A History of Sanskrit Literature c25.s4.26

c25.s4.26

Of other treatises it is necessary to mention the works of the polymath Kṣemendra, *Aucityavicāra*¹ and *Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa*,² as they stand rather apart from the ordinary line. In the former Kṣemendra develops the conception of Aucitya, propriety as essential to sentiment, indeed the life of sentiment, and as founded in the charm underlying the relish of sentiment. He finds twenty-seven cases in which propriety can be exhibited or violated, and the value of his work lies in his rich illustration and his criticisms of what he deems defects. Such critiques on an extended scale are rare, and Kṣemendra is a better critic than a poet. The *Kavikaṇṭhābharaṇa* discusses the possibility of becoming a poet, the issue of borrowing on a small or large scale, and the legitimacy of doing so in the case of the epic and similar works, the charm of poetry with illustration of its ten aspects, the defects and excellencies with regard to sense, sound, or sentiment, and the various arts which a poet ought to be familiar with. The *Kāvyakalpalatā*,³ with a commentary, by Arisiṅha and Amaracandra (13th cent.) is still more of a practical book of advice to poets, while Bhānudatta in the fourteenth century wrote on sentiment in his *Rasamañjarī* ¹ and *Rasataraṅgiṇī*.²