Kavyadarsha

The Kavyadarsha, meaning "The Mirror of Poetry," is a seminal work of literary criticism by the Indian Sanskrit writer Dandin. Written in the late 6th or early 7th century, it defines the stylistic and sentimental ideals for various genres of kavya, or courtly poetry.1

This influential text was translated into multiple languages, including Tibetan. Sanskrit scholar Sheldon Pollock considered it one of the most important works on literary theory in Asian history, second only to Aristotle's Poetics in world history. The Kavyadarsha also discusses the relationship between Sanskrit and Prakrit languages, with Dandin referring to Sanskrit as the "speech of the gods".12