________________
33
Definition and Scope of Poetry Vāmana becomes a 'dehā”tmavādin', i.e. one who regards the physical body as soul. But all this does not make any sense, as strictly speaking an abstract art as poetry, need not be imagined as having a 'body or a 'soul'. In fact what comes out of this sort of usage is the particular poetician's personal insistance on this or that source of beauty as more or less important. Actually there is no aesthete of poetic arts who has totally rejected any source of beauty altogether. For Vaman, 'rīti' the soul resides in poetry on one hand and on the other when he says, 'rekhāsu iva citram', - i.e. poetry resides in rīti as picture in lines, he almost upturns the 'āśraya-āśrayibhāva' or the relation of a thing and its substratum. In fact, Vāmana is not very serious about these metaphors and we are not supposed to drag them too far!
After suggesting that 'rīti?/style is the soul of poetry, he explains ‘rīti' as a special type of arrangement of words; and that this speciality or 'visesa' is of the form of 'guna' or poetic excellence. Vāmana observes : kim punah iyam rītiḥ iti āha, 'vićiştā padaracanā rītiḥ' (Vāmana, I. ii. 7) And adds, “ko'sau vis'eṣaḥ ? ity āha - višeso gunā"tmā. (Vāmana, I. ii. 8). - "What then is this 'rīti' or style ? Says he, "Rīti is a special arrangement of words.” This 'speciality (= viśesa) is explained as poetic excellence.' Thus perhaps poetic excellence is the category which finds greatest favour with Vāmana. We will go to that when Anandvardhana talks about 'samghatana' i.e. poetic structure, and he expects it to reside in 'guna' or poetic excellence as either its soul or its substratum. But again, the point is, do we hold that the concepts of rīti and samghatan, are absolutely congruent ? But one point emerges that when Anandvardhana suggests the option of those who hold samghatanā as residing in 'guna' which is its 'soul (= ātmabhūta) then, it is likely that perhaps he seems to echo the view of the followers of Vamana, i.e. "Vāmanīyāḥ”.
Vāmana has also tried to present the concept of poetic blemishes in his own way but it does not take us further than Bharata. He takes dosa/poetic blemish as either the opposite or absence of 'guna' i.e. poetic excellence. He has also tried to distinguish between 'alamkāra' i.e. a figure of speech, taken in its narrower connotation and poetic excellence. He observes : (Vamana, III. i. 1) : “kavya śobhāyāḥ kartāro dharmāh gunāḥ”, ye khalu śabdā'rthayordharmaḥ kavyaśobhām kurvanti, te guņāḥ 11" and (Vāmana, III, i. 2) - “tad atiśayahetavas tvalamkārāḥ”. - tasyāḥ kävyas'obhāyā atiśayaḥ tadatis'ayah, tasya hetavaḥ. Then at, III. i. 3 he observes : "pūrve nityāh". pūrve gunāh nityāh tair vinā kāvya-s'obhā-'nutpatteh." i.e. Poetic excellences are the cause of poetic beauty. Those that are basically the qualities of word and sense and make for poetic beauty are 'gunas' or poetic
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
