2023-02-23 18:49:19 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
INTRODUCTION
247
SUBJECT-MATTER
All but four of the stanzas of the Candisataka picture some
detail of the prolonged struggle between the goddess Candi, who
is more generally known as Pärvatī, wife of Siva, and the buffalo-
shaped demon Mahişa. The struggle of course ended with the
death of the demon at Candi's hands, or in this instance we might
rather say at Candi's feet, for it is worthy of remark that in
more than 60 of the stanzas of this poem the killing of Mahisa is
attributed directly to the power of the goddess's kick.¹ Of the
four stanzas excepted, three (25, 45, 54) deal with the legend that
portrays Kamsa's attempted slaying of Candi (Yoganidrā), and
one (49) describes Siva on his knees, begging Candi's pardon for
the humiliation caused her by the burning up of Kāma.
THE LEGEND OF THE DEMON MAHISA
This legend of the demon Mahișa, the chief topic of the Candi-
śataka, can be traced to its source in the Mahabharata and
Purāṇas, but not until the Puranic period of the literature does
1 See below, p. 251, and Candikataka, stanza 4, note 4. Apropos of this
glorification of Candi's foot or kick, I cannot refrain from hazarding the
suggestion that perhaps the Candiśataka was written by Bāṇa to propitiate
the anger of his wife by praising the foot with which she had spurned
him. The reader will remember (see above, p. 22-23) how Mayūra, while
eavesdropping, heard a lover's quarrel in progress between Bāṇa and his
wife. Bāna was saying: 'O faithful one, pardon this one fault; I will
not again anger thee.' But she spurned him with her foot, and Mayūra
heard her anklet tinkling (the tinkling of Candi's anklet is mentioned in
stanzas 6, 13, 43 and 44 of the Candidataka). Then Bāṇa recited a pro-
pitiatory stanza in which he addressed his angry spouse as subhra, 'fair-
browed.' Thereupon Mayūra, unable to restrain his propensity for pun-
ning, interrupted the quarrel and said: 'Don't call her Subhrú (Subhrū
was one of the six kṛttikäs, the Pleiades, who were accounted the six
mothers of Skanda; Caṇḍī was his seventh mother; cf. Candidataka, stanza
28, note 2), but Candi,' which, punningly, means 'Don't call her fair-
browed, but a vixen.' May not therefore the title Candikataka have the
underlying meaning of 'The Hundred Stanzas to the Vixen?' The matter
is all legend, or mostly all; but speculation, even in legend, is not without
interest.
247
SUBJECT-MATTER
All but four of the stanzas of the Candisataka picture some
detail of the prolonged struggle between the goddess Candi, who
is more generally known as Pärvatī, wife of Siva, and the buffalo-
shaped demon Mahişa. The struggle of course ended with the
death of the demon at Candi's hands, or in this instance we might
rather say at Candi's feet, for it is worthy of remark that in
more than 60 of the stanzas of this poem the killing of Mahisa is
attributed directly to the power of the goddess's kick.¹ Of the
four stanzas excepted, three (25, 45, 54) deal with the legend that
portrays Kamsa's attempted slaying of Candi (Yoganidrā), and
one (49) describes Siva on his knees, begging Candi's pardon for
the humiliation caused her by the burning up of Kāma.
THE LEGEND OF THE DEMON MAHISA
This legend of the demon Mahișa, the chief topic of the Candi-
śataka, can be traced to its source in the Mahabharata and
Purāṇas, but not until the Puranic period of the literature does
1 See below, p. 251, and Candikataka, stanza 4, note 4. Apropos of this
glorification of Candi's foot or kick, I cannot refrain from hazarding the
suggestion that perhaps the Candiśataka was written by Bāṇa to propitiate
the anger of his wife by praising the foot with which she had spurned
him. The reader will remember (see above, p. 22-23) how Mayūra, while
eavesdropping, heard a lover's quarrel in progress between Bāṇa and his
wife. Bāna was saying: 'O faithful one, pardon this one fault; I will
not again anger thee.' But she spurned him with her foot, and Mayūra
heard her anklet tinkling (the tinkling of Candi's anklet is mentioned in
stanzas 6, 13, 43 and 44 of the Candidataka). Then Bāṇa recited a pro-
pitiatory stanza in which he addressed his angry spouse as subhra, 'fair-
browed.' Thereupon Mayūra, unable to restrain his propensity for pun-
ning, interrupted the quarrel and said: 'Don't call her Subhrú (Subhrū
was one of the six kṛttikäs, the Pleiades, who were accounted the six
mothers of Skanda; Caṇḍī was his seventh mother; cf. Candidataka, stanza
28, note 2), but Candi,' which, punningly, means 'Don't call her fair-
browed, but a vixen.' May not therefore the title Candikataka have the
underlying meaning of 'The Hundred Stanzas to the Vixen?' The matter
is all legend, or mostly all; but speculation, even in legend, is not without
interest.