Svapnavasavadattam - Svapnavāsavadattam - An Analysis

Svapnavāsavadattam - An Analysis

Is the plot of Svapnavasavadattam political, or is it psycho­logical? Set in a politically disturbed background, the theme of the Svapnavasavadattam is essentially a study in psychological conflict. What would Svapnavasavadattam be like without this psychological conflict? It is a great study of the subtle and deep conflict and of the delicate emotions of love of the king and Vasavadatta.

In Svapnavasavadattam, no word is wasted, no technique mis­applied, no incident purposed, no character superfluous, no device abused, no jarring excess in poetic embellishment, no incursion of melodrama, and no flagging of the tempo. Every little part has a role to play in producing the impression of integral perfection. It is this phenomenal totality of perfection that had made Rajaekhara single out Svapnavasavadattam, of all the dramas and declare, that it was totally immune to all attacks of the critics' fire.

Among the other merits of the play must be mentioned its abiding human interest, with all the actions proceeding from the characters and centered on the purely human plane.

The minister Yaugandharayana unfolds the machinery of a political design in the opening act of the play, with a view to restoring Udayana back to his lost kingdom. This is a political motive which is of immense importance. And the mode of the characterisation of Udayana and Vasavadatta is truly psychological; particularly, the conflict in the mind of Udayana, his vacillation between Vasavadatta and Padmavati, are spread over throughout the play.

As we come to know from the story itself, Udayana neglects his affairs of state because of his great attachment to his beloved

It was not easy for Udayana to fight against the powerful enemy without any strong military help. The king of Magadha could be ap­proached but he would not naturally be induced to stir unless a pow­erful factor, such as that of relationship, was to prevail. It meant that a matrimonial alliance with the king of Magadha was an indispensable necessity.

To carry out this matrimonial alliance, Vasavadatta was a strong impediment, because as long as she was alive, Udayana could never think of marrying another woman because he was so deeply in love with Vasavadatta. Therefore, the sacrifice on the part of Vasavadatta became essential for the interest of the state.

There was yet another difficulty in carrying out the plan. If Yaugandharayana's conceived plan were consummated, the resto­ration of Vasavadatta would pose a problem. Vasavadatta's char­acter must remain above suspicion. Udayana might refuse to take Vasavadatta back suspecting her purity during the period of separa­tion. Therefore, it would be necessary to furnish convincing proof of the chastity of the queen during her absence.

Yaugandharayana had a brilliant strategy to overcome these difficul­ties. Udayana's marriage with Padmavati was predicted by the sooth­sayers, Act 1-11, so it was not a problem for Yaugandharayana. To sepa­rate Vasavdatta and Udayana, Yaugandharayana persuades Vasavdatta to go into disguise and remain incognito till the whole plan is successful. In making Vasavadatta an accomplice in the plot, Yaugandharayana has surely counted on Vasavadatta's great love for Udayana and her earnest desire to win back the lost glory for her dear husband. A lucky event, which is described in Act I brings Yaugandharayana and Vasavadatta to Padmavati. Vasavadatta, as Avantika, is to remain in the care of Padmavati, and at the time of restoration Padmavati would be able to convince Udayana of the purity of Vasavadatta.

The play opens with the initial stage of the political plan which is worked out in Act I. The final act shows the winding up of the scattered threads in a scene of general revelations.

The very disguise of Vasavadatta as Avantika, in which she is present before us throughout, is motivated by the political plan.

Yaugandharayana initiates the action, to set the machine going, and reappears to wind it up. Though he is absent otherwise from the stage, his presence is felt everywhere and by everyone.

It is indubitable that the main characters are thrown together as they have been done by a motive which is political. And there are references here and there to the success of the various phases of the political plan.

If we consider the psychological aspect, the play depicts a series of domestic scenes which are suffused with psychological colors. The very human and acute struggle in the mind of Vasavadatta, the hu­miliation in the guise of Avantika to which she has nobly surrendered, the agonizing way she bears her lonely sorrow of separation and of the misery of Udayana's second marriage which she has to witness, the reassuring comfort of Udayana's conscious (Act IV) and sub-con­scious (Act V) confession of love, leave behind a deep impression.

The very same is true of Udayana; the shocking news of Vasavadatta's so-called death, and his loving obsession for Vasavadatta, with ever-renewing colors, has a solid reality. It appears that a political crisis made the play possible, but once the main char­acters are thrown together, Bhasa became more interested in working out their psychological reactions so as to present a fascinating picture of a domestic crisis in a royal household.

Svapnavasavadattam is concerned with two restorations: that of

Acts II and III are the shortest in the play and contain only prose dialogues without a single verse, which is very peculiar for a Sanskrit drama. It could have been possible in the interest of swift movement to put the two together but the author chose otherwise and positively for reasons of psychological interest. These two acts are quite impor­tant for the psychological reactions of Vasavadatta which are very minutely drawn.

Acts IV and V again resemble one another a great deal; they both show a situation which seems to be deliberately created. In both the acts, the author creates a possibility of an encounter of Udayana and Vasavdatta and thus leads on to a fine dramatic suspense. This he resolves by a clever device in Act IV, by making the ladies hide behind a bower and finally giving Vasavadatta, a chance to escape, and in Act V by sending Udayana to sleep and thus avoiding for the second time the disclosure of Vasavadatta.

Naturally, in both these acts the dominant interest is psychological which is heightened by suspense present in the dramatic irony of the whole situation. The psychological actions and reactions of all charac­ters, including those of Udayana, are focused on one effect, namely, the revival and the strengthening of the memory of Vasavadatta.

In the construction of a dramatic action which is spread over a number of acts, every dramatist has to create and employ small or big situations. It is through them that the dramatic action moves towards the desired goal. Bhasa follows this pattern beautifully for the growth of the plot and the dramatic situations that Bhasa has created are as follows:

Bhasa, through the introduction of the Brahmacharin, achieves the purpose of reporting the incidents at Lavanaka, namely the fire, the supposed burning of Vasavadatta and Yaugandharayana, the giant grief of Udayana and the care of Udayana undertaken by Rumanvan. This reporting by the Brahmacharin is full of dramatic irony also be-

The main scene of the fourth Act takes place in Pramadavana where Padmavati has gone to see her favourite blossoms along with Vasavadatta and her maid. On the other hand, Vidusaka also brings Udayana to Pramadavana to lessen his grief. And the two parties move in different directions in the same place. As Padmavati and Vasavadatta are near the bower, Udayana reaches with Vidusaka. It is now possible that Vasavadatta would be exposed. But it is absolutely in the interest of the dramatic action, that Vasavadatta's remaining incognito should be maintained and Bhasa saves the situation very cleverly by resorting to a very simple and natural device.

Another occasion also arises in the fourth Act when Udayana and Vasavadatta would meet each other, but the unexpected meeting must not be permitted to take place. Bhasa again uses a powerful device. It once again shows how Bhasa was interested in the psycho­logical aspect of the plot.

Another highly intense situation arises, when Vidusaka asks Udayana as to whom he loves more, Vasavadatta or Padmavati; Udayana and Vidusaka are totally unaware of the presence of Padmavati and Vasavadatta nearby. The unwilling king is forced to answer when the Vidusaka adjures him in the name of friendship (Satyena sapatni).

The entire conversation and the scene that develops have a pro­found effect on all the people concerned. Udayana is once more reminded of Vasavdatta's death and his obsession for Vasavadatta returns. He is fully distracted and is driven to the verge of tears. This scene was very essential in the entire plot, to show that the king still loved Vasavadatta more, because Vasavadatta, on her part, is as­sured by the confession of Udayana's abiding love. It is a sort of a consolation in her lonely sufferings, a consolation that she deserves by virtue of her selfless sacrifice.

It would not perhaps be wrong to believe that the confession of Udayana may have had a sub-conscious effect on Padmavati which resulted in her headache. The situation thus paves the way for a psy-

The fifth Act which is supposed be the most important one starts with the entry of Padminika indicating the headache of Padmavati, and that a bed for her has been laid in the samudragrha, and makes arrange­ment to report about this development to Udayana and Vasavadatta. Bhasa has evidenced great skill in utilizing this motif to build up the entire act, for, were it not for this indisposition of Padmavati, Udayana and Vasavadatta would not have hastened to the samudragrha and the dream-scene would not have occurred. Therefore, it is rather sur­prising that having revealed this subtle, psychological device, Bhasa speaks no more about it in the entire Act. It is possible that Bhasa was more interested in the psychological reactions of another meeting of Udayana and Vasavadatta and having assured himself of it through the means of Padmavatrs headache; he refused to bother himself any further about it. The author is quite silent about the unexpected development that Padmavati does not go to the samudragrha at all where her bed is laid. Bhasa has surely created a situation in which the two queens and Udayana shall come together with Padmavatis temporary illness. Those who are interested in Padmavati will be rather disappointed as they are left to themselves to imagine what happened to her headache afterwards. The author has no time for it in the development of the dream-scene and in the final winding up of the Act, amid the loud cry of the battle.

The dream-vision also shows the great pressure on the king's mind, because of the mental conflict and tension, which finds an outlet in the dream. The King's and Vasavdatta's conflicts experience a climax in this Act because the king confesses his love for Vasavadatta, in the dream.

The result of the battle announced at the close of the preceding Act are suggested in the MiSra-Viskarhbhaka of Act-VI. Udayana regains his kingdom and is established in his palace situated in Kau§ambi. One restoration is over. Bhasa now proceeds to the second restora­tion; that of Vasavadatta which he accomplishes through progressive steps.

The first link in this restoration is the recovery of the lute Ghosavati. This lute was a divine gift to Udayana with which he tamed wild-

The recovery of the lute at this point of the story serves a very powerful dramatic purpose. This recovery renews the memory of Vasavadatta and leaves Udayana in a condition of mind which is very appropriate for the scene of Vasavadatta's restoration.

The second step towards the second restoration is the arrival of Raibhya, the chamberlain of Mahasena, and Vasundhara, the nurse of Vasavadatta.

The third step is the entry of Padmavati. Her presence was ab­solutely necessary because but for her the resemblance between Vasavadatta and Avantika would never have been brought to light, and if so, the scene of Vasavadatta's restoration would not have followed.

The next step is furnished by Padmavatis desire to see the portrait of Vasavadatta to enable her to pay her salutations to her. The de­sire is quite natural on the part of Padmavati. It reflects her respectful attitude.

The fifth step towards the restoration of Vasavadatta is the pro­ducing of Vasavadatta and the arrival of Yaugandharayana.

And the final step in the restoration is achieved by the unveiling of Avantika.

After the recognition of Vasavadatta what remains is only a brief explanation of her disguise and her stay with Padmavati. When that is given by Yaugandharayana the second restoration is complete.

We appreciate Bhasa's selection of an entirely human aspect of the story. He focuses his attention on the psychological actions and reac­tions of his characters. The whole story acquires, as far as possible, an emotional value which brings the story from the world of misty romantic legend within the orbit of common human experience. The characters gain a sure air of realism and the play becomes very appealing. The best part of Bhasa is that once a situation is created he generally han­dles it naturally and skillfully. The meeting in Pramadavana and the unveiling of Vasavadatta are good testimonies to this.

Bhasa definitely possesses a power of creating and maintaining dramatic purposes. It appears that in this play he is greatly helped by

Drama is 'visual poetry' and its one test is the success of stage-representation; it would be difficult to find easy parallels to the successful construction of Svapnavasavadattam as a stage-play. Bhasa surely shows greater stage-craft than most of the other Sanskrit dramatists.

The entire drama passes before our eyes in sheer expectation and heart throbbing suspense. The play itself, both while being wit­nessed and while in reminiscence, floats before us as a dream. There is the intensity of tense situations — imagine the companion of the king asking the king about the latter's feelings for the first queen who was supposed to be dead, and then also about the new queen, precisely at the time when both queens were actually present in the vicinity, although not visible to the companion and the king!

There are inventive flashes displayed in the play Svapnavasavadattam: the introduction of the Brahmacarin in Act I is one, the whole lay out of Act IV with the scene in the samudragrha is the second, and the presenting of the wedding portrait in Act VI is the third.

M. Winternitz in his monumental work on Indian literature, while giving a summary of each of Bhasa's plays, dwells upon the com­parison of the story of the Svapnavasavadattam, with what we know about it from the katha literature. In the course of this comparison, he praises Bhasa for well-grounded scenes. Bhasa is acknowledged as an outstanding poet on account of the poetic beauties of the play.

The critic A.B. Keith concludes that the drama in question is un­doubtedly the poet's masterpiece and the most mature of his dramas. On Bhasa's art and technique we find an assurance that Bhasa excels in suggesting heroism; this characteristic being admirably depicted in the character of Yaugandharayana. Keith closes his criticism with the statement, that the harmony and melody of Bhasa's style, added to its purity and perspicuity, have no better proof than the imitations of his verses which are unquestionably to be traced in Kalidasa, who attests thus to his practical appreciation of the merits of the dramatists with whose established fame his nascent genius had to contend.¹

1. A.B. Keith, The Sanskrit Drama, Oxford 1924, pp. 91-126.

C. Kunhan Raja, after the summary of the play, says that Svapnavasavadattam is a beautiful drama. The characterization is superb and the plot development is very natural and charming. The language is simple and elegant and it is essentially a drama of the study of human feelings, plenty of arresting situations and the hero has many exploits to his credit.²

K. Chaitanya calls the Svapnavasavadattam a moving romantic comedy, whereas the Pratifilayaugandharayanam is a powerful play of political intrigue. He holds that Bhasa is always on his guard against the merely poetic which serves no dramatic function and that in struc­turing the plot and working out the dialogues, Bhasa always visualized how effective they would be on the stage. Humour enlivens his plays along with superb characterization and a profound insight into human nature.³

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1. S.K. De, A History of Sanskrit Literature, Calcutta 1962. (Second ed.) pp. 101-117.
2. C. Kunhan Raja, Survey of Sanskrit Literature, Bombay 1962. p. 157-162.
3. K. Chaitanya, A New History of Sanskrit Literature, Bombay, 1962, pp. 289-307.