Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c80.45

v2.c80.45

Bhāmaha, therefore, lays down, in his classification of the different kinds of *kāvya*, that the subdivisions of poetry mentioned by him are admissible to that designation in so far as they possess *vakrokti* (i 30) ; and this is made more explicit by declaring later on that whatever value might be attached to the function of *rīti* in poetry, the *vakrokti* is desirable as an embellishment of poetic speech (i 36), which he characterises elsewhere as *vakrā* (vi 23). Therefore he calls upon the poet to be diligent in accomplishing this, as the *vakrokti* manifests the sense of poetry and as no embellishment of poetry is possible without *vakrokti* (ii 85). It is not surprising, therefore, that he rejects figures like *hetu*, *sūkṣma* and *leśa* on the ground that they do not involve *vakrokti*.