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Classification of Poetry
yuktam vakra-svabhāvoktyā
sarvam eva etad iṣyate." (Kā. I. 30)
"Expression carrying beautiful features", Tatacarya explains as : "tad anibaddham punaḥ vakroktyā svabhāvóktyä ca yuktam eva bhavati." bhinnam dvidhā svabhāvóktir vakróktiś ca iti vanmayam." tad vakṣyate. yadi punar na vakróktiḥ syat, na vā svabhāvóktiḥ tan na kavyam. vārtā tu sā, yathā - "bhojanam dehi rajendra..."
We do not agree with Tatacarya's explanation. By 'sarvam eva' we mean all poetry, both major and minor types including. Bhāmaha wants all poetry, i.e. poetry worth its name, - be it a large composition or an individual verse to be adorned by an expression of the beautiful type - vakra-svabhāvasya-uktiḥ. The idea is that there is no charm in local expressions as seen in normal usage. A poetic expression has to be worth its name i.e. it should carry a stamp of its own charming nature, normally missing in worldly expressions of ordinary usage. Again, we believe that Bhāmaha (Kā. II. 93) does not seem to favour svabhāvókti as an artistic expression or alamkāra as again Tatacarya would expect us to believe. "The expression 'ke-cit' in "svabhāvóktir alamkāraḥ iti kecit pracakṣate" - suggest Bhamaha's disagreement with the views of others who take svabhāvokti as an alamkāra. Or at least, he does not show any enthusiasm for the same, even while giving a casual illustration at II. - 94, which describes the activity of a child trying to ward off cows from entering a field full of ready crops, all the time himself, shouting, waving a stick, crying and calling for help. So, "yuktam vakra-svabhāvóktyä" for Bhamaha is a condition necessary for any type of literature. Poetry in any variety, has to be charged with expression of beautiful qualities, i.e. it has to be beautiful.
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Bhamaha's concept of true poetry is laid down in kārikās that follow, but these may not deter us here as we are concerned here only with the types of poetry. Or, perhaps, Bhāmaha suggests that poetry is divided into two such as vaidarbha and gauḍa. These are only styles and any form major or minor can be laid into either of these two. Bhamaha is open to both the styles, provided the basic characteristic of poetry being 'sa-vakrókti' i.e. poetry having inherent charm is seen. For Bhamaha, the alamkṛtiḥ or charm or beauty of language i.e. poetry or poetic language is the quality of "vakrábhidheya-śabdókti" - i.e. expression of beautiful sense and beautiful word. (Kā. I. 36)
Jain Education International
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Dandin begins with a three-fold classification of poetry such as 'padya' i.e. verse, 'gadya' or prose and miśra i.e. mixed, as against Bhamaha's basic two-fold
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