Nagananda
Encyclopedia
Nagananda is a Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 attributed to king Harsha
Harsha
Harsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...

 (ruled 606 C.E. - 648 C.E.).

Nagananda is one of the best Sanskrit dramas in five acts dealing with the popular story of Jimutavahana
Jimutavahana
Jīmūtavāhana was an Indian Sanskrit scholar and writer of legal and religious treatises of early medieval period. He was the earliest writer on smriti from Bengal whose texts are extant. He was a Brahmin of from ....

's self-sacrifice to save the Nagas
Naga people
The term Naga people refers to a conglomeration of several tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part of India and north-western Burma. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority ethnic group in the Indian state of Nagaland...

. The unique characteristic of this drama is the invocation to lord Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

 in the Nandi verse, which is considered as one of the best examples of the dramatic compositions.

Nagananda is the story of how prince Jimutavahana gives up his own body to stop a sacrifice of serpents to the divine Garuda
Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...

.

Characters

  • Jimutavahana – The Hero and Vidhyadhara Prince
  • Jimutaketu – The father of hero
  • Vidushaka (Atreya) – The friend of the hero
  • Mitravasu – Son of Vishvavasu and brother of the heroine
  • Shankachuda – A serpent, intended to be the victim of Garuda
  • Garuda – King of birds and enemy of the serpents
  • Kanchukin – Superintendent of the harem

  • Malayavati – The heroine and daughter of king Vishvavasu
  • Devi – The mother of the hero
  • Vriddha – The mother of Shankhachuda
  • Gauri – The Goddess
  • Chaturika – Maid of Malayavati
  • Manoharika – Maid of Malayavati
  • Navamalika – Maid of Malayavati


Synopsis

The first act of the play opens in the penance-grove near the temple of Gauri
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

. Jimutavahana with his friend Atreya, the Vidushaka is in search of a suitable place of residence on the Malaya
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

 mountain as his old parents have expressed a desire to stay there. He would spend his youth in serving the parents, as he considers such a service far above the enjoyment of the pleasures of kingdom. He had done everything in his power to make his subjects happy and had made the kingdom secure. Moving about, both of them are struck by the grandeur of the mountain and decide to stay there. Here, they happen to hear the ravishing tunes of melodious music. They enter the temple of Gauri but hide themselves to find out who was singing. Through her conversation with her maid they learn that she is a maiden and that Gauri revealed herself to her in a dream and conferred a boon that the Emperor of Vidhyadharas, Jimutavahana will marry her. The two friends reveal themselves only to make Malayavati embarrassed. Malayavati leaves the temple with a hermit without knowing Jamutavahana's true identity. The hero and heroine fall in love with each other, though they are yet strangers to each other.

Source

The story of Jimutavahana is found in the Kathasaritasagara of Somadeva and Brihatkathamanjari of Kshemendra both written in 11th century A.D. The story of Nagananda follows closely the shorter narrations in both these books. Both these books are the Sanskrit versions of the Brihatkatha of Gunadhya in Paishachi language, composed about the 1st century A.D. But neither the Kathasaritsagara nor the Brihatkathamanjari, both composed in 11th century A.D. can be accepted as the source of Nagananda which was composed in 7th century A.D. Sri Harsha
Harsha
Harsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...

 has added his own ideas and has deviated from the main story in Brihathkatha in many places. It must be admitted that the treatment of it at Harsha
Harsha
Harsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...

's hands is quite original and that the play on the whole is a very charming and fascinating one .

Performance history

The play was produced in January 2008 at Panaji ;Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

 ( India ) in Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

by Prabhakar Sanskritic Sanstha following the conventions propagated in the Natyasastra. Nagananda play was designed by Saish Deshpande , translated & directed by Anagha Deshpande whereas the Natyadharmi Abhinaya was conceived by Dr. Sharmila Rao. The play is now also available in Marathi text.

the 2008 production of "Nagananda" was adjudged as the best experimental theatre production along with best research based production both by Maharashtra state Dept. of Art & Culture as well as Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad.
this product by the young theatre artistes from Goa has been documented for archival purpose by All India Radio ,Panaji & also by Doordarshan; Goa.
The Video is open for referencial purpose.

External links

  • Nagananda - Translated by Palmer Boyd (http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/nagananda_boyd.pdf)
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