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Study of Civakacintamani
2. Now let us consider example No. 71 from the examples quoted to show the similarity in the manner of description and example Nos. 1 and 22 from the example quoted for the usage of similar phrases. In all these examples which are from the episode of Kovintai, we could see that the object of comparison are all from the objects characteristic of the pastoral land (the Karupporul of Mullai land). The tradition of describing a scene or an action taking place in a particular land with the help of the objects characteristic of that particular landscape is expected according to the carly Tamil poetical tradition. This literary tradition is explained in the fourth chapter by us. Tevar has followed this literary tradition in many places, and he selects most of the objects of comparison from the objects which are found in the type of land he is describing In the above-mentioned examples also one could see that Tevar is using the objects which belong to the pastoral land. This method of description has been followed by Vadibhasimha in the above-mentioned examples. He compares the army which was defeated by the hunters to the curd which was churned by churning stick, and describes the spots of curds on the bodies of the cowherdesses. He also. compares the body, the voice and the tender touch of Govinds with the melted ghee, milk and butter respectively. These descriptions show that Vadibhasimha follows the description of Tevar which is according to Tamil traditions.
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3. This aspect is also seen in the example No. 93 of the similar descriptions shown earlier. In this example we see that Têvar's description of the seashore, the littoral land, the rolling tides, the wobbling crabs and the gracious swars is elcsely followed by Vadibhasimha.
4. Next let us consider example No. 6 of the similar descriptions in which the army of Kattiyankaran which marched to retrieve the s'olen crws of the cowherds from the hunters is described. The statement in the Ce. that the earth was depressed under the weight of the army strongly reminds one of the description of the armyIn the 23rd verse of the Purananūru. In this verse in Purananuru the army is described as alam neilyav 10tiya viyan patai's (the army which approached causing the earth to bend). In the Cc. also the army is described as the one which causes the earth to be depressed. This is not an isolated incident in which Têvar borrows his phraseology from the earlier works, in particular from Cañkam works. He is not only influenced by the phraseology of Cankam works but also by the ideas expressed in them. For example, in the following description of the prosperous state of the city, Iracamapuram, we could see the idea expressed in the description occurring in the Pattinappalai. Cc. :
por ciru ter micalp paim por pitakam nar cirar urtali nankaimar virii urravar keli mal erintav onkulal
marrat tar urul keta valamat canrava.6
1 Supra, p. 14.
2 Supra, p.23.
Jain Education International
Supra, pp. 15.
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4 Supra, p. 14.
5 Puranaṇāru, v 23.
6 Cc. v. 89.
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