Dandin on Reginal Styles in Poetry

Intro and Characteristics of Epic Poetry

On Regional Styles in Poetry:

Literature is of four classes:

i) Samskritam- Name of the celestial language used by the great sages. In sastras, any language other than Samskritam is considered as Apabhramsical. Sarga- Bandha and other such are Samskritam.

ii) Prakritam – the best Prakritam is the language related to Maharashtra. Setubandha and other works are in this language. Some of the similar languages are Souraseni, Goudi, Lati, and the rest. Skandha and other such are Prakritam. It is divided into many ways such as

a) Tadbhava

b) Tatsama

c) Desi

iii)Apabhramsa- in poems the language like Abhira is considered as Apabhramsa. Asara and others such are Apabhramsa.

iv) Misrakam- Nataka and other such are Misrakam.

There is a twofold classification that

• Preksartham and Sravyam is illustrated by Lasya, Chalika and Salya.

• On the other hand, they are illustrated by the rest.

Having many forms and features is the path of words. There are many paths but the paths with differences are the Vidarbha path and the Gouda path. The ten characteristics that belong to Vidarbha are:

>Selsa- compact >Madhuryam- sweetness >Sukumarata- elegance >Artha-vyakti- expressiveness >Udaratvam- excellence >Ojas- Vigour >Kanti and Samadhi- structure

In the Gouda path, the opposite of these characteristics is often found.

On Alankaras

Sources:

Indian Literary Criticism- Theory and Interpretation- G. N. Devy- 2002