46 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF KAVYA LITERATURE
legends of Yavakrlta, Yayati, Priyafigu, Vasavadatta, Sumanot- tara, and Bhimaratha. A Vararuca Kavya is actually mentioned, though unfortunately we know no more of it. We have, how- ever, invaluable help in appreciating the growth of Kavya in the incidental citation of stanzas clearly taken from poems of the classical type. Many are tantalizing in their brevity ; we hear of a maiden bought with a price who was dearer to her lord than his life (sd hi tasya dhanakritd prdnebhyo 'pi gariyasi). The verse varatanu sampravadanti kukktitah, ' O fair one, the cocks pro- claim together', has afforded later authors an opportunity of exhibiting skill in filling up the missing three verses {samasyd- purana)} Erotic verse is attested also by priyam mayurah pratinamrtiti, ' The peacock danceth towards his beloved ', perhaps also by a variant 'ad odakdntat priyam pdntham anuvrajet, ' Let her follow the wanderer she loveth to the end of the woods, to the end of the waters '. Epic or panegyric is found in the address prathate tvayd patimati prthivi, 'The earth with thee as lord maketh true its name as wide ' ; so also asidvitiyo 'nusara Pandavam, ' With sword as mate he attacked Pandu's son ', jqghdna Kansath kila Vasudevah, ' Vasudeva slew Kansa.' Brief as it is, there is pathos in
yasmin daga sahasrani putre jate gavaih dadau brahmanebhyah priydkhyebhyah so 'yam unchena jivati. ' On his scanty gleaning now he liveth, he for whose birth were given ten thousand kine to the Brahmins who brought the good tidings.'
Gnomic poetry is also strongly represented :
tapah grtttam cayonig cety etad brahmanakarakam tapahgrutabhydm yo hino jatibrahmana eva sah. 'Asceticism, learning, birth, these make the Brahmin; he who lacks asceticism and learning is a Brahmin by birth alone.' Or again, bubhuksitam na pratibhati kimcit, ' Nothing seems right to a hungry man.' Solomon's maxim regarding the education of children has a worthy parallel :
samrtaih panibhir ghnanti guravo na visoksitaih ladandgrayino 2 dosds tddandgrayino gundh.
1 See Chap. IX, § t.
2 Cf. the forms in Festschrift Wackernagel, p. 303.
