________________
xlviii
KAMSAVAHO
rooted in him. He shows a thorough mastery over the vocabulary which almost flows forth to serve his purpose. . His language is simple in presenting the conversation and the narration, but it grows pretty difficult in descriptive portions especially due to the lengthy compounds. If the Prākrit language of the author becomes artificial now and then, the fault is due more to the age in which and the circumstances under which the work was composed than to any specific deficiency in the scholarship of our author. In many places we see his masterly grip over the language which 'vividly expresses the actions to be described. His style, though not very graceful, is full of vigour; it inclines more towards elaboration than suggestion ; and sometimes the sound appears to dominate over the sense.
It is clear from the metrical analysis that our author has used a large number of metres in this work. The Gāthā, the Prākrit metre par excellence, is conspicuous by its absence. On the whole the verses fiow with a vigour and dignity. Rāma Pārivāda's mastery over the language is seen also in some of his verbal devices. Identical syllables are repeated at the close of contiguous Pādas with the effect that we get a sonorous sound in reading these verses. In some verses the same syllable recurs so often that the reading of the verse adds to our pleasure. As in some of the Dravidian languages, our author shows the second syllable identical in all the Padas; and in some places we have the Yamaka of identical syllables with different meaning. Prākrit language affords a special facility in this regard since one and the same Prākrit word may stand for different Sanskrit words : in a few cases our author has availed himself of this advantage. Attention has been drawn to many of these cases in the Notes
Some of the scenes sketched by Rāma Pāṇivāda in the section of the bards' songs or in the description of Mathurā
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
