काव्यालङ्कार (आचार्य भामह - भारतीय काव्यशास्त्र एवं अलङ्कार-सिद्धान्त मूल महाग्रन्थ सटीक)

20 BHĀMAHĀLAṄKĀRA
सर्वत्र भिन्नवृत्तान्तरुपेतं लोकरञ्जकम् ।
काव्यं कल्पान्तरस्थायि जायते सदलंकृति ॥
नायकं प्रागुपन्यस्य वंशवीर्यश्रुतादिभिः ।
न तस्यैव वधं ब्रूयादन्योत्कर्षाभिधित्सया ॥ २२ ॥
यदि काव्यशरीरस्य न स व्यापितयेष्यते ।
न चाभ्युदयभाक्तस्य मुधादौ ग्रहणस्तवौ ॥ २३ ॥
22. After first describing a hero with regard
to his heredity, valour, learning and the like the
poet should not relate his death with a view to bring-
ing out the superiority of another.
23. If he is not intended to pervade over the
body of the poem and if he is not to meet with suc-
cess, his mention and praise at the beginning serve
no useful purpose.
22 & 23. According to Bhāmaha a hero's qua-
lities and feats should be described first and then only
those of the rival ending with the rival's defeat at
the hands of the hero. From the context नायकं in
Verse 22 refers to प्रतिनायक or a hero's rival. Bhāmaha
holds that the description of a person at the outset
bringing out his excellent traits, if he is to be killed
later, is not a desirable beginning for a poem. The
reason why a person described at first in a poem
should not meet with downfall at the hands of one-