What types of metres are used in mahakavya in Indian literature?

 

 

Mahākāvya also known as sargabandha, is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, everything that tests a poet's skill at description. Typical examples of mahākāvya are the Kumarasambhava and the Kiratarjuniya.

 

Mahabharata the longest Mahakavya

It is considered the most prestigious form in the Sanskrit literature.[weasel words] The genre evolved from the earlier epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Despite the length of mahākāvyas (15-30 cantos, a total of about 1500-3000 verses), they are still much shorter than the Ramayana (500 cantos, 24000 verses) and the Mahabharata (about 100000 verses)

Tradition identifies five works as model mahākāvya:

•             Kumārasambhava by Kālidāsa in 5th century CE: the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, and the                     birth of Kumara, in 17 cantos

•             Raghuvaṃśa by Kālidāsa: the Raghu dynasty, in 19 cantos (about 1564 verses)

•             Kiratarjuniya by Bharavi in 6th century CE: Arjuna's encounter with a Kirata (Shiva) 18                          cantos(about 2500 years ago)

•             Naiśadha-carita by Shriharsha in 1174 AD: on the life of King Nala and Queen Damayanti, 22                 cantos

•             Śiśupāla-vadha by Māgha in 7th century CE: the slaying of Shishupala by Krishna, 22 cantos                  (about 1800 verses)

To this list, sometimes a sixth one is also added.

•             Bhaṭṭikāvya, by Bhaṭṭi in 7th century CE: describes the events of the Ramayana and                                 simultaneously illustrates the principles of Sanskrit grammar, 22 cantos

 

Characteristics

In the mahākāvya genre, more emphasis was laid on description than on narration. Indeed, the traditional characteristics of a mahākāvya are listed as:

•             It must take its subject matter from the epics (Ramayana or Mahabharata), or from history,

•             It must help further the four goals of man (Purusharthas), Rama and Karna were said to be the    greatest men in Purushartha by sevaral writers such as Valmiki and Vyasa. Chanakya claimed the two men to be the greatest of all human beings who are selfless and keep their vows. For example- Rama despite being a step-son of Kaikeyi obeyed her and kept his promise, went to the forests for 14 years and had to suffer throughout his life in the forest. Similarly, Karna who was abandoned by Kunti but still when Kunti came to ask for something, Karna kept his promise and sacrificed his own life but did not let his brothers- Pandavas die.

•             It must contain descriptions of cities, seas, mountains, moonrise and sunrise, and "accounts of merrymaking in gardens, of bathing parties, drinking bouts, and love-making. It should tell the sorrow of separated lovers and should describe a wedding and the birth of a son. It should describe a king's council, an embassy, the marching forth of an army, a battle, and the victory of a hero".

These are not random suggestions but specific requirements. Every complete mahākāvya that has come down to us from the time of Kalidasa contains the whole list, which, if one considers it carefully, will be seen to contain the basic repertory of Sanskrit poetry. Contained in it are the essential elements of nature, love, society, and war which a poet should be able to describe. The great kāvya tested a poet by his power of rendering content, which is a better test at least than the Persian diwan, which tested a poet by his skill at rhyme.

It is composed of a varying number of short poems or cantos, that tells the story of a classical epic. Each poem is composed in a metre that is fitting to the subject matter, such as a description of the seasons, a geographical form of nature such as a mountain, and cities.

Modern mahakavya

In the relatively secluded world of modern Sanskrit literature, mahakavyas continue to be produced. Some of these have been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit. In the introduction to Ṣoḍaśī: An Anthology of Contemporary Sanskrit Poets (1992), Radhavallabh Tripathi writes:

On the other hand, the number of authors who appear to be very enthusiastic about writing in Sanskrit during these days is not negligible. In a thesis dealing with Sanskrit mahākāvyas written in a single decade, 1961–1970, the researcher Dr. Ramji Upadhyaya has noted 52 Sanskrit mahākāvyas (epic poems) produced in that very decade.

Some modern mahākāvyas do not aim to satisfy all the traditional criteria, and take as their subject historical matter (such as Rewa Prasad Dwivedi's Svatantrya Sambhavam on the Indian independence movement, or K.N. Ezhuthachan's Keralodayah on the history of Kerala), or biographies of historical characters (such as S.B. Varnekar's Shrishivarajyodayam on Shivaji, M. S. Aney's Sritilakayasornavah on Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or P. C. Devassia's Kristubhagavatam on Jesus Christ). Some others like the Śrībhārgavarāghaviyam (2002) composed by Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya continue to have the subject of the traditional epics.