The Little Clay Cart by Sudraka
"The Little Clay Cart," also known as "Mṛcchakaṭika," is a notable ancient Indian drama attributed to the playwright Sudraka, believed to have been written between the second century BCE and the sixth century CE. The story revolves around Chārudatta, a Brahman whose commitment to public welfare has led him to financial ruin, yet he maintains a strong reputation for integrity and wisdom in Ujjayini. Chārudatta is in love with Vasantasenā, a wealthy courtesan who reciprocates his feelings, despite his existing marriage and familial obligations. The narrative unfolds through themes of love, societal challenges, and moral dilemmas, ultimately leading to a series of tragic misunderstandings and wrongful accusations involving murder and deception.
As the plot progresses, Vasantasenā finds herself in peril due to the obsessive advances of Samsthānaka, a royal figure, which escalates into a dramatic confrontation. The play explores the consequences of love and sacrifice as it weaves together the fates of Chārudatta, Vasantasenā, and the characters surrounding them, including a thief who plays a pivotal role in the unfolding drama. The resolution highlights themes of redemption and forgiveness, underscoring the societal dynamics of ancient India, including the caste system and the complexities of human relationships. "The Little Clay Cart" remains a significant work in the canon of Sanskrit literature, showcasing Sudraka’s intricate storytelling and exploration of timeless moral questions.
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The Little Clay Cart by Sudraka
First produced:Mrcchakatika, between second century b.c.e. and sixth century c.e. (English translation, 1905)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Tragicomedy
Time of plot: Fifth century b.c.e.
Locale: Ancient city of Ujjayini
Principal characters
Chārudatta , an impoverished young BrahmanVasantasenā , a courtesan in love with ChārudattaMaitreya , a poor Brahman, Chārudatta’s friendSamsthānaka , King Pālaka’s brother-in-lawĀryaka , an exiled princeSarvilaka , a Brahman and a thiefMadanikā , Vasantasenā’s slave and confidant
The Story:
Chārudatta is a Brahman who has impoverished himself by spending his substance on the public welfare and in helping individuals who have sought his aid. Although dwelling in poverty in a broken-down house, he still enjoys a fine reputation in Ujjayini as an honest and upright man of rare wisdom. This reputation eases somewhat the fact that he has been deserted by most of his friends and is embarrassed by his lack of wealth.
Although married happily and the proud father of a small son, Rohasena, Chārudatta is enamored of Vasantasenā, a courtesan of great wealth and reputation who, having seen him at a temple, is also in love with him. One evening, as Chārudatta and his friend Maitreya sit discussing Chārudatta’s misfortunes and the efficacy of devotion to the gods, Vasantasenā finds herself pursued by Samsthānaka, a half-mad brother-in-law of King Pālaka, and one of his henchmen. The men threaten to do violence to Vasantasenā, but she escapes from them in the darkness and finds safety in the house of Chārudatta, where a meeting between the two increases the love they already feel for each other. Before she leaves to return to her own palace, the courtesan entrusts a casket of jewelry to Chārudatta as an excuse to see him again.
During the night a thief, Sarvilaka, enters Chārudatta’s house and steals the jewelry to buy his love, Madanikā, who is Vasantasenā’s slave and confidant. The courtesan accepts the jewels and frees Madanikā to marry Sarvilaka, intending to see that Chārudatta should learn that the jewels have been recovered. In the meantime, Chārudatta sends a rare pearl necklace of his wife’s to Vasantasenā to recompense the courtesan for the loss of her less valuable jewels. His friend Maitreya, fearing that Vasantasenā’s attentions can bring only bad luck and disaster, cautions Chārudatta against doing so. Maitreya, knowing courtesans, believes that Vasantasenā is merely scheming to take from Chārudatta the few possessions he still has.
After leaving Vasantasenā’s palace with his newly freed bride, Sarvilaka learns that his friend Prince Āryaka has been arrested by King Pālaka and placed in a dungeon. The king, neither a popular nor a just monarch, fears that the people might rise up, as a soothsayer has predicted, to place Prince Āryaka on the throne. After Sarvilaka succeeds in freeing the prince from prison, Āryaka seeks help from Chārudatta, who aids him in escaping the pursuing guards.
Vasantasenā, having become Chārudatta’s mistress, meets his small son and gives him some jewels with which to purchase a golden toy cart to replace the unsatisfactory clay cart Chārudatta had been able to afford. She makes arrangements to meet Chārudatta in Pushpakarandaka Park, outside the city, for a day’s outing, but by mistake she enters the wrong vehicle and finds herself in the gharry belonging to Samsthānaka, who still pursues her and is madly jealous of the love and favors she bestows freely upon Chārudatta. When Vasantasenā arrives at the park, she is discovered in the gharry by Samsthānaka, who at first is overjoyed at seeing her because he thinks she has come to him voluntarily. When she spurns him and declares her love for Chārudatta, Samsthānaka tries to make his henchmen kill her, but they refuse. Samsthānaka sends his followers away and chokes her himself. Believing her dead, he hides the body under a pile of leaves. Then, hoping to escape the penalty for his crime, Samsthānaka decides to go to a court and accuse Chārudatta of murdering Vasantasenā.
When Samsthānaka first appears at the court, the judges, who know him to be somewhat mad, refuse to see him or take him seriously, but when he threatens to go to King Pālaka, the judges become frightened and send for Chārudatta. Falsely accused, Chārudatta proclaims his innocence, but circumstances are against him. He admits having been in the park, and the jewels of Vasantasenā are found at his home, offering a motive for the poverty-stricken man to have killed her. The judges, in spite of Chārudatta’s previous reputation, find him guilty. Although Chārudatta’s status as a Brahman exempts him from the death penalty for any crime, King Pālaka orders Chārudatta put to death. No one knows that the body identified as Vasantasenā’s was actually that of another woman or that Vasantasenā is not dead; befriended by a Buddhist monk, she is recovering near the park from Samsthānaka’s attack.
Chārudatta is taken through the city by two executioners, who stop several times to announce the name of the condemned man and the nature of his crime. Although the people of the city love Chārudatta, they dare not intervene on his behalf, even though he steadfastly maintains his innocence. Samsthānaka’s slave tries to tell that his master is really the one who committed the crime, but no one believes him, and so Chārudatta and his executioners, accompanied by a crowd, continue on their way to the place of execution, a cemetery south of the city.
The executioners, thinking to be merciful, offer to decapitate Chārudatta, but a miracle prevents their sword from touching him, and so they prepare the victim for the slow, agonizing death by impalement on a pike. Fortunately, Vasantasenā, seeing the excited crowd as she makes her way back to the city, intervenes in time to save Chārudatta. When she tells who really attacked her, Samsthānaka is arrested. The excitement does not end with that, however, for word comes that Chārudatta’s wife, believing herself a widow, is about to cast herself upon a funeral pyre. Chārudatta reaches her in time to prevent her death, and she and Vasantasenā meet and accept each other. Word comes, too, that Prince Āryaka has deposed King Pālaka and is now king. One of his first deeds is to restore Chārudatta’s fortune and make him an important official of the court. Chārudatta, still a man of conscience and charity, forgives Samsthānaka for his villainy and causes him to be set free.
Bibliography
Chakrabarti, Prakaschandra. A Treatise on Śūdraka’s “Mṛcchakaṭika.” Kathamandu, Nepal: Pilgrims Book House, 1999. Presents a critical introduction to the play, discussing, among other subjects, its characters and its theme of the conflict between good and evil.
Deva´armā, V´vanātha. Shudraka. New Delhi, India: Sahitya Akademi, 1999. Provides an introductory overview of Sudraka’s life and discusses The Little Clay Cart.
Keith, Arthur Berriedale. The Sanskrit Drama in Its Origin, Development, Theory, and Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. Accessible and well-indexed guide to Sanskrit drama serves as a good starting place for further study.
Sharma, Sudarshan Kumar. “Mṛcchakaṭika of Śūdraka: A Critical and Cultural Study. Delhi, India: Parimal, 2005. Provides a biography of Sudraka and analyzes the philosophical, architectural, astronomical, and other cultural elements of The Little Clay Cart.
Sudraka. The Little Clay Cart: An English Translation of the “Mṛcchakaṭika” of Śūdraka, as Adapted for the Stage by A. L. Basham. Edited by Arvind Sharma. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994. Basham, a prominent historian and Indologist, translated Sudraka’s play, and his translation was adapted for the theater and staged in Australia in 1968. This book includes that translation as well as an introductory essay by Robert E. Goodwin that addresses how Western audiences can approach the play.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika): A Hindu Drama Attributed to King Shudraka. Translated by Arthur William Ryder. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1905. Ryder’s introduction provides an outline of the play’s plot and discussion of his method of translation as well as an examination of the work’s authorship.
Van Buitenen, J. A. B., trans. Two Plays of Ancient India: “The Little Clay Cart,” “The Minister’s Seal.” New York: Columbia University Press, 1968. Van Buitenen’s introduction presents a synopsis of the play and describes how the purported author of The Little Clay Cart, Sudraka, employed what may, in the context of ancient Sanskrit literature, be called “borrowing” privileges in the creation of the play, which is a completion of an earlier, incomplete work.