The Literary Court
Bhavabhuti and Vakpati
At its height, Yashovarman's court hosted two of the greatest poets in Indian literary history, Bhavabhuti, second only to Kalidasa in Sanskrit drama, and Vakpati, master of Prakrit epic. Their works, composed under royal patronage, would outlast everything else their patron built. The literary flowering at Kannauj represents one of the defining moments in Indian cultural history.
A Gathering of Genius
The messenger arrived at Kannauj bearing news that would change the history of Indian literature. A poet from Vidarbha, a Brahmin named Shrikantha, who called himself Bhavabhuti, sought royal patronage. He carried manuscripts of dramas unlike anything composed since Kalidasa himself.
Yashovarman received him in the great hall. The poet, middle-aged and intense, began to read from his Mahaviracharita, a dramatization of Rama's early life. The language was elevated, the emotions profound, the Sanskrit dense with meaning.
By the time Bhavabhuti finished, the court sat in silence. Then Yashovarman spoke: "You will stay at Kannauj. Whatever you need, you shall have."
It was one of the most consequential decisions of his reign.
Bhavabhuti: The Second Master
Who was this poet who would become Sanskrit's second-greatest dramatist? Bhavabhuti was born into a learned Brahmin family in Vidarbha (modern eastern Maharashtra). His education was encyclopedic: Vedic learning, Sanskrit grammar, the philosophical schools, and above all, the theory and practice of drama.
He had come to Kannauj with three plays already composed or in progress:
- Mahaviracharita, Rama's early life, from birth through his marriage to Sita
- Uttararamacharita, The later story of Rama, including Sita's exile and the final reunion
- Malatimadhava, A romantic drama with invented characters
The first two drew from the Ramayana, but Bhavabhuti's treatment was unprecedented. His Rama was introspective, tormented, wrestling with the conflict between duty and love. His Sita was dignified in suffering, her pain rendered with devastating power.
"There is only one rasa, karuna (compassion). All other emotions are merely its transformations." , Bhavabhuti, Uttararamacharita
This was Bhavabhuti's revolutionary aesthetic claim. All emotions, love, heroism, fear, wonder, ultimately derived from our capacity for fellow-feeling. Literature moved us because it awakened compassion.
