Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c84.27

v2.c84.27

Kuntala then explains that the *vakrokti* charms us by the skill of the poet, and is therefore called *vaidagdhya-bhaṅgī-bhaṇiti*¹². It rests ultimately on the conception (*pratibhā*) of the poet, or on his skill (*kauśala*), or on an act of imagination on his part, which is termed *kavi-vyāpāra* or *kavi-karman*. Kuntala does not exactly define this *kavi-vyāpāra*, which is the ultimate source of poetry, perhaps because he is conscious of the fact that it is in its nature undefinable; but he analyses it elaborately, and distinguishes and classifies its function in six different spheres, namely, in the arrangements of letters (*varṇa*), of the substantive and terminal parts of a word (*pada-pūrvārdha* and *pada-parārdha*), of a sentence (*vākya*), of a particular topic (*prakaraṇa*), and of the composition as a whole (*prabandha*). He devotes nearly the whole of his work, with the exception of the introductory portion of the first chapter, to the definition, classification and illustration of these varieties of *kavivyāpāra-vakratā*, which thus form the different categories into which poetic speech may be analysed.