स्वप्नवासवदत्तम् (महाकवि भास - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी अनुवाद)

xxvi INTRODUCTION.
TO
From this, we cannot conclude that Bhâmaha was conversant with the
poem, Meghadûta, for then we could as well infer that he knew also
of Sukasandesa written by a poet of yesterday. Hence, I think that,
by these slokas, our Âchârya only teaches us generally that the fashion
in some of our Kâvyas of lovers sending messages through such inani-
mate objects as the wind, the moon, the clouds and such living
inarticulate creatures as the bee, the Chakravâka and the parrot is not
desirable on occasions when the sender of the message is in a state of
sobriety. Bearing in mind this instruction of our Âchârya, Kâlidâsa,
with his keen sense of poetic propriety observes, in defence of his
message through the cloud, at the beginning of Meghadûta:-
“धूमज्योतिःसलिलमरुतां सन्निपातः क्व मेघः
सन्देशार्थाः क्व पटुकरणैः प्राणिभिः प्रापणीयाः ।
इत्यात्सुक्यादपरिगणयन् गुह्यकस्तं ययाचे
कामार्ता हि प्रकृतिकृपणाश्चेतनाचेतनेषु ॥”
(पूर्वमेघ. ५)
Thus it is seen that Bhâmaha lived much prior to Kâlidâsa. Again
in the passage, “प्राप्यावन्तीनुदयनकथाकोविदग्रामवृद्धान्” of Meghadûta,
Kâlidâsa speaks of the aged villagers of Avanti, clever in relating the
story of Udayana. This may lead one to believe that the old villagers
of Avanti at the time of Kâlidâsa might have seen Udayana in their
younger days and that Udayana’s age must be only a little earlier than
Kâlidâsa’s. If so, how can Bhâmaha’s priority to Kâlidâsa hold good,
seeing that Bhâmaha does not even hint at Vatsarâja’s proximity in
time, but speaks of him as a character of remote history or romance ?
But this is not so, for, in the Prastâvanâ of Mâlavikâgnimitra, Kâli-
dâsa speaks of Bhâsa “of wide spread fame”; “प्रथितयशसां भाससौमि-
ल्लकविपुत्रादीनां प्रबन्धानतिक्रम्य वर्तमानकवेः कालिदासस्य क्रियायां कथं
बहुमानः” and he regards the works of Bhâsa as belonging to a very
ancient date. “पुराणमित्येव न साधु सर्वं न चापि काव्यं नवमित्यवद्यम्”.
This means that, in the course of a long period, Bhâsa’s fame had been
gradually growing until in Kâlidâsa’s time it reached its summit; and
several centuries should have intervened between Bhâsa and Kâlidâsa,