Gaudavaho

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

Page 9

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edition, with supplementary Notes, setting forth the critical views of Bühler and Jacobi on this poem, was brought out by N. B. Utgikar in the same Series, Poona, 1927. : A study of the poem has shown that it does not possess as much historical material as we expected in the beginning. It is full of descriptions of mythological episodes, scenes of nature, seasons, sports, pastimes, march of armies and such other items usual in Mahākāvyas. Descriptions outweigh the narrative portions and eclipse the theme suggested by the title.
The form of the poem, as it stands to-day, has been a subject of controversy, which is not likely to be decisively cleared, unless some more Mss. of the Gauðavabo come to light. Pandit takes the view that the present work is only a prelude to what the author planned, but possibly never completed. Bühler agrees with him on the whole; Jacobi, on the other hand, considers that the present Text is all that the author wrote or planned to write, but he adds that the Text has suffered epitomisation, eschewing all that was narrative and historical and keeping only that much as is of permanent interest for the poets.
Vākpati, no doubt, is a gifted poet, worthy of being ranked with Māgha and Bhāravi. Even a few Gāthās, which Pandit has rendered into English in his Abstract of the Poem, point out to the originality, keen observation and imaginative flights of Vākpati. They bear testimony to his 'poetical imagery and lively yet philosophical observations', and mature worldly wisdom. His style is precise and pregnant with meaning. If Kālidāsa is well-known for his Upamās, Vākpati stands unrivalled in his Utprekşās. He often rises above the usual conventions of classical poets and has something characteristic of his own in delineating natural scenes, countryside, and village folk etc. There is a touch of personal experience in his descriptions.
The poetic merits of Vākpati, in a way, get sidetracked by the controversy about the form of the poem, about the relation