2023-02-26 04:07:19 by ambuda-bot
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INTRODUCTION
In the initial stage Dandin's style is elaborate; there are
long compounds and sentences extending over a page and
abundance of śleşa of different varieties; but as we proceed
further, the style changes to suit the subject matter, as
permitted by the great critic ānandavardhana 'रचना विषयापेक्षम्",
and we find a simpler style, pithy and well turned expressions
gracefully arranged, and long descriptions alternating with
vivid scenes charged with rapidity of action. In spite of the
hopelessly fragmentary nature of the text, one can see
Dandin here in the sweet diction, the picturesque characteriza-
tion and other features that we are familiar with in the
Dasakumāra.
V
Dandin mentions Bāṇa and his Kādambari by name. He
adopts ideas, expressions and descriptions of Bāṇa, and trans-
forms them in the mint of his imagination investing them
with fresh vigour and beauty. In the episode of Kādambari,
he follows the thread of the story of Bāņa but differs from its
continuation by Bana's son. He connects his work with Kādam-
bari by making Kapiñjala take birth as the Brāhman Matanga,
and Pundarīka relate his tale to cheer up Mandakini. His
mastery of vocabulary is evident in the story of Mantragupta²
which is composed of words that contain no labial letters. In
the Kathāsāra, Somadatta, stricken with fever, tells his tale in
words which contain only the soft twentyfour letters out of
the fortytwo, in the Sanskrit alphabet (VII. 15-48). The
story consists of thirty four stanzas in Upajati of eleven
syllables; they flow with ease, without betraying the restrictions
the author has imposed upon himself. It is clear from this that
Dandin has another stupendous feat to his credit in the story
of Somadatta in the original. These literary feats, it may be
observed, are quite in keeping with his authorship of Dvisan-
dhāna, a poem in double entendre, narrating, at the same time,
the story of the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahabharata. The story
of Somadatta is composed in the twenty four letters constituting
the Tamil alphabet with the exception of 1() and r(m); and
it seems that Daṇḍin, imbued as he was with Tamil culture,
tried his hand in the novel field of writing a Sanskrit piece
in the alphabet of Tamil and succeeded.
Dandin's varied knowledge is borne out in his description
of the elephants and horses in the army, his proficiency in
1. Dhvanyaloka, N.S. edn., p. 143.
2. Dasakumāra, N. S. edn., pp. 234-50.
In the initial stage Dandin's style is elaborate; there are
long compounds and sentences extending over a page and
abundance of śleşa of different varieties; but as we proceed
further, the style changes to suit the subject matter, as
permitted by the great critic ānandavardhana 'रचना विषयापेक्षम्",
and we find a simpler style, pithy and well turned expressions
gracefully arranged, and long descriptions alternating with
vivid scenes charged with rapidity of action. In spite of the
hopelessly fragmentary nature of the text, one can see
Dandin here in the sweet diction, the picturesque characteriza-
tion and other features that we are familiar with in the
Dasakumāra.
V
Dandin mentions Bāṇa and his Kādambari by name. He
adopts ideas, expressions and descriptions of Bāṇa, and trans-
forms them in the mint of his imagination investing them
with fresh vigour and beauty. In the episode of Kādambari,
he follows the thread of the story of Bāņa but differs from its
continuation by Bana's son. He connects his work with Kādam-
bari by making Kapiñjala take birth as the Brāhman Matanga,
and Pundarīka relate his tale to cheer up Mandakini. His
mastery of vocabulary is evident in the story of Mantragupta²
which is composed of words that contain no labial letters. In
the Kathāsāra, Somadatta, stricken with fever, tells his tale in
words which contain only the soft twentyfour letters out of
the fortytwo, in the Sanskrit alphabet (VII. 15-48). The
story consists of thirty four stanzas in Upajati of eleven
syllables; they flow with ease, without betraying the restrictions
the author has imposed upon himself. It is clear from this that
Dandin has another stupendous feat to his credit in the story
of Somadatta in the original. These literary feats, it may be
observed, are quite in keeping with his authorship of Dvisan-
dhāna, a poem in double entendre, narrating, at the same time,
the story of the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahabharata. The story
of Somadatta is composed in the twenty four letters constituting
the Tamil alphabet with the exception of 1() and r(m); and
it seems that Daṇḍin, imbued as he was with Tamil culture,
tried his hand in the novel field of writing a Sanskrit piece
in the alphabet of Tamil and succeeded.
Dandin's varied knowledge is borne out in his description
of the elephants and horses in the army, his proficiency in
1. Dhvanyaloka, N.S. edn., p. 143.
2. Dasakumāra, N. S. edn., pp. 234-50.