unexpected importance given here to SItA
and her ravisher, Rdvana, as the main characters
of the legend, is striking. It evokes a number of
non-Valmikian IRmdyanas, especially in the Jaina
tradition of Gunabhadra, where SItM appears as
the central figure.27
The Kraufica-vadha episode, followed by sarga 4
of the Bdlakanda seems to be the Kus'llava ex-
planation of the peculiarities of the Rdmdyana, as
they knew it. The rhapsodies of the Adi-Rdma-
yana were well-aware that the poem, being com-
posed entirely in loka,
i. e., in verse, to the exclu-
sion of prose, constituted a new "genre," clearly
distinct from the ancient pre-epic ikchydna, made
of prose and verse.28 Moreover, though having as
its hero the noble figure of Rdma, a well-known
Prince of the Iksvdku dynasty, the Rdmdyan.ia told
by VYlmiki was not similar to a kirti or itihasa,
told by a bard or sata, like the MahAbhfrata. Its
inspiration was not mainly heroic: the legend cen-
tered round the trials and sorrows of a faithful
wife, the pativratd SHtE; the element of pathos
(karuniam) was predominating, and the appeal of
the poem was universal, and was deemed irre-
sistible. That marvellous poem was not only
recited and chanted, it was at least partly sung
with musical accompaniment on the tantri by
wandering musicians, the Kus'llavas themselves.
Jacobi, while stressing the distinction between
the court-minstrels, sfitas and the Kus'ilavas, seems
to accept the view that VYlmIki's poem was made
of no other stuff than " the epic songs of the
bards ":
" He [Valmiki] connected the features scattered in
different songs and composed a consistent epos " ( . . . )
The epos of Valmiki was then learned and propagated
by the Kugilavas." 29
Yet, even apart from the clues given in the
Kraunca-vadha episode of the Bdlakind.a, con-
sidering the character of the poem itself in its most
ancient parts, there would be ample reason to be-
lieve that bardic poetry could not be the only
source from which VYlmiki has drawn.30 If the
bardic element was really predominating in the
Adi-Rdmayana, it would be even more difficult to
explain how this "epos" became the monopoly of
the street-singers Kus'llavas, who communicated it
to the world. Even if VYlmIki was not himself
a Kus'lava, he was regarded as a famous poet-cum-
musician, and all IRmayan.ia-singing Kus'ilavas
honored him as their patron-saint. Because of
the well-deserved renown of VYlmiki's poem, and
its relation to the exalted hero, Rdma of the kingly
race of Iksvdkus, the relation of the Kus'llavas to
that poem, and to Valmiki himself, had to be
accounted for, considering the low status of the
former. We believe that the first prologue added
to the Adi-Rdmayana is the Kus!l1ava traditional
reply, and apology. While asserting their ancient
right on the great Rdmayana, the Kus'ilavas hinted
at one of the main sources of the poem: lyrical folk-
poetry, i. e., the very tradition which they repre-
sented. In telling how sloka was once born of
Moka, the Kus'ilavas meant to uphold their own
traditional belief on the source of Valmiki's in-
spiration: the Krauflca-vadha episode points to
popular songs on the theme of the sorrows of a
faithful wife in separation-a type of song whose
heroine was commonly a Kraucil-bird-as one of
the main sources of the reimdya.nam kavyam.
27A number of Jaina RdmAyanas are actually called
Sitd-carita (or Siya-cariya) cf. H. R. Kapadia, "The
Ramdyana and the Jaina writers," JOI vol. I (1951-52)
p. 115 ff.; for the Gunabhadra tradition, cf. C. Bulcke,
o. c., p. 68 f., and Nathuram Premi, Jain Sihitya aur
Itihas, p. 182. The source of the Uttarapurana of Guna-
bhadra (end of IXth c.) is unknown: probably oral
popular traditions. In his Commentary on his own
Yogagdstra, Hemacandra gives a brief version of the
Rdmayaiia legend under the name of Sit -Ravaina-
Kathanaka, which appears to be earlier than his treat-
ment of the story in the Trisastis'daapurusacarita.
Commenting on this version, V. M. Kulkarni (" Sita-
Ravan.a-Kathanaka of Hemacandra," JOI vol. VII
(1958), p. 171) remarks that the title is "striking," as
it excludes the very name of RAma, and the same author
tries to account for the omission by saying that Hema-
candra's intention was then to illustrate an ethnical
truth " that the mere desire to dally with another's wife
brings total ruin." The explanation does not appear
convincing, especially if one takes into consideration the
whole series of Jaina renderings of the RAmayana legend.
One cannot but feel that such a title corresponds to a
slightly different version of the legend, which centered
on the woes and trials of the faithful SIM.
28 On the old pre-epic dkhydna, cf. Oldenberg, ZMDG,
vol. XXXVII, 1883, p. p. 54 ff. Examples of that mixed
style are found in the Mahabharata, and one tale of the
prose-verse variety is found complete in the archaic story
of the Frog-girl, Mbh. III, 193; cf. Hopkins, o. c., p. 266.
29
Jacobi, o. c., p. 52 and note 9.
30
The problem of the non-bardic sources of the Rama-
yana deserves a careful investigation, to which we hope
to contribute by further papers.
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