Studies in Indian Art c14.s1.3

c14.s1.3

In the social and religious sphere the same spirit was manifested in the growth of such institutions as the Saptasāgara-Mahādāna (Gift of the Seven Oceans'), Brahmāṇḍa-dāna ('Gift of the Universe'), Dharitri-dāna (Gift of the Earth'), etc., an index of the increased tempo of man's aspirations. In the realm of poetry the figures of speech (alaṃkāras) became subordinate to an uncommon fondness for Atiśayokti or hyperbolic description. Of course, this led to inevitable degeneration of the poetic art, as of all arts but there was no escape from a process which ultimately petered out in conventionalised descriptions and trivial details of the poetry of the later medieval period. The high sounding titles like Paramabhaṭṭāraka Mahārājādhirāja, Parameśvara of many a potentate ruling the country from one end to the other and also the descriptions of the universe-enveloping dust stirred by their marching hordes give us some idea of the unbridled passion for big size and glory that was the rampant vogue of that age. The national soul bestriding the vast expanse of land and ocean from Madhyadeśa to Svarṇadvīpa and Śrīvijaya in Sumātrā on one side, and to the teeming Central Asian cities on the other, witnessed an unprecedented cultural empire unknown before or after in the history of Greater India.