History of Sanskrit Poetics c6.34.5

c6.34.5

explains ‘काव्यस्य क्रिया काव्यरूपतापादनं तदेव हेतुः ततः’ In the कामसूत्र I. 3. 16 sixty-four kalās are enumerated which maidens had to learn secretly (अभ्यासप्रयोज्याश्च चातुःषष्टिकान्योगान् कन्या रहस्यकाकिन्यभ्यसेत् । कामसूत्र I. 3. 14) and which were to be learnt by वेश्याs also (काम. I. 3. 20). In that list occur the following ‘संपाठ्यं मानसी काव्यक्रिया, अभिधानकोषः छन्दोज्ञानम्, क्रियाकल्पः, छलितयोगाः..’ It would be noticed that unmarried girls and courtezans were to learn along with गीत, वाद्य, नृत्य, आलेख्य the kalās mentioned above which would suffice for their own education and for attracting worthy husbands or lovers. I do not know whether in any serious work on Aesthetics in Sanskrit साहित्यशास्त्र has been or would be called a कला. All that is meant in the कामसूत्र is that the unmarried girls were to be given some guidance in composing (probably amorous) poetic pieces. As the word काव्यक्रिया is very near, it mentions simply क्रियाकल्प and (not काव्यक्रियाकल्प). कालिदास himself employs क्रिया elsewhere in the sense of ‘rite’ (कुतो धर्मक्रियाविघ्नः) and ‘intellectual attainments’ as in ‘शिष्टा क्रिया कस्यचिद्’ in मालविका० I. In the सौन्दरनन्द I. 55 we read ‘समाजैरूत्सवैरन्यैः क्रियाविधिभिरेव च । अलंचकुरलंवीर्यास्ते जगद्गाम तत्पुरम् ॥’. It is not possible to hold here that the city was decked with काव्यालङ्कारशास्त्रs, but here क्रियाविधि means the performance of religious rites. Dr. Raghavan relies on ललितविस्तर p.