Literature
Kathāmṛta - 79 - Śaśāṅkavatī-lambaka - The Story of the Elephants, The Story of Vāmadatta, and The Story of Mṛgāṅkadatta
अव्याद्वो विघ्नविध्वंसकीर्तिस्तम्भमिवोत्क्षिपन् ।
करं गणपतिः क्रीडालीनभृङ्गाक्षरावलिम् ॥
[Let the deity, Gaṇeśa protect you, he plants his trunk like a victory pillar (Kīrtistambha) with the swarming bees around it looking like the letters on the pillar proclaiming his victory over obstacles]
Characters of the Mahabharata: An Introduction to DVG's Monograph
Critical Appreciation of Prahasanas - Part 14
We quote the translation of the verse uttered by Yamapuruṣa as rendered by Lockwood and Bhat to further the discussion.
श्यामां प्रसन्नवदनां मधुरप्रलापां
मत्तां विशालजघनां वरचन्दनाद्राम् ।
रक्तोत्पलाभनयनां नयनाभिरामां
क्षिप्रं नयानि यमसादनमेव बालाम् ॥२३॥
Kathāmṛta - 78 - Velā-lambaka - The Story of Candrasāra and Velā
नमताशेषविघ्नौघवारणं वारणाननम् |
कारणं सर्वसिद्धीनां दुरितार्णववारणम् ||We pray to the elephant faced Ganeśa, who removes all traces of torrents of obstacles!
Who is the cause of all achievements and warder-off of the ocean of hardships!
Critical Appreciation of Prahasanas - Part 13
A discussion about scriptural authority follows. Finally the fundamental question of the utility of learning itself comes up. Parivrājaka patiently explains everything with verses which are alluded to before already. He also says that sometimes just to know the utility of learning one needs to learn first!
Kālidāsa - 2
Let us have a look at the dialogues before and after this verse. A minor character expresses concern that Kālidāsa might lose face if his play is performed disregarding the compositions of past masters. The stage-director uses the phrase viveka-viśrānta in his dialogue. The minor character listens to the verse, acquiesces, and says āryamiśrāḥ pramāṇam.
Kathāmṛta - 77 - Śaktiyaśo-lambaka - The Story of the parivrājakas of Kaśmīra and Pāṭalīputra
The following night Gomukha narrated this story to entertain Naravāhanadatta–
A great muni resided in Dhāreśvara. He addressed his disciples, ‘If any of you have seen or heard something extraordinary tell me!’ One of his disciple narrated this story:--
Śūdraka, Kālidāsa
After introducing the major characters, Śūdraka has gone on to describe the nucleus of his story in all its complex shades. Keeping this in mind, let us try to understand the extent of scope that a social play offers to various rasas. According to Indian dramaturgy, a prakaraṇa involving commonfolk is not the best type of play to delineate the heroic mood, vīra-rasa. Vīra is typically the forte of nāṭaka, the ‘prototype play’ that involves deities and humans.
Kathāmṛta - 76 - Śaktiyaśo-lambaka - The Stories of Unchaste Women and Fools
Early next morning, the three men began their journey. After travelling for several hours, they came by a pond and rested there until the sun went down. At night, as the stars began to dot the night sky, they climbed up a tree on the shore and sat down on one of the branches. After a little while, they witnessed something miraculous. From the depths of the pond arose a man. From his mouth, he pulled out a woman and then a bed. As the three men perched atop the tree watched incredulously, the strange man went to sleep with his woman on that bed.
