A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s2.72

v3.c35.s2.72

The alleged theory, that sentiment is the soul of poetry, wrongly ascribed to Udbhaṭa, formed the basis of the Dhvanikārikās, 120 metrical kārikās on poetics by some anonymous writer¹, upon which Ānandavardhana of Kashmir, about 850 A.D.², wrote a running and learned commentary Dhvanyāloka³ (which in fact is an independent work on the nature of poetry). According to Ānandavardhana, all good poetry has two meanings, the spoken one or denotation, that is to say, what is expressed by words and is embellished by alaṁkāras and the implied or concealed one, that is, what is inferred by the reader or the hearer. And in this implied one (that is designated as dhvani or tone) lies the real soul of poetry. The alaṁkāras, including metaphor and other poetical figures, thereby, become so much more impressive that they even hint at the implied meaning, that is purely suggested, "in the same way as the bodice covers the breasts and nevertheless lends them more charm". Above all the feeling and sentiment (rasa) belong to the unspoken. Accordingly Ānandavardhana distinguishes between three types