A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.s9.35

c11.s9.35

The structure of each of these cameos is simple; throughout it is normal to have each verse complete in itself, a single verb serving to support a number of adjectives and appositions, though relative clauses with verb expressed or implied are not rare. The compounds are normally restricted in length, but this is less closely observed in the Mandākrāntā metre, though even then clearness is aimed at and normally achieved. The order of words is very free, partly no doubt by reason of metrical necessity. Of the figures those of sound are employed not rarely but usually with skill. Beside the ordinary forms of alliteration as in *nirmame nirmamo ’rtheṣu*, we find the more important Yamaka, in which the same syllables are repeated, in the same or inverted order,¹ but with different sense. There is a certain liberality in the process; thus Kālidāsa is able to match *bhuja-latām* with *jaḍatām*, for *l* and *ḍ*, like *r* and *l*, *b* and *v*, are admitted as similar, and the same principle is clearly to be seen in