वासवदत्ता (महाकवि सुबन्धु - श्लेष-प्रधान शास्त्रीय गद्यकाव्य सान्वय सटीक)

26 VĀSAVADATTĀ
tadā mām anugaccha, 'now, therefore, if thou didst share the
sorrows and joys of our playing together in the dust, then follow
me' (ed. Hall, p. 82).
The svabhāvōkti, or 'natural description,' receives the following
definition in the Kuvalayānandakārikā (1. 160; cf. Kāvyapra-
kāśa, tr. Jhā, p. 235, Benares, 1898) :
svabhāvōktiḥ svabhāvasya jātyādisthasya varṇanam,
'svabhāvōkti is the description of inherent nature consisting of
characteristics and the like.' As an example from the Vāsava-
dattā may be cited :
paśyō 'dañcadavāñcadañcitavapuḥ paścārddhapūrvārddhabhāk
stabdhōttānitapṛṣṭhaniṣṭhitamanāgbhugnāgralāṅgūlabhṛt
daṃṣṭrākōṭiviśaṅkaṭāsyakuharaḥ kurvan saṭām utkaṭām
utkarṇaḥ kurutē kramaṃ karipatāu krūrākṛtiḥ kēsarī,
'lo, with his bending body bending up and bending down, now
with his hind quarters and now with his fore quarters, with the
tip of his tail slightly bent along his hard, arched back, with his
cavernous mouth monstrous with the tips of his fangs, making
his mane huge, (and) with his ears erect, the horrible lion doth
make attack upon the lord of elephants' (ed. Hall, p. 103).
The kāvyārthāpatti, or 'poetic inference,' is defined as follows
in the Kuvalayānandakārikā (1. 119):
kāimutyēnā 'rthasaṃsiddhiḥ kāvyārthāpattir iṣyatē,
'an a fortiori attainment of a matter is regarded as kāvyārthā-
patti.' It is exemplified by Subandhu in his heroine's letter to
Kandarpakētu :
pratyakṣadṛṣṭabhāvā 'py asthirahṛdayā hi kāminī bhavati
svapnānubhūtabhāvā draḍhayati na pratyayaṃ yuvatiḥ,
'a loving maid is of unsteady heart even when she hath seen the
feelings (of her lover) with her eyes ; a girl who hath learned his
feelings only from a dream hath no assurance' (ed. Hall, p. 164).
Literary and Ethical Merit of the Vāsavadattā. The Vāsa-
vadattā apparently being written to display its author's skill in
rhetoric, rather than his inventive powers in fiction, we are