369. ÆSTHETIC CURRENTS IN POETICS 407

ÆSTHETIC CURRENTS IN POETICS 407

VĀMAN'S CONTRIBUTION.

Vamana's poetic theory presents an advance on those of his predecessors in the same field in the following respects :- 1. In his conception of poetry, he brings in the poetic qualities also. According to him, poetry is not a body of merely words and meanings with certain crooked- ness, as according to Bhämaha, but of words well polished ( Samskrta ) with the embellishments and qualities1. 2. His study of regional poetry is wider and more thorough. While Dandin was able to point out a clear distinction between the poetic productions of only two regions, Vidarbha and Gauda; he does so in the case of three, including Pañcala.2

3. For the first time in the history of literary criticism of the poetic branch, he speaks of the soul of poetry (Kāvyasyātmā). And that soul, according to him, is the style (Rīti)8. 4. He settles the comparative importance of the quali- ties and the embellishments in poetry. He has conceived poetry not on the analogy of a beautifully decked lady, who though beautiful, would not look to be so in the absence of ornaments, as Bhamaha has done. For, according to the latter, the poetic embellishments on the body of poetry have the same importance as have the ornaments on that of a beautiful lady. According to Vamana, poetry is like a picture. And the comparative importance of the embellish- ments and the qualities in it is the same as that of paints and lines respectively in a picture.4 Just as the beauty of a

4. K. S., 5. 2. K. S., 15. 3. K. S., 14. 4. K. S., 20.