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Classification of Poetry
789 madhye kenā’py ekena sargabandhasya prārambho vidhīyate ity arthaḥ. (Prabhā, pp. 16, on K.D. I. 14).
The theme of a mahākāvya is dependent on either itihāsa. (such as the Mahābhārata; “itihäso bhāratam, upalakṣaṇam; prabhā, pp. 16, ibid Prabhā also says : tena rāmāyaṇā"di kāvyānām purāņānām ca samgrahah) - i.e. dependent on historical or semihistorical source or it could be an independent theme also. But it has to have a lofty theme - sadāśrayam. This was observed by Bhāmaha also. The theme is either dependent on historical sources or not. But it has to be a real story and not merely imagined. Prabhā observes : itarad vā, itihāsā"dişu a-vidyamānam kathānakam upajīvya nibaddham. kimtu sadāśrayam. sat satya-bhūto vrttānta āśraya adhāro yasya tat. anena kalpitasya vastuno mahākāvye varnanīyatayā svīkāre nisedhah sūcitah. athavā sat satpurusah aśrayo yasya. tena buddhacaritā"dīnām aśvaghosā"dibhih pranītānām samgraha iti kecit." (pp. 17, ibid on K.D. I. 15). But we feel that if by 'sad-asrayam' we include the possibility of a lofty and yet imaginary theme, the definition will tend to be wider in its scope and will include such poetic compositions as “The Paradise lost”, and, “The Paradise Regained" by Milten and such other master poets also. The theme should rest on the four objectives of life such as dharma, artha etc., the hero should be an intelligent person from a lofty lineage and a noble one. It should abound in. descriptions of city, ocean, mountain, seasons, sun, moon, with their rise and setting, gardens, water-sports, drinking bouts, love-sports etc. etc. The incidents of narration should describe situations of love in separation, wedding, birth of a prince, political meetings, sending of an emissary, fights, the rise of the hero, etc. (K.D. I. 15-17). Dandin gives by far greater details as compared to Bhāmaha. It may also suggest a more developed stage of literary criticism. But as both Bhāmaha and Dandin had before them a great literature by way of illustration, written by such masters as Kālidāsa, Bhāravi and the rest, these definitions are modelled on them. If either in Bhāmaha or in Dandin we come across any criticism of ideas found in the other, that may not prove priority or posteriority of either. but they should be taken to point to different traditions accepted by either. That these definitions as given by Bhāmaha and Dandin could also have a shaping influence on later poets also cannot be disputed.
Thus it is obvious that poets prior to Bhāmaha and Dandin, while creating excellent poetry must be leaning more towards descriptions of external and accidental items. Dandin also observes, like Bhāmaha, that this major type of
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