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Thus, according to Bharata, Ojas is achieved by śabdartha-- sampatti. Rich expression or the exaltation of ordinary things. is the Ojas of Bharata. This quality, undoubtedly, transform s. lowly things into lovely noble objects.
But Mangala, a poet and a renowned literary critic, interposes here and objects (and Hemachandra nods in agreement) to the above definition of Ojas (given by Bharata). He raises the point that if Ojas, as you say, is the endowment of grandeur to lowly things by the richness of language, then the reverse device of poets in belittling conspicuous and noble subjects should be deemed to be the opposite of Ojas or brilliance in poetry. To explain this point, he cites a verse (403) from the Vairāgyaśataka (29) of Bhartrhari in which the mythical mount Meru, described as a mass of solid gold, is. decried by the poet as useless for both the poor and the rich alike. Incidentally, the poet tries to bring out suggestively the useless lives of the ungenerous rich.
This verse does not lack in Ojas, in Managla's view, just because it does not satisfy Bharata's definition of Ojas.
This discussion pertains to one of the two verses of Bharata on Ojas. The Banares edition contains this verse as well as another, alternate, definition of Ojas by Bharata. The other verse defines Ojas as the collocation abounding in Samāsas. a conception of Ojas which has persisted in Poetics. 153
Interestingly, Dandin's views on Ojas are quoted (p. 275) at this stage. Dandin's point is that the above defined Ojas cannot be a Guņa because poets have three ways of describing things : (1) Making small things exalted, (2) Making great things small, and (3) Describing things as they are. Therefore, Oias is abundance of compounds (KĀ. 1. 80 : 3113: FATALITETTA etc.) This Ojas is generally an ornament of prose, but even in poetry the Gaudas welcome it. The former Ojas is found in prose romance works such as Akhyāyikā etc., but the second type of Ojas is found in the verse (404) cited here
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