Licence and faithfulness: Taking liberties with kathā in classical Sanskrit poetry and aesthetics

This article concerns techniques whereby poets of classical Sanskrit literature (kāvya) interacted with their story materials (kathās), and conceptions in medieval Indian poetics (alaṃkāraśāstra) concerning their interaction. Taking ample poetic liberties enabled poets (kavis) of this tradition to assert their independence from canonical versions of their sources. Two court epics (mahākāvyas), the Surathotsava and the Durgāvilāsa, which refashion the tale of a Purāṇic legend the Devīmāhātmya, form case-studies for the argument. The Devīmāhātmya (c. 8th century CE) tells the demon-slaying deeds of a tempestuous warrior goddess Caṇḍikā, and her encounter with Suratha, a king who has lost his kingdom. The work is the most important kathā of the goddess, forming the liturgical text of the Nine Nights (Navarātra), an annual autumnal ceremony worshipping this deity. The Surathotsava (“The Festival of Suratha”), a 13th century mahākāvya by Someśvaradeva, active in the Caulukya court at Aṇahilvāḍ-Pāṭan, and the Durgāvilāsa (“The Delights of Durgā”), from c. the 17th century CE or possibly much earlier, a hitherto unknown and unpublished mahākāvya by Rāmakṛṣṇa, draw their inspiration and materials from the narrative-paradigm of the Devīmāhātmya. However, the versions of the story of King Suratha to be found in these two mahākāvyas diverge from the canonical kathā of Suratha in the Devīmāhātmya. The purpose, effect and relation of these narrative transformations with their source become more meaningful when considered in the light of a broader tradition favouring poetic licence articulated in classical aesthetics. The Indian aesthetic tradition acknowledged the exercise of liberty, even with kathās with a sacred character serving a role in ritual, as a fundamental principle in making and experiencing poetry. The discovery of the Durgāvilāsa is announced here, and this mahākāvya receives its first scholarly treatment in the present study