200. 224 CHAPTER IV

224 CHAPTER IV

of Dhvani, whom Abhinava takes into consideration, is the one, according to whom the following four are the only constituents of both, the poetry and the poetic experience. 1. Word.

2. Meaning. 3. Attributes of words and meanings (Sabdarthagunas) 4. Embellishments of words and meanings (Šabdārthālańkāra). This theory represents a very early stage in the develop- ment of the art of literary criticism. It is based on the objective perception and all the facts, taken into account by it, are objective. It was well established before the Dhvani theory was able to win for itself the position of supremacy. It had its staunch followers, who maintained that (i) either there were no elements other than the four mentioned above or (ii) if any, they could be categorically brought under the above. For, the difference between other elements and the aforesaid, could not be such as would justify their being categorised separately. (iii) But if there be really any such poetic element, noticed by some, which is essen- tially different from the above, that, being different from the traditionally recognised ones, had to be dismissed as unpoetic and, therefore, not essential. These are just the three positions of the opponents of the Dhvani theory, who totally deny the existence of the Dhvani element in poetry, as we have stated above. Evidently their opposition was based upon the ignorance of the most important subjective fact. And their inability to realise it in the experience was due to the bias of the earlier traditional poetic theory, which they were following. The first and the third of these positions do not require any separate eriticism. The establishment of the