‘We do not fully understand the learned poet’s intention in not composing a twentieth canto’: Addiction as a Structuring Theme in the Raghuvaṃśa

Abstract

The apparently abrupt and incongruous ending of Kālidāsa’s Raghuvaṃśa has been troubling scholars medieval and modern since the time of Vallabhadeva, the tenth-century Kashmirian commentator on the epic. A careful reading of the Raghuvaṃśa, however, shows that the series of royal biographies forms a consciously and coherently structured whole. Paying attention to Kālidāsa’s continuous allusions to concepts of arthaśāstra and dhasrmaśāstra, and to the recurrence of certain ideas throughout the epic, appears to be a fruitful strategy of reading and interpreting the Raghuvaṃśa. The concept of puruṣavyasanas, ‘human vices’ or ‘passions’ or ‘addictions’, is one of the organizing themes that comes into focus at key parts of the epic. Dilīpa, the first king portrayed by Kālidāsa, is free from these vices, but passionate about his kingly obligations; in the ninth canto, Daśaratha becomes absorbed in the diversion of hunting; and in the last canto, Agnivarṇa devotes his whole life to sexual gratification. Through the stories of these kings, Kālidāsa gives us an insightful study of royalty’s attitude toward dharma and kāma, foregrounding such central issues of his oeuvre as attention and inattentiveness, and the difficulty of creating and maintaining a harmony of duties, interests, and desires.