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

120 EXPLANATORY NOTES
Subjects dealt with in these 18 sections are more or less
well known in the history of poetics. But the authors such as
Sahasrākṣa and others are entirely new in the field of Alaṅkāra
literature. Though some early writers on poetics, rhetoric and
dramaturgy such as S'ilāli, Kṛśāśva, Kāśyapa, Vararuci and
Medhāvin are known through the writings of Pāṇini, Bhāmaha
and Daṇḍin, none of them, however, is mentioned here as the
author of any subject. Rājaśekhara, indeed, mentions a few
names such as Bharata, Kucamāra, Suvarṇanābha and Nan-
dikeśvara who are fairly known, but the names of Sahasrākṣa and
others mentioned by him are entirely unknown. It is not proper
to say that these names are entirely imaginary, but it is very
probable that he recorded here a forgotten tradition handed down
from a source which remains yet unknown. But then, it has to be
explained how Bhāmaha, Daṇḍin, Vāmana, Udbhaṭa, Ānandavar-
dhana and Rudraṭa who were earlier than Rājaśekhara and dealt
with the same subjects with a special interest, did not care to mention
any of the earliest writers on these subjects. In this connection,
another point also is worthy of note that Rājaśekhara has made a
good use of the figure of speech known as Anuprāsa in selecting
the names of the authors of these chapters, and as such the names
may as well represent purely imaginary persons. This is borne out
by such combinations as :—कविरहस्यं सहस्राक्षः, औक्तिकमुक्तिगर्भः, निर्णयं सुवर्णनाभः,
चित्रं चित्राङ्गदः, श्लेषं शेषः, औपम्यमौपकायनः, etc.
Of course, we find mention in the Artha and the Kāma sāstras
of Kauṭilya and Vātsyāyana, of similar names of authors such as
Bhāradvāja, Bṛhaspati, Viśālākṣa, Parāśara and others whose works
are either summarised or referred to in them. But we cannot
doubt the authenticity of the statements of Kauṭilya and Vātsyā-
yana because there are no works on Artha and Kāma earlier than
Kauṭilya and Vātsyāyana available to-day, as it is in the case
of the Kāvyamīmāṁsā. On the contrary, the existence of the
works of such authors as Bṛhaspati and Viśālākṣa can be proved
from quotations found in later works under their names (see Intro.
of the Arthaśāstra, Trivandrum edi. p. 6.).
l. 8. औक्तिकम्:—'different methods of expression from the
sentences'. They are वाच्य, लक्ष्य, गौण and व्यङ्ग्य of अर्थ, and वाचक, लक्षक,
गौण and व्यञ्जक of the शब्द. It is natural for Rājaśekhara to explain