View source for Bhagavadajjukam

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[[File:Bhagavadajukkam poster, The Doon School.jpg|thumb|Poster of the 2009 Founder's Day production at [[The Doon School]], Dehradun.]]
'''''Bhagavadajjukam''''' ([[Sanskrit]]; translated as '''''The Ascetic and the Courtesan''''' or '''''The Hermit and the Harlot''''') is a Sanskrit [[farce]] composed in the 7th century CE, usually attributed to Bodhayana.<ref>{{harvnb|Liu|2016|p=482}}</ref> It is the earliest surviving example of a satirical play (or ''prahasana'', one of the ten types of plays described in the treatise ''[[Natya Shastra]]'') in [[Sanskrit literature]].<ref>{{harvnb|Monius|2001|p=61}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Datta|1987|p=422}}: "Bhagavadajjukam (Sanskrit) is the earliest available play-type called prahasana, in which comical situations, harmless humour and wit are dominant. In a couple of manuscripts the author is mentioned as Bodhayana."</ref> Featuring witty exchanges, an episode about the [[transmigration of souls]] and a discussion on Hindu [[dharma]], the comical play was intended to mock the doctrines of [[Buddhism]], whose rise at the time presented a challenge to the dominance of [[Hinduism]] in India.<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |last1=Sastri |first1=Venkatarama Sharma |date=February 1928 |title= A Note on Bhagavadajjukam |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=33 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00130563 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{harvnb|Hardy|2005|p=568}}</ref>

==Characters==
*Parivrajaka{{snd}}monk or master
*Shandilya{{snd}}disciple
*Vasantsena{{snd}}courtesan
*Ramilaka{{snd}}courtesan's lover
*Vidushaka{{snd}}jester
*A [[quack doctor]]
*[[Yamaduta]], messenger of the lord of death, [[Yamaraja]]

==Synopsis==
The play opens with a discussion on Hindu [[dharma]] between a master and a disciple, whose attention is drifting towards a woman in the nearby garden. As the discussion goes on, the woman is bitten by a snake and falls dead – an act that deeply affects the disciple. To demonstrate his [[yogic]] power, the master transfers the disciple's soul into the woman's body, who then rises and continues the philosophical discussion.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Translations==
The play was rediscovered in the early 20th century when it was first translated into [[Telugu language|Telugu]] in 1924 by [[Veturi Prabhakara Sastri]], who then got it published in the [[Devanagri]] script through [[Vavilla Press]] in 1925.<ref>Foreword, ''Bodhayana's Bhagavadajjukam'', Manimanjari Publications, Hyderabad, January 1986</ref> In 1932, the play was translated into [[Italian language|Italian]], ''L'asceta transmutato in etèra'', by the [[Indologist]] Ferdinando Belloni-Filippi.<ref name="auto"/> The first [[English language|English]] translation of the play was published by the Dutch Indologist [[J. A. B. van Buitenen]] in the journal ''Mahfil'' (now ''Journal of South Asian Literature'') in 1971 with the title ''The Hermit and the Harlot''.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Buitenen |first1=J. A. B. |title=The Hermit and the Harlot|journal=Mahfil |date=1971 |volume=7 |issue=3/4 |pages=149–166 |jstor=40874441}}</ref>

==Performance history==
In 1967, the play was directed in Hindi by [[Shanta Gandhi]] at the [[National School of Drama]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dharwadker|2009|p=167}}</ref> It has often been adapted to be performed as [[Koodiyattam]], a traditional performing art of [[Kerala]].<ref name="Absorbing">{{cite web |last1=Pradeep |first1=K. |title=Absorbing and relevant |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/absorbing-and-relevant/article2455836.ece#:~:text=Bodhayana's%20'Bhagavadajjukam'%20is%20a%20Sanskrit,play%20in%20a%20new%20pattern |website=The Hindu |access-date=23 June 2020 |language=en-IN |date=15 September 2011}}</ref> The play continues to be performed in many regional Indian languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/theatre/celebration-of-theatre/article31109852.ece|title=Celebration of theatre|first=Diwan Singh|last=Bajeli|date=March 19, 2020|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> In 2011, [[Kavalam Narayana Panicker]] directed the play at the Ernakulam Town Hall in [[Kochi]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2011/oct/26/some-soul-searching-304148.html|title=Some Soul-searching|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> Other recent productions were held in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/this-dancer-is-keeping-india-s-oldest-surviving-sanskrit-theatre-alive/story-VhqM24cP1pD5v03vn6jqyH.html|title=This dancer is keeping India’s oldest surviving Sanskrit theatre alive|date=July 30, 2016|website=Hindustan Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/reviews/koodiyattam-performance-based-on-naganandam-play-in-the-capital-city/article29574273.ece|title=Powerful portrayal|first=Vr Prabodhachandran|last=Nayar|date=October 3, 2019|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/curtains-up/article4316204.ece|title=Curtains up|first=Liza|last=George|date=January 17, 2013|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Datta |first=Amaresh |date=1987 |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Volume 1 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |isbn=9788126018031}}
*{{cite book |last=Hardy |first=Friedhelm |date=2005 |title=The Religious Culture of India: Power, Love and Wisdom |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521023443}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Liu |editor-first=Siyuan |date=2016 |title=Routledge Handbook of Asian Theatre |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317278863}}
*{{cite book|last=Dharwadker|first=Aparna Bhargava |title=Theatres of independence: drama, theory, and urban performance in India since 1947|publisher=University of Iowa Press|year=2009|isbn= 9781587296420}}
*{{cite book|first=Anne|last=Monius |title=Imagining a Place for Buddhism: Literary Culture and Religious Community in Tamil-Speaking South India|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780198032069}}

[[Category:Sanskrit plays]]
[[Category:Indian plays]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian literature]]
[[Category:7th-century plays]]
[[Category:Sanskrit texts]]
[[Category:7th-century Indian books]]
[[Category:Comedy plays]]
[[Category:Satirical plays]]
[[Category:Comedy-drama plays]]