The present paper stems from a field study initiated in 2006-2008 in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It aims at drawing a preliminary image of the hitherto unstudied art of avadhāna (Skt.: ‘attentivness, concentration’) of which aṣṭāvadhāna (literally: eightfold concentration) seems to be a better known variety. The paper presents a selection of epigraphic and literary evidence thereof and sketches a historical and social background of avadhāna to go with a report on the present position of its tradition of performance as well as prevailing set of rules
In the tenth century AD, a Sanskrit poet Rājaśekhara composed a peculiar text, the Kāvyamīmāṃsā, “Investigation in Poetry”. In this work he proposed a new, fresh approach to literature: kāvya as a sphere of life rather than mere theory of figuration, alankāraśāstra. This paper will concentrate on the Kavirahasya, the first chapter of the Kāvyamīmāmsā, describing a poet and his place in the world of literature.
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