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

26 VĀSAVADATTĀ tadā mām anugaccha, 'now, therefore, if thou didst share the sorrows and joys of our playing together in the dust, then follow me' (ed. Hall, p. 82). The svabhāvōkti, or 'natural description,' receives the following definition in the Kuvalayānandakārikā (1. 160; cf. Kāvyapra- kāśa, tr. Jhā, p. 235, Benares, 1898) : svabhāvōktiḥ svabhāvasya jātyādisthasya varṇanam, 'svabhāvōkti is the description of inherent nature consisting of characteristics and the like.' As an example from the Vāsava- dattā may be cited : paśyō 'dañcadavāñcadañcitavapuḥ paścārddhapūrvārddhabhāk stabdhōttānitapṛṣṭhaniṣṭhitamanāgbhugnāgralāṅgūlabhṛt daṃṣṭrākōṭiviśaṅkaṭāsyakuharaḥ kurvan saṭām utkaṭām utkarṇaḥ kurutē kramaṃ karipatāu krūrākṛtiḥ kēsarī, 'lo, with his bending body bending up and bending down, now with his hind quarters and now with his fore quarters, with the tip of his tail slightly bent along his hard, arched back, with his cavernous mouth monstrous with the tips of his fangs, making his mane huge, (and) with his ears erect, the horrible lion doth make attack upon the lord of elephants' (ed. Hall, p. 103). The kāvyārthāpatti, or 'poetic inference,' is defined as follows in the Kuvalayānandakārikā (1. 119): kāimutyēnā 'rthasaṃsiddhiḥ kāvyārthāpattir iṣyatē, 'an a fortiori attainment of a matter is regarded as kāvyārthā- patti.' It is exemplified by Subandhu in his heroine's letter to Kandarpakētu : pratyakṣadṛṣṭabhāvā 'py asthirahṛdayā hi kāminī bhavati svapnānubhūtabhāvā draḍhayati na pratyayaṃ yuvatiḥ, 'a loving maid is of unsteady heart even when she hath seen the feelings (of her lover) with her eyes ; a girl who hath learned his feelings only from a dream hath no assurance' (ed. Hall, p. 164). Literary and Ethical Merit of the Vāsavadattā. The Vāsa- vadattā apparently being written to display its author's skill in rhetoric, rather than his inventive powers in fiction, we are