śabdārthau sahitau kāvyaṁ gadyaṁ padyaṁ ca tad dvidhā
śabdārthau sahitau kāvyaṁ gadyaṁ padyaṁ ca tad dvidhā |
(Bhāmahālaṅkāra: 1.16)
“Kāvya (poetry) is united sound and meaning. It is of two types: prose and verse.”
Kāvya
apāre kāvya-saṁsāre kavir ekaḥ prajāpatiḥ
apāre kāvya-saṁsāre kavir ekaḥ prajāpatiḥ |
yathāsmai rocate viśvaṁ tathā vai parivartate ||
(Agni Purāṇa: 339.10; cited in Dhvany-āloka 3.42 Vṛtti)
“In the boundless world of kāvya, the kavi is the only creator. As is pleasing to him, so indeed this world [of his creation] turns.”
sad-guṇālaṅkṛte kāvye
sad-guṇālaṅkṛte kāvye doṣān mṛgayate khalaḥ |
vane puṣpa-phalākīrṇe karabhaḥ kaṇṭakān iva ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-kośa)
“The wicked search for faults in poetry adorned with good qualities just as a camel searches for thorns within a forest full of fruits and flowers.”
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye |
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi ||
(Śikṣāṣṭakam: 4; cited in Padyāvalī 94; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.29)
“O Master of the universe,
I desire neither wealth,
Nor men [i.e., assistants, followers, relatives, etc.],
Nor beautiful women [i.e., an excellent wife],
Nor erudition [i.e., intellectual prowess or recognition thereof],
Or otherwise [i.e., mukti].
In birth after birth, O Īśvara,
Let me have unconditional bhakti to you.”
purāṇam ity eva na sādhu sarvaṁ
purāṇam ity eva na sādhu sarvaṁ
na cāpi kāvyaṁ navam ity avadyam |
santaḥ parīkṣyānyatarad bhajante
mūḍhaḥ para-pratyaya-neya-buddhiḥ ||
(Mālavikāgnimitra: 1.2)
“Not all [poems] are good because they are ancient. And a poem is not contemptible because it is modern. The wise examine and favor either of the two [according to their respective merit]. The fool is he whose intellect has to be led by the convictions of others.”