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

XLIV. INTRODUCTION.
blunt in Prākrit. ¹A Gauḍa cannot speak Prākrit well. Either
he should give up the attempt or the Prākrit language should be
otherwise. A Gauḍa Brāhman is neither a very clear nor a con-
fused, neither a harsh nor a very soft, neither a deep nor a very
loud speaker. ²Whatever may be the sentiment, style or quality,
all the Karṇāṭas recite proudly making a twangling sound at the
end. ³Drāviḍas, without any exception, recite either prose, poetry
or mixture of both in a musical way. ⁴The Lāṭas who have
hatred for Sanskrit, speak beautiful Prākrit with their warbling
tongue. ⁵The people of Surāshṭra and Travaṇa, etc., speak
Sanskrita, stimulating it with an admixture of Apabhraṁśa, so as
to impart beauty to their speech. ⁶The Kashmirians are good
poets through the favour of Sarasvatī; yet their mode of reciting
sounds to the ear like a mouthful of Guḍūchī (cocculus cordifolius).
⁷The poets of the Uttarāpatha, though refined, recite with a nasal
sound. ⁸Rich in properties, with the voice corresponding to the
style and the perfection of arrangement of words, and divided into
cæsuras, the sweet recitation of the Pānchāla poets is, as it were, a
flow of honey in ears.
Female education in Rājaśekhara's time. Rājaśekhara's
views in this connection were very forward and liberal. He says
1 आह स—"ब्रह्मन्विज्ञापयामि त्वां स्वाधिकारजिहासया ।
गौडस्त्यजतु वा गाथामन्या वाऽस्तु सरस्वती ॥
नातिस्पष्टो न चाश्लिष्टो न रूक्षो नातिकोमलः ।
न मन्द्रो नातितारश्च पाठी गौडेषु बाडवः ॥
2 रसः कोऽप्यस्तु काप्यस्तु रीतिः कोप्यस्तु वा गुणः ।
सगर्वं सर्वकर्णाटाष्टंकारोत्तरपाठिनः ॥
3 गद्ये पद्येऽथवा मिश्रे काव्ये काव्यमना अपि ।
गेयगर्भः स्थितः पाठे सर्वोऽपि द्रविडः कविः ॥
4 पठन्ति लटभं लाटाः प्राकृतं संस्कृतद्विषः ।
जिह्वया ललितोलापलब्धसौन्दर्यमुद्रया ॥
5 सुराष्ट्रत्रवणाद्या ये पठन्त्यर्पितसौष्ठवम् ।
अपभ्रंशावदंशानि ते संस्कृतवचांस्यपि ॥
6 शारदायाः प्रसादेन काश्मीरः सुकविर्जनः ।
कर्णे गुडूचीगण्डूषस्तेषां पाठक्रमः किमु ! ॥
7 ततः पुरस्तात्कवयः ये भवन्त्युत्तरापथे ।
ते महत्यपि संस्कारे सानुनासिकपाठिनः ॥
8 मार्गानुगेन निनदेन निधिर्गुणानां सम्पूर्णवर्णरचनो यतिभिर्विभक्तः ।
पाञ्चालमण्डलभुवां सुभगः कवीनां श्रोत्रे मधु क्षरति किञ्चन काव्यपाठः ॥ pp. 33 & 34.