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A History of Sanskrit Literature c35.s8: 8. Varāhamihira's Poetry

A History of Sanskrit Literature c35.s8

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8. Varāhamihira's Poetry

c35.s8.1

Varāhamihira is often effective and spirited in style and the existence of his work proves the long period of cultivation of the Kāvya prior to his time. Whether his own or Garga's, the plight of the king who has no guide is well phrased:

c35.s8.2

*apradīpā yathā rātrir anādityaṁ yathā nabhaḥ*
*tathāsāṁvatsaro rājā bhramaty andha ivādhvani.*

c35.s8.3

‘Like the night without a light, like the sky without the sun, even so the king without an astrologer wanders blindly on his way.’ Misfortunes are effectively portrayed:

c35.s8.4

*vātoddhataç carati vahnir atipracaṇḍo: grāmān vanāni naga-*
*rāṇi ca saṁdidhakṣuḥ*
*hā heti dasyugaṇapātahatā raṭanti: niḥsvīkṛtā vipaçavo bhuvi*
*martyasaṅghāḥ.*

c35.s8.5

‘A fire, fanned by the breeze, rages, seeking to devour villages, forests, cities; robbed of their all, without cattle, overwhelmed by the onslaught of hordes of robbers, the people wail miserably.’

c35.s8.6

*abhyunnatā viyaty asaṁhatamūrtayo 'pi: muñcanti na kvacid*
*apaḥ pracuraṁ payodāḥ*
*sīmni prajātam api çoṣam upaiti sasyaṁ: niṣpannam apy*
*avinayād apare haranti.*

c35.s8.7

‘The clouds aloft in the sky, though teeming, will not yield their abundant water; the grain that springs up in the fields withers away, or if it ripens is stolen by evil strangers.’ Very different is the case in happier times:

c35.s8.8

*kṣatraṁ kṣitau kṣapitabhūtibalāripakṣam: udghuṣṭanaikajaya-*
*çabdavirāvitāçam*
*saṁhṛṣṭaçiṣṭajanaduṣṭavinaṣṭavargaṁ: gāṁ pālayanty avanipā*
*nagarākarāḍhyām.*

c35.s8.9

‘The kingly power destroys on earth the vast power of the foe; the sky rings with many an echoing shout of victory; joyful the good, destroyed the wicked, and kings rule a land where cities and treasures abound.’ The sound effect of the first line is perfectly obvious, and it is very clear in the following line, where the intensives indicate the poet's grammatical knowledge:

c35.s8.10

*pepīyate madhu madhau saha kāminībhir : jegīyate çravaṇahāri saveṇuvīṇam*
*bobhujyate 'tithisuhṛtsvajanaiḥ sahānnam : abde sitasya madanasya jayāvahoṣaḥ.*

c35.s8.11

'In the spring month honey drink is drunk with loving maidens, to flute and lute many a sweet song is sung; with guests, friends, kindred, food is freely shared, and love reigns triumphant in the year of Sita.' A stanza cited in an anthology is effective and pointed :

c35.s8.12

*lokaḥ çubhas tiṣṭhatu tāvad anyaḥ : parāṅmukhānāṁ samareṣu puṁsām*
*patnyo 'pi teṣāṁ na hriyā mukhāni : puraḥ sakhīnām iha darçayanti.*

c35.s8.13

'However fair a face the world may turn to those who flee in battle, their wives in shame cannot bear to show their faces before their friends.'

c35.s8.14

Still more interesting is the number of metres¹ used by Varāhamihira. In the *Bṛhatsaṁhitā* some sixty-four occur, eleven of which are of extreme rarity and of dubious form. The Āryā predominates; then come verses of Indravajrā type, then the Çloka, Vasantatilaka, Rathoddhatā, Çārdūlavikrīḍita, Çālinī, Vaitālīya, and Aupacchandasika: all else are sporadic, many occurring only in civ. They include Anavasitā, Aparavaktra, Kusumavicitrā, Kokilaka or Narkuṭaka, Tāmarasa, Toṭaka, Daṇḍaka, Dodhaka, Drutavilambita, Dhīralalitā, Puṣpitāgrā, Pṛthvī, Prabhāvatī, Pramāṇikā, Pramitākṣarā, Praharṣiṇī, Bhadrikā, Bhujaṅgaprayāta, Bhujaṅgavijṛmbhita, Bhramaravilasita, Maṇiguṇanikara, Mattamayūra, Mattā, Mandākrāntā, Mālatī or Varatanu, Mālinī, Meghavitāna, Meghavisphūrjita, Moṭanaka, Rukmavatī, Rucirā, Vaṁçapattrapatita, Vaṁçasthā, Vātormī, Vidyunmālā, Vaiçvadevī, Çikhariṇī, Çuddhavirāj, Çrīpuṭa, Suvadanā, Sragdharā, Svāgatā, Hariṇapluta, Hariṇī, and Udgatā, Drutapada, Vilāsinī, Sumānikā, Tūṇaka, and varieties of Vidyunmālā. The *Bṛhaj Jātaka* uses thirty-three metres, of which eight have irregularities. The skill of Varāhamihira is thus equal to that of the most accomplished Kāvya writers.

c35.s8.15

¹ Stenzler, ZDMG. xliv. 4 ff.

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