Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

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REVIEWS
educated Indian scholar is able to do. As Lienhard points out, the reader par excellence is the learned connoisseur familiar with kavya and the theory of kavya. However, his penetrating analysis of the main characteristics of kávya, of the training and practice of the poet, and of his technique, will be a great help in understanding the norms which guided the composition of kavya literature.
In the last two sections of the first chapter, Lienhard deals with the classification, periods, chronology and extent of kavya literature. He points out that a division into periods is of little relevance for the history of kavya literature, which remained largely homogeneous throughout its long history. These considerations determine the structure of Lienhard's book. Only the beginnings of kavya are regarded as constituting a separate period (chapter II). Chapter III is devoted to laghukāvya, chapter IV to sargabandha, chapter V to prose and chapter VI to campū.
It is not possible to follow in detail Lienhard's study of the kavya literature. He has been able to present a great amount of information without resorting to lists of titles and authors. Well-chosen quotations in Sanskrit and English translation illustrate the nature of the works discussed. The space allotted to individual works is proportionate to their aesthetic value. The essential bibliography is given in the notes. Lienhard's intimate knowledge of the works discussed enables him to illuminate many aspects hitherto neglected. It is difficult to single out a chapter or section because Lienhard has almost always something new to say. Although it is probably no more than a personal impression, one would like to mention in particular the chapter on laghukāvya, and especially, the sections on the singlestanza (muktaka).
Lienhard has not much to say about the commentaries, although they form an integral part of the kävya tradition. A few words on such famous commentators as Vallabhadeva and Mallinatha would have been useful in explaining their importance for the understanding of kavya literature.
Lienhard's book is an important contribution not only to the history of Indian literature but also to a better understanding of a branch of literature which has not always been appreciated according to its own norms by Western scholars. We must be grateful to him for having painted such an attractive and instructive picture of the Indian kavya literature.
Let me end with a few minor points. On p.55 a line seems to have been dropped after “On the other hand the classical poetry that gradually arose was non-mythological in character and considered that its" (lines 14 and 15 from the bottom). P. 97: Āryāsaptaśati is rendered as 'Fifty (poems) in the Āryā (metre)'. P. 108, n. 153: Add to the translations of the Rtusamhāra, R. H. Assier de Pompignan, Meghaduta- tusamhāra. Paris, 1938. P. 114, n. 173 (last line): read p. 171, note 51.