qualities of a good speech

स्फुटता न पदैरपाकृता न च न स्वीकृतमर्थगौरवं।
रचिता पृथगर्थता गिराम् न च सामर्थ्यमपोहितं क्वचित्॥
भारविमहाकविकृते किरातार्जुनीये महाकाव्ये २---२७
sphuṭatā na padairapākṛtā na ca na svīkṛtamarthagauravaṁ|
racitā pṛthagarthatā girām na ca sāmarthyamapohitaṁ kvacit||
bhāravimahākavikṛte kirātārjunīye mahākāvye 2---27

Bheemasena is simmering with rage at the state of affairs caused by the stoic attitude of his elder brother. He has made a speech canvassing frontal attack on the enemies. Dharmaputra is disturbed by the spurt of words from the giant of a younger brother and the impulsiveness reflected therein. But the king is a past-master in facing any verbal charade by confronting it with soft and conciliatory replies. So in a bid to calm down Bheema, the king praised the former's words ..
" The words spoken by you were very clear, and such clarity was not marred by excessive verbosity, at no point have you veered away from the paramount importance of the subject matter of the speech, the words spoken by you, though brief, were capable of conveying rich and deep insights, and the dexterity in composition and formation of words was not overlooked at any point".
Such learned analysis of the qualities of a good speech is a crowning example of Bharavi's astuteness. The occasion in the Kaavyam is not very relevant. But what is important to a student is the deapth of thought that has gone into the condensed definition of a good speech, being explained. Clarity of thoughts is given the most important place. Such clarity should not be obliterated by verbosity. And the purpose of any speech should reflect purposefulness. The words used should be as few as possible but should convey great meanings. Dexterity in presentation of the subject through cogent use of words should never be overlooked.
Bharavi himself is a master in such word-craft. The literary world praises the simplicity of words of Dandi ( the author of Dasakumaracharitam), the deapth of meaning of Bharavi and the great similes of Kalidasa ( दण्डिनः पदलाळित्यम् भारवेरर्थगौरवम् उपमा कालिदासस्य.. daṇḍinaḥ padalāḻityam bhāraverarthagauravam upamā kāalidāsasya....)

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।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
blog http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|