24
THE SANSKRIT ORIGINAL
. Though Kālakavi states in verse of 5th Canto that the story of Dakshina Dwaraka is related in Agni kalpa, yet the same is found in Brahmanda purāṇa under the name of "Champakaranyakshetra māhatmya" Copies of the work are available both in Tanjore palace Library and the Govt. Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras: and from a perusal of the contents of the Sanskrit work with the printed Telugu Text, it is evident that this particular work might have formed the basis of the story enumerated by Kalakavi in the 5th Canto of the work. As the Sanskrit work is not well known up till now, and not available in print, it is given as an appendix to the work both in Telugu and Devanagari Scripts for the benefit of Telugu as well as non-Telugu Research Scholars.
GENERAL ESTIMATE OF THE WORK.
The work contains (1-129, 2-84, 3-88, 1-83, 5-76). 451 verses with only four prose passages. Kalakavi is a poet of rare merit, and his handling of vrittas is almost unequalled. The style of the work is free from long Sanskrit compounds and the melliflous flow of the verses enchants the reader. It is certainly one of the best prabandhas in the Southern School of Telugu literature, and its merits were not known since it was not available to scholars in print.
Another important feature of the work is that it is free from the descriptions of an amorous nature bordering on obscenity; with which the Prabandhas of this School are often charged. The conversations are natural and the poet does not employ poetic conceits
