Saundarananda

A mahākāvya in 18 cantos (sarga-s) 1060 (+) verses, Aśvaghoṣa’s Saundarananda (SN ) describes the tale of the handsome śākya prince ‘Sundara’ Nanda. Deeply in love with his wife Sundarī, Nanda was not interested in philosophical matters. His cousin, the Buddha visits him and takes him on a journey of renunciation. The first part of the SN recounts the sensual life of Nanda. The second part describes Nanda’s spiritual transformation by Buddha.

The SN abounds in the vipulā species of the anuṣṭubh metre - a feature seen in the epics, and is marked by the use of uncommon metres – śarabhalalitā, suvadanā, and the uneven udgatā besides śārdūlavikrīḍita and sragdharā.

Along with Aśvaghoṣa’s other poem Buddhacarita, the SN marks a transition from the narrative styles of the epics, the purāṇa-s and the mildly literary style of the kathā texts towards the more sophisticated belletristic mode we associate with the mahākāvyas. Kāḷidāsa’s Raghuvaṁśa follows the SN in many places.