कुमारसम्भवम् (महाकवि कालिदास - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी अनुवाद)

( 6 )
is, so far as our poet is concerned, a compliment in the right
direction, it is not in the use of similes alone, but in the
excellencies of poetry in general, that he excels all other
Sanskrit poets. Unlike the compositions of Banabhatta and
Dandin, in his works sentiment predominates the outer embel-
lishments, and in contrast with Bhasa and Ashwaghosha, his
language and style are quite in conformity with his noble
imagination. He is the master of language as well as of
poetic fancy.
His style is simple, pure and chaste. It is brief as well as
clear. The language flows without interruption and long com-
pounds, involved construction and difficult puns are absent
from it. It is easy but not without due ornamentation. (See
Kumārasambhavam, Canto 5—verses 4, 18 and 78.) He does
not use any redundant particles or other words, which are used
so frequently in the epics in order to complete the number of
syllables prescribed for a stanza. It is difficult to find out any
words in his composition of verses which do not contribute
something or other to their meaning and do not help in
advancing the story further. Thus his poetry is free from both
the loose construction of the epics and the affected composi-
tions of the latter writers. For this he can be compared to
Virgil, the immortal author of Aeneid. His style is of the
Vaidarbha class, which consists of firmness and evenness of
sound, perspicuity, uniformity, grace, tenderness, clearness of
meaning, dignity of epithets, vigour, elegance and the use of
metaphorical expressions.* In accordance with the spirit of
this style he prefers suggestion to elaboration.

• • श्लेषः प्रसादः समता माधुर्यं सुकुमारता । अर्थव्यक्तिरुदारत्वमोजः कान्तिः
  समाधयः ॥ ' काव्यादर्श १ ४१ ।