Chandrasiri Palliyaguruge is a Senior Professor of Sinhala in the University of Kelaniya. He is also Honorary Fellow of the National Photographic Art Society. Ruhunu Putra award was presented to him for his services to art and culture as a ‘Man of Matara’-southern province of Sri Lanka. He is also a well-known television presenter.

 

 The Legend of Kalidasa and Kumaradasa

 

It is equally important to examine the legend of Pundit Kalidasa and King Kumaradasa, which is prevalent in the township of Matara in the southern province of Sri Lanka and the significance and validity of the historical truth it contains.

Although this legend is not recorded in the official history of Sri Lanka i.e. Mahavamsa, (the ancient   chronicle of Sri Lanka belonging to the latter part of the fifth century A.D.) one cannot discard this story as a mere fantasy as it is prevalent in the township of Matara at the Southern tip of the island.

It is often said that there is no smoke without fire. Those who use this expression mean that they wish to believe in any story or a part of a story because of the authenticity of the historical truth it carries. They never apply it to a story which they know to be a historical untruth, however much “smoke” it might have emitted. As such one must believe the truthfulness of a folk legend by validating the evidence he gathers.

A legend is a sub-category of folklore. Historical or half historical stories, which are prevalent in the oral tradition, come under the category of legend. The legend differs form the myth as it contains historical truth with an ad mixture of traditional material told about a person, place or an incident. The legend, which comes under our purview, is woven around three individuals. The importance of this legend is that as a historical incident it is not in anyway accommodated in the mainstream of history except for a nominal mention of the two names; but the legend has been known to the people for centuries.

Mahavamsa is the official history of the Sinhala nation. However, it does not contain the provincial or territorial history of the island as that was not the concern of the writers of Mahavamsa. The very nature of the greater chronicle signifies that is restricted to the mainstream tradition of recording history. It is said that countries like China and India have this kind of tradition of writing on the provinces and the dynasties, but in Sri Lanka such type of history hardly exists except in the case of religious objects, such as the Bodhi tree, Tooth relic, etc.

The majority of our writers in the ancient and medieval times were Buddhist monks and their approach was more spiritual in nature. According to Mahavamsa King Kumaradasa, otherwise known as Kumaradhatusena, the author of the Janakiharana ascended the throne of Sri Lanka about the year 517 of the Christian era. The account of his reign, given in the Mahavamsa is exceedingly brief, so much so that it is supposed that the chapter recording the events of his rule has been lost. The Mahavamsa disposes him off in few verses where the prominent works of the “powerful monarch, known as Kumaradhatusena, whose form was like unto that of gods”  are mentioned and his death in the ninth year of reign. In these verses there is nothing to show that the king was a great poet, or that Janakiharana was composed or written by him.

But, there is unimpeachable evidence from other sources clearly establishing both these points. In the well-known work of the Principal of the Mayurapada Parivena, there is a “Pujavali” where occurs a passage, which runs thus: “The parricide Kasyapa, the prince Moggalana, the son of Dhatusena escaped to India. For fear of the King Kasyapa, but returning with an army he ravaged and ruled the country for eighteen years. His son Kumaradasa, who was a profound scholar, reigned for nine years, and died by throwing himself into the funeral pyre of his friend Kalidasa”2.  

Names of these two friends occur again nominally in a classical prose work called “Daladasirita”, which was written during the years 1303-13333. The next mention of this incident was recorded with more information in a book of classical verse called Perakumbasirita, which is believed to be written in the year 1450. According to “Perakumbasirita”, “The king Kumaradasa, who with immortal poetic felicity composed the Janakiharana and other Mahakavyas, sacrificed his life for the great poet Kalidasa”4.

One can see much information about the King Kumaradasa and the poet Kalidasa contained in this verse, which was not given in earlier literary sources. The author of this book is not known. This was recorded after 184 years of its first record they had appeared in “Pujavali”. Yet another classical verse called “Lokopakaraya” by a Buddhist monk named Ranasgalle Thero has also recorded this incident briefly but with new information not to be found in previous resources. According to literary historians this was written in the year 1799. Information contained in this verse is as follows:

“Because of craving for wealth, a woman destroyed the men who had worked for the betterment of the world. The poet Kalidasa having been killed thus, the king was also destroyed by a woman”5. Author of “Lokopakaraya” gives more information with regard to the cause of the incident as well. According to him, a woman was instrumental for this tragic incident. Those were the only written records in Sinhala of the folk legend, which is believed to have happened about one thousand two hundred years ago but is still prevalent in the oral tradition.

A British named Major Forbes made public the comprehensive record of this incident in the 19th century in English (1840). He had written this legend in English in his travelogue called “Eleven years of Ceylon” as a story he had learnt from a resident of the area. His description is as follows: “One evening, while Kumaradasa was in the house of a courtesan, he observed a bee alight on the flower of a water-lily, which closed and imprisoned the insect: the King, who was an accomplished poet, wrote the two first lines of the following verse, evidently intending to compare his own situation, entangled in the toils of a courtesan, to that of the bee secured within a lotus-flower…The flower referred to is great water-lily, commonly called by Europeans the pink lotus.  But, in the original, the words are distorted to suit the sound, and fit their place in the line. As they also have double meanings, the whole verse is obscure.

Underneath the two lines he wrote, Kumaradasa recorded a promise that he would grant any reward demanded by whoever could complete the stanza. Kalidasa, visiting at the house, perceived the writing, and completed the verse; but the courtesan, to obtain the reward for herself, murdered the poet, buried the body beneath the floor, and, declaring she herself had composed the two last lines, claimed the right to put forward request with which the King was bound to comply. No sooner, however, had he seen those lines, than he recognised in them the work of Kalidasa; and the consequence was, the discovery of murder, the disinterment of the corpse, and the preparation of a magnificent funeral pyre where the obsequies of the poet were to be solemnised on the banks of the Neela-Ganga.

The splendid preparations and the first ceremonies being completed, the remains of Kalidasa were placed on the pyre. When the fire burst forth, the King rushed into the flames and united his ashes with those of his friend and kindred, related by birth or descent. The same place witnessed the voluntary immolation of the five queens of Kumaradasa.

It was then, in A.D. 522, that the seven tombs were built and seven bo-trees planted: the tombs fell into decay but the sacred trees continued to wave their restless foliage over the ruins, amidst the spirits of the king and the poet were still supposed to wander. Processions, accompanied by music, occasionally repaired to the scene of this catastrophe; and offerings of flowers were presented as late as the year A.D.1783…”6.

Major Forbes made a personal comment with regard to this incident stating that,” I am not aware of any other instances of the widowed Queens of Ceylon offering themselves as victims at the tombs of their royal husbands; and Kumaradasa had been educated on the continent during the time his father was an exile, and probably married at that time”

The legend of Kumaradasa and Kalidasa was recorded again by a Sri Lankan born Dutch Writer, B. R. Blaze, when he was writing about a famous Dutchman, Charles Ambrose Lorenz who was born in Matara as follows: “Matara was the scene of the tragic romance of King Kumaradasa and the poet Kalidasa, who both loved the same fair betrayer. When she treacherously killed her poet-lover, so overwhelmed with grief was the King that he sacrificed his own life in the flames of his friend’s funeral pyre on the banks of the Neela-Ganga, not far from the very spot where the Rose Cottage now stands”7.

According to his account, not only the Sinhalese of the township but the descendents of the Dutch also knew this legend.

I have utilised six legends for this study and three out of these legends prevailed in the oral tradition. Others were recorded in the editions of Janakiharana by the respective editors apart from the description of this legend by Major Forbes. The earliest record of this legend was in a Janakiharana edition edited by famous Sanskrit scholar monk named Dharmarama Thera in 1891.The learned monk comments about the poet Kalidasa, his advent to Sri Lanka and the legend thus: “It is impossible to give within the compass of a short preface this sad and touching story in full; but at least a bare outline of it is desirable for the sake of such readers as are unacquainted with the traditional lore of the Island. The story in brief is this: The King was in the habit of frequenting the house of a woman to whom he was attached. In one of these visits he wrote on the wall:

“Padmada padmanodbhutam – Sruyate na cha drisyate”

(It is heard but not seen that (new lotus) flower is produced from a lotus),

Under them was written a note of reward for the person who would complete the verse. Kalidasa, then on a visit to the royal bard, whose poem he had seen in India, took lodgings that evening, as chance would have it, in the same house and happened to see the lines on the wall, completed the verse by adding,

“Bale! Tava mukhambhojat – tvannetindeevaradvyam”(O young woman! From the lotus of thy face have sprung up the two blue lilies of thin eyes.)                      

 The woman, to whom perhaps the poet meant the lines as a compliment, influenced by the hope of obtaining the promised reward, murdered Kalidasa that night and buried his body. When the king visited her the following morning, she demanded the reward as the author of the couplet. But Kumaradasa, detecting in them the genius of the true poet, would not believe her, but insisted on her disclosing the real author. On being threatened, the murderess confessed her crime. When the corpse of Kalidasa was brought out, the sorrow and consternation of the King knew no bounds. He ordered a grand funeral in honour of the renowned poet. When the pile was lighted, the generous hearted monarch, overwhelmed with sorrow, sprang into the fire and was soon consumed by the flames together with his brother bard. Five queens of the King instantly followed his example.

According to the Sinhalese custom seven monuments were erected and seven bo-trees planted on the spot of the cremation. This sad event appears to have taken place at Matara, where the King is said to have resided at the time. Within the town there is a place by the name of Hatbodhiwatta (the garden of seven bo-trees), which tradition points out as the scene of this tragedy”8, Commenting on this legend, the editor states,” It may be interesting to know that a similar story is current in Mysore, with Bhoja substitued for Kumaradasa. Kalidasa is murdered by a courtesan under the same circumstances; but Bhoja, unlike Kumarasdasa, does not think it necessary to sacrifice his life for the poet”.

Compared to the legend in the oral tradition and to the Major Forbes description the quadruplet, which was instrumental for the murder of poet Kalidasa was written in Sinhala and with a different meaning. It follows thus :         

“Siyatambara sitambara siyasaewaneee – siyasa purs nidinolaba unsewanee”(Enthrall’d by blushing sweets, their power shall keep – the anxious mind from rest and eyes from sleep).

“Wanabambara malanotala ronatawanee- Maladedara panagalawa giyasewanee”( Thou closed at eve, the glowing lotus see – Unhurt, at dawn, release the captive bee).

Professor Paranavitana, an eminent archeologist and historian, in his edition of Janakiharana quotes the Kalidasa and Kumaradasa legend similar to the other two sources i.e. Major Forbes and Daharmarama and states that “The fatal verse composed jointly by the King and the poet is duly recited by the narrators of the story. It is Sinhalese of a later stage of the language. In recent times, a Sanskrit stanza has been substituted in place of the Sinhalese9. Pertaining to Kumaradasa’s death, Paranavitana quotes from another source i.e. Suvarnnapuravamsa states a different story and it follows thus:

However, Kumaradasa is said to have decided to leave Suvarnnapura and return to Ceylon. He came to Rohana and was staying at Mahatirth, possibly incognito, until he became aware whether it was safe for him to go to Anuradhapura. While at Mahatirth, he is said to have gone to the house of a courtesan. It’s there he was killed by a person pretending to be in inebriated condition. Actually, he was an agent of Prince Agrabodhi. When King Manavarman came to know of Kumaradasa’s fate, he was full of sorrow, and had a Stupa built at the place where the poet’s body was cremated. This monument, it is said, was still to be seen at Mahatirtha when this account was written”9.

Though the recorded version of the oral legend by Forbes and Dharmarama reveals some facts not found in the history, it is orally handed down from generation to generation because of its credibility not as fantasy but as a fact. Even though it is not recorded in the mainstream of history it cannot be altogether fictitious. Then, a problem arises as to why this incident is not recorded in the official history and why it is only prevalent as a legend in the oral tradition. The major reason for the reluctance to record this incident may be the writers’ loyalty to the Pali tradition, which was the language of Buddhism.

The legend pivoted about the abduction of Sita in the epic Ramayana is condemned by the Buddhist monks as a story with non-Buddhistic elements. Yet another fact is the author of this epic poem Janakiharana was a layman who had studied Sanskrit poetics and Hindu tradition. History bears evidence to the high degree of the knowledge of the Vedas and other Sanskrit studies, which prevailed in those olden times in our Island. With the advent of Buddhism during the reign of Devnampiyatissa (236 BC), the Sinhalese took themselves more to the study of the new religion than to that of the Vedas. Sanskrit, however, was not on that account neglected. On the contrary, it became the invariable custom of the Sinhalese students to learn Grammar, Logic, Astrology, Ayurveda and other allied subjects in Sanskrit and the knowledge of which rendered the acquisition of Pali and the doctrines of Buddhism easier, and it is a fact that along with the Mahayana tradition, Sanskrit language was flourishing in the southern part of Sri Lanka at that time. The famous seaport of Weligama in the vicinity was a renowned centre of the Mahayana tradition. The promotion of Sanskrit had a close relationship with Mahayana Buddhist tradition as well.

Conclusion                                                                                                                                                              

This legend reveals the history of Matara township and Rohana (Southern part of Sri Lanka) its beliefs, rites and rituals, which were prevalent in the oral tradition from time immemorial. Sinhala writers of the medieval period did not mention this legend with special interest as the populace knew it. Apart from the fact that they were reluctant to describe the incident fully because it contained embarrassing information, which was not wholly compatible with Buddhist ethics. King Kumaradasa’s queens may have been from India married to him when he was in India. As to some of the information contained in this legend, Matara had urban features of a harbour town, for example, places and people such as taverns and the courtesans can be cited. Furthermore, the background features of this legend reveal information much more similar to the traditions of Indian townships and one can propose that the erotic nature of the poetry of Matara period, which reached its heights in the eighteenth century may have some bearing on the legend as well. One can believe, that the residents of Matara during that time were liberal minded due to geographical circumstances. They had a very sophisticated, urbane atmosphere and as a result of the vast exposure to the outside world, they inherited a unique worldview.

References :

1.      Mahavamsa: translated into English by Geiger, 1934.

2.      Pujavali: ed. Mabpitiye Medhankara Thera, Colombo,1932.

3.      Daladasirita: ed. Vajira  Ratnasuriya Colombo. 1949.

4.      Parakumbasirita: ed. D.G. Abhayagunaratna, 1931.

5.      Lokopakaraya: ed. Kiriwattuduve Pragnasara Thera. 1931.

6.      Eleven Years in Ceylon by Major Forbes, London, 1840.

7.      The Life of Lorenz by B.R.Blaze, Colombo,1948.

8.      Janakiharana Maha Kavya.ed. by Dharmarama Thera. 1891.

9.             The Janakiharana ed by Paranavitana and Godakumbura. 1967