Part 17 - Rasagaṅgādhara of Jagannātha

[Post-Dhvani Theory of Sanskrit Poetics (10): The Rasagaṅgādhara of Jagannātha (17th century A.D)]

Panditarāja Jagannātha was the last luminary of firmament in the history of Sanskrit Poetics. His famous poetical treatise is Rasagaṅgādhara, which is a complete manual in the galaxy of Sanskrit poetic theory. He deserves a prominent place in Sanskrit Poetics and with him the race of Indian Literary Critics practically extinguished. However he was a follower of Dhvani School but he shows sufficient courage to expound a new doctrine and also leave the beaten track carved by the ancients. In his Rasagaṅgādhara, he defines poetry as a linguistic composition, which brings a charming idea into expression, a beautiful analyses of charmingness. There he tries to fix the course of intense ideological speculations about the essence of poetry from the time of Bharata.

Jagannātha starts his poetical work Rasagaṅgādhara by the unique definition of kāvya (poetry). While most of the ancient rhetoricians’ holds word and sense as of equal importance in poetry and he following Daṇḍin.

To whom kāvya (poetry) as:

“ramaṇīyārthapratipādakaḥ śavdaḥ kāvyam |”

- Rasagaṅgādhara of Jagannātha: I

Which means that word expressing charming sense is kāvya (poetry). This charmingness does not consist in the generation of an ordinary feeling of pleasure. It have a very deeper sense, thus Jagannātha gives an analysis of the charmingness and thereby connects the concepts Camatkāra with that of rasa in the domain of literary activities.

“ittham camatkārajanakabhāvanāviṣayārthaparatipādakaśavdatvaṃ,
yatrtipāditārthaviṣayakabhāvanātvaṃ camatkārajanakatāvacchedakaṃ tattvaṃ,
svaviśiṣṭajanakatāvacchedakārthapratipādakatāsaṃsargenacamatkāratvavatmeva vā kāvyamiti palitvam |”

- Rasagaṅgādhara of Jagannātha: I

Jagannātha’s definition of kāvya (poetry) remains us of Daṇḍin’s definition, which is a series of words conveying beautiful sense.

“taiḥśarīrañca kāvyānāmalaṅkārāśca darśitāḥ |
śarīraṃ tāvadiṣṭārtha-vyavacchinnā padāvalī || ”

- Kāvyādarśa of Daṇḍin: I/10

So it is seems that Jagannātha’s definition of kāvya (poetry) is an imitation of Daṇḍin’s definition and followed the old theory of kāvya (poetry).

Then Jagannātha classified kāvya (poetry) into four types according to charm of the unexpressed and criticizes openly the scheme of classification enunciated by the Ānandavardhana. He sets forth different new theories on the process of aesthetic realization and established Śānta rasa to be regarded as an independent rasa. He regards the poet’s pratibhā (genius or imaginative faculty) only as the causes of poetry^[1] and makes vyutpatti (Śāstric knowledge) and abhāsya (repeated practice) as the cause of pratibhā.^[2] There he differs from earlier critics such as Daṇḍin, Rudraṭa and Mammaṭa etc. However he appears to support Rājaśekhara and Vāgabhata but it does not blindly imitate them.

Therefore his concept of four kāvya (poetry) is a novel thought, because he says:

“taccottamottama-madhyamādhamabhedāccaturdhā |”

- Rasagaṅgādhara of Jagannātha: I

In this classification, the first two types of kāvya (poetry) correspond to the dhvani-kāvya and Gunibhūta-vyaṅga-kāvya of his ancestors rhetoricians. But his credit is dividing the Citra-kāvya in different two categories i.e. Vācyācitra and Śabdacitra. Beside Rasagaṅgādhara, Jagannātha written another poetical works on Sanskrit Poetics named Citramīmāṃsā-khaṇḍana with a number of poetical^[3] and grammatical work, Manoramākucamardana. Lastly, we can say that Jagannātha adds a new form to the old concepts of Sanskrit Poetics.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Rasagaṅgādhara-I, “tasya ca kāraṇaṃ kavigatā ke valā pratibhā”

[2]:

Kāvyaprakāśa-I/3
“śaktinipuṇatā lokaśāstrakāvyādyokṣaṇāt |
kāvyañjaśikṣayābhyāsa iti hetustadbhave || ”

[3]:

Five Laharis are: Sudha-Amrta, about the river Jamunā, Karuna, Lakṣmī and Gaṅgā, Asapha-Vilāsa; Pranabharana, Jagadabharaṇa, Bhāminivilāsa and Yamunāvarnanacampū.