वासवदत्ता (महाकवि सुबन्धु - श्लेष-प्रधान शास्त्रीय गद्यकाव्य सान्वय सटीक)

INTRODUCTION 15 in some places (and) prose in others (should be employed); divisions, called “sighs,” are used for the divisions of the story; at the beginning of the “sighs” (there should be) an intimation of the theme, under the guise of something else, by any metre whatsoever of the āryā, vaktra, or apavaktra (classes).’ The kathā, or ‘story,’ best represented by Bāṇa's Kādambarī, is described by the Sāhityadarpaṇa (No. 567) as follows : kathāyāṁ sarasaṁ vastu padyāir ēva vinirmitam kvacid atra bhavēd āryā kvacid vaktrāpavaktrakē ādāu padyāir namaskāraḥ khalādēr vṛttakīrtanam, ‘in the kathā a theme with poetic sentiments is represented even with poetry ; in it there should be the āryā metre in some places, (and) the vaktra and apavaktra metres in other places ; at the beginning (there should be) homage in verse (to a divinity, also) a description of the character of knaves and the like.’ The older, and in my judgment the better, definition of this type of Sanskrit literature, however, is given by Daṇḍin, the author of the pica- resque Daśakumāracarita, who says (Kāvyādarśa I. 23–25, 28) : apādaḥ padasantānō gadyam ākhyāyikā kathā iti tasya prabhēdāu dvāu tayōr ākhyāyikā kila nāyakēnāi "va vācyā "nyā nāyakēnē 'tarēṇa vā svaguṇāviṣkriyā dōṣō nā 'tra bhūtārthaśaṁsinaḥ api tv aniyamō dṛṣṭas tatrā 'py anyāir udīraṇāt anyō vaktrā svayaṁ vē "ti kīdṛg vā bhēdalakṣaṇam ............................................................................ tat kathākhyāyikē "ty ēkā jātiḥ sañjñādvayāṅkitā atrāi "vā 'ntarbhaviṣyanti śēṣāś cā "khyānajātayaḥ, ‘ prose is a series of words without strophes ; its two classes are the ākhyāyikā (and) the kathā. Now, the ākhyāyikā should be spoken by the hero, the other (the kathā) by the hero or another. A revelation of one’s own personality, if he narrates facts, is no fault here. Nevertheless, the lack of fixed distinction is seen from the story being told by others even there (in the ākhyāyikā). Whether another (is) the speaker, or one’s self, is a sorry standard