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Some Aspects of the Kaumudimitrāņanda
- V. M. Kulkarni Rāmacandra, one of the celebrated desciples of Ācārya Hemacandra, carried out this literary activities in the second half of the twelfth century A.D. He wrote, besides other plays, three prakaraņa type of plays :
1. Rohinimrgānka 2 Kaumudimitrānanda and 3. Mallikāmakaranda. Of these, Rohiņimrgānka is all lost but for a small, single passage, cited by the author himself in the Natyadarpaņa (a work on Sanskrit Dramaturgy by Rāmacandra himself and Guņacandra, another disciple of Hemacandra written jointly) with the introductory remark :
यथा वाऽस्मदुपज्ञे रोहिणीमृगाङ्काभिधाने प्रकरणे प्रथमेऽङ्के - "मृगाङ्क प्रति ata: — 54R ! | Bl: 1 .
उन्मत्तप्रेमसंरम्भाद्, आरभन्ते यदङ्गना ।
तत्र प्रत्यूहमाधातुं, ब्रह्माऽपि खलु कातरः ॥' It is cited to illustrate the third Sandhyanga of the Mukhasandhi, called Parinyāsa. Rămacandra has adopted this verse, without acknowledgement, from Bharthari's Śrngāraśataka (v. 75, N. S. ed)
In translation it means :
"When women through impetuosity (of flurry) of intoxicated love set about some task, even God Brahman is indeed unable (lit. afraid) to place an obstacle in their way. (Then what to talk of others ?)”
2 Mallikāmakarandanāțaka : This play is available in full.2 It is published by L. D. Isnstitute of Indology, Ahmedabad.
3. Kaumudimitrānanda. This play too is available in print.
In this article it is proposed to draw the attention of readers to some striking aspects of this prakaraņa. Before proceeding with this topic, it would not be out of place to take note of Keith's observations regarding "The Decline of the Sanskrit
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