ARTOLA - ADBHUTATARANGA Varmacchädita-vigrahaḥ pratipadam vyāghātayan pakṣinaḥ kvapi kvāpi ca sārameya-sisubhiḥ samkridane tatparah | mithyācāraparāyaṇo bahuvidham jalpan sadăcăratām svaminn eva vibodhayan smrtipatha vyamohanam panditah || "He is a pandit dressed in armour, hitting birds at every step, playing here and there with puppy dogs, doing religious things in a hypocritical manner, speaking always of good conduct and creating confusion in the manner of explaining the smrtis." The king asks him what is the punishment prescribed in the smrti of Yajnavalkya. He replies that anyone who pronounces punishment without citing the authority of the fastras is a killer of brahmans. After consulting a sastra he says that since he, suffering from piles, cannot satisfy his own wife, Gaudharasa Miśra, a healthier man, will have to replace him "in the altar of the fire of Kāma" (kāmāgnikunde) as his punishment. The king becomes angry upon learning that the royal physician Yamanuja (a name meaning 'the younger brother of the God of death') did not cure the suffering of Vidhavavidhvamsaka and he has his door-keepers summon him. When the physician arrives, his medical accomplishments are described in these terms: Lokā müdhadhiyo vimüdhavacasi pramanyam evamvidham kṛtvā dinajanam gatartham api tam sanjivayanty eva hi | asmakam tu paramparārjitam idam sarvasvarüpam phalam drnmatrena vimuktim eva karavanyevamvidham niścitam || "Foolish people believe the words of other foolish people, taking them as authoritative, and thus they save suffering people, but this is the most precious fruit which is handed down in my family: I, to be sure, give salvation (i.e., death) to people by simply looking at them." ARTOLA - ADBHUTATARANGA He is to be punish too, and his punishment is the same as that of Gaudharasa Misra. In the course of the conversation, Yamanuja admits that he is not experienced enough to perform this kind of penance, and he suggests that a prostitute named Ramarcanacandrika be brought as a guru. Just as he says this, one of the door-keepers enters to say that she is waiting at the door. She is permitted to enter. Meanwhile, the Vidüşaka named Jambhaka is asked to prepare the bed-room. To carry out the punishment, the wife of Vidhavavidhvamsaka is summoned, but it is Jambhaka who enters disguised as her. At the same moment a poor brahman, Mithyakuta Bhatta, who is as incompetent as the others; enters the court. He turns out to be the former lover of Vidhavavidhvamsaka's wife. Immediately Jambhaka embraces him in a peculiar manner and of course he is astonished, although he somehow suspects that it is Jambhaka after all. He does not reveal this in his willingness to go along with the masquerade. Yamanuja and Jambhaka enter the bed-room and it is there that the former discovers the true identity of the one he thought to be Vidhavavidhvamsaka's wife. The king surmises that Jambhaka had gone out and had returned disguised as Vidhavavidhvamsaka's wife. To be sure of this, the king asks his door-keeper to summon Jambhaka, but the door-keeper only smiles and remains silent. It is at this point that the king understands how well punished his incompetent physician really was; for him this is the adbhuta, the amazing thing. PRASANGIKA 7 On the basis of the experience he had gained in writing the Adbhutataranga, Harijivana Miśra then undertook the composition of his second prahasana, the Prasangika. Once again the scene is the royal court, which as the action develops, is gradually changed from a court of justice into a menagerie. The characteristics of a standard comedy-farce are found in the Prasangika. The most notable one is
