Kavyanushasana Critical Study

Author(s): A N Upadhye
Publisher: A N Upadhye

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obvious that, while the first six chapters are devoted to an exhaustive treatment of all the relevant aspects of Sanskrit poetics, the seventh and the eighth chapters furnish a general description of the different types of the hero and the heroine in a literary composition and the various kinds of poetic compositions or literary forms in which Drama occupies a very important place. Thus, within the span and expanse of eight chapters, Hemachandra has concentrated on exhaustively dealing with the subject of Sahityaśästra as a whole. And, as already mentioned, in this work, we get a detailed tratment of each important topic, furnished with interesting discussions and critical observations on many major and minor matters and a large number of lively as well as instructive verses cited from numerous works from the vast Sanskrit and Prakrit Literatures, to explicate important literary concepts such as the purpose of poetry, the grounds of poetry, the equipment of a poet, the nature or definition of poetry, the essential constituent elements of poetry - Word, Sense, Sentiment, Excellences, Poetic Blemishes and Figures of Speech, the theories of word and meaning, various linguistic, semantic and poetic processes that aid the aesthetic or poetic enjoyment, the factors that hinder this process, the characteristics and types of the heroes and heroines and the divisions of compositions with their sub-divisional characteristics.
The Siginficant Title of the Work
Thus the Kavyanusa sana systematically deals with all the different aspects of Kavya in its broadest sense and justifies its existence and name. Kuntaka, the author of the Vakroktijivita, says that writers must name their works in such a way that the name itself reveals the core of the subject. This is a sound piece of advice which stipulates that works should be significantly named. Tested on this touch-stone, the title of the Kāvyānuśāsana appears entirely appropriate and significant. Because, while the word Kavya was generally utilized by the earlier authors either with Alamkara or Prakāśa
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