In I am glad to write this short Foreword to the study of the poetic elements in the Upanisads offered in the following pages by Dr. K. K. Dhavan. The literary approach to the Vedas which has received much attention in the modern study of Sanskrit literature is, however, not something absolutely new. Brahma is counted as the first Poet, and the Vedas, the first Poetic creations. The Seers of the hymns are also called Kavis and the seeds of the Indian poetic theory can be traced to the Rgveda. the Nirukta, Yaska and, before him, Gargya, considered the words conveying simile and the concept of simile. The Upanisads resort as much to the simile and metaphor, and the Vedanta-Sutras discuss the use of rupaka in the well-known description of the body as the chariot and the soul as the charioteer. Rajasekhara therefore declares that Poetics, which thus holds the key to the understanding of many Vedic passages, is, over and above the accepted six Angas, the seventh Anga of Vedic exegesis.
The Rgveda, of course, leads in the mani-festation of the poetic style and there have been several studies of the poetical aspects of the Rks, particularly of the similes. Some have extended this kind of study to the Atharva-Veda also and produced interesting results. The present work of Dr. Dhavan takes the Upanisads for a similar analysis. Although there has been some examination of the similes of the Upanisads, this, I think, is the first systematic treatment of all the poetic elements in Upanisadic writing-Sabdalankara, Upama and several other Arthalankaras, Guna, Rīti, Aucitya, Rasa and Dhvani; the quality of the prosedialogues is also evaluated and the handling of metres, too, has received some attention. In the end, a classified list of the similes in the Upanisads is also given.
It is quite a painstaking work to sift and select from the ancient Upanisads passages answering precisely to the definitions of the different Alankaras as distinguished very much in later Alan-kara works. The author may well be congratulated for the analysis and presentation of the material and contributing to the enjoyment of the literary side of a literature which had been held in esteem all over the world as the highest peak of Indian Philosophy.
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