कुमारसम्भवम् (महाकवि कालिदास - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी अनुवाद)

( 6 ) is, so far as our poet is concerned, a compliment in the right direction, it is not in the use of similes alone, but in the excellencies of poetry in general, that he excels all other Sanskrit poets. Unlike the compositions of Banabhatta and Dandin, in his works sentiment predominates the outer embel- lishments, and in contrast with Bhasa and Ashwaghosha, his language and style are quite in conformity with his noble imagination. He is the master of language as well as of poetic fancy. His style is simple, pure and chaste. It is brief as well as clear. The language flows without interruption and long com- pounds, involved construction and difficult puns are absent from it. It is easy but not without due ornamentation. (See Kumārasambhavam, Canto 5—verses 4, 18 and 78.) He does not use any redundant particles or other words, which are used so frequently in the epics in order to complete the number of syllables prescribed for a stanza. It is difficult to find out any words in his composition of verses which do not contribute something or other to their meaning and do not help in advancing the story further. Thus his poetry is free from both the loose construction of the epics and the affected composi- tions of the latter writers. For this he can be compared to Virgil, the immortal author of Aeneid. His style is of the Vaidarbha class, which consists of firmness and evenness of sound, perspicuity, uniformity, grace, tenderness, clearness of meaning, dignity of epithets, vigour, elegance and the use of metaphorical expressions.* In accordance with the spirit of this style he prefers suggestion to elaboration.

• • श्लेषः प्रसादः समता माधुर्यं सुकुमारता । अर्थव्यक्तिरुदारत्वमोजः कान्तिः समाधयः ॥ ' काव्यादर्श १ ४१ ।