Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

Author(s): K R Chandra, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 25

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imagery and in embellishments of Sabda and Ariha. Prakrits have a greater advantage over Sanskrit in achieving Ślesa, because the same word can stand for more than one Sanskrit word, and can also have more than one meaning as in Sanskrit. Prākrit-Kâvyas are replete with poetic Imagery. There are upamās, utpreksas, etc., in plenty. It is well known that Vāk pati stands unequalled in his ut prekşas like Kalidasa who is unsurpassed in his upamas. Pravarasena and Vakpati, it is being detected, have lent many of their ideas and images to subsequent Sanskrit poets; it is only lately that these authors have falled into neglect, because Prakrits came to be neglected in our classical equipments.
There is another branch of Prakrit literature dealing with two Purudrthas, Artha and Kāma, with more slant on the latter. The great representative of this branch is the Gahakoso of Hala. Every verse is a self-sufficient unit, depicting an idea or situation in words, remarkably colourful and catcbing, and, at the same time, full of poetic charm and grace of expression. These are popular songs, but Pandits attached to royal courts seem to have refined many of them; it is said that crores of such songs were current in society; and out of them only seven hundred were put together by Hāla, taking into account the urban taste. They pervade many aspects of rural life : the scenic background, the environments, the routine of life, the characters, the custom; etc. primarily reflect the village life and folklore, May be, the sentiment of love, in its various aspects, bad a catching influence on the composers; that is one reason why most of the Gathās are amorous in touch. The commentators are bent on reading sựngara in all these verses, directly or indirectly : perhaps that was their pastime. It is a remarkable event in our literary history that nearly all these songs are quoted by poeticians and rhetoricians : the Deyavāņi did not perhaps sustain so much amorous vagaries with the consequence that the Prākrit verses were quoted as a rule. The real reason appears to be that for śleşa and dhvani Prākrit presents more advantages; and Prākrit stanzas, as an illustration, could be followed by many even when some of them did not understand the underlying theory. In some of the texts on poetics these verses are so badly preserved that special efforts of scholars are needed to restore the correct text. As a secular text, the Gahakoso stands unparallelled in its popularity, like the Bhagavad Gita in the religious world: both of them have 700 verses. The very nature of the Koša has led to its inflation : many anony. mous Gins were being introduced here and there with the result that what was Saptagati has come to be Daśaśati and more.
The Muktaka poetry is like a piece of pungent pickle which waters the mouth and heighteni the appetire for inre. Being often an arthāntara-nyāsas.. it contains a lot of wordly visuon Many gifted poets tried their band on