History of Sanskrit Poetics c6.43.2

c6.43.2

प्रीतिं करोति कीर्ति च साधुकाव्यनिबन्धनम्॥’ I. 2; सर. क. I. 2 निर्दोषं गुणवत्काव्यमलङ्कारैरलंकृतम्। रसान्वितं कविः कुर्वन् कीर्ति प्रीतिं च विन्दति; वामन says ‘काव्यं सददृष्टार्थ प्रीतिकीर्तिहेतुत्वात्’ I. 1. 5; ‘काव्यं यशसेऽर्थकृते व्यवहारविदे शिवेतरक्षतये। सद्यः परनिर्वृतये कान्तासंमिततयोपदेशयुजे॥’ काव्यप्र. I; this mentions 6 purposes viz. fame, wealth, knowledge of the ways of the world, removal of ills, highest delight, sweet instruction. Delight of a high spiritual order is the chief end of poetry. Instruction, moralizing, cleverness in arts are only by-products, secondary results of poetry. The दशरूपक (I. 6) ridicules भामह and others who speak of व्युत्पत्ति or knowledge of पुरुषार्थs as the purpose of poetry. Similarly, the view of भामह (V. 3 quoted on p. 76) saying that Poetry is like a dose of honey inducing persons to take a bitter medicine has a parallel in western theories of Aesthetics that explained that poetry was ‘the pleasant taste which hid the Aloes and Rhubarb of wholesome things’ as Prof. E. F. Carritt says in his ‘the Theory of Beauty’ p. 43 (5th ed. of 1949). That Aesthetics would influence life (though indirectly) is emphasized by मम्मट in the words ‘रामादिवद्वर्तितव्यं &c. हेमचन्द्र (p. 2) accepts only three of these ‘काव्यमानन्दाय यशसे कान्तातुल्यतयोपदेशाय च’ and says that one may or may not get wealth from काव्य and the other purposes can be secured by other means; vide रुद्रट I. 4, 8-13, 21 and XII. 1 ‘ननु काव्येन क्रियते सरसामवगमश्चतुर्वर्गै।