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Prakrit Verses in Sanskrit Works on Poetics
feeling of awe to the admosphere of the poem. Destiny and Chance play a major role in the whole story.
The poems shows close affinity with Brhatkathă in regard to legendary background, characters, motifs, episodes and stray events. The religious back-ground, which is positively saivite, is also not different from that of Brhatkathā. Further, the poem shows influence of literary works like the Abhijñāna-sakuntalam the Vasavadatta, and the Ratnāvali in depicting characters and situations. The literary merits of this poem are certainly high although only a few gāthās from it are cited by Sanskrit writers on poetics.
(h) Visamabanahla : Anandavardhana (c. 850 A.D.), the famous author of Dhvanyaloka, a poet of considerable merit, wrote both in Sanskrit and Prakrit. The only Prakrit work of his that we know is the Visamabanalīlā (now lost). We have only a few gåthas quoted from this work by Anandavardhana himself in his Dhvanyaloka and by Abhinavagupta in his commentary on it called Locana. In one gāthas the poet says : "Merits become merits when they are appreciated by the cultured critics. Lotuses become Lotuses when they are favoured by the rays of the sun." From a reference in Dhvanyaloka and Locana on it we come to know that the work contains speeches of the god of love and his companions like Spring, Youth, Wind from the Malaya mountain, and others.40
39) ताला जाअंति गुणा जाला ते स-हिअएहिं घेप्पंति ।
रइ-किरणाणुग्गहिआइँ होति कमलाइँ कमलाई ।।
तदा जायन्ते गुणा यदा ते सहृदयैर्गुह्यन्ते । रविकिरणानगृहीतानि भवन्ति कमलानि कमलानि ॥]
- Dhvanyaloka II, p. 170 40) यथा वा ममैव कामदेवस्य सहचर-समागमे विषमबाणलीलायाम् ।
– Dhvanyāloka II. pp. 345-346 सहचरा: वसन्त-यौवन-मलयानिलादयस्तै : सह समागमे ।। हुमि अवहत्थिअ-रेहो णिरंकुसो अह विवेअ-रहिओ वि । सिविणे वि तुज्झ समए, पत्तिअ (पा. भे. पत्तिहि) भत्तिं ण पम्हुसमि || (भवाम्यपहस्तितरेखो निरडशोऽथ विवेकरहितोऽपि । स्वप्नेऽपि तव समकं (-सम) प्रतीहि भक्तिं न विस्मरामि |)
- Locana p. 346
