Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa
Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa ("The Jewel Treasury of Elegant Verse"). A famous anthology of "wise sayings" (subhāṣita), compiled by Vidyākara, an Indian Buddhist monk of the Jagaddala monastery in Bengal, during the latter half of the eleventh century.[1]
Two different manuscript versions of the anthology exist. Daniel Ingalls states:
- Vidyākara's collection has come down to us in two versions, each represented by a single complete manuscript. The earlier version, containing just over 1000 versus, is furnished by an old manuscript (N), quite possibly the compilers own copy, which one last heard of was reposing in a barn in the monastery of Ngor in Tibet. A later version, containing 1728 verses, is known for a copy (K) made in AD 1710 and now housed in the Rajguru Library in Kathmandu, Nepal.[2]
Ingalls asserts that both versions are likely the product of the same compiler. He states:
- One may further infer from the arrangement of versus that the compiler worked over his collection for a long time, perhaps even as a lifelong hobby.[2]
The earlier edition was published by F. W. Thomas in 1912 under the title Kavindra Vachana Samucchaya. Some of the verses in the palm leaf contain some additional annotations, and D. D. Kosambi has argued for these being shelfmarks, possibly from the library at Jagaddal Vihar, where Vidyakara may have done the research to locate the verses. The first version is considered to be an earlier edition of the final compilation.[3]
The definitive text of this second edition was edited by D. D. Kosambi and V. V. Gokhale, with inputs from Daniel Ingalls (Harvard Oriental Series, 1957).[3]
Poets
Many of the authors in the Subhashitaratnakosha are not identified. Of the 275 identified names, only eleven seem to be earlier than the 7th century.[2] Though the most popular are well-known poets from recent centuries: Rajashekhara, Murari, and Bhavabhuti. Many of the favoured authors - Vallana, Yogeshvara, Vasukalpa, Manovinoda, Abhinanda were all Bengalis or at least easterners of the Pala kingdom, the core of which comprised Bengal and Bihar. These authors are all more or less contemporaneous or just preceding Vidyakara. Among the less frequently quoted authors are many Pala princes of state and church whose verses are not found in any other extant work. Among them are Dharmapala, Rajyapala, Buddhakaragupta, Khipaka, and Jnanashri. Though Vidyakara quotes verses of classical authors like Kalidasa, Rajashekhara, and Bhavabhuti, he shows a "special predilection for eastern or Bengali poets".
Some of these authors were contemporaries of Vidyakara, and it is possible he may have known them. In addition to the Jagaddala Vihara, he is certain to have had access to the libraries at the five major viharas across Eastern India, since there was considerable mobility among scholars between these state-managed campuses.
The breakup of the most frequent authors, as presented by Kosambi and Gokhale (1957) is:[4]
| Poet | Period (CE) | Number of stanzas |
|---|---|---|
| Rajashekhara | 900 | 101 stanzas |
| Murari | 800-900 | 56 stanzas |
| Bhavabhuti | (725) | 47 stanzas |
| Vallana | (900-1100) | 42 stanzas |
| Yogeshvara | (700-800) | 33 stanzas |
| Bhartṛhari | (400) | 25 stanzas |
| Vasukalpa | (950) | 25 stanzas |
| Manovinoda | (900-1100) | 23 stanzas |
| Bana | (600-650) | 21 stanzas |
| Achala(simha) | (700-800?) | 20 stanzas |
| Dharmakirti | (700) | 19 stanzas |
| Viryamitra | (900-1100) | 17 stanzas |
Themes
The book is compiled into thematic sections. Opening with verses on the Bodhisattvas (most of them composed by professors and others at the Viharas, near contemporaries), the text also includes several sections on Hindu topics (Shiva, Vishnu). Vidyakara included more verses in praise of the Hindu gods than he did of the Buddha.[5] Subsequent sections quickly slip into the romantic mode, with several chapters dealing with the seasons, messengers, different periods of the day.
A later compilation, Shridharadasa's Saduktikarnamrta (1205), also from the Bengal region, has considerable overlap with Vidyakara (623 verses out of 2377). Though it is larger, the aesthetic discernment of Vidyakara has been greatly admired.[3]
The volume of translations by Ingalls is the most complete version in English.[2] Selected poems in the collection have also been translated by many others.[3]
Translation
- Vidyākara (1968), Sanskrit poetry, from Vidyākara's "Treasury", translated by Daniel Ingalls, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Google books version
Notes
- ↑ Jamgon Mipham 2017, Appendix 1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Vidyākara 1968, General Introduction.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3
Vidyakara, Wikipedia
- ↑ Vidyakara, ed. D. D. Kosambi and V. V. Gokhale, introduction by D. D. Kosambi. Harvard Oriental Series, vol. 42 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1957)
- ↑ Vidyākara 1968, p. 32.
Sources
Jamgon Mipham (2017), The Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life, translated by José Ignacio Cabezón, Snow Lion- Vidyākara (1968), Sanskrit poetry, from Vidyākara's "Treasury", translated by Daniel Ingalls, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Google books version
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