59-05-032 Proceeding

115 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress the Harshacarita of Bāna has 7 stanzas (or 21, depending on manuscripts) of the benediction, but the rest is composed in prose. Mātangalīlā or the elephant lore has two stanzas of the benediction. However, as described above, in the Sanskrit drama, a benediction should be a verse with various lengths. Abhijñānashākuntala by Kālidāsa, Uttararāmcarita by Bhavabhūti, and Priyadarshikā by Harsha have the benediction verse composed in one stanza each. Nāgānanda by Harsha has two, Mālatīmādhva by Bhavabhūti, Ratnāvalī byHarsha has four stanzas. Among the Sanskrit Buddhism texts, a short benedictory prose can be found, such as in the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha, or even in the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha. Also, Ratnāvalī by Nāgārjuna has only one sentence of prose and one stanza for the benediction. The both Buddhacarita and Saundarananda have one stanza. While Jātakamālā by Āryasūra, has long three stanzas of benediction. Present and Absent Among numerousThai literary works in the Ayutthaya period, there are works without the benediction. For example, Anirut Khamchan (a story of Prince Anirut), Rachaphilap Khamchan (Lamentation of Rama to Sita), Khlong Nirat Phrabat (a lyric on travels to the Buddha Footprint) at the end of the Ayutthaya period, and so on. In the Sanskrit counterparts, there are both aspects: works with andwithout the benediction. In another great epic, the Rāmāyana, the benediction is absent.While, the Gītagovinda by Jayadeva begins the story by a romantic scene of Krishna and Rādhā without the benediction. Neither Kiratārjunīya by Bhāravi (a story of Kirāta and Arjuna), nor Manūsmriti (Law of Manu), have the benediction. Also, Meghadūta and Rtusamhāra by Kālidāsa begin the stories without the benediction, while he wrote the delicate benediction verses inRaghuvamsha, Abhijñānashākuntala and Vikramorvashīya, though their length is one or two stanzas. Some conclusions can be drawn here that, bothThai and Sanskrit works have benediction as optional. There can be with or without, either in a great or small work. But this is not true for Sanskrit dramas which have benediction as amust. However, in some dramas it is believed that the benedictionmight be lost, leaving only the stage direction, “nāndyante” (at the end of nāndī) in the beginning of the play, before the commencement of the stage manager, as in Svapnavāsavadatta by Bhāsa [11]. What does it contain? MostThai benedictions are for the Buddha and other deities inHinduism, such as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Suratsawadi (Sarasvatī in Sanskrit) or Goddess of Words and Sciences, or some other deities suited for the works, such as Banatsabodi (Vanaspati in Sanskrit) or Lord of the Forest, in Dutsadi Sangwoei KlomChang (A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants). Many works have the benediction for the king, as well. Ongkan Chaeng Nam (Oath of Allegiance), which is believed as one of the oldest works in the Ayutthaya period, has a triple line of benediction for the three gods in Hinduism: Vishu, Shiva, and Brahma, excluding more deities or kings. In some works, the poets narrated only the glory of the king and kingdom. It is interesting to note that after praying