Hanumannatakam Date And Place Of Its Origin

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The article "Hanumannātakam: Date and Place of Its Origin" by Vijay Pandya delves into the complex and multifaceted issues surrounding the Sanskrit play Hanumannātakam. The author highlights that the play presents numerous "intractable problems" concerning its authorship, age, genre, form, date, and origin.

Authorship and Versions:

• Euphemistic Authorship: The title, Hanumannātakam, implies Hanuman as the author, which the author interprets as a way of indicating that the true author is unknown.
• Multiple Versions: The play exists in different versions, the most prominent being:
  • Mahānātakam: Prevalent in Bengal and attributed to Madhusudana Misra, who might have been a redactor.
  • Hanumannātakam: The version prevalent in Western India, ascribed to Damodara Misra.
• Manuscript Variation: The author emphasizes that there are as many versions of Hanumannātakam as there are manuscripts, likening it to the situation with the Dūtārigada.

Unique Features of the Play:

• No Prologue: It lacks a traditional prologue (prastāvanā).
• Benedictory Stanzas: While it begins with benedictory stanzas, some of which are from earlier sources, it doesn't have a standard nandi verse.
• Absence of Prakrit: Unlike most classical Sanskrit dramas, it contains no Prakrit dialogue.
• Limited Dramatic Form and Prose: It has minimal dramatic structure and very little prose dialogue.
• Poetic String: The play primarily consists of a string of striking poetic verses, some of which are traceable to earlier sources, while others are not.
• Chāyānāṭaka Classification: Scholars like S.K. De and S.P. Bhattacharya have debated whether it qualifies as a chāyānāṭaka (shadow play).

Dating the Play:

• Max Müller's Opinion: Max Müller believed the work was more epic than dramatic, suggesting an earlier stage of Indian drama.
• Author's Counter-Argument: Pandya disagrees, arguing that the sophisticated verses suggest a later period when the strict rules of classical Sanskrit drama were relaxed. He places its origin in the second millennium A.D., during medieval times.
• Legendary Accounts:
  • The legend attributes the composition to Hanuman, who cast it into the sea fearing it would overshadow Valmiki's Rāmāyaṇa.
  • It was later retrieved by King Bhoja and redacted by Damodara Misra.
  • Another anecdote from Bhojaprabandha mentions fishermen finding an engraved stone in the Narmada River, which Bhoja recognized as Hanuman's work and had completed by his court poet.
  • The Mahānātaka version states that Hanuman's work was rescued by Vikrama and redacted by Madhusudana.
• Influence of King Bhoja: These legends suggest that the play acquired its current form around the time of King Bhoja (11th century A.D.).
• Influence of Dūtāngada: The VIII act of Hanumannātakam, focusing on Angada's embassy to Ravana, bears a close thematic resemblance and shares verses with the one-act play Dūtāngada. Since Hanumannātakam appears to be a wholesale borrower, it's inferred that it followed Dūtāngada chronologically.
• Subhata and Dūtāngada: Subhata, the playwright of Dūtāngada, was associated with the literary circle of Vastupala in the first half of the 13th century A.D. This leads Pandya to date Hanumannātakam around the 13th century.
• Affinity with Gujarat Plays: Hanumannātakam shares similarities with other plays from Gujarat during this period, such as:
  • Candralekhāvijayaprakarana by Devacandragaṇi.
  • Mānamudrābhanjikā by the same author.
  • Ullāgharāghava by Someshvara (flourished in the late 12th and early 13th centuries).
  • These plays, along with Dūtāngada, form a homogenous group with Hanumannātakam.
• Chāyānāṭaka Context: The article notes that Dūtāngada and Ullāgharāghava are considered the oldest chāyānāṭakas originating in Gujarat during the 12th-13th centuries. Since Hanumannātakam is also termed a chāyānāṭakam, this reinforces its origin during the same period.

Further Evidence from Giradhara's Rāmāyaṇa:

• Eighteenth-Century Influence: The author finds crucial support from Giradhara's 18th-century Gujarati versified Rāmāyaṇa.
• Acknowledged Source: Giradhara explicitly acknowledges Hanumannātakam as a source for his work, alongside Valmiki's Rāmāyaṇa. He states that he has taken "infinite examples" from it.
• Geographical Proximity: The deep influence of Hanumannātakam on Giradhara's work suggests its origin in or near Gujarat, making it accessible to the poet.

Conclusion: Based on the analysis of its unique features, legendary accounts, literary influences (particularly Dūtāngada), and its status as a chāyānāṭaka, Vijay Pandya tentatively concludes that the Hanumannātakam most likely originated in Gujarat during the 12th or 13th century A.D.