Shishupala Vadha - Linguistic Ingenuity

Linguistic Ingenuity

Besides its poetry, the poem also revels in wordplay and ingeniously constructed verses. The second canto contains a famous verse with a string of adjectives that can be interpreted differently depending on whether they are referring to politics (rāja-nīti, king's policy) or grammar. The entire 16th canto, a message from Shishupala to Krishna, is intentionally ambiguous and can be interpreted in two ways — a humble apology in courteous words, or a declaration of war. The 19th canto, especially, like the 15th canto of Kirātārjunīya, contains chitrakavya or decorative composition, with many examples of constrained writing. Its third stanza, for instance, contains only the consonant 'j' in the first line, 't' in the second, 'bh' in the third, and 'r' in the fourth:

Devanagari जजौजोजाजिजिज्जाजी तं ततोऽतितताततुत् । भाभोऽभीभाभिभूभाभू- रारारिररिरीररः ॥

IAST jajaujojājijijjājī taṃ tato'titatātatut bhābho'bhībhābhibhūbhābhū- rārārirarirīraraḥ

"Then the warrior, winner of war, with his heroic valour, the subduer of the extremely arrogant beings, he who has the brilliance of stars, he who has the brilliance of the vanquisher of fearless elephants, the enemy seated on a chariot, began to fight."

He progresses to just two consonants in the 66th stanza:

भूरिभिर्भारिभिर्भीराभूभारैरभिरेभिरे । भेरीरेभिभिरभ्राभैरभीरुभिरिभैरिभाः ॥

bhūribhirbhāribhirbhīrābhūbhārairabhirebhire bherīrebhibhirabhrābhairabhīrubhiribhairibhāḥ

"The fearless elephant, who was like a burden to the earth because of its weight, whose sound was like a kettle-drum, and who was like a dark cloud, attacked the enemy elephant."

By the 114th stanza, this is taken to an extreme, with a celebrated example involving just one consonant:

दाददो दुद्ददुद्दादी दाददो दूददीददोः । दुद्दादं दददे दुद्दे दादाददददोऽददः ॥

dādado duddaduddādī dādado dūdadīdadoḥ duddādaṃ dadade dudde dādādadadado'dadaḥ

"Sri Krishna, the giver of every boon, the scourge of the evil-minded, the purifier, the one whose arms can annihilate the wicked who cause suffering to others, shot his pain-causing arrow at the enemy."

The same canto also contains increasingly ingenious palindromes. The 44th stanza, for instance, has each line a palindrome:

वारणागगभीरा सा साराभीगगणारवा । कारितारिवधा सेना नासेधा वारितारिका ॥

vāraṇāgagabhīrā sā sārābhīgagaṇāravā / kāritārivadhā senā nāsedhā vāritārikā

"It is very difficult to face this army which is endowed with elephants as big as mountains. This is a very great army and the shouting of frightened people is heard. It has slain its enemies."

The 88th stanza is a palindrome as a whole (syllable-for-syllable), with the second half being the first half reversed. This is known as pratiloma (or gatapratyāgata) and is not found in Bharavi:

तं श्रिया घनयानस्तरुचा सारतया तया । यातया तरसा चारुस्तनयानघया श्रितं ॥

taṃ śriyā ghanayānastarucā sāratayā tayā yātayā tarasā cārustanayānaghayā śritaṃ

The 34th stanza is the 33rd stanza written backwards, with a different meaning. Finally, the 27th stanza is an example of what has been called "the most complex and exquisite type of palindrome ever invented". Sanskrit aestheticians call it sarvatobhadra, "perfect in every direction" — it yields the same text if read forwards, backwards, down, or up:

सकारनानारकास- कायसाददसायका । रसाहवा वाहसार- नादवाददवादना ॥ sakāranānārakāsa- kāyasādadasāyakā rasāhavā vāhasāra- nādavādadavādanā.

sa kā ra nā nā ra kā sa kā ya sā da da sā ya kā ra sā ha vā vā ha sā ra nā da vā da da vā da nā (and the lines reversed) nā da vā da da vā da nā ra sā ha vā vā ha sā ra kā ya sā da da sā ya kā sa kā ra nā nā ra kā sa

", which relished battle (rasāhavā) contained allies who brought low the bodes and gaits of their various striving enemies (sakāranānārakāsakāyasādadasāyakā), and in it the cries of the best of mounts contended with musical instruments (vāhasāranādavādadavādanā)."

The 29th stanza can be arranged into the shape of a "drum" (muraja-citra):

सा सेना गमनारम्भे रसेनासीदनारता । तारनादजनामत्त धीरनागमनामया ॥

sā se nā ga ma nā ra mbhe ra se nā sī da nā ra tā tā ra nā da ja nā ma tta dhī ra nā ga ma nā ma yā

"That army was very efficient and as it moved, the warrior heroes were very alert and did their duties with great concentration. The soldiers in the army made a loud sound. The army was adorned with intoxicated and restive elephants. No one was there with any thought of pain."

In the 118th stanza, each half contains the same pada twice, but with different meanings. This is known as samudga:

सदैव संपन्नवपू रणेषु स दैवसंपन्नवपूरणेषु । महो दधे 'स्तारि महानितान्तं महोदधेस्तारिमहा नितान्तम् ॥

sadaiva saṃpannavapū raṇeṣu sa daivasaṃpannavapūraṇeṣu maho dadhe 'stāri mahānitāntaṃ mahodadhestārimahā nitāntam

The canto also includes stanzas which can be arranged into the shape of a sword, zigzags, and other shapes.

Finally, it ends with a stanza (120th) in the extremely difficult "wheel design" known as cakra-vṛtta or cakrabandha, wherein the syllables can be arranged in the form of a wheel with six spokes.

सत्वं मानविशिष्टमाजिरभसादालम्ब्य भव्यः पुरो
लब्धाघक्षयशुद्धिरुद्धरतरश्रीवत्सभूमिर्मुदा ।
मुक्त्वा काममपास्तभीः परमृगव्याधः स नादं हरे-
रेकौघैः समकालमभ्रमुदयी रोपैस्तदा तस्तरे ॥

satvaṃ mānaviśiṣṭamājirabhasādālambya bhavyaḥ puro
labdhāghakṣayaśuddhiruddharataraśrīvatsabhūmirmudā /
muktvā kāmamapāstabhīḥ paramṛgavyādhaḥ sa nādaṃ hare-
rekaughaiḥ samakālamabhramudayī ropaistadā tastare //

In the figure, the first, second and third lines are read top-to-bottom along the "spokes" of the wheel, sharing a common central syllable, while the fourth line is read clockwise around the circumference (starting and ending where the third line ends), sharing every third syllable with one of the first three lines. Further, the large syllables in bold (within the annuli), read clockwise, spell out śiśupālavadha-māgha-kāvyamidaṃ ("This is Śiśupālavadha, a poem by Māgha").