A History of Sanskrit Literature c16.s2.2

c16.s2.2

Of early efforts to elaborate this kind of poetry we have the *Caṇḍīçataka*¹ of Bāṇa, a collection of 102 stanzas, chiefly in Sragdharā metre, in honour of Çiva’s consort and in special of her feat in slaying the demon Mahiṣa; the poem serves also as a prayer, as she is invoked to protect her worshippers. Bāṇa does not impress us with any sincerity of devotion, and the poem, though laboured and sometimes clever, has little of the attraction of his romances; his demerits appear clearly enough in a couple of stanzas which the anthologies cite as possessing merit: