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(5) Other works:--No other work than the present poem has yet come to light under the authorship of Damodara Gupta. Four verses which are not found in the present poem are quoted by Vallabhadeva in his Subhâshitavali under the name of Damodara Gupta. Mr. Tanasukharam has given these verses on page 473 of this book. From this we may infer that Damodar Gupta may have written some other works, but we know nothing about them.
With this meagre information, we have to content ourself for the present, and we now leave the book to the careful Perusal and consideration of our readers. VIII. THE POEM.
(1) General Character etc.- Various definitions of poetry have been put forward, but as none has been found fully satisfac. tory to all, we shall leave it to the reader to form his own opinion about the quality of this poetry, after reading it carefully. How. ever it may be useful to some to know that many learned men have praised the poem, and Mr. Tanasukharam, no mean critic of poetry, thought it worthy of writing a commentary on it. In this connection the following rough note about this poem by Mr. Tanasukharam may be given here.—"This work has an ethical aim and our author like all true Indian artists, who couple with their art one of the four aims of this life, has made the eternal principles of right and wrong' go hand in hand with 'luxurious ease and langour' of true poetry in which verses have a sweet flow. ..." Here the author has very cunningly and artistically interwoven the main aim of life namely Dharma, with the secondary aim namely Kama. He has wisely adopted the direct method of illustrating moral truths with practical consequences to the several characters in the poem. Had he merely given moral truths in the form of maximis, the poem would not have been so much interesting and would also have lost its value as a piece of art. A mere faithful description of nature, is not considered good poetry in India as in the West, but a happy blending of nature and poet's interpretation thereof, is required. Besides, the deeper the meaning of the poem the higher the value of it. The poem contains many "suggested meanings" (ar), which a close study of the commentary will
reveal to the reader, and help him to understand and appreciate Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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