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Sanskrit Aesthetics
91
“Beauty under all conditions develops fresh charms. In every posture, the beauty of the form is always seen at an advantage.”
Or Bhartphari's observation in his Sưngaraśataka (v 40) :
लोकेषु सप्तस्वपि तथ्यमेतत्
नान्यन्मनोहरि नितम्बिनीभ्यः ।
"I truly swear that in all the seven worlds there is nothing more beaut ful thao nitambinis (women with large and handsome hips), lovely women."
Māgha describes the oature of ramaniyatā (Beauty) in his famous line : क्षणे क्षणे यन्नवतामुपैति तदेव रूपं रमणीयतायाः ।
- sisu. IV. 17
"Evernew winsomeness is the essential characteristic of beauty." In other words, Beauty is what reveals or presents ever new aspects every. time it is contemplated.
These arthantaranyāsa-type statements, it would seem, support the view that beauty is objective.
Now let us consider the view, that ala mkārika-s take of beauty.
Alamkārikas on the Natue of Beauty : To the older alankäriks (literary critics, thinkers) like Bbāmaha, Udbhata, Rudrata who pame their works as Kāvyālaskāra, alamkāra is a beautiful expression, the distinguishing feature of poetry. According to them, even the rasas subserve beauty of expression. Dandin, although he calls his work Kavyadarsa, 'Mirror of Poetry', pays the greatest tribute to alamkara when he unequivocally declares :
यच्च सन्ध्यङ्गवृत्त्यङ्गलक्षणाद्यागमान्तरे । व्यावणितमिदं चेष्टमलकारतयैव नः ॥
-Kavyadarśa II. 367
Bhoja, after Dandin, considers guna-s, alamkara-s, rīti-s, vịtti-s, sarndhi-s, laksana-s, rasa-s, language, metre, form of composition, namely epic, drama, etc., as alamkāra. Kuntaka, who describes his work as Kāvy. alamkara, regards his vakrokti as continuation of alamkāra. It is Vamana who names his work Kavyalamkāra-sūtra, and who follows Dandin, realises the full significance of the term alamkāra aod says explicitly :
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