Text 7.1

अथ दोषाणां सामान्य-लक्षणम् आह,

atha doṣāṇāṃ sāmānya-lakṣaṇam āha,

Now he states the common characteristic of the literary faults:

mukhyārtha-hatir doṣo rasaś ca mukhyas tad-āśrayād vācyaḥ |
ubhayopayoginaḥ syuḥ śabdādyās tena teṣv api saḥ ||7.49||

A literary fault is that which mars the main thing. The rasa is the main thing, and so is the literal meaning since it is the foundation of the rasa. Sounds (or words) and so on are useful for both the rasa and the literal meaning, therefore a literary fault can occur in them as well.

hatir apakarṣaḥ, sthaganam iti yāvat. rasas tad-āsvādaḥ. rasāśrayatvād vācyo’pi mukhyaḥ. ubhayo rasa-vācyayoḥ. ādya-padād varṇa-racaṇe. sa doṣaḥ pada-tad-aṃśa-vākyārtharaseṣu sambhavāt pañca-vidho bodhyaḥ.

“It mars the rasa” means “It diminishes, i.e. constricts, the relishment of the rasa (rasa = tad-āsvāda).” The literal meaning as well is the main thing because the literal meaning is the foundation of the rasa (tad-āśrayāt = rasāśrayatvāt).

Śabda (sounds, words), as well as the phonemes and the construction—these are included by the word ādya (and so on)—are helpful for both the rasa and the literal meaning (ubhaya = ubhayoḥ = rasa-vācyayoḥ).

There are five kinds of faults since a fault can occur in a word (pada-doṣa), in a part of a word (padāṃśa-doṣa), in a sentence (vākya-doṣa), in a meaning (artha-doṣa), and in the rasa (rasa-doṣa).

Commentary:

In his definition of poetry, Mammaṭa said that the sounds and the meanings must be faultless: tad adoṣau śabdārthau sa-guṇāv analaṅkṛtī punaḥ kvāpi (Kāvya-prakāśa 1.4) (1.6). Now he expounds the topic of literary faults, which is a matter of interest mostly to Sanskrit writers and to students of Sanskrit.