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The Dhruvas in the Vikramorvasiya
NS. (GOS. edition) XXXII 352-373 describe the symbolic objects i. e. Aśrayas that were to be used for the Anyoktis expressed in the Dhruvas. This indicates their appropriateness according to the type and mood of the character concerned. The information is tabulated below:
Character Class
(Superior: Male)
gods, kings
demons, goblins
violent beings
sun, moon, wind. cloud, mountain, ocean. buffalo, lion, carnivora.
Siddhas, Gandharvas, Yakṣas planets, constellations, bull.
ascetics
fire.
(Female)
(Middling Male)
(Female)
(Inferior Male)
(Female)
Symbol
69
lightning, meteor, ray. night, nectar, moon-light, lotusplant, cow-elephant, river. swan, peacock, crane, stork,
lotus-pond etc.
step-well, creeper, female crane, peahen, doe.
(2)
owl,
cuckoo, black bee, crow,
pigeon etc. female bee, female crow, female
cuckoo etc.
Among the actual illustrations of Dhruvas given in NS. we find Anyoktis with the symbols like elephant, wind, male and female swan, peacock, cloud, moon, monntain, creeper, river. female crane, male and female bee, fire, sky, lotus-pond, night. sun, owl etc.
The fourth act of Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiya (Vik.), according to one of its two recensions, is remarkable for having numerous Dhruvas in the NS. tradition. In the whole range of Sanskrit dramatic literature available to us there is no other work com
