A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s2.69

v3.c35.s2.69

A contemporary and rival of Vāmana was Udbhata, who was posted in the court of the same king as the chief paṇḍita (sabhāpati)². He wrote a work Alaṁkārasaṅgraha³, "Short Synopsis of the Essence of Poetics", in which he is said to have stated that the soul of poetry is to be found in sentiment (rasa). The ascription to him of this doctrine has been proved to be wrong, as it was based on the error of ascribing to him a verse cited by Pratīhārendurāja. But it is true that Udbhaṭa stressed the importance of sentiment in poetry and added Śāntarasa to the list of eight sentiments of Bharata, thus making it nine. He further introduced a new classification, based entirely on sound effects, primarily alliteration, in the shape of a theory of vṛttis, manners, classed as elegant (upanāgarikā), ordinary (grāmyā) and harsh (paruṣā). In treating embellishments, he adds Dṛṣṭānta and Kāvyaliṅga, and divides simile according to the grammatical form of expression...and starts the investigation into the relation of double meaning to other figures... as well as complex issue of the different kinds of blendings of figures, saṁsṛṣṭi and saṁkara. He himself composed an epic Kumārasaṁbhava, from which he quotes examples in his poetics, and wrote Bhāmahavivaraṇa, a commentary on Bhāmaha's poetics, that is not available.