the world, whichi ke puts in the mouth of the Buddha, ho reflects, as though in a mirror, the developing tendency of the period to attempt & compromise. between Buddhism and orthodox Hinduism. To a Buddhist, the ideal exis- tence is that of a monk who by following the sightfold path is qualifying for the final struggle to break the bonde of the birth-cycles. According to this conception of monastic life, therefore, nothing could have been more calcu. lated to bring eternal glory and nirrāna' to king Kappbiņa than the change of kingly attirs for the mean garb of a Bhiksu. But the poet's Buddha is the final link in the chain of Avataras, and what could lave been more sppropriate for him that to end with the message of his predecessor $x1 Kroņa, and to exhort king Kapphira to serve the Buddha, the Dhamma sind the Soughes, best by discharging his own rogal duties accordirig: to the Law or Dhamma? We, therefore, find in this poers the treatment of a tendenoy which found its final expression in another fellow Kashmiri poet, Kgomendra in 'nis Dasavataracarita. HIS LANGUAGE AND METRE In the rise of language ſivassāmin is by no meas less important than Mégha and Ratnākar, The richness of his vocabulary marks him out to be a literary artist of great eminence who experimented with new material and made 18e of the choicest and rarest forzas of expression. He was made a profuse use of aorists in the ninth canto, of past perfect forms in the fourteenth, The shortening of the long vowel in praska? to prasuka" (VIL, 10), is the only departure from the strict rulas of Sanskrit Vyakarana introduced perhaps to adjust the metre. In this Mahakavya, Šivašyzmit has throughout, made a vely apt choice of the 'günas" to confirm to the septiment (rass), apd by the harmony between sound and sense he imbues the roader with an appeal and charm of his owe... In the first five cantos wherein he describes the scenes in the court of a king atter ded by chieftains whose enthusiasin is as its height in anticipa- tion of er war, he employs ojoguņa' in the service of raresa". Ta the daga criptive portion of the poem (VI-XV) he takes us away from the main flenze of the poem and aes the Faidarbhirit, whose chiar qualities, perspicuity, grace, and sleration are best noticeable in his description of the ssasons, the rising of the moon, and the dawn. Again, in the description of the battle scenos lo employs long ood . AN .
