14. கோுகை த்ல்கார் ல்ஸ்ன S,

கோுகை த்ல்கார் ல்ஸ்ன S,

க். நவை பியவ துக றகக்ஸ் ாy.

This finds no response in him whatsoever as he falls into a sound sleep. On the next day she once more visits her husband in the gaden and wins his love with the beauty of her physically ex- 131 hausted body in its natural state. This behaviour reveals to her intelligent mind for the first time the true temperament and pe- culiar susceptibility of her husband. As a result of this under- standing the barners between the two souls disappear once for all to the great joy of her mother. She later on advises her daugh- ter to bring her husband home and have a life of ease and happi- ness.

As days pass by in complete bliss, there occurs an event of minor magnitude which disturbs once more Sugatn's married life. While she gets a boon from Sarasvati that she may have a baby by her husband, the latter also gets another that she may not conceive at all. When they come to know about each other's boon, Salina fles into a passion. Unable to control himself he jumps into the Satataladaghna. For her hfe without her husband is dark and void. Hence she too throws herself into the lake only to be swallowed up and later disgorged on the bank unhurt by a huge whale. Meanwhile every effort is made to recover his body with no result. With great gnef, Sugätr spends her life with her G V. Knshna Rao

mother, till she has her summons from God. Left with no more attachments, she starts on a pilgrimage and in the end reaches the temple of Mrgendravahana where she comes across her hus- band. Her doubt about the survival of her husband on the one hand, and the strange powers of a siddha on the other prevent her from recognising him. Added to these, manistambha, as that is his new name, has betrayed a new temperament which she has never seen in her husband. He has pierced his ears with an arrow, and his eyes with a style to acquire the supernatural pow- ers of clairaudience and clairvoyance. To her great horror, he brngs Kalabhasini to the temple to sacrifice her to the goddess of Mrgendravāhana. Now anses an opportunity to see another aspect of Sugatn's character. When she meets Kalabhasini, she is moved to tears. She explains to her the siddha's motive in bringing her to the 132 temple and openly and dispassionately censures him :-

....

Thus she shows a sympathetic heart and a fine judgmnt on ethi- cal problems. When Manistambha raises his sword to cut off Kalabhäsini's head, she intervenes to save her forbidding him to strike her in the name of the goddess and ultimately dies only to come to life again in a youthful body. Studies in Kalapurnodayam

. Her penance at the feet of the goddess, and the sacrifice of her life bestow on her such a power that whatever she utters becomes true. Later on Manıstambha, Kalabhasıni and Manıkandhara meet and tell her their respective stories. The re- marks exchanged between Sumukhäsatti and Manstambha on the character of Maya Rambha are really jewels of unsurpassed beauty. Later on the siddha and Sumukhasatti recognise each other when the former explains the cause of his dispute with his wife. Great is her wonder and greater her joy over this unex- pected meeting. But soon her heart weeps over the curses in- curred by Manıkandhara and Kalabhasini. Requested by them, she blesses them to be born in their next birth as her son and daughter-mn-law. Later on, at the request of her husband, she exchanges her sex with him and becomes the father of Kalapurna. These in short are the high lights of her character. Thus the poet, taking hold of a time-old concept of a faithful wife, blows in it the breath of a 133 poet and gives it a soul that is really great and lovable.

MANISTAMBHA, ALIAS SĀLĪNA

Manıstambha, alias Salina, is another character that de- serves a close study. Barring those of the Mahäbharata, there is no other character in Telugu literature left more to suggestion than Salfna. What baffles one is the identity of Salina and Manistambha who at first glance, appear to be poles apart. Whereas, the former is bashful, (as the name itself denotes) sub- missive, unambitious and spiritual-minded, the latter is aggres- sive, ambitious and unscrupulous with an unquenchable thirst for power and nches. How can these opposite qualities go to- gether to give one single character of complete unity? Really, it 1s a genuine question worth answering for a proper understanding of the Kalapurnodayam. When he is of marriageable age, Salina, the bashful, 1s brought into the family of arcakas of Kashmir and marned to Sugätr. He must have come of a poor family because he agrees to leave his parents and live with those of his wife. The other reason G. V. Knshna Rao

for this conjecture is his ignorance of and aversion to costly clothes, jewels and their beauty.172 Thus his marriage not only puts him in strange circumstances but also paralyses his understanding. Added to these, he should have also experienced the dictatorial temperament ofhis mother-in-law. Under these circumstances it is no wonder that his heart sinks within itself without betraying his real temperament and appears to be completely bashful. This tendency is again strengthened by another circumstance. On the first nght of his marriage with his wife, Sugatri appears in his bed - chamber in such a heavy make-up that he dare not look at her. He sees no sympathetic partner in her, and on the contrary, he is repulsed by the gorgeous dress and jewels. With his love thus suppressed, he falls asleep leaving Sugätri to her own con- clusions. This reaction towards his wife is naturally followed by its

134 logical consequences. His mother-in-law's ambition to have grand- children being thus frustrated, she develops an antipathy to him and later on goes even to the extent of treating him lighter than a servant. He neither revolts nor protests against it. He completely resigns himself to his fate when he is ordered to look after the garden. What else can he do when he has to depend entirely on her property? To escape this unpleasant state of affairs his mind develops a deep devotion to Sarasvati and great interest in gar- dening. But this is not the only silver-lining in his life. Had Sugatn's character been different from what it is, his life would have been utterly miserable. Devoted as she is to her husband, she goes to the garden and offers him a helping hand and her exhausted body, which in its peculiar charm awakes his sleeping love for the frst time. He loses no time in deriving full pleasure from it. What is surprising in him is that he does not care even to look at her with whom he has spent a happy day when she visits him that night. She waits and waits in the chamber in the fond hope of being called to bed, but he does not appear even to be aware of her presence. At last she takes courage into her hands and says :-

Stuches in Ealapumodayam

The brief dialogue that ensues therefrom is as beautiful as it is staggering. It runs as follows :-

Sugätri, Unable to control herself any longer bursts into a pitiful appeal which falls only on deaf ears. On the next day when she works again with hum, Salina once more dallies with her as on the previous occasion. This incident opens her eyes to his psy- chosis namely hatred for heavy make-up and ornaments as well as his special sensitivieness to quivering beauty. Once this sexual complex of his is understood, everything goes on smoothly for 13 both Salina and Sugatn. When their mustual love is known, the old woman no longer cracks her whip of authorty. In spite of this happy turn in his life, he never manages to overcome his poverty complex. As days pass by, he comes to know that his wife has obtained a boon from Sarasvati that is com- pletely opposed to him. His anger surges forth; yet he dares nei- ther rebuke nor give a senous punishment to his wife as he is economically dependent upon his mother-mn-law. Unable to in- flict pain on his wife, his impotent rage drives him to self-mortifi- cation as a result of which he throws himself into the Satataladaghna, a fabulously deep lake. By this plunge he reaches the depths where Svabhava is practising yoga. Svabhava receives him kindly, enquires about him and finally sends him away gıv- ing him a miraculous sword and a lion to rde on. Later on Salina with a newly acquired name, Manıstambha. visıts the temple of Mrgendravahana and happens to see the in- scription on the pillar. His bitter expenences of life and the prom- ise held out by this inscription, goad him to action by which he can acquire both power and wealth. He pierces his eyes and ears G. V Knsnna Rao

with a style and an arrow hanging in the temple acquiring thereby the powers of elairvoyance and clairaudience. Once thirst for power and wealth is roused, there will be neither limits nor scruples. Not satisfied with these two powers, he wants to come into pos- session of a vast empire which can be had, as the inscription prescribes, by sacrificing a young beautful courtezan well accom- plished in music. He searches for such a victim with his two supernatural powers only to find her in Kalabhasim. Riding on his lion, he reaches Dväraka in no time and meets her mn secret. His account of Manikandhara, and the elaborate and skilful de- scription of the latter's pilgnmage, Rambha's successful efforts to spoil his penance and the arnval of Nalakubara at the forest - all these gain her confidence in him as well as rouse her tempta- tion to secure union with Nalakübara. All this he does in such a skilful manner that Kalabhäsinı of her own accord begs him to take her to the forest on huis lion. As a precaution he appears at 136 first to hesitate and finally carries her away. On his aerial path he comes across the fnends of Rambha who, on being questioned, ınform Kalabhäsın of Mamkandhara's disappearance and Rambha's union with her lover Nalakubara. This rouses Kalabhäsin's suspicion whereupon he promises to get her desire fulfilled in a short time. His manner of landing in the vicinity of the temple of Mrgendravahana revenis once more his tact and capacity to play upon the psychological weaknesses of others. There can be no greater testimony to this characteris- tic than the implicit faith of Kalabhasim who cannot be smd to be devoid of intelligence and understanding However, his renl mo- tive is revealed by Sumukhäsatt as a result of which he had to drag Kalabhäsi by her hair into the presence of the goddess to sacrifice her. Wishing to lose no time he wields his sword only to cut off Sumukhasattı's head. Before she dies for Kalnbhasmn, she forbids him to kill the latter in the name of the goddess. Not heeding this oath, he again tnes to stnke when he and Kalabhasmi are flung far away with such a force that they fall upon a bed of flowers in the neighbourhood of Manıkandhara's hermitage. Due to this sudden awe-inspirng incident Kalabhāşıni begins to shiver Stuches in Kalapurnodayam

in that bed by his side. Perceiving her quivering beauty, his psy- chosis is once again set in motion; he loses control over his emo- tons, and in spite of himself, tnes to violate her chastity. A maiden of character that she is, she cries aloud for help whereupon Maya Nalakubara appears on the spot and catches him after pursuit. The latter threatens him with severe punishments if he does not show him the lady that has cned for help. How can Manstambha show hım Kalabhäsin who has assumed the form of Rambha? Maya Rambha in her own interest secures his release from Māya Nalakübara who depnves the former of his miraculous sword. Detamned thus for his sword, Manstambha remains there as a spectator to the conflct that goes on firstly between Rambha and Māvā Rambha, and secondly, between Nalakubara and Māya Nalakübara. Awr and wonder reach such heights that he wants to impart them to some one else. He hastens to the temple of Mrgendravahana with his sword to tell the most wonderful story to hıs audience, Sumukhisattı, Kalabhaşıņı and Manıkandhara 137 who are mtroduced to him in proper time. His cunosity is satis- fied when Manıkandhara and Kalabhasinı admit that they are imposters Later on Manikandhara in his senous effort to console kalabhasmn narrates the story of Sugatri and Salina, and remem- berng that Sumukhfisatt hails from Käshmr, asks her how she does not know about it. Thereupon she reveals that she is no other than Sugatn when Manstambha claims himself to be that very Salina. These contessions rousing new hopes, Sumukhasatt demands proof of Manstambha's identity. Now a senous problem props up almost beyond solution. This cannot be solved satistactorily on the basis of Samukhasatti's proposal that Manistambha should first tell Markandhara in secrecy the cause of their cispute, that she also should do the same after that, and that, if their accounts tally, they should be considered the same old couple. Though he may not be Salina, he can divine the secret cause of their dispute and tell it by virtue of hs supernatural powers Nevertheless, this very same procedure is followed to establish their identity. Why does the poet resort to such an G. V. Knshna Rao

apparently invalid procedure? If it is maintained that there is no other way, it will certainly be a grave fault. On the other hand, if it is argued that there are other things which prove their identity, why does not the poet bring them into the focus? Does not this negligence betray a weakness in his creatve faculty? The answer is not perhaps as difficult to find as it appears to be. As pointed out at the outset of this examination of the character of Salına, it has been traced back to his weakness for quivering beauty which is characteristically his own. This is too well-known to Sumukhasattı to be forgotten. She should have recognised her husband the moment he told his audience about the effort he made to violate the chastity of Kalabhäsinı. Though this identity cannot be guessed when Manistambha tells them about his strange behaviour, it can easily be grasped after one hears the story of Sugätri and Salina. Thus this weakness for quiverng beauty is probably the only point which establishes the identity 138 of Manistambha with Salina. As to the next question why the poet does not bring this point into the focus when identity is required to be proved, the reply offered here may not be very convincing. Howerver, the following seems to be the only plausi- ble explanation. Having already established their identity beyond doubt, through this weakness for quivering beauty, the poet in his humorous vein seems to be joking at the readers' intelligence so as to keep them on their guard. Now to resume, Manistambha practises yoga along with hs wife Sumukhasatti for some time in the temple. Thereafter accompanied by his wife, he sets out on a journey to places of interest. As he sees the ocean, his sexual passion is once again roused. Drren by his peculiar psychosis, he manages to exchange his sex with his wife endowed with he requisite power and gives birth to Kalapurna. After this event he once more regains his sex and conunues the practice of yoga Viewed thus, the character of Manistambha is not only very interesting from the point of view of psychology, but also human through and through. Some of the incidents in his life may not Stmes 1n. Kalapurnodayam

appear strictly realistic, but the complexes, motives and ambi- tions are strictly natural and human. Surana's greatness lies in depicting those deeper corners of the human mind. When psy- cho-analysis was still a science unknown, how many poets and wrters of fiction had probed into such profound depths?

CATURMUKHA ANDH SARASVATI In the order of their appearance, though Sarasvati and Caturmukha come next, they are in fact the divine source and fountain-head of almost all the characters, events and episodes of the Kaläpurnodayam. And as such they occupy a position of the highest importance. From the standpoint of poetic creation also they are unique. Nowhere may one find such heights of im- agination akin or parallel to theirs whose thoughts and deeds develop into a most beautiful world of space and time. In conceiv- ing them Surana blends the ideal wth the real, the noumena with the phenomena, the abstract with the concrete. This blending as 139 achieved and presented in Sarasvatı-Caturmukha-Krda, does not degrade the noumena to the level of phenomena, or exaggerate the phenomena to that of the noumena. How he does it is the secret of his poetic genius which eludes any imitation or scien- tıfic analysıs. One day Caturmukha, the Lord of Creation, and his love Sarasvatı, the goddess of arts and sciences, happen to spend a happy time in an adjacent garden. Attracted by her beauty, he takes her into his embrace and gives her such hard kisses with his four faces in succession that she appears to be offended and will not allow him to carry on his dalliance any longer. His desire thus being thwarted, he requests his pet parrot perching on the branch of a tree before him to tell him a story. Pleading her in- ability to tell a story, the parrot begs to be the listener instead, whereupon he weaves all the deeds of their dallance into a story and gives it as follows :- In the city of Kasara there lıves a kıng named Kalāpūma. He is powerful and conquers all the kings in the world with the least effort. The peculianty with him is he has become a vouth G V. Rnsnna Fao

the very moment he is born and is presented with a jewel, a bow and arrows by a sddha called Svabhava. with the help of these gifts he has defeated Madasaya, another king, and has made him and his wife, Rupanubhauti his regular slaves. When the story has reached this point, Sarasvatı who has been closely following his narration, instructs the parrot to ask the Lord for the rest of it. He informs the creature in all serious- ness that Abinavakaumudi has been married to Kalapurna and that Sumukhasatti ıs his father (Kalapurna's) and Manistambha his mother. Because the father is said to be a female and the mother a male, Sarasvati cannot but laugh. She directly requests him to continue his story. Utilising every detail of their dalliance the Lord tells her as follows :- Kalāpuma is anointed and declared as a mighty emperor by his minister Satvadatman while Madasaya builds a fortress 140 for him, and thus enjoys his goodwill. Before long, due to the influence of the emperor's jewel Madasaya begets a daughter Madhuralalasa by name by his wife, Rapanubhuti. Madasaya's four purohits, attracted by the jewel, remain in the emperor's service. One of them presses the jewel too hard to be tolerated. The emperor drives them away with the result that Madasaya also leaves his court along with his wife and the baby. As his daughter fares ill day by day, Madāsaya once again returns to the court. Once the jewel comes into the sight of the baby, she recovers her health. The purohits also once more enter into his service. Thus everythng ends in happiness when Madhuralalasa is married to Kalāpūmņa. Sarasvati appears to be offended with her lord because her actions have been made the subject matter of the story. He tries to dodge her allegations by asserting once again that it is no more than a simple story; whereupon she explains it with refer- ence to every detail of their dalliance and makes him admit the truth ofher explanation. Thus drawn closer to each other in their love, they completely forget the parrot which manages to escape from their presence.

Stuches m Ealapumodayam

After some time, Rambha, the celestial beauty, comes on a visıt to pay homage to Brahma and Sarasvatı, and hears the par- rot repeating the peculiar sound, the maruta, she has heard emerg- ing from Sarasvati at the time of their dalliance. In her cunosity she extracts from the parrot word by word the whole story of Kaläpurna and of the love of the divine couple when Sarasvati appears on the scene and curses the poor parrot that it will be born as an unchaste woman on the earth. In her great fear Rambha hides herself behind a pillar nearby. How natural is her reaction: the very nature and mode of cursing reveals the woman pounc- ing in rage upon one of her own sex. Just at that time Caturmukha appears on the scene and comes to know from his wife about the curse inflicted upon the parrot. Pitying the poor creature, he consoles her with the assur- ance that in her second birth she will be born as the daughter of Madāsaya and Rupanubhuti, that she will marry Kalapūrna and that, as the most chaste woman will live a long life realising all the chenshed values. This takes his wife by surprise, and she 141

asks hım whether he ıs stıll dreamıng of Kalāpūrņa, Madāsaya and others. Beaming with smiles, he assures her that everything in the story is sure to take place, and that even the strange phe- nomenon that the father will be a female and the mother a male cannot fail to occur. She knows quite well that her lord's words come true to the letter. On the one hand, she is very much pleased with her lord for his love for her; and on the other, she is very much worned that her love affairs will become the talk of the world. So she forbids him to let it out and deprives the parrot of her knowledge of their love in her first birth. In her anxiety to keep the whole affair a secret she calls forth Rambha into her presence and threatens her with senous consequence if she dares to reveal it. But Caturmukha intervenes sayıng:

G V Knshna Rao

This is really a beautiful passage which is a curse from the stand- point of divine beings and a boon from that of the mortals. This utterance cannot but make Sarasvati laugh. Thus the poet presents these two divine characters as an ideal couple without depnving them at the same time of their spirtual halo. With every thought and action, with every feeling and emotion' with every word and grimace of theirs, one loses one's individuality and completely merges oneself in them. One forgets oneself so completely in the experience that even the idea of judging it to be either high and noble, or low and vulgar does not arıse.

SALYĀSURA AND ABHINAVAKAUMUDI

The characters dealt with so far do not complete the list; there are still some more luminares. They may not play a major role, and yet they are too alive and concrete to be ignored. Of 142 these, Salyasura, Abhinavakaumudı, Rambha and Alghuvarta are important from many points of view. The first of this second list is the son of Mahisasura's ma- ternal uncle. He is a simpleton endowed with immense physical power; tact and diplomacy, thought and foresight are quite for- eign to him. Nevertheless his capacity for love or hate is tremen- dous. These qualities naturally require perseverence for their manifestation. Under the influence of this complex disposition, he resolves to wreak vengeance on the goddess who has killed his uncle, but his fear of Visnu prevents him from translating it into immediate action. As he goes on searching for ways and means of escaping from this punishment, he meets Abhinavakaumudi, an apsarasa maiden, and falls in love with her. Her character and temperament being different from his, she refuses him and his love. Though his love is not reciprocated, he does not give it up, but on the other hand he persists in it doggedly. So showy and sincere is his love for her that he even threatens her with ternble consequences if she should reject him. No one, he warns her, will dare to love her as long as he is alive. But Abınavakaumudi is not a weak-kneed maiden to be cowed down by threats. She has a Studies in Kalapurnodayam

mind of her own, and a strong will too. Enraged by his threats, she swears in his very presence that she will marry only him who klls Salyasura. His love for her is too deep to be offended at this condition. He simply laughs over it and leaves her with the fond hope of winning her love in course of time. Later on he happens to visit the temple of Mrgendravahana where he reads the inscription informing him that one, who cuts off his head with the scissors in the temple, will not only come to life once again, but will also kill the enemy who makes an at- tempt on his life. No time is lost by him to undergo this sacrifice and acquire this special power. Now, as Visnu cannot kıll him, there is apparently no hindrance to his translating his resolve into action. He is bent upon destroying the temple of Mrgendravähana. Just at this juncture Abhinavakaumudi, who has been searching for the hero capable of kıllng Salyasura, hapens to come to the temple. When he sees her, his love takes posses- sion of him. He plainly tells her of his newly-acquired boon and 143

begs her in all humility to give up her meaningless efforts to avoid him and accept his love. This revelation leaves her in complete bewılderment. In despair she runs into the temple and seeks the protec- tion of the goddess who advises her to take the sword hidden in the temple, to lead the demon to the Srisaila and get him killed by Manikandhara by the same weapon. That is the only path open to her, the goddess informs her, if she wants to keep up her oath. Losing no time, she emerges from the temple with the in- strument of destruction. Salyasura, who is too simple to know her intention, thinks that she is going to attack him, courting death thereby. Sincere lover that he is, he warns her of its conse- quences and even forbids her to attack him in the name of the gods. However, following the instructions of the goddess, she leads him on tempting him with the prize of her love. His attachment to her is so strong that it is not until he has travelled the whole distance from the temple of Mrgendravahana to the Srisaila that he understands her real motive. But what does it avail him when G V. Ansnna Rao

fate itself is in deep conspiracy against him? Deceived by love, and blinded by hatred of superor powers, he has in the end to face death at the hands of Manikandhara whom he kills in turn. Abhinavakaumudi is not a soft-hearted maiden to be moved by tender feelings. Her will is too strong and her love too rigid to yield to pity. On the other hand, she feels very happy and gladly awaits the rebirth of her husband. When Manikandhara is re- born as Kalāpūrņa, she tells him everything and marries him. In her married life she does not exhibit any new qualities.

RAM BHA

Rambha, the celestial courtezan of Indra and the love of Nalakūbara, is too proverbially beautiful to be commented upon. Her main traits as seen in the poem are, firstly, inquisitiveness about the sexual affars of her superiors; secondly, the tendency 144 to imitate those whom she deems to be beautiful; thirdly, con- sciousness of her beauty; fourthly and lastly, her pride in having Nalakübara as her lover. The first charactenstic manifests itself clearely when she hears the peculiar sound (mantta) reproduced by the parrot in the world of Brahma. She questions the indis- creet creature :-

She does not hesitate to extract the whole story of Sarasvati- Caturmukha-Krida and get the sound repeated by the parrot. Unluckily the latter is caught red-handed and condemned to be born as an unchaste woman on the earth. Though Rambha is no less a culprit than the parrot, she luckily escapes this fate due to the timely arrival of Carurmukha. Only a strict warning is given to her. Later on when she is reminded of Brahma and Sarasvatı by the presence of a white cloud near the sun, she imitates the mantta which pieases Naiakubara immensely.

Studes m Kalapumodayam

The last two traits are made evident by her reaction to Narada's approval of his disciple's statement that the beauty of Kalabhäsini and her maidens appears to exceed that of the celes- tial women. Her pride in her beauty is wounded. Though she knows that the remark is endorsed by no less a person than Närada with immense power, she is not able to acqiesce in it in silence. She wants to make him withdraw his approval and admit the superiorty of her beauty, or at least wants to let him know her opinion. She draws the attention of her lover and says :-

Then paying the seer a befitting homage, she invites him and his disciple into the plane and, when he blesses them, she displays 145 her insolence saying :-

Närada, being neither thick-witted nor lenient to improper be- haviour, demands an explanation. Thereupon she hears once again what the seer has said and remarks in her intolerable pride :-

G V. Knshna Rao

The seer in his jocular vein inflicts a curse upon her when he says :- "When your lover is in such deep love with you, you can rightly say whatever you like. But time always does not pass alike. Do you know that you are going to have a rival in your love affairs in the future? When one assuming your form and another his make their appearance, a grave situation may arise causing too much anxiety. So it is not proper to be very proud of this sort of immensely pleasing beauty."180 Immediately she comes to her senses and begs him not to continue it any further. Later on Rambha reaps the consequences of that curse when Kalabhäsini appears in the form of Rambha. The quarrel that ensues between them shows how the real Rambha, in spite of her dıvinity, is in no way better than Kalabhāsini. It reveals more her womanly temperament and character than her divine culture. What is more interesting is that one sympathises with Kalabhàsini 146 rather than with Rambha.

ALAGHUVRATA

Before this discussion is closed, there is one more charac- ter for study which is not altogether un interesting. That is Alaghuvrata, alias Yajnasarman. He is born in a cultured and spiritual-minded family with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father is well-versed in the Vedas and an expert in yoga. Despite his meticulous care, his son, Yajnasarman, becomes quite inca- pable ofreceiving any education. This is not due to any indolence on the part of his father but to his own negligence. To compen- sate for this deficiency he has acquired two qualities, firstly, im- plicit and strong faith in his father's words, and secondly, his repentance for not having acquired any education. To make him forget the latter, his father gets him marned to four beautiul girls with success. Before he dies, he leaves defimte instructions with his son that he should continue feeding pious brahmanas at any cost. Yajnasarman puts them into practice with the result that his property in cluding the jewellery of his wives disappears

Studes in Kalapurnodayam

before long. Becoming as poor as a church mouse, he does not know how to carry on his father's instructions. At last a new idea flashes across his mind. In his anxiety to get money he does not ponder over its merits and demerits, or his capacity to put it into use. He accepts money from a rich merchant and takes his wives on to his ships under the pretext of going on trade. Just at the moment when he has to part with his wives and to leave them to the merchant, he bursts into loud lamentations over this unthought of separation with the consequence that the faithful wives, suspecting foul play on the part of the merchant, jump into the sea. Because he has broken the contract, the merchant takes back his money and pushes him out. Thus the poor fellow loses not only his money, but also his wives whom he supposes to be drowned in the sea. Left alone, he goes from country to country seeking means oflvelihood. Though reduced to terrible poverty, he does not give 147 up his principle of feeding brahmanas. In this hard-pressed ton- dition he happens to visit the temple of Mrgendravahana where he learns from the talk of Kalabhäsini that one who hears the story of Kalāpūrna enjoys riches, prosperty as well as long life and becomes the head of a long and illustrious progeny. Manikandhara presents him with the manihara which he has received from Krsna. He immediately sits down to penance. At the end of two years he is thrown into the court of a king to whom he presents the manihāra. Adorned with this garland, Madhuralalasa tells him the whole story of Kalapurna, his past history, the fate of his wives, and finally identifies the four Agamas with his sons. Thus, to his great surprise he finds himself in the midst of his sons and riches. From the foregoing survey of Surana's characters in the Kalapurnodayam it may be said that they are not mere ideas or sketches, but are conerete and living. They have their own ambi- tions and aspirations consistent with their mental make-up There

G V. Knshna Rao

is nothing static or stagnant about them; they act upon and re- act to circumstances as well as to their society. Though some of the incidents in their lives owe their origin to supernatural pow- ers, their minds and hearts are essentially human and completely true to nature. Even gods, goddesses and rsis evince these hu- man tendencies without the least inconsistency with their divine nature. Another peculiarity to be noted is that the characters do not outshine the plot; nor the plot the characters.

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