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 THE CAMPY
BY DR. S. K. DE.
Though the term ('armpir. is of obscure origin, it is
already used lv /) 1ili1i in his K^ 1ri/Fldar.wr (i. 31) to denote
7

a species of coral l)sition in 1111xed verse and prose (Jpuu1rl--

padyinmy 1). No ilmin, however, is said by Iln,in, ;,r lry
-

any other 1hctoi11i:iu, about the relative pr'opoition of

verse and prose: hilt since the Prose K/ v//a .(KatIai and
Akhy1 iyikit). which m ahes prose its exclusive medium, also
makes limited use of verse, it has been presumed that the
mingling of prose and verse in the lrnr/sir ,h nild not Deem
disproportionately. In actual pwactice, the question, in
the absence of authoritative pres(ription, seems never to
have worried the authors, who employ prose and verse
indifferently for the sane purpose. The verse is not
always specially . reserved, as one would expect, for an
important idea, a poetic description, an impressive speech,
a pointed moral, or a sentimental onthnrst, but we find
that even for ordinary narrative and description verse is
as much pressed into service as prose. In this respect, the
Camhi scarcely follows a fixed principle: and its formless-
ness, or rather disregard of a strict form, shows that the
('amph developed quite naturally, but haphazardly, out
of the Prose Karya itself,' the impetus being supplied by
the obvious desire of diversifying the prose form freely by
verse as an additional ornament under the stress or the lure
of the metrical Kitrya. In the Camp, therefore, the
verse becomes as important a medium as the prose, with the

i The line of (lemareation between a Kat1^u. and Caa?n jn is so

thin that Soddhala's t7daja. ui/a ri-Kath is sometimes regarded
as a Camp. The presence of short prose does not distinguish a
Cawppi7 from an ordinary Kdryr ; witness,, for instance the
Svuul,a-'mAtikara of Nara^rana mentioned helot.
.56
 THE CAMPU 57

result that we find a tendency, simiIa r to that of the

decadent drama, of verse gradualiv )iistiug prose from its
legitimate eniplovinent. Although !)ii , liii is aware of
this type of composition, we possess no specimen of the
C.ampic earlier than the 10th century A.D. Its late
appearance, as well as its obvious relation to the Prose
Kdrya, precludes all necessity of connecting it genetically
with the primitive mode of verse and prose narrative found
in the Pali Jataka or in the Fable literature, in which the
verse is chiefly of a moralising or recapitulatory character,
or in the inscriptional records, where the verse is evidently
ornamental, or in the purely hypothetical Vedic Akhyma,
which is alleged to have contained slender prose as the
mere connecting link of more important verse.
The Cain pi, thus, shares the features of both Sanskrit
prose and poetry, but the mosaic is hardly of an attractive
pattern. Excepting rarely outstanding treatment here
and there, the large number of Cam pis that exist scarcely
shows any special characteristic in matter and manner
which is not already familiar to us, in their best and worst
forms, from the regularly composed metrical and prose
Kir^ya. The subject is generally drawn from legendary
sources, although in some later ('amps, as we shall see
presently, miscellaneous subjects find a place. The Camp
has neither the sinewy strength and efficiency of real prose,
nor the weight and power of real poetry: the prose seeking
to copy ex abundanti the brocaded stateliness of the prose
Kathy and the verse reproducing the conventional ornate-
ness of the metrical Ka,vya. The form, no doubt, affords
scope for versatility, but the Cumpi -writer, as a rule, has
no original voice of his own. The history of the Cam pir,
therefore, is of no great literary importance, but it is a
peculiar literary type; and it would be interesting to
notice here some of the better known works which are in
print.
5(S S. K. DE

The earliest known ('amph appears to be the Nala-

cam.p or Danaayaiitr. 1kath 2 of Trivikrama-bhatta, whose
(late is inferred from the fact that lie also composed the
Nausari inscription of the Rastraktita king Indra III in
915 A.I).'' "i he work pretends to narrate the old epic
,

story of Nala and l)amayanti, but the accessories and

stylistic affect,atious of lahoured composition entirely over-
grow the little incident that there is in it, and only a small
part of the story is told in its seven I crlh rrt.^rts. The poet
himself describes his work as abounding in puns and
difficult construct.ions, for he believes litthe display of
verha] complexities after the manner of Tuna and
Suhnnndhu, and ciclihcrately, but wearisomely, imitates
thcir interminably descriptive, ingeniously recondite and
massively ornamented style. He has a decided talent in
this direction, as well as skill in metrical composition, and
elegant verses from his ('anrpit are culled by the Antho-
logists, but beyond this ungrudgingly made admission, it
is scarcely possible to go further in the way of praise.
To the sane century and same category of artificial
writing belongs the Yaast,ilaka eamp of the Digambara
Jaina Somadeva Surf, an extentive work in eight As`vdsas,
composed in 959 Al). in the reign of the Rastrakuta king

2 l;rl. linrga poi ;ail ,,nil Sivadatta, witli the ronrm, of Canda-
Pila (,. 12a!) Al).), NSI , 1855, rrl ed., Bombay, 1921; also ed.
('l,r,wkIlaIn i,iia 5kt. Series, Peuarrs, N3'2. The poet describes hiin-
, f a; Ih on t \,^n,arlitya r,f the ii,i/el?j,r-tjutru, and grandson of
, ,irlh,na,.
1), P. ]il,a,idarkar in i't,i. ir,rl., ix, ti, 28, Trivikrama also
wi,,tr I/r,rrrlJrt.a-,a/1ij,rr (rrl f, B. 3lotlalia and K. N. Sane, in
lour y( te1,fi,,.,r1m,0,frJra, Poona 1582). He i.s quoted anonymously
litI'I,r,j,,'w ra. r ir!i-/,rrirtlrl,lrruvrn,r (Parrrrrrtnbhedi /1nvitwtm, ad
,

' Al! IIn v,.r.e- quui,^rl in Siit Jra.vitara1i ,tiiirairJad1,arrrj)(rd-

,

(i/rnlr and /'n(Lyarnli ,u, Ir.,r',^able in the ^' (lbi'ni,rpu; , ;ee S. K. 1)e,
,

t'urrlyarali, pp, 20 -7.

Ed. Kedanlath and others, in two parts, with the eomm. of
^tirut..0 aua tinri, NSP, 2nd ed., Bombay, 1916.
 CIIE CAMPU 59

IirSUa, ii to the l)atronage of his feudatorv, a son of the

CalukvA Arikesarin II. It relates the legend of
Yasodhara., lord of Avauti, the rnOcbin,itions of his wife,
his death and repeated rel)i_rths, send final conversion into
the J di f<<ith. The 5tO,r V, based upon Utrr irrbhadra's

tt(u 11 I'' is not new, having been the subject of

inane a ,Jaiira work, like the Al)biur1,1 1 .1(1s1rlmrely(/ii'
of Puspad_l,ruta am(l the Sanskrit Ya oill,aua-co, ita of
\`a Iiraja. Puri ; but it iS, nOirrated liere. not riorrnally, but
in the embellished mode established b'y Nu ta-bhattas- *

Ki 1omharri, one of its distinctive features being the

treatment of the motif of rebirths. A large part of the
narrative' indeed deals with experience of different births,
but a resoltrtion is at last made to put an end to trails-
Hi igration by follow i ig the teachings of a Main, sage,
earned Sudatta. These teachings form the subject of the
last three A,^" as(ts of the work, added as a kind of popular
manual of devotion (1'p i:; aluclli.ycayaana or Reading for the
Devotee) explanatory of the Jaina religious texts. This
didactic motive and interweaving of doctrinal matter
piactically run through the entire work, which Somadeva,
like most Jaina authors, makes a means of his religious
end. A vast arrav of authorities, pedantic and poetical,
for instance, is assembled in the king's polemic against
the killing of animals in sacrifice, while a knowledge of
polity is displayed in the elaborate discussion between the
king and his ministers. It cannot be denied that
Somadeva is highly learned, as well as skilled in construct-
ing magniloquent prose sentences and turning out an

1'. L. Vaidya, Kaiafija .Iaiu,i $e1ies, Karanja, flora,

1J31.
7 Ed. T. A. tiopinath Rae, Sarasvati Vilasa $erie;, Tanjore
1912. Iii four autos, (1)1'" ill the :I' 1iiuiug of the 11th
(cut urv. The author wrote his Pdr.crvina(/iu wrriIa in 1025 A.D.
" For all an alV,is of the work, see Peterson, So( Ofld IIeport,
Bombay, 1884', lrp. 35-46.
60 S.K.DE

e legant mass of 1 script i ye anal sctititnental verses but the

purely litertry value of his Wwk has b"m much exaggerat-
ed. if his earnest religious motive is the source of an
added ijrterest, it is too oh l rttsive and dreary to be iitiprov-
I'd by his respeItalrle rhetoric and pellucid Itrosody . -

These two earlicr (uirr.p i works are fair specimens of

they type : aiul it is trot tie(ess,u v to make inore than a hate
urentiott of Inlet an(l less Iurt'itoriH)us atterul)tS. The
,1aitta legeimd (I .Irir'nv/haJo. aIso based nit the I tturu-
l0i7u/<<c, fotitis the subject of the li/u,n(lh(1iu rlrnr/)u' of
tuicertaiii date cc(nrl used in eleven Lumhlrukus by
Ilari(andra, who is probably identical with the Di-yuanbara
Jariir,t II aricatufin, the author of the Dha Jill t-
tintribh ytrduyu, " The later l of Hindu authors
are no better, their subjects being drawn from the Epics
and the Puiuiru.x. The Rumoi/(/uo r'lrtpir '' ascribed to
Bhoja, extends up to the Ki. kii<<lh-kula of the epic
story', the sixth or l'uddluo-kul/a being made up by
Laksmaita-bliatta, son of (;aiigadhara and Gaiigatnbika,
while some itianuS(!1'1pts give a seventh or Uttar(t-ka1f U by
Vetikatai' ja. Similarly, Anauta-hhatta wrote a Bhdrata-
euui-/)it' ' in twelve Sturakus. There are several Bhuguvatu-
eampus,':' for instance, by Cidambara (in three Stavakas),
" Ed. T. S. liuppusv:uui S,isiri, Sato vati Vi1;t,a Series, 1au-
.jure I!)UL(.
,,, 1?d. l)uigI)ta ail and li. 1'. l'atah, NS1', Bombay, 189U.
It i, in 21 l lntus, and deals with the :tuty of 1)harniantitha, the
titt.t-uih Tirthatikara on the direct tunnel of Magha's poem.
" Printed tualV bole., in India. Eel. K. P. Parab, with the
COMM. Of Ilatitaeihandra B1tudvudra, NS1', Bombay, 1898. This
edition contains the title hairdo of Itk.vnwl,I 0Glttitta. Another up-
ttleutent entitled, ) udrlhtrl,a^t(lu (un<<)t1, by 11aJacudlamani
I)iksita is known (ed. T. It. Cintaiu.uti in 11TQ, vi, 1930, pp. 629-

1 - ]?dd. 1i. P. Torah, ww - itit (;u)1nu, of liatua(au(lra Bhudendra,

NS1', Bombay 1903 (also eel. 1916). Very often printed in
fn^lia
Sets 1'. P. s. Sa sti i, Tui,joie ('u(ult,yete, vii. p. 3082f,-
St'vt'ral other ('c,,,JJI7.e on the sturie.s of the two epics and the
11hdgeiridei ame listed it, ti n ' different catalogues of tuatuscripts.
 THE CAMYU bl

by l^anrablia i a and by Riijana-atlta. On the separate

,

episodes of the Epics and the B/tayaru,ta, there are also

several (.'ri 1 ut they aic not so well known. The
Pureb ij, myths also claimed a large number of Campus;
.

for instance, the Nrsimha-cainhir. of Kesava-hhatta,' son

of Nar aim (in six tu /as), by Daivajiia Shiva'' (in live
C'ccltru>sas), and by Sai^karsaila (iii four L%llasri,), all
deaIi 1 ; with the story of Pruhlathi .x deliverance by the
Mato-Lion iIRarnation of Vi in. The Part )ata-liarail(]-
cumpi; of Sesa Krsiti, who flourished in the second half
of the loth century, is concerned with the well known
Pitmmt legend of Krsna's exploit. The Ni1akantha-
ri)a yo-co,nt pn' , of the South Indian Nilakai tha Diksita
was coil I)oseil in 1637 A.D. on the myth of the churning of
the ocean by gods. '^ All these are rather literary exercises
t.haii creative works.
The ('amen form of composition appears to have been
popular and largely cultivated in Southern India, but
^ s Ed. Haril,rasad Bhagavat, Kri,hnaji G.u apat Press, Bom-
bay 1909.
", Sou of Inanuilhirija of Ptitthapara. He was an astronomer
of ('1u repute, Who wrote 1 i 'urya-pr(ika.(i in 1539 A.D. and his
cam meiitar^ on the l,ildrati in 1542 A.1). He also wrote the Li'dina-
krsita-nilonma-kavya, a small poem of 36 or 38 stanzas which praises
in alternate half verses Rana and Krsna, the text given by the
se^oml half when read backward being the same as that of the first
half read forward (ed. Kavvaivala, Guerhaka ix, NSP, Bombay,
1899-36 verses: ed. H.ueberlin, reprinted in J ivananda's Kavjja-
sairrjiaha, iii, pp. 463-65-38 verses).
I(6 Ed. Durg,tprasada and K.P. Parab, NSP, 2nd ed. Bombay,
1889, l9)0. The author also wrote the drama Ramses-vad/ui. in
seven acts (ed. NSP, Bombay, 1888). The author lived in the
court of Akbar and wrote this work for Todar Mall's son.
Ed. C. Sankararanna Sastri, Balamanorames Press, Madras
1924. Also ed. I. B. Modaka, and K. N. Sane in Kavyetihasa-
Sahg char, Poona 1882.
' The .tivaha-.4udhakara (ed. Kivya.n ula, Grucehaka iv, p.
52f) of the Kerala poet Naruyana, who lived towards the end of the
16th century, is sometimes taken as a Campsi, but it is really a
short poem (26 verses), with occasional prose, presenting the rather
thin Purapie story of the love of Svaha and the Moon god.
 62 S.K.DE

nothing will be gained by pursuing its history further

except mentioning some curious developments in the hands
of some later practitioners of the type. We find that not
only myths and legends were drawn upon as themes, but
that the form calve to he widely anal conveniently applied
to purposes other than purely literary. Occasional
description, philosophical or te.hnical exposition and
religious propaganda became some of the i an-literary
objectives of the (amps. Thus, San arathui gava 1)iksita,
son of Veikatesa afid Anant,-um ti of Vadhula-yotra,
-

wrote towards the third quarter of the 16th century his

Yatret- (or i u thin atr-) prabatedha,') describing in nine
_q,O'usas, with plenty of interspersed verses, a pilgrimage
which he undertook with his elder brother to the holy
shrines of Southern India, and incidentally enlarging
upon the stock poetic subjects of the six seasons, sunrise,
sunset, erotic sports and the like. The work is a praise-
worthy attempt to divert the Campo from its narrow
groove, but the traditional rhetoric thwarts and prevents
the assertion of a natural vein. The Vataddmbiku-
(parinaya- of the woman-poet Tirumalainba, gives a
highly romantic version, in the usual mannered style, of
an historical incident in the career of the Vijayanagara
king Acyutaraya. It describes the romance of the love
and wedding of Varadambika with the author's own
husband and royal lover Acyutaraya. The Citra-campu
of Baiiesvara Vidyalaiikara 2 ' eulogises the author's

is Ed. Kedlur iath mid V. L. Pau;hikar NSP, Bombay 1908.

It. is the same work as that not Hell, but vaguely described, by Eg-
geling, 'nil. Office Cot., vii, p. 1,),M, no. 4036.
20 Ed. Lakshman Sarup, Lahore 1938(?). The editor notes
that the CaIIpii contains the largest compounds to be found in
Sanskrit, but this is hardly complimentary !See P. P. S. Sastri,
Tai,jore C1,t,ilotwne, vii, pp. 3245-46, no. 4220.
21 Eel, Ranicharan Vhakravarti, Benares, 1940. For ITS see-
Eggeling, India Office ('utaingxe vii, pp. 1543-45, Rio. 4044. The
Rork was c,onipo,,e(l about 1744 A.11.tiriharsia mentions a
 THE CAMPTJ 63
patron, ('itra.sena of Vardhamana (Burdwan), Bengal,
and gives some quasi -historical information about the
Maratha raid of Bengal of 1742 A.D. The versatile
Venkatadhvarin,' 'son of Raghunatha and Sita.nib5, of the
-

Atreya-yotra of Conjeevaram, whose literary activity was

almost synchronous with that of Nilakantha Diksita,
conceived the idea of quickening the (.'ampic with a mild
zest for disputation and satire. He composed a curious
(`anzpir, entitled 1'i.<rac-yunxcdarsa,I in which two
Gandh<trrrts, 6 7 i.,iirasu, and Kridnu, take a bird's-eye
view of various countries from their aerial car, the former
generous in appreciation of their qualities, the latter
censorious of their defects. The device is adapted in the
Tatt ea-gitnrarinru=' of Annayiirya, which describes the
comparative merits of Sairi.,m and Vriisnrtrisni in the
form of a conversation between Jaya and Vijaya, a ;aivite
and a Vaisiravite respectively. Local legends and festivals,
or praise of local deities and personages also supply the
inspiration of many a Campu. The rinivdsv-vilasa-
campu' , of Veirkatesa, for instance, describes the glory of
the well known deity Sri Venkatesvara of Tirupati in the
highly artificial style of Subandhu. The Vedantacarya-

Narn,aharii*ika-carita-camprc composed by himself, in his .Xa,.rn11 a

(xxii. 22), presumably on an historical theme: but nothing is
known (if .this work.
-- Venkatadhvariu was a voluniinous writer, anal composed,
anion- other works, the )"aidara-ratghariya (a short Uvi-.an(/hiNa
kai',ya of about three hundred verses, which relates, by the Viloura
device, tre stories of the lihima,yaiia and the Bhatjarata simultaneous-
ly), a :upplenieni (the Uttiaa-1anda) to Phoja's Mama,yana-ralopo,
;uul several poem?, plays and Ntotr1i5. See Ibid. ('(rltru(', ^i li. 227
for other work" of this author.
Fil. B G. Yogi aril M. (t. Pakre, NSP, 5t1 oil. l3uuthay,
1923: also ed. with a (oinnieutarv, Karnatak Press, ltonihav 1889.
-a Set- IJe.ciiptiu e (pit., Madras Goat. Orient. Lih., xxi, 1),
822:3, no. 12295.
-^ Ed. l)urgg,ihr sad and Ti. 1'. P:n':ih, NSP, Bonnh-ay, 1893,
 fi4 S. K. nli

r'ilo i,'i= , ; of A(H i-trrrki (1-''itillm V'edantacarya de-It-I'ibes the

life of theSouth 1nmliaii teaelicr. A'edaanta'legiha, tlu dis-
putation, held by him with .-I dr(litin.S and his polemic
sttctesses. The I , iulwtnr-nto(Jc1-tcarrriiyirii"' of Iiamacandra
('irafijiva IBhagJk .arva, a comparatively iii idern work, is
,

a witty composition which brings together the followers

of schools and sects, and, by iiwa fl of their exposition,
I)orrl-: together the essence if N.arims beliefs and doctrines.
But the most strange application of the Campit form
occurs in the Jlizn(liun-nmm(1rr11d(l(1-carnt.J)ii-' of Krsna, which
is nominally a ('aiii pi% but, is in fact a regular treatise on
rhetoric and prosody, composed with elaborate definitions
and illustrations.
As the Jaina writers made use of the Campit for
religious propaganda, the Bengal Vai..n.awt school also
did the same in respect of their creed and belief in the
A"r.^^ia-legend, not only presenting erotico-religious pic-
tuies of great sensuous charm, but also making it the
vehicle of their elaborate theology. The Wnkta-eariti'a 29
of 1? ighunatha-dasa, a disciple of Caitanva, relates a
short tale, in which Krsna demonstrates that pearls could
be grown as a crop by sowing; and watering them with
milk, but of which the real object is to show the superior-

-u De.ccripttrc t at., .Ilrrclrvr., Gort. Orient. Li1., Xxi, p. 8290,

un. 12365.
-^ Ed. Venkotesvara Press, Bunihav 1912. The author's
.11udhrna-e npi ha.. been erlite(i by Satyavrata Samasrami,
(al< utt:r, 18a1. For the author, see S.K. Pe, anskrit Poetics i,
p. 294. Ile lived in the first halt of the 18th century. his I r t -
i-rrtnarali, a work on Prosody in honour of Yasovanta Siniha, Nayeh-
1)ewau of ]iacva wider Suja-ul-daulah of Bengal, being dated
17.'J A.l).
-`1 Ed. Kedarnath and V. P. Panshikar, NSP, Bombay, 2nd
ed., 192.1. As the work copies some definitions farm Appayya
Piksita, it cannot be earlier than the 17th century. The Ra.^a-
prn.ta.ea commentary on Manunata's Kc rya-prakd4a is probably his.
2 f' Ed. Notyasvarupa. Brahniachari, T)evakinanclan Pres,,
Brinclahan, 1917, in Bengli characters.
 THE CAMPU ('i5

itv of Krsna's free love for Rddbii over his wedded love
for Satvahham t. But the Gopal(I- rarnp,, of .Iiva
Gosvimin, rnephew of IMI)a Gosv5iuuiii, and the iin'it'i41-
vrnv-rrana-campll ' of Paranthhnanda l;i a 'i i Kavi-
karnapura are much more exten,,ive a 1 cla1 r,lte works,
,

which describe the childhood, vrnith an' manhood of

Krsna in a lavishly luscious and rhetori(:,1 style. Kavi-
karnapura's work deals in twenty-two torak(is with the
early life of Krslia at Vrndilvana ; but .l iva's huge ('um pu
in 70 chapters (which occupy 3940 pages in the ('.alcutta
printed edition !) envisages the entire career of Krsna,
and makes modification in the legends in accordance with
the Vaisnara theology of the Bengal school, of which it
is more of the nature of a iddhnnta-grantha.

31) Ed. Nityasvarup Bfahmachari, in two parts (P+ ,'na and

Uttara liha?ulas), Devakinandan Press, Brindavan 1904; also ed.
R.asavihari Sankhyatirtha, with comm. of Viracandra, in two
parts, Devakinandan Press, Calcutta, 1908-191`3, in Bengali
characters.
31 Ed. in the Pandit, vol. ix and 1, New Series, vols. i-iii;
also published in parts, by Madluisudan Das, with comm. of
Vi4vanatha Cakravartin, Hugh, 1918, etc., in Pengali characters
(incomplete). For a detailed account of these two Bengal Vaisnava
Cawptas, see S.K. De, Early History of the Vaisi,am'a Faith and
Movement in Bengal, Calcutta, 19.42, pp. 472-493.