rase sāraś camatkāraḥ sarvatrāpy anubhūyate |
tac camatkāra-sāratve sarvatrāpy adbhuto rasaḥ ||
(Sāhitya-darpaṇa 3.3; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 110)
“In rasa, astonishment is perceived to be the essence indeed in all cases. Therefore, because of the essence being astonishment, rasa is adbhuta [i.e., wonder] indeed in all cases.”
athāṅga-rājād avatārya cakṣur yāhīti janyām avadat kumārī |
nāsau na kāmyo na ca veda samyag-draṣṭuṁ na sā bhinna-rucir hi lokaḥ ||
(Raghu-vaṁśa: 6.30)
“Then, lowering her eyes from King Aṅga, the girl said to her mother’s friend, ‘Please go.’ It was not that he was not desirable, and it was not that she did not know how to see properly; people are just of varied taste.”
atyuccair bhavati laghīyasāṁ hi dhārṣṭyam |
(Śiśupāla-vadha: 8.60)
“Impudence of the lower occurs because of excessive height [i.e., venturing into matters too high for oneself].”
ratir mano’nukūle’rthe manasaḥ pravaṇāyitam |
(Sāhitya-darpaṇa: 3.204)
“The mind’s propensity for an object favorable to the mind is [called] rati.”
sargabandho mahākāvyam ucyate tasya lakṣaṇam |
āśīr namaskriyā vastu-nirdeśo vāpi tan-mukham ||
(Kāvyādarśa: 1.14)
“That [composition] which is constructed in sections is called a mahākāvya [‘epic poem’]. Its characteristic is that its opening is a blessing (āśīḥ), an offering of obeisance (namaskriyā), or [may also include] a specification of [its] subject-matter.”
prathame hi vidvāṁso vaiyākaraṇāḥ vyākaraṇa-mūlatvāt sarva-vidyānām |
(Dhvanyāloka of Ānanda-vardhana)
“From the very first, the learned are vaiyākaraṇas (grammarians), since vyākaraṇa (grammar) is the basis of all knowledges.”
ekaḥ śabdaḥ samyag jñātaḥ śāstrānvitaḥ |
suprayuktaḥ svarge loke kāmadhug bhavati ||
(Mahābhāṣya: 6.1.84; cited in Sāhitya-darpaṇa 1.2)
“[Even] One word fully understood, in conformity to [grammatical] rule, and properly used, becomes a wish-fulfilling cow in Svarga and in this world.”
vākyaṁ syād yogyatākāṅkṣāsatti-yuktaḥ padoccayaḥ |
(Sāhitya-darpaṇa)
“A vākya (“sentence”) is a group of words endowed with expectancy (ākāṅkṣā), appropriacy (yogyatā), and continuity (āsatti).”
jālena sarasi mīnā hiṁsrair eṇā vane ca vāgurayā |
saṁsāre bhūtasṛjā snehena narāś ca badhyante ||
(Kāvyālaṅkāra: 8.104)
“Fish are caught by cruel persons in a lake with a net as are deer in a forest with traps; men [are caught] by the emanator of living beings in saṁsāra with affection.”
eteṣāṁ tu tathā-bhāve bhagavat-kāvya-nāṭyayoḥ |
sevām āhuḥ paraṁ hetuṁ kecit tat-pakṣa-rāgiṇaḥ ||
kintu tatra sudustarka-mādhuryādbhuta-sampadaḥ |
rater asyāḥ prabhāvo’yaṁ bhavet kāraṇam uttamam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.90–91)
“Some [paṇḍitas] who are fond of that view [i.e., the view of conventional kāvya (poetics) and nāṭya (dramaturgy)] say that honoring kāvya and nāṭya related to Bhagavān [i.e., listening to recitations of kāvya, watching performances of nāṭya, and so on] is the primary cause in their being such [i.e., of vibhāvas, anubhāvas, etc. manifesting], but therein [i.e., in regard to vibhāvas, anubhāvas, etc.] this [present] influence of rati for him [i.e., Bhagavān], which is endowed with the wondrous excellence of highly incomprehensible sweetness, is the ultimate cause.”
