247. MAHIMA BHAȚȚA'S CRITICISM OF DHVANI 273

MAHIMA BHAȚȚA'S CRITICISM OF DHVANI 273

according to his own statement, is for those whose intellec- tual equipment and tendency are like his own. He knew that the very fact that he took up the work of so great and renowned a man as Ananda Vardhana for criticism would establish his importance in the literary circle. He was in a dreadful hurry to establish his litarary fame, so much so that he did not care to read, as he himself says, the earlier work of the school of opponents of Dhvani, the Hrdaya Darpana by Bhatta Nayaka ; nor did he study the expositions of the Dhvanyāloka such as the Candrika1 etc. He knew that it was a serious defect in his intellectual equipment, which would lead him into many mistakes. But it was his passion for the literary fame that compelled him to this hasty step of entering into adverse criticism of the Dhvani, as presented by Ananda Vardhana. He compares his intellect to a lady, who, under the compelling influence of passion of love, hurriedly starts to meet her object of love, without caring to look into the mirror to see if all her ornaments are rightly put on.

He realised that the problem of the suggestible meaning ( Dhvani ) is extremely difficult and, therefore, a person, who attempts it, is most likely to err on many points. Accordingly he craves the indulgence of his learned readers and requests them to ignore the flaws and to concentrate" on what is good in his work.

He had no respect for his predecessors whom he criticises. His reference to Kuntaka clearly indicates this, as pointed out by Ruyyaka.8 He tries to misrepresent his opponents and to throw dust' into the eyes of the critical

1. V. V. 6. 2. V. V. 6-7 3. V. V. 243 4. V. V. V. 81. 35