Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v1.c2.3

v1.c2.3

Although the subject possesses great interest and importance, workers in the field cannot be said to be too numerous. Since Bühler's memorable discovery (1877) in Kashmir of the bulk of the old forgotten Alaṃkāra literature, the devoted enterprise, however, of a small but excellent band of scholars has brought to light and given us useful editions of most of the important texts, besides collecting a great deal of valuable information on the subject. There can be no doubt that much yet remains to be done in this direction, but these additions to our knowledge have shed so much light on the whole subject that little room is left for mere guess-work with regard to the general theme, and the historical method may be tentatively applied to a systematic presentation. It is now clear that the works on Alaṃkāra are not sporadic or isolated productions, but constitute an extensive literature, ranging over a fairly long period of time, and embodying, with an abstruse technique and ingenious theories, a systematic discipline which possesses an interesting course of history.