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1041 CHAPTER, EIGHTEEN CONCLUSION ; From its embriyonic state of Vedic legends and Epic Akhyanakas, and its sojourn through the long period of unrecorded development, Sanskrit prose-romance first made its appearance, in the history of Sanskrit literature, in the passing references of Panini and Patanjali, especially of the latter who mentioned a few romances, viz., Vasavadadadda tta, Sumanottara and Bhaimarathi, without giving out the names of their authors. Likewise, the Carumati of Vararuci, the Sudraka-katha of Ramila-Saumila, the Tarangavati of Palitta and the romance of unmentioned name by Hariscandra have survived only in their titles. But they have left their indelible influence in the royal legal documents in the form of a number of inscriptions such as those of Rudradaman (150 A.D.), of Samudragupta (4th century), and the Mandasor inscription (437 A.D.) composed by Vasabha- tti, all of which have been composed in ornate poetic prose decorated by poetic conventions and perspicuous, short, sweet, striking and charming words. Though, long before Bhamaha and Dandin, Sanskrit prose- -romance had crystalized into its twofold form of Katha and

y 1042 and Akhyatika, it was not until the sixth century A.D. that the now extant specimens of full-fledged Sanskrit prose- -romance of Subandhu and Dandin appeared on the stage of son the history of the so-far-known Sanskrit literature. Subandhu selected a very novel way in his narrative, , otherwise, which was/neither highly effective nor attractive. The weak- ,however, ness of the slender theme with its insignificance was fully compensated by minute portraiture of personal beauty of the lovers, their qualities and their sentiments in union and separation. The VK afforded an opportunity to Subandhu to perfect "a clear, simple and beautiful diction as a well as a style majestic with long and rolling compounds, and full of double-meaning epithets, showing off his scholarly abilities, his command of sciences, his ability to weave together words to form a difficult construction and his love of the out-of-the-way and the un-attempted nik sa far by anyone else 1 Bana picked up the thread of Subandhu's style and perfected all his literary craftsmanship in greater elaboration. But the greatest contribution of Bana was in that he suffused this style with unprecedented poetic imagination and close observation both culminating in his graphic descriptions which overshadowed rather loose plot-structure held together by the primary literary device, of boxing stories within 1. Vasavadatta-katha, Introduction, p.53.

1043 stories. His rich fancy and wonderful command over Sanskrit language combined to make him a master of flowery, luxuriant and highly finished style which metamorphosed rough rock of a folk-tale into a beautiful poetic gem. 2 Dandin, who was at the same time an artist as well as a critic, chose a path of his own and led the holy Ganges of Sanskrit novel in hitherto unfrequented groves of a new form and content; the resultant products were his Avantisundarikatha and the Dasakumaracaritam. In both these romances he depicted "a lively picture of dissolute and fraudulent rogues, brave robbers, expert thieves, passionate lovers, unfaithful wives, coquetish harlots, cunnin paramours and procuresses, and, above all, of hypocritical ascetics and greedy priests, inhabiting the great cities of the day" 3, the curious and mysterious atmosphere being further fortified "by the lively elements of folk-tale, viz., living interest in the narrative, power of vivid characterization and subtle caricature, a keen sense of amusing wit and humour and piquant satire; all these qualities clothed in the best garb of literary king the works of Dandin a class by themselves. 4 In form, mahowever, the plot-structure of Dandin's novels was quite unique as it comprised a number of independent well-knit tales tied together by the artificial device of repeated coincidences linking them with a common tale of a central character. 2. cf. CSDHW,p.272. / 3. ibid., p.285. 4. ibid., p.286.

1044 His main contribution lies in that he created a new genre in the field of Sanskrit novel which he composed in a forceful medium of expression marked by the quality of elegance of diction (padalalitya). It is not surprising that instead of exploring new possibilities in the genre created by Bana, Dandin chose to himself create a new genre. Perhaps the reason for this phenomenon lay in Dandin's very nature as a rhetorician and as a man realistic down to his very marrow. 6 7 8 } On the authority of Dhanapala 5 and some of the Sanskrit anthologists like Sarngadhara and others, it seems that Bana's masterly performance as a novelist served as a discouraging influence for the prospective subsequent novelists for about a couple of centuries during which not a single Sanskrit poet dared to touch the Katha form at all.' And those like Trivikramabhatta, Somadevasuri, Bhoja who had some confidence rather took to a new form, viz., Campu, perhaps to avoid the contingency of unfavourable comparision with Bana; some poets like Soddhala who aspired to compose a Katha preferred to err on the safe side by calling their work a fann pj Campu-katha : It was, thus, left to Dhanapala to break the ice by taking up thoogenmwood>> Bana's genre and explore 5. Tilakamanjari, Intro.vs.26 ab: pantsfuraTY; 24425914: karoti vimadankavin | 6. Srg.Pad.,vs.117 d: kavikumbhi kumbhabhiduro banastu pancananah | 7. Kirtikaumudi, I, 15: yuktam kadambari srutva kathyo maunamasritah | banadhvani- vana dhyayom bhavatiti smrtirthatah || ; also, banasya harsacarite nisita- mudiksya sakti na ke imdra kavita ratra madam tyajanti | in A History of Sanskrit Literature,p.347. (quoted by Keith 8. Sagarika (A journal of Sagar University) Vol.III,NO.4,p.347; Samvid,Vol.IV,Nos,1-4,p.131.

1046 (ii) While utilizing as many popular motifs as could, possibly be utilized purposefully in the given frame-work of a well-knit plot, Dhanapala added an element of rationality and in the process reduced the degree of incredibility and unreality invariably associated with the often-misused element of accident. It is Dhanapala who, as a Sanskrit novelist, has a right to claim the first place in developing the technique by which a novelist could eschew the disadvantage of utilizing the element of accident and that of the mysterious and would acquit the novel from losing its firm foot-hold on solid earth while, at the same time, taking full advantage of the effect of surprise so nessary for continuously ndong dha a catching the imagination and maintaining the curiosity of his audience. This technique was rooted in the typically Jain rationalistic outlook evinced in Jain works like Ravisena's Padmapurana and such others. (iii) Aesthetic delight and literary entertainment had hitherto been the chief motives behind Sanskrit prose-romance. Dhanapala introduced a new element of the religious ethics, without in any way lessening the importance and the degree of the above-mentioned twin essential elements of literary art. Dhanapala achieved this by resorting to the technique of allegory inherited from veteran Jain authors like at n Haribhadrasuri, Udyotanasuri and especially Siddharsi. However,

1047 our poet was highly careful in not letting the element of religious morality overshadow or hinder artistic and aesthetic ones. The resultant picture thus emerging was the one of a tastefully mild, totally unintrusive and poetically suggested Jainistic background which would never obstruct the torrential flow of the highly ornate style in which the story proceeds, with its slow royal pacing, to the ultimate union of its heroes and heroines on the one hand, while, on the other hand, it unfailingly impresses upon the minds of the sympathetic audience the transitory nature of all the pleasures, of earth as well as of the heaven. (Iv) In increasing the number of verses to about one hundred, almost half of them comprising the introductory remarks and the rest being tastefully interspersed in the body of the narrative, he enlarged the scope of the poet's exhibition of his twin a skill in prose as well as in verse, while, at the same time, maintaining the essential nature of 'Katha'鈻� as a prose-romane in contrast to the allied mixed genre called Campu. It is with Dhanapala, that Sanskrit novel diverted from its course of hitherto mixed up a function of prose and verse and began to define their scope and allocate proper functions to them as a literary medium in the novel, much in the same manner as it was

1048 done in the field of Sanskrit drama. Dhanapala, thus, carried further the radiant torch of Sanskrit prose-romance, enkindled by Subandhu and Dandin, and profusely nutured by Bana; and, establishing himself as a worthy literary successor of the last one, he sought to develop a new form for his romantic tale by striking a balance between the stylistic extremities of both prose as well as verse, though at the same time properly maintaining the scholarly tenor of the then prevailing literary norms. It is in view of this highly important contribution in the field of literary art, the Sanskrit prose-romance, that Dhanapala has a right to claim an honoured place, in the history of Sanskrit literature, among the comity of veteran Sanskrit novelists of medieval India. And it is on this very ground that the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala, this literary master-piece of Kavi Dhanapala, has the honoured previlege to claim the attention of the lovers of Sanskrit language and literature and that of the orientalists of all the nations of the world, as nasa And, finally, it is on the strngth of all these qualities and contributions that the work rightly deserves the fully justified encomiums showered on it by lovers of Sanskrit literature and in the following verses : namah sri dhanapalaya yena vijnanagumphita | kam nalamkurute kannasthata tilakamamjari || |

1049 vacanam sridhanapalasya candanam malayasya ca | sarasam hrdi vinyasya ko'bhunnama na nirvrtah || tilakamamjari mamjarirasamjariloladvipascida lijalah | jainaranye'sala h ko'pi rasalah paphala ghanapalah || 087-8-8-9-00 um * (C) * * * 0 0 $ 0 0 * * $ @ * *. } }