Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c80.18

v2.c80.18

Bhāmaha states at the outset the purposes of poetry (*kāvya-prayojana*) and the qualifications of a poet (*kāvya-hetu*), incidentally mentioning the ‘sources’ of poetry (*kāvya-yonayaḥ*). Regarding the first topic of the aim and purpose of poetry, it is not necessary to discuss the different views in detail, as they generally enumerate extraneous objects and throw little light on the general theory of poetry. In the older writers there is a more or less uncritical mention of fame (*kīrtti*) for the poet and delight (*prīti*)⁶ for the reader as the chief objects of poetry; and herewith Bhāmaha (i 2), Daṇḍin (i 105), Vāmana (i. 1. 5), Rudraṭa (i 21,22) and Bhoja (i 2), though belonging to different schools of opinion, seem to be content. But it became customary to add⁷, from the poet’s standpoint, ‘wealth’, ‘social success’ and ‘escape from ills’. From the reader’s point of view, poetry brought ‘solace’, ‘instruction in knowledge’ and ‘proficiency in the arts and ways of the world’; and these were sometimes summarily comprehended by the term *trivarga*, viz., profit, pleasure and virtue, to which later on the *caturvarga*, anticipated by Bhāmaha (i 2), adds *mokṣa* or liberation of the soul. This is probably an attempt to bring poetry on a level with other arts or sciences which profess similar ends, and is in harmony with the deep-rooted idea of the functions of a *śāstra*. It is, however, pointed out by later theorists like Mammaṭa and his followers⁸, who in their turn develop Abhinavagupta’s idea (*Locana* p. 12). that the *kāvya*, as distinguished from the scriptures and the sciences, is *kāntā-sammita*, i. e., like the teaching of a loving mistress; implying thereby that the pedagogic powers of poetry resolve themselves into a peculiar power of suggesting a condition of artistic enjoyment. The famous opening verse of the *Kāvya-prakāśa* makes this clear when it describes poetic speech as comprehending a creation, ungoverned by nature's laws and consisting of pure joy. The *caturvarga* and the other material objects of poetry are mentioned in almost unbroken tradition; but with the elaboration of a full-fledged scheme of Poetics in connexion with the suggestion of *rasa*, the purpose of poetry was brought into a level with the ultimate theory about its nature; and poetry was supposed to create a peculiar mood of aesthetic pleasure, conveyed generally by the philosophic term *ānanda* 9. Jagan-B. S. S. 1917, p. 9). Later writers distinguish (e. g. *Ekāvalī* pp. 13-15) between the Vedas which are *prabhu-sammita*, the Itihāsa etc. which are *mitra-sammita*, and the Kāvya which is *kāntā-sammita*.