A History of Sanskrit Literature c25.s2.13

c25.s2.13

These five qualities are clearly essentially connected with sense, a sixth, Mādhurya, sweetness, is defined as possessing Rasa, which here denotes rather tastefulness than sentiment as taken by Bühler among others, and this is a quality of sense as well as of sound, for it applies to the extent of forbidding the use of expressions suggesting vulgar ideas, requiring that love should be alluded to in decently veiled phrases. It, however, also has to do with tasteful arrangement of sounds, and in this there is a divergence between the styles, for the Vaidarbha likes the combination of harmonious sounds, while the Gauḍa prefers the more obvious and blatant device of alliteration outright. The Vaidarbha also demands Sukumăratā, gentleness, which means the use of syllables which are not rough sounding, while the Gauḍas like harsh sounds when they serve to accord with the sentiment expressed. Thus we have for the Vaidarbha the pleasing if in sense negligible: