Essay name: Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala (study)
Author:
Shri N. M. Kansara
Affiliation: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda / Department of Sanskrit Pali and Prakrit
This is an English study of the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala, a Sanskrit poem written in the 11th century. Technically, the Tilaka-manjari is classified as a Gadyakavya (“prose-romance�). The author, Dhanapala was a court poet to the Paramara king Munja, who ruled the Kingdom of Malwa in ancient west-central India.
Chapter 7 - The Katha form of literature
1 (of 30)
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246
CHAPTER
THE
SEVEN
FORM
Dhanapāla calls his work a "Kathā"! We would,
here, like to dive deep into the essentials of this form
of literature in Sanskrit and try to analyse the forces
which contributed to its development.
The Sanskrit literary tradition has, from early
times, distinguished between the poetic tissue (ķāvya-
-śarira) and the poetic essence (kāvyasyātmā). The
poetic essence consists in the power of meaningful words
to arouse the emotion of joy in the mind of the aesthe-
2 tically receptive reader or listener?, while the poetic
tissue is made up of the words set in musically charming
and meaningfully harmonious manner 3 poetic essence can
manifest itself in various forms which are all regarded
as mere so many means of manifestation. Metrical form
has, thus, never been the essential ingredient of poetry
in Sanskrit literature.
Sanskrit critics have granted that poetry manifests
in three general forms : prose, verse and prose-mixed-
-with-verse? This necessarily implies that the basic
1. T�(N) � _Intro .vs. 53 b: विप्रः श्रीधनपा� इत्यविशदातामबध्नात� कथम् ॥५३॥
[vipra� śrīdhanapāla ityaviśadātāmabadhnāt katham ||53||
] 2.Dhvanyā.1.1.p. 39: सह दयाह्लाद� शब्दार्थ ममत्वमेव काव्यन्न क्षणाम� �
[saha dayāhlādi śabdārtha mamatvameva kāvyanna kṣaṇām |
] also 1.2.p.73: काव्यं हि आरसे साररूपतय� स्थितः सहृदयश्वाध्य�
[kāvya� hi ārase sārarūpatayā sthita� sahṛdayaśvādhyo
] 3.1b1d.: काव्यस्य हि ललितायित सन्निव� सचारुण� शरीरस्य पर्थ� �
[kāvyasya hi lalitāyita sannive sacāruṇa� śarīrasya partha� |
] 4.KVD.I.11: गय� पर्छ
� मिश्� � तत� विधै� व्यवस्थितम� �
[gaye parcha
ca miśra ca tat vidhaidha vyavasthitam |
]
