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TYPES OF LITERARY
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COMPOSITIONS FORMS OF LITERATURE
In chapter e'ght of his work, Hemachandra divides literature(Kavya) into Prekṣya and Sravya types or forms. Of these two types, Preksya is that which can be witnessed and Sravya is. that which can be heard while read by oneself. Under Preksya come all the varieties of a drama. While under Sravya can be subsumed all varieties of a poem which is enjoyed as it is read.. Bhaṭṭa Tauta's Lofty Conception of Poetry
Poetry, whether dramatic or poetic, is the creation of a poet. Bhatta Tauta, the preceptor of Abhinavagupta and the author of the lost masterpiece of Sanskrit Poetics, the Kavyakautuka, describes the poet as both a seer and a depictor of human emotions; for poetry is both Darśana or profound intuition, insight or vision and Varṇana or apt desiction or portrayal of that vision. Thus, a poet is a seer, a Rṣi inasmuch as, with his divine vision, he fathoms the very secrets. and the peculiar characteristics of all kinds of things. It is because of his power of seeing the essence of things that the poet is called a Kavi, another type of Rṣi. But the poet not only perceives or conceives, he also executes. Thus he is a master of depiction and narration. In fact, the etymology of Kavi is from the root 'Kavṛ' which means to describe, to portray. A poet, therefore, describes things with supreme skill and absorbing interest. Thus Darśana and Varṇana, these two
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