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in his poetry is to be attributed to the lit-rary conventions
current in his time.
ВНАMINIVILASA.
It is not possible to say exactly what the title was
meant by the Pandit to convey. It is surmised that the
Bhāminīvilāsa was composed by Jagannātha for the
delight and edification of his wife whose name, it is to
be supposed, was भामिनी. The word, भामिनी, 0ccurs several
times in the T. fà. e.g., in the opening verse of the
iSTaak also in the 3rd and 17th stanzas of the
*Eunaaa On the contrary, it may be supposed that the
work is so called becsuse Jagannàtha has therein,
especially in the naae described the graces of a
beautiful woman. The purpose for which the Bhāmini-
viläsa was 'composed' is altogether different, as the
poet says in the last verse of the S'āntavilāsa.
makes no mention of in this connection, but
simply says that he wanted thereby to preserve his
poetical gems from plagiarists.
The Bhāminivilasa consists of four vilāsas, out of
which the first and the last are edited here.
seems to be no vital connection between the various
vilasas except the fact that the second and the third
vilasas describe a beautiful woman from different points
of view. There is a certain unity of nature in the
contents of the three vilāsas except the first which, like
the whole work, is an anthology. In the Prastavikavilasa
the poet praises good men, censures the wicked, eulogizes
virtues like genosity, helpfulness, etc., draws attention to
the changing wheel of Fortune-indeed, he looks at Life
as it is, and bodies forth his impressions in the form of
verses. In the other vilasas, on the other hand, there is
a respective unity of theme which is treated in an ample,
varied way.
He
There
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