Book Title: Sambodhi 1981 Vol 10
Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 157
________________ Prakrit Poetry and Sanskrit Poetics 141 Sita and Trijatı's consolatory speech) 12 Sainya-sanghattah (The battle of the two armies of the Vanaras and the Rakşasas) 13 Dvandva-sangramah (Single Combats between leaders of the. Vanaras and the Rakrasas) 14 Raksoviksobhaḥ (The convulsions of the Raksasas) and 15 sita-sampräptih (Attainment of Sită after the slaying of Rävaņa). The Setubndha is the only extant Mahakavya written in Prakrit. Its affinity to the Sanskrit Mahakavya is one of the main causes of its popularity through the centuries (8) (5-6) Vakpatirāja's Mahumahaviaa (Sk: Madhumathavijaya) and Gaiļavaho (Sko Gaüļavadha)-these two poems were composed in the first half of the eighth century A. D. Of these two kavyas, Mahum haviaa is now lost. Vakpati himself refers to this work in his Gaü davaho. "Haw - can my robust . (flowery) language (employed) in the Madhumathavijaya sbrick to the state of a concise, compact) bud ? (But then) the later floral bloom of forost-creepers is much thinner and softer than its first bloom." ) . Abhinavagupta while conmenting on Dhvanyaloka(10) cites the following gatha as formaig part of Pancajanya's speech : "O (Madhu-matha (-mathana, Vişnu), you once in the boar-incarnation) carried with ease the entire terrestrial globe on the tip of your rusk: then how is it that today you find even this (very light) ornament of lotus-fibre heavy to carry on person ?"(11) The following gaiha in Maharāstri, cited by Anagdavardhana in hia Dhvanyaloka, is most probably drawn from this muhakävya (now lost). For in its thought and its expression it has very close resemblance with Gaüdavaho v. no. 66. The two gathas in their translation are as follows : One, "The literary art of great poets is all conquering. For it causes various ideas to enter the heart of the reader) and appear (there) in a form which is different, as it were, from their real form.” (Translated by Masson and Patwardhan)(12) and two, "What is real appears as unreal and what is unreal appears as if it were real, and (sometimes) a thing appears exactly as it is-these are the ways (Praktayaḥ or Padavyah) of good poets." (Translation by. Masson and Patwardhan)(13) Vakpati's second work is completely available (4) It is a unique histo rical poem in Mahasāştri Prakrit. It is a stupendous work comprising over 1200 gathas. It is no doubt a mahakavya having a wide variety of topics but unlike its prototype Ravanavaho (better known as Setubandha) it "has no divisions called aśvasakas. It is just one long, continuous composition with kulakas appearing here and there. The purpose of this poem is Jain Education International For Personal & Private Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340