Book Title: Mahavira Charitam
Author(s): Todarmal Pandit
Publisher: University of Panjab Lahore

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 27
________________ INTRODUCTION XXV That he had studied the Vedas and mastered the Upanisads as well as the Sankhya and Yoga systems of philosophy he himself tells us in Māl. I 10 The passage Utt V. 23 may also be a reflection of his own opinion about himself. But even without his own outspoken testimony as to his varied learning, we have sufficient indications of his mastery of Sanskrit literature. His knowledge of Yoga is evident from Vasistha's speech in Mv, pp. 64, 65, from Māl. V 1, 2, 3, and the prose passage yat satyam adhunā, &c, in Mal v 9, 10 His acquaintance with Nitróāstra, or Science of Polity, is clear from the discussions of the various schemes against Rama by Mālyavān and Surpanakha in the Interludes to Mv, Acts II and IV. His study of Vedānta is proved by his reference to the Vivarta doctrine in Utt. II. 5, 6 (sabda-brahmanas tādrsam vivartam trhāsam), III. 47, VI 6, in Māl III 42, 43, and in Mv V 57. Hisundhatāmisrõ hy asūryā nāma te lokās', &c., in Utt IV. 3, 4, reminds one of Tsopanısad 3. That he was widely read in the Dharmaśāstras and the Sūtra works would be evident from (a) yatah prāyaścıttam, &c, in Mv., p 100, 1. 9, (b) sa māmso madhuparka atz, &c, in Utt IV. 2, (c) na rathinah, &c, in Utt. V 20, 21, and gitas cāyam artho, &c, Māl. II. 2, 3 His knowledge of Vātsyāyana's Kāma-sūtra is proved beyond doubt through his quotation from that 1 work in his Māl VII 0/1 (Kusuma-sadharmāno hr, &c ) In Māl I 6 the words āyopita-kāma-sūtram further suggest (by the vyañjanavrtta) that he has followed the principles laid down in the Kāma-sūtras in the development of the incidents alluded to Thus, eg, we read in Kāma-sūtra 2 (Part III, Chapter V) When a girl cannot meet her lover frequently in private, she should send the daughter of her nurse to him, it being understood that she has confidence in her, and had previously gained her over to her interests On seeing the man, the daughter of the nurse should, in the course of conversation, describe to him the noble birth, the good disposition, the beauty, talent, skıll, knowledge of human nature and affection of the girl in such a way as not to let him suppose that she had been sent by the girl, and should thus create affection for the girl in the heart of the man To the girl also she should speak about the excellent qualities of the man, especially of those qualities which she knows are pleasing to the girl She should, moreover, speak with disparagement of the other lovers of the girl, and talk about the avarice and indiscretion of their parents, and the fickleness of their relatives. She should also quote examples of many girls of ancient times, such as Sakuntalā and others, who, having united themselves with lovers of their own caste and their own Vätsyāyana-pranitam Kāma sūtram With Yasodhara's commentary Bombay, 1891. (III 2, p 199) ? Kāma-sūtra of Vātsyäyana. Translated from the Sanskrit. Printed for the Hindoo Kāma Shastra Society, Benares, 1883,

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 ... 407