History of Sanskrit Poetics c6.44

Language: English

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7 The equipment of the poet (काव्यहेतु). Most of the writers on Poetics lay down that the things essential to the making of a true poet are three, प्रतिभा (Imagination), व्युत्पत्तिः (culture) and अभ्यास (constant practice). ‘नैसर्गिकं च प्रतिभा श्रुतं च बहु निर्मलम् । अमन्दश्चाभियोगस्याः कारणं काव्यसम्पदः ॥’ काव्यादर्श I. 103; ‘काव्यं तु जायते जातु कस्यचित्प्रतिभावतः ।...शब्दाभिधेये विशाय कृत्वा तद्विपास-नाम् । विलोक्यान्यनिबन्धांश्च कार्यः काव्यक्रियादरः ॥’ भामह I. 5 and 10; ‘त्रितयमिदं व्याप्रियते शक्तिव्युत्पत्तिरभ्यासः ॥’ रुद्रट I. 14; ‘शक्तिर्निपुणता लोकशास्त्र-काव्यावेवेक्षणात् । काव्यज्ञशिक्षयाभ्यास इति हेतुस्तदुद्भवे ॥’ काव्यप्र. I. 8; *vide* also एकावली I. 12; वाग्भटालङ्कार I. 3; अलङ्कारशेखर (p. 4). There were other writers who regarded *pratibhā* as the sole equipment required for the making of a genuine poet. राजशेखर says ‘सा (शक्तिः) केवलं काव्ये हेतुरिति यायावरीयः’ (p. 11); ‘प्रतिभैव च कवीनां काव्य-करणकारणम् । व्युत्पत्यभ्यासौ तस्या एव संस्कारकारकौ न तु काव्यहेतू’ अलङ्कारतिलक of वाग्भट (p.2); ‘तस्य च कारणं कविगता केवला प्रतिभा’ रसगङ्गाधर p. 8. प्रतिभा is that power whereby the poet sees the subjects of his poem as steeped in beauty and gives to his readers in apt language a vivid picture of the beauty he has seen.

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It is a power whereby the poet not only calls up in his reader’s heart the impressions of faded experiences, but whereby he presents ever new, wonderful and charming combinations and relations of things never before experienced or thought by the ordinary man. A poet is one who is a seer, a prophet, who sees visions and possesses the additional gift of conveying to others less fortunate through the medium of language the visions he has or the dreams he dreams. The following definitions of प्रतिभा will make this clear. 'प्रज्ञा नवनवोन्मेषशालिनी प्रतिभा मता...वर्णनानिपुणः कविः' भट्टतौत in काव्यकौतुक (vide p. 221 above); 'प्रतिभा अपूर्ववस्तुनिर्माणक्षमा प्रज्ञा तस्या विशेषो रसावेशवैशद्यसौन्दर्यकाव्यनिर्माणक्षमत्वं' and शक्तिः प्रतिभातं वर्णनीयवस्तुविषयनूतनल्लेखशालित्वम्' लोचन pp. 34 and 164: 'अपारे काव्यसंसारे कविरेव प्रजापतिः । यथास्मै रोचते विश्वं तथेदं परिवर्तते ॥' (ध्व. p. 278) ; 'प्रसन्नपदनवार्थयुक्तबोधविधायिनी । स्फुरन्ती सत्कवेर्बुद्धिः प्रतिभा सर्वतोमुखी ॥' वाग्भटालङ्कार I. 4; vide also वामन's वृत्ति on I. 3. 16 'कवित्वबीजं प्रतिभानम्'; रुद्रट I. 15-16; the prakrit verse अतहट्टिए¹ वि तहसंठिए व्व हिअअम्मि जा खिविसेइ । अथ्यविसेसे सा जम्इ विकटकविगोअरा वायी ॥' quoted in ध्व. p.296; राजशेखर p. 11 and भट्टतौत (p. 221 above) refer to this two-fold gift of the poet, of seeing visions of striking beauty (विचित्र... प्रख्या) and of conveying to others through appropriate language the visions he sees.

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Generally most great poets in Sanskrit did not endeavour to state explicitly any moral purpose as the aim of their works. They were more concerned with a happy ending to their dramas and with creating an atmosphere of ideas and bliss by their poems than with explicitly stated moral endings or ends. Their dominant mood was delight and they exhibited it mostly on the plane of normal relations, passions, affections and even prejudices of men and women. For restrictions of space I cannot go deeper into the nature of प्रतिभा.² It means 'that mental faculty which presents ever fresh flashes or coruscations of ideas' (with उन्मेष) or 'ever fresh delineations or pictures of the matters to be described’ (with उल्लेख). In defining प्रतिभा (or प्रतिभान) or शक्ति the word प्रज्ञा is used. A distinction is made between स्मृति, मति and प्रज्ञा; e. g. त्रिधा च सा (बुद्धिः) स्मृतिः मतिः प्रज्ञेति । अतिक्रान्तस्यार्थस्य स्मत्री स्मृतिः वर्तमानस्य मन्त्री मतिः अनागतस्य प्रज्ञात्री प्रज्ञा सा त्रिपकारापि कवीनामुपकर्त्री ।’ काव्यमी. p. 10. The संप्रदायप्रकाशिनी (on काव्यप्र., Tri. ed.) gives the following śloka ‘स्मृतिर्व्यतीतविषया मतिरागामिगोचरा । बुद्धिस्तत्कालिकी ज्ञेया प्रज्ञा त्रैकालिकी मता ॥’ (p. 13). Pratibhā is said to be सहजा (natural) and उत्पाद्या (cultivated) by रुद्रट (I. 16) and उत्पाद्या and औपाधिकी (due to external agencies like mantras, the grace of God) by हेमचन्द्र (काव्यानु. p. 4-5).

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Old writers like Daṇḍin held that pratibhā (in a poet) was natural (नैसर्गिकी च प्रतिभा, quoted on p. 348). Rudraṭa (I. 16), Hemachandra (p. 4) and others say that व्युत्पत्ति and अभ्यास polish, brighten and sharpen pratibhā. The ध्व० (p. 169) makes it clear that if a poet has शक्ति (i. e. प्रतिभा), it conceals the defects that may arise from lack of व्युत्पत्ति, but if a poet is deficient in प्रतिभा and has only व्युत्पत्ति, the defects in his composition are noticed at once (अव्युत्पत्तिकृतो दोषः शक्त्या संहियते कवेः । यस्त्वशक्तिवृतो दोषः स झटित्यवभासते ॥ ध्व. p. 169). The important question is : how does a man become possessed of प्रतिभा ? It appears that early writers held that प्रतिभा was the outcome of saṃskāras (impressions) made on the soul in countless births (e. g. काव्यादर्श I. 104 न विद्यते यद्यपि पूर्ववासना; काव्यमी. I. p. 12 ‘जन्मान्तरसंस्कारापेक्षियी सहजा’; वामन I. 3. 16 वृत्ति ‘कवित्वबीजं जन्मान्तरासंस्कारगतविशेषः कश्चित्’; भ्र. भा. vol. I. p. 346 कवेः वर्णनानिनपुणस्य यः अन्तर्गतोऽनादिप्राक्तनसंस्कारप्रतिभामयः &c.). The रसगङ्गाधर (pp. 8-9) does not accept the theory that प्रतिभा is invariably due to अदृष्ट. The काव्यमी. (pp. 12-14) brings out this idea by stating that pratibhā is of two kinds viz. कारयित्री (creative) and भावयित्री (appreciative): पृथगेव हि कवित्वाङ्गाकत्वं मावकत्वाच्च कवित्वं । स्वरूपभेदाद्विषयभेदाच्च । काव्यमी. p. 14. The काव्यमी. p. 11) distinguishes between शक्ति and व्युत्पत्ति and states that शक्ति alone is the cause of poetry.

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शक्तिकृते प्रतिभाव्युत्पत्तिकर्मणी । शक्तस्य प्रतिभाति शक्तश्च व्युत्पद्यते । या शब्दग्राममर्थसार्थमलंकारतन्त्रमुक्किमार्गमन्द्यपि तथाविधमधिहृदयं प्रतिभासयति सा प्रतिभा । अप्रतिभस्य पदार्थसार्थैः परोक्ष इव । प्रतिभावतः पुनरपश्यतोऽपि प्रत्यक्ष इव ।’. रुद्रट I. 15 says: मनसि सदा सुसमाधिनि विस्फुरणमनेकधाभिधेयस्य । अखिलष्टानि पदानि च विभान्ति यस्यामसौ शक्तिः ॥’ (Śakti is that whereby in a mind that is free from distractions subjects of description always flash and words that are perspicuous shine forth). The लोचन on ध्व. I. 6 (saying that Sarasvatī manifests in great poets special imagination which is uncommon) remarks that the speciality of a great poet’s imagination consists in the ability to produce poetry that is endowed with beauty and clarity due to the onrush of emotional thrill in the heart.