Gaudavaho

Author(s): Vakpatiraj, Narhari Govind Suru, P L Vaidya, A N Upadhye, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

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(iv)
Sanskrit or Prakrit, used as medium, their aspirations and disappointments. Says he— "Blessed indeed are these poets who show us the omniferous world as reflected in their poetic words, to be either meaningful and full of joy or absolutely hollow and unsubstantial" (62). "They establish their greatness solely by their words and thus evoke admiration” (63). “The hearts that truly delight in poetry, forget their own conditions of poverty or prosperity and become one with the poet in his moods of happiness and misery as expressed in his poetry" (64). "Prakrit lends charm to the words in Sanskrit, while Sanskritisation gives dignity to the Prakrit words " ( 65 ). “Good poets are like magicians, showing the real and the concrete as unreal, giving solid shape to an airy nothing or presenting things just as they exist ' ( 66 ). “Modesty and manifestation of punitive strength, though contradictory, heighten the king's glory and dignity. Similarly, pompous style, associated with sweet simple diction, embellishes the poet's speech " (67). “Note, however, the difference between Lakşmi and Saraswati. A little of the former gives to the man some charm and pleasure. Learning, meagre and imperfect, makes the man a laughing stock ” (68). “How can your style, which was at one time virile and vigorous, as in your first work Madhumatha-Vijaya, become soft ( maülaü) now?” If such a question were asked, I would say in reply that the first blossoms of a forest-creeper are always wild and thick compared to the later ones, which are thin and soft” ( 69 ). Speaking about vile critics and detractors, he observes that “ blasphemous utterances of the wicked do not affect the good ones; on the other hand, they recoil on the very persons who speak them out " ( 70 ). “Even men, good and pure, feel a pang of jealousy to hear others being extolled for their excellences, like elephants