Bhavabhuti's Concept of Love

Author(s): R.R. Ambardekar

Source: Indian Literature , May-June 1978, Vol. 21, No. 3, SANSKRIT LITERATURE
NUMBER (May-June 1978), pp. 78-87
Published by: Sahitya Akademi

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23334393

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 Bhavabhuti?s Concept of Love
jl

R.R. Ambardekar

Love is a universal theme. Many well known poets and thinkers

have described this theme in their own way. 'Love is a biolo
gical necessity', said Freud. 'It is better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all', said Lord Tennyson in his 'In
Memorium'. 'Anyone who has loved, knows the radiant
meaning contained in the three letters of the thin word—She',
is the memorable phrase composed by Victor Hugo, in his Les
Miserables. It is proposed to discuss what Bhavabhuti says
about love in his works. Before I do so it would not be out of
place if I take a very brief survey of what the predecessors of
Bhavabhuti said in this respect.
Bhasa is the earliest Sanskrit dramatist who followed the
pattern of union, separation and reunion in some of his plays.
It is he who expressed his views on love.
Bhasa is followed by Sudraka who composed Mrccakatika.
This play gives an inglorious and almost immoral association
of a married man, Carudatta, with a courtesan Vasantasena.
Later on it was converted into a formal legal marriage by the
poet. Agnimitra the hero of the Malvikagnimitra is a typical
hero who believes in 'Love one, love twenty I have room for
plenty'. The Vikramorvasiya depicts the love of passionate
mortal hero Pururavas for the Apsara Urvasi who is no better
than a courtesan. She takes the initiative, spreads her net of

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 BHAVABHUTI'S CONCEPT OF LOVE

high coloured romance, dallies with him for the time being and
then vanishes into the thin air. Harsa's Nagananda is based
on non-violence. It increases the intensity of the santarasa.
His Ratnavali and Priyadarshika are the harem plays after the
type of Malvikagnimitra and need not detain us any longer.
These are some of the non-serious attempts of dealing with the
theme of love. Leaving Bhasa, a noteworthy serious attempt is
made by Kalidasa in the Sakuntala. There also it is a marriage
of a Ksatriya girl with a king of the same caste having many
wives. It is known as a Gandharva type of marriage. Sakuntala
yields to the temptations of passion, discards her duties and
responsibilities ahd acts on her own. The marriage of Dusyanta
and Sakuntala is born in lust. Afterwords suffering and penance
develop it into a truly genuine, love. A similar picture is seen
in the Kumarasambhava. Bhavabhuti gives us a solution of the
everlasting problem what kind of relationship should exist
between men and women.
Bhavabhuti is a celebrated dramatist in Sanskrit. His date
is not a matter of hair-splitting discussion now. Dr. Mirashi
has proved that he lived sometime between 700 a.d. and
730 a.d. He is the author of three plays, the Mahaviracarita, the
Malatimadhava and the Uttarramacarita. MVC (Hereon we will
use abbreviations for plays already mentioned—author) is based
on the earlier part of Rama's life. It is also called Purvarama
carita. Chronologically speaking MM is the second play. It is
a social play called Prakarana in Sanskrit. The third play is the
URC. It is based on the later part of Rama's life as the title
itself signifies. If MVC is a biographical play, URC is a
psychological play. URC begins where MVC ends. Both plays
taken together form the depiction of Rama's whole life. MM
lays more emphasis on social events. Barring a few subhasitas
composed by Bhavabhuti his literary activities are restricted to
these three plays. When one reads them one can follow the
concept of love held by Bhavabhuti.
Bhavabhuti's lofty views on love are in fact a treasure.
Except Bhasa and Kalidasa none has tackled the theme of love

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 INDIAN LITERATURtí

so seriously. Bhavabhuti's concept of love is not at all low. To

him love is a sanctity. The main reason as to why he sub
limates love is that he is a strong advocate of monogamy. He
is probably the only writer in Sanskrit who propagates mono
gomy so strongly. A writer cannot forget his own period. It is
in this sense that the writer is called a representative of his
times. Polygamy was in vogue in the period when Kalidasa and
Bhavabhuti lived. Puruvavas is a bigamous hero while
Agnimitra and Dusyanta are polygamous heroes. On the other
hand Bhavabhuti goes a step ahead and depicts the heros of
his plays as monogamous ones. Rama in the absence of Sita is
said to have performed a sacrifice with the golden image of Sita.
Madhává also follows the same pattern. Monogamy thus forms
an important part in Bhavabhuti's treatment of love.
Bhavabhuti like Kalidasa seems to be for what is called
'love at first sight'. It is in this connection that he uses two
significant words, Taramaitraka and Caksuraga i.e. astral
friendship. Stars are supposed to exercise an influence on
human beings at the time of their birth. Tara is \ised in the
sense of a pupil of the eye. Eyes first meet and love is spon
taneously produced so that the eyes also seem to exercise a
spell. In the first act of MVC, Rama and Laksmana are intro
duced to Sita and Urmila respectively, by the sage Visvamitra
in his hermitage. They fall in love. The author uses the words
Taramaitraka and Caksuraga in this context. In the first act of
MM Makaranda says. "Noble maidens like Malati have love
awakened in them at the sight of Madhava". Again in the sixth
act of this play Kamandaki says to Malati. "This is that youth
very much beloved whose eye for you and for whom your eye
first conceived love."
Jagadhara explains the word Caksuraga as Netrapriti
Madayantika referred to the spontaneous affection which Malati
had betrayed for the magnanimous Madhava. Bhandarkar takes
Taramaitraka to mean "friendship due to the agreement between
the stars presiding over the births of two individuals." One
will note that Bhavabhuti's view in this regard rather coincides

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 BHAVABHUTI'S'CONCBPT OF LOVE

with what Bernard Shaw said "Marriages are settled in

heaven." In the fifth act of the URC also love and Candraketu
face each other. A feeling of spontaneous love suddenly arises
in thir hearts. This is simply unaccountable. Here Sumantra
says that "this is generally the characteristic of living beings
that one feels a sentimental love for some one only, about
this the popular expressions are "friendships of the stars",
"love at first sight".
The author continues the same thought in the next verse.
(V 17) "Such affection, as has no casue, can, by no means be
prevented. It is a thread, solely máde of love, which sews the
beings from inside." Bhavabhuti means that this love is impos
sible to measure.

May I now analyse the contents of Bhavabhuti's three plays

very briefly so far as his treatment of love is concerned! The
dramatist treats Rama as the great hero Mahavira, and his
exploits are described in the MVC. When Rama and Sita are
introduced to each other in the Siddhasrama of Visvamitra, they
are aged about eleven or twelve years and six or seven years
respectively. Bhavabhuti also brought Laksamana and Urmila
together in his hermitage. Rama who has devotion towards the
elderly persons and high regards for the preceptor performed a
valourous deed in the presence of Sita. Seeds of Sita's attraction
for Rama are sown here. Her characterisation is quite clear.
She is immensely attracted by the handsomeness of Rama, the
moment she looked at him. She is also impressed by the power
on seeing that Ahalya was freed from the curse. She is full of
anxiety when Visvamitra commands Rama to kill Tataka and
is wonderstruck on seeing that he killed her. For a moment
she had become apprehensive about her own lot, in case Rama
would not be able to use Shiva's bow. She is delighted to know
that she would not be separated from her Cousins as they are
also given in marriage to her brothers-in-law. She clings to
Rama at the sight of Parasurama entering the harem. She
appreciates the courage of Rama when he fights with him and
her joy knows no bounds when she is allowed to follow her

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 INDIAN- LITERATURE

husband into exile. These are the subtleties of her nature des
cibed -by Bhavabhuti. He depicts all the shades of her mind.
This type ,of love should be designated as Priti i.e. fondness
or calklove. The hero and the heroine should be known as
Sisu. A girl of seven years old embraces a boy of twelve years
old. Rama.refers to it as Vaidehi-parirambha. What does it
show? This play mainly delineates a sentiment of heroism.
There is therefore no scope for love except in the first two acts.
The Malati Madhava is full of profound representation
characterised by excess of sentiments. Technically speaking it is
Prakanana-ta social play. As the definition goes it predomi
nates Srngararasa. There is therefore an ample scope for the
treatment of love. Bhurivasu the father of Malati, Devarata the
father of Madhava and Kamandaki now the Buddhist nun are
the classmates. There was an agreement between Bhurivasu and
Devarata to Settle the marriage of their children. Kamandaki
introduces Malati and Madhava to each other. But Nandan, a
dear friend of the king of Padamavati wants to marry Malati.
Since the king is favourable to this proposal there arises a
difficulty!-.Madhava wanted to overcome all the difficulties. He
therefore comes to the cemetary ground to offer his flesh and
to obtain supernatural powers from the Kapalikas. Malati has
been brought there by Aghoraghanta and Kapalakundala to
victimise Jier for Camunda. Madhava kills Aghoraghanta and
rescues Malati. Makaranda a friend of Madhava has saved
Madjiyantika, Nandan's sister from the attack of the tiger.
They love each other. Kamandaki assisted by Makaranda
proposes to deceive Nandan. Makaranda is dressed as Malati—
a bride. Before marriage she has reached a temple of the goddess
for the favour. This so called bride despises Nandan. Madayan
tika then; knows that this bride is no one else but her own
lover. They run away. Royal soldiers attack them. Madhava
defeats them. The king who is pleased with the valourous deeds
of these youths, consents to the marriage of Malati and
Madhava. In the meantime, Kapalakundala had educated
Malati with a view to take a revenge on the death of Aghor

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 BHAVABHUTl'S CONCEPT OF LOVB

ghanta. All are distressed at the disappearance of Malati.

Madhava is ready to commit suicide. But Saudamini a disciple
of Kamandaki rescues her and the play ends happily.
The marriage of Malati and Madhava can be classified
under the Gandharva Vivah. Kamandaki suggests to Malati
in a very subtle way that she should pursue the course followed
by Sakuntala (II above verse 8). The agreement between the
parents of the hero and the heroine is given the form of the
Gandharva marriage. Kamandaki who makes a reference of
this form of marriage (II act) brings Malati and Madhava
together. She is a shrewed politicians to whom her own des
cription of Bhurivasu fits very well. She is very good student
of the science of Erotics, a master mind having the genius of
organisation. She is aware of the subtle working of the human
heart under the stress of different emotions. She knows how to
handle men tactfully. Like Kanva in the Sakuntala, she weeps
when she succeeds in uniting the lovers in marriage. She im
plores Madhava to be kind to Malati. She is in fact a combi
nation of the Parivrajika and the Vidusaka of the Malavikagni
mitra.
Malati and Madhava are in the Paugandavastha. Madhava
is as handsome as Madana. He is a source of great attractio a
to women. He is sentimental and given to brooding. He pours
out his soul in the ecstacy of joy and pain. His ecstacy is shot
through with a strain of melancholy and sometimes philosophic
detachment. Temperamentally weak, he suffers a good deal from
love's affliction, from despair, disappointment and frustration.
But for the guiding moral support of Kamandaki, he would
have gone astray. It is a picture of the hero who walks on
crutches in the form of Kamandaki and Makaranda. He lacks in
initiative and independent judgement. He is not aggressive to
seize the pleasures of love. He solicits what Makaranda would
snatch away forcibly from the girl of his love. He is a combina
tion of valour with the delicate effeminacy of an inactive lover.
He spends himself in thinking and brooding over his love. He is
mad after Malati and this psychological development of his

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 INDIAN LITERATURE

mind permits him to think of committing suicide and to sell

the human flesh. Malati on the other hand is coy, modest and
a gentle maiden belonging to a noble famiíy. Brought up in a
family of higíi* tradition she develops a high sense of duty. There
is a constant conflict in her mind between her duty to her paren
ts and passionate love for Madhava. Malati and Madhava are
like Rati and Kama. She is at once attracted by thé handsome
ness of . Madhava so much so that she states "Blessed indeed
are those ladies who do not behold you or having beheld you
continue to have command o Ver their hearts." The garden of
Madan in which both are attracted to each other Was as if a
magnetic field. She loves Madhava intensely. She is very sorry
to note that Madhava had to sell his flesh to secure her. Even
when she stands at the door of death she warns Lavangika to
arrange things in such a way that Madhava would not lessen his
interest in the course of life. Taking into account the ages of
the hero and this heroine the type of love should be classified
as Ráti. It may be described as Cetovikrti or the Indryaksobha.
Since it is based on the physical attraction of each other this
type of love, may be described as adolescent one.
Bhavabhuti excels in the URC. MVC begins with Rama's
marriage and ends With his coronation that was celebrated in
Ayodhya. Rama's enmity with RaVana is the central theme.
The author however failed in this play. The URC is however a
masterpiece Of art—a mature production indeed! There is Rama's
love for 1 Sita on one hand and on the other there is Rama's
duty as , a king. Rama is thus found on the hóríis of a dilemma.
Bhavabhuti emphasises the working of the mifids of Rama and
Sita. Ultimately the dramatist brings about the final union of
Rama and Sita through the Garbhanataka, Nafakä in miniature.
Bhavabhuti has done justice to conjugal love in this play.
His treatment of love in this drama is based on a philoso
phy. Love, he says, is that identity which accompanies both
happiness and misery in all the stage's of life—Whérfe the heart
finds its repose—in which the flavour of enjoyment is not carried
' away by old age—in which the veil'of reserve falls off in course

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 BHAVABHUIi's CONCEPT OF LOVB
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 INDIAN LlTBRATURB

tie that connects the minds of the husband and wife. When one
reads passages in the works of Bhavabhuti one knows that as a
poet of human heart he is unrivalled in the treatment of tender
human feelings.
To sum up Bhavabhuti tries to give a solution of the question
as to what kind of relationship should exist between men and
women. Because on this very bond of love is based the super
structure of human society. If it is adjusted and well regulated,
the individual's happiness and that of the society is ensured.
But if it is a mere patched up relation, the whole society runs a
danger. It leads to the disruption of society encourages indul
gence in crime and destroys its peace and order. Both the men
and the society are then a wreck. For all this a proper under
standing of the feeling of love is necessary. The dramatist
endeavours to give an answer to the question—what is love?
Love according to Bhavabhuti is all-absorbing, all pervading.
Love can happen only once in a life. It never changes and is
not at all fickle. It has gone into the blood, in every cell, in the
whole being. Kanta is one with you in your every life. Even
Death cannot eject her. She follows you in your later embodi
ment. Love, like soul, is immortal. It transcends all earthly
limitations. As the soul is one, so two loving persons are one
though apparently divided in two bodies. The marriage of such
persons is a true symbol of their union on earth.
It can be concluded that Bhavabhuti deals with three phases
of love, Priti, Rati and Bhakti in the MVC, MM and URC
respectively. Traditionalists divide the Geeta into three sections
of six chapters each and say that it teaches the Karmayoga,
Bhaktiyoga, and Jnanayoga. On the same lines one infers that
Bhavabhuti deals with Priti, Rati and Bhakti—three phases of
love in his three plays in the chronological order. All the three
taken together form his Pritiyoga. He treats love in terms of
philosophy.

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 BHAVABHUTI'S CONCEPT OF LOVB

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Mahaviracarita—Dr. R.R. Ambardekar, Bombay. 1971.

2. Malati-Madha—M.R. Kaie, Delhi. 196?.
3. Uttara-ram-carita—Dr. G.K. Bhat, Surat. 1965.
4. Bhavabhuti (Marathi)—Dr. V.V. Mirashi, Bombay. 1968.
5. Sanskrit Natyasrsti (Marathi)—Dr. G.K. Bhatt, Poona, 1964.
6. Malati-Madhava—Ttin. N.G. Surve, Poona.
(An Article in English)

Abbreviations

1. M VC —Mahaviracarita.
2. MM—Malati Madhava
3. U RC — Uttararamacarita

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