“How the Nagas Were Pleased” and “The Shattered Thighs”

By Harṣa and Bhāsa
Translated by Andrew Skilton

“How the Nagas Were Pleased” and “The Shattered Thighs”

Two plays that break the rules: both show the hero dying on stage, a scenario forbidden in Sanskrit dramaturgy. From widely different ideological and social backgrounds, each evokes intense emotion in an exploration of love and heroism, conflict and peace, idealism and pragmatic reconciliation.

Harsha’s Play, composed in the seventh century CE, re-examines the Buddhist tale of a magician prince who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save a hostage snake (nāga).

Shankha·chuda: So, if we deserve your sympathy, think of a plan so that my mother here will not give up her life tortured by my disaster.

Hero: What needs planning here? The plan is already conceived. But it depends on you.

Shankha·chuda: In what way?

Hero: If you want her living, when you dying she’d die. And you living she’d live, then save yourself with my life. I am the plan. So give me the victim’s mark quickly, so that I can put it on and get up on the slaughter stone.

Attributed to Bhasa, the illustrious predecessor to Kali·dasa, “The Shattered Thighs” transforms a crucial episode of the Maha·bhárata war. As he dies from a foul blow to the legs delivered in his duel with Bhima, Duryódhana’s character is inverted, depicted as a noble and gracious exemplar amidst the wreckage of the fearsome battle scene. As ignoble man dies a hero’s death.

376 pp.  |  ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-4066-8  |  ISBN-10: 0-8147-4066-9  |  Co-published by New York University Press and JJC Foundation

Excerpts

“How the Nagas Were Pleased”
Act 2 (pp. 58–71)
(22 pp, 1.34mb)

Download Excerpts (pdf)
Download CSL Front Matter (pdf)
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Download the title page and table of contents and one chapter of the book (in English and Sanskrit on facing pages), bundled together as a .pdf file. You can also download the CSL Front Matter (6pp, 1.3mb). It describes how we transliterate the Sanskrit text in the Roman alphabet and includes a guide to pronunciation. It also explains our system of representing phonetic fusion (sandhi).

You can set Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the Sanskrit text and translation in facing page view. Simply go to “View” in the toolbar, select “Page Layout” and click on “Facing.”

About the Translator

Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Indian Religions, University of Cardiff.

eCSL Word Frequency Counts

Top 50 Verbs

RankUnique WordsNumber of Occurrences
1Like100
2Come68
3Looking59
4See59
5Look51
6Say41
7Enters27
8Please25
9Gone24
10Made24
 
11Going24
12Make22
13Leave21
14Seen21
15Taking21
16Seeing20
17Bear20
18Give19
19Take19
20Think19
 
21Coming19
22Know18
23Listen16
24Tell16
25Fallen15
26Making15
27Approaching14
28Speak13
29Looks13
30Laughing13
 
31Follow12
32Help12
33Leaves11
34Drawn11
35Instructed11
36Want11
37Smiling11
38Addressing11
39Sit11
40Open11
 
41Bow11
42Destroyed11
43Supporting11
44Given10
45Scattered10
46Hanging10
47Said10
48Getting10
49Feel10
50Enter10

Top 50 Nouns

RankUnique WordsNumber of Occurrences
1Hero147
2Act95
3Companion71
4Maidservant67
5Shankhachuda63
6Son61
7Mitravasu57
8Heroine55
9Duryodhana51
10Boy50
 
11Hand(s)50
12Malayavati47
13Body(ies)44
14Two44
15Eye(s)42
16Queen41
17Garuda41
18Face39
19Jimutaketu39
20Friend38
 
21Scene36
22Feet33
23Mother33
24Today32
25Life32
26Point32
27Heart31
28Jimutavahana31
29Soldier30
30King29
 
31Father29
32Lady29
33Chief29
34Prince29
35Five29
36Time28
37Man26
38Three26
39Woman26
40Parents25
 
41Way25
42Battle25
43Tears24
44Flower(s)23
45Durjaya23
46Ground22
47Four22
48Dhritarashtra22
49Mountain21
50Husband21