The Absent Traveller by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Author:Arvind Krishna Mehrotra [Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789351182450
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

In these gāthās, the physical environment is as important as the physical act of love. The outside world is often described, often without the usual dramatis personae. The interplay between locale and characters is, as in Tamil akam poetry, a distinguishing feature of Prākrit verse. The effect of characters on locale is just as essential to the Prākrit aesthetic as the more familiar effect of locale on characters, a common conceit in the later and widely imitated Sanskrit poetry of Kālidāsa (see especially Meghadūta and Rtusamhāra). For example, Verse 218 describes the reaction of a flock of birds to a girl’s loss of virginity on a riverbank (the trysting-place of choice in these poems). On the other hand, verses 58, 70 and 412 are exquisite examples of the effect of environment on characters.

If the Gāthāsaptaśatī is considered in the light of rasa theory, it becomes immediately evident that some of the verses exemplify rasa, but others are most definitely at odds with it. Śṛṅgāra-rasa (‘the erotic mood or flavour’) prevails, naturally, in both its modes; namely, union (sambhoga) and separation (vipralambha), as in the beauty and romance of Verse 132:

His form

In my eyes,

His touch

In my limbs,

His words

In my ears,

His heart

In my heart:

Now who’s

Separated?

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