6. Descriptions, Scenes and Retrospect

(A) CRITICAL BACKGROUND 326 As with the European Romances written in Mi- the so in Sanskrit, Romances like Bana's Kadambari and Dhanapala's Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala are, in general, works of fiction in which the imagination is unrestricted. In form they were long, resembling works of poetry in rhymed or alliterative prose occasionally interspersed with a verse or two. They concentrated on story rather than on character, and the story concerned * unreal people engaged in strange, often supernatural, adventures. Their wide appeal was as a literature of escape. 327. The remarks of Mr. W.P.Ker, though meant for the medieval European authors of twelfth century Romances, strangely apply to Sanskrit prose-romances: Vaiety of incident, remoteness of scene, and all the incredible things in the world, had been at the disposal of medieval authors. Mere furniture counts for a good deal in the best romances, and they are full of descriptions of riches and splendours. In such passages of ornamental description the ma names of strange people 326. cf. A Handbook of Literary Terms,p.174. r / 327. Epic and Romance, pp:328-340.

958 and of foreign kings have the same kind of value as the names of precious stones, and sometimes they are introduced on their account. Sometimes this fashion of rich description and allusion had been overdone. There may be discovered in some writers a preference for classic subjects in their ornamental digressions, or for the graceful forms of allegory. One function of romance is to make an immediate literary profit out of all accessoble books of learning. It was a quick-witted age and knew how to turn quotations and allusions. Much of its art is bestowed in making pendantry look attractive. When a novelist halts his moving world and taik tells 328 us what he sees, says Phyllis Bentley, we term that type of narrative a 'description'; when he moves it slowly and n tells us single specific actions we have learned to term that type of narrative a 'scene'; when he rolls his fictitious world by rapidly the integrated campaign, the sum total of a character, a summarized account of his gradual conversation to a new course of life, it can be called 'retrospect' or 'summary'. The scene, the description and the summary have quite distinct uses, distinct parts to play in fiction. The scene gives the reader a feeling of participating in the action very intensely, and is therefore used for intense moments, 328. AON,pp.7-26.

959 such as the crisis, the climax and a sequence of actions. The summary is most frequently used to convey rapidly a sketch of past. The proper use, the right mingling, of scene, description and summary is the art of fictitious narrative. The later novelists, too, employ devices to make summary appear as scene and thus rob it of its tedium, casting it in the guise of one character's reflections upon another, dialogue between the two characters and so on. (B) DESCRIPTIONS :The above remarks of Phyllis Bentley fairly apply to Dhanapala as a Sanskrit novelist. Descriptions play a predominant ra part in Sanskrit prose-romances, like Rinas Bana's Kadambari and Dhanapala's Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala, since it is through them that the poet seeks to exhibit all his poetic talent and scholarly eqipment. The poet seizes every opportunity to describe things, places, persons, animals, psychological moods, seasons and etc.. Dhanapala galls in line with the tradition of his predecessors in this aspect of the narrative art. Descriptions in the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala may roughly be classified into those of : (i) places and things; (ii) persons; (iii) actions of individuals and animals; (iv) groups in action%3B (v) seasons, situations and etc.%; and (vi) moods and affections. We 329. AGN Op.cit.

960 shall enumerate each type of descriptions in the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala to illustrate the wealth of the poet's artistic variety of subjects covered and his genius : (i) Among the descriptions of places and the things, the following are noteworthy; the city of Ayodhya (pp.7-9); the temple of the Goddess Sri (pp.33-34); the celestial Nang Nandana garden (pp.56-57); the bank of the river Sarayu (pp. 105-106); the shower-house (pp.106-107); the assembly-hall 116-118 (p.115); the outskirts of the city of Kanci (pp. 105-106); the ocean (pp. 120-122); military camp (p.123); Lanka (pp.134- 135); the island Ratnakuta (p.137 & pp.147-148); a boat being directed by a sailor (pp.145-146); the inner apartment of Harivahana's palace (p.174); the Kamarupa region (p.182); Vindhya forest incorporating a picture of a tribal village of Sabaras (pp.199-200); the Adrstapara lake (202-205); Jain temple(pp.214-216); the adytum of the temple and the image of Lord Rsabha installed therein (pp.216-217); a plaintain bower (pp.228-229); a dagger (p.243); a wood-land (p.234); the forest lying between the Vaitadhya mountain and Mount Ekasraga (pp.233-235); the city of Kanei (259-260); the ruby pavilion (pp.265-266); the image of Lord Mahavira (p.275); the Asoka tree, the temple of Cupid and the image of the god installed therein (pp.303-305); and a poisonous. tree and its surroundings (p.334).

961 (ii) The following are the descriptions of persons : } the ladies in the city of Ayodhya (pp. 19-10); the citizens of Ayodhya (pp.10-11); King Meghavahana and his kingly conduct (pp.12-19); Queen Madiravati (pp.21-23); the Vidyadhara Muni (pp.23-25); the Vaimanika god Jvalanaprabha (pp.35-38); the terrific Vetala (pp.46-49); the Goddess Sri as seen by King Meghavahana (50-54-56); Queen Madiravati as seen by King Meghavahana in a dream (p.74); the courtezans in the harem of King Meghavahana (p.115); the cowherdesses (p.118); young girls (158-159); Gandharvaka (pp.164-165); Harivahana seated with Tilakamanjari lying on a bed of lotus leaves (pp.229- 230); Samaraketu on his arrival at the creeper-bower of Harivahana after his long journey through the Vindhya forest (p.230); Samaraketu sailing in a boat as seen by Malayasundari (p.276); Tilakamanjari (pp.246-247); citizens of Kanci (p.260) Samaraketu as described by Malayasundari lying in his lap (p.310-312); Vidyadhara Queen Pattralekha (pp.340- 341); love-lorn Tilakamanjari (pp.368-369); Harivahana seated on the throne (p.403); unconscious Tilakamanjari (pp.415- 416); the Goddess sri as seen by Priyangusundari (pp.408-409). (iii) Among the descriptions of individuals and animals in action, the following are interesting: love-sports of King Meghavahana (pp.17-18)%; the birds drinking water from the drains of household wells (p.67); humdrum of joyful inmates of King Meghavahana's harem after the birth of Prince

962 Harivahana (p.76); commotion of soldiers in a military camp due to a night-attack (p.84); a pair of fast riding messengers (p.85); arrow-fight between Vajrayudha and Samaraketu (p. 89); worship of the ocean (p.123); Samaraketu boarding a ship (p.131); ways and means of teasing the animals (p.183); anenraged a mad elephant and efforts of the elephant-trainers to tame it (p.185); the acquatic birds heading towards water (p.204); the leader of a herd of hogs (p.208); a group of horses (p.226); the Holy-Bath Ceremony of Lord Mahavira (p. 269); attempt at suicide by hanging (pp.305-306); a parrot (p.375); Mahodara waving a bunyan branch in anger (p.381); ayoung wife urging her husband not to die (p.397); and Harivahana propitiating the mystic Vidyas (399-400). (iv) The notable descriptions of groups in action are: King Meghavahana's retinue in procession (pp.65-66); an army out for a night-attack (pp. 85-86); a marching procession of Samaraketu (pp.115-116); cows let free for grazing (p.117); the tired crew of a ship (p.138); hullabaloo of an army lzadk landing on the sea-shore (pp.139-140); a naval camp (p.140); a group of flying Vidyadharas (pp.152-153); soldiers chasing a a running mad elephant (p.187); procession of the Vidyadhara Emperor Harivahana (p.233); a fair (p.323); and the festivities in a royal harem (p.423).

963 (v) The following seasons, situations and etc,, have been described in the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala: the Rainy Season (179-180); the Spring season (pp.297-298); early morning in the rural mauntanous area (pp.123-124); the day-break (pp.150-152 & 357- 358); the Dawn (pp.237-238); the Sunset (pp.350-351); the ceremony before setting out on an expedition (pp.115-116); earth as seen from the sky (p.242); dust-storm raised by fighting forces (p.87); a battle (p.88); the shower of arrows (p.90); and boiling butter and churning of curds (p.117). (vi) The following are the moods, affections and the like depicted by Dhanapala : mental agony of King Meghavahana due to lack of son (pp.20-21); the devotion to Lord Rsabha Jina (pp.39-40); the effect of calamity on different types of persons (p.41); the grandeur of the Goddess Sri (pp. 57-58); the effect of the divine ring on Vajrayudha and the inimical forces (pp. 91-92); the effect of new environment on Samaraketu (p.133); the effect of music on the mad elephant (p.186); intensity of the feeling if soldiers pursuing the mad elephant (p.187)%; dejected and tired soldiers (pp. 188-189); the effect of an unexpected good news on dejected soldiers (p.192); the effect of bad news and change of atmosphere in a military camp (p.193); experiences of Harivahana during his ride on the flying elephant (p.242); the effect of the advent of youth on different persons (p.264); the

964 mental condition of Malayasundari when she found herself brought to a strange place (p.265); the effect of love at first sight on Malayasundari (pp.277-278); the effect on Samaraketu at the sight of Malayasundari (pp.278-279); the treatment of a person saved from the gallows (p.311); the feeling of a lover's touch to a beloved (pp. 312-313); the reactions of Gandharvanatta on hearing the account of her daughter being kidnapped and returned by the Vidyadharas (p.327); the effect of poison on a person (p.335); the hindrances in the path of penance (pp.399-400); and haste and curiosity (pp.423-424). It is noteworthy that Dhanapala's descriptions of natural phenomena like the seasons, the dayibre day-break, the Sunset and etc., are fully harmonized with the psychological mood of the character in the context; the Nature, in this process, invariably gets personified and shares the joys and agonies of the character. (C) SCENES :The prominently noteworthy scenes in the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala may be enumerated here. They are: King Meghavahana's meeting with the Vidyadhara Muni (pp.25-33); and with god Jvalanaprabha (pp.38-45), the latter embodying in it a picture of a sacked Vidyadhara city and its royal palace (pp.40-41); the king's encounter with the Vetala (pp.46-52) and with

965 the Goddess Sri (pp. 54-61); the night-attack and the consequent fierce battle ending with the capture of Samaraketu (@p.83-94); tim falling Priadarsana being caught by hand by Taraka and their their consequent love and marriage (pp.127- 129); the break of voyage by the naval forces, their hullabaloo at the time of landing and camping (pp.136-141); the preparatory oreders of the sailors to their subordinates just before raising the anchors of their vessels at the start of a voyage (pp.145-146); Harivahana's meeting with Gandharvaka (pp.164-173); Harivahana's encounter with the mad elephant (pp.185-186); Kamalagupta's invocation of the help of the divine agency to carry the reply back to Harivahanam (p.194); Samaraketu entering the temple of Lord Reabha and praying to the image of the Jina (pp. 216-219); his meeting with Gandharvaka (pp.222-223); Harivahana's view of the world as seen from atop the Vaitadhya mountain (pp.239-240); Harivahana's view of the regions passing below as he is being carried in the sky by the flying elephant (pp.242-243); his meeting with Malayasundari (pp.256-259); the assembly of the Vidyadhara Emperor Vicitravirya in the temple of Lord Mahavira (pp.266-267); Samaraketu sailing in a boat (p.276); Malayasundari's attempt at suicide by hanging herself and Bandhusundari's attempts at rescuing her (pp.301-309); Tarangalekha scolding Malayasundari (pp.335-336); Harivahana's

966 meeting with Tilakamanjari at the temple of Lord Rsabha (pp. 360-366); Mahodara stopping Gandharvaka's aeroplane and cursing him (pp.381-383); the Vidyadhara couple completing for committing suicide by falling first from the precipice (pp.397-398); the goblins trying to hinder Harivahana as he sat steadily propitiating the mystic Vidyas (pp.399-400); and the Maharsi imparting religious instruction to an audience (pp.406-413). (D) RETROSPECT or SUMMARY:Dhanapala has employed the technique of retrospect on a number of occasions with various intentions, such as, to keep the audience abreast of the story related upto a point, to draw the attention of the audience to the skill displayed by him in, or the purpose served by, a particular device or description, and to enhance the curiosity by posing new questions relating to the missing links in the story and thereby setting their imagination to work. We have already noted these instances in the fifteenth chapter under the discussion on Suspense testifying to the poet's narrative skill. We shall notice here some of them in the light of the technique of Retrospect. The following instances are noteworthy in this respect: (i) The whole passage comprising the questions posed by Samaraketu to Gandharvaka (pp.223,20ff.) reminds the

: 967 audience about the past events regarding the promise of Gandharvaka to return to Ayodhya and his mission of delivering the message of Citralekha to Vicitravirya. (ii) The incidents about Malayasundari being stealthily kidnapped by the Vidyadharas, her talk with Vicitravirya, her love at first sight with Samaraketu, her attempt at drowning herself in the ocean, are recapitulated by way of retran retrospect (pp.310,4-7). (iii) A missing link is supplied when Samaraketu's efforts at saving Malayasundari are pictured briefly by means of a passing reference to past events of that occasion by Bandhusundari (p.314,8-12). (iv) The repetition of the same words of Malayasundari (320,20ff.) b by Taraka are meant to serve as the lever by him to goad Samaraketu to go to Kanci, and while reminding a about the incident of Malayasundari throwing the garland in the neck of Samaraketu and conveying a message apparently addressed to the temple-priest boy by her is slyly meant for Taraka and Samaraketu (p.288,20ff.), indicates the future course of events in the narrative. (v) The reflective brief monologue of Harivahana, while emphasizing the moral indirectly, reminds us of the turn of events that have taken place in the life of Harivahana consequent to his being carried off by the flying elephant (346,8ff.). 1

968 (vi) While consoling Malayasundari about the well-being of Samaraketu, Harivahana recounts in passing the incidents of the night-attack by, and capture of, Samaraketu, his dejection on listening to the interpretation of the unidentified love-letter, his message to Malayasundari dispatched through Gandharvaka (p.347,lff.). (vii) The words of Harivahana, retorting Tilakamanjari (p.364,3ff.) are meant to recount the incidents connected with his first encounter with her in the Cardamon-bower. (viii) The report of Gandharvaka (pp.378-384) supplies the missing links while linking in passing the past events about his carrying the message to Vicitravirya, Samaraketu/ · dispatching the letter through him, Gandharvadatta's established identity, Malayasundari's transportation to a remote hermitage, her attempt at suicide by eating the poisonous fruit, Harivahana being carried away by the flying elephant, the incidents of the parrot, the attempts at suicide by Samaraketu and Malayasundari and their rescue, and the latter finding herself suddenly in the floating aeroplanen inthe waters of the Adrstapara lake. (ix) In the course of revealing the past births of the heroes and the heroines, the poet summarizes, through the medium of Maharsi (pp.41lff.), the past events about the meeting of King Meghavahana with god Jvalanaprabha and Sumalf's dalliance with Svayamprabha.

1 969 $ Over and above the foregoing discussion and enumeration of instances of descriptions, scenes, and summaries, it is essential to point out to some aspects of the technique of comingling them in the course of the narrative by our poet. Thus, there are instances when the poet, while describing a particular psychological masse situation or a mood, he seeks to create a scenic effect, as for instance in the depiction of King Meghavahana's anxiety due to lack of a son. Here Dhanapala conjures up a scene wherein the Devargis, Pitrs, the line of Iksvakus, the Goddess-of-Fortune, the Earth, the subjects, the youthful age and the Vedic Dharma, all of them simultaneously urge the king to fulfil his obligatins to them by procuring a son to, respectively, preserve the ancestral scholarly tradition, to ensure uninterrupted oblations, to provide a guide, to supply a resort, to offer a substratum, to give protection, to bid farewell with regrets, and to scold him. The overall picture that emerges is that of a man surrounded by a number of grumbling persons goading him repeatedly to fulfil their demands. Here is a specimen of a description assuming the garb of a scene. There are, on the other hand, instances where the scene takes up the form of a description in the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala, as for instance, in the description of the regions beyond the outskirts of 330 1 the city of Kanci up to the sea-shore. Dhanapala here 330. Tilakamanjari,pp.118-122.

90970 pictures the rows of villagers standing in wait for the appoaching royal procession of Samaraketu when he starts on a naval expedition. The successive series of scenes here consists of the waiting villagers, with their peculiar dresses, thinking habits, peculiar responses to the members of the procession, their eagerness, the disadvantage taken of their absence in their fields by government officials and robbers, their exploitation by village money-lenders, their houses and so on; all thesen are depicted in the form of a single compound phrase in the garb of descriptive narration, though actually it is a constantly moving focus on varios aspects of village life. The above specimens are given to illustrate how the techniques which are deemed to be modern by modern critics were in fact known even to medieval Sanskrit writers of prose romance and herein lies the universal value and appeal of Sanskrit prose romance as medieval Indian novel,