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favour, for ends which can only have been pure and selfless.”
“And yet, his tone betrays that he sincerely loved and admired that royal patron for those unusual qualities of intellect and character on which he so eloquently dwells. Sometimes, as though feeling shy of showing his admiration freely, he disguises eulogy by apparent chiding and teasing, in a form which strikes the reader by its boldness,-obviously the boldness of a confidant and favourite, to whom such liberty was willingly conceded. On the other hand, the poet seems perfectly sure of his success in paying this unusual patron the most subtle compliment that could be thought of, viz., by weaving into nearly every line of this Dvātrimsikā the implication that, as a matter of course, his patron is all the time following him into the depths of erudition which he displays, and is able to appreciate the intricacies of poetic and polemic skill to which he treats him.”
Such a pen-picture of Siddhasena, based on a single Dvātrimsikā, should prove an incentive to critical scholars to appreciate the manifold gifts of Siddhasena scattered all over his works.
A. N. Upadhye
Manasa Gangotrai Mysore: Srutapañcami 29-5-1971
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