R膩ja艣ekhara鈥檚 Earlier Work鈥檚 on Kavi-艣颈办峁Ｄ� [Part 19]

Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara (Study)

by Debabrata Barai | 2014 | 105,667 words

This page relates 鈥楻ajashekhara鈥檚 Earlier Work鈥檚 on Kavi-shiksha鈥� of the English study on the Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara: a poetical encyclopedia from the 9th century dealing with the ancient Indian science of poetics and rhetoric (also know as alankara-shastra). The Kavya-mimamsa is written in eighteen chapters representing an educational framework for the poet (kavi) and instructs him in the science of applied poetics for the sake of making literature and poetry (kavya).

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Part 19 - R膩ja艣ekhara鈥檚 Earlier Work鈥檚 on Kavi-艣颈办峁Ｄ�

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In the matter of 办补惫颈-艣颈办峁Ｄ� of Sanskrit poetics, Bharatamuni was the earliest writer to deal in it. In the twenty seventh chapters of his 狈腻峁瓂补艣腻蝉迟谤补 exclusively deals with instructions to the poets for the success of dramatic action and speech. Bharata elaborately discusses in this work instructions for the success of every type of action like 惫腻肠颈办补, 腻峁単颈办补 and 腻丑腻谤测补. According to him, the success of dramatic performance largely depends on the involvement of the dramatist, actors and the audience. He also dives advises to the writers to take meticulous care for the avoidance of errors that may occur in their compositions. A few instructions scattered in this dramatic work that are very much useful for budding poets and dramatists.

膧肠腻谤测补叠丑腻尘补丑补 in his 碍腻惫测腻濒补峁僰腻谤补 (of 叠丑腻尘补丑补) though discusses about the 补濒补峁僰腻谤补蝉 but there also sees numerous instructions to the aspirant writers. These instructions are seen scattered whole of this work. Not is being a poet will not lead to evil or demerit, disease or punishment.

But being a bad poet is death itself. C.f.

鈥�n膩kavitvamadharm膩ya vyadhaye da峁囜笉an膩ya v膩 |
ku kavitva峁� puna岣� s膩k峁Ｄ乶m峁泃im膩hurma n墨峁峁嘺岣� || 鈥�

- 碍腻惫测腻濒补峁僰腻谤补 (of 叠丑腻尘补丑补) of 叠丑腻尘补丑补: I/ 12

Therefore he also says that, a poet should take great care with regard to the selection of words proper to each situation:

鈥�etadgr膩hya峁� surabhiku 蝉耻尘补峁� gr膩myametannidheya峁� dhatte 艣辞产丑腻峁� viracitamida峁� sth膩namaisyatadasya |
m膩l膩k膩ro racayati yath膩蝉腻诲丑耻惫颈帽箩腻测补尘腻濒腻峁� yojya峁� k膩vye峁avahitadhiy膩 tadvadev膩bhidh膩nam || 鈥�

- 碍腻惫测腻濒补峁僰腻谤补 (of 叠丑腻尘补丑补) of 叠丑腻尘补丑补: I/ 59

Means:

鈥淛ust a man one should be careful in composing words in poetry just like a garland maker who makes the garland after scrutiny, making pronouncements like this: 鈥榯his fragrant flower is acceptable, this plain one is not good, this one would look pretty if included; this is the proper place one for this.鈥�

In the second paricchad 叠丑腻尘补丑补 tries to convince the poets that there is not a single poetic figure, devoid of witty-speech (vakrokti) and poets should be assiduous in cultivating it.

鈥� sai峁Ｄ� sarvaiva vakroktira苍补测腻rtho vibh膩vyate |
yanno'sy膩峁� ka惫颈苍腻办腻谤测补岣� 办辞'濒补峁卥腻谤辞'苍补测腻惫颈苍腻 || 鈥�

- 碍腻惫测腻濒补峁僰腻谤补 (of 叠丑腻尘补丑补) of 叠丑腻尘补丑补: II/ 85

叠丑腻尘补丑补 advices to the poets to be aware of the flaws like ap膩tha etc. and ask them to get rid of such flaws{GL_NOTE::}, to be well versed in science of grammar, logic and arts etc.^[1]

In the K膩vy膩dar艣a, 腻肠腻谤测补顿补峁囜笉颈苍 also gives advices to the poets to be cautious of even minor flaws. He says that, poets should never use a word which is faulty because a single wrong word makes whole poetry ridiculous^[2]. Therefore he also says, a bad work of a poet can brings forth ill-fame as like as a bad son^[3].

膧肠腻谤测补痴腻尘补苍补 in the fifth 补诲丑颈办补谤补峁嘺 or 笔谤腻测辞驳颈办腻诲颈办补谤补峁嘺 of his 碍腻惫测腻濒补峁僰腻谤补s奴峁璻a-惫峁泃迟颈 exclusively deals with Kavi-艣颈办峁Ｄ� topic some elaborately. In the third chapter of the first 补诲丑颈办补谤补峁嘺, 痴腻尘补苍补 deals with the topic of the sources of poetic material and consider Loka, 痴颈诲测腻 and Prakirna as 办腻惫测补苍驳补蝉^[4]. He advises the poets to be wellacquainted and who aspires to be a poet should be well-versed in all such topics.

The fifth 补诲丑颈办补谤补峁嘺 is discusses about the description of conventions, techniques and appropriation of words in poetry. Then he advises the poets to be cautious against grammatical inaccuracies and linguistic flaws that may occur in words, sentences, language and the whole text^[5].

Though Dhvany膩loka is written exclusively for the propagation of Dhvani theory, it also says a number of instructions to aspiring poets, which come under the topic of Kavi-艣颈办峁Ｄ�. All efforts on the part of the poet in choosing proper words, figures of speech and metres etc. He further advises poets not to indulge in the usage of figures like yamaka while delineating the sentiment of love in a suggestive way. In the study of poetry 膧苍补苍诲补惫补谤诲丑补苍补 says that though the principle of suggestion in poetry is enunciated here, portrait like poetry can be used as aid to the budding poets. 膧苍补苍诲补惫补谤诲丑补苍补 says, the poets should be careful of the employment of 补濒补峁僰腻谤补蝉 and a poet should be endowed with imagination, knowledge and practice which are the pre-requisites for poetic faculty. Among these three qualities he stresses the place of poetic imagination, saying that the flaws in poetic creation caused out of the poet鈥檚 lack of knowledge can be overcome through the power of poetic imagination.

If the poets adopts a traditionally well-known story as his plot there should not be any kind of transgression in depicting it. He says that, even the themes dealt with in ancient works seem to be a new through skillful adoption of sentiments, just like the trees in the spring season become fresh and beautiful with new blossoms^[6].