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

INTRODUCTION 17 states, an ākhyāyikā, kathā, or other form of narrative should, like poetry in general, include descriptions of battles, cities, oceans, mountains, seasons, sunrise, moonrise, and the like (each and all of which may be exemplified from the Vāsavadattā), we see at once how closely Subandhu was restricted in the composi- tion of his romance, and how faithfully and minutely he discharged his self-imposed task. The slender thread of narrative in the Vāsavadattā is em- bellished with many forms of literary adornment, which, indeed, constitute by far the major portion of the work. First and fore- most among these embellishments stands the śleṣa, or 'parono- masia,' and with good reason Subandhu declares himself to be 'a repository of cunning skill in arranging a series of parono- masias in every syllable' (pratyakṣaraśleṣamayaprabandhavinyā- savāidagdhyanidhir, introductory stanza 13). The śleṣa is well defined by Daṇḍin, in his Kāvyādarśa (2. 363; cf. Regnaud, Rhétorique sanskrite, pp. 227–229, Paris, 1884; Sāhityadarpaṇa, No. 705; Kāvyaprakāśa, tr. Jhā, pp. 188–197, 217–218, Benares, 1898; Kuvalayānandakārikā, 1. 62), as follows : śleṣaḥ sarvāsu puṣṇāti prāyō vakrōktiṣu śriyam bhinnaṁ dvidhā svabhāvōktir vakrōktiś cē 'ti vāṅmayam 'the paronomasia generally enhances the beauty in all equivoca- tions; the phraseology (is) divided in two parts: the natural meaning and the equivocal meaning.' Examples of the śleṣa, usually intimated in the Vāsavadattā by iva, 'as' (and indicated in this translation by < > or, when double and triple, by « », «« »»), abound in Subandhu's romance. As a single specimen may be cited vānarasēnām iva sugrīvāṅgadōpaśōbhitām, 'adorned with a of utkalikāprāya, or style of long compounds and words containing alliteration (Regnaud, Rhétorique sanskrite, p. 75, Paris, 1884), and of the vṛtti ārabhaṭī, or 'violent manner' of scenes of awe and conflict (Lévi, Théatre indien, 1. 92–93, Paris, 1890). The 'manner' is also sometimes madhyamakāiśikī (according to Vidyānātha, the author of the Pratāparudrayaśōbhūṣaṇa [cf. Regnaud, op. cit., pp. 377–378], quoted by Krishnamachariar, mṛdvarthē 'py anatiprauḍhabandhā madhyamakāiśikī, 'not conjoined with excessive dignity in a gentle theme'), and the style is mostly nārikēlapāka (according to Vidyānātha, sa nārikērapākaḥ syād antargūdharasōdayaḥ, 'the rising of hidden flavour'), although sometimes āmrapāka (for which no definition is given). C