Introduction to the Study

Aim and objectives of the present study

1. The first aim of the present study is to document all the literary works cited and alluded to in Vakroktijīvita and to identify the anonymous works.

2. Secondly the present study will focus on the manner in which Kuntaka analyses Sanskrit literature.

3. The thesis will also examine the empirical acumen of Kuntaka as reveals in his analysis of Sanskrit literature. On short, the work will be an attempt to look upon Vakroktijīvita as a document of practical criticism as against the hitherto studies which form in his concept of vakrokti as a literary theory.

Research design

Various chapters of the present thesis discuss Kuntaka’s critical evaluation of the literary texts and their authors that he used to cite verses and contexts. These citations help to examine the historical and aesthetical achievements through Kuntaka. The present thesis initially gives a brief introduction about some available works written based on Vakroktijīvita. The scope of the present thesis is also mentioned here. It contains six chapters other than introduction and conclusion. The first chapter is a synoptic survey of the text Vakroktijīvita. Then the following chapters analyse Kuntaka’s assessment of various poets and their compositions. Kuntaka’s assessment of the compositions of Kālidāsa, Mahākāvyas, dramas, stray verses and anthologies are discussed in the next five chapters respectively.

Scope of study

Most previous studies on vakrokti analyze the theory in the light of modern stylistics. Vakrokti theory was applied to study various English poems. There are only a very few studies which analyse Kuntaka as a practical critic. Most of them devote a chapter or two for such a study. An intensive assessment of Kuntaka as a literary critic has not been done yet. It thus gives scope for such an intensive and critical study to analyze Kuntaka’s critical acumen. Kuntaka’s literary merit is also explicit in some minor works and anthologies etc. cited by him. So the present thesis aims to bring forth the literary genius of Kuntaka in assessing literary works. As other Sanskrit rhetoricians, Kuntaka also cites numerous verses from the vast literature of Sanskrit. But Kuntaka tries to evaluate each and every text with sharp critical acumen. His analysis of illustrations reveals his insight in to the heart of poetic charm. This gave Kuntaka unique position in the history of Sanskrit literature. Kuntaka is considered to be a rare rhetorician because of his obviously independent ideas and also his keen observation of poetry. That is why K. Krishnamoorthy gave him the title ‘practical literary critic’. Practical criticism is one of the important aspects of poetics. It is the application of poetic theory to the existing literary works. The present study attempts to assess Kuntaka as a practical literary critic.