Tilakamanjari

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

Page 27

Y
DHANAPALA AS A PROSE WRITER
Atharvaveda (about one sixth of the whole including whole of the XVth and XVIth Kanda and another thirty hymns scattered all about the remaining portions),' Brāhmaṇas such as Aitareya and Kauśītaki (of the RV), Tandya or Pañcavimśa along with Saḍvimsa (of the Samaveda), Śatapatha and Taittiriya (of the Yajurveda) and Gopatha (belonging to the Atharvaveda), Aranyakas such as Aitareya, Upanisads such as Chandogya, Bṛhadāraṇayka, Taittirīya, Maitrī etc. all go to prove a steady cultivation of prose composition in the Vedic epoch.
According to Dr. D. K. Gupta
"The Brāhmaṇas are mostly written in prose; they contain, inter-alia, akhyānas or traditional stories also which may be regarded as the rudimentary form of fiction in prose"? Dr. Gupta also holds the same views as expressed by me above about the existence of prose in Aranyakas and Upanisads, Vedāngas such as Chandasūtra of Pingala, Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāņinī, Ṛkprātiśākhya of Saunaka, Nirukta of Yaska, the Kalpasūtra such as Aśvalayana, Gṛhyasūtra, Pāraskara, Gṛhyasūtra, the Kauthumagṛhyasūtra, Apastamba Dharmasūtra, Gautama Dharmasūtra, Latyāyana Śrautasūtra, Katyayana Śrautasūtra etc. are written in what is called the sutra style or
prosc.
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Regarding the characteristics of the Vedic prose Dr. Gupta says
"The Vedic prose which is freely and extensively used in literature is simple, straight and forceful; it is unlike the classical prose, composed of short sentences, devoid of lengthy compounds and laboured diction. Poetic figures like simile and metaphor have been suitably employed with proper judgement and power. The developed form of prose in Yajurveda presupposes an earlier tradition perhaps of centuries and the conjecture is not wholly discardable that it existed in the Rgvedic period also, though of course, we cannot maintain the existence of prose in the supposed original dialogic hymns of Rgveda."
993
In the post Vedic or classical period we find prose in the technical treatises such as Arthaśāstra of Kautilya, Mahābhasya of Patanjali, Kāmasūtra of Vatsyāyana, Caraka Samhita of Caraka; in the Epics (Mahābhārata) Purāņas such as Visņu (4th amsa) and Bhāgavata (5th Skandha); Didactic Beast Fable Literature such as Jātakamālā and
1. HSL McDonnell p. 157.
2. A Study of Dandin Sec. III, Ch. I, p. 306.
3. Ibid. p. 307-308.
4. Mokṣadharmaparva of Santiparva Ch 342-362.