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4. YAŠASTILAKA AS A PROSE ROXANGE
81
destruction, as the stewardess of the kitchen of the awful Mothers", as the nurse of the monsters, as the ground where the kinsmen of the god of death worship the Manes, and as the Night of destruction of all living creatures.' Not so successful is the attempt to reproduce the nasty spectacle of a serpent half buried in an anthill. The reptile is fancied as the intestines of the Earth Antelope, as the tail of the Earth Lioness, as the root of the Earth Creeper, as the stalk of the Earth Lily, and as the lock of hair of the Earth figured as a female monster.3
The constant desire to add new images tends to make Utprekşās farfetched and artificial, and sometimes a good image is spoilt by juxtaposition with others less effective. As is to be expected, Utprekşās occur mostly in descriptions; and some characteristic examples are provided by the natural descriptions in our romance. The Siprā river is, for example, fancied as a girdle of moonstones worn by the city of Ujjayini like a graceful lady, as the pleasure tank of the mistresses of the king of Mālava, as a festive banner flying over the nether regions, as a nuptial garland for the wayside mountains,
pearlstring worn by the Earth goddess, as a banner proclaiming the fame of the mountain from which the river rises, and as an irrigation canal for the gems in the ocean. Similarly, in the rainy season the sky seems to be a shower-bath for the earth long scorched by heat; the mountains with the waters of the cascades streaming down their sides appear to have white banners covering their slopes; and the lakes, full to the brim, seem to be ceremonial vessels of water, a parental offering to the Summer dead and gone!' Another series of Utprekşās occurs in the description of the temples of Rajapura in Book I. The tall, white edifices are fancied as clusters of flowers of the Sky tree, as white lights of the firmament, as masses of lotus blossoms adorning the crest of the Sky Goddess, as places for the acquisition of vast
1 The seven Mátrs are mentioned in the following verse quoted by Śrutaságara: Apoft a aaruft OrTet Arat i arguar mual Tİ: H Har: 11. For other definitions, and the number of the Mothers, which is sometimes given as nine, see the English trans.
of Naişadhacarita, Vocab. uuder afiada. 2 'या च लघीयसी भगिनीव यमस्य, जननीव महाकालस्य, दूतिकेव कृतान्तस्य, सहचरीव कालाग्निरुद्रस्य, महानसिकीव
#THESE etc. 3 'gitaaaaa olentzieferata, ha metferram' etc. Book V. 4 'इन्दुमणिमेखलेब पद्मावतीविलासिन्या:, जलकेलिदीषिकेव मालवावनीपालविलासिनीनाम् , नित्योत्सवपताकेव भुजङ्गमलोकस्य,
PROTEST HITHEACTIE' eto. Ibid. 5 'चिरतरातपसंतापदुःस्थितायाः क्षितेर्यन्त्रधारागारलीलामिव विभ्रति गगनमण्डले.............निदापनिवापजलसरावेष्विव
Paract*#yag Frig' Book III. 11
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