Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c87.14

v2.c87.14

Kṣemendra’s other work, *Kavi-kaṇṭhābharaṇa*⁸, though less interesting, is equally remarkable for its refreshingly novel treatment. Kṣemendra postulates two impulses for the attainment of poetic capacity, viz., divine help (*divya-prayatna*) and individual effort (*pauruṣa*). The first includes prayer, incantation and other heavenly aids; but from the latter standpoint, he classifies three groups of persons⁹ with whom instruction in the art of poetry is concerned, viz., those who require little effort (*alpa-prayatna-sādhya*), those who require great effort (*kṛcchra-sādhya*), and those in whom all effort is fruitless (*asādhya*), and sums up by saying that the capacity for poetry is vouchsafed only to the fit and few. The next chapter discusses with illustrations the question of borrowing or plagiarism, a theme which is just touched upon in the third chapter of the *Dhvanyāloka*, but which is dealt with extensively by Rājaśekhara¹⁰. Kṣemendra divides poets from this point of view into those who imitate the general colour of a poet's idea (*chāyópajīvin*), those who borrow a word or a verse-line (*padaka-* and *pada-upajīvin*), or an entire poem (*sakalópajīvin*) and lastly, those who are taken by the whole world as legitimate sources (*bhuvanópajīvya*, e.g., Vyāsa). Then he lays down elaborate rules for regulating the life, character and education of the poet. This is followed by a discussion of *camatkāra* or poetic charm, without which, we are told, no poetry is possible, and the illustration (by means of examples draw from the works of various poets) of its ten-fold aspect, according as it appeals with or without much thought (*avicārita-ramaṇīya* or *vicārya-māṇa-ramaṇīya*¹¹), resides in a part or in the whole composition, appertains to the sound, the sense or both, or relates to the poetic figure, to the sentiment, or to the well known nature of the theme. Then we come to the treatment of the excellences and defects with reference to the sense (*artha*), the verbal expression (*śabda*), or the poetic sentiment (*rasa*) involved; and the work is rounded off by fixing the extent of knowledge which a poet must possess and giving a long list of the arts and sciences in which he must be proficient, which is thus set forth: *tatra tarka-vyākaraṇa-bharata-cāṇakya-vātsyāyana-bhārata-rāmāyaṇa-mokṣópāyātmajñāna-dhātuvāda-ratnaparīkṣā-vaidyaka-jyautiṣa-dhanurveda-gaja-turaga-puruṣa-lakṣaṇa-dyūténdrajāla-prakīrṇeṣu paricayaḥ kavi-sāmrājya-vyañjanaḥ*. This rapid summary of the contents of this work will show that it hardly puts forward any special claim as a work of great theoretic importance, but that its value consists not in its substance but in its treatment of practical issues, in its careful and minute illustration of every point by examples taken from previous poets, with not a little amount of knowledge and critical discernment.