NOTES AND TRANSLATION OF
VENISAMHAR.
N. B.--Wherever there is a reference to a commentary, it
should be understood as a reference to the comen-
tary of Shri Appashastri Rashivadekar.
ACT I.
According to a well-known convention of the Sanskrit drama, the author opens the play with a Nandi, which, in this case, consists of three stanzas:' नान्दी' is derived as नन्दन्ति देवता अस्याः meaning '(it is so called) because deities rejoice at it,' and it is defined as 'आशीर्वचनसंयुक्ता स्तुतिर्यस्मात्प्रयुज्यते । देवद्विजनृपादीनां तस्मान्नान्दीति कार्तिता ॥' meaning 'a Nandi is properly so called when it contains a glorification of gods, Brahmins, kings or the like, together with benedictory words.' 'पदैर्युक्ता द्वादशभिरष्टाभिर्वा पदैरुत' gives the convention about the length of the Nandi. So a Nandi may consist of eight or twelve padas and when we remember that a pada means either a word or a quarter of a stanza, we shall see what a difference there may be in length between the shortest possible Nandi and the longest. In the present case, as noticed above, it consists of twelve quarters of stanzas or three stanzas and is, therefore, of maximum length. For a Nandi consisting of twelve padas in the sense of 'twelve words' compare इदं कविभ्यः पूर्वेभ्यो नमो वाकं प्रशास्महे । विन्देम देवतां वाचममृतामात्मनः कलाम् ॥ of the Uttararamacharita.
But it is worth noting that there are many plays whose Nandis do not conform to this convention as to length. Kalidasa, for instance, does not observe this rule; the Nandis of his plays are of any length but that prescribed. This fact shows that the convention about the length of the Nandi as embodied in the line quoted above is probably of a later origin and did not exist perhaps in the time of Kalidasa and other classical writers who seem to have taken no cognizance of it in the construction of their Nandi.
St. I, संभिन्नमुकुलः (अत एव) निषिद्धैरपि एभिः मधुकरैः ललितमकरंदः इन्दोः करैः अन्तः छुरित इव, अयं हरिचरणयोः प्रकीर्णः पुष्पाणां अञ्जलिः अस्य सदन नयनसुभगां नः सिद्धिं विधत्ताम् ।
