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faculty of learning and practising. The rhetotico-poetical tradition contains an armory of flashing devices. In an age of literary self-consciousness and rhetorical stereotyping, the conventions, which appear 'flat conventions' today, represented "the language of a highly civilised and sophisticated past... manifesting itself in literary and social conventions or fixities" in poetry. The aspect of poetic practice meant "cleverness in weaving metaphors and other poetic figures, at the trick of producing a double meaning, at manipulating complicated schemes of alliteration and rhyming, at following up quick composition, at making complete verses out of broken lines and sentences, and similar ingenious practices."
Manuals of Kaviśikṣa give a list of Kavisamayas or poetic conventions but the Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara "mixes up the topics of Kaviśikṣa with those of Poetics proper." Dr. Suryakanta opines that Rajasekhara's treatment is not scientific, though it is thoughtful and exhaustive. 259
In Defence of Literary Conventions
Dr. V.M.Kulkarni connects the question of poetic convention with that of poetic flaw. Thus propriety and fidelity to poetic truth justify certain modes of expression and typical poetic conventions which find a legitimate place in Poetics. 260 On Hemachandra's contribution, Dr. Kulkarni writes: "While treating of this topic in his Kavyanuśāsana, (Hemachandra) reproduces verbatim passages after passages from the Kavyamimamsa. He, however, does not indicate his source. .. Hemachandra does not give a definition nor the origin of the poetic conventions. Hemachandra reverses Rajasekhara's order, ignores his classification of the poetic conventions into Svargya etc. He brings under the heading 'Niyama' all the Svargya and the Pataliya and Prakirṇaka-dravya-samayas of Rajasekhara. 261 But the impact of Rajasekhara's and Hemachandra's works is evident in all later discussions of this topic.
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On the traditions and conventions of Sanskrit poets, F. W. Thomas' defence is noteworthy: "They were carefully
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