This study examines the selective deployment of the traditional aṣṭādaśavarṇana (eighteen descriptive categories) in Mathurābhyudaya, an unpublished Sanskrit mahākāvya by the contemporary Sanskrit poet Shankar Rajaraman. Focusing on twelve varnana tropes-nagara (city), arṇava (ocean), śaila (mountain), ṛtu (seasons), candra (moon), arka (sun), madhupāna (wine-drinking), vipralambha (love separation), mantra (ministerial counsel), dūta (embassy), prayāṇa (travel), and āji (battle)the paper analyzes how their strategic employment shapes the narrative and aesthetic fabric of the epic. Through close textual analysis, it reveals how these descriptive frameworks deepen the portrayal of Krsna's progression from pastoral simplicity to city's grandeur, intertwining natural imagery, emotional nuance, and dramatic tension. This selective and discerning engagement highlights the poet's creative adaptation of classical kāvya conventions and offers novel insights into the dynamics of form and meaning in contemporary Sanskrit mahākāvya.
R. S. Hariharan (2025) studied this question.