The Many Lives of Vasavadatta

The paper examines the depiction of a previously famous female protagonist of Sanskrit literature named Vāsavadattā, the chief queen of king Udayana of Kauśāmbi by comparing two versions, that of Bhāsa in the play, Svapnavāsavadattā (Svp), and that of the Kathasaritsagara (KSS), where it is part of the framing narrative. In the paper we can see the gendered nature of the language of elitist courtly life that had the nature of being a public ‘spectacle.’ We can also see very sharply the shift in the use of theme, character, and affective expression, from the Svp to the KSS. What differences can be perceived between the characterization of the two versions contained in the very different genres of drama and narrative literature and are wide apart in time? Can we connect this with the changed historical context? The paper attempts a reflective gaze on the supposedly self-sacrificing protagonist, Vāsavadattā, and her relationships. In the depiction of female agency, mediated through the male gaze, can we unravel the purely feminine voice?