Part 2 - Divisions of kāvya

Bhāmaha, in the first pariccheda of his Kāvyālaṃkāra (of Bhāmaha), states the divisions of kāvya from different points of view into gadya and padya, into Sanskrit, prākṛt and apabhraṃśa; he divides kāvya into vṛttadevādicaritaśaṃsi, utpādyavastu, kalāśraya and śāstrāśraya and again into five varieties viz. sargabandha, abhineyārtha, ākhyāyikā, kathā and anibaddha.^[1]

Daṇḍin, in the first pariccheda of his Kāvyādarśa (Kāvyādarśa), adds miśra with the first two divisions of kāvya of Bhāmaha, also refers to the two varieties of gadya viz. ākhyāyikā and kathā and remarks that there is really no distinction between the two. He further divides kāvya into Sanskrit, prākṛt, apabhraṃśa and miśra.^[2]

Mammaṭa divides kāvya into three varieties. The first one is dhvanikāvya or uttamakāvya (suggested poetry). Here, the suggested sense (vyaṅgyārtha) far excels the expressed sense (vācyārtha) and it is regarded as the best by the learned.^[3] The second one is madhyamakāvya or guṇībhūtavyaṅgyakāvya. Here the suggested meaning is unlike that (i.e. not principal), and it is called mediocre wherein, the suggested sense becomes subordinate.^[4] The last one is citrakāvya or abarakāvya. Herein, there is the portrait of the word and the portrait of expressed sense that is devoid of the suggested meaning and that is known as the lowest kind of poetry.^[5]

Viśvanātha accepts only two divisions of kāvyas viz. dhvanikāvya and guṇībhūtavyaṅgyakāvya.^[6] The kāvya or literary composition is further divided broadly into two divisions viz. i) dṛśyakāvya and ii) śravyakāvya.^[7] As the word dṛśya suggests, it is made for dramatic representation. Thus, dṛśyakāvya can be shown or seen through the medium of audio-visual means.

Viśvanātha Kavirāja opines that dṛśya is fit for dramatization.^[8] In the Lakṣmīṭīkā, it is said that emphasis is laid upon the qualities of the kāvya, so that it can be worthy of being seen.^[9] The rūpaka is the general name for drama in Sanskrit. In the rūpaka, an actor represents an imitation of a particular situation. The Lakṣmīṭīkā cites that the imposition of dress, action etc. of a character upon an actor or an actress, is called the rūpaka.^[10] In the dṛśyakāvya, human emotion or sentiment can easily be relished. Thus, the drama is a literary piece, written for representation on stage, where people meet to hear the dialogue and to see the action of the play or representation by actors.

Bharata defines representation as the art of an actor, by means of which he recreates the sentiments inherent in the original situation forming the theme of the drama under enactment.^[11] In the Nāṭyaśāstra, it is said that verbal representation is an imitation of the original speech, giving rise to identical feelings in the minds of the spectators.^[12] The dṛśyakāvya is divided into two main divisions viz. the rūpaka and the uparūpaka. The rūpakas are ten in number. They are nāṭaka, prakaraṇa etc.^[13] Again, the uparāpakas are of eighteen types. viz. nāṭikā, troṭaka etc.^[14] Again, as the very term suggests, śravya is made for listening (reading also).^[15] The term śrotavyaṃ has been further elaborated in the Lakṣmīṭīkā.^[16] Moreover, from the viewpoint of construction, śravyakāvya is either pure prose (gadya) or pure poetry (padya). Thus, which is set in metres is termed padya, and which is without metrical feet is called gadya.

Gadyakāvya is again subdivided into kathā and ākhyāyikā. Apart from this two, there is a third type. This third type is miśra (admixture of verse and prose). It has again three divisions viruda, karabhaka and campū. Along with these, on the basis of its length and some other characteristics, padya is said to be mahākāvya or epic and khaṇḍakāvya^[17], otherwise termed as laghukāvya, koṣa^[18] and the like. The Raghuvaṃśa (Raghuvaṃśa) and the Kumārasambhava (Kumāra.) of Kālidāsa, the Kirātārjunīya (Kirātārjunīya) of Bhāravi, the Naiṣadhacarita (Naiṣadhacarita) of Śrīharṣa, the Śiśupālavadha (Śiśupālavadha) of Māgha, the Śrīkaṇṭhacarita (Śrīkaṇṭhacarita) of Maṅkhaka etc. are some of the examples of mahākāvya and the Meghadūta (Meghadūta), the Ṛtusaṃhāra (Ṛtusaṃhāra) of Kālidāsa are of the khaṇḍakāvya. Examples of koṣakāvya are the Āryāsaptaśatī, Sūktimuktāvalī, Saduktikarṇāmṛta etc.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kane, P. V., History of Sanskrit Poetics., page 82

[2]:

Ibid., page 89

[3]:

idamuttamamatiśayini vyaṅgye vācyād dhvanirbudhaiḥ kathitaḥ// Kāvyaprakāśa., I. 4

[4]:

atādṛśi guṇībhūtavyaṅgyaṃ vyaṅgye tu madhyamaṃ// Ibid., I., sūtra 3

[5]:

śabdacitraṃ vācyacitramavyaṅgyaṃ tvavaraṃ smṛtaṃ // Ibid., I. 5

[6]:

kāvyaṃ dhvanirguṇībhūtavyaṅgyaṃ ceti dvidhā mataṃ / Sāhityadarpaṇa., IV. 1

[7]:

dṛśyaśravyabhedena punaḥ kāvyaṃ dvidhā mataṃ / Ibid., VI

[8]:

dṛśyaṃ tatrābhineyaṃ / Ibid., VI. 1

[9]:

dṛśyaṃ darśanīyapradhānaṃ/
Sastri, Acarya Krishnamohan, Sāhityadarpaṇa., page 319

[10]:

tad dṛśyakāvyaṃ, rūṣāṇāṃ rāmādisvarūpāṇāṃ āropāt veśābhinayābhyāṃ tadāropasyānena bodhanād hetoḥ rūpakamucyate // op cit., Sastri, page 319

[11]:

Nāṭyaśāstra., I. 104

[12]:

Nāṭyaśāstra., XV. 2

[13]:

nāṭakamatha prakaraṇaṃ bhāṇavyāyogasamavakāraḍimāḥ/
īhāmṛgāṅkavīthyaḥ prahasanamiti rūpakāṇi daśa// Sāhityadarpaṇa., VI. 3

[14]:

nāṭikā troṭakaṃ goṣṭhi saṭṭakaṃ nāṭyarāsakaṃ/
prasthānollāpyakāvyāni preṅkhaṇaṃ rāsakaṃ tathā//
saṅlāpakaṃ śrīgaditaṃ śilpakaṃ ca vilāsikā/
durmallikā prakaraṇī hallīśo bhāṇiketi ca//
aṣṭādaśa prāhurūpakāṇi manīṣiṇaḥ//
     Sāhityadarpaṇa., VI. 4, 5

[15]:

śravyaṃ śrotavyamātraṃ tatpadyagadyamayaṃ dvidhā/
Ibid., VI. 313, page 587

[16]:

śrotavyamātraṃ kevalaśravaṇayogyaṃ śravyaṃ kāvyaṃ/
     Sastri, Acarya Krisnamohan, Sāhityadarpaṇa., VI, page 458

[17]:

khaṇḍakāvyaṃ bhavetkāvyasyaikadeśānusāri ca/
Sāhityadarpaṇa., 328

[18]:

koṣaḥ ślokasamūhastu syādanyonyānapekṣakaḥ/
vrajyākrameṇa racitaḥ sa evātimanoramaḥ//
     Sāhityadarpaṇa., VI. 329

also, svaparakṛtasūktisamuccayaḥ koṣaḥ/
     Kāvyānuśāsana., 8. 13