Онлайн книга «Словесность Индии и Ирана. Сакральный текст и смеховая культура»
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Although the play is of a “low” prahasana genre, it is composed in a complex language comprising elements of ornamental prose. Its numerous verses contain complex poetical figures akin to those of medieval kāvya-literature. In the very beginning of the play the bawd Danturā enumerates almost all the characters among those who pledged their precious belongings to her. This helps the reader to imagine the whole row or “constellation” (another meaning for melaka) of the wicked men hiding behind the guises of ascetics, philosophers, kings, and doctors. This impression is strengthened by the fact that during the play the appearance of each new character is preceded by a stanza outlining his true moral character. In this work, the Russian translation of the farce “The Gathering of the Wicked” is presented to, which is the first translation of this monument into a European language. KEYWORDS: prahasana, mixed prahasana, Laṭaka-melaka, Śaṅkhadhara, kāvya. The Sanskrit Farce “Drunken Sport” Dmitrii A. Komissarov1, Margarita D. Minaeva2 1PhD (Philology), Associate Professor, Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies, HSE University (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: dkomissarov@hse.ru 2 HSE University (Moscow, Russia). The paper presents a Russian translation of the 7th century Sanskrit farce (prahasana) “Drunken sport”. The play is composed by the king Mahendravarman I of the Pallavas dynasty. It tells about the meeting of the followers of the Shaivit ascetic (kāpālika) tradition with a Buddhist monk, and the conflict occurred between them. The quarrel is based on the accusations of the kāpālika addressed to the monk. He is sure that the latter appropriated his begging bowl in the shape of a human skull (kapāla). The play satirizes Shaivites and Buddhists alike, and clearly reflects the deep conflict between Buddhists and Hindus that endured for centuries. The translation of the prahasana is accompanied by an Introduction and notes. The Introduction contains general information about the prahasana genre and its subtypes, about the author of the play and the time of its composition, about the extant manuscripts, the existing editions of the monument, and its translations into Hindi and into European languages. In addition, the readers are offered some information on research works, that refer to the farce “Drunken sport”. The translation of the play is made as close to the original as possible, making it rather difficult for the reader to follow the contents. For easier reading, the monument is preceded by a brief retelling of the plot and an overview of the structure of the piece. The translation is accompanied by the voluminous notes, which mainly consist of a comparison of existing translations of the play with each other and with the translation we are proposing. In addition, the notes include philological explanations to some dark passages of the Sanskrit text, clarifications of some elements of the content and poetic features of the play, as well as necessary information about the realities and myths mentioned in the work. KEYWORDS: Mattavilāsa, Mahendravarman, prahasana, Sanskrit drama, Drunken sport. Vedic Ritual Sautrāmanī Natalia A. Korneeva PhD (History), independent scholar (Moscow, Russia). |