5. The Kumarasambhava-campu—A Study

Campu is a form of literature which has its own attraction in the skilful admixure of prose and poetry that it presents: gadyapadyamayam kavyam campur ity abhidhiyate. There are some very good specimens of it in Sanskrit literature. Beginning with the Nalacampu a whole class of literature in this form has grown up over the centuries. One of the latest instances of this is the Kumarasambhava-campu, the adaptation in Campu form of the great poem, the Kumarasambhava of Kalidasa. In the entire modern Sanskrit literature pertaining to Kalidasa which includes original plays or poems on him or adaptations of his works, there is no other work in this literary form. Its author is King Sarfoji II, known in Sanskrit literature as Sarabhoji, the Sanskritization on sound analogy, of course, of Sarfoji, who ruled over Tanjore from 1800-32 A.D. A great patron of learning, he made Tanjore, a centre of attraction for all savants in Sanskrit, Tamil and Marathi. Not only that, he was himself a scholar and a writer of note in Sanskrit and Marathi. There are at least four Sanskrit works to his credit: Smrtisarasamuccaya, Smrtisangraha, Mudraraksasacchaya and the work under reference, the Kumarasambhava-campu, undoubtedly his best work, being a creative composition unlike the first three which are compendia or abridgements of older works. King Sarfoji attracted to his court a number of Pandits whom he patronized by liberal grants of land or rich rewards. The greatest monument to King Sarfoji's memory is Sarasvathi Mahal Palace Library at Tanjore which is named after

The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 89 him. During his life time the scholar-king had been enriching this collection by not only the copying of the manuscripts but also purchasing as many of them as were available for sale during his frequent pilgrimages to Banaras. The result: the Sarasvathi Mahal Library now surely is one of the richest and the costliest libraries of the oriental manuscripts in India. In the very beginning of his work the author presents the rationale of his going in for a Campu form for his composition avoiding exclusive verse or exclusive prose. According to him a verse without prose does not really go down the heart. Equally, prose without verse is not relished by it. It is their combination, their admixure, which like the combination of sudha (nectar) and madhvika (spirituous liquor distilled from the madhuka flowers) which gives particular satisfaction to connoisseurs: padyam hrdyam apiha gadyarahitam dhatte na hrdyaspadami gadyam padyavivarjitam ca bhajate nasvadyatam manasell sahityam hi tayor dvayor api sudhamahvikayor yo bhavati santosam hrdayambuje vitanute sahityavidyavidamu The author is conscious of the merits of the Ramayanacampu by Bhoja, a predecessor of his. He, therefore, sets about writing his work, faultless in composition, very much like him adorning it with charming figures of speech in words full of Rasa: tatputrah sarabhojivarmanrpatih sahityasamrajyabhuri bhojo ramakathasudhamadhuritam campuprabandham yathall salankaracamatkriyarasapadam suddham ca sandarbhatah samgrathnati kumarasambhavamahacampuprabandhottamamil Published by Sri Sankaragurukulam, Srirangam, as Volume 5 in its publication series in the year 1940 and edited by Sri T.K. Balasubramanya Aiyar, the Campu is divided into four parts called the Asvasas, which have 33,30,60 and 79 verses and 4,4,7 and 4 prose paragraphs of varying length respectively. The first Asvasa begins with an invocation to Lord Siva. Next is given a brief account of the ancestry of the poet. He is the son of Tulajendra, a descendant of Maloji of the Bhosala family of Tanjore.

After these preliminary remarks the story of the birth of Kumara is taken up which closely follows the story as given by Kalidasa in his Kumarasambhava. The account of the birth of Kumara starts in the works as in the model before its author, the Kumarasambhava, with a detailed description of the glory and the grandeur of the mount Himalaya, which is said to have married Mena, the mental progeny of the Manes and begot from her a son Mainaka and a daughter, Parvati, who is once seen by Narada and is predicted to become Siva's wife. As for Siva, he is practising penance on a Himalayan tableland. Parvati at her father's instance serves him. While this goes on gods tormented by the demon Taraka go to Brahma for succour who asks them to contrive for Siva's attraction towards Parvati which may result in her marriage with him and the birth of a son who would destroy the demon. Indra thinks of Cupid who appears before him with his companion the spring. He is sent on a mission of softening Siva for Parvati. He, however, does not succeed in it and is reduced to ashes by the Lord much to the sorrow of Rati, the Cupid's wife. With firm resolve to secure Siva for her as her husband Parvati takes to severe austerities. One day the Lord disguised as a Brahmacarin enters her Asrama. He speaks disparagingly of Siva pointing out many of his angularities and dissuades Parvati from pursuing her desire to which she does not agree. Unable to stand Siva's denunciation she is about to leave the place when he appears before her in his true form Parvati suggests to him to approach her father for her hand which he does by sending Arundhati and the seven Rsis who settle his marriage three days thence. The marriage solemnized, the couple spend a month in the Himalayan city moving there after to mount Sumeru. After they had enjoyed marital bliss for a hundred years, the gods, who had in the meantime got tired of the long wait, appear before them with the earth and pray for a son. The love sports having been interrupted, the Lord asks the earth to carry his seed which she deposits in the Ganga and from which is born a strange child with six mouths and twelve arms who out of pity is fed by the six mothers, the Krttikas, on their milk, acquiring the name

The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 91 Sanmatura thereby. Sanmatura or Senapati is put at the head of their army by the gods in the battle between them and the demons and leads them to victory, thus bringing long-awaited relief to the three worlds that had been groaning under the oppressions of Taraka. After narrating this story, the author pays obeissance to the goddess of speech and asks for her forgiveness for any deficiencies, errors or omissions on his part due to hurry. And with this the fourth Asvasa and along with it the whole work comes to an end. Critical appreciation The Campu starts on a note of full confidence on the part of its author in his capacity in the successful execution of his work. The very second verse of it written in the form of the imaginary dialogue between him and the goddess of learning exudes it: matar vagdevi, kim te sarabhanarapate vatsa! karyam mamaste, saubrahmanyodbhavarthe ruciramrdupade campukavye- 'bhilasahi vijnatam, haimasailasphatikamanisilasanghasampatajatasphitatopabhragangapravahanasadrsah santu te vagvilasani' "O mother Sarasvati, (Sarasvati)-yes my child, King Sarabha, what do you expect of me? I want to compose a Campu with soft and pleasant words, dealing with the birth of Subrahmanya. (Sarasvati) I know. May the play of your words be like the flow of the celestial Ganges gaining in intensity born of its fall on the crystal rocks of the mount Meru." This confidence seems to have worn off as the author had arrived at the end of his work. In the last verse of his Campu, again addressed to Sarasvati, he appears to be rather conscious of his shortcomings and inadequacies: matar vani! namaskaromi caranadvandvambujam tavakam ksantavya kila balakena racita matra'gasam santatihi yan me 'tra skhalitam, maya yad api votsrstam tat sarvam mama sahasam bhagavati! ksantva prasannabhavai

"Mother Sarasvati, I bow to your lotus-like feet. You, the mother, should forgive the chain of offences committed by me. Whatever error I have committed in it (the Campu) or whatever omission I have made in a hurry, O goddess, that is a rash act on my part. You would forgive it and be pleased." The contrast between the tone and tenor in the two verses, both of them addressed to Sarasvati, one in the beginning and the other at the end of the work cannot be lost on any careful observer. These two verses between them sum up the author's own assessment of his work. And, everything said and done, no assessment could be more objective than that of the author himself. Looked at from this point of view, it appears that both the statements of the author are on the whole correct. The work is characterized by an excessive flow of words which have a kind of rhythm of their own. The work has a number of descriptions, the descriptions of the Himalaya, of Siva practising penance, of Taraka oppressing the worlds, of the forest under the spell of Cupid and spring, of the penance of Parvati, of the rites and festivities relating to the Siva-Parvati wedding, of the love-sports of Siva and Parvati and finally, the battle between the gods and the demons. Each one of these had given an opportunity to our author to show his vagvilasa which, as explained by him through an apt simile, simply enthrals the reader. But while there is vagvilasa in abundance, the work does suffer from some jerks here and there, it does give some idea of having been hastily done up, something having been left out in a hurry: yad api votsrstam tvaragauravat. What the author, therefore, says, in the last verse is not out of modesty only, it may have, as it does have, a grain of truth in it. We find that upto the second Asvasa the story moves rather leisurely. Upto that, the work deals only with the birth of Parvati, Siva's penance, Parvati's service to him, Cupid's burning by him and Rati's lamentations. The author lends considerable space to the description of the Himalaya, Siva in penance, the condition of the forest under the influence of Cupid and spring and so on. From the third Asvasa onwards the story picks up momentum and

The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 93 the events follow each other in quick succession. The descriptions also become shorter, lesser space being devoted to them, thereby giving rise to the feeling that the author was hastening to bring his work to completion; he was, therefore, omitting some of the details found in the parent poem: yad api votsrstam tvaragauravat. He dismisses the post-marriage love-sports of Siva and Parvati in just 9 verses while Kalidasa devotes as many as 44 verses to them. Similarly, the description of the Parvati's make-up in the work also lacks the elaborate details found in Kumara-sambhava. There might have been some compelling reason for the author to hurry through, especially, towards the end. Again, he has throughout his work very closely followed the story of the parent poem, the Kumarasambhava except towards its end where he has made a significant departure. The departure relates to the description of the birth of Senapati. In the Kumarasambhava it is said that the gods having got tired of the long wait for the birth of Senapati sent Agni to look for Siva. Agni assumed the form of a pigeon and entered the apartment where Siva and Pravati were engaged in lovesports. Siva discovered the pigeon to be Agni in disguise. He felt offended but was appeased by Agni who told him that he had been sent by the gods who had been waiting to see him for hundred years to plead with him for begetting a son who would kill their oppressor Taraka. The love-sports having been interrupted Siva's seed was picked up by Agni who lost his natural lustre thereby and got disfigured. For making an unwarranted intrusion into the chamber and causing obstruction to lovesports he incurred the wrath of Parvati who cursed him to be leperous, all-consuming and atrocious in deeds with smoke inside. In the Campu under notice the entire incident has been reshaped. According to it after the gods had waited for long, they appeared before Siva and requested him to beget a son who would kill Taraka and offer them relief from the torture that they had been suffering from for a fairly long time: sarve lekhah sapadi girijasankarau dirghakalam CC-0. Prof. tavyanyanyam prakatitasukhau samgatau nityatrptau! New by S 3 Foundation USA

dhyatva senapatijanikrte tustuvur vedavagbhir! devo 'py enams tripuradamanah procivan vacam etamir³ Siva agrees to fulfil their desire: he devah kanksksitam vah suciram idam atah samprasannah karisyer He asks the earth to carry his seed: madviryam bhutadhatri vahatu. Parvati at this curses the gods not to be able to beget children on their wives and the earth to be polyandrous: tato 'mbika 'tikupita sasapa sukhavighnatahi svastrisv aprajaso devan bhuvam canekabhartrkami When we compare the incident as described in the Kumarsambhava with the one in the Kumarasambhavacampu we find that the latter omits the Agni episode altogether, it straightway presents the gods, including the goddess earth, before the primeval couple, Siva and Parvati while they are engaged in love-sports and it is the earth which at Siva's instance carries his seed. This appears to be rather naive lacking the finesse of the master writer with which he had approached it. To admit a host of gods and a goddess in the strict privacy of Siva and Parvati would simply be revolting to more developed taste. It also would look incredible as to how they could land themselves there. There is no mention in the work anywhere that they had been permitted entry. To descend on the couple, whatever the urgency prompting it, while it is engaged in love-sports betrayed a height of impropriety. It looks strange as to how our author could not see through it. It is precisely to guard against it that the genius of Kalidasa had invented the episode of Agni, and the guise for it of a pigeon. A bird could enter the privacy of the apartment, and not a god or a human being. It is a different matter if it is found out later and its true form discovered. Kalidasa adopts a clever device here for conveying the message of the gods to the Lord. All this means that even if somebody had to approach the Lord he had to do it discreetly. And this has precisely been done in the Kumarasambhava. Again, to ask the earth to carry the seed in the Je Merya presence of Paryati looks rather indecorous SA

The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 95 Everything said and done one cannot help feeling here that the naturalness characterizing the description of the incident in the parent poem is missing in its adaptation. A departure from the primary narrative would be welcome only of it leads to some improvement in it. As it is, no improvement is visible in it, hence no need for the departure from the old narrative. Now a word about the language of the poem. It is generally of a very high order. It is characterized on the whole by the qualities of perspicuity, sweetness and grammatical accuracy. Furthermore, it has the classical ring about it. While going through it one feels as though one is going through the work of an older period. At places the author's style reminds us of that of Bana and Subandhu especially where he indulges in paranomasia, e.g., (i) yatra ca, mahadeva iva himakhandapandare, purusottama ivotphullasarasiruhalocane, kamalasana ivopagatahamsamandale, suraloka iva suparvavamsadhisthane... vaikuntha iva harina'dhisthite, saty aloka iva sahiranyagarbhe, pundarikaksavaksastata iva vanamalalankrte, kavyaprabandha iva nanavarnadhatuvicitre,... parasurama ivadharitarajamandale, mahakasara iva sarvatomukhavicalatpundarike, himotpa- ttibhumav apy ahimahite, dhrtaksme 'pi durasade, gangaprabhave 'py abhisme... (himalaye)/.6 (ii) atha sa manmathah haimavatyam adhityakayam vaiyaghracarmastaranam devadarutaruvedikamadhyam adhyasinam samadhiyogasamucitavasthanasundarata rakrtimbhujangamonnaddhajatakalapabhasuramkarnvasaktvadvigunaksasutravalayam kanthaprabhasamsargadhikanilam rauravim tvacam dadhanam nasasikharavinyastesatstimitagrataravispanditapaksmamalaksitritayam ambuvaham ivavrstisamrambham apam CC-0. Profadharamasivanuttaraugom, entararuddha- $3 Foundation USA

prananilataya pradipam iva nivataniskampam urddhvodbhasi-nibhir lalatanetrajvalamalabhir glapayantam iva mrnalasutrasukumaran balendumayukhan, nisiddhakhilakaranapracaram, atmanyevat-manam avalokayantam bhagavantam antakanta-kam adraksiti.' Sometimes the author presents in beautiful prose a paraphrase of what the older poet has said in verse. The paragraph reproduced below as a specimen: santatanisyandamanatuhinasaradhautaraktam padam apasyatam api kiratanam nakharayudhanakharandhramuktamuktaphalany evavibhi nnavanakumbhikesaripadaviparijnanahetavah satapasrngasrayanam evadhahsanugatasiddhanam vrsttibadhanivaranam, dhaturasanyastaksara bhurjatvaca eva surasundarinam anangalekhah kicakarandhresu darimukhodgatasamirapuranam eva kinnaraganopaganam, kandulavaitandakasanodbhutasaralagandha eva sanusurabhikaranapatuh, vanitasakhavanecaranam jyotirlata eva suratapradipah, atighanajaghnapayodharanam asvamukhinam tuhinadurgame'pi marge mandam gamanam... 8 is nothing but the following half a dozen verses of Kalidasa put in prose form with some abbreviation and a change of wording here and there: padam tusarasrutidhautaraktam yasminn adrstva'pi hatadvipanam! vidanti margam nakharandhramuktair muktaphalaih kesarinam kiratah|| kunjarabindusonahi nyastaksara dhaturasena yatra bhurjatvacah vrajanti vidyadharasundarinam anangalekhakriyayopayogamil

The Kumara-sambhava-campu: A Study 97 yah purayan kicakarandhrabhagan darimukhotthene samiranenall udgasyatam icchati kinnaranam tanapradayitvam kapolakanduh karibhir vinetum vighattitanam ivopagantumi saraladrumanamil yatra snutasirataya prasutah sanuni gandhah surabhikaroti vanecaranam vanitasakhanam darigrhotsanganisaktabhasahi udvejayaty anguliparsnibhagan marge silibhutahime 'pi yatral na durvahasronipayodhararta bhindanti mandam gatim asvamukhyahii. Occasionally the Kumarasambhava idea contained in two or three verses is put by our author in one single verse: daksavajnanamumktasvatanur atha sati purvapatni purarer utsaheneha nitav ajani himavata srir yatha menakayam! asid asaprasado vavur aparasjaso vayavah pranisaukhyaya The Kumarasambhava verses are: athavamanena pituh prayukta daksasya kanya bhavapurvapatni sati safi yogavisrstadeha tam janmane salaevadhum prapedeell sa bhudharanam adhipena tasyam samadhimatyam udapadi bhavai samyakprayogad apariksatayam nitav ivotsahagunena sampatil prasannadikpamsuviviktavatam Sankhasvananantarapuspavrstil Saririnam sthavarajangamanam sukhaya tajjanmadinam babhuval¹¹ tasyah.1110 In spite of the metre employed by our author being a bigger one, some brevity in condensing the idea of three verses in one, is no doubt noticeable here. By far the most striking instance of how the Campu attempts a paraphrase of the Kumarasambhava verses can be had from the following well-known Kalidasan verse:

sthitah ksanam paksmasu taditadharah payodharotsedhanipatacurnitah valisu tasyah skhalitam prapedire kramena nabhih prathamodabindavah||12 which is found in the Campu as: ksanam sthitva paksmasv atha nipidyadharadalam tato vaksojordhvasthalapatanacurnikrtibhrtahi skhalitvasya ramyakrtivalisu pascac ca tisrsu prapannas tam nabhikuharam atha nutnambuprsatah1113 Though the language of the work is on the whole easy and simple, the author does go in for some recondite or obscure expressions here and there. Thus he uses bhuvalaripu 14 for king, vedavrnasikhara 15 for vedanta sutraman 16 for Indra, .vadikriyakarman 17 for abhivadana, vadi abhivadana, vadi-abhivadane, niketabhumi 18 for a covered place, pragunita 19 for avrtta, (repeated), tara 20 for suddha, pure, auspicious, astapada 21 for gold, siladajanus 22 for Nandi, lekha 23 for deity. In line with the above is his use of words which are structurally peculiar for the sense intended of them. They are: distabhumi 24 meaning one 'to whom a seat is offered', dattasanah, sthanajnatvacanah25 'one who possesses the expert knowledge of marking an aim', sthana=aim, aharyasamanadhairya 26, 'one whose even ordinary or normal patience cannot be disturbed', sumana ordinary or normal, gariyasi in visirnaparnavrttita tapahsthiter gariyasi 27 meaning hinderance, obstruction, pitrmatat 28 with the permission of the father, mata standing for anumata or anumati. At a couple of places in the work one comes across ellyptical construction too, e.g. kalpa for kalpavrksa in kalpaprasavamrdulam 29, sambhavah for sambhavah karah in nijanabhidesanihatas tu sambhavo dharanidharendrasutaya sakampaya rurudhe.30 Occasionally a word in the work is altered due in all probability to metrical exigencies. A rather interesting instance of this found in the line: patyau vallabhyam asya himagiriduhitur menakayah svamatuh 31

The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 99 where the name mena is altered to menaka though the latter is the name of a particular nymph. The editing of the work also leaves something to be desired. A few readings in it are definitely corrupt and need improvement, e.g., drstya in drstya nutanayeva suskasarasimatsyangana tarpita³2, naga in saivam mangalaturyanagaruciram snata³3, nihata in nijanabhidesanihatas tu sambhavah34, kridaty ekam in kridaty ekam triyamam iva divasaganany anaisit sukhatma³5, where obviously vrstya, nada, nihita and kridann ekam respectively, would be the correct readings. In an isolated instance jatam kalpaprasavamrdulam sekharam sarvam eva 36, sekhara, the masculine, is found used in the neuted. In an equally isolated instance the two words, though in construction, are used far apart from each other: yathapradesasamgata bhujamgama vibhasanibabhuvur esa nutnata sariramatragocara phanamaniprabha tu ya pura babhuva saiva sa sirahsthito vidhuh param kuto 'bhavan na nutanah17 esa in the second line is in construction with vidhuh in the fourth, both being intercepted by a number of words. In the verse immediately following the above there seems to be the defect adhikapadatva, excess of words. The verse in question reads: sadharane sati mahesasamasraye'pi bhasmenducarmabhujagesu vidhum vidhayal bhasmajinadi pararupamavapa nendur rantah sthita malinata kimu tatra hetuh|| 38 "While the ashes, the moon, the skin and the serpents all in common attach themselves to Siva, it is the ashes, the skin, etc. with the exception of the moon, that assume a different form and not the moon. Is it due to the impurity settled within?" Now, here vidhum vihaya and nenduh convey one and the same idea. One of these could easily have been dispensed with. The work is marked by a couple of typical Taddhita formations which cannot be considered to be unusual in the composition of a South Indian whose love for them has found an .echo in as early a work as the Mahabhasya of Patanjali which

says: priyataddhita daksinatyah. As specimens we may mention dhaurandhari³⁹, parampari, svacchandya, sauvarga 42, savitra 43, sautramana, sahasra 45, aunnatya 46, vaiyaghra, aibha 48, ksauma, tartiyikas, sauvarna 51, vallabhya 52, sarvara.53 Of these, the use of the feminine suffix nis after the Taddhita formations, dhaurandharya and paramparya is uncommon. One of the special features of the work is the occurrence in it of some of the lines which can easily pass off as good sayings. A few of the typical ones of these are reproduced below by way of illustration: i. manaisino hy unnatah ii. prabhunam prayena svasritesu svaphalaparataya gauravam cancalam syats iii. asatkatha sruta hi papakarini iv. suddhyartham yad adhisthitam sukrtibhis tat tirtham acaksater v. kutumbinam prakrtayah kalatrasrayah$8 vi. duspradharsyah khalugrahr" The work has as many as 11 metres. The author seems to have a special fascination for the Sardulavikridita. He composes in this metre the bulk of his work, 123 verses out of a total of 202 verses. Of the remaining 10 metres he uses Malini in 19, Anustubh in 15, Pithvi in 13, Pancacamara in 12, Upajati in 8, Sikharini in 5, Bhujangaprayata in 2 verses, while Arya, Svagata, Mandakranta, Manjubhasini and Vasantatilaka each, he uses only once. Except the yatibhanga in the following few verses there is no violation of the metres: i. brahmadyalayapuritotsavasamajollasita sobhate! 60 ii. apadam sphuraduttarottarasamastangabhirupyam vapuh161 iii. margenatmasvarupam manasi krtasamadhanayoge visuddhell 62 iv. bananam pratipannakalpam idam evasmacciraprarthitam 163 v. esanya ca viddambana tava yad udvahe gajarohanel 64 vi. te cakasam athatinilima samutplutyopajagmus tada 65 vii. uccaihsamlapadhavadratharathikavimuktasugaccha ditabhrami 66

The Kumarasambhava-campu: A Study 101 viii. indro mandaramalam adita manasijayeksamanah saharsami 67 As far as the arrangement of the words, padasayya, is concerned it is simply exquisite, answering very correctly the description of ruciramrdupadatva and salankaracamatkriyarasapadatva for his Campu by the author. It has delightful alliteration which sometimes produces a jingling effect, e.g. i. asti svastaruvrndasundarataracchayollasatkandarakridatkinnaramaninijanamanahsvacchandyasaksatkrti ii. tadanu sa dvijanuh kada va sutanum imam sasisekharah ...samasrayisyata itingatajnah...69 iii. atha sa bhagavan antakantakah atidhavalair dasanamsubhir mukutatataghatitasudhadidhitikantim upacinvams tan saptarsin pratyabhasatai iv. pranamrasasurasurasphuritamauliratnaprabhapisangitapadambujau prabhavatam umasankaraui" v. darartham vihitadaram smaraharam te 'bhyucur ittham vacahi vi. jagadguros tasya gurur bhava tvam guro gariyan khalu te prabhavahi Among the other figures of speech used in the work mention may be made of Apahnuti, Sandeha, Sahokti, Arthantaranyasa, Upama and Utpreksa, the latter two being the most frequent. The author's conceiving the Himalaya as the dark spot of the full moon, Parvati as the string of gems, ratnasalaka, the widowed Rati consoled by a voice from the space and waiting for an end to her travails as a fish in a dry pond refreshed by a fresh shower, and the digit of the moon waiting for the night-fall, respectively. Parvati evaporating heat from her figure scorched by the blaze of the sun and the fire as the earth emitting vapours on account of fresh showers at the end of the summer, the seeing by the Himalaya of the Saptarsis as a shower without a cloud or a fruit without a flower, Parvati with her face scented by the smoke of the lajas (fried rice) as the lotus-stalk with an autumnal lotus made fragrant with the sweet smell of lodhra brought by bees, the stars as the drops from the moon, Arundhati as the success incarnate of penance, present a few of the good illustration of Utpreksa in the work.

Sometimes a chain of a figure of speech is employed to emphasize a point. Thus the great joy experienced by the Himalaya on the unexpected advent of the Saptarsis is expressed by means of three Utpreksas. The Himalaya feels as transformed as a fool turned wise, as a thing made of iron turned into that of gold, as someone from the earth uplifted to heaven. The author also occasionally draws word-pictures with the help of his imagination. While describing the make-up of Lord Siva at the time of his marriage he imagines the things normally associated with him to be the constituents of his make-up: his ashes are the cosmetics, angaraga, his chain of skulls, the wreath of flowers for the head, his tiger and elephant skins, the pair of clothes, the third eye, the forehead-mark, tilaka, and the serpents, the ornaments. Among the many descriptions found in the work it is in the description of the battle between the gods and the demons that we find far greater originality on the part of the author. How lifelike is the fling of the demons at the gods can be seen from the following verse: nedam nandanakananam visasanam naitah suparvanganas tiksnah sastraparamparah samuditah pratyarthimarmacchidahi naitat satram asrgvasantranikarakruram mahayodhanam nayam gautamadarajaracarito neta suras tarakah1172 "This is not a Nandana park, it is a killing house, these are not the celestial damsels but accumulated piles of sharp-edged weapons which pierce the vitals of the enemies. This is not a sacrificial session but a great battle dreadful on account of mass of blood, marrow and arteries. This is not Indra, the paramour of the wife of Gautama, but the leader, the demon Taraka." The demons also indulge in the cat-calls at the gods which look so real and life-like by the quick flow of the words: agne 'nnam vaha, vahi vata vipine, parjanya garjambare, mrtyo martyajanesu gaccha, dhanada tvam kosagehe vasal vasvadityagana bhavanti bhavatam sraddhakriyasu krama no yuddhesy iti sainika ditibhuvam devan avamamsata!A CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New

The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 103 "Agni, carry food; Vata, blow in the forest; Parjanya, thunder in the sky; Mrtyu, go to the mortals; Kubera, confine yourself to the treasury; Vasus and Adityas, go to attend the Sraddha ceremonies, and not to the battle-field. Thus the soldiers of the demons slighted the gods." The Campu has quite a few of the Rasas: Santa in the description of Siva and Parvati practising penance, Karuna in Rati's lamentations at the loss of her husband, Srigara in its variety of Vipralambha at the discomfiture of Parvati at the burning of Cupid and of the variety of Sambhoga in the description of love-sports after Siva-Parvati wedding, Hasya (very briefly) in love-dalliances of the divine couple and Vira in the battle between the gods and the demons. Though the story in the work in the main is the same as that of the Kumara-sambhava and though much of the verse or the prose portion in it is a paraphrase of the verses of Kalidasa, it is not devoid of an individuality of its own. It attempts at retelling the Kumarasambhava in its own words. It is an attempt, where the setting is that of the reteller while the backdrop to it is that of the older work. The result: The words and expressions from Kalidasa's poem peep out into this work even in the new frame. A reader who has studied the Kumarasambhava has it in his unconscious mind. While going through the Campu, he is comparing it all the time and much to his interest and curiosity finding it well-rendered. The fly over from verse to prose and vice versa, the characteristic-in-chief of a Campu, acts as a relief to him. As a first attempt at retelling the Kumarasambhava in a different literary form by a scion of the princely family of South India with a good sprinkling of his own exquisite composition, the Campu provides real pleasure to connoisseurs. REFERENCES 1. I.2. 2. IV. CC-0.3 rof Vatrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

. IV. 65. 5. IV. 66. 6. After I. 8. 7. After II.18. 8. After 1.8. 9. Kumarasambhava, I. 21-3. 10. I.10. 11. Kumarasambhava, I. 21-3. 12. ibid., V.24. 13. III.5. 14. I.4. 15. 1.17. 16. II. 1. 17. III.56. 18. III.6. 19. III.60. 20. IV.3 21. IV.4. 22. IV.15. 23. IV.64. 24. II.1. 25. II.20. 26. After III.2. 27. III. 7. 28. III.18. 29. IV.9. 30. IV.44. 31. IV.47. 32. II.29. 33. IV.5. 34. IV.44. 35. IV.63. 36. IV.9. 37. IV.10. 38. IV.11. 39. 1.4. 40. I.15. 41. 1.7. A 20. Frd?Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA Prof

43. I. 20. 44. III.41. 45. III.51. 46. III. 51. 47. IV.9. 48. Ibid. 49. IV.5,9. 50. IV.9. 51. IV.2,38. The Kumarasambhavacampu: A Study 52. IV.47. 53. IV.59. 54. I.13. 55. II.1. 56. III.29. 57. III. 45. 58. III.57. 59. II.24. 60. I. 3. 61. I.12. 62. I. 16. 63. II.6. 64. III.23. 65. III.41. 66. IV.75. 67. II.8. 68. 1.7. 69. After III.18. 70. After III. 37. 71. III.55. 72. III. 56. 73. IV.75. 105