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________________ PRAKRIT VERSES IN SANSKRIT WORKS ON POETICS 481 12. A Few Illustrative Verses : (i) From Gathasaptasati It is extremely difficult, almost impossible to select only a few of the exquisitely beautiful verses selected and cited by the alamkarikas. But as this cannot be avoided I do so with great diffidence. This anthology is highly popular with the writers on Sanskrit poetics beginning with Anandavardhana. It is, however,' Bhoja, the author of Sarasvatikanthabharana and Srngarprakasa, who most amply quotes the gathas from this anthology. We may refer here to only a few of these quotations : The maiden in love begs the moon to touch her with the same rays which have touched her lover81. Another maiden begs of the night to stay for ever, when the morning comes she will have to bear her lover's departure82. The lover who is on his travels bids the thunder and lightning do their worst on him, if they but spare his beloved at home 83. A tender (-hearted) wife rejoicing at her husband's return does not put on gay dress lest she adds to the grief of her neighbour whose husband has not yet come home84.. One of the loveliest gathas, steeped in pathos, says : "When of the two who have long shared joy and sorrow together, one dies, the one that dies is really alive, the other is dead"85. This beautiful sentiment has a distant parallel in Bhasa's line : "Vasavadatta (lit. Mahasena's daughter) who is dead is not dead if the King (Udayana) has such a soft feeling for her86; and also in Bhavabhuti's line, 'He is not dead of whom a beloved thinks, in other words, surely he is not dead who lives in the memory of a loved person87. But absence may be a joy where the heart is false; "the faithless one bemoans her unprotected state, and begs her (neighbour-) friend to come to her house, merely to ensure her safety"88. Another gatha tells us of a naughty wife who pretends to be bitten by a scorpian in order to go to the house of the physician-her paramour89. Another gatha brilliantly describes the removal of anger of the offended woman; "The wife who is overpowered with sulky wrath at the offence of faithlessness of her husband (suddenly) laughs as their little boy crawls on his father's back, when he falls prostrate at her feet in penitence for his offence. Another gatha presents a graphic picture of a traveller and a maid (who provides water to travellers) who fall in love at first sight : "Looking upwards Stud.-61 www.jainelibrary.org For Private & Personal Use Only Jain Education International
| 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 |