Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c80.9

v2.c80.9

poetic conception of the Kāvya-puruṣa (Spirit of Poetry) and his bride Sāhitya-vidyā. According to Rājaśekhara's somewhat fanciful description, the body of this Kāvya-puruṣa is composed of word and sense (*śabda* and *artha*), the face made of Sanskrit, the arms of Prākrit, the hips and loins of Apabhraṃśa, the feet of Paiśāca, and the breast of mixed languages. This is evidently from the linguistic point of view. He further adds that famous sayings (*uktīṇam*) constitute his words, moods and sentiments (*rasa*) make up his soul, metres form the hair of his body, his conversation consists of questions and answers and riddles, and he is adorned by poetic figures like alliteration and simile. The later writers attempt to arrive at greater precision, first indicated by Vāmana, who makes 'diction' (*rīti*) to be the soul of poetry. That the external art of poetry can be systematised formed one of the fundamental postulates of Sanskrit Poetics; but at the same time the necessity of some deeper principle to explain the manifold character of its content could not be ignored. Hence the attempt to find the 'soul' or the animating principle in the 'body' or external frame-work of poetry. Bhāmaha perhaps vaguely realised this when he proposed to take *vakrokti* as the underlying principle of artistic expression; but Daṇḍin goes a step further and designates the *guṇas* as the 'life-breath' (*prāṇaḥ*) of the diction or *rīti*, which he sets up as the most important part of poetry. Vāmana is the first known writer to comprehend and state distinctly what this 'soul' is, and the Dhvanikāra takes the last step in completing this figurative idea by defining systematically the mutual relation of the 'body' and the 'soul' of poetry. The Dhvanikāra implies in ii 7 that *vyaṅgya artha* is this *ātman*, the *guṇas* being compared to natural qualities like courage, and an agreeable sense and of clever clothing of the sense with poetical or rhetorical ornaments absorb the attention of these writers; and whatever may be the theoretic basis of poetic charm, it is enough if it is realised by the objective beauty of ingenious expression.