Sambodhi 2005 Vol 28

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah, K M Patel
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 15

“POETIC CREATIVITY; ITS MANIFOLD MANIFESTATIONS AND EVALUATION”
TAPASVI NANDI
All art is a march towards the Divine, and poetic art is no exception. In our humble opinion, art in itself is an activity, "of the divine, for the divine and by the divine."
Poetic creativity, which is at the root of poetic expression has been analysed carefully by Indian Literary Aesthetics. The critics have tried to suggest that, what they call "pratibhā” i.e. poetic intuition or genius is at the root of all poetic activity. Normally all thought-currents of Indian Literary Aesthetics hold this, with some thinkers taking 'pratibhā', 'vyutpatti' i.e. scholarship and abhyasa' i.e. practice, taken together or, severally as the cause of poetic expression. We will not go into any further discussion concerning this. Nor shall we discuss the definition and scope of poetry, which, in general is held to be both word and sense taken together.' Anandavardhana (Vịtti, I. i) observes : "śabdā’rtha-śarīram tāvat kāvyam.” Here, the great Abhinavagupta in his Locana observes that “tāvad-grahanena na kasyā’py atra vipratipattir iti darśayati” (Locana, Dhv. I. i). The idea is that (by and large) there is unanimity of opinion concerning the fact that word and sense taken together make for poetry. We leave this also at this point, for we want to concern ourselves with something still further.
Poetry i.e. Kāvya, an outcome of poetic creativity, assumes many a form. Roughly speaking we may agree that kāvya is (i) narrative and descriptive and also (ii) dramatic; including semi-dramatic art-forms with a mixture of the elements of dance and music. These art-forms tend to be more than 45 and we have devoted space to this topic elsewhere. It may be noted that we take the dramatic type as part of literature, though of course, the dramatic art has its own independent existence and is certainly else than literary art. However, we take is as part of literature in the sense that prior to it being enacted on the stage, when it becomes drama proper, it is