The rhetoricians [328] extol the merits of Kālidāsa in metaphor, and they repeatedly cite his skill in the use of figures of speech, sound and thought, which they divide and subdivide in endless variety. He excels in vivid description (svabhāvokti) as when he depicts the flight of the antelope which Duḥṣanta pursues to the hermitage: grīvābhan̄gābhirāmam muhur anupatati syandane baddhadṛṣṭiḥ paçcārdhena praviṣṭaḥ çarapatanabhayād bhūyasā pūrvakāyam darbhair ardhāvalīḍhaiḥ çramavivṛtamukhabhraṅçibhiḥ kīrṇavartmā paçyodagraplutatvād viyati bahutaraṁ stokam urvyāṁ prayāti. ‘His glance fixed on the chariot, ever and anon he leaps up, gracefully bending his neck; through fear of the arrow’s fall he draws ever his hinder part into the front of his body; he strews his path with the grass, half chewed, which drops from his mouth opened in weariness; so much aloft he bounds that he runs rather in the air than on earth.’ Inferential knowledge is illustrated by a brilliant stanza: [329] çāntam idam āçramapadaṁ sphurati ca bāhuḥ phalam ihāsya atha vā bhavitavyānāṁ dvārāṇi bhavanti sarvatra. ‘This is the hermitage where all desires are stilled; yet my arm throbs; how can here be found the fruit of such a presage? Nay, the doors of fate are ever open.’ The rôle of conscience in human action is finely portrayed: [330] asaṁçayaṁ kṣatraparigrahakṣamā: yad āryam asyām abhilāṣi me manaḥ satāṁ hi saṁdehapadeṣu vastuṣu: pramāṇam antaḥkaraṇapravṛttayaḥ. ‘Assuredly the maiden is meet for marriage to a warrior, since my noble mind is set upon her; for with the good in matters of doubt the final authority is the dictate of conscience.’ Of the departing Çakuntalā after her rejection the king says: [331] itaḥ pratyādeçāt svajanam anugantuṁ vyavasitā muhus tiṣṭhety uccair vadati guruçiṣye gurusame punar dṛṣṭiṁ bāṣpaprasarakaluṣām arpitavatī mayi krūre yat tat saviṣam iva çalyaṁ dahati mām. ‘When I rejected her she sought to regain her companions, but the disciple, in his master’s stead, loudly bade her stay; then she turned on cruel me a glance dimmed by her falling tears, and that now burns me like a poisoned arrow.’ At his son’s touch he says: [332] anena kasyāpi kulān̄kureṇa: spṛṣṭasya gātreṣu sukhaṁ mamaivam kāṁ nirvṛttiṁ cetasi tasya kuryād: yasyāyam an̄gāt kṛtinaḥ prarūḍhaḥ? ‘When such joy is mine in the touch on my limbs of a scion of some other house, what gladness must not be his, from whose loins, happy man, this child is sprung?’ The punishment of the king for his disloyalty is severe: [333] prajāgarāt khilībhūtas tasyāḥ svapne samāgamaḥ bāṣpas tu na dadāty enāṁ draṣṭuṁ citragatām api. ‘My sleeplessness forbids the sight of her even in a dream; my tears deny me her pictured form.’ On reunion the picture is very different: [334]