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Vol. XXIV, 2001
TĀTPARYA' IN BHOJA paramārthah, ityarthah -
[Trans K. Kris. pp. 354, 355, ibid] - "In the wide-ranging material before the poet that which is pitched upon by the genius of the poet for its activity endows the whole with the quality of 'splendour'. (I. 55)
The poet has before him a lot of raw material like words and so on, awaiting to be picked up. Now the poet's genius selects only one amidst them to show its wonderous capacity and since that becomes most relevant to the poetic activity as a whole, there arises a quality which is designated as 'splendour'.
In fact it is a quality which can not be achieved merely by the activity of creative genius either; one and all the different constituents will have to cooperate in bringing it about :
'It is something attained by the full co-operation of all the constituent elements and it is something which surely results in an extra-ordinary aesthetic effect in the mind of the connoisseur. In short, it is the whole and sole essence of poetry.' (1. 56) -
. The first epithet explains how each and every constituent in the vast raw material availble to the poet, should shine at its best without a single flaw. It is only then that the over-all literary quality of 'splendour' is achieved. The second epithet points out that its appeal to the sensitive tastes of connoisseurs is unfailing and extra-ordinary. In a word it deserves to be the life-essence or 'sine qua non' of poetry.”
Perhaps here lies Bhoja's original inspiration of his treatment of 'prabandha-gunas'. Dr. Raghavan observes about these (pp. 314) : "Bhoja gives here a list of features which go to make up the best poem. It is almost a statement of the criticism of work as a whole. Sabda-guņas are the physical or formal features; Artha-gunas pertain to the content and theme; the ubhayagunas embrace both." ---- (pp. 315 ibid)" These features of the prabandha are called gunas by Bhoja because they contribute to the beauty of the poem.
Though Bhoja does not directly name'lāvanya' and 'saubhāgya’ as gunas, he does mention them here while treating 'tātparya'. Let us see it once again. ... He observes that, that which is 'tātparya' or purport in ordinary speech is termed 'dhvani' in poetry. Here we may say that Bhoja's 'dhvani' is not 'principal
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