Mricchakatikam – the cart of clay

Books, Nation&Society 3 Minutes

Mricchakatikam, the Sanskrit play of the fifth century AD written by Sudraka, has all the element of a Bollywood blockbuster. It is unfortunate that the movies made on this paly in Hindi and other languages did not become so. Hindi movie Utsav was made on this play and it starred Rekha, Sekhar Suman, and Amzad Khan among others.

Mricchakatikam is a fusion (sandhi) of two words mrit and shakatikam meaning clay and cart respectively. This is my representative text for Sanskrit Drama which became a strong genre during post vedic period especially after Bharatmuni wrote Natyashastra. Out of thousands of Sanskrit dramas written, the works of Asvaghosha, Kalidasa, Bhasha, Bhavabhuti, Harsha, Sudraka and Vishakhadatta and a few others have somehow survived and have been rediscovered.

Mricchakatikam is an odd choice to represent Sanskrit Drama because it is not written by Kalidasa or Bhasa who are the most famous Sanskrit dramatists. Secondly, Mricchakatikam does not follow the norm. Most of the Sanskrit plays of classical period are based on specific events of Mahabharata or Ramayana and the main characters are from royal families. To the contrary Mricchakatikam’s main characters are ordinary citizens and it is based on the social and political life of those days.

So the main reason I choose to write about this book is that it brings back pleasant classroom memories of my High School days. I have briefly mentioned about it in one of my earlier posts. Our Odia teacher Shri Surendra Das was a writer and a prolific story teller. He was also our stand by Sanskrit teacher. During the initial months of an academic year he narrated the entire story of Mricchakatikam in an episodic manner. I still remember after entering the class how he used to take out his spectacles and say, “So where were we last time? Yes, Vasantasena … “. We used to wait for his next class with the same eagerness as of those who waited for the next episode of Ramayana on Doordarshan in the eighties.

From Mrichhakatikam we come to know that corruption and nepotism is nothing new in India. The setting for the play is the city of Ujjayini. Ironically the king’s name is palaka which literally means the one who looks after well. His brother in law seems to be the de-facto power center and he roams around the city with a sense of entitlement similar to the ones enjoyed by the relatives of VIPs in our time. He lusts after the most famous courtesan Vasantasena but is frustrated again and again. Vasantasena is quite wealthy and her eyes are set on an intelligent and popular citizen Charudatta who is not that well off financially though he belongs to a Brahmin family. Charudatta in spite of being married falls for Vasantasena.

What about the clay cart? Well I think clay cart is a symbol for Sudraka to tell that the story is about common men. Those days the children of the nobility had the luxury of carts made of gold. But a clay cart is part of the story and plays a very crucial role in creating the climax.

After visiting a rich friend’s house Charudatta’s son is no more interested in his own clay cart. Taking compassion Vasantasena fills the cart with her own jewelry. While Vasantasena and Charudatta are planning to meet in a park Samstahnaka, the king’s spoilt brother in law, finds an opportunity to take revenge. He strangles Vasantasena and taking her for dead dumps the body behind a bush. Further, he accuses Charudatta as the murderer and produced the jewelry inside the clay cart as the motive of the murder. The king holds Charudatta guilty and sentences him to death.

… … ….

(This was the alphabet M post of Blogchatter AtoZ Challenge 2021. All the posts in the AtoZ series have now been included in my book ‘The beauty of Sanskrit Language and texts’. The book is available for free download. Download the book to read the balance of the article and other articles in this series.)

Published by Durga Prasad Dash

Published

29 thoughts on “Mricchakatikam – the cart of clay”

  2. We had this as a part of important books and authors in History & Quiz 🙂
    The moment I saw the title of your post, the author came to mind!
    Had watched the movie. Great to be reminded about the ending of this story. These are classics.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Your recall of your Odia teacher’s episodic storytelling puts me in mind of some of my school teachers whose love of literature was passed on to us via those very stories. How lucky for us to have had such educators.
    Another post that broadens my understanding of Sanskrit literature. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Great to know about Mricchakatikam and Urubhanga. The best part about the former is it is about common citizens and the interesting part about the latter is- watching how the writer might have twisted the characters.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this informative post and surely the Sanskrit Literature is rich with such enriching pieces that showcase the reality of contemporary time. on a lighter note, the Odiya teacher as a ‘stand by’ Sanskrit teacher put a smile on my face.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I was reminded of a couple of my favourite teachers as well, whose classes we awaited each day. I had always liked Sanskrit plays but have read very little. I am also reminded of the Kannada movie where the veteran actor, Rajkumar plays the part of Kalidasa. I haven’t seen Utsav though, but remember the popular song – Man kyun behka.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Your mention of your odia teacher reminds me of my history teacher who used to teach us history like a story/ movie which helped me retain the information to date. I had heard about मृच्छकटिकम् Sanskrit drama by sudraka, and also love the famous painting of Vasant Sena by Raja Ravi Verma. A great read and another informative post from you.

    Like

    Reply

  15. This was an amazing read. I only ever heard about this book but was unaware of its contents. I wanted to read the book you mentioned but am unable to download it. 😦

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment