In what language did Hanuman converse with Sita in As'okavanam?

[Guest guest]

hinducivilization, kalyan97 <kalyan97

wrote:

 

*I give below a version of an exquisite moment of immense cultural

significance, in Valmiki Ramayana of Hanuman's deliberation

(described in a

separate sarga) about the choice of language to communicate the

story of

Das'aratha of Ayodhya to Sita in As'okavanam.*

**

*It would be instructive to find the versions of this episode of

choice of

language in various versions of the Ramayana in many parts of the

world.

What did Kamban and Tulasidas say on this episode of Hanuman's

deliberation?

What do Laos or Thai or Bali Ramayana say?*

**

*Hanuman speaks to Sita in the language of the common man (ma_nus.am

va_kyam

arthavat)*

 

 

 

A thrilling moment in the tradition of the Indian Ocean Community

and ethos

is when Hanuman meets Sitadevi in As'okavanam of Lanka and hands

over the

ring of S'rirama and assures Sitadevi that S'rirama is coming to

take her

back.

 

 

 

Hanuman deliberates on what language he should use while addressing

Sita.

 

 

 

16 antaram tv aham ÄsÄdya rÄks.asÄ«nÄm iha sthitah

Å›anair ÄÅ›vÄsayis.yÄmi santÄpabahulÄm imÄm

 

17 aham hy atitanuś caiva vanaraś ca viśes.atah

vÄcam codÄharis.yÄmi mÄnus.Ä«m iha samskr.tÄm

18 yadi vÄcam pradÄsyÄmi dvijÄtir iva samskr.tÄm

rÄvan.am manyamÄnÄ mÄm sÄ«tÄ bhÄ«tÄ bhavis.yati

19 avaÅ›yam eva vaktavyam mÄnus.am vÄkyam arthavat

 

mayÄ sÄntvayitum Å›akyÄ nÄnyatheyam aninditÄ

 

 

 

"To win her ear with soft address

 

And whisper hope in dire distress

 

Shall I, a puny Vaanara, choose

 

The Sanskrit men delight to use?

 

If as a man of Bra_hman.a kind

 

I speak the tongue by rules refined

 

The lady, yielding to her fears,

 

Will think 'tis Ravana's voice she hears.

 

I must assume my only plan â€"

 

The language of a common man."

 

 

 

[based on Ralph T. Griffith's translation of Valmiki Ramayana â€"

Book V,

Canto XXX, Hanuman's deliberation; Muir comments in Sanskrit Texts,

Part II,

p. 166: '(the reference to language of a common man) may perhaps be

understood not as a language in which words different from Sanskrit

were

used, but the employment of formal and elaborate diction.' Yes,

indeed,

Samskr.tam as aryavaacas was differentiated from Prakrit as

mlecchavaacas

only by formality and grammatical refinement of diction.]

 

 

 

In this passage, the reference to the language of a common man is a

reference to mleccha- vaacas (Prakrit) as distinct from arya-vaacas

(refined

Samskr.tam which was the refined language spoken by Ravana, the

Bra_hman.a

king of Lanka).

 

 

 

Valmiki depicts Hanuman as a learned scholar, versed in nine

vya_karan.a

(grammars), who learned s'astra from surya. Tulasi Das who wrote

Ramacharitamanas in Hindi, claims with devotion that Hanuman

(Anjaneya) was

like his father, who fed him and brought him up. Hanuman is adored

in Hindu

tradition as buddhimataam varishtham 'supreme among learned people',

jn~a_nima_agragan.yam, foremost among the wise. Admiring Hanuman's

communication skills, S'rirama tells Lakshmana in Kishkinda: "See how

excellently Hanuman has spoken. He did not utter a single word

without

relevance and significance. He has not wasted a single word. Nor did

he omit

an appropriate word. He has not taken more time than was necessary to

communicate what he wanted to convey. Every word that he spoke can

never be

forgotten. Such a voice prmotes general welfare and remains forever

in the

heard and minds for generations to come'. When Hanuman meets Sita in

Lanka,

he exclaims: "To find Sita here is just like listening to a person

who is

lacking in world culture â€" who tries to say something but actually

says

something else!" He informs his fellow soldiers in joy: 'Drushta

Sita (Seen

Sita!)' He started with one sentence to Sita when he met

her: "Das'aratha is

the king of Ayodhya," followed by a recounting of the events which

led to

Rama's search for Sita.

 

 

 

Ma_nus.am va_kyam arthavat, 'meaningful speech of the common man',

deliberated Hanuman and spoke to Sita in the *lingua franca* of the

linguistic area. The objective of this work is to delineate such a

language

of the common man: mlecchavaacas (ja_tibha_s.a_). Mleccha was the

language

used by Yudhishthira, Vidura and Khanaka in the Jatugrihaparvan of

Mahabharata in the earliest example of cryptology used in any epic.

 

--

s. kalyanaraman