As regards the formal side of Bhavabhūti's style we must unquestionably admit his power of expression, which is displayed equally in all three dramas. To modern taste Bhavabhūti is most attractive when he is simple and natural, as he can be when it pleases him. Thus in Act VI of the Mālatīmādhava we have a pretty expression of Mādhava's joy at the words of love of him uttered by Mālatī when she has no idea of his presence near her:
mlānasya jīvakusumasya vikāsanāni: saṁtarpaṇāni sakalendriyamohanānī
ānandanāni hṛdayaikarasāyanāni: diṣtyā mayāpy adhigatāni vacomṛtāni.
'Fortune has favoured me, for I have heard the nectar of her
words that make to bloom again the faded flower of my life,
delightful, disturbing every sense, causing gladness, sole elixir for
my heart. The deliberate rhyming effect is as appropriate as it
is uncommon in such elaboration, and it is characteristic that the
same effect is shortly afterwards repeated. Effective simplicity
and directness also characterize the speech, in Sanskrit contrary
to the usual rule, of Buddharakṣitā in Act VII, when she clinches
the argument in favour of the elopement of Madayantikā and
Makaranda:
preyān manorathasahasravṛtaḥ sa eşaḥ: suptapramattajanam etad amātyaveçma
prauḍhaṁ tamaḥ kuru kṛtajñatayaiva bhadram: utkṣiptamūkamaṇinūpuram ehi yāmaḥ.
'Here is thy beloved, on whom a thousand times thy hopes have rested; in the minister's palace the men are asleep or drunken; impenetrable is the darkness; be grateful and show thy favour; come, let us silence our jewelled anklets by laying them aside, and depart hence.' Equally effective is the expression of the admirable advice tendered to Mādhava and Mālatī at the moment when Kāmandakī has succeeded in securing their union:
preyo mitram bandhutā vā samagrā: sarve kāmāḥ çevadhir jīvitaṁ vā
strīṇām bhartā dharmadārāç ca puṅsām: ity anyonyaṁ vatsayor jñātam astu.
'Know, my dear children, that to a wife her husband and to a husband his lawful wife are, each to each, the dearest of friends, the sum total of relationships, the completeness of desire, the
