Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

Author(s): Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur

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YASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
and seems to have taken to poetry late in his life. But his devotion to his second love was no less sincere, and apparently he came to realise that poetry was an exacting mistress. As he says at the beginning of his work,
निद्रा विदूरयसि शास्त्ररसं रुणरिस सर्वेन्द्रियार्थमसमर्थ विधि विधत्से ।
tax f ue afaa foratifa tyf oft aegu u 1. 41. Thou Muse, thou evil genius, thou dost dismiss sleep, hinder delight in the Šāstras, reduce all the senses to impotence, and bewilder the mind. Yet men are lucky if they obtain thy favour.'
The combination of Tarka and Poetry, so prominent in the case of Somadeva, is not an isolated phenomenon in Indian literary history. Sriharsa, the author of Naişadhacarita and Khandanakhandakhădya, is a classio example of this tendency, which is also observed occasionally in lesser known poets. We may refer, for example, to Trailokya who flourished in Kashmir in the first half of the twelfth century, and is mentioned by Mankhaka in Srikanthacarita 25. 65, 66. It is noteworthy that Mankhaka compares Trailokya to Tutātita or Kumārila, who is also supposed to have been a Tārkika as well as a Kavi, although no poem composed by him has come down to us.
It may be safely assumed that Yasastilaka was the product of that period of Somadeva's life when his poetic power had reached its full maturity. The author makes certain claims for his work which will bear the scrutiny of investigation.
First, he says that he composed his work without aid from any source and without any model before him, and therefore compares it to a gem produced by the ocean.
BETH Tá an tEET I AFT: Hout is a THUSETE 11. 14. The claim of originality, like all such claims, may be admitted only in a limited sense. Somadeva cannot claim any originality regarding the plot, but there are some novel features in regard to the form and contents of the romance, which distinguish it from other versions of the story of Yasodhara and, indeed, from other prose romances extant in Prakrit or Sanskrit. It may be added that the claim of originality is in conformity with Somadeva's idea that a poet should rely upon his own efforts and not imitate or borrow from others. He declares that the poet, who keeps before him the works of his predecessors and consults them again and again and expresses himself in the same manner or differently, is a plagiarist (poetry thief') and a sinner.
1 दृढोऽपि तर्ककार्कश्ये प्रगल्भः कविकर्मणि । यः श्रीतुतातितस्येव पुनर्जन्मान्तरग्रहः ।
तं श्रीत्रैलोक्यमालोक्य गण्यं सत्कर्मिर्णा धुरि । ययौ मुहुरधिज्यस्य कार्मुकस्य सधमैताम् ॥. Jonarāja remarks in his commentary; gafaa: ghi andi: fanera