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LĪLĀVAÏ
found once or twice in L, are of repeated occurrence in B. In this way L bears close affinity with B and inherits a good deal of its general atmosphere.
As yet it has not been possible to detect an earlier source for the entire plot of L: it is not unlikely, however, that the author is himself responsible for the structure of the plot woven out by him, using a thread here and a thread there received subconsciously or even at times consciously from earlier notable works. It is the characters of Mahanumati, Lilavati and Kuvalayavali that constitute the main planks of the plot; and even as specimens of Indian womanhood, they possess certain relieving features of abiding human interest.
The Kadambari of Bāņa, so far as its basic plot is concerned, is indebted to the Bṛhatkatha. But what Bāņa has shaped out of his source is a literary magnificence in which the device of emboxing tale within tale is used; the complicacy of the plot and the complexity of the narrative have become simply inimitable; and the entire romance stands unique for its sentiment and poetry which are dressed in a dignified style and diction at times tinged by laboured vocabulary, syntax and ornamentation. Reading the Kadambari and Lilavati side by side one often feels that there are common contexts in some places, though detailed comparison is not likely to lead to much positive result. In both the works curses are coming in the way of marital pleasures, and Destiny or past Karman rules supreme. The characters are made to live bravely and struggle with optimism rather than succumb to death like a coward in despair. Mahanumati living in a hermitage near the Sapta-Godavari very closely resembles Mahāśvetā dwelling on the shore of the Acchoda lake: their pangs of separation are very much alike. Like Kadambari sacrificing her pleasures till Mahāśvetā is happy, Lilavati does not go in for marriage till Mahānumati is made happy.
Lilavati immediately reminds us of Uṣā, Vasavadatta and Ratnavali from earlier literature; but there is some difference in the presentation of their love episodes. Usă meets somebody in her dream; she suffers pangs of separation; her friend Citralekha paints many prominent kings; and amongst them Usă identifies Aniruddha seen by her in a dream.' Vasavadatta does not choose any one in the Svayamvara arranged by her father, but meets in a dream prince Kandarpaketu (who likewise
1. Kathasarit-sagara VI. 5, pp. 137 etc.
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