A History of Sanskrit Literature c14.s7.1

c14.s7.1

We need not regret that Kalhaṇa was not permitted by his subject to indulge in the Kāvya style of description; we have sufficient examples of it in such pictures as that of Yudhiṣṭhira's departure into exile and Sussala's entry into the capital to realize that we have lost nothing of value in being spared more of these stereotyped and colourless imitations.¹ Much, indeed, of the rest of the poem is mere versified prose, comparable, but for the beauty of the language itself, to medieval chronicles, but the true poetic power of the author is revealed in many episodes. The account of Bhoja's terrible journey over the snow-clad mountains in A.D. 1144 to the Dards,² the funeral of Ananta and Sūryamatī's Satī, the dialogue between the Brahmins whom he has injured and Jayāpīḍa who is to perish by their curse, above all, the tragic tale of Harṣa's isolation and misery, redeemed from sordidness by the courage of his last defence and the magnanimity which spared the life of one of his murderers, are all conclusive instances of Kalhaṇa's power of simple, yet deeply affecting narrative. The use of dialogues or set speeches lends not merely variety but dramatic power; thus Uccala is made to expound his claim to the throne and Harṣa to defend his political conduct.³ Or the situation is brought vividly before us, as in the dialogue of Ananta and Sūryamatī before her suicide; or the feelings of the bystanders, as in the comments of the soldiers and the Dāmaras on Bhikṣācara's fall.⁴ On the other hand must be set an unquestionable obscurity, arising in part from the metaphorical expressions which take the place of plain statements of fact, in part from the poet’s indifference to the ignorance of posterity of the exact conditions of Kashmir in his own day. This leads him to assume our knowledge of situations which, therefore, are referred to in terms conveying now no clear impression, and to the use of words in technical senses without any explanation, as *kampaṇa*, army, command in chief; *dvāra*, frontier watch station, command of the frontiers; *pādāgra*, high revenue office; and *parṣad*, corporation of Purohitas. Another source of trouble is the use of varying forms of the same name, as Loṣṭhaka, Loṭhaka, and Loṭhana, and the mention of individuals either by the title of their office, or by the title of an office no longer held.