________________
in the Harşacarita in Bāna's life account, in the siśupālavadha in the love-scene when the avowed aim of the poet is to describe Virarasa. All this goes against the chief Rasa and is calculated to result in a poetic blemish from which even great poets have not escaped.
(6) In fact, the poets' foremost duty is to develop to the fullest extent the principal or predominant Rasa. Any break in the development of the principal Rasa leads to a poetic blemish; for, an unhampered development of the poetic sentiment is the essence of the poetic art. Thus, overlooking the principal element (Angino'ananusandhānam), as in the fourth act of the play Ratnāvali, where Sāgarikā, the heroine, is foregotten on the arrival of Bābhravya, is a poetic blemish. Artistic Continuity
Hemachandra notes that continuity of the development of the Rasa is the essence of poetic beauty, as, for example, in the play Tāpasavatsaraja, the sentiment of love for Vasavadattā, though subject to fear of interruption in the story, is continued uninterrupted throughout the six acts of the play.
(7) Celebration of an unimportant or unrelated thing or the description of the irrelevant, called Anangașyābhidhānam, is a blemish. Some authors very often indulge in developing insignificant or irrelevant things, setting aside the chief sentiment. Ananga means that which does not contribute to the heightening of the Rasa of a poem. Description of the irrelevant or of something not helpful to the Rasa is instanced in the Karpūramānjari where the king ignores the description of the spring made by the heroine as well as by himself but praises the bard's description of the same spring. The Art of Characterization and Rasa
(8) The same principles apply to characterization in poetry. These characters can be : (i) Divine (God, Maheśvara, etc.), (ii). Human (Madhava, etc.), (iii) Both human and divine (Krşņa. etc.), (iv) Of the Nether world (Pātāliya), (v) Both human and Pātāliya,
304
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org