se do of ste nbn jose ishis armour and ses forth om his mission. taj de bl wi Sand iar nao XIV The gh of Arjuna ‘avin followed the fsradharina ie fnallyconGrmed by Sivahimselfat XVII. 14 pasa tat na muda arya yayau bhagavn ya vipula-atontay (guna-sarpbatelsamatirkta mao nim es rtm wpa stam “The Holy One was not so much delighted with his ascetie practice 35 with the fat of his bounds forinde. Far greater in power a good mars native ally resolves VI.22, where Asjuna is declared to possess two kinds of aca was prowess Ge. ch i ina (ahi and an remember that Kir. is not pt tara werkof a fa whichappuent contradiction and mysterious ambivlener can be highlighted for aesthetic ends. wa KointhPanduag Pan Boba. Nay rm Knsrunip, nse ito Geman. Harvard Oren Series fas, 1912 es and Rhein Sant Core Epio—The Kini of 11am awa hat Malia, in his comment reads ematnii aby but would sages hac the ezalletion here fhe shai mabe a VI, 22 ges gears pint othe vee. 6 The Conquest of Cool ‘Theology and Aesthetics in Magha’s Sisupalavadha Lawnexce McCrea, “The seventh century Sanskrit poet Magh: Canonical mahakiryae—“gret poeas” of “cour his work, the Siupdlanadha ("The Slaying of Si other poems highly extemed within the tad been acknowledged even by his mores lesen mae fn than not are accompanied by corresponding neglect of 1s, his acknowledged talents are x cumple, Keith 1928, 55: “The theme Might repcon Ice doubles sts4324 INNOVATIONS AND TURNING POINTS ironically seen to be the real source of the problem in Migha’s work—he is so With remarkable consistency, modem radical disproportion berween ends and means, contrasting irs cheme with the ponderous weight, digresive character, and excessive com- plexity ofthe verses in which i is elaborated. het is tha, at east with regard othe Stypdlevadha, this presup- damentally misguided: I would argue che che specific poetic ‘description and figuration Magha employs so extensively in this poem do serve to undermine any sense of dramatic tension i the work, bat that far ffom being an unintended and crippling side effec andthe result of that make up the poem—that the poem works, at both the miero- and the sacro-level, to render its narative and is central character as wndvamatc as possible. Tn considesing the overall design and objectives of the Stupalanadba, one use fis rake account of the fact that its hero, Krgga—the character who stands ‘the universe. He has are of course not uncommon in Sanskrit mahakdoyas, Maghds treatment of Kpna divinity depart in key respects from the portayal of divine characters in cred by desrpion and deeper than cs in Beis” ‘tun CONQUEST oF CooL 125, catlier mabairyas? Specifically, Maghds Krena is both unambiguously the sciousy divine being, Krpa can require him to act Yeras a human being and, more ro che point, hehe of and characterization and the specific literary devioes employed in is construction. A. “The Poetics of Inaction “The issue of Krynaé absolute divinity, and is implications for the ation ofthe poem and his attitude toward i, are hinted at in the opening verse of the poem fel “The Lord of Prosperity, Hai, the abode ofthe work ‘prosperous house of Vasudeva in order to teach the sage, born from the body ofthe Brahma, descend The poem begins with a paradox of sors: Kiya is both the “abode of the world” in whom and through whom everything subsists, and a human being, “The disiacon bermeen the wo is memacly eed, cough bots somendlaure and ‘mumerour Bguraive devices as we wil celeHe (HiragyakaSipu] was tom apart in the chest with claws curved from the touch ofthe breasts of nave young women, by you, O Man-Lion, ‘on, when Ravana’ own death is described: Sie, although he recognized (youl, wuman, bur born in che family of Man, only wealh.22 5. ellkonotig sandman ae hac Kerth ii nirbicibas| ‘thi aru are garage hrs Kn pte 11.29 6, prune ea aon abe Snanch hromene ps banana dei tao sacaltyd yc mig ithe ad banal man 140who took your beloved from the forest, at the gates of 1 crossing the ocean, impure wich its agitated, curbulent g Krsna is now asked to perform, then, not hhe has killed this being repeatedly before and, ‘THE CONQUEST OF CooL 129 ly acted in chef we Chater temenes ages to dst argument in his favor, Uddhava introduces a metaphor which sets the tone for ‘much of what will fllow in the remainder ofthe poem: 14. om iat Wha Srhgine i aptrpe ce meas taomion apatite par r-munt indo Sian bib | (ania ier vin pina herr mati smpath yvonne eadane ht obra 17S 15. pun onthe word pa, which means bth “wing” in connection "aly" conneion wit he enemies 16, jp do sadaattcaliedarbl pale perigraheh | taeda rye iBbise alba labs e-gnah 12.117‘rue conqusst oF coor 131 and relies on gestures and body language o express himself Krsoa’ brief speech in Chapter 2, sarity, in a manner which leaves no sna, having thus taken up speech with just enough words for his ‘meaning, stopped: Great ones are by nature of limited speech.!? ‘country as he arrives and enters the city, with love, wit and (in the case of the female observers) with sexual ce. In conformicy with implications of 1 is consistently portrayed throughout the ith this pattern of physical and verbal restraint, and underlying it, ‘emotional reserve evident in Kiyna’s character a5 well. He almost 19, yar pdm en ye mdb | ‘nein mpi prokrys mize Bhi I!2.13132, INNOVATIONS AND TURNING POINTS never gives any ourward sign of emotional reaction to any situation and, on the the angry response of Kry0 (én Chapter 17) —yer Krsna, poem), is always a bystander. In the midst of the most heated exchanges, he remains always an ocean of calm. 16 as I would arg, this emotional and physical reserve is for Magha the ing of [Krsna a very deep anger entered him, le toward Kiyna, asa fever enters a body when its humors 20, peer sar aa punar amu td-aryt | ‘many abhajiadengphatar semana debian jars 15.2 ‘rue conquest oF coor 133 Asif rebulking the whole toop of kings, he lowly shook his head, the rays fiom its crown-jewels bouncing around, causing all chree ‘worlds to tremble intensely.* ‘Angrily spewing tars, the broad expanse of his checks flowing with Uddhava’s prediction proves true, as Siupéla puts his anger into words: Fearless, he lec the flower of his anger bloom through words—a flower ‘whose growth of buds was produced by the emotional response born in his body, and which would bear fait in the form of future bacle?> ‘There follows a long torrent of abuse directed against Krsna, based on the parallel passage in the Mahi (2.33-41), though, of course, far 21, abiteregonn ia samaca-npegenam soca | late mame! nai nat prakarpite aga meyer ia ‘hole pal ga ae scent apes eats If 15.12134. INNOVATIONS AND TURNING POINTS la challenges Kegpa to fight and storms out smosiflame analogy finds its flfllment, the dicate of his nature, brings deswucion on hime ths Siupals characteris displayed. Mor han imply being neil tendency +o act rashly and without restain, his (pruibbénents) mesenger, rher ciliatory and insulting messages in reinforce the overall impression that spils hature: no words can come from mardi anu nti addi ik yaa at td tat pale 20.77 ‘us conquest oF coor 135 in his conflice with Krgoa. In at Krgpa, when he is rendered he is doomed, would seem to suggest as much, sud be clear from the above that the polarity now to turn briefly to consider those portions of and direce bearing on the confic between Krsna and Sikupala, and to offer some preliminary thoughts on their elation to this central narrative and the themes thae revolve around it. . Literary Techniques and Aesthetic Objectives “The most poined crtcsm of the Siypaleadha has focused on the so-called “descsitivecantos"—Chaprers 4 to 11 ofthe poem, which describe che moun- sin we Kes an i enous make camp ontcjouncy adapta, the flowers of ll six seasons that they ind there heir ower-athcrng, water py inking aes lowly ad 0 on. hese dw arc fom and descriptive passages is that, from the central narrative thread, cis digression does, does not in any way stand in tension with this narrative, and in faci fun- damentally in harmony with the basic thematic of the poem as set forth in is «© reall che tated purpose ofnorthern region and taking a southward for batce departed, Hari set 1 form of Mount Govardhana, its wealth of stones owing, with various minerals 29, henbeedigbhigem ape mage Sgryam urd inoairgah | pers yuddihined-seunyo bari arpa ata rae 13.1 In light ofthe thematic analysis ofthe Siupalanadha offered above, one can likewise offer a principled defense of Maghals extensive and claborate figuration, (ovke dhicnritma rier ardbananss anne 3A‘embedded in the tips of his shinin “His glitering armlers illumined him with thei vast brighaness, wich wpa de having bse ose bing ane sgl nay ad cond ith he bis bracelets as if they were even fiom tearing the chest of the enemy of ‘fewo streams of the celestial Gatigi were co fill through the sky, then his chest, datk as a amala-tre and adored with a string of [the Kaustubha}, the essence of the ocean's waters, ‘with its radiance gem in which the whole ina reflection, looked asi ic was dvselling within his the micro- and macro-level aspects achieve a unified effect, and gives the intensity and sophistication are by nature inimical co theme and character development. D. Concasion 39. gem fl obtained a the churning ofthe acean—another emblem of Kesnas ‘heute neem india cis -sratt setee dram aba! 3.10, vine pase‘ruz conqusst oF coor 141 ‘of the poem (and of the mahakivya genre more generally) to impede, rather than to facilitate, the effort ro make sense ‘Sara commenscyof Malini ed. by Anaoarima Stevi Ve, Kai Serle ‘Seis 6 Renate The Chombamba Sande Series fee, 1929. Tis worth noting brie, thar replacing the western derive pi eee “epic” with ones drawn from within the tradition woul ikely be fal in elucidating the real aesthetic goals of the Siiupalavadha or assessing with 7 ‘Bronaner, Yigal, Etreme Poetry The South Asiam Movement of Stwultancous Narmtion. New York: ‘what degree of sucess it meee thes. emp aatve categories have centered mostly on provided by the theory of rasa—emotional mood or “favs by the (fourteenth century) critic Mallinatha, who luction to his commentary on the poem that “the hero aoe de Phin Belg nt Lene Pot coca Marck ej Dh: Moca Banas, 2004 we ate to work toward a responsible and adequately nuanced treatment of = fortiori, of the Sanskrit literary tradition cidated through terms and categories drawn from either western or indigenous critical traditions, can never simply be uncrticaly reduced to them. 40, nett tminy-nandonch i hag: ah pains ma. (Stave, p 2.(Oxford Universiey Press DONORS DEVOTEES, AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD Iywovations anv Turnine Potts TOWARD A_ HISTORY of KAVYA LITERATURE hited by Vigal Broaner David Shulman Gary Tubb OXFORD ‘UNIVERSITY PRESS