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________________ MALLIKAMAKARANDA 443 Mallika herself. transformed by the use of a magic pill by her mother. On learning about the sad and miserable plight of his beloved and finding himself unable to help her out Makaranda wants to end his life but is prevented from doing so by a divine voice. By sheer chance Makaranda is saved from being crushed to death under a huge slab of stone hurled down by Candralekha with a view to killing him. Again Makaranda who is about to be killed by Citrangada is saved by the timely arrival of a messenger from the nun Gandhamusika. The element of chance cannot be entirely ruled out of a drama, as out of life, but its frequent occurrence severely taxes our credulity and is surely a reflection on the poet's dramatic art. The poet does depict a few situations and give passages which contain the element of irony. The meeting between Tapasakumara and Makaranda and the incident of Mallika's marriage with the idol of the) Yaksaraja and the conversation between Citrangada and Makaranda (towards the end of Act IV) attest to the poet's fine sense of irony. The play, as a whole, however, is devoid of humour and the poet tries to make up for it by introducing the element of the supernatural. Another defect of Ramacandra is his lack of sense of proportion. He thus indulges in sentimental prolixity by putting six verses in the mouth of Citrangada to describe the beauty of the heroine in the concluding Act of the play. Exuberance or preponderence of verse in the play also attests to his lack of sense of proportion or restraint-although it is possible to seek justification for the dramatist in his modeis like Mrcchakatika and Malatimadhava. Ramacandra's Style Vaidarbhi and Gaudi are the two main kinds of style. The distinguishing features of the Vaidarbhi style are clearness (clarity, lucidity, perspicuity-- prasada) and sweetness (madhurya). The quality of clearness causes the sense to become intelligible on merely hearing the words. The quality of sweetness is produced by the use of consonants other than cerebrals, with their appropriate nasals, r' and 'n' with short vowels, and no compounds or short compounds. The characteristic of the Gaudi style is force or strength or vigour (ojas). It results from the use of compound letters, doubled letters, conjunct consonants of which 'r' forms part, cerebrals other than 'n' palatal and cerebral sibilants, and long compounds and high-sounding expressions. No poet, in fact, can confine himself entirely to only one kind of style. He has to employ one or the other style in consonance with the sentiments to be portrayed. The Vaidarbhi style is appropriate in the sentiments of love in enjoyment (sambhoga srngara), pathos Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
| SR No. | 001868 |
| Book Title | Studies in Jain Literature |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | V M Kulkarni |
| Publisher | Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre |
| Publication Year | 2001 |
| Total Pages | 114 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Literature, & Story |
| File Size | 14 MB |