Dr.Ramesh Tamiri
Emergence of Sanskrit as a cosmopolitan language and its effective use as medium of public political discourse ensured pride of place for it. It was the dominant language throughout the first millennium and few centuries thereafter. Centres of higher Sanskrit learning which came up formed part of what is better described as Sanskrit ecumene.
Kashmir too was an active part of this ecumene.Since the beginning of eighth century Kashmir built a formidable reputation for itself as a premier centre of Sanskrit scholarship.For over five centuries Kashmir served this role with distinction. There was hardly any field of temporal or spiritual activity which was left untouched by scholarship of Kashmir Sanskritists.They played avante garde role in shaping intellectual and cultural movements in the sub-continent. Such was Kashmir’s reputation that students who came to Benaras for Sanskrit learning would subsequently visit Kashmir for higher learning.
Rajatarangini,a literary classic of iconic stature penned down by Kashmiri Kavya poet Kalhana in 1148 AD,could only be a product of the milieu informed by such distinguished Sanskrit scholarship.
Kavya literature is an integral part of Sanskrit literature. It is a highly aesthetic poetry, which relies on use of figures of speech (Vakroki,alamkara), similes and metaphors to build a composition. It also resorts to hyperbole to create emotional effects. The objectives of Kavya composition are not limited simply to aesthetic concerns. These go beyond it to incorporate poet’s vision in covering different themes. There are lyrical poems,court-epics,narratives and drama in Kavya form.
Rajatarangini is a Mahakavya,which talks about history, society and polity in a certain perspective and also builds an ‘abstract space’ of local geography in to an ‘intimate place’- a homeland for its people. This fascinating story, with many novelties, is brilliantly described by Prof.Shonaleeka Kaul in her new book-The Making of Early Kashmir-Landscape and Identity in the Rajatarangini, on which the present article is based.
Why should Rajatarangini,a work of literature, be deliberately dragged into the controversy that it is primarily a work of history and not literature? Does description of royal dynasties and strong adherence to chronology make Rajatarangini a historical work? Is objectivity a feature of only historical works and not of poetical compositions? Are use of myth, metaphor, legend and references to fate and Karma incidental to writing of Rajatarangini and not reflective of definitive style of composition of a literary work?
Irony is that Rajatarangini is hailed as a great work on history with its focus on chronology, objectivity and causality. Simultaneously, Kalhan’s use of myths and super-natural elements is debunked as ‘obsessive indulgence of a tradition-bound Brahmin.’ Early portions of the text, which abound in use of myths and legends are described as ‘unreliable.’ What is intriguing is that Rajatarangini is described as a unique work specific to Kashmir in a sub-continent bereft of any tradition of history-writing. A putative link is forged to attribute tradition of history-writing in Kashmir to its inspiration from Central Asia and West Asia.
With erudition and brilliance Shonaleeka Kaul tears apart this disinformation by evolving innovative paradigms of textual criticism to forge new understanding of Kashmir as a culture region. She refers to three faulty paradigms for this deliberate confusion on treating Rajatarangini as a work of history, rather than literature and alleged shortcomings of Kalhana as a ‘historian’:
* Modern objectivist/positivist notions of history,with stress on facts, objectivity and scientific method. Shonaleeka Kaul critiques this by saying that ‘this position does not comprehend indigenous or ancient approaches to treating of the past in classical literature, where history was considered a form of fine literature with no prejudice to its truth value.’ And also there could be multiple modes in describing the historical reality.
* Colonial historiography downgraded and de-legitimised sub-continental literary and history traditions for falling far short of Greeco-Roman and Judeo-Christian standards.
* Empiricist studies of Stein and others saw Kashmir as something of an exception in nurturing tradition of history-writing.Shonaleeka Kaul contests this wrong notion by asserting that ‘ancient Kashmiri yen for history-writing was of a piece with Pan-Indian literary tendencies and in that Rajatarangini was not a work unique to Kashmir.’
Kalhana himself acknowledges that his work is a Mahakavya or Prabhanda and lauds conventions employed in Kavya composition-rasa (abstracted essence of emotions), alamkara (figures of speech) and metre (anustubha).
To what genre Rajatarangini really belongs? Shonaleeka Kaul observes that it is a Kavya in form and spirit but draws heavily in content, slant, perspective and form from several other texts and textual traditions.Within Kavya genre it belongs to Katha sub-genre. Rajatarangini does handle history but its author lifts history to a new vision-that of a poet-creator (Kavi vedhya) and one who distils reality through imagination.In a profound statement Shonaleeka Kaul says ‘for Kalhana history did not exhaust truth, moralising was the aim.’ Entire perspective of Rajatarangini is built around ethics. Seemingly contradictory positions of Kalhana towards monarchy, Brahmins, shrines, besides use of expressions of Karma and fate and didactism are an extension of the application of this paradigm. The great poet gives primacy to ethics over aesthetics.
Regional identity:
For Kalhana incorporation of historical narrative in his Kavya had a two fold aim-one,to ethicize history and secondly, to build a regional identity of Kashmir on the basis of its sacred geography. Myths, folktales, and other motifs-particularly water, river, floods, snowfall, springs and naga deities, references to festivals and pilgrimages, etc. are used to create an imagined landscape, regional self-hood and sense of rootedness in the land. In his choice of myths Kalhana has no reservations in drawing from local lore or sub-continentally from epics or Puranic types. Recurrent invocation of the present to corroborate the past, descriptions of Kashmir as a paradise (tridiva) and a holy land all serve a political purpose-to create regional identity of Kashmir. What is remarkable, a point duly emphasised by Shonaleeka Kaul, is that the task of building a strong regional identity was performed in the absence of vernacular literature and through a cosmopolitan language-Sanskrit. It is this phenomenon which made a Kashmiri comfortable with his regional as well as Indian identity.
Kashmir as a Culture Region:
There are deliberate attempts to distort history to deny its strong Indic links and show it as being recipient of mainly non-Himalayan and non-Indic cultural influences. It is falsely claimed that land-locked geography made Kashmir insular and did not have interaction with near or far regions.
Shonaleeka Kaul refers to vast historical data which attests that Kashmir was a ‘lively participant in a wider cultural, economic and political world.’ Be it politics,wars,matrimonial alliances, trade/commerce, education, art, script & language, religion,philosophy, etc. Kashmir remained effectively connected with rest of Indic sub-continent from mid -first millennium until Kalhan’s time. Second urbanisation and the development of two pan-Indian trade routes led to rise of two important cities-Taxila and Sakala.These helped Kashmir in forging even stronger cultural links with mainland. Evolution of Sarda script also helped shape a new cultural region-Sarda region, of which Gandhara, Upper Swat, Kashmir, Jammu, Ladakh,Chamba and Kangra were active parts.
She observes, “choices early Kashmir made that shaped its cultural identity and location were based on a very open and active, if uneven, historical interface with surrounding cultures. It came to master elements of one of these cultures, the Indic.Indic civilisation, in turn, drew on Kashmir’s learning and traditions to such a remarkable degree as to assign a centrality to Kashmir within the regional configuration in which it was situated.”
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