Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c79.96

v2.c79.96

This is a rough outline of the teachings, relevant to Poetics proper, that we can gather from the somewhat meagre text of Bharata, and it may be taken as an outline of the discipline as it existed in the earliest known period of its history. With Bhāmaha, Daṇḍin and the Dhavanikāra, on the other hand, begins the next period of its history, a comparatively brief but exceedingly important stage of extraordinary creative genius. Of the period anterior to Bharata, our knowledge is extremely scanty; and between Bharata and the definite formulation of poetic theories which begins with Bhāmaha, lies, again, a long gap of which we do not possess much knowledge. It is clear, however, *sattva-guṇa*. Whatever difference there might be as to the meaning of the term *sāttvika* itself, all the writers on this subject agree in applying the term to denote those gestures (enumerated above) which give an involuntary expression to internal feelings.