Kāvya-śāstras

rāma—priye, kim etat

rāma—priye, kim etat |
viniścetuṁ śakyo na sukham iti vā duḥkham iti vā
pramoho nidrā vā kim u viṣa-visarpaḥ kim u madaḥ |
tava sparśe sparśe mama hi parimūḍhendriya-gaṇo
vikāraś caitanyaṁ bhramayati ca saṁmīlayati ca ||
sītā—sthira-prasādā yūyam ita idānīṁ kim aparam |
(Uttara-rāma-carita: 1.36)

[As Rāma takes Sītā into his arms to rest for some time:] “Rāma: ’My dear, what is this? I am not able to ascertain whether this is joy or sorrow. Is it stupor or sleep? Is it a diffusion of poison or inebriety? At your every touch, some feeling which bewilders my senses causes my consciousness to reel and fall faint.’ Sītā [replies]: ‘This is your everlasting graciousness [upon me]. What else could it be?’”

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vajrād api kaṭhorāṇi mṛdūni kusumād api

vajrād api kaṭhorāṇi mṛdūni kusumād api |
lokottarāṇāṁ cetāṁsi ko nu vijñātum īśvaraḥ ||
(Uttara-rāma-carita: 2.7; cited in Caitanya Caritāmṛta: 2.7.73)

“Who has the ability to understand hearts of extraordinary persons, which are [both] harder than a lightning bolt and softer than a flower?”

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kiṁ kāvyena kaves tasya kiṁ kāṇḍena dhanuṣmataḥ

kiṁ kāvyena kaves tasya kiṁ kāṇḍena dhanuṣmataḥ |
parasya hṛdaye lagnaṁ na ghūrṇayati yac chiraḥ ||
(Nala-campū: 1.5; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.1.195)

“What good is a poet’s poetry or a bowman’s arrow which strikes the heart of another but do not cause the head [of the other] to spin?”

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kāvya-śāstra-vinodena kālo gacchati dhīmatām

kāvya-śāstra-vinodena kālo gacchati dhīmatām | 
vyasanena tu mūrkhāṇāṁ nidrayā kalahena vā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 1)

“The time of the wise is spent with the joy of kāvya-śāstra, whereas that of fools with vice, sleep, and quarrel.”

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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.”

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dvy-arthaiḥ padaiḥ piśunayec ca rahasya-vastu

dvy-arthaiḥ padaiḥ piśunayec ca rahasya-vastu |
(Unknown source; cited from a kāma-śāstra in Kāvya-prakāśa, Sāhitya-darpaṇa, and the Vaiṣṇavānandinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.26)

“One should indicate a confidential matter with words that have a double meaning.”

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