Kuntaka’s evaluation of Sanskrit literature
by Nikitha. M | 2018 | 72,578 words
This page relates ‘Introduction’ of the study on the evaluation of Sanskrit literature with special reference to Kuntaka and his Vakroktijivitam from the 10th century CE. This study reveals the relevance of Sanskrit poetics in the present time and also affirms that English poetry bears striking features like six figurativeness taught by Kuntaka in his Vakroktijivita, in which he propounds the vakrokti school of Sanskrit literary criticism.
Introduction
Kuntaka cites large number of various dramas including the dramas of great poets like Kālidāsa, Bhavabhūti etc. and also of some unknown dramatists. No other rhetorician has taken such effort in wide range. It is possible for Kuntaka to choose sufficient instances only from the dramas of famous dramatists. But his keen observation, utmost perfection and also his unbiased nature in citing examples make him go ahead to analyze also the rare dramas.
The famous dramas cited by Kuntaka are:
- Uttararāmacarita,
- Mālatīmādhava,
- Mahāvīracarita,
- Mudrārākṣasa,
- Veṇīsaṃhāra,
- Bālarāmāyaṇa,
- Viddhaśālabhañjika,
- Tāpasavatsarāja,
- Nāgānanda,
- Pādatāḍitaka and
- Ratnāvalī.
Apart from this, Kuntaka cites numerous lost dramas like Rāmānanda, Rāmacarita, Māyāpuṣpaka etc. Many of them are written based on Rāmāyaṇa.
Among them the dramas written based on Mahābhārata are Pāṇḍavābhyudaya, Pratimāniruddha. One of the lost dramas written based on Jain literature is Puṣpadūṣitaka. The analysis of these dramas becomes more difficult than the famous dramas as the title of the dramas are cited without giving much detail. But Kuntaka’s analysis of drama will be incomplete without discussing them. An attempt is made have to assess Kuntaka’s evaluation of other dramas.