पृष्ठम्:भट्टिकाव्यम्.pdf/२५

INTRODUCTION ] effectively. The Surpanakha episode is a fine example of his significant and vigorous dialogues. Ravana taunts and ridicules Vibhisana ; Malyavan appeals to and solicits Ravana for peace ; the ministers vehemently declare their unswerving devotion to Ravana and unstinted enthusiasm for war; Sta's speech before the Agnidivya presents her as an idol of supreme selfrespect, and self-confidence too. Thus, dialogues have been handled dextrously as an effective instrument for depicting a sentiment spotlighting a character or describing an incident. Metre Shorter metres like the Anustup of the original Ramayana and the Indravajra, Upendravajra and mixed Upajati were admirably suited to Bhatti's craze for speed and simplicity. Anustup is employed for almost the whole of Cantos IV to IX and XIV-XXIIA metrical change at the end of every canto comes in as an essential feature of the art epic. Indravajra and Upendravajra differ only in their first syllable, while Upajati is a mixture of the two. That is why Bhatti has employed them without distinction almost exhaustively in Canto I-III and X-XIII . Canto XIV as well as Canto XVIII begins and ends with an Upajati verse. The Bhattikaya begins with a rare Rucira verse. Tanumadhya (X. 12, 16), Totaka (X. 4, 5, 9), Nardataka (XXI21), Mandakranta (XIX. 30), and Sragdhara (XXII. 28) occur only sparingly, as if for a change. Canto x being illustrative of the different metresnaturally contains a variety of them, including the rare Nandana, Tanumadhya, Pramitaksara and Sundari, along with the traditional Drutavilambita, Puspitagra, Malini, Vaisastha as well as the Vedic Aupacchandasika. Aryagii 1s predominant in Canto XIII, probably because its length was found convenient for illustrating the Bhasasama diction. The longer metres like Sardulavikridita, Sragdhara, etc. are used very sparingly which has contributed greatly to the ease, clarity and lucidity of style, for longer verses result in undue elaboration of thought and expression too. As many as twenty-six different metres have been used by Bhatti. Bhattis versification distinguishes him as a past