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Kuntaka’s evaluation of Sanskrit literature

by Nikitha. M | 2018 | 72,578 words

This page relates ‘Origin and development of Sanskrit poetics� of the study on the evaluation of Sanskrit literature with special reference to Kuntaka and his Vakroktijivitam from the 10th century CE. This study reveals the relevance of Sanskrit poetics in the present time and also affirms that English poetry bears striking features like six figurativeness taught by Kuntaka in his Vakroktijivita, in which he propounds the vakrokti school of Sanskrit literary criticism.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

Origin and development of Sanskrit poetics

In Sanskrit literature scattered information about poetics is first availed from some ʳܰṇa like Ծܰṇa and վṣṇܻ󲹰dzٳٲܰṇa. But the history of poetics starts from Bharata the renowned author of ṭyśٰ[1] and almost ends with Բٳ ʲṇḍٲ’s 鲹ṅg󲹰.[2] ṭyśٰ is an encyclopedic manual of theatre arts dealing with almost all the aspects of drama and dramaturgy. Bharata’s main contribution to Sanskrit poetics is his ūٰ. It explains the genesis of rasa and it is accepted as a formula for explaining the aesthetic experience of arts. It is notable that no concept in western poetics is as much important as rasa in Indian poetics. Some other poetic texts that evolved after ṭyśٰ are 屹ṅk of [3] and ܻṭa,[4] 屹岹ś of ٲṇḍ,[5] 屹ṅksūtravṛtti of 峾Բ,[6] 屹ⲹś of Ѳṭa[7] and 󾱳ٲⲹ岹貹ṇa of վśٳ.[8] In 屹ṅk, 峾 establishes poetic figure or ṅk as major element in poetry. ܻṭa, author of 屹ṅk is the final representative of ṅk School. According to ٲṇḍ, all the attributes adding beauty to poetry are ṅk. 峾Բ, the protagonist of īپ school gives a systematic theory of poetics in his text 屹ṅksūtravṛtti. He was the first rhetorician who had great urge to search for the soul of poetry. Ѳṭa, վśٳ and Բٳ ʲṇḍٲ are the ardent followers of dhvani theory of Ānandhavardhana.

Poetics texts deal with the topics like purpose of poetry, definition of poetry, figures of speech etc. Apart from the topics mentioned above, some other topics are also discussed in poetic texts. Bhoja’s Śṛṅś[9] discusses about grammar. The texts like ṅk[10] and ܱԲԲ岹[11] discuss only figures of speech. The poetic text named 屹ⲹīṃs of Ჹś󲹰[12] deals with topics like instruction to the poets, poetic conventions etc. Some other prominent poetic texts in Sanskrit are ٳ󱹲Բǰ첹 of Ānandhavardhana,[13] Vyaktiviveka of Ѳ󾱳ṭṭ,[14] ղǰپīٲ of Kuntaka[15] and 鲹ṅg󲹰 of Բٳ ʲṇḍٲ.[16] ٳ󱹲Բǰ첹 with the commentary of Locana of Abhinavagupta is a widely discussed poetic text in Sanskrit literature in Indian tradition. 峾Բ talks about arrangement of word as soul of poetry. Taking a step further Ānandhavardhana establishes the deeper essence of meaning as the soul of poetry. Vyaktiviveka written in 11th Century C.E. postulates a new theory named Գܳپ岹. Ѳ󾱳ṭṭ establishes that dhvani is the same as the logical process of inference. 󾱲Բī of Abhinavagupta, a commentary on ṭyśٰ is yet another notable poetic text of Sanskrit literature. Abhinavagupta was a man of acute intellect and encyclopedic scholarship. 󾱲Բī discusses all the matters discussed in ṭyśٰ. ղǰپīٲ adorns a prominent position among the rhetoric works of post-dhvani period as it paved an independent and original path for itself in Sanskrit poetics.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

R.S.Nagar (Ed.). ṭyśٰ of Bharatamuni, vol-1-4, Parimal Publications, Delhi, 1983.

[2]:

Pt.Badarinath Jha and Pt. Madan Mohan Jha (Ed.). Rasagangadhara of ʲṇḍٲrāja Բٲ, Chowkhamba Vidyabhawan, Varanasi.

[3]:

Naganatha Sastry. P.V. 屹ṅk of 峾, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, Second edition-1970.

[4]:

Pandit 峾𱹲 Sukla. 屹ṅk of Rudrata, Chowkhamba Vidyabhavan, Varanasi.

[5]:

Yogeawaradatt Sharma, Āⲹ Daṇḍhi-屹岹ś, Nag Publishers, Delhi,1999.

[6]:

Haragovinda Shastri. 屹ṅksūtra of Āⲹ 峾Բ, Chowkhamba Surabhārati Prakashan, Varanasi.

[7]:

Sri Harisankara Sarma. 屹ⲹś�, Chowkhamba Prakasan, varanasi

[8]:

Acharya Shesharaja Sharma Regmi, 󾱳ٲⲹ岹貹ṇa, Chowkhamba Krishnadas academy, Varanasi.

[9]:

M.M. Rewāprasād Dwivedi. Śṛṅś by Bhojarāja. Vol.I and Vol.II, Indira Gandhi National Centre For The Arts, New Delhi and Kālidāsasaṃsthāna, Varanasi, 2007.

[10]:

R.C.Dwivedi. ṅk-Sañjīvinī, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1965.

[11]:

D. Bhalashankar Vyas, Kuvalayānanda of 貹ⲹīṣiٲ, Chowkhamba Vidyabhavan, Varanasi.

[12]:

Ganga Sagar Rai (Ed.). Kāvyamīmāṃsa of Rajaśekhara, Chowkhamba Vidyabhavan, Varanasi.

[13]:

Acharya Jagannath Pathak. Dhvanyaloka of Sri Anandavardhanacharya, Chowkhamba Vidyabhavan, Varanasi.

[14]:

Brahmananda Tripathi. (Ed.). Vyaktiviveka of Բ첹 Mahimabhatta, The Chaukhamba Surabharati Prakashan, Varanasi, 2005.

[15]:

K.Krishnamoorthy. The ղǰپ-īٲ of Kuntaka, Critically edited with variants, Introduction and English translation, Karnatak University, Dharwad, 1977.

[16]:

Badainath Jha and Madan Mohan Jha(Ed.). Rasagaṅgādara of ʲṇḍٲrāja Բٳ, Chowkhamba Vidyabhawan, Varanasi, Second Edition-2012.

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