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Kathāmṛta - 67 - Alaṅkāravatī-lambaka - The Story of Nala

As Nala was wandering through the forest wearing the cloth torn in half, he saw a forest fire. He heard a voice calling out for help from within it – “O Noble soul! The forest fire is consuming me – I might die in the fire! Please rescue me from here!” When he looked in the direction of the cry, he saw a snake curled around, fallen there. He picked it up and carried it on his shoulder. As he was walking, the snake said – “count ten footsteps from here and drop me at a spot”. Nala started counting – “ekaṃ dve trīṇi catvāri …..

Ch. 3 Yoga of One’s Own Dharma (Part 3)

If we consider the verses between the ninth verse – “yajñārthāt...” and the sixteenth verse – “moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati” as one single meaningful portion, the meaning might be clearer. The style of the text here is a little complex. Two or three metaphors are combined thus: Kāmadhenu (the milch-cow of desire), jīva-cakra (the cycle of jīvas), brahma-cakra (the cycle of brahma). The topics too are knotty. Food, rain, crops, yajñā, distribution of the fruit of labour — thus many ideas are intertwined here.

Vālmīki, Vyāsa

Rāma savoured the recital amid a large group of literary aficionados: sa cāpi rāmaḥ pariṣadgataḥ (1.4.36). This is arguably the best way to appreciate art because people with a refined aesthetic sense assist one another in discovering newer and newer subtleties, thus raising the level of overall enjoyment.

Kathāmṛta - 66 - Alaṅkāravatī-lambaka - The Story of Nala

Carrying with him the message of the deities, Nala entered the inner apartments of Damayantī and repeated the command of the deities. She heard those words and said, “Let the deities be how they are! Even so, Nala is my husband. I have no need for these deities!” Following this Nala introduced himself and then returned to Indra and the others; he narrated to them everything that had transpired. They said, “O noble one! You are an honest man and so we are at your beck and call. Just think of us and we shall be present at your service.” Nala then went on to Vidarbha.

Critical Appreciation of Prahasanas - Part 6

After gaining some composure he decides that bowl should have been taken by either a dog or a buddhist monk. While the comparison of a buddhist monk to a dog might seem preposterous, Satyasoma has his reasons which is the presence of roasted meat! This passage already hints at the kind of degeneracy which had crept in which is confirmed by the entry of Nāgasena which happens immediately as if by cue. Also note that later there is also the mention of the dog along with Unmattaka.

Rāḻḻapalli Ananthakrishna Sarma (Part 9)

Tenderness of Mind

Sarma would never accept any opinion only on the ground that it was being followed from ancient times. This didn’t mean that he would oscillate on grounds of logic either. He always strove to establish the superiority of the emotional world. He emphasized emotional content over literal meaning.

Although most of the aspects that Sarma noticed, we would appear to notice too, we would realize its importance only after Sarma pointed them to us.

Vālmīki - 2

Vālmīki was absorbed in thoughts about his verse when Brahmā visited him: tadgatenaiva manasā vālmīkirdhyānamāsthitaḥ (1.2.28). He was tormented by the impropriety in hunting the male bird and the consequent anguish caused to its companion. Here is a poet mulling over the incident that inspires his poetry. If worldly events do not evoke such a profound response in a writer, they cannot inspire poetry. In its highest reaches, poetry is the emotional outpour of an inspired poet, bypassing conscious thought.

               Brahmā put an end to Vālmīki’s perturbation: