Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c79.1

v2.c79.1

Of the unknown beginnings of Poetics as a discipline, our enquiry in the preceding volume¹ has indicated that we can only make a few surmises, by implication, from the oldest surviving works on the subject, from stray references in general literature, from the elaboration of similar ideas in other disciplines, and from the fully developed *kāvya*-style which would warrant the pre-existence of some doctrines of Poetics regulating its art and usage.