CHAPTbR II 4'£

viz., jilthikc^ (^ jilthika-, Wti/J;kcr\ OT mirdWt/llika* wvcuicijjdtsntfi and
,fya??sa\ Echnocarpus frutescens, otherwise known as phalinl^^ and priyafigii,
Agteia Roxburgh icma, is a creeper much favoured by Sanskrit poets. It has been
compared with the body of a woman9 on account of its delicacy and thinness.
It bears white flowers ?nd is supposed to blossom at the touch 'of a woman30.
MadbftrP1, Gnerthera racemosa (Hiptage madhavslata), bearing white flowers,
is a spring creeper to which constant allusion has been made by Sanskrit
poets. It flowers and bears sweet floral juice in summer. Of all these creepers
the atifimkttdata1*, Agarosma caryophyllu, has received the highest attention
and praise from Sanskrit poets. Sir Wiliom Jones has aptly observed: "The
beauty and fragrance of the flowers c-f this creeper give them a title to all
ibo praises which Kalidasa and Jayadeva bestow on them It is a gigantic and
luxuriant climber; but when it meets with nothing to grasp, it assumes the form
of a sturdy tree, the highest branches of which display, however, in the air their
natural flexibility 2nd inclination to climb13." The syama, mad havi and
atimukta creepers furnished beautiful bowers. Another class of creepers is
represented by one called kvali1^. Tdwbrtlavallfl* is the betel creeper the leaves of
which with the areca nut, catechu, caustic lime and spices were chewed as a carmi-
native and antacid tonic, especially after meals, and for undoing the bad odour
of liquor. It grew wildly in the Malaya region16. DrakscJ1'* was the vine creeper
which spread itself on ground and covered the land of the Parasikas18. Much
wine was prepared from it19. Besides the above ones the poet speaks of a few ima-
ginary creepers like the eMata^^ asokalata*\%r\di satmlhta®' due to the delicate bole
of the trees they indirectly represent, Kalidasa incidentally hints at a distinction
between the two varieties of creepers, namely, the itdyanalatd1^ and the

1 Ibid., IV, 46; AL P. 26,
3 R///., IJ. 24.
aR///.>HI. 18, VI. 5.

4 ak.) p. 31.
•"'Ibid., pp. 31, 137.
* R/tf.9 IT. 24. III. 2, 19; Mai, p. 36.
-., HI. 1 8; M. 17. 41.

/.3 VIII. 61.

9 Rftil, IV. 10, VI. 12; Mai. p. 48, II. 6.
10 M. U., 4i;R///., IV. 10; AM., II, 6.
"$8k.9 HI. 7; MdL III. 5.

12 Jl///., VI. 17, Mai, IV. 13; Sak.9 p. 95.

13 Sir William Jones: Works, Vol. V. p. 124.
'* Vik.9 V. 8.

lr>R^fe., VI. 64; R/;/., V, 5.
16 Ragf>u.9 VI. 64.
^Ibicl, IV. 65,

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid., IV. 65,61.
30 Ibid., VI. 64.

al [bid,, VII. 21.
& 3aL, p. 27.

23 Ibid., I. 15.

24 Ibid.