Kosár
I. THE SANSKRIT PROSE ROMANCE.
IS THE DAS'AKUMA'RACHARITA AN A'KHYA'YIKA'?
Poetry in Sanskrit, from its inherent nature, as apart from its intrinsic merit, is, divided into two kinds, वृक्ष्य (what is capable of being seen or exhibited on the stage), and अध्य (what can only be heard or read); the drama falls under the first division, while all other literary works would be grouped under the second. There is, however, another principle of division, which takes into account the form, and not the subject-matter, of a work; coording to that, poetry is divided into three principal classes, गá (prose), पद्य (verse) and मिश्र¹ (mixed). पद्य is all-predominant in Sanskrit literature, while गद्य and मिश्र compositions form but a small portion of it. गद्य is found employed chiefly in the writing of commentaries and similar works, and is rarely utilized for the creation of imaginative literature, whence arises the extreme paucity of prose romances in Sanskrit. Indeed, excepting four, viz., Vasavadatta, Harshacharita, Kadambari, and Das'akumáracharita, none of them are well- known, and the total number of those which are extant would barely exceed a dozen. According to Sanskrit rhetoricians, they fall into two classes, the कया and the भाख्यायिका. As regards the exact demarcation between the two, however, there does not appear to be any unanimity...
