Poet and his Creation

Samskrtam

    The word संस्कृतम् literally means “made perfect”, “purified” which is a past participle (कृत = done) of the verb root कृ (to do) with the prefix सम् meaning “well, together”. It becomes an adjective for the language (भाषा). So, Samskrtam is the refined language, which is well structured.

                        सं            + कृ             + क्त                         सम्यक् कृतम् - संस्कृतम्

                      good        to do        past participle suffix

     Language (भाषा) is the speech (वाक्) in expressed form (व्यक्ता), from the verb root भाष् (to speak) having the sense of “to express in speech” (भाष व्यक्तायां वाचि)

भाषा & छन्दः

    Panini (5^th Cen. B.C.E) in his Astadhyayi describes this language by writing grammar rules for its two forms, viz. भाषा and छन्दः. Bhasa is the spoken language of his times and Chandas is the language of the archaic Vedic compositions.

Samskrtam, the Divine Language

      By its very nature of transparency and lucidity this language is aptly called as दैवी or देवभाषा - the divine language. (देव – from the verb root दिव् - to shine).

संस्कृतं नाम दैवी वागन्वाख्याता महर्षिभिः | Dandi's Kavyadarsha, 33ab (7^th Cen. C.E.)

Samskrtam indeed is divine speech which has been used by the great sages.

Sahitya – Literature

     Literature, a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter. - Encyclopaedia Britannica

     The Samskrta word for literature is – साहित्यम्. The union or the togetherness of word and its sense is Sahitya.

                सहितस्य भावः साहित्यम् - together-ness

                सहित = स(समानं) हित(धा+क्त)

                together equally past particle of the verb - to place

      Bhartrhari in his Nitisataka, actually takes Sahitya as one of the defining attributes of a man -

साहित्य-संगीत-कला-विहीनः साक्षात् पशुः पुच्छविषाणहीनः |

तृणं न खादन्नपि जीवमानस्तद्भागधेयं परमं पशूनाम् ||

     A person destitude (-विहीनः) of literature(साहित्य-), music (-संगीत-) or the arts

(-कला-) is a very (साक्षात्) beast (पशुः) except that he has no (-हीनः) tail (पुच्छ-) or horns (-विषाण-). That (तद्) such a one lives (जीवमानः) and that too (अपि) without eating (न खादन्) grass (तृणं) is the good (परमं) fortune (भागधेयं) of the beasts (पशूनाम्).

Kavya

     It is also called as Kavya. Creative writing of a poet is काव्य. Literally the word काव्य is derived from the word कवि - कवेः कर्म – काव्यम् - work of a कवि is काव्य. कवि is from the verb root कवृ वर्णने (to describe). So Kavi is one who describes. Not just one who describes, but he is क्रान्तदर्शी - the one who sees (दर्शी) beyond crossing the limits (क्रान्त) and describes with his charming words. [क्रमु पादविक्षेपे (to stride), दृशिर् प्रेक्षणे (to see)]

     So the words that are charming are called काव्यम्. Panditaraja Jagannatha in his work on Poetics, Rasagangadhara, defines Kavya as - रमणीयार्थ-प्रतिपादकः शब्दः काव्यम् | Kavya (काव्यम्) is that Sabda (शब्दः) which enunciates (प्रतिपादकः) charming (रमणीय-) meaning (-अर्थ).

     What is that charm which makes makes words Kavya? Magha in his great poem Sisupalavadha defines charm/beauty as क्षणे क्षणे यन्नवतामुपैति तदेवरूपं रमणीयतायाः | Beauty (रमणीयतायाः रूपम्) is only (एव) that (तद्) which (यत्) makes an object look new (नवताम् उपैति) every moment (क्षणे क्षणे).

    Mammata, starts his rhetorical work Kavyaprakasa with a invocatory stanza praising the poet's creation -

नियति-कृत-नियम-रहितां ह्लादैकमयीम् अनन्य-परतन्त्राम् |

नवरसरुचिरां निर्मितिम् आदधती भारती कवेर् जयति ||

Poet's (कवेः) speech (भारती) triumps (जयति), comprehending (आदधती)a creation (निर्मितिम्) which is without (-रहितां) the restraints (-नियम-) of Nature's laws (नियति-कृत), full (-मयीं) of pleasure (ह्लाद-) alone (-एक-), in-dependent (-अन्) of other (अन्य)helps (-तन्त्रां), rejoicing (रुचिरां) in a nine-fold Rasa (नव-रस-).

Bhartrhari in his Nitisataka (Century of Pithy Sayings) praises the poet -

जयन्ति ते सुकृतिनो रससिद्धाः कवीश्वराः |

नास्ति येषां यशःकाये जरामरणजं भयम् ||

Poets (कवीश्वराः) who are endowed with a mastery in their art (सुकृतिनः) and who are therefore perfect in the exposition of sentiments in their compositions (रससिद्धाः), do excel (जयन्ति). There is no (न अस्ति) fear (भयम्) of decrepitude (-जरा) or death (-मरण) to the form (body) (-काये) of their fame (यशः-) as in the case of those skillful persons (सुकृतिनः) who have acquired the knowledge of the manipulation of mercury (रससिद्धाः).

काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन कालो गच्छति धीमताम् |

व्यसनेन च मूर्खाणां निद्रया कलहेन च ||

Time (कालः) of the wise (धीमताम्) passes (गच्छति) with the pleasure (-विनोदेन) of poetry (काव्य-) and sciences (-शास्त्र-). And (च) that of fools (मूर्खाणां) by vices (व्यसनेन), sleep (निद्रया) or (वा) by quarrel (कलहेन).