Mattavilas-prahasana: Masterpiece of Sanskrit Literature

Mahendravarman I

Mattavilas-prahasana (the Sport of Drunkards) is a Sanskrit one-act play which comes lauded as a play to have been enacted for more than 1,300 years.

Mattavilasa-prahasana was written by Mahendravarman I (590– 630CE) of the Pallava dynasty of south India, according to the Mamandur Cave temple inscription in Tamil Nadu. Mahendravarman I, also known as Mahendravikramavarman, was a contemporary of Harshavardhan of Kanauj. The Pallava ruler is credited with the introduction of the cave style of architecture. He is known for assuming the significant title of Vichitrachitta, “curious minded.”

Mahendravarman I was also the author of the play Bhagavad-Ajjuka Prahasana, or ‘The Farce of the Pious Courtesan.'

One of the masterpieces of Sanskrit literature, Mattavilasa prahasana is full of rollicking satire. Set in the Pallava capital of Kanchipuram, this little farce tells the story of a drunken Shaivite (follower of Shaivism, the cult of the god Shiva) ascetic named Kapali or Satysoma, who accuses a Buddhist monk Nagasena of stealing the skull which he uses as a begging bowl. This leads to the scene of acrimonious debate, full of satirical dialogue, among ascetics of different sects and both sexes. In the end it is found that the skull was stolen by a dog.

Replete with Rabelaisian humour, this short one-act play in Sanskrit throws a flood of light on the life of the 7th century India.

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