A History of Sanskrit Literature c19.s2.5

c19.s2.5

Budhasvāmin is unquestionably worthy of praise for his art. Admitting his debt to Guṇāḍhya does not diminish the pleasure afforded by his lively outlook on life, the complex picture of adventure and marvels which he paints, or the romance of his well-conceived characters and the kaleidoscope of the swiftly altering scenes in which they are placed by fate or their own action. He restrains his desire for mannered description of which he doubtless felt competent by the necessity of getting on with the tale, and displays his virtuosity, partly by his large vocabulary with its not rare Sanskritizations of Prākrit terms which are doubtless sometimes derived from him by the lexicographers, and partly by the revival of obsolescent forms such as aorists. As a rule, he is simple, clear, fluent without verbosity, and if he seems on the whole rather devoid of ornament the magnitude of his undertaking may be deemed excuse enough for a very venial fault.