DANDIN’S
METHOD OF NARRATION
DR MAAN SINGH, M. A., Ph.
D.
Centre for Post-graduate
Studies,
We
have established elsewhere on the grounds of overwhelhming evidences,
both external and internal, that the extant Avantisundari
is a genuine prelude of the extant Dashakumaracarita
proper and that the original name of the entire prose romance was Avantisundari the name Dashakumaracarita
for the portion now available separately as the Dashakumaracarita
proper being the work of some later writer. The following lines are aimed
at presenting a critical analysis of Dandin’s method
of narration as exhibited by him in his prose romance.
There
may be three types of narrative in a novel, viz., description, scene and
summary. In a description, the novelist halts his moving world to tell
us what he sees. When he moves it slowly and tells us about single
specifications, including the actions like speech and thought, the narrative is
a scene.1 But
when the novelist rolls his fictitious world swiftly so as to traverse the
large tracts of the world of his novel, which are necessary for the story, but not worth dwelling
long upon–not worth narrating in the specific details of a scene; and
the details are, under such circumstances, not discernible, he does not give
each specific detail, but gives only a summarized account of things. This type
of narrative is called a Summary. 2
Dandin has employed in his prose romance all of these types
of narrative according to the situations. He has used description in profusion. The long narrative of
his prose romance contains many descriptions. For example, reference may be
made here to his description of King Punyavarman of
Vidarbha through Nalijangha.3
Instead of putting into the mouth of Nalijangha the moving
pageant of his romance, i.e., the direct answer to the queries of Vishruta,
he halts it and puts the description of
the virtuoyus King Punyavarman.
The author thus uses here the type of narration termed description.
For
an instance of the scene, we may refer to the description of the
ball-dance of Kandukavati 4 where the author gives every specific
detail of the activities of Princess Kandukavati
during her ball-dance. The reader feels as though he himself were a witness to
the ball-dance. The only interval between the occurrence of the ball-dance and
the reader hearing about it is that which is occupied by the novelist’s voice
telling about it.
The
Summary is illustrated by Dandin’s5 short description of the amorous delights of youths. The
author here does not tell us about all the activities at night except the
amorous dalliances of youths of unfaded pride; but
summing up them all, he states that ‘the night came to a close in this way’ Summary
is, therefore, the type of narration here.
In
narrating the story, Dandin has adopted three
methods, the direct or epic, the autobiographical, and the documentary. In the direct
method of narration, the novelist is a historian narrating from outside; in
the autobiographical, he writes in the first person identifying himself
with one of his characters and thus offers us with an imaginary autobiography;
and in the documentary, he unfolds the action by means of letters,
diaries, contributed narratives and miscellaneous documents.6 Except the descriptions of
Kanchi, Pallava King Simhavishnuvarman,
Dandin’s own lineage, King Rajahamsa
and his queen Vasumati, preparation and March of
armies for battle, their fight, Rajahamsa’s defeat by
Manasara with the divine aid, the steeds’ taking him
from the battlefield in wounded and unconscious state to the Vindhya forest where his queen and ministers are living in
safety, the queen’s sorrow and her resolve on immolating herself in grief at
the loss of her first son Hamsavahana taken away by a
Vidyadhara in the form of a swan, her determination
to follow her husband in death, the king’s restoration to health and visit with
his queen to the hermitage of his father great sage Vamadeva
and then residing in the hermitage of his father Ripunjaya,
their austerities in order to get a son, the birth of their second son Rajavahana, Taravali’s account of
Arthapala, Shaunaka, Shudraka and Kamapala as told to
her by Kubera, the origin of horse Bhadravahana and elephant Hemakuta
as narrated by Vamadeva, and Rajavahana’s
departure for world conquest–are presented in the direct method, almost
the entire text of the available portion of Dandin’s
prose romance relates its narrative autobiographical manner. The documentary
method finds place in the love-messages of Kamapala
and Kantimati.7 Rajavahana and Avantisundari, and in Apaharavarman’s love-couplet
expressive of his longing for Princess Ambalika. The direct
historic method has provided the author with a great scope
and freedom of movement: and the autobiographical method has helped
him imbibe a keen and intimate interest and a sense of realism. In the
employment of the autobiographical method, he has succeeded in bringing
all his material within the compass of the supposed narrator’s knowledge and
power and in giving a true personal tone to the narrative. Thus the narratives
of the Kumaras, told in this method, are very
interesting and realistic in tone. The author has infused much vigour and life into them. The documentary method
does not find a prominent place in Dandin’s prose
romance; but even the meagre use of it deserves appreciation.
The
device of inserting stories within stories is a characteristic feature of Dandin’s method of narration. In his prose romance, we come
across King Rajahamsa’s relation of the report of a Yaksha of what Kubera told him to
communicate to Potapa,8
the ascetic Somasharman’s report of the relation of
the child Pushpodbhava’s nurse of what Suvrata and Ratnodbhava, the
child’s parents, narrated to her about their past lives; the queen Vasumati’s account of Taravali’s
report of Kubera’s relation of the stories of Shaunaka, Shudraka, Kamapala and his son Arthapala; Matanga’s account of Citragupta’s
relation of the stories of Nityogra and Mahogra; Mandakini’s account of Vaishampayana’s report of sage Jabali’s
relation of the stories of Mahashveta and Kadambari; and Arthapala’s
narration of Purnabhadra’s recounting of Kamapala’s narration of his own story.9 Again we find four
interesting stories of Dhumini, Gomini,
Nimbavati and Nitambavati
within Mantragupta’s narrative of his adventures. A
grave defect has crept into Dandin’s narrative art on
account of adopting this device of emboxing tales.
The reader is often lost in the inset stories and it becomes difficult for him
to keep in his head the main stories in which they are inserted till he returns
to them. Besides, the inset stories slacken the natural flow of the main
stories and consequently of the main narrative of the entire romance. It is
only in Mitragupta’s narrative that the inclusion of
the stories of Dhumini, Gomini,
Nimbavati and Nitambavati
is so skilfully and artistically wrought that they
neither pose much difficulty for the reader to keep in his mind the main story
nor impede the natural flow thereof.
A
characteristic feature of Dandin’s method of
narration is to preserve the sense of surprise and mystery by introducing
startling incidents. In his prose romance, the element of surprise is found in the changing of a lotus into a Vidyadhara
and his vanishing after making
obeisance to the image of Vishnu at the seashore of Mahamallapuram; 10 in Matanga’s
plunging into the sacred fire and rising
therefrom with a sword in his hand, bracelets on his arms, a
crown on his head and seated in a fiery chariot (agniratha); in the magical
marriage of Rajavahana and Avantisundari;
in the transforming of a chain into a divine damsel Suratamanjari;
in Apaharavarman’s bluffing the policemen by feigning
death by snake poison; in Arthapala’s finding a
beautiful maiden in an underground mansion; in Pramati’s
finding himself transplanted on a damsel’s couch from the forest where he sleeps at night and his being transferred
again to the same place, in his
passing into the harem of King Dharmavardhana of Shravasti in the guise of a marriageable young girl
and living there in the company
of his daughter Navamalika undiscovered; and in Mantragupta’s
disguise as a great ascetic as well as in Vishruta’s
disguise as a mendicant without
being recognized. Dandin’s narration of the story is also
characterized by the element of mystery. The very beginning of his narrative springs up from a
mystery. Dandin narration and his companions behold a
lotus floating over the sea,
which moves slowly towards the image of Vishnu on the seashore of Mahamallapuram and touching its feet transforms into a Vidyadhara, who
Vanishes making obeisance to the deity. This mysterious incident is explained
away by Dandin by narrating the story of Avantisundari, which his
prose romance contains; but which is not available to us in its complete
form on account of the incomplete text. Another instance of mystery is found in Pramati’s
finding himself on the couch of a damsel wondrous beauty in a magnificent mansion,
though he sleeps under a tree in the wild forest and again, after awaking from sleep, seeing himself at
that very spot in the jungle. This mystery
is unfolded by the author in the account of Yakshini Taravali, who, appearing before Pramati,
tells all about the incident. The element of surprise and mystery keeps the
flare of the interest of the reader unflickered
throughout, though the introduction of incredible incidents and supernatural
element gives the plot a semblance of improbability and laborious artifice and does
violence to the naturalness of the story.
Fortunately
Dandin does not employ a pedantic and difficult style.
His style keeps pace with his narrative and subject-matter. “In
the initial stage, Dandin’s style is elaborate; there are long compounds
and sentences extending over a page and abundance of shlesha
of different varieties; but as we proceed further, the style changes to
suit the subject-matter, as permitted by the great critic Anandavardhana,
and we find a simpler style, pithy and well turned expressions gracefully
arranged, and long descriptions alternating with vivid scenes charged with
rapidity of action. In spite of the hopelessly fragmentary nature of the text,
one can see Dandin here in the sweet diction, the
picturesque characterization and other features that we are familiar with in
the Dashakumara”. 11 In this second fragment
available as the Dashakumaracarita proper,
too, Dandin changes his style to suit his narrative
and subject-matter. Sometimes he employs a simple style devoid of long
compounds; but sometimes he uses a difficult style abounding in long compounds
and high-sounding expressions as, for example, in the descriptions of the
sleeping Princesses Ambalika12
and Navamalika, Taravali,
the ball-dance of Princess Kandukavati , the spring
season and the enjoyment of pleasures by Kardana,
King of Kalinga, and the Sun. In both the available
fragments of his long prose romance Avantisundari,
he adjusts his descriptions according to the action of his narrative and
puts them where the action of the narrative is not very speedy and where the
characters stop to witness or to think of an object of vital importance. In the
descriptions, monotony is carefully avoided. The elaborate and ornate style
used in the initial stage changes to
be simpler as the narrative proceeds further.
References
1 Cf. Phyllis Bentley: Some
Observations on the Art of Narrative p.
7.
2 Cf. Ibid. Pp. 7-8, 11.
3 Dashakumaracarita,
Ed. Narayana Rarna
Acharya, Nirnaya Sagara Press,
4
Dashakumaracarita Pp. 210, line 5-213,
line 3.
For translation see A. W. Ryder: Op. Cit., Pp. 105-7.
5 Avantisundari,
6 W. H.
Hudson: Intrduction to the Study of
Literature,
7 Avantisundari, p. 202, lines 14-5 (Avantisundari Kathasara, Ed:
G. Harihara Sastri, Kuppuswami
Sastri Research Institute, Mylapore.
8
Vide Avantisundari, Pp. 175, line 11-185, Line 10.
193, line 7.
9
Dashakumaracarita, Pp. 169, line 6-179,
line 6.
Pp. 218, line 1-234, line 11.
10 Avantisundari, Pp. 15-7.
11 G. Harihara
Sastri: Avantisundari Kathasara,
Introduction. p. v.
13
Dashakumaracarita, Pp. 128, line 9-131,
line 3.