Visha Kanya - Revision history

ScarlettFlannaga: expand structure additionally after review

2023-03-24T09:12:16Z

expand structure additionally after review

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{for|the 1991 film|Vishkanya (film)}}
+#REDIRECT [[Vishakanya]]
-==In literature==
+{{Redirect category shell|
-A [[Hindu mythology]] text, the ''[[Kalki Purana]]'', mentions that they can kill a person just by looking at them, and talks about a Visha Kanya named Sulochana, the wife of a [[Gandharva]], Chitragreeva.<ref name="Chaturvedi2004">{{cite book|author=B.K. Chaturvedi|title=Kalki Purana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjPXRCCUvk4C&pg=PA74|access-date=20 June 2011|year=2004|publisher=Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.|isbn=978-81-288-0588-2|page=74}}</ref>
+{{R from move}}
 }}

imported>Marcocapelle: /* Further reading */more specific categorization

2021-07-15T05:55:59Z

Further reading: more specific categorization

New page

{{for|the 1991 film|Vishkanya (film)}}
The '''''Visha Kanya''''' ([[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa| विष कन्या}}; {{lang-en|Poison girl}}) were young women reportedly used as [[Assassination|assassins]], often against powerful enemies, during the times of the [[Ancient India]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpXijlqeRpIC|title=India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil|last=Roy|first=Kaushik|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=9788178241098|page=24|language=en}}</ref> Their blood and bodily fluids were purportedly poisonous to other humans, as was mentioned in the ancient Indian treatise on [[public policy|statecraft]], ''[[Arthashastra]]'', written by [[Chanakya]], an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] (c. 340–293 BCE).<ref name="Chaurasia2002">{{cite book|author=Radhey Shyam Chaurasia|title=History of ancient India: earliest times to 1000 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWmsQQ2smXIC&pg=PA100|access-date=20 June 2011|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0027-5|page=100}}</ref>

==In literature==
A [[Hindu mythology]] text, the ''[[Kalki Purana]]'', mentions that they can kill a person just by looking at them, and talks about a Visha Kanya named Sulochana, the wife of a [[Gandharva]], Chitragreeva.<ref name="Chaturvedi2004">{{cite book|author=B.K. Chaturvedi|title=Kalki Purana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjPXRCCUvk4C&pg=PA74|access-date=20 June 2011|year=2004|publisher=Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.|isbn=978-81-288-0588-2|page=74}}</ref>

However, in time, "poison damsel" passed into [[folklore]], became an [[archetype]] explored by many writers, resulting in a popular [[literary character]] that appears in many works, including classical [[Sanskrit]] texts such as ''[[Sukasaptati]]''.<ref>''Erotic Indian tales from the Sanskrit classic Suksaptati'', by G.L. Mathur. Hind Pocket Books, 1971. ''Page 26–27''</ref>

==History==
The Poison Damsel (Sanskrit Viṣakanyā) is a literary figure that appears in Sanskrit literature as a type of assassin used by kings to destroy enemies. The story goes that young girls were raised on a carefully crafted diet of [[poison]] and antidote from a very young age, a practice referred to as [[mithridatism]]. Although many would not survive, those that did were immune to other poisons and their [[body fluid]]s would be poisonous to others; sexual contact would thus be lethal to other humans. There also exists a myth that says a Visha Kanya can cause instant death with just a touch.

According to Kaushik Roy, Visha Kanyas would kill their targets by seducing them and giving them poisoned alcohol.<ref name=":0" />

Some Sanskrit sources narrate that a ''Visha Kanya'' was sent by [[Mahapadma Nanda|Nanda]]'s minister Amatyarakshasa to kill [[Chandragupta Maurya]] and Chanakya diverted them to kill Parvatak.<ref name="PenzerBhatta1980">{{cite book|author1=Norman Mosley Penzer|author2=Somadeva Bhatta|title=Poison-damsels: Folklore of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWEhbry3WBUC&pg=PA17|access-date=20 June 2011|date=November 1980|publisher=Ayer Publishing|isbn=978-0-405-13336-7|page=17}}</ref><ref name="Thakur1997">{{cite book|author=Molu Ram Thakur|title=Myths, rituals, and beliefs in Himachal Pradesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JH-gI4ncuZ4C&pg=PA17|access-date=20 June 2011|year=1997|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-071-2|page=17}}</ref>

According to the Indian Historical sources Vish kanya was used by [[Nanda Empire|Nanda Dynasty]] founder [[Mahapadma Nanda]] to kill the last ruler of [[Shaishunaga dynasty|Shishunaga Dynasty]] [[Kalashoka]] both of which belonged to mighty [[Magadha|Magadha Kingdom]].{{cn|date=October 2019}}

== Contemporary treatments of the theme ==

''Visha Kanya'' has been a popular theme in [[Indian literature]] and [[folklore]], and apart from appearing in classical [[Sanskrit]] texts, it has appeared repeatedly in various works like ''Vishkanya'' by [[Shivani]] and ''Ek Aur Vish Kanya?'' by Om Prakash Sharma, who use ''Visha Kanya'' as an [[archetype]] in their stories—a beautiful girl who kills when she comes too close. More recently, the archetype has taken a new hue in the HIV/AIDS era, for example in ''Vishkanya'', a 2007 novel, based on the [[AIDS]] epidemic in society. ''Vishakanya''s have also been depicted as important characters in the book ''[[Chanakya's Chant]]''. In 2009, Vibha Rahi, a lower caste woman has written an autobiography 'Vishkanya: Untold Secrets' in Marathi, in which she portrays how upper caste women make intimate relationships with lower caste people of high profile and destroy their families and social relationships.<ref name="Vibha Rahi">{{cite book|last=Rahi|first=Vibha|title=Vishkanya: Untold Secrets|year=2009|publisher=Karuvaki Prakashan|location=Pune}}</ref>

Over the years, many Hindi films have been made on the subject. The first film, ''Visha Kanya'', was made in 1943, starring [[Leela Mishra]],<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376308/ Vish Kanya (1943)] [[IMDb]].</ref> and more recently, [[Vishkanya (1991)|''Vishkanya'' (1991)]], starring [[Pooja Bedi]] in the lead role.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318812/ Vishkanya (1991)] [[IMDb]].</ref> [[Vishkanya Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani]] is a [[soap opera]] TV series which aired on [[Zee TV]]; it starred [[Aishwarya Khare]] as Aparajita Ghosh, a Visha Kanya, in the main role.

In the story ''Beeshkanya'', [[Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay]] wrote about a girl who was supposed to be a Vishkanya and was sent to [[Magadha]] in order to assassinate the members of [[Shaishunaga dynasty]].

In ''The Real Life of Sebastian Knight'' the author Nabokov treats his affair with Irina Guadanini through allusions to the myth of the poison damsel. In the 2015 novel, ''The Entropy of Bones'' by [[Ayize Jama-Everett]], the main character fights a group of ''Visha Kanya''. The trope also appears in a set of Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories.

==See also==
*[[Femme fatale]]
*"[[Rappaccini's Daughter]]"
*[[Nāga]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''The Vish-Kanya or Poison Damsel of Ancient India'', Illustrated by the story of Susan Ramashgar. Folklore Society, Britain, 1927.
* ''Poison-damsels: Folklore of the world'', by Norman Mosley Penzer, Somadeva Bhatt. Ayer Publishing, 1980. {{ISBN|0-405-13336-7}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EWEhbry3WBUC&pg=PA17&dq=Vishkanya&lr=&as_brr=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false Excerpts]
* ''Vishkanya: True stories of famous women spies of the world in story form. by Yashvant Mehta. Publisher: Gurjar, 1996.
* ''Vishkanya'', by Esa Mehta. Rajasthani Granthagar, 2007.

[[Category:Warfare by type]]
[[Category:Characters in Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Literary archetypes]]
[[Category:Folklore characters]]
[[Category:Poisoners]]
[[Category:Indian assassins]]