Vakrokti Jivita Of Kuntaka

Author(s): K Krishnamoorthy
Publisher: K Krishnamoorthy

Page 1

K. Krishnamoorthy, Vak rokti-jīvita of Kuntaka. Dharwad, Karnatak University, 1977. xxxix + 28 facsimiles + 596 pages. Rs. 40, $10.00, £ 3.5.
(L
In the recent past, Professor K. Krishnmoorthy (K) probably ranks next only to
V. Raghvan among Indian scholars who have published in English in the field of
Sanskrit poetics. His reading in both Sanskrit and English literary criticism
is wide. He has editions of many texts to his credit. His command of English
expression is noticeably above average. He has the courage to disagree with
stalwarts in the field and also that originality which consists in bringing new
details and arguments to light. Yet it has generally been difficult for me to
- instic be enthusfad about K's publications bearing on Sanskrit poetics. True, I still
think highly of his Ph.D. thesis (1947, University of Bombay) published under the title The Dhvanyaloka and its Critics (Mysore: Kavyalaya, 1967) and have certainly benefited from a reading of his works; all of them contain something
valuable. However, they do not give me unalloyed intellectual pleasure or inspire
in me a general confidence regarding the author's abilities as editor, translator, commentator, and evaluator. The main reason for this is that in most of his recent publications K rarely displays the rigour, discipline, patience and caution which the projects he undertakes demand. The overwhelming impression I
get is that K changes his stance as the work proceeds, that he does not revise the
earlier portion to make it consistent with the procedure followed in the later
portion, and that he compromises the needs of scholarly work for those of a
rushed, textbook-type publication.