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Prakrit Verses in Sanskrit Works on Poetics
the first half of the fourth century A.D.,29 about a hundred years earlier than the
bandha. Eminent Sanskrit Alamkārikas. viz. Anandavardhana and Kuntaka 30 speak appreciatively of his Harivijaya, and Bhoja draws verses copiously from it to illustrate various points of poetics in the course of his writing Sarasvatīkanthabharana and Śrngäraprakāśa. Bhoja in his Smgäraprakāśa and following him, Hemacandra in his Kāvyānuśāsana give us the following information about this work : It was āśvāsaka-bandha.' Its prevailing metre was. Skandhaka, (and 'Galitakas' were employed at the end of the Aśvāsakas. It was marked by the word ‘utsāha' in the last verse of each Ăśvāsaka. It contained descriptions of city, mountain, seasons, the sunset, the hero, his vehicle, Garutmat (Garuda), his duta (Satyakah ? Sãtyakih), his (Hari's) march, (against Indra) for securing the Pārijāta tree, his rise in the form of the conquest of the enemy who himself surrenders, drink party and the removal of Satyabhāmā's jealous anger by effort (by Hari by winning from Indra the Pārijāta tree and planting it in front of Satyabhāmā's palace.
By a study of the verses quoted by Anandavardhana and Bhoja from this epic we gather the following information regarding its story :
Hari is the hero of this epic. Rukmini is the senior Gyeșthă) and exalted (udāttā) heroine (nayikā). Satyabhāmā is the junior (kanisthā) and haughty (uddhatā) heroine. Hari offers a garland of fragrant flowers of the celestial Pārijāta tree to Rukmiņi. This arouses the jealousy of Satyabhāmā. Her face, marked with anger,
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29) Vide Pravarasena's Setubandha tr. by Handique, p.50 30) i) Anandavardhana observes in his Dhvanyaloka (III. 11-12, pp. 335-36):
इतिवृत्तवशायातां कथञ्चिद्रसाननुगुणां स्थितिं त्यक्त्वा पुनरुत्प्रेक्ष्यप्यान्तराभीष्टरसोचितकथोन्नयो विधेय: यथा कालिदासप्रबन्धेषु । यथा च सर्वसेनविरचिते हरिविजये। Abhinavagupta thus explains in his Locana (p.335) : ... हरिविजये कान्तानुनयनाङ्गत्वेन पारिजातहरणादिनिरूपितमितिहासेष्वदृष्टमपि । ü) In his Vakroktijīvita (De's Edn., p.71) Kuntaka ranks Sarvasena along with Kalidasa for his graceful style of composition : एवं सहजसौकुमार्य-सुभगानि कालिदास-सर्वसेनादीनां काव्यानि दृश्यन्ते । तत्र सुकुमारस्वरूपं चर्चणीयम् । iii) The very fact that Bhoja cites scores of verses from Sarvasena's HV to illustrate various points of poetics is eloquent of his high appreciation of Sarvasena's work.
