1. Bhamaha on the
importance of poetry.Criticism & Theory
a. Composition
of good poetry makes one capable in the pursuit of dharma, artha Kama and moksa. It also confers pleasure and fame.
b. Knowledge of
Sastras possessed by one who is not a poet is like the pauper’s charitableness,
the eunuch’s dexterity in arms, and the fool’s self-confidence.
c. What is
wealth without modesty? What is night without the moon? What is cleverness of
speech without the capacity to compose good literary works?
d. Even the
dull-witted can learn Sastras with the help of a teacher. But poetry is for
whom who has a natural capacity.
e. Even to those
who have passed away to svarga but who have composed good literary works there
surely exists a body consisting of their works which is both beautiful and free
from disease.
