A History of Sanskrit Literature c21.s9.3

Language: English

c21.s9.3.1

The description of the doorkeeper,¹ a maiden, in the *Kādambarī* exhibits his normal style: *ekadā tu nātidūrodite navanalinadalasaṃpuṭabhidi kiṃcidunmuktapāṭalimni bhagavati sahasramarīcimālini rājānam āsthānamaṇḍapagataṃ aṅganājanaviruddhena vāmapārçvāvalambinā kaukṣeyakeṇa saṁnihitaviṣadhāreva candanalatā bhīṣaṇaramaṇīyākṛtir aviralacandanānulepanadhavalitastanataṭonmajjadairāvatakumbhamaṇḍaleva mandākinī cūḍāmaṇipratibimbacchalena rājājñeva mūrtimatī rājabhiḥ çirobhir uhyamānā çarad iva kalahaṃsadhavalāmbarā jāmadagnyaparaçudhāreva vaçīkṛtasakalarājamaṇḍalā vindhyavanabhūmir iva vetralatāvatī rājyādhidevateva vigrahiṇī pratīhārī samupasṛtya kṣititalanihitajānukarakamalā savinayam abravīt.* 'Once, when the sun, garlanded with a thousand rays, bursting open the fresh lotus buds, relaxing something of his ruddy hue, had risen no great space in the sky, to the king seated in the presence chamber, came the keeper of the door, and with bent knee and lotus-like hand touching the ground addressed his majesty. Her form was lovely, yet dread, even as a sandal plant wherein lurks a snake, by reason of the sword which she wore at her left side, belying her womanhood; she was as it were the Ganges, her bosom whitened by sandal showing like the temples of Airāvata as he emerges from his bath; through her reflection in their crest jewels she was as it were an embodiment of the king’s order, borne on the heads of obedient princes;

c21.s9.3.2

by the whiteness of her robe which vied with the swans, she resembled the autumn when they return home; she conquered all the assembled kings as did the edge of Paraçurāma’s axe; with the cane wand which she bore she resembled the Vindhya forest land, and she seemed none other than the guardian deity of the realm in human shape.’ We would no doubt be unjust to Bāṇa if we held that he did not realize the humorous side of these exaggerations, just as he no doubt saw the comic aspect of the putting of his tale into the mouth of a parrot, and enjoyed as much as we should his remark on Skandagupta: *nṛpavan̄çadīrghaṁ nāsavan̄çaṁ dadhānaḥ*, ‘with a nose as long as his sovereign’s pedigree,’ which has been solemnly censured by unimaginative stolidity.

c21.s9.3.3

Against this peaceful picture we may set the striking picture of the return of Bhaṇḍi with the news of Rājyavardhana’s death: *malinavāsā ripuçaraçalyapūritena nikhātabahulohakīlakaparikararakṣitasphuṭaneneva hṛdayena hṛdayalagnaiḥ svāmisatkṛtair iva çmaçrubhiḥ çucaṁ samupadarçayan dūrīkṛtavyāyāmaçithilabhuja-daṇḍadolāyamānamaṅgalavalayaikaçeṣālaṁkṛtir anādaropayuktatāmbūlaviralarāgeṇa çokadahanadahyamānasya hṛdayasyāṅgāreṇeva dīrghaniçvāsaveganirgatenādhareṇa çuṣyatā svāmiviraha-vidhṛtajīvitāparādhavailakṣyād iva bāṣpavāripaṭalena paṭeneva prāvṛtavadanaḥ viṣaṇṇa iva*, ‘His raiment was besmirched and he manifested his grief by his heart which was filled with the foe’s darts and arrows, as though they were clamps of iron to restrain it from breaking, and his beard which lay over the heart on which his master’s good deeds were engraved. On his long arm, relaxed from lack of exercise, was as sole ornament his lucky bracelet. His parched lip, faintly coloured through neglect of use of betel, protruded under the stress of his long sighs like a coal from a heart afire with sorrow, and he covered his face with a mantle of tears as though in shame for the sin of living when his master had fallen.’ Yet Bāṇa can be brief, though he must be pointed, as in Harṣa’s oath;

c21.s9.3.4

*çapāmy āryasyaiva pādapaṅ-* *susparçena yadi parigaṇitair eva vāsaraiḥ sakalacāpacāpaladur-lalitanārapaticaraṇaraṇaraṇāyamānanigaḍāṁ nirgauḍāṁ na karomi medinīṁ tatas tanūnapāti pītasarpiṣi pataṅga iva pātakī pātayāmy ātmānam*, ‘By the dust of my noble one’s feet I swear that, if I do not within a measured tale of days make the earth without a Gauḍa and cause it to resound with the fetters on the feet of kings made haughty by the elasticity of their bows, I will hurl myself, worthless as I shall be, like a moth on to a flame fed of oil.’ Even in the death scenes of Harṣa’s mother and father epigram must prevail: Prabhākaravardhana thus addresses his darling boy: *mahāsattvatā hi prathamaṁ avalambanaṁ lokasya paçcād rājajīvitā. sattvavatāṁ cāgraṇīḥ sarvātiçayaçritaḥ kva bhavān kva vaiklavyaṁ? ‘kulapradīpo’ sīti divasakarasadṛçatejasas te laghukaraṇam iva. puruṣasiṅho’ sīti cauryapaṭuprajñopabṛṅhita-parākramasya nindeva. kṣitir iyaṁ taveti lakṣaṇākhyātacakra-vartipadasya punaruktam iva. gṛhyatāṁ çrīr iti svayam eva çriyā gṛhītasya viparītam iva*, ‘Magnanimity is the mainstay of this world, next royal blood. How incompatible is weakness with thee who art the first of the magnanimous, endowed with every perfection? Shall I call thee lamp of our line? That were almost a making light of thee whose brilliance matcheth the sun. To call thee lion of men is as it were a censure to one whose prowess is manifested not alone in heroism but in keen intelligence.

c21.s9.3.5

’Twere tautology to say, “The earth is thine”, when thou bearest the clear signs of imperial splendour to come. ’Twere contradiction to bid thee grasp the goddess fortune when she already hath thee in her embrace,’ and so on until the poet grows weary, for there is no logical end to these elegancies. Rhythmical effects and alliterations abound and often are happy: *apratihataratharaṅhasā Raghuṇā laghunaiva kālenākāri kaku-bhāṁ prasādanam*, ‘In a brief space with the irresistible onset of his chariot Raghu brought peace to the world.’