Re: alaMkAra sAStramu - Reply to the TIEC (flame)

Sreenivas Paruchuri (sreeni@ktpsp2.uni-paderborn.de)
Mon, 9 Mar 1998 20:11:22 +0100 (MET) 

> telugulO aDaganA? "tala tAkaTTupeTTukoni parAyidESAlalO paDi tirigE 
> nAku adi sAdhyapaDE panEnA?" 

Come on, maadhava gaaru! Infact if someone were to make such excuses, 
then it should be I, not you!

> Anyway, you sounded as if you did know a lot about all those writers. 
> Atleast the way you put questions sounded that way.  So I would 

apachaaram, apachaaram!! If I created that (wrong) impression, then 
I am sorry. I am only talking about the history of poetics and not of 
those "classic" kaavya-s!

To give you some straight forward answers ....  yes, I have 
been reading something on this subject: History of Poetics, in 
recent years. Below you find a few titles that I tried and found 
very educative. As far as kaavya-s are concerned I regret not having
learnt the "dEvabhaasha" hence I have to depend on Telugu or English 
or German translations and the progress is at snail's pace.
---------------------------------
1
History of Sanskrit poetics / P. V. Kane
AU: Kane, Pandurang Vaman 
PP: Delh: 
PU: Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1994  (Reprint of 4 ed. from 1971)
P:  VIII, 446 pp. 
ISBN: 81-208-0274-8 

[A very good introd. book, but a little difficult-read, because of 
"maNipravaaLa" style; i.e. English and Sanskrit in juxtaposition.
Many Sanskritists and others have recommended me also S.K.De's 
same titled 2-vol work, and said that together these two form an 
excellant introduction. But I have not yet put my hands on De's work.]

---------------------
2
Indian poetics / Edwin Gerow 
AU:     Gerow, Edwin 
PP:     Wiesbaden
PU:     Harrassowitz
PY:     1977 
P:      S. 218 - 301 (83pp)
Series: A history of Indian literature : vol. 5 ; fasc. 3 
ISBN:   3-447-01722-8 

------------------------------------
3
TI: Mallinatha's Ghantapatha on the Kiratarjuniya:  Introduction,
                          Translation and Notes  
AU: J.A.F. Roodbergen 
PP: Leiden 
PU: E. J. Brill,
PY: 1984 
(Appendix 1: Sabdaalankaara-s, pp.526-532; appendix 2: arthalankaara-s,
533-564)

[Although this appears to be a study of a kaavya and its commentary; 
it really contains a lot of info (very accurate!) on the details of the
alankaara-s involved.]
---------------------------------------
4
TI: Schriften zur indischen Poetik und Aesthetik : 
AU: Hermann Jacobi
PP: Darmstadt:
PU: Wiss. Buchgesellschaft
PY: 1969 

[Jacobi is one of the greatest Indologists (/philologist) produced 
by Germany, who at the turn of this century extensively wrote on 
various Indological subjects. The above book is a compilation of his 
essays/translations between 1900 and 1920, which includes 
translations of aanandavardhana's _dhwanyaalOka_, ruyyaka's 
_alankaarasarwaswa_, and essays on: the times of danDin and 
bhaamaha etc. etc.]
----------------------------------------

Rest of my readings are those small monographs on various aestheticians
published by Sahitya Academy and a couple of Telugu translations by 
Pullela SriramachandruDu et al (which I have yet to complete!).

Now, coming to Akkiraaju Umaakaantam, I wrote something about him in 
an earlier posting; on the authorship of "palnaaTi veeracharitra", how 
he attributed the authorship to Sreenaatha narrating us a story that 
an annoyed Sreenaatha tore up his work and how "maalas and maadigas"
collected those pieces and became narrators of the (incomplete) story. 
BTW, how many times did we hear this kind of stories; pOtana's work was
eaten by white ants, Sreenaatha tore up his work on "kaaTamaraaju" when
kaaTamaraaju tricked/cheated him, nannaya's "aa.SabdachintaamaNi" was
torn in pieces and thrown into gOdaavari river by his jealous enemy;
bheemakavi ..........?

Coming back to AU, despite his archaic views, the fact remains that he
was an erudite (and highly productive, considering the short life he had,
and amount of work he produced) scholor and his "nETikaalapu kawitwam"
is still considered a standard work.

So, if you are interested in AU's above cited work (on lit. criticism),
I have a good news. Thanks to pErvaara jagannaatham of Telugu Univ.
(aka poTTi Sreeraamulu Univ.) many old classics are reprinted by TU in
recent years, and above work is one! Similarly his foreword to "palnaaTi
veeracharitra" is available! Also pingaLi lakshmeekaantam's 
"palnaaTi ....". If you are a book freak and/or interested in literary 
history/criticism of earlier decades, there are more such reprints;
kuruganTi&pillalamarri's _navyaandhra saahitya veedhulu_, Sreepaada 
gOpaalakRshNamoorti's _ardhaSataabdapu aandhrasaahityam_, critiques on
manucharitra, vasucharitra, soorana etc. by vennETi R. Rao, kaaSeebhaTTa
brahmayya, dakshiNaamoorti, vinjamoori rangaachaarya, et al from 1890s to
1910s etc. etc. And all these just for few cents/Pfennigs ......

Regards,
Sreenivas