Lilavaikaha

Author(s): K R Chandra, Ramniklal M Shah
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 19

14
Kuvalayāvali is a more transparent attempt to imitate Kālidāsa's Sakuntalā, but not so successful. Both are abandoned by their mothers, brought up by hermit fathers and invite curse of separation on account of a hasty Gāndharva marriage. But, while Sakuntalā fights her destiny by growing into a self-asserting wife, a dutiful mother and a dignified queen, Kuvalayāvali yields to her fate living as a companion to a princess and waiting for her reunion with her lover by mere chance. As a foil to Mahānumati, though, Kuvalayāvali is one of the better charactersketches in the poem.
Other characters are no less fascinating. Vijayānanda, like Yaugandharāyaṇa, is a loyal minister-cum-army-commander, having only his master's interest to serve in life. Nāgārjuna, Bhatta-kumārila and Pottisa are the other minister-companions of the hero. Hansa and Padmā, Vasantaśri and Nalakūbara, Silāmegha and Sāradaśrı, Malayānila and Kamalā are suave pairs of loving parents. Mādhavānila and Citrāngada are impatient lovers chastened by adversity. Mādhavilatā and Vicitralekhā are smart confidants of a prince and a princess. The Naked Pāśupata plays a minor but important role in the denoument of the story. Lord Ganeša, the irascible but easily-humoured god, causes the birth of the heroine. All these character-sketches are drawn with . a gentle brush and they lend their own colour to the crowded canvas of Lilāvai.
In delineation of sentiments, as well as in characterization, the author of Lilāvat has tried to vie with classical Sanskrit poets. Śringāra of the 'Sambhoga' type is naturally the predominant sentiment. Lilāvatı describing to her friend how she was ravished by Sālāhana in her dream reminds us of Madayantikā in Bhavabhati's Mālatīmādhavam. Mahānumati and Kuvalayāvali experience passionate meeting with their lovers in their first encounters. The courtezan Candralekhā's bodily decorations are meant to provoke passion in youth. The scenes of drinking and nightly escapades of men and women accompanying Sālāhana on his sojourn mark the ultimate in erotic mood. The Sringāra of the “Vipralambha' type is depicted in Mahānumati's suffering in