দণ্ডীর গুণবাদ : বাংলা কবিতায় প্রয়োগ-সম্ভাবনা / Dandin’s Concept of Guna : Applicability in Bengali Poetry

Abstract

Indian poetics is an ancient and technical discipline. It probably began to develop in first few centuries of the Christian era. Indian poetics or aesthetics features several schools of thoughts focusing ‘Kavyatma’ or the soul essence of poetry. The most prominent schools are— Rasa (Aesthetic pleasure), Alamkara (Figures of speech), Riti (Style/ Manner), Guna (Qualities/ Attributes), Dhvani (Suggestion), Vakrokti (Obliquity), Auchitya (Propriety). In the tradition Guna (Qualities/ Attributes) was a significant idea. The concept of poetic qualities (Guna) was briefly mentioned in Bharata Muni's 'Natyashastra', the first available text on Indian poetics. Almost six hundred years later Acharya Dandin discussed these qualities (Guna) in detail in his 'Kavyadarsha' around the seventh century. According to him, poetry consists of words conveying the desired meaning, the arrangement of these words constitutes the style (Marga), and the characteristics of this arrangement are the qualities (Guna). In other words, qualities are the fundamental cause of poetic excellence. A literary composition to be considered as poetry, it must avoid flaws (Dosa) and incorporate these qualities (Guna). In his 'Kavyadarsha', Dandin mentioned ten qualities and ten corresponding flaws. These ten qualities are namely: Slesha, Prasada, Samata, Madhurya, Sukumarata, Arthavyakti, Udarata, Ojas, Kanti, and Samadhi. In ‘Kavyadarsha’, Dandin attempted to explain these qualities (Guna) with the help of various examples from Sanskrit literature. This essay will attempt to examine whether Dandin's concept of qualities (Guna) remains relevant in the context of contemporary Bengali poetry, nearly fifteen hundred years later.