Читать книгу The Rise of Wisdom Moon - Krishna mishra - Страница 19
ОглавлениеINTRODUCTION
T hroughout the long history of the Sanskrit literary tradition, few texts have enjoyed a success comparable to that of “The Rise of Wisdom Moon” (Prabodhacandrodaya), the sole extant work of the otherwise unknown playwright Krishna·mishra·yati, or Krishna·mishra “the ascetic” (yati). Composed during the mid eleventh century in north-central India, it came to be translated numerous times over the centuries into both Indian and foreign languages, and was the subject of as many as a dozen Sanskrit commentaries. What is more, “The Rise of Wisdom Moon” is generally credited with having given birth to a distinctive genre of Sanskrit drama, that of the allegorical play. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Krishna·mishra’s creation has earned high praise indeed.
“The Rise of Wisdom Moon” entered the Western canon of Sanskrit studies early in the nineteenth century: an English translation by J. Taylor appeared in Bombay in 1812 and has been intermittently reprinted ever since; and in 1845 an edition of the Sanskrit text, prepared by Hermann Brockhaus, was published in Leipzig, Germany. By the end of that century, Krishna·mishra’s work was available in German (1820, 1842, 1846), Russian (1847), Dutch (1869) and French (1899) versions in addition to Taylor’s pioneering effort.1 We will examine aspects of the historical background for the early success of “The Rise of Wisdom Moon” in the West later in this introduction. At the outset, however, it will be useful to be familiar with the story told in the play itself.
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