Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v1.c5.6

v1.c5.6

ics. The word *upamā*, for instance, is found as early as the *Ṛg-veda* (V. 34. 9 ; I. 31. 15), and Sāyaṇa explains it in the sense of *upamāna* (as in Pāṇini II. 3. 72) or *dṛṣṭānta*; but there is nothing unusual in this use of the general idea of similitude, which need not be interpreted as having a particular speculative significance. It is conceded, on the authority of Yāska and Pāṇini, that the conception of *upamā* or similitude considerably affected the Vedic language as well as its accent; but beyond this grammatical or philological interest, there is no indication of a dogma, much less of a theory, of Poetics in the Vedic times. Nor should undue emphasis be laid on the use of poetic figures in Vedic literature; for between this unconscious employment of figures of speech and the conscious formulation of a definite system, there must necessarily be a long step.