The Ramacharita, an example of dvyasrya-kavya, telling two stories simultaneously, was written by
- (a)Subandhu
- (b)Bhatti
- (c)Sandhyakara
- (d)Kamban
Correct — C, Sandhyakara. The Ramacharita, an example of dvyashraya-kavya (poetry written with deliberate double meaning), was composed by Sandhyakara Nandi during the Pala period. Through shlesha, or paronomasia, it narrates two stories at once — the Ramayana of Rama and the career of the Pala king Ramapala, including his recovery of the Varendra region of Bengal.
- (a)Subandhu — Subandhu wrote the prose romance Vasavadatta, famed for its elaborate punning style, but he did not compose the Ramacharita.
- (b)Bhatti — Bhatti wrote the Bhattikavya, itself a double-purpose poem that retells the Ramayana while illustrating Sanskrit grammar — a tempting near-match, but it is not the work that describes the Pala king Ramapala.
- (d)Kamban — Kamban was the Tamil poet of the Ramavataram (the Kamba Ramayanam), a different language and a different work altogether.
A dvyashraya, or shlesha, kavya uses words with double meaning to run two narratives in parallel. Sandhyakara Nandi's Ramacharita, written in Pala-ruled Bengal in the eleventh-twelfth century, simultaneously tells the story of Rama and of the Pala king Ramapala — a rare fusion of epic poetry and dynastic history.
Bhatti is the natural distractor because the Bhattikavya is also a double-purpose kavya on Rama. The specific text that describes the Pala king Ramapala, however, is Sandhyakara Nandi's Ramacharita, which makes it an important source for the history of Pala Bengal.
- The Ramacharita was written by Sandhyakara Nandi, a court poet under the Pala king Madanapala.
- It is a dvyashraya (shlesha) kavya that narrates the Ramayana and the reign of Ramapala at the same time.
- It records the Varendra rebellion and Ramapala's recovery of the Pala homeland, so it doubles as dynastic history.
- The manuscript was rediscovered by Haraprasad Shastri in Nepal and published in 1910.
Sandhyakara Nandi's shlesha weaves the epic of Rama and the reign of Ramapala into a single set of verses.
- Choosing Bhatti because the Bhattikavya is also a double-meaning poem on Rama.
- Confusing the Sanskrit Ramacharita with the Tamil Kamba Ramayanam or Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas.
Asked as 'who wrote the Ramacharita/dvyashraya-kavya' or as a match of Sanskrit works to their authors.
Which of the following pairs are correctly matched? I. Mrichchhakatikam — Shudraka II. Buddhacharita — Vasuvandhu III. Mudrarakshasha — Vishakhadatta IV. Harshacharita — Banabhatta. Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
- (a) I, II, III and IV
- (b) I, III and IV
- (c) I and IV
- (d) II and III
Answer(b) I, III and IV
Same concept of Sanskrit literary works matched to their authors. There you pair works such as the Mudrarakshasa and the Harshacharita with their writers; here you identify Sandhyakara Nandi as the author of the Ramacharita.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Ramacharita of Sandhyakara Nandi is an important source for the history of which dynasty?
- (a)Pala
- (b)Chola
- (c)Rashtrakuta
- (d)Chalukya
Answer(a) Pala — it narrates the reign of the Pala king Ramapala alongside the story of Rama.
- practice — not a real PYQ
A kavya that narrates two stories at once through words of double meaning is called
- (a)dvyashraya (shlesha) kavya
- (b)champu kavya
- (c)gadya kavya
- (d)khanda kavya
Answer(a) dvyashraya (shlesha) kavya — poetry built on deliberate double meaning.