Text 1.3

निष्प्रत्यूह-प्रारिप्सित-परिसमाप्ति-कामो मुनिः समुचितां गीर्-देवीं प्राक् प्रणमति,

niṣpratyūha-prāripsita-parisamāpti-kāmo muniḥ samucitāṃ gīr-devīṃ prāk praṇamati,

Desiring the completion, intended to be eminently begun, without obstacle, at first Bharata Muni bows to the goddess of words:

niyati-kṛta-niyama-rahitāṃ
  hlādaika-mayīm ananya-paratantrām |
nava-rasa-rucirāṃ nirmitim
  ādadhatī bhāratī kaver jayati ||1.1||

niyati-kṛta—made by destiny^[1] (or made by rules) (niyati = niyama); niyama-rahitām—devoid of restrictions; hlāda-eka-mayīm—which consists in a unique delight; ananya-paratantrām—not dependent on another; nava-rasa— on account of a novel relishment (or on account of the nine rasas); rucirām—lovely; nirmitim—a construction (or a creation); ādadhatī—while assuming; bhāratī—the words (or Sarasvatī) (Amara-koṣa 1.6.1); kaveḥ—related to a scholarly poet; jayati—is glorious (supereminently exists) (i.e. is superior to Brahmā’s world^[2]).

The words of a scholarly poet that are lovely on account of a novel relishment are glorious. Such words assume a construction which is not the object of restrictions ordained by destiny; which is not copied from another work; and which gives rise to a unique delight.

Alternatively: Sarasvatī, who relates to scholarly poets, is glorious. She brings about a creation which is not the object of regulations ordained by destiny; which does not depend on another; which gives rise to a unique delight; and which is lovely on account of the nine rasas.

atra vidhi-kṛta-vilakṣaṇa-viśva-vidhānāj jayatīti natim ākṣipya tāṃ prati praṇato’smīti vyajyate.

What is implied here, after indicating this sort of obeisance: “She is glorious since she makes a world that is distinct from the one made  by Brahmā,” is: I bow to her.

Commentary:

This is Mammaṭa’s introductory verse (maṅgalācaraṇa). In his elaboration. he says a poet’s composition is distinct from Brahmā’s creation, where happiness, unhappiness, and bewilderment exist by the force of fate and within which the tastes (rasa) are only six in number,^[3] in contrast to the nine rasas of poetry: śṛṅgāra (love, romance), hāsya (humor, laughter), karuṇa (lamentation), raudra (anger), vīra (heroism), bhayānaka (fear), bībhatsa (disgust), adbhuta (wonderment), and śānta (peacefulness).^[4] In other words, happiness, unhappiness and bewilderment, which severally represent sattva-guṇa, tamo-guṇa, and rajo-guṇa in the world, occur in their pure forms in poetry. Alternatively, the three guṇas of poetry (mādhurya, ojas, prasāda) (sweetness, vigor, and clarity) are superior to the three guṇas of Māyā. The gist is that a poet’s world is governed by Mammaṭa’s rules and is sometimes more relishable than the material world.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The definition of niyati is: daivaṃ diṣṭaṃ bhāgadheyaṃ bhāgyaṃ strī niyatir vidhiḥ, “The words daivam, diṣṭam, bhāgadheyam, bhāgyam, niyati, and vidhi, the last two in the feminine,are synonymous” (Amara-koṣa 1.4.28).

[2]:

Viśvanātha Kavirāja comments: ata eva jayati utkarṣeṇa vartate arthāt brahmaṇaḥ (Kāvya-prakāśa-darpaṇa).

[3]:

The six tastes in Āyurveda are: kaṣāya (astringent), lavaṇa (salty), kaṭu (pungent), tikta (bitter), amla (sour), and madhura (sweet).

[4]:

niyati-śaktyā niyati-rūpā sukha-duḥkha-moha-svabhāvā paramāṇv-ādy-upādāna-karmādisahakāri-kāraṇa-paratantrā ṣaḍ-rasā na ca hṛdyaiva taiḥ, tādṛśī brahmaṇo nirmitir nirmāṇam. etad-vilakṣaṇā tu kavi-vāṅ-nirmitiḥ, ata eva jayati. jayatīty arthena ca namaskāra ākṣipyata iti tāṃ praty asmi praṇata iti labhyate (Kāvya-prakāśa 1.1). Kavikarṇapūra’s definition of poetry: kavi-vāṅ-nirmitiḥ kāvyam, “A poet’s composition of words is poetry” (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 1.8), is an echo of kavi-vāṅ-nirmiti in Mammaṭa’s above elaboration.