Jonarāja as commentator: specialized literature, philological effort, and poetic interpretation

Abstract

Abstract The historian Jonarāja (Kashmir, fifteenth century) is known mainly for his chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, the Dvitīyā Rājataraṅginī, a continuation of Kalhaṇa’s chronicle up to the Muslim Sultanate of Zayin al-’Ābidīn (r. 1419/20–1470). However, Jonarāja also authored the commentaries of three court poems (mahākāvyas), namely Bhāravi’s Kirātārjunīya, Maṅkha’s Śrīkaṇṭhacarita, and Janaka’s Pṛthvīrājavijaya. The present article aims at providing a closer look at Jonarāja’s commentarial strategies, focusing on four cantos (4, 5, 6, and 17) of the Śrīkaṇṭhacarita. First, some examples of how Jonarāja employed specialized literature are presented, particularly quotations from grammar (vyākaraṇa) and Sanskrit dictionaries (kośas). Second, Jonarāja’s philological attempt at restoring Maṅkha’s root text (mūla) is addressed and subsequently analyzed based on the available manuscripts. Lastly, some common concepts contained in Maṅkha’s Śrīkaṇṭhacarita and Bhāravi’s Kirātārjunīya are explored to evaluate how Jonarāja comments on similar verses, and to draw some preliminary conclusions on the style and personal interpretation of the commentator.