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Definition and Scope of Poetry
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. At V.J., I. 23, Kuntaka proceeds to explain the term 'tad-vid-ählāda-kāritva' i.e. the quality of delighting men of taste, which is used in his definition of poetry given in V.J., I. 7. He has already explained the other three elements viz. 'meaning' (i.e. arthah), 'word' (i.e. sabdah) and 'artful expression', i.e. 'vakrokti', or ‘alamkarana'. Kuntaka says that poetry has a power that brings delight to the connoisseurs. This is other than 'meaning' i.e. content, 'word' i.e. language, and artful expression i.e. ornament. These three do contribute to excellence in poetry but Kuntaka says that there is something else also viz. beauty which is beyond these three : "tad-vidāhlāda kāritvam kāvya-vid-ānanda-vidhāyitvam | kīdņiśam ? vācya-vācakavakrokti-tritayā-'tiśayottaram |”(Vịtti, on I. 23, V.J.). Kuntaka holds it as the fourth principle having its own distinct nature and excellence. Its charm carries a unique unfailing appeal. Uniqueness consists in its being felt only by men of taste. It is like perfume sweetly surrounding an object : Vịtti on I. 23 runs as :
"svarūpeṇa atiśayena ca svarūpeṇa anyat kim api tattvā'ntaram etad atiśayena etasmāt tritayad api lokottaram iti arthah. anyac ca kīdịśam ? kim api āmodasundaram 1. kim api avyapadeśyam sahridaya-hridaya-samvedyam āmodaḥ sukumāra-vastu-dharmaḥ, rañjakatvam nāma, tena sundaram, rañjakatvaramanīyam ”
We may observe that here we can read the impressions of Anandavardhana's famous uttering, viz. “vibhāti lāvanyam iva anganāsu” (Dhy. I. 4)
After thus discussing at length the definition and scope of poetry in its full concept, Kuntaka observes that there are three styles in poetry which serve the poets as high-roads and these three are the sukumāra i.e. elegant, vicitra i.e. brilliant and madhyama i.e. the mixture of these two. This he gives in VJ. I. 24 :
"santi tatra trayo mārgāḥ kavi-prasthāna-hetavah sukumāro vicitraś ca
madhyamaś ca ubhayātmakaḥ 11”. He is clear that they are three only and neither two nor four. They are the stimulators of creative process in poets and are therefore responsible for the creation of poetry itself. Kuntaka has correlated them with a poet's creative power, his genius, his nature and refuses to link them with any geographical regions. This will be discussed by us in greater detail later in volume II, but for the present we may say that Kuntaka, as compared to the vyañjanā-biased criticism of
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