Glimpses of the Konkani Language at the Turn of the 16th Century - Vol 14

r il

L.

A. RODRIGUES

CORRESPONDING MEMBER

H

-l

f :)

$ ,l I

GLIMPSES OF THE KONKANI LANGUAGE AT THE TURN OFTHE 16TH CENTT]RY R*U*rFBnr

4 A

/40//rt6tnR.47

ag*a gga*n

Se;larata do Boletinr do Instilrrftr Menez.es Braganga, N'. 163

-

l.)r)t

M/s. COMPUSHI'. TYPESET'TERS & OF'|.'Stl'l'PRIN'l'l.lRS. PAN.tttvt - (;oA.

Glimpses of the Konkani language at the turn of the 16th C. L. A. Rotlrigues Correspontling Member of the Institute

XIII Ramayana antl Mahabharata

T;:;l:;'J','fi""1","ffi

;:li*il:ffi :,:T,:::;ffi:i;;

century, totalling lg3g pages, distributed into g3g,444 and 556 pages respectively. A thorough study of these codices needs to be carrie<r out in order to not only ascertain and establish their linguistic and literary rd-o", but also to bring out the religious, spirirui, , moral, intelectual and social feature$ of the Goan intelligenisia in the century. '' However, before such a study is conducted, it is necessary l6th to arr:urge the pages of the codices in sequential order, as the pages *" rro, numbered (such is the case of ail the codices of that time), ar-d, as such, rrot only their pages are mixed up within a codex, but pages or orr" codcx have crept into another godgx, many pages are missing, and many m.re have become illegibre. Besides, the ierox copy, that was brought to Goa in 1985, missed quite a few pages whilst xeroxing at Braga Library. (The total number of pages, and the number of pages of eich codex given above are those of the Goa copy, while trt" lot,ot at Braga Library may be 1880). After struggling formonths onend,Ihav" rort"doottrrepages of the three codices, to the best of my ability, the strayed p:lges are restoredto therespective codex, and the pug", of each cooe" are put in sequential order and numbered i'red i"t i" my rexeroxed copy. codices no. 77 r'nd

77

2are in Konkani prose and codex no. 773 is

BOLETTM DO rNSTrrUro MENEZES BRAGANQA

in Marathi ovi verse. The matter of the Konkani codices was recited or read out by the native scholars, and taken down in Roman chiuacters by the leamed Porruguese padres, while it is possible that the poems of the Marathi codex were directly rransliterated by them from the native characters into the Roman script. subsequently, the scribes revised the Konkani scripts, sometimes with the help of the reciters, and consequently madecorrections. transposition or substitution of words, and introduced changes in orthography, morphological flexions and syntactical constructions. As aresult of such aprocedure, rough ru-rd fair copies are found, viz. almost the whole material of the codex no. ,172 consists ofrough copies, while all the stories contained in the crxlex no.

771 arc in fair copies, yet the stories of the two codices are not the same, except two which are found in both the codices, in the codex no.772 rn rough copy and in the codex no. 77 rin fair copy; may be that the rough copies of the stories of the codex no.77 lare lost, and the rough "opiii of the Codex no. 772were eithernotput into fair or their fair copies are

{

f,i

lost.

As the whole writing

was taken down from the recitation or reading, no punctuation marks are used, paragraphs are not separated, direct and indirect speeches are mixed up, and a story even covering l5 pages flows down to its end without a single stop or a comma. The system of the Roman transliteration is quite corresponding to the Devanagari script, radically the same as that of the 16th.-l7th.c. Jesuit Konkani vocabularies, in which however it was further perfected. This transliteration into Roman characters was done probably in the early second half of the 16th. century; exactly when uttd itt which script ttre original Konkani prose was composed is difficult to guess; Devanagari, Modi and Kanada scripts were used in Goa in the 16th. and l7th. centuries.

However. the first poem of the Marathi codex no. 773, entitled, ..sri Krishna charitra Katha" by the Goan poet Krishna Das shama, is dated 1526.

I 1

t

ll 'I

#

Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the l6th C lr li

,l;

C0DEX No.771

il

il f-

,T

This codex, consisting of 839 pages of Konkani prose, contidns 10 parvas, i.e. cantos, of "Mahabharata", one p:rrva of "Rarnayalta,', and four loose stories or fables, as follows:

I. Mahabharata 1. "Adi Par:va" fust 120 pages, consist.of 18 stories (culled from "skanda Purana"), narrating the genealogical orlgin of Pandavas and Kauravas, the heroes of the great war of "Mahabharata" epic. The 18 stories, told to king Janmejaia !y shuka Indra, deal with the following 18 topics:

lr

rl

-'lrl l1 rl

ii I

lst

story: Goddess Ganga marries Santanu, king of Hastinapur, on the condition that the latter would fulfil whatever she asks, and, as such, she throws into the river successively their five sons; the sixth one, Bhisma, is spared, but Ganga disappears. Santanu grows very sad.

Bhisma takes for himself father's old oge, and gives him his youth.

Bhisma sends messengers to Kuntbhoz, king of Kashmir, asking his daughter in marriage to his father. However Kuntbhoz refuses suspecting that his daughter's sonwould not have right of succession to the throne of Hastinapur, inspite of Bhisma's vow of celibacy.

2nd story: Bhisma, along with an army, goes in search of a wife for his father, They smell a fragrant perfume which came from a beautiful maid, Sugondha, who narrates her story of how she, who was Mochegondha, a fisherman's daughter, encountered Rishi poroqroru of whom she bore a son, Veasa. She accepts Bhisma's proposal, and consequently, Sugondha weds King Santanu.

;

',1 .V;

'

ii. rl

I

ll, lr

It' ril .'1 {

/ir rd

3rd. story: Sugondha bore two sons: Citra and Vichitra who were trained in arts of war and govemment. King Santanu died, and Chitra became the king; his rule Was very good and holy. On King S:urtanu's death, Sugondha became very sorrowful, and invoked her son Veasa, who had become an ascetic. Veasa visited his mother Sugondha and

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANEA

consoled her every night. King Chitra, Sugondha's son, ill thought of mothers' illicit relations. This sin was expiated by Chitra, on the advice of royal Counsellers, by self-immolation. His soul was carried to Yama, Lord of Hell, who, on finding it pure, sent Chitra to Heaven by a viman. absence of King Chitra caused a great grief at Hastinapur. Vichitra was enthroned, and he ruled magnanimmously, but contracted ruberculosis and died. Chitra and Vichitra left no successors.

At the request of Sugondha, the wives of Chitra and Vichitra antl a slave maid gave birthto tluee sons by virtue ofVeasa's amrut dishtt: Pandu, Drutarastra and Vidura. Pandu succeeded to the throne.

4th. story: The

.-L_ $,

5th story: Bhismasecures from theking of Kashmirwives forPandu and Drutarastra, by names Kinti and Gandhari, who had a history: a rishi had given to the former 6 mantras, and to the latter one maptra, by means of which they could bear six and one children respectivelY, and indeed Kunti already has recited one mantra and got Kama, bom through her ear. Because of a curse by a rishi's wife, Pandu was prevented from

having children by his wife Kunti, who however made use of five mantras and gave birth to Dharma, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva in the forest where they tived, ffid where thereafter Pandu died.

Druta.rastra had become king of Hastinapura.

6th. story: Drutarastra had no son. By intercession of Veasa, his wife Gandhari bore 3 mantra sons. Duriodhana was the first one who suc-

ceeded his father. Kunti and the five Pandavas retumed to Hastinapur.

Gandhari had fu rther 98 m antra sons. All l 0 l Kauravas and fiv e Putdavas were under the same guru Krupacharea. Arjuna excelled all of them in archery. Duriodhana develops a hatred against Arjuna and his blothers.

Kauravas .and Pandavas are being instructed by Dronacharia. Krupacharia's brother-in-1aw; Drona and King Drupada were trained by the same preceptor. Drona had been humiliated by Drupada, and the former had Swom to revenge. After Kauravas' and

7th. story:

rl

1

,ii 'i

,. i,

Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the l6th C 1

ti

Pandavas' instruction was completed, Arjuna, who proved to be the best of all, accepts Drona's proposal to go alone to Drupada's kingdom and bring him seized and tied with head down and legs up to Hastinapu.

8th. story: Drona, a Bhahmin's

son, and Drupada, a king's son, after completing their instuction under the same guru, departed in very fiendly tenns. Drona needed a cow to feed his child with milk; when

i

Drona went to Drupada's kingdom to ask for a cow, he was hunriliated.

Drona swore to revenge by dragging Drupada tied upside down to a horse. Arjuna carried out such a revenge by defeating the forces of Drupada, and bringing him to Hastinapura, and then retuming hirn to his kingdom unhurt. This bravery of Arjuna enraged Duriodhana.

9th. Story: Duriodhana makes many attemps to finish the Pandavas,

I J

I

inspite that his parents andBhsima explained him that thePandavas were the rightful heirs to the kingdom of Hastinapur, but Duriodhana insists that he would not give the Pandavas a grain of earth. tn the circumstances, Bhisma gives the Pandavas the kingdom of Vanrnavata, where they atong with mother Kunti go to live calmly. But Duriodhana suspects that the valiant Pandavas might conquerhim, and as such resorts to treacherous means; he invites Bhima to his kingdom and kills him by poison.

I

lr

Story: The four Pandavas and Kunti go to Hastinapur; on Vidura's advice the corpseof Bhimaisthrown into the riverBhagavati from the banks of which Padmavati, daughter of cobras King Xexa collected it; and in fulfillment of Pawati's words Padmavati was wedded to Bhima's corpse, and by pouring on it the amrut bottle Bhima was revived.Bhima and Xesa relate their stories the former how he was poisoned by Duriodhana and the latter that he was the king of cobras guarding Mahadeva's m ountain of nectar, and how Padm avati w as cursed by a rishi to maffy a dead man.

l}

l

llth.

il

It, lr I' {,1

lfth

,

t4

Story: Bhima, against the wish of Padmavati and xexa and

4

BOLETTM DO TNSTTTUTO MENEZES BRAGANCA

without their knowledge goes to the amrut mountain, defeats aU tfrc cobras and drinks thc nectar of all the nine pits of the mountains.

Mahadev and Parvati come and take out all the amrut frorn llhima's stomach. At the iequest of Padmavati, Mahadev forgives Bhirna, who thereafter retums to Varunavata.

12th. Story: Duriodhana, King of Kauravas, uses a further stratagem to destroy thePandavas: hebuilds a palace of 2l str)reys at Indrapresta, and fills the bottom of its bedroom with wax and infl amable substances and offer it to Pandavas who at Bishma's advice accept the magnificient palace.

13th. Story: The Pandavas and Kunti live in the kingdom of Indrapresta. Lord Krishna sendsVisvakarma to lndrapresta whobuilds a tunnel linking the palace with the forest of Hidamba, through w hich the Pandavas escape when thepalace was set on fire by Duriodhana's envoy.

After Bhima's marriage with the sister of the giant Hidamba, they all go to the forest of Yekachakra where lived the Tondio Giant whom the people used to give every day a human being and a meal of 12 khandis.

I 4th. Story : B hima kills the Tondio Giant thus saving all thc people of his kingdom. Pandavas come to know that in the kingdom of I)rupada a marriage competition (svoconver) was convoked for choosing a husband for the princess Draupadi. The Pandavas decided to participate in the competition.

l5th Story: The five Pandavas

and Kunti set out. They reached a river bank guarded by King Ganarva's forces which were defeated. King

Gandarva gave Arjuna a mantra of fire weapons to be used at the competition. Many princes including Duriodhana with their arm ies were present. A big cauldron with boiling oil was kept and on the top a talisman was fixed. the candidate had to look into the oil and shoot arrow backwards at the target and break it within three shots. failing which he would be scalded in the boiling oil. None succeeded except Arjuna,

r Gtimpses of the konkani language at the tumof the 16th

c

who breaks the target at the very first shot. The Pandavas carry Draupadi home, whom Kunti distributes to all five brothers'

16th. story: The marriage of five Pandavas with Draupadi is follows: a celebrated with pomp. This novel marriage is explained as being dame of the court of Mahadeva and Parvati laughed at a cow her next birth would chased by five bulls; the cow cursed that the dame in Draupadi' On princess marry five men and as a result she was rebom as Krishna'sadvice.PandavasoccupythekingdomsofVarunavataand

to march Indrapresta; this act enraged Duriodhana who instructs his army penance' against the Pandav as. Meantime Arjuna goes tbr a pilgrim age of

King 17th story: The Panclavas and Kunti rule Indrapresta happily.

1 0000 Dharma performs a grand fire sacrifice. The fire (Agni) consumes from grass maund khandis of buner and other food, but he missed the

Indra's garden and consequently he is extinguished. However, Arjuna helped by Krishna, gets the said grass and the fire is saved. glanced at 18th Story: Arjuna commits an involuntary sin of having which the rishis his brother Dharma and Draupadi sining on the bed, for land. consequently advise apenance pilgrimage to all the temples of the as Nasik, Arjuna visits all the temples from the North to the South, such

Gautama,Gokula,Kashi,Gaeka,Tulagpura,Dvarka'Ranresvara' Ktturavas' Gokama, etc A great war is ahead betweQn Pandavas and (N.B.Chronologicallyarrdliterarilythel7thstorywouldmakeabetter conclusion to the "Adi Parva") i

told to 2. ..Bharati sabha Parva",76 pages consist of 7 stories is told by sanjaea, Janmejaia by vaisampaena except the first one which last page of the 4th story and recited to padres by vishnu Das Nama. The andthefirstpageofthe5thstoryarrerrrissingbyxeroxingmistake.This

and Kauravas, in parva descriLed the game of dice, played by Pandavas

whichtheformerloseallthewealtlr,thekingdomsofVaranavataand ofDrilupadi's Indraprestaand even their wifeDraupadi the episode

'f il

r llr Ir1,

l

1

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANCA

:,1 I

.

,f

ilr

,JI

denudation; and exile of paridavas along with Draupadi into the forest.

3. "Aranem parva", 70 pages, 7 stories from ..skanda pura'a,, told by vaisampaena to Jarunejaea relates the events of l2 years spe.t in the forest by the pandavas and Draupadi. Fronr vage isohandwdting is different.

4'"Ytrata parva", 32 pages, 5 stories tord by vaisamp.ena to Janmejaea, and recited to padres by vishnu Das Narna. From 11.2g0 to p'298 the handwriting changes and it is same as that pp 2-zss. lst story: After an exile of 12 years in the fbrest, "r pandavas the and Draupadi, changing faces and names enter in the kingdom oi-virata, which was in the south and render different services in the court: 2nd : virata's wife's brother Kinchaka is kiled by Bhima,who served as

cook underthe name of Barau, because the former uttempteo to r)ossess shedondri, i.e. Draupadi: : KingDuriodhana of Hastinapursends ]rd his messenger znmiti to virata's klgdom to inquire who were this people(Pandavas)whohad killedKinchaka; in a cruer zemitiis killed by virata's ministerAkbhara, i.e. Dharam;4th Duriodhana sends troops to the southem and Northern sides of virata,s kingdom under the generars sasarena and utara. pa.davas offerherp to viiata to resist the enemies; 5tlr: Ar.iuna defeats Duriodhzura's forces. Krishna procraims Dharma as king of Hastinapur, and stays with pandavas in the Virata,s kingdom.

5' "Bhisma parva" I

146pages l0storiestold by vaisampaena to

Janmejaea, and recited to padris,the lst one by Namieva, and arl others by vishnu Das Nama, wrro often calls himself pormesvoracho

sarangata Nama.The stories of this parva iue some in fair copy and some irr rough, and portions of some stories are both in rough *a roi, copies and in different hands; the pages of this pa*a are scattered througrrout the whole codex, which I have *t*g"d in a sequential orcrer, and tried to make each of the l 0 stories in a separate unit, -even repeating in the same jl story fair and rough pages with same contents.

Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the l6th C

lst. Story: On Krishna's advice the Pandavas send an ultimatum to Duriodhana to hand over tothemthehatf of the kingdom of Hastinapur and fix apole on the boundary, but on the second thought, Arjunl, thinks that Pandavas should not make war against their own cousins; Krishna, however,argues with Arjuna and convinces him of the righteousness qf war againstKauravas and soboth Pandavas and Kaurvas makepreparations of war. 2nd. - 10th stories: The warfare breaks at Kulkhetra (Kurulxetra), and lasts for l0 days between the two cousins' forces: arows fly; on either side there is a great number of killed, chariots broken etc;bloodshed and cries ofwomenandchildren in the kingdom of Duriodhana. Bhisma, who coinmandedKauravas' army was killgd while Pandavas were gxrided by Krishna.

"DronaParva" 94pages, 5 stories toldby ChangaNivnrti Das to Janmejaea. This is a rough copy of the pnrva, in which the last page of the 2nd storyandthe lstpageof the 3rd story aremissing byxeroxing lapse at Braga Library. This parva nalrates the welfare of 5 days l)etween Pandavas and Kauravas, the latter under Drona old Guru (preceptor) of both Kauravas and Pandavas. Drona is defeated and killed in the 6.

battle.

7. "KarnaP arva" ,40 pages 2 stories told by Pormesvoracho Bhogta

Changa. Rough copy. It relates 2 days' war

by Arjuna.

in which Kama

is

killed

? stories told by Vaisampilena to copy. one days' war. King shalea, commander of

8. "Shalea Parva" 28 pages,

Janmejaea. Rough Kauravas's army is defeated and killed in the battle.

9."Gada Parva" 37 pages, 3 stories told by Vaisampaena to Janmejae, recited to Padres by Kaliyuga Pormesvoracho Sarangata Nama. Rough Copy.The third story is incomplete i.e final page or pages are missing, and as such one does not know whether this parva has 3 or more stories (mostprobably it has only 3 stories)' lst story: Durioclhana's

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANqA

body is cut by Bhima into 3 pieces i.e the two lower lim bs separar ed from one arpthcr and the upper body still not dead; 2nd story Duriodhana's life is still hanging, 3rd story Aswat'thama Drona's son and general of Ikrravc is ffeated by Pandavas. Thit p*u is named "Gada parva"because Duriodhme was mutilated by Bhima with gada i.e. a mace

lo-

*Asvameda"

this parva is i'complete and it is not known the number of its pages and the number of its stories. Existing pages are 190 comprising l0 stories, recited by vishnu das Nama. The hanclwriting changes quite often in the course of narration and some pages are missing and others were mixed up. The fourth story (Hansdvazachi katha) is also found in the codex No.T7zin rough incomplete copy. This parva describes Pandavas rule of 30 years at Hastinapur.

I st story:

History of Black Ears Horse (sheam Kam Ghodo), meant

for sacrifice (asvameda); in this story pages are missin g; zndrelease IU,

t| ,'t

'li

il

of the horse followed by a fierce fight of Arjuna with King Anasala; 3rd: Fight with King Nildvaz a; 4th: fi ght with King Hansdv aza 5 th, 6th and 7th stories: Arjuna's army fights with King Bobruvara, Ariuna's son and Arjuna iskilled by the hands of his own son; and Arjuna's warrjors also are killed in th'e battle. But Arjuna, his heroes and the whole a(my are revived by ministering ambrosia (amrut); gth story: Arjuna,s Black Ears Horse meets King Tambrdvaza's horse; King Tambrdvaza wins the fight and takes away the two horses; 9th: King Tambrdvaza was a holy man who is taken to Heaven in a viman; his son and Arjuna conduct the

Black'Ears Horse for further struggle: lOth Arjuna fights with the

monkey the King sugriva. The Black Ears Horse proceeds ahead. The remaining stories are missing and so'.ve miss the description of the Horse sacrifice (Asvameda). These 10 stories describe the fierce barrles between the Pandavas' forces and those of different kings during which various kinds of weapons of fire, wind, rain, etc, were used.

The Konkaniprose of the above l0parvas along with : "vidurachi il

f,

Glimpses of the konkani language at rhe tum of the r6th

c

Katha",

a story from "Mahabharata" which is found in the codex No 77 2, constitutes armost a complete version of Mahabharata epic.

II. A Parva from..Ramayanar Recited by pormesvorcho Bhagta Nama, probably a designation of vishnu Das Nama, this parva is incomplete, that is, thl flrst tw' stories and the initial pages of the 3rd story are missiing, so that we have onry apart of the 3rd story and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th stories and the pug", are all mixed up, which I have tried to put in order.

The stories ofthis parva fturates the fight between the forces of Rama's brother Bharata and those of Mulakasura, brother of Ravana,King of Lanka, a war in which Mulakasura is kilred, which fact is describeJin the 7th srory. ,.1

iI

lII. Loose Stories: "Satebhamen Krushttnak dan dilali katha,,, 7 pages. satebhama offers her husband Krishna u, u git to Devasishi Narada. sixteen thousand wives (gopikas) of xriJhna led by his favourite Rukmini, try to get back their husband by giving Narada gems of Krishna's weight; butthoughthepiles of wealttrii ttreilate of tralance reach the sky, the plate does not come down to the levei of the plate in which Krishna was made to sit. This story is recited to padres by Krishna Das Nama. Its last page is in different hand, and it was mixed up in the pages of "Asvameda " parva. (Whether Krishna Das Nama, wh' recited orread out this story to thepadres and Krishna das shama, author of the Marathi poem "shri Krishna charirra katha" that is found in the begining of codex N o.7 7 3,are one and same person, is yet to be found out. [n case we prove that they are the same, we can ascribe to Krishna Das shama or shamaraja from Quelossim, salcete, Goa at least one story of 7 pages in Konkani prose) l.

2.

"King Samadanta

and his 500

wives", 6 pages

3. "valama Rishichi Katha," gpages. A story of a highwayrobber tumed into a Saint.

h

I

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZF,S BRAGANqA

4. "Nagachi Katha", 2 pages. A story that brings out the worth of knowledge and wisdom {<

d< * ,k

:1.

:*

The original author of "Mahabharata" that is Veasa, is not mentioned in this Codex. But names of his disciples such as Shuka, and Vaisampaena, are assigned to a few parvas of "Mahabharata".

Vishnu Das Nama and Namdeva who are probably native Goans subscribe as reciters or readers some parvas of the said epic, Krishna das Nama, perhaps also a Goan, subscribes one story, as referred earlier. But Krishna Das Shama, a Goan poet of that time from Quelosim who has been acclaimed as great Konkani writer of the 16th Century, cloes not subscribe any parva or story of this Codex under his name.

Codex No.772 MSpagesofKonkani This codex runsinto prose(many pages are missing in the original at Braga Library. and about 12 pages missed in xeroxing),and contains 15 parvas i.e. cantos of "Ramayalla",two stories and the complete rough copy of "Adi Parva" from "Mahabh:arata" and four loose stories or fables as follows:

,

l. Ranrayana "Ramayana", first 20pages: l.

Genesis of Sita. Rama, Ravana and other heroes of the epic. This is a rough copy with corrections almost at every line.

2. "Raghunathachea vanxachi katha" 5 pages: Dasaratha is bom.

(Dasaratha is Rama's father; Raghu is the great grand father of Rama; Raghunath is Rama; (varxa means race) 3. "Dasarathachi Katha" 17 pages: a) Dasaratha rules the kingdom of Ayodhe (Oudh); b) Dusri Katha: It was said by gods that Dasaratha's son Ramawould kill Ravana, king of Lanka.Inthis story one page is missing.

Glirnpses of the konkani language at the tum of the l6th C

4. " Ramachi zolm Katha": 20 pages Dasaratha's four sons are bom: Rama, Lakxmana, Bharata and Shatrughna.

"Historia da forga de Ragunatha" (Story of Ragunathas' strength) pages: Rama (Ragunatha) kills a giant.

5.

I

6. "Sitechi Katha'o 15 pages: Sita's story.

7. "Svoenvor Katha" l l pages (svoeonvor means "choosing of husband in a public competition". At the svoeonvor Rama fulfils the condition of breaking Parasurama's heavy bow, and thus wins Sita

fulfilment of Dasaratha's mother, his eldest son Rarna, Sita promise to his wife Kaikei, Bharata's and Lakxmana go into 12 years "vanavasa" i.e. exile in the forest 8. "Aranem Kandichi Katha:" 8 pages : in

9.

"Panchavatikechi katha:" 4 pages: Ravana, king kidnaps Sita from the tbrest of Panchavatika.

of

Lanka,

10. "Sita sudhichi Katha" 4 pages: Search for Sita

I I . "Kishkindha Kandichi katha", 1 0 pages: Sugriva, monkey king of Kishkindha, helps Rama for searching Sita. A bridge is built by monkeys between India and Lanka. Rama's forces land in Lanka and siege the city.

12. "Ramayan{',35 pages: Chapter I : Fight between the ftrrces of Rama and Ravana,Indrajita, Ravana's son and commander of his forces is killed by Lakxmana; Chapter II: Ravana is killed by Rama. Sita is rescued.

13. "Ravana's eight queens" 3l pages, 8 chapters: Malldodari, Queen ofLanka and Ravana'sfirstwife,relatestoRama the stories of Ravana's eight queens: Mandodari, Kumudvati, Prabhanazama, Nagakanea,

BOLETIM DO INSTITI.ITO MENEZES BRAGANCA

Virasena, Rupavati, Anangasena and Virupa. Each are described in seven different chapters.

of the seven queens

l.4. "Bharatachi Katha",55 pages,4 chapters: a) Hanumana goes to Ayodhe with Rama's message to his brother Bharata, King of Ayodhe; b) Rama proceeds to Ayodhe; c) Rama's rule at Ayodhe d) Rarna bids farewell all and ascends to Heaven. Such the narration of

to

is

"Ramayana".

l8 pages,6 chapters (Rama's divine incarnation): 1) King Mahabala secures pardon of his sin and attains bliss by touching Ram's left foot's toe. Hence the relevance of Rama's story that is related in the following five chapters in the language of Salcete and Antruz(Ponda)2)A son is bom toDasaratha king of Ayodhe.3) Naming of Dasartha's son: the name Krislura is not fit because it is not ofRaghu's race (raghuvansa) to which the new bom belongs; Vamana is already the fifth "avalara" (divine incamation). So the name Rama is good. 4) Rama's horoscope : God's avatara long and happy reign. 5) Ramawhen he was 20days oldwas carried away from the cradle by a giant under the form of a swan, from Ayodhe to Isorsim Khol (Goa).

Vasista, Dasaratha's guru followed the swan and fought against it with :urows ofhis bow as aresult ofwhichthe giant swan was thrown as far as Kulostoli (Cortalim). While Vasista was retuming to Ayodhe with the baby Rama, he met a villager of Majorda, ancl, whilst talking with him reached there Ravana's son Indrajita who threatened to devour both the baby and Vasista who however by his superior wisdom, manages to throw Indrajita into a well. (This story refers to more villages of Goa, such as Rasoi (Racaim) Kelosi (Quelossim), Mugrubhuim (Morrnugao) Chikolon (Chicalim) and (Utorda): 6) Rama is brought backtoAyodhe byVasista and restored toDasaratha, A Brahmin wishestoserve Rama.

(This story is incomplete i.e. pages are missing.It is evenpossible that 15. "Ramayana",

the missing pages included more chapters of this parva).

The above pawa, in 6 Chapters, of Konkani prose, describing the

Glimpses of the konkani ranguage at the tum of the l6th

c

race and divine

originof Rama, is not just a vemacular translation from some purana, but jt is an original reproductio' or rather creation by Goan scholars in the language of Salcete andAntruz @onda), aregion located on either bank of the river zuari around euelossim in salcete, and Xelvona and Agapur in Antruz, where was centered the Konkani intelligentsia who had perfected and standardized the language of the land, which we find in the codices nos. 771 and,772and ..old praman call Konkani".The episode of kidnapping of babyRama,whichisnot found in any known version of "Ramayana" is an original Goan Ko"k; contribution to the great Indian epic poetry, in which a few traces of Goan geography and society are interwoven. However its author did not disslss. his identity norname, but following the classicalpatrem said that the stories are related by Mahadeva to his wife parvati at her request; Mahadeva that is God shiva, is also designated, in this parva, by his other titles such as shankara, sadashiva or Kailasnatha (Kailas),

(N.8. In this parva a discrepancy is seen about the death of

Indrajita, Ravana's son. while in an average version of ,,Ranrayana,, Indrajita is killed byLakxmana,Rma'sbrotheras it is seeneturier in the parva No.l2. in this Goan parva, Indra.iita is killed

by Dasaratha,s guru vasista, in Goa by shooting him in the heart in a welr atMormugdo.

The above 15 parvas arong with aparva from .,Ram ayana,, which is found in the Codex No. 77r make a near comprete Konkani version of

"Ramayana" epic.

Il. Mahabharata "vidurachi Katha" Those are 2 initial pages of the fair copy, the rest of which are missing. b) "vidurachi katha", 9 pages (rough copy.) pandavas and K auravas at Hastinapur-vidura gives a banquet - Krishna comes to vidura.s house for banquet - Duriodhana, Ki'g of the Kauravas, gets eruaged because of Krishna's visit to Pandavas. This story is recited by vishnu Das Nama (or 1. a)

Nama Deva?).

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANQA

2. "Halsdv azachiKatha" 15 pages. This is an imcomplete rough copy, of which complete fair copy is found in the Codex No,77l, in the 4th- story of "Asvameda" parva Of "Mahabhatata", already refbrred tO earlier.

3.,.Adi Parv a,,, L45pages. This is the rough copy of "Adi Parva" of "Mahabharata", the fair copy of whictr is found in Codex No. 771 , in the first 120 pages, already described'

III. Loose Stories a fisherman's son', 3 pages' married a) "A princess who ..Yekatonieam pakheanchi katha", 2 pages. This is a story of 101 b) birds c) Yeka Brahmanachi katha", 2 pages d) "Story of a King", 2 Pages

In this codex, the name of valmiki, author of "Ramayana", is not (tr pages mentioned, nor that of any puranic author. As the initial page

are missing, it is not known whom the Konkani translator ascribes this version of "Ramayana" which is fairly complete, but probably he says that it is related by Mahadeva to Parvati. Names of Shuka In{ra and vishnu Das Nama are assigned to the stories from Mahabharatit in this codex. No story in this codex issubscribedbytheGoanPanditKrishna Das Shama

**

**

Codices Nos 7l

,1.{.

I

and,772

Archaic Konkani such as that of these codices, hacl some morphological forms, a part of which, in the course of the centuries, evolied differently in different dialects, while others survived to the

The

old Konkani,

Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the 16th C

present times. For instance the archaic form of the second person singular of verbs such as "tum koritaxi, tum koritoloxi" has evolved in 'bne dialect into "tum kortai, tum kortoloi" while in others it became "tum kofta, tum kortolo"; in the first case the intervocalic "x" dropped, and in the second whole final syllable is lost. And the archaic plural form "koritati" evolved into "kortat" in most of the dialects, though there are sizable people who say "kortai" that is, in the former case the final short !'i" dropped, while in the latter it happened with the last intervocalic "t".

Quite frequently it is found that the genitive case of nouns is formed out of the adverbial form, along with the regular genitive, formed from the stem of the noun, e.g. "nanvincho, dexincho, hatincho, svol-gincho, angincho." along with "nanvacho, desacho, hatacho, svorgacho, angacho"; some of such adverbs derived genitives have survived to date,.

In the Old Konkani all the letters of a word are pronounced with their inherent vowels either long or short, either initial, rniddle or final; so it is read "Panddovancho somovonxu" and not Panddvarcho sornvonx," as it is presently.

There were in the Old Konkani the personl "amam, tumam" in the first and second person plural ablative cases respectively, always used with express preposition e.g. "amam, tumam khatir"; but such ablative flexions in slow course of time, became obsolete to give place to the singular feminine genitive case, followed by a preposition, such as, "amche, tumche khatir". Presenly a few stray Konkani writers have

revived those old pronominal forms, stripped of their original gftrmmar rules, that is, they use them irrespective of the case and prepostion

The Popular Etymology, in its innocent ignorance of the basic principles of grammar, already in the l6th century introduced in the negative conjugation of the verbs, flexions like "korinanti, korum nakati" by analogy with other regular verbal inflexions. And this solecism has

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANqA

been appropriated py many educated Goans, without reflecting that it arnounts to a gross violation of a simple grurmmar rule, that divides the parts of speech into flexible and inflexible words, the infraction of which cannot be tolerated even to the illiterate people.

Marathisms As early as in the 16th century if not earlier, the Marathi kurguage by historical vicissitudes, exercised influence on the Konkani speech, of which Marathism crept into the latter, as are found, in those However, before this time, Konkani had already developed a codices. grammar with well established and clearcut norrns, while Marathi grirmmar rules were and still are erratic and incongruous. as a result

The

oldest and the most common Marathism in the Konkani language is the plural of feminine nouns in long "i' such as "gozali, goshtti, chuki, lipi". In this respect, the Konkani grammar rule is absolutely clear while in Marathi it is ambiguous; the Konkani rule is that all feminine nouns with final vowel in short or silent "i" make plural in "eo," ex:"gozateo, goshtteo, chukeo,lipeo", and those, with tinal vowel short or silent "o", make plural in long "o," ex: "vatt (o), vatto; mall (o), mallo ; " which in the Marathi rule, applic able to such nouns, says that the feminine nouns with the final vowel in short "o", some make plural in long "a," exz "chuk, chuka, mall; malla;" some make in long "i" ex: *kell, kelli, rit, riti"; and some make either in long a or long "i:" ex: "tosvir, tosvira, or tosviri;" so that this polivalent rule ceases to be a sure criterion. In the same line, in these codices, we find expressions like "motiancheo malla,bara vatta;" which are definitely Marathi aberrations; inKonkani they are: "mallo,vatto"soalso in the OldKonkani, the verbal flexions of first person plural, such as "koritanv, koltolenv" instead of "koritati, koritole" are Marathisms, which are today used in some sections of the Konkani people.

Now that the Konkani language has attained the status of

state

i:

Glirnpses of the konkani language at the turn of the l6th

c "-d(

Ii

language, and Goa has been officially guaranteed of its distinct identity, it is auspicious time to restore the identity of its language by exPunging the Marathi stains from its face. Even though one or ottrer Marathism has taken deep roots, far and wide, into the Konkani soil, it is in the interest and honour of the Konkani language to rooi them out rather rate then never, morc so because it does not need them nor they fit into its natural norms.

Latinisms The Portuguese padres of the r6th. century were well versed in the Latin language which helped them to express better than the Portuguese language, that, under the Europeari Renaissance, was just coming out of its infancy.They readily saw the structural similarity between the Latin and Konkani langu ages, of which they availed to learn the latter language, and to compose the art of grammar and build the lexicographical system for the same. They triea to adopt the Latin pattem for the konkani language by ahnost juxtaposing its grammar rules. Though there is a close similarity b.t*""n tnelwo ttguages, they maintain their distinct individualities, with consequent distinct gr:rmmar rules. which however the padres failed to g.*f.

As a result, a clear Latinism is found, now and again, in the t*o rorrtani codices, thus maring the grammatical value of their language. This vice in the langauge isexclusively due to theLatinbiasofthepadres, for which the native reciter of the stories certainly is not respor,.ibl".

This latinism is conceming the agreement of the adjective with the noun.

i tl

In the Latin language the adjectives are grouped, gender wise, into three classes; and also in the Konkani language, they can be divided into three groups. But inthe twolanguages the adjectives are not classified by the same criterion and declined by the same pattem, nor the rules of their agreement with the noun are the same.

ll ,f

li

I

ti

Ih ln

i

I

In Latin the adjectives can be triform, biform and uniform: triform

\

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANqA

in case the nominative singular has three different fornrs for masculine, feminine and neuter genders; biform if it has two forms, one for masculine and feminine, and the other for neuter; and uniform when ithas only one form for all three genders. But this classification is based only on the form of nominative singular, so that a triform adective can

biform or uniform in other cases and in plural; a biform adective can be be uniform in other cases and in plural; and a uniform adjective can Konkani unlike biform in other cases and in plural. All Latin adjectives, adjectives, are declined in all the cases of their respective declension' be

adjectives are divided into: a) trirorm in nominative singular and plural; b) triform in nominavtive singular and uniform in nominative plural; and c) unifrom in nominative singular and plural. Konkani adjectives, besides nominative ca-se, have no other casei of the declension, except when they aue used as nouns, irr which of case they have regular cases of declensions of nouns. Only adjec:tives the first group have three forms for the three genders of the nominative plural, singUlar, andtfuee forms of the three genders of the nominative by the and the functions of all other cases in singuler and plural are done

In Konkani the

have singular stem of the adjectives; the adjecticves of the second group and three forms only for the three genders of the nominative singular the and plural are done by the singular neuter form of the adjectives; ^adiecti.res of the third group have only one form for the three genders, rwl numbers and functions of all the cases' Examples of the three b) groups ofthe adjectives:- a) boro, bori,borem; bore, boreo' borim; lambu, lambi, lamb; c) koddu, ollnni, mukheo' the As for the agreement of the adjectives with the noun, in Latin case, adectives of all classes agree with nouns in gender, numhr and ei: .,leo fortis,leonibus fortibus". But in Konkani, the rules are different: in gender, number and a) adjectives of the first group agree with the noun in nominative singular and plural, and in all other cases of the "ur"trily it in gender, ex: noun the singular stem of the adjectives agrees with ..boro paddo, bore padde, borea paddeak, borea paddeank; bori paddi,

Glimpses of the konkani language at the turn of the 16th C

I

I

{

i .l il li

i

i I I

i

I I

I

t

I

boreo paddeio, bore paddiek, bore paddieank; borem padduk, borim paddkam, boreapaddkak, boreapaddkank"; b) adjectives of the second group agree with the noun in gender, number and case only in nonrinative singular, and in nominative plural and all other cases of the noun, the adjectives remain in their singular neuter form, ex: "lambu paddo, lamb padde, lamb paddeak, lamb paddeank; lambi paddi, lamb paddieo, lamb paddiek, lamb paddieank; lamb padduk, lamb paddkam lamb paddkak, lamb paddkank"; c) adjectives of the third group remain unifornr for all genders, numbers and cases of the noun, ex: "koddu, onvo, bhaili, vikh; koddu onve, bhaireo; vikham; koddu onveak, bhairiek, vikhak; koddu onveank, bhaireamk, vikhank". Except for nominative case, the adjectives inKonkanido not agree with the noun in number andcase, unlike in Latin where there is fulIagreement in gender, number and case.

The above leamedpadres didnot comprehendproperly the wide difference of classification, declensions pattern and agreement of the adjectives in the Latin and Konkani languages. Since in Latin even a uniform adectivecan agreewiththe noun in gender,number and case, v.g. "prudentibus hominibus", they tried to impose such a rule on the Konkani adjectives, by forcing an agreement in gender and number, and sometimes even in case. As such these codices record the frequent use of such an agreement. Examples: I ) adjective of the first group: "team apulearn xisheam lagim uloilo" in correct Konkani it is : tea apulea xisheam lagim uloilo"; 2) adjectives of the second group: "somestam raem dekhtem"; correct konkani : somest raem dekhtem"; 3) adjectives of the third group, i.e. uniform: "Ramu visam disancho zalea uprantem"; correctKonkani : "Ramu vis diszurcho zalearuprantem"; 4) agreement in gender, number and ca.se: "tumiRaeak Drupodafrsanga"; correct Konkani : "tumi Dropod Raeak sanga". This Latinism continued to be followed by the successive Portuguese missionaries, and then down the centuries by the native priests till today. As a disastrous result, in the Catholic families, in Goa and elsewhere, every Friday night, tbr the Rosary of the Sacred heart of Jesus, the following Konkani blunder is recited: "Duloba Kallza Jezuchea"; likewise a prayer is sung in full

&

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANqA

voice

in bad Konkani : "Mogalla Jezu". The correct Konkani

agreement of the above wo adjectives is as follows: "Dulob Kallza Jezuchea; "Mogal.l fezu"

Konkani Vocabularies

I I

\J

,l

I

.?t

i l

.i !

In a period of little over I 00 years, from around I 5 60 to around I 670 the Portuguese missionaries in Goa, namely the Jesuits and Franciscans, developed an intense activity of leaming the Konkani language, as a result of which they produced Konkani vocabularies and grarnmars.

During this period the Jesuits compiled a series of vocabularies, of which at least six sets are available in Goa, each of them being an enlerged version of the previous one, which are intimately connected with the Konkani codies nos. 771 and772, that are also Jesuits works. The written sources of these vocabularies are the said codices, so that to umlerstand the meanings of the words contained in the stories of these codices, the said vocabularies are not only very useful but often essential, iN many vocables of these stories are not in the existing Konkani, Marathi and Hindi dictionaries. On the other hand, these vocabuleries are PortugueseKonkani and Konkani-Portuguese in which the Portuguese worls are so archaic in meanings and unsteady in orthography that the oldest available Portuguese dictionaries very often are helpless; in the circumstances, the Konkani codices render valuable help to handle the vocabularies, thus the codices and the vocabularies being mutually complementary. A comparision beween the codies and the vocabularies also shows that the Konkani orthography used in the codices was later better systematized in the vocabularies.

In conclusion, when one studies these codices and the ) v J vocabularies, he discovers the great wealth the Konkani kurguage i pos"rs"s, and which we can restore for our present use to express our mind

and heart more suitably

than rvith words borrowed from other

langgages, and thus feel a legitimate pride and honour.

t Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the l6th C

I

Codex No.773 This codex, covering 556pages of Marathi verse, contains 9 poems from "Ramayana",9 poems from "Mahabharata" and 12 other poems, thus totalling 30 poems with around 13000 ovis (stanzas). The poems are found in the following sequential page order:

l.

{

J

I

i I

I

I t

II I

i i I

{^

I

lr

i li il

f

"Shri Krishna Charitra Katha" (pp.l-l3l), by Krishrm

Das

Sh"ma; 2. "Pralhada Charitra" (pp.13l-140) by Vishnu Das Nama; 3: "HarichardraPurana Katha" (l4l-r99\ by vishnu Das Namq 4. .,vashista Yougu" (pp.200-251) by Jneandeva; 5. ..Garudachi Katha" (pp.Z52255), by shivdas; 6. "Balkrada" (pp. 255-257); it describes Krishna's childhood; 7. "Ragu Malhara" (pp.257-259), by Jneandeva; g.

"Balkrada" (pp.259-263'1, by shimpa Nama; 9. "Haranichi Katha" (pp.263-26a), by Nama Sada; it is a fable; 10. .'Rajnitichea vovea" (pp.265-266); 11. "Vanavasichi zati ghadapa" (p.266); this poem is incomplete, i.e. pages are missing; 12. ..Druvasu Bhojana" (p.267), incomplete; 13. "Drona parvi Mahabharata Katha" (pp. 26S_32b), by Jneandeva ; 14. "Bharatviratparvi Katha" (pp. 320-394), by vishnu Das Nama; 15. "sita sudi" (pp. 385-400); 16. "Bhagvata Gitechi Karha" @p.aOL447); 17. "Ramacha Asvamedu" (pp.4g _4g5); 1g. ..Shuka Devacharita Katha" (pp.a86-a97),by vishnu DasNama; 19. ..Guru

shikheo s anvadu " (pp. 489-503 ), by s am aenanda N am a; 20. ..Milladasa" (p.504)' incomplete, by sameananda;2r.a) "Rukmini svoenvara" (pp.

505-508), incomplete; b) "Rukmini sakheancho sanvadu" 1pp. 5695I2), both Meghashama;22. "Dharmacha Asvamedu" (pp. sl3-s20), incomplete, by Pataku Nama; 23. .,Kama parva', (pp.52l_532), by vishnu Das Nama; 24. "Shinta Harana" (pp. 533-53 5); Zl."ukhaharana Katha" (pp. 535-5al ); 26. "Krishna Arjunacha sanvadu" (pp. 54 r-544); *Makharadhazachi 27 .

K atha" (pp. 5 4 5 - 5 48 ), by G angadh ar Rarn esvara; 28. "Hamberu" (pp. 549-550), by Jivatama Hari; Zg.(pp.55l-555); the title page is missing; 30. "Nagunarhu Duao" (p.556), by vishnu Das Nama.

BOLETM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANqA

Stories front "RamaYnna"

Yougu" "Harichandra PuranaKatha" (pp.lal -199); 2. "Vashista ..Garudachi Katha'' (pp. 252.255); 4. ..Vanasvasichi (pp.200-251); 3. (pp. 385-400); 6. "Ramacha #i ghudupu" (p. 266); "Sita Sudi" .,Shinta Harana" (pp. 533-535); 8.

AsvJmedu-,, (pp. 4ag_4g5); 7. ..Malharadhazachi Katha" (pp. 5a5-548); 9. Here the title page is missing 1.

(pp.551-555) Stories from "Mahabharata": ..Balkrada,, (PP. 259.263);2. ..Rajnitichea vovea'' (pp. 265 -266); .,Druvasu Bhojana; 1p.267\;4. "Drunaparvu MahabharatiKatha" (pp' 3. ..Bharata Viratparvi Katha'' (pp. 320-384); 6. ..Bhitgavata 268-320);5. (pp. 513 Gitechi Katha,, (pp. 401-4ai\ l...Dharmachea Asvamedu" .'KamaParya"{PP. 521 -532);9. "Krishna Arjunacha siurvadu" 520); 8. (pp.5a1-5aa).

1.

.

Other Stories 1.

..shd Krishla charitra Katha" (pp.1- t3L); 2. "Pralhada charita"

(pp.131-1a0):3."Balktacla"(pp'255-257);Krishna'schildhood;4' .:Rugo Malharu" (W.257 -25g\:i. "Haranichi Katha" (pp' 263-264);6'

..Guru Slrikheo Sutvadu'' .'Rukmini svoeonvara" (pp. g. ..Maludusa; 1p. 504); 9. @p. agg-503); *UkhaharmaKatha" (pp' 535-5al); ll' "Hatnberu" 505 -512); 10. (pp. 549-550); 12. "Nagunathu Duao" (p' 556)'

..Shuka Devacharitra Katha', (pp. 486497\; 7.

AllMarathitranslatorsorauthorsinthisCodexSeemtobeGoans, suchasl.VishnuDasNama(about4500ovis);2.KrislrnaDasShama, fromQuelossim,salcete,(3|23ovis);3.Jneandeva(about3000ovis); (over 135 ovis); 4' Sameananda Nama (over 145 ovis); 5. Meghashama (31

vois); 7. Jivatama Hari (50 ovis); 8' Shivdas and Rameshwar (23 ovis); 10' Nama S tda(12 ovis); ;;;;;*oOrr* 11. ShimPaNama (5 Pages)'

6. Pataku Nama (over 50

ftit ili ri I1

Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the 16th C

i,{ il,1 ,

'll

Iri

f' I

[,

ii, I I

I

ll

Poems with no author's nanre

I. "Balkrada" (pp. 255-257); 2. "Rajniticheavovea,, (pp.265-266); 3. "Vanavasichi zati ghadapa" (p.266\, incomplete; 4. ..Druvasu Blrojana" (p.267);5. "Sita Sudi" (pp. 385-a00); 6. "Bhagvata Gitechi Katha" (pp .40 I 447 ); 7. "Ram acha Asvanedu " (pp.449 -48 5 ); 8.,,Shinta Harana" (pp. 533-535); 9. "Ukhah.u'ana Katha" (pp. 535-541); 10.

"Krishna Arjunacha Sanvadu" (pp. 5 L -5a4); 1 1. pp.55 I -555 (no title).

The total number of ovis of these poems is around 1600.

r1

rl t'; 'r.l

l{ lri

I

The languages of the above 30 poems is a dialectical Marathi, with distinctive Marathi morphological flexions and many exclusive Marathi vocables, but higtrly influenced by the contemporaryKonkani language, thus maintaining final short vowel.

i,(

'{.r-

l,l{

I

a)

A few examples of final short vorvel :

"horrollu, zori, tori, svorgu, norcu, yekochi, Ramu, yecu, doni, tini, cheari, budhi margu Ramuchondru, ovosporu yecu. aji."

',]}

I

b) Marathi morphological flexions : l."porom vostumchar)vtaru";

;

I I

{

t I

2, "Ragunathacha",' 3. "drovachea ravo"; 4. .'Oisa, coisa"; 5.

"Ramchandt'acha lthawt" ; 6. "Dostothacha moddilarothu" 7. ,Xromicha moho"; 8. "caulla"; 9. "prosondu dusra" 10. "Bhisma Drunaraszriqha viru"; ll. "Ha tttzaputru";12. "ha ghodda dhorava",. 13..,Rttmacha mocuttu"; 14. "Aisa nogrincha locu somostu"; 15. "Nogracha Raza"; 16. "poilaparu"; 17. "colporrccha grasu"; 18. "oicha dinu"; 19. ,,zoisa no gusucac

i t

ri ,l

ll. lr 1

i

t I

i

t

L

ha bhogl" ; 20. "putru apula".

The first 131 pages of this codex constitute the poem "shri Krishna charitraKatha", consisting of 19 chapters with 3123 ovistanzas, elaborated on the chapter X of the sanskrit poem "Bhagavata purana", and composed n 1526 by Krishna Das shama, a pseudonym of Shamraja, native of Quelossim, Salcete, Goa; this information is found in the stanzas 245 -250 of Chapter XIX of his poem, and the above

BOLETM DO INSTITI.ITO MENEZES BRAGANqA

pseudonym is also found in the last ovi of the poem. Besides these l3l pages with 3123 ovis, Shama's name does not subscribe any of the remainingpoems coverng425 ages with around 9900 ovis of the Codex, where the most prominent name is that of Vishnu Das Nama.

.

*

But it is more interesting that the name of Krishna Das Shama, or

Shamaraja who is regarded as the founder of the Konkani language and literature, is not assigned either as author or a reciter, to any stoly of the two Konkani Codices nos. 771 and'"72. Therefore, as long as Shama's name is not indentified as an author or reciter of any of the stories of the said Konkani codices, or of any other l6th. century Konknai literary work, he will not have a place in the history of the Konkani literature. 'kd<

**

I would like to reshuffle the Konkani codices nos. 771 andT'l2, so that the whole "Mahabharata" be contained in the Codex no.77l. and the whole of "Ramayana" in theCodexno.TTZ,butI see it will notbe possible as sometimes a story of one epic ends on a page, and a story of the other epic begins on the same page. But this obstacle will not hamperthe researcher, epic.

as he can go

through both the codices to study each

Very often the leamed missionaiies have written marginal notes in good Latin, rurd, here and there, have incorporated words and expressions not only in archaic but in bad Portuguese, referred to by the eminent Portuguese historian of literature Mendes dos Remedios, in his "Historia da Literatura Portuguesa". Therefore our Konkani research scholars have to be well equipped with sound knowledge of Latin and with very profound knowledge of the Portuguese language,lnodem, archaic and pre-archaic. a striking feature that distinguishes these Indian epic stories from Westep epic poems. The epics ltke lliad andodyssev by the

There

is

J

I

;d_

i

lr i

Glimpses of the konkani language at the tum of the 16th C

J:

{

a

t

,T

lr

!

i

I :

ii

,t

{r

Greek Poet Homer , Aeneid by the Latin poet Virgil, and Lusiads by the Renaissance Portuguese bard Luis de Cam6es, glorify the Heroism; they chant thevalour, bravery, gallantry, prowess andpatriotism: they sing the grandiose deeds, feats, conquests, victories and discoveries of heroes, watriors, gods, derni-gods. demons, giants, dragons, monsters' evil spirits and supernatural powers; they extol the fame and the vainglory. The Indian epics also do all the above heroic extravaganza, but they zubmit the Herosim to the Morals, which they call Dharma, that is, code of righteous conduct of life: truth, virtue, justice, charity, service of thefellowmen, of the paupers and the handicapped, pardon, clean conscience, avoidance of all sins even by thoughts, penance' austerity, meditation,piety, God's love, cult and complete submissionto Flis will.

Such is ourheritage which irresently we seem to be determined to disown just t<i ape the amoral standards of the West, or rather, in virtue of the yoke of the Westem powers, our recent generations are cut off from our traditional moral values. When we glance at our millenary culture, certainly we will feel proud of it, but if we compare it with ourpesent rot, we have to put down our heads with shame, though we have not yet reached the Westem Putrefaction.

,t) 'i

dl-

Now that we have at our disposal the Konkani codices nos.771 and 772 lhope no sane person will dare say that the Konkani language had no written and literary form before the advent of the Porttrguese in the early 16th. century. What we have to do now is to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to deep study of these codices. A thorough research is to be carried out, which will reveal the opulent vocabulary and the adult literature that Konkani had developed much before'the dawn of the 16th century, at the cost of which a rich dictionary can be compiled' and genuine Konkani grammar rules can be formulated, and so we can cleanse the Konkani language of the unholy barbarisms infiltrated from foreign langUages such as Marathi, Latin, Portuguese and English, with which 'the Konkani genuis cannot compromise.

BOLETM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES BRAGANqA

POST SCRIPTUM

l.Itisnecessarythatthereadersoftheabovecodiccsshould rememberthatthepud,",,intheRomanisationofthenativcscript, ttrc Roman followed obviously the Portuguese phonology .for so that without good characters, both ior vowels and consonants, knowledgeofPortuguesephoneticsonewillnotreadthecodices the Roman script of prop"rfyl So also, *i,"" one tries to transliterate Devnagari script' he will the said codices into other scripts' v'g'

.

take into consideration that the definetely make mistakes, if he does not phonology, which is Roman script of the codices bears Pornrguesâ&#x201A;Ź differentfromthatofotherRomanicarrdGerrrraniclanguages.Sucha remarkisallthemorereleganttodayinGoaandinlndia,whcrepeople allwesternlalguages think thatthey can read Pornrguese. Latin and Phonetics' according to the unsystematic English the stories of the above 2. It is quite possible that, while grouping

codices,misatesmighthavetakenplace'speciallyintheCodexno' and of which stories belonging to "Ramayarta" 773, as" title of "Other "onr.qo",r.! and mainly those grouped under the "Mahabharata"

Stories,,mighthavebeenwronglyclassifiedinsomecirses.Amore careful study is necessary in this resPect' 'k*

{.*

{.{.

Wff...'-t

Glimpses of the konkani language at the rum of the 16th C

POST-POST-SCRIPTUM

(l)

The codices were transliterated into Roman script by the Pornrguese padres in dre XVI century. The Roman characters have different sound values in different languages in which they are used. Fgr correct pronunciation the phonology of the respective language is essential, withoutthe knowldege of which one is led to mispronounce the Roman scrip with the consâ&#x201A;Źquent errors even in semantics. And worse consequences will occur in transliteration or transcipion into othertypes of script.

1

I

-i

/

The phonology of the roman characters of the codices is naturally Portuguese. so the reader should have perfect knowledge of the Portuguese Phonetics, the slight deficiency of which will giveplace for big blunders in pronunciation and transcription into other scripts.

(2) The transliteration or transcription of the Konkani texts

/\ t-

l', I

_l

rl

t I 1

was carried out from the native script into the Roman characters from the dictation by the local pundits, taken down by the leamed portuguese padres, and not directly form the written material. In such a process, in which the scribe does not see the text he transcribes, dictation mistakes are bound to occur, not only in the othoglaphy, but even in the order of the words, due to difference of speed of the dictation aml that of writing, as one can see having happened in fact in the codices. Then the padres, who saw an exaggerated similarity between the Konkani and Latin grammar rules, tried to correct their transcriptions, and, in this work, they made unwarranted use of the Latin grammar, thus marring immensely their transliterated Konkani prose.

'

Consequently, the transliterated Konkani language of Codices stands distoned, while the original language of the native texts'should have been ostensibly superior. Therefore we should be cautious not to take the language of the codices as perfectly genuine, but we should beware of the Latinisms and other mistakes the padres have made. But fbr such

BOLETIM DO INSTITUTO MENEZES

imperfections, the codices are a mine from which we can unearth an inestimable treasurc.

The transcription comprehended in the codices, was made in the earty 16ttr" câ&#x201A;Źntury, but the versidn in the native characters must have preceded around 50years that is, that the original native lexts must have been composed in the second half of the 15th. century. Therefore we catrnot establishth4 the codices offer the Konkani of the 16ft. Century but they give, fuougb l6th. century transliteration, a glimpse of the 15th C. Konkani languagc.