KAVI-KAAVYAM- कविः ,काव्यं

SUBHASHITHANI:212

King Bhoja Raja strongly believed that” Sahitya sangita kalaa viheenah sakshaat pasuh putcha vishaana heenah” (Person destitute of literature, music or the arts is as good as an animal without a tail or horns. ).It was also generally believed that in his kingdom every one was a poet. Bhoja one day asked his minister to find some one who is not a poet and bring him to the palace. They searched for long and ultimately stumbled on a weaver whom they thought would not qualify to be  a poet.

Here are the lines sung by the weaver at the palace:

काव्यं करोमि नहि चारुतरं करोमि

यत्नात् करोमि यदि चारुतरं करोमि ।

भूपालमौलिमणिमन्डितपादपीठ

हे भोजराजे ! कवयामि वयामि यामि ।।

Kavyam karomi na hi charutaram karomi I 

Yatnaat karomi yadi charutaram karomi I

Bhoopala mauli mani manita paada peeta  I

 He! Bhoja raaje! Kavayami,vayami,yaami  IIBhoja Prabhandam

Meaning: I compose poetry but not very well. If I make an effort, I would be able to do well. Oh One whose footrest is encrusted with jewels from the crowns of kings, Oh Bhoja Raja , I compose poetry, I weave, (and now) I leave.
( This story and the associated sloka was narrated to me by my grand father Sri Velamur Krishnamachariar ,when I was hardly eight years old )

अन्धा विद्वज्जनैर्हीना मूका कविभिरुज्झिता |
बधिरा गायनैर्हीना  सभा भवति  भूभृतां ||

Andhaa vidvajjanairheenaa  mookaa kavibhirujjhitaa. I
Badhiraa gaayanairheenaa sabhaa bhavati  bhoobhrutaaam. II
 If a king's court is without scholars, poets, singers and other eminent persons, then it becomes like an assembly of blind, dumb and deaf persons.

तव कथामृतं तप्तजीवनं 

कविभिरीडितं कल्मषापहम् ।

 श्रवणमङ्गलं श्रीमदाततं 

भुवि गृणन्ति ते भूरिदा जनाः ॥ ९॥Gopika gitam:9

tava kathāmṛtaṃ taptajīvanaṃ kavibhirīḍitaṃ kalmaṣāpaham|
śravaṇamaṅgalaṃ śrīmadātataṃ bhuvi gṛṇanti yē bhūridā janāḥ||9||

The nectar of Your sin-effacing utterances brings life and hope to those scorched by misery. They are extolled by wise sages and the mere listening to them would bestow auspiciousness   on all—they confer every prosperity. Those who spread them broadcast are verily magnanimous --- they distribute what is completely satisfying to the listeners.

कवयः किं न पश्यन्ति किं न भक्षन्ति वायसाः ।
मद्यपाः किं न जल्पन्ति किं न कुर्वन्ति योषितः ।।Chanakya niti

Kavayah kim na pasyanti kim na bhakshanti vaayasaah I

Madhyapaah kim na jalpanti kim na kurvanti yoshith II

What is that which poets do not see ? what is that which crow does not eat ? what is that the drunkards do not babble ?What is that woman cannot do?

कविः करोति पद्यानि लालयत्युत्तमो जनः ।
तरुः प्रसूते पुष्पाणि मरुद्वहति सौरभं ।।

Poets make verses, it is the learned men who enjoy it . While it is the tree that bears the flowers , it is the wind that carries the fragrance .
उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत ।
क्षुरस्य धारा निशिता दुरत्यया दुर्गं पथस्तत्कवयो वदन्ति ।।  Katopanishad

Uttisthata Jagrata Prapya Varannibodhata I
Kshurasanna Dhara Nishita Durataya durgama Pathah tat kavayo Vadanti II

Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn. Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so the wise say−hard to tread and difficult to cross.

कूजन्तं रामरामेति मधुरं मधुराक्षरम्‌ ।

आरुह्य कविताशाखां वन्दे वाल्मीकिकोकिलम्‌ ॥३४॥

Kujantam rama rameti madhuram madhuraksaram
aruhya kavitashakham vande Valmikikokilam

I salute sage Valmiki - the nightingale /(cuckoo bird literally), who sings in sweet voice the sweet name of Rama, Rama, from the ‘tree’ of poetry.

पुराणमित्येव न साधु सर्वं
न चाऽपि काव्यं नवमित्यवद्यम्।
सन्तः परीक्ष्यान्यतरत् भजन्ते
मूढः परप्रत्ययनेयबुद्धिः ॥
Purāṇamityeva na sādhu sarvaṃ
Na cā’pi kāvyaṃ navamityavadyam.I
Santaḥ parīkṣyānyatarat bhajante
Mūḍhaḥ parapratyayaneyabuddhiḥ IIKali dasa

All kavyaas are not good only because they are old. All kaavyas are not bad because they are new. Good and wise people examine both and decide whether a kaavya is good or bad. Only a fool will be blindly led by what others say.

काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन कालो गच्छति धीमतम्।

व्यसनेन च मूर्खाणां निद्रया कलहेन वा॥

kāvyaśāstravinodena kālo gacchati dhīmatam|

vyasanena ca mūrkhāṇāṁ nidrayā kalahena vā||

Intelligent people (dhīmān) spend their time studying the literature and shastras.

The fools (mūrkhāḥ) spend (waste) their time in sleeping and quarrels!

नवद्वारमिदं वेश्म त्रिस्थूणं पंचशाखिकं

क्षेत्रज्ञाधिष्ठितं विद्वान् यो वेद स परः कविः॥

Navadwaaramidam veshma trishthoonam panchasaakshikam

Kshetrajnaadhishthhitam vidwaan yo veda sa parah kavih

He who knows that this body with its nine openings ( mouth,ears, eyes, nose etc) three pillars ( vata, pitta and kapha) five witnesses (sensory organs) is the home of the Atman is the real knower ( Kavi: ) 

अति रमणीये काव्ये पिशुनोSन्वेषयति  दूषणान्येव  |
अति रमणीये  वपुषि  वृणमेव  हि  मक्षिकानिकरः  ||

Ati ramaneeye kaavye pishunonveshayati dooshanaanyeva.
At ramaneeye vapushi vrunameva hi makshikaanikarah .
 Wicked and malicious persons  explore only  the faults in a book of beautiful  poems, just like a group of flies search for a wound in a beautiful body and then settle over it.

किं कवेस्तस्य काव्येन किं काण्डेन धनुष्मतः |
परस्य हृदये लग्नं  न पूर्णयति यच्छिरः ||

Of what use is a poet whose poems do not touch the hearts of others  and of what use is also an archer who is not able to sever the head of his opponent with his arrow ?

एकैव कविता पुंसां ग्रामायाश्वाय हस्तिने ।
अन्ततोऽन्नाय वस्त्राय ताम्बूलाय च कल्पते ॥

Just one poem rendered, one can get a horse or an elephant or even a whole village. In case one is not fortunate enough he will at least get a dhoti,  bhojanam or thaamboolam. What one gets depend on the quality of the verse and the benevolence of the listener .

भाषासु मुख्या मधुरा दिव्या गीर्वाणभारती।
तस्यां हि काव्यं मधुरं तस्मादपि सुभाषितम्॥
bhāṣāsu mukhyā madhurā divyā gīrvāṇabhāratī|
tasyāṁ hi kāvyaṁ madhuraṁ tasmādapi subhāṣitam||
Of all languages, Sanskrit (gīrvāṇabhāratī) is the most important, sweet and divine.
Her literary works are sweet, more so, the subhāṣitās!

SRI KRISHNAYA THUBHYAM NAMAH