Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c84.42

v2.c84.42

of *rasavat* as involving the idea of *rasa* secondarily, by admitting it in his second division of poetry; but Kuntala brushes aside even the view of his master Bhāmaha in this respect, and thinks that this case should be regarded as one in which the poet has an opportunity of creating a kind of *vakrokti* in which the *rasa* supplies the principal charm. But he allows the *rasa* to play the greatest part in what he calls *prabandha-vakratā*, i. e., in *vakratā* occurring in the composition as a whole, which, he thinks, must be accomplished chiefly by the aid of pleasing *rasas* (*rasāntareṇa ramyena yatra nirvahaṇam bhavet*). It is not the mere matter or plot, but the beauty imparted to it by the continuous sense of *rasa* in it which can make the words of a poet live (*nirantara-rasoddhāra-garbha-saundarya-nirvahāḥ | giraḥ kavīnām jīvanti na kathā-mātram āśritāḥ*). Kuntala even accepts the *Dhvanyāloka's* judgment that in the two great epics, the *śānta rasa* is the *aṅgin* (predominant *rasa*) and constitutes their principal charm, although he thinks that it is ultimately the *kavi-pratibhā* which is the all-important thing in poetry.