Dhoyin

Dhoyin or Dhoyī was a 12th century Sanskrit-language poet from present-day India, who composed the Pavanadūta.[1] He was a court poet of the Sena king Lakshmana Sena, who ruled Gauda in what is now Bengal.

Biography

Dhoyi was born in the Shaktri gotra Sen Vaidya Brahmin (Baidya) clan.[2] He was the grandson of Srivatsa Sen and son of Pundarik Sen. Mahamhopadhyay Bharat Mallik in his kulagrantha "Chandraprava" suggested that all Shaktri gotra Vaidyas of present Bengal are Descendants of Dhoyi. Those from western Bengal are from the line of his son Kashi Sen, whereas those from eastern Bengal are from the line of his son Kushali . Dhoyi Sen was awarded the titles such as "Kavikshmapati" and "Chakravarti" by Lakshman Sena.

Pavanduta tells the story of Kuvalayavatī, a gandharva maiden from the south who falls in love with king Laksmana when she sees him during his victory tour of the world. She asks the south wind to take her message to the king at his court.

Style

The theme of all messenger poems is viraha, separation in love. Allusions to romance are never far away. Despite sharing Kālidāsa's use of conventional romantic motif, Dhoyin’s messenger poem is much more than a mere pastiche of the Meghadūta. Dhoyin devotes nearly half of his work (48 out of 104 stanzas) to describing the wind’s journey from Sandal mountain in the south to king Laksmana’s palace at Vijayapura in Bengal, but spends a long time on the message (38 stanzas) in which the lovelorn condition of Kuvalayavatī and the wonderful qualities of the king are described in detail.

Dhoyin has aims beyond the expression of rasa, aesthetic sentiment, which is traditionally the sole purpose of Sanskrit poetry. He devotes a greater proportion of his poem to the message because he can thus pursue his aims more effectively. The Pavanadūta is similar in style to Kālidāsa's Meghadūta.

Works

Dhoyin's Pavanadūta or Wind Messenger is probably one of the earliest surviving examples of the many messenger poems which were written in imitation of Kālidāsa's Meghadūta or Cloud Messenger.

The Clay Sanskrit Library has published a translation of Pavanadūta by Sir James Mallinson as a part of the volume Messenger Poems.

References
  1. Siegfried Lienhard (1984). A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit. A History of Indian Literature. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 18. ISBN 978-3-447-02425-9.
  2. Sen Sharma, Tribhanga Mohan (1942). Kuladarpanam, Behrampore: New Art Press. p.2 (part 2)
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