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xviii
 
In the 3rd sloka the poet says the goddess of
speech sits on the tongue of great poets and uses
them as the instrument for her praising the Lord
Varada so as to shove the responsibility for the
inevitable faults in the attempted composition on
the head of the medium. If the attempt is too
difficult even for Sarasvati, why should Dikshitar
make the attempt? The answer is very finely given
in the 4th Sloka. "True devotees of the Lord
would not mind any censure of their involuntary
words of praise and acts of piety. They may sing
any nonsense without any sense of shame. Does
 
not Suka say 'गायन् विलज्जो विचरेदसंग: ? I am
covetous of the sweets of loving and close medita-
tion of your holy name, your ravishing beauty and
your priceless virtues. Cavil and ridicule cannot
deter me." The words
 
वैकुण्ठ वर्णयितुम स्मि भृताभिलाषः
त्वन्नामरूपगुणचिन्तनलाभलोभात् ।
 
have a pathetic and sincere ring.
 
The poet goes one step farther in the fifth
sloka and says that his dulness and want of quick-
ness are an advantage to him because by having to
be slow in his composition he can indulge longer
in the thought of Divinity than quicker poets.