Bhojaraja, fondly remembered by literary history as one of India’s greatest kings, has written a Champu Ramayana that is often regarded as the best campū-kāvya in Sanskrit. This is a beautiful work in campū (a mixture of gadya, prose, and padya, verse) that follows the story of Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa closely, but compresses it a great deal, and embellishes it with the most beautiful alaṅkāras: particularly noticeable (to me) are the prāsa and yamaka that Bhoja manages so frequently, where the same sequence of syllables recurs in different words (with of course different meanings). His style is sweet and distinctive.

One may think that, by the time Bhoja was writing (11th century CE), in Sanskrit literature that had seen the genius of Vyāsa-Vālmīki, masters like Kalidāsa and Bāṇa, and hundreds of great poets, every possible beautiful idea or expression would already have been taken, that the “burden of history” would be too great, and there would just be no more room to write anymore in a classical style. (Such an argument is made in English literature, especially in poetry about not writing with metre and rhyme any more.) It’s as if in science or mathematics one can stand on the shoulders of giants from past centuries, but when writing, the giants stand on your shoulders.

But the history of Sanskrit literature shows otherwise: somehow writers keep popping up who digest the entire literary tradition that came before them and produce something new and beautiful, like Bhoja, like Gaṅgādevi the author of Madhurā-vijaya, and for a modern-day example, like Dr. Shankar who can write citrakāvya better than anyone ever could.

Bhoja only wrote 5 kāṇdas (up to the Sundarakāṇda), and there is a story about this: that he was inspired to write this work the night before a battle, that as he finished the Sundarakāṇda it was time to go, and that he announced that the Yuddhakāṇda would be enacted in the battlefield against the invader, but sadly he never returned. Others have composed a Yuddhakāṇda to complete the work.

I have read Bhoja’s Champu Ramayana only in bits and pieces, and would love to make the time to read it fully. There does not appear to be a complete digitized text of this work available online, but for anyone who wants to read it, here are some resources available:

Text and commentary (scanned books)

  • (Calcutta) Text of the work, edited by Jibananda Vidyasagara, published from Calcutta. The printing quality is not as legible as that of Nirnaya Sagar Press (below), and with va-s and ba-s tend to be mixed up.
    • Without commentary (1878): here, here.
    • With commentary by Jibananda Vidyasagara (1889). here, here, here, here. A terse but useful commentary.
  • (Nirnaya Sagar Press) Text of the work, with the commentary of Ramachandra Budhendra
    • First edition, 1898. here, here, here, here, here
    • Fourth edition, 1914. here (the scan looks very legible! The famed NSP printing quality)
    • Fifth edition, 1917. here, here, here (poor scan), here (poor scan) — i’ve noticed a few typos in this edition
    • Ninth edition, 1939. here, here, (I also have a PDF assembled from DLI that seems to be a slightly better scan, but I can’t find it on archive.org at the moment.)
  • Other (less useful)
    • Partially digitized text on Wikisource — right now part of Bālakāṇda and part of Sundarakāṇda are there
    • Text with vyakhya called Sahityamanjusha, in Telugu script here
    • Text of just the Sundarakanda, with Sanskrit and Hindi commentary by Ramachandra Mishra, Chaukhamba, 1971. here
    • Manuscript(!) of just the Kishkindakanda, here
    • A Yuddhakanda with commentary, in Telugu script here, here
    • Audio recording by Vishvas Vasuki :-) here

Translation

Audio / Video

  • By Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh, in Kannada (= 1 2 3 4) (audio only), about 6 hours total, going over good verses and passages from the entire text (after 40 minutes of introduction about Bhoja etc) and explaining them briefly. This is really beautiful and I’m already on my second listening.
    • (For over 2 years now, Dr Ganesh and a few friends have been reading the Champu Ramayana, a little at a time meeting in person every couple of weeks. Unfortunately I have missed all of that, so these videos are a poor substitute.)
  • (Broken link) By Dr. Ganesh again, in Sanskrit, most of the Sundara-kāṇḍa, with many interesting digressions. Presented when he was visiting Austin in 2014. About 4.5 hours total. (The playlist is longer, but at 3-3 it switches over to Q&A on other topics.)
  • By H. R. Vishvasa of Samskrita Bharati, a little over 8 hours total, from the start of the work to the birth of Rāma and his brothers (just before Viśvāmitra approaches Daśaratha). In very simple Sanskrit. Delivered at Shri Chitrapur Math. These videos are unlisted; you can find them via this page.
  • By Sowmya Krishnapur (audio with slides), recordings from an online class by Vyoma Saṃskṛta Pāṭhaśālā. About 44.5 hours (43 sessions of about 1 hour each). The entire Bālakāṇda, very clear and enjoyable. Includes a lot of interesting information, and comparison with corresponding passages in Valmiki.
  • By Swami Tattvavidananda Saraswathi, in Telugu. About 9 hours, though with some audio and ordering issues (not clear where it starts or ends). Only listened to parts of it. Going by the numbering in the video titles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
  • By Vidhya Ramesh, Samskrita Bharati, Chennai (audio with slides), Another recording from a series. About 25+ hours total (32 sessions of 48 minutes each), covering the Sundarakāṇda, and accompanied by detailed notes on this page.