Sanskrit Poetics gets its start in the speculations of the seers of the Rigveda, who introduce for the first time the concept of 'Rasa', the corner-stone of Indian Aesthetics, and, at the same time, recognise the importance of the art of projecting the symbolic content, as also of demonstrating literary craftsmanship. The Vedic reference to the soul as enjoying the flavour and essence of 'Rasa' constitutes possibly the foundation of Indian Aesthetics: it reveals that the Vedic poets had a true appreciation of the internal character of Aesthetic Experience (Av. X.8.44). In one of its beautiful verses the Rig Veda casts a sarcastic fling at the person, who is satisfied only after seeing the external texture of poetry, but does not penetrate deep into that texture, so that the surprisingly beautiful inner content can be experienced; at the same time, this verse showers profuse praise on the person of aesthetic sensibility to whom alone the beauty of the implied meaning reveals itself. The implicit content, thus, is emphasised, but the Vedic seer takes care to see that the former also is given its due. It bursts forth with the exclamation: "when men of wisdom create verse after winnowing words, as barely grains are swifted by means of a winnowing basket, then men of equal sensibility recognise the meaning. In such verses blessed glory is enshrined (Rv.x.71.1-2)".
The very first hymn of the Rig Veda contains similies and metaphors, and these literary embellishments do not simply ornament the poetic texture, but try to effect integration of images, giving a succinct hint thereby to the theory that Rasa is experienced in the midst of integrated images. Sometimes, superimposition of the identity of the non-contextual on the contextual becomes so appropriate that the content of description acquires new charmingness and becomes an effective instrument in attainment of aesthetic experience. The beauty of the river and the forest captivates the mind of the Vedic seer, who proceeds to paint fantastic images, characterised by the specialities of boldness and freshness. The poetic creativity soon becomes mature and poetic creations give expression to this maturity of creative talent on the part of the artists. In describing the splendour of dawn the vedic seer thus comes forward with the exclamation: 'Pure thought was the pillow of her couch, clear sight was the unguent of her eyes. Her jewellery was sky and earth when Surya went to her husband' (Rv. X.85.6-7). When Poetry reaches this level of maturity, the importance of poetry as one of the highest forms of art gets recognition and literary artists not only realise the enduring quality of poetic utterance, but aspire also after immortality through structuring of poetical paintings. The poetic expression is recognised as the most beautiful offering meant for the God, and one seer comes forward to make the poetic statement: "As the wife embraces the husband, the new bride groom, so let my song embrace the bountiful One (Rv. X.43.1)". In the statement a Simile is employed to project the idea that, poetic utterance is eager to embrace the Grand and the sublime, implying thereby the thought that the poetry is intended to conduct the man to the gateway of the Beautiful, the Grand and the Sublime. All these speculations indicate the awareness of Vedic Seer in regard to certain concepts familiar to Sanskrit Poetics. These concepts gradually develop and find expression in bolder forms in treatise on Sanskrit Poetics, the first available work of which is represented by the Natyasastra of Bharata.
Bharata's Natyasastra, for the first time, contains an outline of the contents of Poetics and introduces the inquisitive reader to such concepts as literary excellences (Gunas), literary embellishments (Alamkaras), literary characteristics (Laksaņas) and blemishes of poetry (Dosas). Discussions these concepts, as recorded in the Natyasastra represent the earliest speculations on the elements of Poetry. These, however, clearly indicate that long before Bharata, analysis of these concepts had been continuing and, in course of these discourses, evolutions of concepts have taken place, recording thereby a mature form of each concept in the presentation of Natyasastra. It is to be borne in mind in this connection that the Natyasastra of Bharata is primarily a work on Dramaturgy, and Bharata is more concerned with representation of Drama on board than on writing of scripts. The Book Natyasastra, therefore, is primarily a work on Dramaturgy, and not on Poetics proper. Indian wisdom, however, does not keep Dramaturgy and Poetics in two separate water-tight compartments and ultimately Dramaturgy is absorbed into the discipline of Poetics.
Though Natyasastra of Bharata is regarded as the starting point of the speculations of Sanskrit Poetics it is not that the Indian mind was ignorant of the literary embellishments in the earlier period; rather many of the observations contained in the Vedic literature as also in the Nirukta indicate that not only literary embellishments were known to the Indian mind, but the art of structuring poetical images was also known to them. In a verse contained in the Rig Veda (X. 71.2), the Vedic seer speaks of the necessity of selecting suitable expressions for composition of Poetry and emphatically says that just as grains are to be separated from the chaff by a winnowing machine or a winnowing-plate, similarly chiselled expressions are to be sorted out from ordinary words through application of the poetic intellect, so that the poetic structure can be properly constructed. In another verse (X.71.4), the Rig Vedic seer says that, the inner content of Poetry does not reveal itself to all persons. It is said that some persons though seeing it does not listen to it, -some others though listening to it does not understand it; and yet some one, who though understanding the external sense fail to penetrate deep into the inner content.
In the Nirukta the term 'Alamkarisnu' meaning 'one who is desirous of ornamenting' appears; this word occurs in the Satapatha Brahmana and the Chandagyo Upanishad as well. In his Nirukta, Yaska, the earliest commentator on the Vedas, extends recognition to a number of varieties of the poetic figure 'Upama', and discusses the different indeclinables that are in a position to signify the sense of similarity. Incidentally, Yaska quotes Gargya's definition of 'Upama' which lays down that the poetic figure simile occurs, when an object which is dissimilar is compared to an object having similar attributes.
and It is astounding that at the time Panini the concept of Upama has been able to establish itself on solid foundation and the expressions 'Upamana', 'Upameya' 'Samanyadharm' have gained currency and have started being applied frequently both in aphorisms and in common usages. In about fifty Sutras distributed all over his work Panini discusses from the Grammarians' point of view units available in the language of Sanskrit in diverse areas of suffixes and pre-fixes, cases and termination of compound, that do signify the sense of similarity. Coming to Patanjali we find a detailed discussion on the concept of similarity and an analysis also of the terms 'Upamana', 'Upameya', etc., which constitute the essential constituents of the poetic figure Simile.
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