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

Rājaśekhara a Kavirāja. Rājaśekhara calls himself not a
Mahākavi, but a Kavirāja.¹ According to the Kāvyamīmāṁsā
there are ten² stages of poetical skill. The sixth is that of a
Mahākavi³ and the seventh that of a Kavirāja. Kavirāja is defined⁴
as one who is unrestrained in various languages, various sorts of
poetical compositions and various sentiments. Thus a Kavirāja is
one stage further than a Mahākavi and Kavirājas are rare.⁵
The sequence of Rājaśekhara's known works and his
undiscovered works. From the Karpūramañjarī 1-9, it is
understood that Rājaśekhara began his literary career as a Bāla-
kavi, so called from his Bālarāmāyaṇa and Bālabhārata. It is
thus evident that these two dramas are his early productions; so
also Viddhaśālabhañjikā. The Karpūramañjarī and the Kāvya-
mīmāṁsā are his later productions, as by this time he had achieved
fame as a Kavirāja. Verses from his three Saṁskṛita dramas are
found quoted in the Kāvyamīmāṁsā.
Hemachandra in his ⁶Kāvyānuśāsanaviveka (page 335) gives
the example of Rājaśekhara's Haravilāsa as a poem bearing the
name of its author. The same author quotes two verses from
Haravilāsa both evidently from the first canto. The first⁷ is the
benedictory verse of the poem, while the second⁸ pertains to the
description of the bad and the good. ⁹Ujjvaladatta also quotes
one half of a verse from the Haravilāsa.
This Haravilāsa, a Mahāprabandha, must have been his
1 बालकई कइराओ ( Karpūramañjarī I. 9 ).
2 दश च कवेरवस्था भवन्ति ( p. 19 ).
3 योऽन्यतमप्रवीणः स महाकविः ( p. 19 ).
4 यस्तु तत्र तत्र भाषाविशेषेषु, तेषु तेषु प्रबन्धेषु, तस्मिंस्तस्मिंश्च रसे स्वतन्त्रः स कविराजः
( p. 19 ).
5 ते यदि जगत्यपि कतिपये ( p. 19 ).
6 स्वनामाङ्किता यथा राजशेखरस्य हरविलासे
7 आशीर्यथा हरविलासे—
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म श्रुतीनां मुखमक्षरम् ।
प्रसीदतु सतां स्वान्तेष्वेकं त्रिपुरुषीमयम् ॥
8 सुजनदुर्जनस्वरूपं यथा हरविलासे—
इतस्ततो भषन्भूरि न पतेत्पिशुनः शुनः ।
अवदाततया किञ्च न भेदो हंसतः सतः ॥
9 दशाननक्षिप्तखुरप्रखण्डितः कचिद्गतार्धो हरदीधितिर्यथा । इति हरविलासे. ii-28.