IS8
Likewise the ultimate end of all poetic sentiment is laid down :.
"srtre W* I TOT I s: |5>
Next to the Vedas, the Agni Parana deals with the subject of poetics in a greater detail. Poetry is classified into prose and verse and prose compositions are further sub-divided into-five groups. The construction of dramas is described and the technical terms of dramaturgy are defined, The 338th chapter refers to the sentiment of Sringara as the source of all the other rasas. Poetic license and poetic convention are recognised.1 The Vrittis and the titis are referred to by name and nature. Many of the figures of speech, of word and of sense are differentiated,* The merits and faults of poetry are ^enumerated.
Thus we see the whole compass of the modern science of poetics was well-known during the Puranic age, many-centuries before the Christian era.
The Science of Dramaturgy, through referred to in the Agni Purana, is generally acknowledged to have emanated from the sage Bharata. However the earliest writers on. dramatic composition are known to be Silalin and
(i)
(2)
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tc literature shows some initial traces of the later topics that have contributed to expand its sphere beyond all reason and proportion. Instances of similes,1 metaphors* and hyperboles8 are not rare in these Vedic writings. The essence of all poetic art is thus summed up :