________________
DHANAPĀLA AS A PROSE WRITER
87
Harivāhana left that place only to pause and pass through the ordeal of ennobling love which gets vindicated only through separation and suffering. She is the lunar line for the lily grove of his heart.' The ordeal of separation is vindicated to union by Malayasundarī who arranged the meeting of the two, which casually turns into separation when he sees the plight of Malayasundarī not finding her lord of the heart Samaraketu who was a foster brother to him as well. The intervening cause of impatience of Tilakamañjarī bearing a mark of reaction on Malayasundarī pricking the latter to recognise herself as the instrument for that separation bring in the character contrast between the two. The ultimate austerity of Harivāhana, the motif of the scarf Nisītha bringing to human form Gandharavaka the parrot convert resulting in the reunion of the two couples completes the character portrait of Tilakamañjarī who like wise feels a privilege to see the union of her sister heroine with her hero lord Samaraketu. Malayasundari compared with Tilakamañjarī bears a contrast to the former being an epitome of a maiden exposed to the callosities of dastardly providence who making her come face to face with her lover, feels the pinch of love at first sight but is given to suffer the pangs of dereliction the moment she sees her lord who is harder pressed by the exigency of a more exacting task of helping the sire of his beloved against the cruel onslaught of a callous foe. Once thinking of putting the nuptial wreath round his neck she suffers the pangs of unceasing separation prompting her to undergo the threefold attempt at suicide comprising of strangulation, watery grave and poison cating through the Kimpāka fruit. She, however, escapes the cruel jaws of death through the sheer freaks of favourable destiny. Being the pampered daughter of her sire Kusumasekhara king of Kāñci she feels embarrassed over the hasty decision of her sire in accepting the unrighteous proposal of giving her over to Vajrāyudha the proud sentinel of Meghavāhana who was ruthlessly ambitious to derive the vicarious pleasure of razing Kāñcī to the ground in case he did not accept the marital alliance with his daughter, intended by him.?
Her taking recourse to asceticism after receiving the billet from Gandharvaka (Parrot) when rescued from a watery grave and waiting for long to unite finally through the assistance of Harivāhana, with Samaraketu bring her in line with Mahāśvetā of Bāna waiting for long years on the
1. EYKU R Pigiata fact443RII TM. Vol. III p. 157. LL. 4-5. 2. अविज्ञाय मच्छिववृत्तिम्, अनाकर्ण्य वचनमम्बायाः, अनवलम्व्यमत्यक्षपातिवर्गमतम्, तथात्यन्तवात्सल्यनापि
किंनिमितमिदमनुष्ठितं झटित्येव कार्यं तातेन। यदि वा न कोऽपि परमार्थतः प्रेयाननुवर्तनीयः पूजनीयो वा प्रजारक्षणमात्र कर्तव्यानां नरपतीनाम् को वा मदीयाभिप्रायवेदनेऽवसरस्तातस्य। नहि कोऽपि कन्याकायाः प्रियः तवायमाप्रियो वा sfai Ibid. Sm. ed. p. 299. L. D. Series ed. para 251. LL. 26. 30.