SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The Caurasi pada (CP), often entitled Hita caurasi in modern sources, is a Krsnaite text in Braj bhasa attributed to the 16th century poet Hita Harivamsa, Since Hita Harivamsa is regarded as the 'founder' of the Vrindaban-based Radhavallabha sampradaya (a bhakti sect whose allegiance is directed nominally to Krsna, but essentially to Radha), the CP has a canonical status and is the subject of many commentaries; it is also widely imitated in the later sectarian literature. The purpose of the thesis is to illuminate the transmission of the text. An introductory chapter discusses the sectarian background to the CP and the hagiography of Hita Harivamsa, and discusses other texts attributed to the poet. Then follows an assessment of the sources which form the basis for the edition of the CP, and a survey of the language of the text. The critically edited text is based on 13 sources, comprising 11 manuscripts (with and without tika) and two printed editions; it is accompanied by a full apparatus criticus, and followed by a literal English translation. Annotations to the translation assess textual variants, discuss semantic and syntactic points, and seek to show how interpretations of the text have developed along sectarian lines through tikas of the 17th, 18th and 20th centuries. Discussion of prosody follows in a separate chapter, where antecedents for metrical forms appearing on the text are sought in Apabhramsa metrics, and correspondences of metrical structure with musical tala are analysed on the basis of recordings of samaja (the temple hymnody). The final chapter discusses the authorship of the text (of which various stanzas are also attributed to other poets), and analyses its composition, raga allocations and sectarian interpretation. Appendices include extracts from the early CP commentaries, and a select glossary.