बानोच्छिष्टं जगतसर्वम्

In the vast tradition of great poets who have always enchanted the
entire poetic world with their gigantic statures, Banabhatta, an
exceptionally talented great poet, is one of the well-known pioneers of
'Kadambari' and 'Harshacharit'. In Sanskrit, prose writing is
considered a measure of the talent of poets; गद्यं कवीनां निकषं
वदन्ति। Banabhatta is universally successful on this point. The
peculiarity of Banabhatta's prose lies in the way in which the poet can
sum up his free spirit in finite words and half amount. Indeed, because
of prose being the criterion of poetry, rare prose poems are found in
Sanskrit, in which Banabhatta’s are the foremost. Parallel to the
tradition of proses, many beautiful poems were also composed.
However, the great poet Banabhatta in his ‘Kadambari’ and
‘Harshacharit’ has adjusted the multiplicity of poetry, emotion,
quality, rasa, ornamentation, etc., with such efficiency that it has
become an object of attraction for other poets.

The great poet Banabhatta used to invent new forms of thought and
contemplation. By adorning the ancient tradition with new
accoutrements, he made it completely new. By combining beautiful
episodes from the scriptures with his description, he used to garland
his poetry. He had a wonderful imagination and a divine vision to
recognize language and propriety. This is the reason why the
immortal literature of Banabhatta has been enriching and attracting
the heart for ages.

Reflecting on such fantasies of Banabhatta, the phrase ' बानोच्छिष्टं जगतसर्वम्'

has become famous in the commentary community. The intelligent
reviewer who presented this view must have been familiar with the
vast storehouse of Sanskrit literature and must have seen the great
influence of Banabhatta on later literature. The meaning of this
statement is that Banabhatta touches upon the entire subsequent
fictional literary world, that is, the compositions of the poets who
come after Banabhatta are not completely new, but those
compositions are already present in Banabhatta’s works in terms of
ornamentation, expressions, language quality etc. It is indeed true that
based on the achievements with which Banabhatta has filled the vast
store of Sanskrit literature; many later poets have also filled or tried to
fill it. In the works of later poets, the reflections of Banabhatta’s
imaginations, expressions, methods of thinking, methods of poetry
etc., are reflected. Banabhatta is such a wise poet of Sanskrit literature
whose stature is influenced by poetry and who’s sort of supernatural
expression is visible. Poet Banbahatta has helped many poets.

Dharmadas has likened the voice of Banbhatta to the new young

man–
रुचिरस्वरवर्णपदा रसभाववती जगत्मनो हरति।
सा किं तरुणी! नहि नहि वाणी बाणस्य मधुरशीलस्य।।

Jayadeva has called Banabhatta the real Kamadeva who resides in the
heart temple of literature.
जाताशिखण्डिनी प्राक् यथा शिखंडी तथावगच्छामि।
प्रागलम्यमधिकं माप्तुं वाणी बाणो बभूव।।

On doing research from a literary point of view, it is known that the

great poet is a master in delightful courtships, head to toe descriptions
and beautiful depictions of nature. In his courtship, both sambhoga
(meeting) and vipralambha (separation) expressions have been
successfully represented. The poet has displayed unique art in the
contrasting description of Manashweta and Kadambari. In the field of
head to toe descriptions, he has not only described the women but has
also demonstrated a unique art in the beauty of the male figure. In
fact, Banabhatta is a master in bringing life to even the inanimate
imagination. His aliphatic letter introduction, description of nature
and use of ornaments are visible. From the point of view of literary
beauty, the poet has often used all the ornaments, yet simile,
utpreksha and shlesha have been the most favourite ornaments of the
poet. Critics have even said that the poetic agility of other poets is for
those who have tasted the poetry of Banbhatta.

This eloquence of the poet is commendable. Although the

composition style of the poet is Panchali, the poet has used Vaidarbhi
and Gaudi and coordinated the three in his poetry according to the
theme of the subject. The narration style is heart touching, sweet, soft,
mature, rosy and ornate.

The effect of Banabhatta is visible on later poets. Like, Abhinand has

presented a summary of Kadambari in his work Kadambari-Kathasar.
The author of nalchampu poetry, Trivikram Bhatta, has also used the
foot-plans and imaginations of Banabhatta in many places. Not only
in Sanskrit literature, but also in the great poets of Hindi literature
Keshavdas and Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi are also completely
influenced by Banabhatta.

In this way, we find that later poets have followed the methods
accepted by Banabhatta and many poems for composing poetry, but
the characteristic, which is found in the poems of Banabhatta, is not
found in the works of other poets. Therefore, the later imaginative
literary world of Banabhatta is only बानोच्छिष्ट, not new.