P. 222 Act IV). The next is the beautiful description of the
mother Ganges, the King's capital and the landscape about it.
The dignified demeanour of Urvashi even in self approach to
the lover is very striking. Then this is the only drama which
contains the Unmādānk in the Sanskrit literature, which so
beautifully puts the king to ask of every animate or inanimate
object in regard to the whereabouts of his beloved. It
strikingly reminds of the poet and his hero of the Cloud
Messenger with a step ahead in the sense that this demeanour
of the Hero in this drama is attended with the spell of
music and dance and impressive delusions. This art of
the poet throws the reader in entire sympathy with the hero
and is a device which makes the readers in unison with
the hero, an element necessary to the perfect relish of the
rasa (Vide " विगलितवेद्यान्तरो रसास्वाद" " etc), which is painfully
absent in Shākuntal. Though the fourth act of this drama
if admitted to be free from interpolation is at a couple
of places incongruous as pointed out in the commentary,
it only goes to establish that the poet did not feel
interested in this play in observing closely the unities of
time and place (Of. “पूर्वदिक्पवनाहतकल्लोलोद्गतबाहुः p. 202..अन्यथा
कथं पुरूरवसमपहाय समुद्राभिसारिणी भवेत् p. 208 Act IV.) Even this
incongruity has a charm in the case of a bewildered hero
and every independent critic will feel the charms of this Act
in no way less than that of the corresponding act of the
poet's other dramas. The poor displays in this drama also
the same concinnity of style, and his close acquaintance
with the human feelings, his delineation of characters and
picturesque description of natural phenomena appear as
appreciable and bewitching as in the case of Shākuntal.
This is, however, a succinct survey into the merits of the play and it is felt that on the lines indicated above the reader will take pains to study this drama of Kalidasa and will feel its worth in its own way.
