Kookaavya versus Kalidasa The poetry of a rebelling group that stood up against rigid rules

Ever heard of “kookaavya,” a genre of Sanskrit poetry that dared to defy classical Sanskrit literary tradition epitomized by Kalidasa? Growing away from the royal courts and the exclusive confines of Sanskrit literature, “kookaavya” scandalised an audience that had got accustomed to an upper-class set menu of strict Sanskrit poetry.  

This year’s Pre-Awards lecture of the State Literary Awards titled “Lesser-known poetry of Sanskrit Literature and ‘Kookaavya” (non-poetry/unrefined/ obscene/ flippant compositions) stirred the curiosity of the packed house at the SLFI, as they were led to an entirely untrodden terrain of Sanskrit literature.  

The youthful key speaker Dr. Rohana Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer of Sanskrit and Head of the Classical Languages Department, University of Peradeniya was invited to deliver the annual Pre-Awards lecture of the State Literary Awards by Professor Samantha Herath, Chairman, State Literary Advisory Board 2019, when the speaker said that rigid rules governing Sanskrit Literature in its home country, stifled literary efforts of budding poets.  

Groups in defiance, therefore, rose to compose light, lively, simple, unconventional satirical poetry, throwing existed literary ethics to the wind. This handful of liberated poets, who broke the monotony of Sanskrit literature and lit up the literary landscape, delighting generations at various eras of Indian history.  

The liberal poet, who rebelled against such harsh rules, took umbrage by writing satirical poetry sparing nobody in society. 

Strangely, the impact of it was not felt in Sri Lanka although Sanskrit literature had caught on in the island from the 9th to the13th centuries CE, from Polonnaruwa to Dambadeniya periods.  
Janakiharanaya was written even earlier, based on the story of Ramayanaya.  

Kalidasa’s Meghadutha inspired Sinhala Sandesha and Hatan kavi.  

It was the Sinhala monks of the Mahayana school, who studied Sanskrit extensively and spread it in the island.  

The speaker said that Sanskrit literature in ancient India, grew for centuries as a strong as well as a descriptive literary style until it became a colossal tradition. Accepted by the majority, it flourished as pure refinement.  

Critics point out that it was, however, the same stereo-typed format that traditional Sanskrit literature followed. Some, to earn respect, blindly followed the concept, acclaimed as elite. 

Kalidasa was the superstar. In the 6th and the 7th centuries CE, even readers of Sanskrit literature had to be skilled in the Sanskrit language.  

But after Kalidasa, there was no mention of poets. Sanskrit literary works initially, had been oral. Only those that strictly conformed to accepted literary concepts had merited documentation. Even when these were documented, the authorship was not given to the writer but to a well-known poet. Or, a renowned literary family. Or, the King. The poet, therefore, was never known by name.  

Poetry in the meantime, that sprang from the people as spontaneous expressions, but outside the conventional format, were downgraded and deemed unfit to teach students. Pundits threw them out and these were shown as examples of obscene, vulgar poetry of low literary value. 

The renowned critic Dandin however, who lived several centuries after Kalidasa, wrote in his Kaavyadharsha that literary talent, pure knowledge and challenges were inspirations to create poetry. Even if you had not earned talent in your previous birth (Karma?) but have gained knowledge by learning, that should suffice to compose poetry.  

However, it was during the 14-17th centuries CE that a poetic movement appeared countering the confusing, incomprehensible, complicated and strictly conventional poetry that emerged in the post Kalidasa era.  

Just because Alankara or embellishments were included, a composition cannot be of literary value, it was argued. Kookavi thus made its entry which maintained that even if the composition was weak and had literary lapses, it did not matter if the poet had captured the readers’ imagination. While being sensitive to one’s feelings, some kookavya poetry incorporated a sound effect as well as given in the following verse.  

“An elephant has no enchantment if the bell around his neck does not chime when he walks.”  

Natyashastra in Bharathamuni gave ten wrongs that should be avoided when composing verses. Dandin wrote that even minor violations in a poem should not be tolerated. Comparing it he said, even a single mark could spoil a beautiful body (of a woman.)  

Poets may have also feared to provoke the powerful class of critics who had a strong grip of the classical tradition. Besides, there was also the immense impact of the Kalidasa phobia.  

This silenced creativity for many years. Therefore, instead of allowing poets to be sensitive to their feelings, they were battered and bruised with rules and regulations. The genuine poet who fell victim to such authoritarian rule fell in line with the high command.  

But the liberal poet, who rebelled against such harsh rules, took umbrage by writing satirical poetry sparing nobody in society. The target more often were the Brahmins, the supreme deity who occupied the highest position in Hindu society.  

It was written that “Brahma who invented the world, cannot be doubted. But he placed oil in small sesame seed. (Therefore, he was a fool.)  

Veda, the Hindu scriptures, was the noblest wealth of ancient Indians. But, for poet Neelakantha, the words of his wife was the Veda.  

His sarcasm extended further. If scriptures had been used to accumulate wealth and if the Law existed to fulfil one’s needs, let’s then worship such a noble era. (which had such beliefs.)  

Neelakantha especially exposed teachers who demanded respect from their students. There were advisories which spelt out as to how students should respect their “guru.” Teachers were satisfied as long as the student remained under them and whatever gains the student made, it was not allowed to surpass respect towards teachers. The satires included fake teachers whom Neelakatha identified as “kukkuta mishra.”  

Sanskrit literature in ancient India, grew for centuries as a strong as well as a descriptive literary style until it became a colossal tradition.

The speaker skipped the section on the sensual forays of poets due to its extreme descriptiveness. However, he asked the audience to read it in the publication put out to mark the event.  

In Chaatu poetry, every word used had a gender. One Chaatu poet wrote that he sent his mind to his girl because it had no gender. But it did not come back to him. Popular literary characters were also made the butt of humour. Ravana’s brother Kumbakarna’s only task was to eat and sleep. He was killed by Rama during the war. His wife was named Nedra because she too slept constantly. As a widow having no work to do, she attended literary events.  

A dialogue composed by an imaginative poet was between the tongue and the 32 teeth. Teeth asked the tongue as to what will happen if they bite the tongue? The tongue said I will utter one word. That will spell your end. Another queried as to why Shiva lives in the Himalayas, Sri Kantha in a Padma and Vishnu in the milky ocean? Because the poet said, there were bugs in their beds.  

The band of protesting poets in the post-Kalidasa era included women as well. They had not been looked upon with respect concerning their use of the Sanskrit language to compose poetry. Even in the famous Sanskrit dramas including Sakuntala, there were no dialogues for women. Women, however, had risen against such chauvinism. Vijjika alias Vijaya alias Vijayambika alias Vidhya, the wife of Chandradithya (610-642CE) was an outstanding poetess who rose against such traditional thinking.  

Periodically, the speaker said that such novel literary concepts had made rhythmic sounds in the ocean of Sanskrit literature. These had reverberated making loud sounds but had drowned and disappeared in the same ocean. These short poetic spells, however, had delighted generations at various periods of Indian literary history.