Tilakamanjari

Author(s): Dhanpal, Sudarshankumar Sharma
Publisher: Parimal Publications

Page 19

INTRODUCTION
understanding of the lores, skilled in practical ways of life and a student of the scriptures'. His style and apart from that his varied understanding of the works of his predecessor poets the large number of them paid homage to by him beginning from Vālmīki and ending with Kardamarāja, his deep insight into the varied characteristics of a Kathā i.e. a prose romance?, his nuancing of the distinction between a Kathā and a Campū abounding in verses and mixed up with prose-all these go to establish the point that he was a versatile genius having an all-round purview of the Rhetorical devices in their totem.
His style is replete with a variety of syllabic denominations and is laden with impenetrable jaggery of lengthy sentences full of recondite and abstruse vocabulary being the natural urge of the age which had practically left nothing to sponsor by way of a new genre in the type of writing he was going to undertake. But his lack of verbosity ranks him as one of the great prose writers who could stand the test of time to be reckoned with such stalwarts as Bāna whose faithful imitator he strikes on many parallels struck by him.
His obvious homage to Amaraguru and Bhārgava" (i.e. Bșhaspati and Sukra) the two great authorities on Ancient Indian Polity (Arthaśāstra) makes it manifest that his intellect had been polished by the wisdomprovoking thoughts of these great authorities on the relevant science. Unlike Bāna he has not shown much influence of Kautilya on his mode of thinking. His description of Ayodhyā on the same lines as that of Dhārā by Bhoja and Ujjayni by Bāņa testify his knowledge of the Samarāñgana Sūtradhāra and Kādambarī and above all his knowledge of the science of architecture in its varied aspects. Description of Sarayū having connections with Bhāgirathi and the Eastern ocean, in the Uttarakośalas, his description of the Simhalas and the Suvarnadvīpa, Kāñcī, Vaijayantī, Anga, Kalinga, Mahākośala, Kāśmīra, Kuśasthala and Pāñcāla, Magadha, Saurāṣtra, Kāmarüpa (Prāgjyotisa) etc. testify his expert knowledge of the Indian Geography.
'वैशम्पायनशापकथाप्रक्रममिव दुर्वर्णशुकनासमनोरमम्'
1. 54fridutt: Harafarta-TM. Int.V. 53 2. See I above. 3. अखण्डदण्डकारण्यभाजः प्रचुरवर्णकात् व्याघ्रादिवसयाघ्रातो गद्याव्यावर्तते जनः।।
अश्रान्तगद्यसन्ताना श्रोतृणां निर्विदे कथा, जहाति पद्यप्रचुरा चम्पूरपि कथारसम्॥ 4. farmHICITF341470 r1445rfa zifuataz9|TM. Vol. III, p.120 5. TM Vol. III, p. 95.