Sakara’s misplacement of mythological characters in Sudraka’s Mrichchhakatika

Abstract

Sakara is a unique character in Sudraka’s Prakarana. He is a foolish villain and an intelligent fool. He surpasses any villain ever created. He commits kills Vasantsena and ensnares Charudatta in the crime of killing her. Instead of feeling guilty he feels proud of his act. He is a confident verbose but misplaces all the mythological characters and upturns all their stories and actions. He misplaces the sense organs and their functions. He is the predecessor of Sheridan’s Malaprop and Shakespeare’s Dogberry. He knows the names of the mythological characters but is unable to connect them to their story. He mixes the story of the two epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha together. He misplaces the names and mixes their stories like a fool of the ancient times. But he is not a comedian. He is a villain. He is himself a mixture of villainy and comedy. His friend calls him bastard but he does not mind. He is a supreme villain ever created in any form of literature.