काव्यमीमांसा (महाकवि राजशेखर - कवि-रहस्य एवं देश-विभाग सटीक)

FIRST ADHYĀYA 115
It may be suggested here that गुरुपर्वक्रम is to be taken as the
previous event required by the word अथ, as Rājaśekhara himself
enumerates the teachers of the Kāvyamīmāṁsā in the sentence
beginning with यथोपदिदेश श्रीकण्ठः, etc. In this case, therefore, the
word अथ suggests that Rājaśekhara composed the Kāvyamīmāṁsā
after having been taught by his own Guru who was the last in the
list of teachers beginning with Śrīkaṇṭha. This is what is
called गुरुपर्वक्रम.
A suggestion of this kind is also made by Kumārilabhaṭṭa
while explaining the word अथ in the sūtra अथातो धर्मजिज्ञासा of Jaimini,
and subsequently, the same is rejected by him on the ground that
the knowledge of this गुरुपर्वक्रम does not help the reader in any
way, and that the list of teachers also cannot be taken as entirely
accurate. In this connection Pārthasārathi's commentary on
Kumārila is noteworthy :—
“पर्वे अवच्छेदः । गुरुपर्वेणां क्रमः गुरुपर्वक्रमः । तद्यथा ‘ब्रह्मा प्रजापतये मीमांसां प्रोवाच ।
सोऽपीन्द्राय । सोऽप्यादित्याय । स च वसिष्ठाय । सोऽपि पराशराय । पराशरः कृष्णद्वैपायनाय । सोऽपि
जैमिनये । स च स्वोपदेशानन्तरमिमं न्यायं ग्रन्थे निबद्धवान्’ इति । सोऽयमेवंविधः संबन्धो निष्फलो
निर्हेतुकश्च । नह्यस्मिन् संबन्धे किंचित्प्रमाणमस्ति’ । इति । (Nyāyaratnākara, p. 8).
It is necessary, therefore, to find out a reasonable circum-
stance which may have preceded the composition of the Kāvya-
mīmāṁsā. That circumstance seems to be the composition of
other earlier Kāvyas. Here the word अथ seems to indicate
that after composing the Kāvyas and Nāṭakas, the author begins
composing the Kāvyamīmāṁsā. It is easy now to understand
the meaning of the word अतः. This word indicates वृत्तस्य हेतुभाव.
Here वृत्त is काव्यनाटककरण. This is the exact event that precedes
the composition of the Kāvyamīmāṁsā. To explain the necessities
of a poet and the method of composition which are treated of in
the Kāvyamīmāṁsā, a writer should first gain experience as a poet
and compose several works on different subjects. The words अथ
and अतः, therefore, indicate as follows :—
अथ=बालरामायणहरविलासादिदृश्यश्रव्यकाव्यकरणानन्तरम् ।
अतः=काव्यविचारात्मकमीमांसाशास्त्रस्य काव्यकरणानन्तरमेव सुकरत्वाद्धेतोः ।
The word अतः can, however, be explained from a different stand-
point. This word being derived from a सर्वनाम, is used here to
mean the desired object (बुद्धिस्थपरामर्शी). In that case अतः means
श्रीकण्ठमारभ्य प्रवृत्तस्य काव्यमीमांसाशास्त्रस्योच्छिन्नत्वाद्धेतोः । Therefore, the construc-