Srngaramanjari Katha

Author(s): Bhojdev, Kalpalata K Munshi
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

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ŚRNGĀRAMAÑJARIKATHA
minants, in producing and enhancing the effects of sentiment or rasa. Bhoja himself says in the SKA:
... ऋतुरात्रि दिवाकेन्दूदयास्तमयकीर्तनैः।
काल: काव्येषु संपन्नो रसपुष्टिं नियच्छति ।।* Thus besides admiring with the poet's eye the beauties of Nature the poet also acknowledges its effects on the emotions and affections of men. Another thing to be noted is man's realization of the utility of nature's munificent gifts. The trees with their leaves and the flowers with the component parts like the petals, juice, pollen etc. are described as being put to daily use by the people. Thus the poet's charming descriptions of nature, though cast generally in the conventional mould not only enhance the poetical merit of the composition, but bring home to our mind that they are the spontaneous expressions of feelings of the poet on coming in contact with nature. It is shocking to read, therefore, F. Hall's criticism in his preface to the Vasavadattā34 wherein he writes with affrontery and in utter lack of understanding that 'Natural scenery, though boundless in variety, is to the Hindu, an object of impassive incuriosity and unconcern: and low indeed must be that type of humanity to which this imputation can fairly be brought home'.
In the Kādambari we have a short description of the Vindhya forest running into twenty-eight lines. In the SMK we have a longer description of the same forest which runs into about a hundred and eight lines. Like Bāņa, this author also describes the forest as extending from the eastern to the western ocean. The wild beasts and the trees mentioned in the two texts are practically the same.
Two other long-drawn descriptions in the SMK are those of a horse and an elephant. Every part of the body is described, and unusual words like the āvarta meaning a lock of hair that curls backwards and which is considered lucky especially on a horse; and araksa the junction of the frontal sinuses of an elephant, lead us to infer that the author had a detailed knowledge of the Gajaśāstra and the Asvavidyā. Bhoja's love for animals is patent, and in this context it may not be out of place to mention that among the books ascribed to him there is one called śālihotra which treats of the care of horses and their diseases. 35
There is great similarity between the description of the city of Dhārā with that of Ayodhyā given in the Tilakamasjarikatha of Bhoja's contemporary Dhanapāla. 33. V, 131.
34. Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, (1859), p. 28. 35. See Keith, A History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 465. Also Dubkund Inscription
(EI, II, 233, 237, 238) where Bhoja is praised as being widely celebrated for skill he showed in management of horses.