________________
Now the Eulogy of Poets
62. Victorious, indeed, are these poets, by its presentation in whose poetic words, this world in all its vicissitudes is seen to be either a source of deep joy or insipid (and worthless ).
63. Successful (in life ) are those great poets who, by their own poetic utterances, establish their greatness and evoke eulogy.
64. There is all happiness even in the misery of poverty and misery even in affluence for those whose hearts ( yearn to ) relish the pleasure of the essence of Poetry.
65. The charm of Sanskrit speech blooms in its Prakritic shadow, while the (innate ) glory of the Prakrit is heightened, when touched up by its Sanskritization.
66. What is real is made to look unreal and the unreal looks perfectly real, while (sometimes) the thing is pictured as it exactly stands. Such are the (peculiar ) ways of good poets.
67. Just as the quality of good administration and the pompous display of the royal sceptre embellish the great King's glory, so too, do bombast and sweetness adorn the poet's speech.
68. Even a fraction of Laksmi (Wealth) becomes and pleases man in its enjoyment. The goddess of Learning, however, if imperfect, exposes the man to some sort of ridicule.
69. How can my robust ( flowery) language (employed) in the Madhumatha-vijaya shrink to the state of a concise, compact) bud ? (But then ) the later floral bloom of forestcreepers is much thinner and softer than its first bloom.
70. Censure of a good man, (loosely ) talked about by the wicked, may or may not stick to him. It, however, recoils on them, by the very sin of indulging in censorious language about the good.
71. By their (persistent ) series of efforts to suppress (systematically ) the merits of others, malicious men become such connoisseurs of merits, that they themselves, though wicked, become men of merit, as a result of the assimilation) of those very merits (in themselves ).
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
