(Continued...)
Finally what is wanted is a rapport with the
author. A devotee, a poet and a vidhushaka (the Royal Fool or Clown in the
Kingís Court) - these three have a great licence to do or write what they want.
Of these our Acharya was both a devotee and a poet. So there is a bhakti-bhAva
in everything he writes and there is also a poetic licence exhibited in pieces
like the Soundaryalahari.
In classical literature, there is always a
respectable status for this freedom which a poetic or devotional piece enjoys.
Of the many such licences we can refer here to nindA stuti (where you actually
criticise the deity you are supposed to praise), praise one of the divine
couple to the extent of bringing down the other of the pair and so on. If we
look at these with a humility and an open mind for poetic exaggeration, we may
also enjoy them. Now come to the first shloka.
(Continued...)
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