Nathamuni.

Pundarikaksha.

Sankalpa Suryodaya.

Serpent Realm under the earth.

A Tale of Wonder: AND Haksar on translating Kathakautukam, a Sanskrit poem which speaks of longing for the divine

Some of the world’s greatest love stories are also the most ancient, and history has produced a slew of various kinds for us to choose from. So is Kathakautukam, one of those forgotten by time. The story of Kathakautukam runs in a vein similar to that of Bhakti saint Mira’s devotion to Krishna. They both refer to devotion and a longing for the divine, though Kathakautukam may be playing with that theme a little more subtly.

It is a Sanskrit adaptation of a Persian poem, written by the poet-scholar Srivara in 15th-century Kashmir. Noted translator AND Haksar has translated this Sanskrit poem into English; titled A Tale of Wonder: Kathakautukam, his book is written primarily in prose.

This book tells the story of Princess Zuleikha’s steely determination and effort to find Yusuf, the man she happens to dream of one night, and is unable to cast from her mind. Though the plot is fairly standard initially, it quickly develops into an amalgam of unpredictable twists, elaborate description and piercing emotions. The potency of Zuleikha’s emotions and longing are blindingly obvious yet poignant and evocative, as she pursues Yusuf over both distance and time.

A Tale of Wonder has two main themes: One, a princess in fervid search of a man she saw and fell in love with in her dream, and the other, a parable that featured in the original Persian love poem 'Yusuf Wa Zuleikha'. It was carried forward to the Sanskrit adaptation by Srivara. “The parable in the story is the search for the divine by the individual soul. This is quite common in the literature of both the Sanskrit and Persian cultural streams. It is always put in mystical terms,” states Haksar in an interview with Firstpost

The story of Yusuf, a well-known prophet in Christianity and Islam, is present in the Bible as well the Quran. “Zuleikha does not appear in the story by name in either of these scriptures, though she is mentioned in Persian literature. Zuleikha is a metaphor for the soul searching for the divine, which is embodied by Yusuf,” says Haksar. In some Persian versions of the poem, Yusuf is older and a much more ancient entity. From other parts of the story, it may be inferred that Yusuf is younger than Zuleikha. “It is possible to claim that the story has an element of incarnation,” guesses Haksar, “or of divine incarnation… The romance in the story is both narrative and descriptive. It has tragic elements that are eventually overcome.”

A Tale of Wonder also sees the confluence of cultures and religions, all of which interact seamlessly. However, due to the absence of proper knowledge, history, and research, it is very difficult to really know whether the mix of cultures in the story is truly representative of the trade and society of the time, says Haksar. It is possible to assume that if there was a meeting of cultures, it must have involved the meeting of people who would have indulged in trade. Even so, this is all hypothetical at best. But it is known that between what is today called Iran and what is today’s Kashmir, there was movement of people and thoughts.

In a sense, the nature of the cultural intermingling in the story could be used to hold a mirror to today’s society. Today’s environment is witness not just to cultural exchange, but also exchanges which are co-operative or confrontational in nature, says Haksar. More often than not, they are the latter. “Because of the society which we live in, with media and large scale promotion, confrontational exchanges often receive more attention, while co-operative exchanges tend to get swept under the carpet,” says Haksar. In the Kathakautukam, the confluence between Sanskrit and the Persian or Farsi language, and the confluence of the cultures they speak of, is evident. The exchange is not merely of languages, but also mystic and mythological. “When you have a situation like this, where there is an example of a co-operative exchange, it is worth bringing to public notice,” says Haksar, “Especially as this text originated in Kashmir 600 years ago – a place that sees a greater number of confrontations today, as compared to the past.”

The time and place of its writing reflect a cultural confluence that is mostly forgotten now. Additionally, the Kathakautukam is hardly known, even in academic circles, and had never been translated before. These aspects made the text a strong contender for translation in Haksar’s eyes. “To bring such a text into the public domain, I think, is significant,” says Haksar.

Haksar describes the process of translating Kathakautukam as a fascinating experience, due to its themes, time and place, and its poetic but clear language. However, he admits that it was a challenging exercise. “To find equivalents of words in an unrelated language is always quite difficult. Especially because in translation, one needs to convey both the literal meaning as well as the poetic content of the text which is being translated. One is trying to also convey the spirit and flavour of the text,” he mentions, “Oftentimes, one may have to compromise on one or the other.” Haksar uses both prose and poetry as mediums in the book, in an attempt to bring forth both the literal meaning as well as the poetic flavour to the translation.

A renowned translator, AND Haksar has made several other obscure Sanskrit works accessible through his translations, such as the Suleiman Charitra and the verse anthology Subhashitavali. The aim of his translation, he says, has always been to try and bring out lesser-known dimensions of Sanskrit literature before modern readers. “Including satiric, comic, colloquial works, and other first-time translations. It is a fact that good translation can make more Sanskrit works of all kinds available to interested readers who can’t read them in the original language,” says Haksar.

A Tale of Wonder: Kathakautukam was released on 29 March by Penguin Modern Classics.

P of R

AMBARISA MUNI.

Ambarisha (Sanskrit: अम्बरीषः, Ambarīṣa), in Hindu mythology, was an Ikshvaku king and son of Mandhatri.^[1] He is believed to have conquered the whole world in a week.^[2] He lived in Treta Yuga.

According to the Bhagavata Purana, he was a great devotee of Vishnu and adhered firmly to the truth. He performed a yaga with such great devotional fervour that Lord Narayana was pleased to bless him with Sudarshana Chakra (Sudarshana meaning "good vision") and which manifested as a wheel of prosperity, peace and security to his kingdom. Once, Ambarisha performed the Dvadashi Vrata, which required that the king must start a fast on Ekadashi and break it at the start of Dvadasi and feed all the people. As the moment of breaking the fast was drawing near, the mighty sage Durvasa arrived and was received with all honours by Ambarisha. Durvasa agreed to the king's request to be his honoured guest, and asked the king to wait until he finished his bath in the river and returned. As the auspicious moment approached when the king had to break his fast to fulfil the vow of the vrata, Durvasa did not turn up. On the advice of the sage Vasishta, the king broke his fast by taking a Tulasi leaf with water, and waited for the arrival of sage Durvasa to offer him food.

Durvasa, who was well known for his short temper, felt that Ambarisha had violated the respect due to a guest by breaking his fast before the guest had taken his meal, and in his rage created a demon to kill Ambarisha, out of a strand of his hair. Lord Narayana's Sudarshana intervened, destroyed the demon and started chasing Durvasa himself. Durvasa went to Brahma and Shiva for protection. Both pleaded their inability to save him. He went to Lord Narayana himself, who said that he could do nothing as he was bound by the blemishless devotion of Ambarisha and suggested to the sage to seek the pardon of the king. Durvasa went to Ambarisha, who prayed to Lord Vishnu to recall the Sudarsana and save Durvasa.

The story of the king Ambarisa is yet another interesting story which impressed me in terms of its uniqueness in content.
Ambarisa is one of the royal sages with rich spiritual leanings and attainments. He is a worthy successor to the King Naabhaaga.
King Ambarisa inherited enormous amount of wealth,power and luxuries. In spite of that,he was endowed with so much of spiritual wisdom that he treated all the material possessions as totally unreal and merely equivalent to things seen in a dream. He used his entire physical and mental energies in worshiping the Lord Hari. And while performing ‘yajnas'(a spiritual practice),he gifted away precious valuables to all(Gods,Brahmanas as well as other human beings)without any discrimination. Even as he was involved in his spiritual pursuits,he never ignored his duties as a king. He grew in stature as a royal sage and gradually started withdrawing from all attachments.
As part of his spiritual practices,the king along with his wife, took a vow to undertake fast on every Ekadasi / Dwadasi day for one full year.
Traditionally,on such days,the king would be expected to conclude his fast before the end of ‘dwaadasi’ (Ekaadasi & Dwaadasi are the 11th & 12th days of the lunar month respectively).
On one particular Dwaadasi, as usual,the king worshiped the Lord Vishnu and distributed lots of wealth and food to deserving Brahmanas. After making sure that everyone was happily taken care,he sat down to take food in order to conclude his fast. As he was about to take food,the sage Durvaasa appeared all on a sudden. Thereupon,the king along with his entire retinue welcomed the sage and sought his blessings. Durvaasa accepted the king’s invitation and then set out to a river nearby to take bath and to perform other rituals,which had to be completed before taking food.
However,as it turned out,there was an inordinate delay on the part of the sage in returning to the king’s place. The king Ambarisa,in the meanwhile, was getting restless because the auspicious time by which he was supposed to end his fast was fast approaching(as per the tradition he should conclude his fast during the hours of the Dwaadasi itself to avoid incurring any sin). He, therefore,sought the counsel of all the Brahmanas assembled there to find a solution to the dilemma faced by him. The dilemma has to do with the question of Dharma to be followed. The king would be committing a sin either way – that is, if he ended his fast and ate before Durvaasa returned,it would be considered a grave sin committed against a distinguished guest. On the other hand it would be equally sinful not to conclude his fast before the end of the auspicious hour which was fast approaching. The brahmanas gave a very interesting compromise formula to the problem. They advised the king to sip a small amount of water as a token to end the fast and then wait for the sage to return and have food.
King Ambarisa did just as he was advised. The sage Durvaasa arrived after a while and as the king got ready to serve him,the sage at once found out(through his intuition) that Ambarisa had already sipped water before serving him. Inflamed with anger at the indiscretion committed by the king,the sage Durvaasa created a female evil spirit to attack Ambarisa. Ambarisa was too stunned to react or defend himself and remained completely quiet.
What transpired later was really amazing and mysterious. Lord Vishnu dispatched his powerful weapon(Discus),which is well known as ‘Sudarshana'( This is used on very rare occasions by the Lord to protect his loving devotees). The Discus instantly destroyed the female evil spirit and eventually started chasing the sage. The sage got frightened and went all over the worlds to save himself from destruction. He approached Brahma and then Rudra and both expressed their inability to rescue a person attacked by the wrath of Lord Vishnu. And,therefore, the sage was advised to approach the Lord Vishnu himself. Durvasa,then, landed straight into Vaikunta and surrendered before the Lord.
Lord Vishnu declares that none in the world is dearer to him than his devotees and he would do anything to protect such devotees from any harm. He elaborates further and adds that pious souls such as Ambarisa are His heart and in turn He is in their heart. Therefore He can not take back the weapon once launched.(“Saadhavo hridayam mahyam,sadhunam hridayam tvaham. Saadhushu prahitam tejah prahartukuruteshivam”.
The Lord also states a fundamental law that an unjust force employed against his righteous devotee will hit back the striker himself. Therefore,Vishnu concludes that He is incapable of taking the weapon. The only power on earth which can stop it is the king Ambarisa himself.
Therefore,Durvaasa was asked to take refuge in Ambarisa for getting relief from the powerful weapon. As Durvaasa approached the king and touched his feet,the latter was terribly embarrassed. Ambarisa,in turn,prayed and worshiped the ‘Sudarsana’-the powerful weapon of Vishnu-and asked for withdrawing itself. The ‘Sudasana’,then,stopped the chase and returned to its place,thereby ending the misery of the sage Durvaasa.

The contents of the story are quite unique in many ways and bizarre in some respects.
Firstly,isn’t it amusing to find that a sage is behaving like a king(showing anger,pride,vanity etc)while a king is exhibiting a conduct typical of a sage?
The story is also an example to show that even a renowned sage is not immune to punishment if he violates rule of Law,while at the same time the king is rewarded (protected)for diligently practicing Dharma.

Another interesting highlight of the story is the manner in which the question of Dharma was settled by the wise men(Brahmanas)when the king encountered a serious dilemma(‘Dharma sankat’). It is a fantastic example of accommodation of ideas. The solution provided goes to show that our ancestors were not lacking in pragmatism in resolving questions of Dharma. It is a different matter that the sage did not appreciate the same. Obviously,the sage was enraged because of a sense of undue importance to himself. This was a result of a deluded mind which led to uncontrollable anger.
The third aspect which I found very unique was that Brahma, Rudra or even Vishnu(who had dispatched the destructive weapon)could not save the sage – only the king Ambarisa was given that privilege of forgiving and saving the sage.
All the drama that took place was in accordance with Laws of Dharma. Look at the events, which speak for themselves:-
– King Ambarisa,who is the upholder of Dharma is protected against the misdeeds of a great sage
– The unrighteous act of a great sage (provoked by his unjustified anger)boomrangs. No-one(even the holiest of holy sages) is exempt from the law of Dharma.
– None including Vishnu could help the sage out of the mess he landed himself in. Even the Lord,who is the incarnation of Truth and Righteousness(satyam & dharma)had to play the game according to the laws of Dharma. It is,like they say in the modern days,the law has to take its own course.
– Only Ambarisa could forgive and protect the sage.
The last aspect of the story proves another law that the sinner can be exonerated only by the victim of the sin.