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Rmyaa Studies I. The Krauca-Vadha Episode in the Vlmki Rmyaa

Author(s): Ch. VaudevilleSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Aug. - Sep., 1963), pp. 327-335Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/598072.

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328 VAUDEVILLE: Rarmdyana Studies I: The "Kraufica-vadha" Episodethat the bulk of the Bdlakanda (and also of theUttarakdnda) is a later addition to the ValmikiRdmdyana,and cannot belong to the Adi-ramayananor be the work of Valmiki himself (who, more-over, is mentioned in the third person). Jacobi,however, assumes that, after the addition of theBdlakanda, the former introduction to the "Adi-Ramayania" or "Diaskeuse" was transferred tothe Bdlakdnda itself; the same scholar, therefore,proposed to find the real introduction to the Adi-Ramayanain vv. 1-4 of the 5th sarga, which consistof a Rdma-stuti.3The first and third sargas of the present (vul-gate) Rdmdyana give a table of contents of thesame. Of these two accounts, the first is obviouslythe older, since it does not include the contentsof kind.as 1 and 7, which are given in sarga 3.Sarga 1 gives an account of the circumstancesin which the Ramayanaappeared, how it was "re-vealed" by divine Ndrada to the great sageVdlmiki. We notice that the first two verses ofsarga 3 are linked to the last verses of sarga 1 ina natural way: having heard Narada's tale,Valmiki concentrates on the subject and thenmakes bold to recite it in his turn:

grutvd vastu samagramn taddharmdtma dharma-samhitamvyaktatmanvesate bhiiyo yadvrttam tasya dhimatah | 4upaprhyodakam samyanmunih sthitva krtainjalihpracindgresu darbhesu dharmeninvesate gatim 1Val. R. 1. 3, 1-2.It is likely that the contents of the first sarga,plus the two first verses of the third sarga com-posed a kind of prologue added to the Adi-Radm-yana. And it is interesting to note that thisprologue refers to the poem as raghuvaimsasyacaritam, i. e., "the history of the Raghu dynasty."On the contrary, there is hardly any continuitybetween the last verses of sarga 1 and the vv. 3 f.of sarga 2, which describeVYlmlkicoming to bathein the Tamasd river, in company of his discipleBharadvdja, and which form the introduction tothe Kraufica-vadhaepisode. The hiatus is all the

more apparent as the first verse of sarga 2 seemsto be a mere repetition of the firstverse of sarga 3,quoted above:naradasya tu tatvakyam grutvd vdkyavisaradahpiijayamasa dharmdtmd sahahisyo mahdmunih j/

VA. R. I. 2, 1.Thus the Kraufica-vadha episode appears sand-wiched between the last verse of sarga 1 and thefirst verse of sarga 3 which is its natural con-tinuation, the two first verses of sarga 2 beingadded, rather clumsily, to providethe missing linkwith the former sarga.The Kraufica-vadha tale, which begins in I. 2,3,is interrupted rather abruptly after v. 21; I. 2, 22introduces the god Brahma who comes to induceVYlmlkito sing Rama's glories " in slokas." How-ever, this encouragement is hardly needed, as it

appears from I. 3, vv. 1-2, quoted above. But v.21 finds a natural continuation in vv. 27-28 (whilstv. 26, which belongs to the Brahma-VYlmikidia-logue is merely a repetition of v. 21). Brahmawithdraws from the scene in v. 37, and the threestanzas that follow, i.e., vv. 38-39-40 seem to bethe natural conclusion of the Krauica-vadha epi-sode. The last verse of sarga2 (I. 2, 41) mentionsthat Vdlmlki composed a "poem on the praise ofRama" (yasaskaram kavyam) in hundreds ofslokas Valmiki's authorship is re-affirmed in thefirst verse of sarga 4 (I. 4, 1), but this time thework is mentioned as "a great caritac" (caritamkrtsnam). It follows from this analysis that theKraufica-vadha episode narrated in I. 2, vv. 3-21,vv. 27-28 and vv. 38-40 is certainly independentofthe Brahma-Valmiki dialogue, the latter being alate addition, clumsily interpolated in the former.Leaving aside the contents of the later summaryof events found in I. 3, vv. 3 f., we can alreadydistinguish a kind of double prologue to theVdlmiki Ramayana:a. Val. R. I. 1; 2, vv. 22-37 (vv. 27-28 excepted);3, 1-2 give a mythological explanation of the originof the Rama-legend, which is supposed to havebeen the object of a kind of revelation by Naradato VYlmiki, the latter obeying an injunction fromgod Brahma.b. Val. R. I. 2, vv. 3-21, 27-28, 38-40 and I, 4develop on a purely natural plane. The origin ofsloka is explained by a pretty tale, but the originof the Rama-legend itself apparently is no prob-lem, and sage Valmiki needs no special provocation

3 Jacobi, o. c., p. 44, " We should seek the beginning ofthe poem in the 5th canto," i. e., Val. R. I. 5, 1-4. Jacobi,ibid. p. 46, has attempted a reconstruction of the begin-ning of the text of the Adi-RAmAyana in this way:I. 5, 1-7; I. 6, 2-3-4; I. 18, 16, 22, 35 followed up to II. 1,5 ff. (His references are to the Gujarati Printing Pressedition of the Ramayana, Bombay.)4A group of mss. belonging to the Southern recensioninsert 7 more stanzas after I. 3, 1. Cf. Baroda ed. p.[29], 154.*

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VAUDEVILLE: Ramayana Studies I: The "Krauiica-vadha" Episode 329to take up his theme, as can be induced from thefirst verse of sarga 4:

prdptardjyasya rdmasya vdtmikirbhagavanrsih Icakara caritam krtsnam vicitrapadamdtmavdn IIkrtvd tu tanmahdprdjfiah sabhavisyaM sahottaramcintayamdnasya ko nvetatprayunjiydditi prabuhuVal. R. I. 4, 1-2.The words praiptarajyasya rdmasya, "whenRdma got his kingdom," suggest that V5lmiki wasthe family bard of the Iksvdkus, whose duty it wasto sing his master's praise after he has acceded tothe throne of his ancestors. Here the only diffi-culty seems to be: how to account for the transmis-sion of the poem? The fact that the poem was inthe mouths of the professional ballad-singersknown as Kusllavas had to be explained. TheKusllavas were no court-poets or royal bards, but

low-caste street musicians.6 How could they be inpossession of that noble work dealing with theglories of Rdma? The purpose of sarga 4 is clearlyto alleviate the difficulty by showing how themusicians' low status was heightened by the verynobility of their theme, and finally turned intosome kind of respectableascetics.It is logical to assume that the "natural" pro-logue is the older of the two. This prologue sug-gests that the - di-Rdmdyana appeared to itshearers both as a wonderful achievement and as acurious novelty: the deep pathos of Valmiki'slegend, its universal appeal, joined to a new refine-

ment in style, causedthe world to wonder. To theaudience of the KusIlavas, the Iksvdku PrinceRdma must have been a well-known figure, thehero of some itihdsa or kirti told by a sitta of theRaghu family-but Vdlmiki's poem was somethingnew, and unique. Their question cannot havebeen: " Where did Vdlmiki hear the Rama-legend? ", but rather: "Where did he take hisinspiration? How did he cometo sing the old tale

in such pathetic and melodious strains? And howis that wonderful poem found on the lips of mereKusllavas?" The pretty tale of the Kraufica-vadha, as we shall see, is precisely a Kusllavaanswer to such questions. It does not explain theorigin of the Rdma-legend, not even how this par-ticular legend became Vdlmiki's theme. Its evi-dent purpose is to explain how "sloka" was onceborn of " 'oka," and to justify the KusIlavas claimover it.THE KRAUUNCA-VADHA EPISODE.a. Summary of contents.vv. 3-8: Setting of the scene: Valmiki comes tothe Tamasa river to bathe.vv. 9-14: Vdlmmki sees a pair of sweet-voicedKraufica birds. The male is killed by a

Nisdda. VYlmiki is moved by sorrow(sooka) n hearing the piteable lament ofthe female bird. He cursesthe Nisdda,and his words take the shape of a sloka.vv. 15-17: VYlmlki wonders at his own utteranceand stresses the relation between sokcaand sloka.vv. 18-21: ValmIki reflects on what has come topass, and,vv. 27-28: being under the influence of sooka,repeats the same sloka.vv. 38-40: VYlmiki's disciples sing the sloka againand again after their Master. Conclu-sion: sloka has attained the status ofslo7ca.Before attempting an interpretation of the epi-sode, we must focus our attention on the key-words: lcraufica,soca and stoka.

b. The Kraufica bird.The word kraufica shows the vrddhi of kruficorkrufica (Hindi kunjh), a well-known species ofmigrator water-birds, the "Demoiselle crane"(Anthropoides virgo). The word is often andapproximatively translated by French courlieu,

English curlew or snipe, German Schneipe. Kruitcis alreadymentioned in the Yajur-Veda Samhitds,where the faculty of separatingmilk from water indrinking the latter (vipana) is attributed to it.7

5 After I. 4, 1, some mss. (Dt, D4. 6. 8. 9. 14) andCommentaries (Cr. m. g. t.) insert another Aloka, inwhich VAlmIki's poem is said to include "twenty-thousand Alokas "; but this verse is an interpolation; cf.Baroda ed. p. [36], 196.*6 On the low status of musicians cf. Jacobi o. c., pp.51-52, and notes 8) and 9); also Ranade, Religious andSocial Reform, p. 185. Jacobi stresses the point that" these musicians must be distinguished from the courtminstrels, sfltas." That low status may well have beenthat of ValmIki himself. On the latter, see C. Bulcke,o. c., p. 37-40, and " About ValmIki," JOI vol. VIII, 1959,p. 121 f.; G. H. Bhatt, " On Valmlki," JOI vol. IX, 1959-1960, p. 1 if.

7 Cf. C. R. Lanman, "The milk-drinking hamsas ofSanskrit poetry," JAOS 19, 1898, p. 151 ff., who refers tofour equivalent passages in the Vedic SamhitAs and theTAittiriya BrAhmana. In Maitrayani-Samhit& III. 11, 6,Krufle seems to be the name of an Angirasa:



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330 VAUDEVILLE: Rdminyan.a tudies I: The "Krauiica-vadha" EpisodeIn Vedic literature, kraufica is not an equivalentof krufic, but always a musical term, at least inolder texts. It refers to a note, svara, in TS II, 5,II, 3-9); to several sdman in Tdnd. B. XI. 1, 18-19, XIII. 11, 19-20, XIV. 11, 29, XIII. 9, 10-11:

to a particular gana in Ch. Up. 22, 1; to an aga inJUB I, 37, 1-4. The kraufica note or tone isalways given as the highest, and connected with theAsuras and with Brhaspati.8 As a sdman, in sacri-ficial context, its proper use seems to be for calling(or creating) what is "wished for." 9When used in reference to birds, kraufica does

not apply to a particular species, but to a wholeclass of aquatic birds endowed with a krufic-likevoice, a class which includes, besides the krufic,thehamsa and sdrasabird.10 Birds of that class regu-larly appearin Indian folk-tales as love-messengersfrom very ancient times, one well-known examplebeing the hamsa sent by Damayant to Nala in theNalopaklhyna of the Mahdbharata. In the Epic,in the Kavya and also in folk-literature, the femaleof those species frequently appears as a symbol ofan afflicted wife, mourning in separation from herLord, cf. VMl.R. II. 39, 40 = jafnre tha tdsamsan-nadah kraudcindm iva nisvanah / and II. 76, 21kraunicindm va narinam ninadastatra susruve /But, there, the kraunic is often replaced by anequivalentword kurari: thus Draupadl, abandonedin the forest by Nala is comparedto a kurari (Mbh.III, 60, 19: kurarimiva), similarly SItM bandonedby Rdmain Raghuv. 14, 68: vigra kurarivabhiiyah.In later Vedic literature (cf. Taitt. Ar. I. 31, 2)and in the Epic, krauica is given as the propername of a winged mountain which was shot at andpierced by Skanda (Kartikeya) with a dart givento him by Agni. The legend is developed in theVYyuand VYmana-Purdna,and frequently alludedto in Pauranic and Kdvya literature, where theepithets kraufica-darana,kaufica-nisfidanaare fre-quently attributed to Skanda (once to Parasu-Rama in Megh. v. 59). Sometimes the Krauncashot at by Skanda is given as an Asura.11 ThePauranic stories are clearly based on an old mythabout the "piercing" or a divine kraui ca-bird(i. e., a bird with a kraunca-voice): all such birdsmust have been taboo, as evidenced in Manu-smrtiXI. 136, which prescribes the gift of a cow to aBrahmin as an atonement for the killing of a7crauiica.In the passage under consideration,it is clearthat the Kraunacas re presentedas a kind of sweet-singing birds, going in a pair:

adbhyadh ksiradh vy-apibat kru'A dangiraso dhiyaKruic Angirasa is also mentioned in Tand.. B. XIII. 9,and II, 20, as the name of a seer who sings the samanKrauiica.8 Cf. A. B. Keith, The Veda of the Black Yajur Schoolentitled Tdittiriyd-Samhitd (HOS) Pt I, p. 201, the de-scription of the part of the Hotr in the new-moon andfull-moon sacrifice in TS. V. 11, 3-9:"He sacrifices sitting; verily he finds support inthis world. In that, he repeats the kraufica note,that is connected with the Asuras; in the low note,that is connected with men; and in the intermediate,that is connected with the gods."In note 3, p. 201, Keith remarks: " probably a high one."In JUB I. 37, there are given three aga: the lowest(mandra) belongs to Agni, the middle one, which is"loud and noisy" (ghosiny upabdimati) belongs toIndra; the third one (presumably the highest one)belongs to all the gods (cf. H. Oertel, "The Jdiminlyaor Talavakdra Upanisad Bhramana, Text, Translationand Notes," in JAOS 16, 1896, p. 79f.). From I. 37, 6,one infers that the highest dgd is the krauica, whichbelongs to Brhaspati (atha yd krduica sd brhaspatyd).9 Cf. JB III, 32, Caland, Auswalh, N. 173, translatedin a note p. 268, in W. Caland, Pancavim8'a-Brrahmana(=Tn.d. B.), Calcutta, 1931:

"Kruflc of the Angiras-clan obtained a day thatwas isya as it were; ( . . . ) isya, as it were, is thissecond day; ... .) There was (then) only one singleday. This Krunic of the Angiras-clan desired: MayI form a (second) day out of the (now only ex-istent) day. He saw this saman and practised it inlauding. Thereupon, he formed a (second) day outof the (single) day . . . It is this day, forsooth,that the Angiras Krunic by drinking discriminates."In Tand. B. the kraunica-saman is mentioned four times

in a ten-days period which is the principal part of atwelve-day Soma sacrifice (XI. 10, 18-19; XIII. 11, 19-20; XIII. 9, 10-11; XIV. 11, 29). By singing thissaman, the priest creates and forms the day isya, i. e.,"the hoped-for day" or "the day which should befound." Dr. H. Heestermaann notes that the expressionisya meaning "day" is never found out of this context.There must be an allusion to a popular motif, distinctfrom the vipdna which is attributed to krauiica-birds.It is likely that a "Krunica-like song" or "tone" wasalready associated with the idea of "desire, longing"for a second (=for a mate ?).

10The collective meaning of the word krauiica, appliedto birds, can be inferred from a passage of Sayania'sCommentary on TB. II. 6, 2.: yathd loke krui krauica-paksi (quoted by Lanman, o. c., p. 158). Krun-kraulhca-paksi can only mean: kruicldi paksi: "Krufic and thelike."

11 Cf. Hopkins, Epic Mythology, p. 9 and 228; Wilson,VP p. 137-138, note 10. Wilson notes: " Kraufica issometimes considered to be the name of a Asura; butthis is perhaps some misapprehension of the Pauraniclegend by the grammarians, springing out of the syno-nyms of Kartikeya, KrauncAri, Krauficadarana, etc."But it is more likely that the Asura Krauflca typifiesthe ancient association of the Kraufica note or tone withthe Asuras; (cf. note 8).



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VAUDEVILLE: Rimdyana Studies I: The "Kraufica-vadha" Episode 331dadarsa bhagavanstatra krauficayoscarunihvanamThe birds known as krufica (lcunjh), like thehamsa, however, do not go in pairs, but in flocks,so that particular species can hardly be intendedthere. On the other hand, VYlmiki says that the

Nisada pierced the male Kraufica with his arrowwhile the latter was 1cdmamohita"infatuated orintoxicated with love." This may allude to thepeculiar kind of courtship indulged in by theSarasa birds (another bird of the krauftca class)who go dancing about in a rather spectacularway.12 The Sarasa birds go by pairs, as also dothe famous Cakravakabirds. But the couple ofbird-loversremain anonymous here: the poet doesnot mention their particular species: he simplyintroduces them as a couple of charming musi-cians, tenderly in love with one another.c. sloka and eoka.The Vedic use of the word Rloka; (whose ety-mology is uncertain) also brings musical associa-tions. In the Rg-Veda, sloka means a cry, also thenoise of the Soma pressing stones, of chariots. InRV 3. 53, 10, sloka is given as the cry of the harysabird and the priests themselves are compared tothe hamsas: hamsa,iva Icrnuthaslokam adribhih.L. Renou remarks that sloka is "un terme volon-tiers para-musical." 3 There is no evidence thatsloka has been used in Vedic literature as the nameof a particular metre.14The association between kraunica meaning amusical tone, a type of chant, and secondarily aclass of water-birds with a pathetic call (such a

Icrauflca,sdrasa, hamsa) on the one hand, andRloka, meaning a "rythmic cry," especially asuttered by the same kind of birds, is a naturalassociation and must be very ancient, as alreadyindicated in RV 3. 53, 10 where sloka is connectedwith hamsa. The Valmikian episode under con-sideration is another illustration of the same asso-ciation, but it introduces a romantic element, ap-parently based on popular belief: the cry of thosewater-birdsis caused by sorrow or mourning, soka,so that the sloka sung by lcrauiicabirds is really"born of ?oka" and expresses pathos, karunam.As we have seen, in the folk-tales, it is to thefemale of the species the Icrauncaor 7curarn hatthis mournful lament is attributed.The despair of the Kraufc bird on witnessingthe slaughter of her mate is described in theValmikian episode with a deliberate touch ofanthropomorphism:

tam sonitaparitangam vestamanam mahitalebhdrya tu nihatam drstva rudava karunam giramVA. R. I. 2, 11."Seeing him thus slain and rolling in the dust, be-smeared with blood, his wife began to lament in apitiful voice [or " with a mournful song]."The old word gir means: "invocation, praise,song" and also "voice." Here, the meaning "amournful song" is all the more probable as theaggrieved KraufacIbird is explicitly mentioned asa "wife" (bharya), separated from her noblespouse. The word dvija in I. 2, 12 suggests thatthe Krauficabird is conceivedas a Brahman or asa prince. And it is the karua gfir,the mournfulsong or pathetic lament of the Krauiici whichawakenskarunyam, pity or sympathy, in Vdlmiki'ssoul, and which impels him to curse the sinfulNisdda in the famous verse:

mdnisdda pratistham tvam agamah hdhvatih samahyat krauficamithunad ekam avadhih kdmamohitamjjVAl. R. I. 2, 14.This verse, which is supposed to be the firstsloka ever uttered, is found with few variant read-ings in all manuscripts of the three recensions of

the VYlmiki Rdmdyana, and is quoted or alludedto in a number of other works, in referenceto theorigins of the same Rdmdyana.15 However, it is

12 Cf. Salim Ali, The book of Indian birds, 6th ed. p.87: " During breeding season, sarasa pairs indulge inludicrous and spectacular dancing display, bowingmutually, prancing, with outward wings and leapingaround each other." This evokes the apex khepari-bhramd, found in a variant reading for the section lineof I.2, 11, (cf. Baroda ed. p. [23], 135*):drstva kraufThirudodarta karunam kheparibhramdBoetlingk in the St Petersbourg Dictionary translateskheparibhrama by " in Lufe umherfliegend." Salim Alihas also noted the reputation of the Sarasa pair forfidelity and conjugal devotion," "which has won for thespecies popular reverence and devotion."13 L. Renou, Etudes v6diques et panineennes IV, p. 31.

14 The s1oka mentioned in JB II. 27; II. 438; III. 338,351, 367, 373, 385 are not classical Alokas. They areverses stating, under a more or less enigmatic form,truths concerning e. g., the connections between thephrases of the year or the pranas and liturgical details.They are rather to be taken as " utterances " and theirmetre appears to be variable; similarly the s1oka quotedin Tand. B. XXIV. 18, 4-7 in relation with the vratyasacrifice.

15 The verse is quoted verbatim in Bhavabhfiti's Ut-tararamacarita II, 5, Ksemendra's Ramdyanamai jariI. 19, Anandavardhana's Dhvanydloka (Kdvyam1la ed.N. 25) and Abhinavagupta's Locana Commentary on theDhvanydloka (p. 160 in the Madras ed.). About theinterpretation given to the verse by the Kashmirianpoeticians, cf. supra note 1. AAvaghosa in Buddhacarita



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332 VAUDEVILLE: Rdmdyaia Studies I: The "Kraufica-vadha" Episodenot a regular epic sloka, but a vipula verse, com-ing nearer to the late Vedic anustubh. Besides,the use of the augmented form agamah with mais not grammatically correct: one would expectma ... gamah; the anomaly which must have beensensed by the copyist of the Dig and Si ms, whichgive the form agamah (from verbd-gam) instead ofagamah.16The word pratistha means "resting-place, resi-dence, dwelling" and, secondarily, "honour,fame." The first line of the verse has generallybeen understood as meaning: "Thou shalt neverattain fame"; but the first sense of the wordappears more fitting in the context. The maledic-tion must be: "O Nisdda, thou shalt remain forever without a dwelling" (i. e., "thou shalt be con-demned to wander forever,") a malediction whichis consistent with the half-nomadic habits of theNisadas, an aboriginal tribe of hunters and fisher-men.17 There is evidently a correspondencebe-tween the word pratistha, " dwelling," and theword ni4sada,"settler."However, this malediction, as it appears in theKraufica-vadha episode, is anomalous: the cruelNisdda is abruptly introduced and disappears inthe same way: we do not hear of his subsequentfate, and of the effect of the malediction; moreunexpected still is the fact that the malediction isnot voiced by the aggrieved Krauficl, but by thesage VYlmiki, an occasional spectator. It is the"wife" of the dvija bird who should have cursed

the Nisdda, just as the young hermit's father,bereaved from his son, curses king Dasaratha inthe Ayodhyakianda II. 64, 56). One may surmisethat the verse is a quotation from an older ballad,in which a cruel Nisdda was cursed by a femaleKraufac bird, symbolising a sorrowful wife sepa-rated from her Lord.The following verses, 15-17, establish the rela-tion soka-sloka. The second line of verse 15:sokartendsya sakuneh kim idam vyahrtam mayashows that VYlmiki uttered the malediction whilehe was affected by the " soka of that bird," or by" sorrow on account of that bird." V. 17 is a deli-cate interpretation. Addressing his discipleBharadvaja, Vdlmiki says:

padabaddho'ksarasamastantrilayasamanvitah IAokdrtasya pravrtto me Aloko bhavatu nanyathaVA. R. I. 2, 17.We notice, first of all, that the "definition" ofthe sloka which is given in this verse does notallude to the rules of the classical sloka: the s'okaalluded to here is simply a stanza made of fourquarters (pada), each with an even number ofsyllables, and corresponding to a laya (measure)on the tantri or lute. We may doubt that thispurports to be a "definition" at all, as it does notmention the characteristics of the metre as such,i.e., the metrical and semantical arrangement ofthe pddas in pairs (the typical couplet form of thesloka) and the peculiar metrical fall of each pada

in one hemistich. If this is to be taken as adefinition, then it is so wide as to include underthe name of sloka all the ancient types of quat-rains, from the old Vedic tristubh and jagati tothe later Vedic anustubh and pre-classical s'oka,since the number of syllables in a pdda is not pre-cised.18 On the other hand, the sloka referred tohere is clearly a geyaripacka,i. e., a type of versenot simply recited or chanted,but sung with musi-cal accompaniment, a typically popular form ofentertainment. Here we find again the ancientVedic association of s'oka with music.19 In verse

I. 49, recalling the event, replaces the word Aloka bypadyam:valmikanadahca sasarja padyamjagrantha yan na cyavano maharsih"A cry of Valmiki gave birth to the "verse" (or" metre "?) "which the great Isi Cyavana had not composed.""6Cf. Baroda ed. p. 24, and G. H. Bhatt, " BAlakAndain Ksemendra's RAmAyan1amanjarl,"JOI vol. VII, p. 180-181. The reading dlabdha1h instead of agamah in thelatter work seems to be an attempt on the part ofKsemendra to do away with the anomalous formagamah.'17 The Nisadas appear in later SamhitAs and in the

Brahmanas as wild Non-Aryan tribes of hunters, fisher-men and robbers. It seems that the word is a generalterm for non-Aryan tribes, rather than the name of aparticular one. The name nisdda, from ni-sad, means"settlers" and it appears from Vedic literature thatthese were at least partly sedentary at the time of theBrAhmanas. The ritual of the Viivajit sacrifice requiresa temporary residence with Nisadas; cf. Macdonell,Vedic Index, and Weber, Indische Studien 9, 340. TheBrhatsamhitd of Varahamitra (XIV. 10) recognizes a"kingdom" (rdstra) of NisAdas in the South-East ofMadhyadega.

18 Hopkins (o. c., p. 266 and note 2) has shown thato1oka, n the broad sense, is equivalent to gatha. InMbh. XII. 192, 5if., one unannounced Aloka follows theintroductory verse, then more prose, and, with the wordsbhavanti 'ca 'tra glokdh, follow one 41oka and twotristubh: Hopkins concludes: " evidently s1oka here doesnot mean tristubh, but includes them with 'Aloka'proper."19 Hopkins (o. c., p. 51) shows that 4loka, thoughsynonymous with gatha, may be either sung or recited.But the very word gatha reflects older conditions wherebards actually sang with the accompaniment of the



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VAUDEVILLE: Rdmdyana Studies I: The "Kraufica-vadha" Episode 33339, we find the same view expressed again aboutfour pddaswith an equal number of syllablesbeingcharacteristicof Rloka,born of soka.The second line of verse 17 brings the doubletRloka-soka. It seems that all commentators andEuropean translators have taken the word Rlokaasa predicate in the last pada; Rloko bhavatunanyatha. Dutt translates:

"As it has come out of my sorrow (4oka), let it there-fore go forth as hloka." 20and Roussel, in his French translation of theVYlmiki Rdmdyana:

"Cette parole, liee par des padas aux syllabessymdtriques, accompagnde d'instruments a cordes etcadencee, puisque je 1'ai prononcde dans mon affliction,que ce soit un Aloka, pas autre chose."

If we take sloko as a predicate, the subject ofbhavatu is not expressedand should be understood.But, taking sloko as a predicate after bhavatu isnot satisfactory, as bhavatu ndnyathd is a well-known expression used after a prediction ormalediction, with the meaning of: " let those wordsnot be altered,""let it be so." ?loka should ratherbe taken here in the ancient meaning of " rythmed,musical uttereance," as the subject of the verbbhavatu:"Let this sloka (which is divided in padas, etc.),uttered by me, afflicted by the hoka of that bird,endure for ever."The words bhavatu nanyatha may be interpretedhere as meaning either "let the form of the slokabe not altered," or "let this malediction be notaltered." The importancegiven to the form of thesloka in the first line of the verse suggests that theformer interpretationis to be preferred. Here, themalediction seems already forgotten, and the sagewonders at the beautiful lyrical quatrain born ofsoka. ?loka, therefore, is a musical quatrain notetymologically derived, but inspired by sooka,andwhich found its first expression in the patheticsong (karuna gir) of a Kraufaci-bird.Far from being fortuitous, the association sokWa-sloka is strongly emphasized in two more verses,

vv. 28 and 39, which complete the episode by show-ing the transmission of the samesloka:socanneva muhuh krauficim upa h2okam imam punahjagdvantargatamand bhiltv& gokaparayanah|Val. R. I. 2, 38.Most of the commentators and translators of theRdmayana have joined upa and sloka into oneword: upasloka. Jacobi writes hesitantingly "sein:Mitleid in einem Upasloka ( ?) losringt." 21 Butthere is no such word as upasloka. It is muchmore likely that upa is to be taken here as a sepa-rable prefix, and that it should be joined to thefollowing verb jagava. Upa-ga means "join insinging" (cf. the meaning of the prefix upa- inupaicrama: doing something for another, helpingin"). The verse, therefore, should be translated:"Lamenting incessantly, he joined the Krauficl in

singing this sloka again,Being lost in his thoughts and a victim of soka."The wording of the verse suggests that the slocasung by VlmIlki is the very song (gir) of thelamenting Krauficl, in which he has joined spon-taneously, as he himself came under the influenceof soka.V. 38 introduces Vdlmiki's disciples, who, intheir turn, join in the singing of the same sloca:tasya *isyastatah sarve jaguh Alokam imam punahlmuhurmuhuh priyamaunih prahugca bhrhavismitah |Val. R. I. 2, 38."Then his disciples began to chant the Aloka alltogether in their turn, and they repeated it again andagain, with great pleasure and wonder."In v. 39, which refers to v. 17, we find thenatural conclusion of the Kraufica-vadha episode:samiksaigcaturbhiryah pddairgito maharsitzdso'nuvydharandd bhfzyahiokah glokatvamdgatah l"This Aoka which was sung (gitah) by the great Rsi,with four pddas and an equal number of syllables [ineach], through being repeated (anuvyaharanddbhilyah:" sung after") has attained to the nature of Aloka.'This last verse appears a little enigmatic. Itadds nothing to the definition of sloca, given

above, but it seems to imply that it is sokca tselfwhich turned into sloca, or assumed "the natureof slolca" (slocatvam),22 when it was sung by atantri. This is also what is implied in this passage: theKugilavas, to whom the Adi-RAmAyana was entrustedwere not mere reciters, but also singers and musicians.20 Cf. also M. N. Sen: "And since it is born of myShoka (grief), let it be known as Sloka (or Verse)."Griffith: "The measured form of words I spoke Inshock of grief be termed a sloke."

21 Jacobi, Das Rdmdyawna p. 140.22 Cf. Raghuvamga 14. 70:nisaddaviddhdndajadarganotthah glokatvamdpadyatayaya hokahand Dhvanydloka I. 5:krauftcadvandvaviyogotthah sokah s'lokatvamdgatah.



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334 VAUDEVILLE: RdmjyantaStudies I: The "Krauitca-vadha" EpisodeKraufci bird, then repeatedby Valmiki, and againrepeated by Valmiki's disciples.This verse has embarassedthe commentatorsofthe VYlmlki Rdmdyana. Several manuscripts,with the commentaries of Mahesvaratirtha andGovindardja, show a correction Rlokah [secundomanu] instead of sookah.The Kataka Commentaryof Kataka Yogindraexplains:

"Those words which have ooka as a subject, on ac-count of their remembering the episode, being repeatedagain, by chance remain changed into Aloka."So, here, sookas explained as sokavisayakasabda;but the commentary of Govindardjaseems to fol-low more closely the text:

"By the reading hoka hlokatvamdgatah, one mustunderstand that hloka made of hoka may be calledhoka."The Sanskrit root suc does not mean only "tofeel pain " or "to regret," but also "to lament"and "to mourn," especially to mourn the loss of adear one, and is used in this sense in the Mehd-bharata, often coupled with vilapa.23 Thus sokahas also the double meaning of "sorrow" and"lament"; a "lament" may be sung, and, as wehave just seen, VYlmIki and his disciples join inthe mournful song (karuna gir 24) of the Kraufiacbird.The Kraufica-vadha episode suggests the pre-

existence of popular songs or ballads on the themeof separation, whose a female singing bird of thekraufica type, symbolising a wife, expresses hersorrowin pathetic strains. If we suppose that thistype of songs were popularly known as soka orsoka-vilapa, and were sung with the accompani-ment of the tantri, the meaning of verse 39 isclear:"The lament [of the Kraufic bird] sung by the great]si, by being repeated after, gained the nature (orattained the status) of Aloka (lyrical utterance) ."

What seems to be alluded to in this verse is thepassage from a form of folk-song (sokca)to lyricalpoetry of a high order (sloka) such as is found inVdlmiki's noble work. The Kraufica-vadha epi-sode does not explain the birth of the sloca metre,but it clearly suggests that Valmiki derived hisinspiration from a type of folk-balled sung in thepathetic mood. As we have already seen, it islikely that the famous verse ma nisdda . . ., whichValmiki "sings after" the Krauncl-bird, is itselfa quotation from a well-known ballad of this type.The association sloca-soca is not found in theBrahmd-VYlmiki dialogue which follows theKraufca-vadha episode. There, Brahma inter-venes in order to convince Valmiki that he shouldtell the story of the Ra-mayana (rmaryanasyakath~d) n "slokas." It is likely that the slokashere mentioned do refer to the particular metre ofthis name, but this dialogue, as we have shown, isartificially linked to the Kraufca-vadha episode,and is probablya later addition.The contents of the 4th sarga mainly agree withthe Kraufca-vadha episode. The "great Rdmd-yana" which VYlmikiteachesto the two KusuTlavas,wonderful singers and musicians (gayakau), com-pared to the celestial Gandharvas, is a poem des-tined to be both recited and sung25 with the ac-companimentof the tantri. And the hermits them-selves are so enthralled by the "sweetness" (ma-dhura) of the song that they bestow on the poorKus'Ilavas the apparel of hermits, as a mark oftheir new dignity.CONCLUSION

Besides pointing at folk-poetry as the mainsource of inspiration for the Adi-Rdmayana, theintroduction of the Krauica-vadha as a prologueto the poem, suggests that the rhapsodes sensed ananalogy between the heroine of the tale, theKraufic -bird,and the heroine of ValmIki's poem,Sltd. A Krauficl-bird symbolises a faithful wifetormented by the pain of separation, such as thefaithful Sltd in the Sundarakinda. It may well bethat the pativratd Sita, was the central figure ofthe Xdi-Rdmdyana.26 n fact, in Balakanda I. 4, 6,the subject of "the great Ramayana" is summedup without any referenceto IRma himself:

23 Cf. Mbh. III. 60, 19:karunam bahu socantim vildpantim muhurmuhuhMbh. III. 60, 21:ndtmdnam Aocati tathdyathd Aocati naisadhamalso Val. R. III. 6:rajiah Aoka-vildpaca.

24 It is worth noting that the word karuna (karuinyam)which occurs three times in the passage (v. 11 karunamgiram; v. 12 kdrunyam; v. 13 karunaveditvdd) is fromthe root kri: " to pour out, scatter"; the primitive senseof karuna is "lamentable," that which draws out anexpression of pain or compassion.

25 It is referred to as gita in I. 4, 16; however a gitamay also be recited; cf. Hopkins, o. c., p. 51 and supranote 19.26 Cf. the opinion of Winternitz, A History of SanskritLiterature, vol. II, p. 513.



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VAUDEVILLE: Rimdyana Studies I: The "Krauitca-vadha" Episode 335kavyam rdmayanam krtsnam sitdydscaritam mahatpaulastyavadhamityevam cakdra caritavratahiVAl R. I. 4, 6."He [VdImiki] taught them the great RAmAyana, thatis to say the SUtR-legend and the legend of the de-struction of Paulastya."The unexpected importance given here to SItAand her ravisher, Rdvana, as the main charactersof the legend, is striking. It evokes a number ofnon-Valmikian IRmdyanas, especially in the Jainatradition of Gunabhadra, where SItMappears asthe central figure.27The Kraufica-vadhaepisode,followed by sarga 4of the Bdlakanda seems to be the Kus'llava ex-planation of the peculiarities of the Rdmdyana, asthey knew it. The rhapsodies of the Adi-Rdma-yana were well-aware that the poem, being com-posed entirely in loka, i. e., in verse, to the exclu-

sion of prose, constituted a new "genre," clearlydistinct from the ancient pre-epic ikchydna,madeof prose and verse.28Moreover,though having asits hero the noble figure of Rdma, a well-knownPrince of the Iksvdku dynasty, the Rdmdyan.iaoldby VYlmiki was not similar to a kirti or itihasa,told by a bard or sata, like the MahAbhfrata. Itsinspiration was not mainly heroic: the legend cen-tered round the trials and sorrows of a faithfulwife, the pativratd SHtE;the element of pathos

(karuniam) was predominating, and the appeal ofthe poem was universal, and was deemed irre-sistible. That marvellous poem was not onlyrecited and chanted, it was at least partly sungwith musical accompaniment on the tantri bywandering musicians, the Kus'llavas themselves.Jacobi, while stressing the distinction betweenthe court-minstrels,sfitas and the Kus'ilavas,seemsto accept the view that VYlmIki's poem was madeof no other stuff than "the epic songs of thebards ":

" He [Valmiki] connected the features scattered indifferent songs and composed a consistent epos " ( . . . )The epos of Valmiki was then learned and propagatedby the Kugilavas." 29Yet, even apart from the clues given in theKraunca-vadha episode of the Bdlakind.a, con-

sidering the character of the poem itself in its mostancient parts, there would be ample reason to be-lieve that bardic poetry could not be the onlysource from which VYlmiki has drawn.30 If thebardic element was really predominating in theAdi-Rdmayana, it would be even more difficult toexplain how this "epos" became the monopoly ofthe street-singers Kus'llavas, who communicated itto the world. Even if VYlmIki was not himselfa Kus'lava, he was regardedas a famous poet-cum-musician, and all IRmayan.ia-singing Kus'ilavashonored him as their patron-saint. Because ofthe well-deserved renown of VYlmiki's poem, andits relation to the exalted hero, Rdma of the kinglyrace of Iksvdkus, the relation of the Kus'llavas tothat poem, and to Valmiki himself, had to beaccounted for, considering the low status of theformer. We believe that the first prologue addedto the Adi-Rdmayana is the Kus l1ava raditionalreply, and apology. While asserting their ancientright on the great Rdmayana,the Kus'ilavashintedat one of the main sources of the poem: lyrical folk-poetry, i. e., the very tradition which they repre-sented. In telling how sloka was once born ofMoka,he Kus'ilavas meant to uphold their owntraditional belief on the source of Valmiki's in-spiration: the Krauflca-vadha episode points topopular songs on the theme of the sorrows of afaithful wife in separation-a type of song whoseheroine was commonly a Kraucil-bird-as one ofthe main sourcesof the reimdya.namavyam.

27A number of Jaina RdmAyanas are actually calledSitd-carita (or Siya-cariya) cf. H. R. Kapadia, "TheRamdyana and the Jaina writers," JOI vol. I (1951-52)p. 115 ff.; for the Gunabhadra tradition, cf. C. Bulcke,o. c., p. 68 f., and Nathuram Premi, Jain Sihitya aurItihas, p. 182. The source of the Uttarapurana of Guna-bhadra (end of IXth c.) is unknown: probably oralpopular traditions. In his Commentary on his ownYogagdstra, Hemacandra gives a brief version of theRdmayaiia legend under the name of Sit -Ravaina-Kathanaka, which appears to be earlier than his treat-ment of the story in the Trisastis'daapurusacarita.Commenting on this version, V. M. Kulkarni (" Sita-Ravan.a-Kathanaka of Hemacandra," JOI vol. VII(1958), p. 171) remarks that the title is "striking," asit excludes the very name of RAma, and the same authortries to account for the omission by saying that Hema-candra's intention was then to illustrate an ethnicaltruth " that the mere desire to dally with another's wifebrings total ruin." The explanation does not appearconvincing, especially if one takes into consideration thewhole series of Jaina renderings of the RAmayana legend.One cannot but feel that such a title corresponds to aslightly different version of the legend, which centeredon the woes and trials of the faithful SIM.

28 On the old pre-epic dkhydna, cf. Oldenberg, ZMDG,vol. XXXVII, 1883, p. p. 54 ff. Examples of that mixedstyle are found in the Mahabharata, and one tale of theprose-verse variety is found complete in the archaic storyof the Frog-girl, Mbh. III, 193; cf. Hopkins, o. c., p. 266.

29 Jacobi, o. c., p. 52 and note 9.30 The problem of the non-bardic sources of the Rama-yana deserves a careful investigation, to which we hopeto contribute by further papers.

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