Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/234

Rh have in many places very obscene passages. Naishadha Charita from the beginning to the end is bombastic and hyperbolical. Its style is neither elegant nor chaste. There are occasional bursts however of fine passages. Uttara Charita by Bhavabhuti is a Drama embracing the latter part of the career of Rama. Ratnavali is also a Drama. Dhavaka is its author. He was paid by Raja Shriharsha to write this work along with another, and attribute its authorship to him. The story of Raja Udayana and Ratnavali is the plot of this drama. These two works are excellent in every respect. Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadatta may be called a political Drama. In its contets we find that Chanakya, the Prime Minister of Chandra Gupta, Sandracottas of the Greeks, is applying his diplomatic skill to consolidate the newly acquired Empire of his master, by baffling all the efforts of Rakshasa, the loyal Prime Minister of the subverted Nanda family, to subvert in turn the new dynasty. This is also a good piece of composition. Dashakumara Charita and Kadambari are in prose. In the first, a certain number of friends are relating to each other the history of their travels. The style is pure and chaste. There are, however, some objectionable passages. Dandi is its author. Kadambari is a novel or rather an epic poem in prose. It is in two parts. The first part is a masterpiece of Sanskrit composition. The author Vanabhatta did not live to complete his admirable work. His son wrote the second part. The production of the son is far inferior to that of the father.

Having laid all this before the Council, I beg leave to state there is not much alteration required in the purely literary studies of this class. With regard to Mathematical studies, I will speak hereafter when I report on the Jyotisha class. The change I would propose is this; Raghuvansha as I have proposed in my Report of the Grammar Department should be transferred to the 1st Grammar