Love or Leave Bhartuharis Dilemma

Author(s): Ashok Aklujkar
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

Page 18

31YHET-810 • 18 Compare with this the leisurely and sonorous movement of :
urasi nipatitānāṁ srasta-dhammilakānāń mukulita-nayanānām kimcid-unmilitānām upari-surata-kheda-svinna-ganda-sthalinām adhara-madhu vadhūnāṁ bhägyavantaḥ pibanti //123/1 "She is lying on the chest. The braid of her hair has come loose. Her eyes are buds, half-closed half-open. She has relaxed, just a little. Her young cheeks are wet with the sweat brought by the fatigue of making love like a man. The honey of the lips of such a woman, only the blessed ones get to drink."$42
As the same stanzas illustrate, alliteration and symmetrical phrasing are also found. Rarely indeed does a meaning unit step beyond a pāda unit or a cesura. The effect created is frequently that of a highly proportionate Ardha-nārisvara statue.
Does this not introduce artificiality in the composition and indicate that the poet is not as spontaneous as we would expect him to be if we wish admire his honesty of sentiment and forthrightness of expression ? Besides, are there not stanzas in the Sataka-traya that appear to be the poet's experiments with the same theme (e.g, compare no. 79 with nos. 89, 92, 93)?.
Due weight must be attached to these questions. However, we should also bear in mind that what seems artificial or forced to one person can be very easy and natural to another. Most of the alliteration and symmetry in the Sataka-traya