उत्तररामचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी व्याख्या)

2 NOTES ON [ I. 1- word and meaning is eternal, the goddess of speech which is the अधिष्ठात्री of words must be eternal also. आत्मनः कलाम् which is an aspect (or phase or part) of the Supreme Soul. The Vishnu purana says that poetical utterances, songs &c. are the body of the Lord Vishnu 'काव्यालापाश्च ये केचिद्गीतकान्यखिलानि च । शब्दमूर्तिधरस्यै तद्वपुर्विष्णोर्महात्मनः ॥' विष्णु० I. 22. 84. N and G read वन्देमहि च तां वागीम्. This reading is not bad. With this reading however, the first half of the verse would cause some difficulty, since we shall have to construe as पूर्वेभ्यः कविभ्यः इदं नमोवाकं प्रशास्महे. प्रशास्महे would simply mean ब्रूमहे. We shall have further to take इदं (which is neuter) with नमोवाक (either an adverb or a masculine noun in the accusative). It will be noticed that G explains the first half as contain- ing a salutation to Ganapati. ब्रह्मणस्पति is addressed in the ऋग्वेद as 'कवीनां कविः' and is identified by G (as many other orthodox wri- ters do) with गणपति. G further says that the plural कविभ्यः is used to show respect. This is not a natural explanation. There is no reason why the plural should not be used with respect to वागी also. वीरे० gives various far-fetched explanations of this verse, for which see pp. 7-8 of N. The words आत्मनः कलाम् may be taken as suggesting the principal characters of the drama, राम and सीता. P. 4. नान्द्यन्ते at the end of the नान्दी. नान्दी means a benediction, consisting of one or more verses which constitutes a sort of pro- logue to a drama. नन्दन्ति देवाः सत्यामिति नान्दी. It is defined by भरत as 'आशीर्वचनसंयुक्ता नित्यं यस्मात्प्रयुज्यते । देवद्विजनृपादीनां तस्मान्नान्दीति संज्ञिता' (नाट्यशास्त्र ५. २४) or 'आशीर्वचनसंयुक्ता स्तुतिर्यस्मात्प्रयुज्यते । देवद्विजनृपादीनां तस्मान्नान्दीति संज्ञिता ॥' साहित्यदर्पण (6th परिच्छेद, 24th verse). From the stage-direction (नान्द्यन्ते), it is clear that the verse 'इदं कविभ्यः' &c., is the नान्दी here. As the words नान्द्यन्ते सूत्रधारः occur after the introductory verse a question arises as to who recited that verse and why the words follow the verse and do not precede it. It seems to us that the verse was recited by the सूत्रधार himself, but as that verse was really no part of the drama itself being intend- ed as a benediction the word सूत्रधार does not precede the first verse. The real business of the drama commences after the intro- ductory benediction. These words (नान्द्यन्ते सूत्रधारः) have puzzled many writers and various explanations have been offered. The साहित्यदर्पण says 'अत एव प्राक्तनपुस्तकेषु 'नान्द्यन्ते सूत्रधारः' इत्यनन्तरमेव 'वेदान्तेषु' इत्यादिश्लोकप्रदर्शनेन दृश्यते । यच्च पश्चात् 'नान्द्यन्ते सूत्रधारः' इति लिख्य-