Ratnavali

Ratnavali
Written by	Harsha
Characters	Udayana Ratnavali
Original language	Sanskrit
Subject	Comedy Of Court Life
Genre	Comedy
Setting	Kaushambi, India

Ratnavali is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha (606–648). It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of Colours have been found in this text.

district|Kaushambi]]

Udayana, King of Kaushambi, is both valiant and romantic. He is happily married to Vasavadatta, princess of a neighboring kingdom, and the story of their courtship and wedding is the subject of an earlier work, Svapnavasavadattam, written by Bhāsa.

Udayana is well-served by Yougandharayana, an extremely loyal and astute, if rather presumptuous and devious minister. Yougandharayana now wishes the king to marry Ratnavali, princess of the distant island kingdom of Simhala (presumably Sri Lanka). This is because a sage had prophesied that the man who marries Ratnavali would become a Sarvabhauma (Emperor). Incidentally, Ratnavali's father, king Vikramabahu of Simhala, is Vasavadatta's uncle. He is aware that Udayana and Vasavadatta are unusually close to each other (because they had married for love), and that a second wife would either be unhappy herself or make his niece Vasavadatta unhappy. He is therefore initially reluctant to accept the proposal of marriage which the minister makes to him. While the envoys from Kaushambi are still in Simhala with the proposal, the news reaches them that Queen Vasavadatta is dead, having perished in a fire which engulfed a hunting camp at Lavanaka. This news is in fact a falsehood initiated by the devious minister in order to facilitate the second marriage. King Vikramabahu is however taken in by the ploy, and agrees to give his daughter in marriage to Udayana. The necessary preparations are made, and Princess Ratnavali embarks on a ship to make the voyage to Kaushambi and her new life as queen of that kingdom.

Unfortunately, a storm crosses their path and the ship gets wrecked. Ratnavali alone is rescued by a passing merchant ship, and reaches the mainland safely. She however does not reveal her identity as princess of Simhala to the people who rescue her, because she is fearful of being held for political ransom, that her father or fiancée will be made to give up territories to secure her release. She therefore pretends to be suffering from amnesia. The merchants who rescue her are impressed by her rich garments, her refined speech and cultivated manners. They infer from all this that she is a lady of noble birth. Therefore, when they reach their native land (which is Kaushambi, by a coincidence), they place the nameless maiden in the custody of minister Yougandharayana. By this time, news of the shipwreck and the loss of Princess Ratnavali has reached Kaushambi. The minister immediately recognizes that the girl rescued from the sea and suffering from amnesia is almost certainly the princess. He also sees the situation as an opportunity to reconcile Vasavadatta to the idea of receiving a co-wife. He gives the rescued girl a new name, "Sagarika," ("Ocean-lady"), takes her to the queen and asks her to keep the homeless waif as a maid. The queen agrees, and "Sagarika" becomes Vasavadatta's maid.

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