The specialty of this work is that it is a Shastra- Kāvya. Shastra in Sanskrit may mean grammar, astrology or even medicine. A kavya that tells a story and at the same time teaches a Śāstra is called Śāstra - Kāvya. Bhaṭṭi wrote this special work called Bhaṭṭi Kāvya in order to explain all the rules of Sanskrit Grammar. However, this aspect has not been mentioned by him in his work and he directly starts with the story of Daśaratha.
The original Rāmāyaṇa written by Vālmīki has about 24000 ślokas spread in 500 sargas. However, Bhaṭṭi Kāvya or Rāvaṇavadha is a shorter version than the original Rāmāyaṇa and contains only about 22 sargas. Poet Bhaṭṭi describes up to Rāma’s Pattābhiṣeka and he has omitted Uttharakāṇḍa where Sītā lives in Vālmīki’s Ashram and gives birth to Lava and Kuśa. Bhaṭṭi Kāvya ends with the coronation of Rāma. The 22 sargas are packed in three different sections. The first 9 sargas are called prakīrṇakāṇḍa. In this section all the rules of Panini grammar are mixed up prakīrṇa – means scattered here and there. The 10th to the 13th sarga is called prasannakāṇḍa. In this section, the story is described beautifully and Bhaṭṭi has packed this section with different types of figures of speech like Śabdhālaṅkāra and Arthālaṅkāra. The poetic prowess of Poet Bhaṭṭi is very evident in this section.
The last section from the 14th sarga to the 22nd sarga is called tiṅantakāṇḍa.
Sanskrit as a language is generally considered to be very rich with its various tenses and modes. There are three types of past tenses, two types of future tenses, present tense and then other kinds of tenses like optative, benedictory, imperative, conditional.
In the case of verbs in English, it can have only 2 or 3 forms. For example, the verb ‘go’ is used as ‘go’ and ‘goes’ in first person present tense, and in 3rd person as well there are only these two forms - ‘go’, ‘goes’. When used in the past-tense, it is ‘went’, or ‘go’; and in the past-participle it is ‘gone’. But in Sanskrit, the verb-root ‘gam’ which is the equivalent of ‘go’ in English, in the present tense there are 9 forms, on account of the three numbers, singular, dual and plural. And the three puruṣa-s (persons) are 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person. And therefore, it has 9 forms. And in each of different tenses and modes, in the past-tense, the types are past-perfect, simple-past, aoristic-past, and thus a multitude of forms are prevalent in Sanskrit. In order to illustrate all these forms, Bhaṭṭi has used a rich and wide variety of words in this kāvya.
The story in Bhaṭṭi Kāvya has mostly stayed true to the original with some minor variations in some of the incidents. In the original Rāmāyaṇa, when Viśvāmitra takes Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa with him for the protection of his sacrifice, Viśvāmitra teaches them two special mantras known as Bala and Atibala. On account of those special mantras, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa become immune to hunger and thirst. In Bhaṭṭi Kāvya, the mantras are called Jaya and Vijaya instead of Bala and Atibala, In the original Rāmāyaṇa, sage Viśvāmitra teaches Rāma the art of usage of different weapons after the slaying of the demoness Thātaka. However in Bhaṭṭi Kāvya Viśvāmitra teaches Rāma in the beginning itself.
In the original Rāmāyaṇa we find that Shurpanakha, Rāvaṇa’s sister gets tossed between Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa before getting her nose cut by Lakṣmaṇa. In Bhaṭṭi Kāvya she goes initially to Rāma and after getting rejected by Rāma she goes to Lakṣmaṇa and is promptly punished by him.
Another small difference is that Daśaratha, father of Rāma is a portrayed as a Shiva baktha and does not worship any other God other than Śiva which is very different from the original. Probably this was just a clue to show that Poet Bhaṭṭi himself was a Śaivite.
Thus Bhaṭṭi sticks to the original as the main intention behind this Kāvya is to teach Pāṇini’s grammar.
The unique aspect behind the work is that this work illustrates the rules of Pāṇini Grammar. The various figures of speech called as Rhetorics or Alaṅkāra Śāstra is also illustrated and these two appear to be the main idea or the goal behind this work of poet Bhaṭṭi. The kāvyas are generally very easy to understand and they normally instill pleasure and bliss in the mind of the readers whereas the purpose of Śāstras whether it is Mathematics, science or astronomy is very different and the learners are expected to take diligent efforts to understand the subject. Thus, when a Śāstra and a kāvya is combined it may be very difficult for ordinary students and poet Bhaṭṭi was aware of this and hence quoted,
vyākhyāgamyamidaṃ kāvyamutsavaḥ sudhiyāmalam ।
hatā durmedhasaścāsmin vidvatpriyatayā mayā ॥
Poet Bhaṭṭi calls this kāvya as Vyākyagamyam which means just by reading it one cannot understand and it can be understood only by special commentary. He says this Kāvya is for “Sudhiyam” (the ones that are intelligent) and is a “Uthsavah” (a festival/a feast) for such people. Figuratively, Bhaṭṭi further says “hatā durmedhasaścāsmin - dull witted people or those that are not sharp are killed on reading this. The various forms explained by Panini have been lovingly used by Poet Bhaṭṭi all over this kāvya and the fact that this work will appear difficult to ordinary people is well known to him.
Similar to the above verse of Poet Bhaṭṭi, Bhāmaha quotes the following verse,
kāvyānyapi yadīmāni vyākhyāgamyāni śāstravat ।
utsavassudhiyāmeva hanta durmedhaso hatāḥ ॥
Similar to Poet Bhaṭṭi, Bhāmaha also says, kāvyānyapi yadīmāni vyākhyāgamyāni śāstravat, (vyākhyāgamyamidaṃ kāvyam) that the Kāvyas are difficult and can be understood only through commentaries. utsavaḥ sudhiyāmeva, - Just like Poet Bhaṭṭi Bhāmaha further says that it is a festival/feast for those with sharp intellect and durmedhaso hatāḥ – dull witted people are killed by such poets.
This epic poem was so popular that even in the 11the century itself, it travelled far to countries like Indonesia and into the islands at Bali etc, There has been a direct transalation of this Bhaṭṭi kāvya into thee local vernacular languages.
In good old days this Kāvya formed a necessary part of the Sanskrit education as its value as a compendium to Pāṇini’s system of grammar was very high. Bhaṭṭi’s intense knowledge of Pāṇini grammar is clear from the fact that without destroying the spirit of a Mahākāvya the rules of grammar have been blended seamlessly into the Kāvya.
Poet Bhaṭṭi was not only adept in the figures of speech and sense. He was also very conversant with the various types of Yamakas and the language is very pleasant due to the variety of Yamakas. This is where the same set of consonants are repeated or the same set of letters are repeated with different meanings or parallel words are also frequently. And the following verse would highlight the expertise of Poet Bhaṭṭi – avasitaṃ hasitaṃ prasitaṃ mudā vilasitaṃ hrasitaṃ smarabhāsitam ।
na samadāḥ pramadāḥ hatasammadāḥ purahitaṃ vihitaṃ na samīhitam ॥
avasitaṃ hasitaṃ prasitaṃ mudā – the women were laughing and even when their laughter was over, they were completely immersed in happiness. vilasitaṃ hrasitaṃ smarabhāsitam - and whenever they laughed and smiled, love was the only message conveyed from that laugh/smile. na samadāḥ pramadāḥ hatasammadāḥ - Here, ”mada” is repeated 3 times, “pramadah” means beautiful women. “Samadah” means those that were tipsy. Hatasammadah, even when their happiness was lost. purahitaṃ vihitaṃ na samīhitam - they did not do things that were good for the cities as they were intoxicated and therefore they were doing only whatever was good for them.
An example for is expertise on the figures of speech is the following verse that describes the Autumn season.
na tajjalaṃ yanna sucāru paṅkajaṃ na paṅkajaṃ tadyadalīnaṣaṭpadam ।
na ṣaṭpado'sau na juguñjayatkalan na guñjitaṃ taṃ na jahārayanmanaḥ ॥
Autumn season is called Sharadṛtu in Sanskrit. Bhaṭṭi has described creepers, rivers, directions and lotus flowers of Sharadṛtu vividly. The poet says na tajjalaṃ yanna sucāru paṅkajaṃ na paṅkajaṃ tadyadalīnaṣaṭpadam – There is not a single lotus flower that does not have bees hovering around and that bees were hovering around every flower making melodious jingling sound. He calls the jingling sound of bee as guñjita’, as it captures the heart of the listeners.
The poet claims that the his Mahākāvya is like a lamp for those who have grammar as their eyes and without grammar it is like a mirror in the hand of a blind person.