रामचरितम् /24
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to the rules, but in their composition they bring into play their fertile
imagination, and skill in expression of emotion which may be appreciated by
the public.
To the latter class belongs our poet Abhinanda, the author of the
Râmacarita, though he has not been so uncharitable as to go against the rules
laid down by critics altogether. On the contrary, on many occasions he
follows the definition without sacrificing his independence as a poet and,
therefore, the Râmacarita may justly be termed as a Mahàkâvya.
The very beginning of the Râmacarita marks out Abhinanda as an
independent thinker, and no respector of lifeless conventions. He introduces
his hero, Rāma not as a child, but as a grown up man in a state of great
mental anxiety awaiting the arrival of Sugriva whom he thought to be an
ungrateful friend and, who was to be sent to Lanka in search of his sweet-
heart at the close of the rainy season. This beginning, to say the least,
is extremely dramatic and bespeaks the poet's great originality in the
handling of his subject, because this is a situation which fires the imagination
of the reader and he is immediately drawn towards the poem and his interests
are well kindled. This shows moreover the poet's fondness for the
Vipralambha Srigára.
According to Dandin's definition of a Mahakavya, the Ramacarita
begins with the Vastunirdesa instead of the two others Âsis and Namaskriya.
Besides this, the descriptions of the city, ocean, mountain, seasons, rise of the
sun and the moon etc., are all to be met with in this poem in their appropriate
places as required by the definition, and thus the poem deserves to be called
a full-fledged Mahâkâvya. The poems of Bharavi, Mágha and others have
the Ankas as Sri, Laksmi, etc., at the end of each chapter indicating that the
cantos are of their own composition. The Râmacarita does not, however,
contain any Aika of this kind; the practice obtained here is to insert the
word Abhinanda' itself either in the form of a verb or noun in each
canto especially when he becomes much enthusiastic over his fluency of
expression and the excellent arrangement of his words, and forgets himself.
Style.
From very ancient times there is a keen controversy amongst the
critics of Sanskrit literature regarding the comparative
merits of the two styles: Vaidarbhi and Gaudi. Some
differentiate these two from one another and consider the
Vaidarbhi as superior, while others do not recognise this difference and
consider them to be on the same level. Bhámaha, one of the earliest writers
on Rhetorics refers to this controversy as already existing in his time and
associates himself with the latter view.¹ But Dandin in his Kavyddarsa
1. Kâvyêlankâra 1, 31-33,
to the rules, but in their composition they bring into play their fertile
imagination, and skill in expression of emotion which may be appreciated by
the public.
To the latter class belongs our poet Abhinanda, the author of the
Râmacarita, though he has not been so uncharitable as to go against the rules
laid down by critics altogether. On the contrary, on many occasions he
follows the definition without sacrificing his independence as a poet and,
therefore, the Râmacarita may justly be termed as a Mahàkâvya.
The very beginning of the Râmacarita marks out Abhinanda as an
independent thinker, and no respector of lifeless conventions. He introduces
his hero, Rāma not as a child, but as a grown up man in a state of great
mental anxiety awaiting the arrival of Sugriva whom he thought to be an
ungrateful friend and, who was to be sent to Lanka in search of his sweet-
heart at the close of the rainy season. This beginning, to say the least,
is extremely dramatic and bespeaks the poet's great originality in the
handling of his subject, because this is a situation which fires the imagination
of the reader and he is immediately drawn towards the poem and his interests
are well kindled. This shows moreover the poet's fondness for the
Vipralambha Srigára.
According to Dandin's definition of a Mahakavya, the Ramacarita
begins with the Vastunirdesa instead of the two others Âsis and Namaskriya.
Besides this, the descriptions of the city, ocean, mountain, seasons, rise of the
sun and the moon etc., are all to be met with in this poem in their appropriate
places as required by the definition, and thus the poem deserves to be called
a full-fledged Mahâkâvya. The poems of Bharavi, Mágha and others have
the Ankas as Sri, Laksmi, etc., at the end of each chapter indicating that the
cantos are of their own composition. The Râmacarita does not, however,
contain any Aika of this kind; the practice obtained here is to insert the
word Abhinanda' itself either in the form of a verb or noun in each
canto especially when he becomes much enthusiastic over his fluency of
expression and the excellent arrangement of his words, and forgets himself.
Style.
From very ancient times there is a keen controversy amongst the
critics of Sanskrit literature regarding the comparative
merits of the two styles: Vaidarbhi and Gaudi. Some
differentiate these two from one another and consider the
Vaidarbhi as superior, while others do not recognise this difference and
consider them to be on the same level. Bhámaha, one of the earliest writers
on Rhetorics refers to this controversy as already existing in his time and
associates himself with the latter view.¹ But Dandin in his Kavyddarsa
1. Kâvyêlankâra 1, 31-33,