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<p>PUBLICATIONS IN NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST STUDIES
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Editorial Board
JOHN S. BADEAU
JACOB C. HUREWITZ
ALEX WAYMAN
CHARLES P. ISSAWI
KARL MENGES
EHSAN YAR-SHATER (Chairman)
Series A
XVI
This work was approved and edited for publication in this series in 1966
by the Editorial Board consisting at that time of:
JOHN S. BADEAU
DOUGLAS M. DUNLOP
JACOB C. HUREWITZ
CHARLES P. ISSAWI
TIBOR HALASI-KUN
JOSEPH SCHACHT
EHSAN YAR-SHATER
This series, published under the auspices of the Department of Near and
Middle East Languages and of the Near and Middle East Institute of
Columbia University, consists of monographs, readers and other studies
designed to promote systematic research on the Near and Middle East
and to further public understanding of the problems of the area. The
opinions expressed are those of the individual authors and do not neces-
sarily reflect those of the Department or the Institute.</p>
<pb n="2" />
<p>-</p>
<pb n="3" />
<p>A GLOSSARY OF INDIAN
FIGURES OF SPEECH
by
EDWIN GEROW
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
1971
MOUTON
THE HAGUE • PARIS</p>
<pb n="4" />
<p>© Copyright 1971 in The Netherlands.
Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague.
No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photo-
print, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 70-111623
Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague</p>
<pb n="5" />
<p>To the memory of Mme. Nadina
Stchoupak, whose intention was to
compile such a Glossary, and who
would have made a better job of it.</p>
<pb n="6" />
<p>-</p>
<pb n="7" />
<p>PREFACE
It has been possible to compile the present work only by imposing strin-
gent limitations on method and subject matter. We have been concerned
with the figures as form and have treated them comparatively, as formula-
tions of the manifold poetic idea. The comparative emphasis is inevitable
if the figures are to be understood as a poetic. We have omitted a great
deal that could be said about the figures: we have not considered their
historical development, the vagaries of their individual formulation, or
the biases and peculiarities of the authors who discussed them. Such
questions have been exhaustively treated elsewhere, and they are only a
prolegomena to the study of the figures as a poetic. The method we have
used implies a system of figures, varieties of the poetic dicendum. We have
tried in the Introduction to distinguish this approach from others which
have been suggested.
We have studied systematically only the first third of the figurative
tradition: the pre-dhvani or early ālaṃkārika period. We justify this
limitation on the ground that it is precisely in this period that the figures
were studied as form. We thus emphasize the distinctiveness of the early
or formative period as a school of poetic criticism and attempt to establish
its presuppositions and achievements not merely in terms of what it
anticipated (the dhvani) but in terms of what it was: a serious study of the
kāvya, a poetic genre which was realized in classical India and which
remains the single most impressive monument of Indian literature.
The eight works used as a basis for this collection of figures of speech
are, in rough chronological order:
Bharata, Nāṭyaśāstra: part of the sixteenth adhyāya (16.40-84);
Bhāmaha, Kāvyālaṃkāra: second and third paricchedas of six;
Daṇḍin, Kāvyādarśa: part of the first (52-68), all of the second, and
part of the third (1-124) paricchedas;
Vāmana, Kāvyālamıkāravṛtti: the entire fourth adhikaraṇa;</p>
<pb n="8" />
<p>6
PREFACE
Udbhata, Kavyalamkārasārasamgraha:
the entire work;
Agni Purāṇa: adhyāyas 343-345; part of 342 (18-33);
Rudraţa, Kävyālamkāra: part of the second (13-32), the third
through the fifth and the seventh through tenth adhyāyas;
Mammata, Kavyaprakāśa: the ninth and tenth ullāsas.
My thanks must first of all be addressed to my teacher, Professor Johannes
A. B. van Buitenen, at whose suggestion this study was undertaken and
who provided the encouragement and careful criticism needed to com-
plete it, and to Professor Louis Renou, under whose strict guidance the
first concrete work was done. To Professor George V. Bobrinskoy, who
encouraged me to take up the study of Sanskrit, is reserved that particular
affection which must always attach to the adiguru.
I must also express my indebtedness to Professor V. Raghavan, whose
advice and bibliographical expertise made my stay in Madras more
fruitful; to Sahityaśiromani V. Rañganāthan, who first showed me the
beauties of the kävya; and, with profound sorrow, to the memory of
Mahopadhyāya Vidyasagara K. L. Vyasarāya Sastri, whose passing
deprives us of another link with the traditions of Indian grammar and
pāṇinīyaśikṣā.
A special indebtedness must be acknowledged to Professor David
Hadas; in conversations with him the ideas guiding the writing of the
Introduction were refined and, it is hoped, given a more immediate
relation to contemporary literary criticism.
Of particular importance to me has been the encouragement of
Professor Tibor Halasi-Kun, without whose many-sided bienveillance
this work would not have been published.
A portion of the research on which this book is based was supported
by the Foreign Area Training Fellowship Program of the Ford Founda-
tion, thanks to which I was able to spend one year in Paris and another in
Madras (1959-61) before completing the Glossary in 1962.
Needless to say, the responsibility for this work attaches to no one
but myself, and, if indulgence is to be asked-as it must in a work which
pretends to novelty-then I would ask it particularly for the speculative
attempt to reassess the history of Indian poetics which constitutes the
Introduction. It is here presented as an Introduction, but in fact it is a
summation, a work undertaken on the basis of the Glossary, an attempt
to make sense of the alamkāra as a contribution to poetics.
Seattle, Washington, 1965
E.G.</p>
<pb n="9" />
<p>Preface.
Introduction.
(1) The Problem.
(a) Poetic as Aesthetic Psychology
(b) Poetic as Rhetoric.
(c) The Notion of Alamkāra.
(II) History of the Search for System
(a) Arthasabda.
(b) The Criteria of Differentiation
(c) An Alternative System: The Stylistic Argument
(d) Rudrața: The First Systematist
(i) Simile
(ii) Hyperbole
(iii) Pun: śleşa
(iv) Svabhāvokti.
T
(e) Poetic as an Intellectual Discipline.
(III) The System of Figures.
CONTENTS
(V) Conclusion
(a) The Question of Infinitude
(b) The System.
(IV) The Adequacy of the Alamkārika Poetic.
(a) Kavya
(b) Nâțya .
(c) The Religious Lyric
"
(VI) Scope of the Glossary .
(VII) Method of the Glossary
5
9
9
9
13
16
22
22
25
26
35
35
37
38
42
48
50 50 5 70 70 74
78
81
84
85</p>
<pb n="10" />
<p>8
Postscript.
CONTENTS
A Glossary of Indian Figures of Speech.
Numbers and Abbreviations Used
Appendix.
Bibliography
Index of Figures.
#
.
90
93
95
333
337
340</p>
<pb n="11" />
<p>INTRODUCTION
(I) THE PROBLEM
The Indian poetics, or alamkāraśāstra,¹ has not been favored in the West
with attention commensurate to its position among the traditional
intellectual disciplines of India. The interest that has been shown has
tended to concentrate on those aspects of Indian poetics which bear
some superficial resemblance to theories current in the West and indeed
further our expectations (or prejudices) of poetry itself. The result has
generally been a haphazard and distorted view of the nature and aims
of Indian poetics, and interpretations of the history of that poetics which
imply critical standards alien to it. What is needed is a new approach
to the entire problem-one which, while retaining its critical distance,
ttempts to place Indian poetics in the context of classical Indian poetry
and culture, and to perceive in some measure what important poetic
problems the poetic was in fact explicating. We must not judge it only
insofar as it may explicate problems posed by contemporary poetry.
(a) Poetic as Aesthetic Psychology
Starting from the Crocean position, whose own roots go back at least to
Longinus, most contemporary critics of classical Indian poetics² tend
1 Lit.: 'science of the ornaments (or figures of speech)'. On the word alamkāra
(lit.: 'a making adequate"), cf. "The Meaning of the Word Alamkāra" in J. Gonda,
A Volume of Eastern and Indian Studies in Honour of F. W. Thomas (Bombay, 1939),
pp. 97ff.
* Particularly S. K. De, whose views will retain our attention throughout this Introduc-
tion. His recently published lectures Sanskrit Poetics as a Study of Aesthetic (University
of California Press, 1963) (henceforth referred to as SPSA) state his critical view with
cogency and clarity, but it is represented also in many of De's other works: History
of Sanskrit Poetics (2nd ed., Calcutta, 1960) (hereafter cited as HSP); Some Problems
of Sanskrit Poetics (Calcutta, 1951), pp. 1 ff., etc. The views which De expresses most
vigorously are also held by others as, for example, S. N. Dasgupta (with whom he</p>
<pb n="12" />
<p>10
to situate the nature of poetry in the poetic act, in the unique individualized
inspirations of nascent literature. A true poetic is really a psychology
of creation, an aesthetic and not mere criticism. It finds its culmination
in a respect for, and a theory of, genius. Since the poetic act is in fact
a kind of communion of the self with an ineffable sacrum, it follows that
the poetic work is, for the aesthetician, only a touchstone, a pretext
for flights into the metaphysics of creation. And a poetic like that of
classical India which is uniquely concerned with the poetic fact is not
only irrelevant to the poetic problem but, lamentably, an obstacle and
a limitation to any proper understanding of it. The attitude of De
towards this poetic reveals itself in distinctions of inner and outer, of
truth and show, of insight and pretense, of genius (art) and scholasticism.
Naturally, a formalist poetic appears to him as a misguided attempt to
impose limitations on the creative freedom of the artist, whose proper
business, the sublime, must surpass all limitations. Croce, speaking of
poetic knowledge, remarks:
INTRODUCTION
Ancora col definire l'arte come intuizione si nega che essa abbia carattere di
CONOSCENZA CONCETTUALE. La conoscenza concettuale, nella sua forma pure
che è quella filosofica, è sempre realistica, mirando a stabilire la realtà contro
l'irrealtà o ad abbassare l'irrealtà, includendola nella realtà come momento
subordinato della realtà stessa. Ma intuizione vuol dire, per l'appunto, indis-
tinzione di realtà e irrealtà, l'immagine nel suo valore de mere immagine, la
pura idealità dell'immagine; e, col contrapporre la conoscenza intuitiva o
sensibile alla concettuale o intelligibile, l'estetica alla noetica, si mira a riven-
dicare l'autonomia de questa più semplice ed elementare forma di conoscenza,
che è stata paragonata al sogno... della vita teoretica ... la discriminazione del
vero e del falso concerne sempre un'affermazione di realtà, ossia un giudizio,
ma non può cadere sulla presentazione de un'immagine o sopra un mero
soggetto, che non è doggetto di giudizio, mancando di qualifica o di predicato.³
www
wrote History of Sanskrit Literature (Calcutta, 1962), hereafter cited as HSL, ef.
pp. 28ff.); A. B. Keith, History of Sanskrit Literature (Oxford, 1928) (hereafter cited
as SL), pp. 344ff.; L. Renou, L'Inde classique, II (Paris, 1953), pp. 110-111.
"Again ... we deny that it has the character of CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE. Conceptual
knowledge, in its true form, which is the philosophical, is always realistic, aiming at
establishing reality against unreality, or at lowering unreality by including it in reality
as a subordinate moment of reality itself. But intuition means, precisely, indistinction
of reality and unreality, the image with its value as mere image, the pure ideality of the
image; and opposing the intuitive or sensible knowledge to the conceptual or intelligible,
the aesthetic to the poetic, it aims at claiming the autonomy of this more simple and
elementary form of knowledge, which has been compared to the dream ... of the theore-
tic life the discrimination of true and false always concerns an affirmation of
reality, or a judgment, but it cannot fall under the head of an image or of a pure subject
which is not the subject of a judgment, since it is without qualification or predicate."
B. Croce, Breviario di Estetica (Bari, 1954), pp. 19-20, trans. by D. Ainslie, "Breviary
of Aesthetic", p. 236.
***</p>
<pb n="13" />
<p>THE PROBLEM
11
The aesthetic mode of criticism situates the work of art in an ineffable;
the very word 'aesthetic' betrays the analogical origin of its arguments.
By reducing the artistic experience to sensation, in fact to one sense,
the sense of sight, and considering the whole experience in terms of
categories borrowed from vision-imagination-Croce is led, necessarily
to determine art in non-denotative terms, or better, in anti-denotative
terms. Not only is the visual experience more direct in relation to its
objects, less mediated by a distinctive symbolism ('aesthetic"), but the
materials of visual art are not themselves immediately intelligible objects,
but rather colors, lines, shapes, which do not so much express as combine
to produce impressions and identifications.
It is otherwise with verbal art. Its materials are symbols, whose
nature is intelligibility. The word itself is a convention. Such art exists
at the level of propositions, references, judgements. Attempts to provide
it with objects as ineffable as those of visual art overlook the very mode
of existence of verbal art, for whatever impression is derived from verbal
art is a secondary function of its sustained use of words. The objects it
imitates, unlike those of sight, are already conceptualized-events,
characters, general types, moral ideas. Verbal art does not have access
even to the immediate objects of the sense of sound, which have been
in principle pre-empted by music or song. Its very being is determined
as a mode of reason: mediacy of symbol, ideality of object. It depends
directly on memory and experience even to be understood as art; these
are not functions superadded to the artistic experience to provide
perspective.
Currently the Crocean style of criticism has come to be regarded as
outmoded in the West and is now largely restricted to book and enter-
tainment reviews. In serious criticism, the Freudians have appropriated
the psyche for their own purposes, and the study of poetry has largely
returned to the Aristotelian concern with the poem, the ergon-a
formalist criticism which in its interest often parallels that of the classical
Indian poeticians, and certainly provides a more congenial platform
from which to study them than does the Crocean doctrine we have been
discussing. That 'aesthetic' view of art is of interest here only because
it appears to dominate much of the historicizing on Indian poetics and
because, most emphatically, it was not shared by the classical Indian
writers themselves who conceived no broader problem than the differ-
entiability (višeşana) of poetry itself as a genre. They were exclusively
* Cf. R. Wellek and A. Warren, Theory of Literature (Harcourt Brace and World</p>
<pb n="14" />
<p>12
means oriented; or rather, they were convinced that any discussion of
the ultimate purpose of poetry falls into equivocation and overextension
unless it states the purpose within the intentional structure proper to
poetry, and presents that aim as the nature of the expressive potency
which is the very life of poetry. Austin Warren, discussing the Crocean
emphasis on the creative process and its tendency to overvalue discovery
at the expense of formulation, says: "The painter sees as a painter;
the painting is the clarification and completion of his seeing. The poet
is a maker of poems; but the matter of his poems is the whole of his
percipient life. With the artist, in any medium every impression is
shaped by his art; he accumulates no inchoate experience."5
INTRODUCTION
From the very beginning the speciality of poetic speech was, in the
Indian tradition of criticism, understood most characteristically as the
figures of speech (alamkāra). Traditional Indian scholarship has em-
phasized the importance of the figures to the point of giving the name
alamkāraśāstra to the whole study of poetry. Uneasy at seeing the subject
so degraded, historians have generally explained this usage as a historical
survival. The first, more primitive and less discriminating writers, it is
argued, described the alamkāras exclusively or in the main; and despite
later progress and development in poetic insight the name, being old
and therefore hallowed, stuck. The figures, in this interpretation, though
they give their name to the study of poetry, are in fact its least important
part. They are haphazard lists of purely extrinsic embellishments irrele-
vant to the poetic problem. The present Introduction will suggest, and
the following Glossary in part establish, that such a view as a theory of
the figures is false, and as history is perverse and hypothetical.
Oddly enough, the important place that the figures have occupied in
most Western poetics is overlooked by the historians of Indian poetics,
though indeed contemporary poetics does not on the whole find much
use for the figures. The writers on Indian poetics of whom we speak
appear to wish to reimpose this modern de-emphasis on the Indian
subject matter, a severe distortion of the classical tradition which reserves
for the study of the figures a place of honor. The alamıkāras not only
[paperback ed.], 1956), p. 175: "These [sensuous particularity and figuration] are both
characteristics, differentiae, of literature, in contrast to scientific discourse."
5 Ibid., p. 74. Cf. W. K. Wimsatt, Jr. and C. Brooks, Literary Criticism, A Short
History (New York, 1962), p. 513.
* De, HSP, II, pp. 32-34; Dasgupta and Dey [De], HSL, p. 517.
7 Cf. Wimsatt and Brooks, p. 102, pp. 142-143, 233-234; also Wellek and Warren,
pp. 187ff.</p>
<pb n="15" />
<p>THE PROBLEM
13
constitute an original problem of Indian poetics, but are a continuing
preoccupation within the tradition. With few exceptions, the figures
have been the major problem for every poetician from Bhảmaha tô
Jagannatha. Even those writers-especially those of the dhvani school"
-who question the primordinacy of figuration appear obliged to establish
their alternative vis-à-vis the figures, so authoritative is that point of
view. By its creative persistence, this concern with figuration cannot be
dismissed as a primitive survival. Rather it is indicative of a radically
different view as to the kind of discipline poetics is.
(b) Poetic as Rhetoric
The emphasis on figuration in the early Indian poetic has suggested to
De and others an analogy with Western rhetoric: "Bhāmaha attempts to
classify poetic expression into fixed rhetorical categories and, from this
point of view, his work possesses the general appearance of a technical
manual, comprising a collection of definitions with illustrations and
empirical canons for the benefit of the artist desirous of externalizing
his ideas."¹0 A disdain for figuration as such leads the same writer to
the remarkable conclusion that the most important single exponent of
the early alamkāra theory, Rudrata, is not a writer on poetics at all.
"Indeed, the practical nature and scope of his work, like that of Udbhaţa's,
leave hardly any room for discussion of general principles or of speculative
aspects of the questions involved. Rhetoric rather than Poetics appears
to be his principal theme, as it is of most writers of this system who con-
cern themselves entirely with the elaboration of rhetorical categories in
which they suppose the whole charm of poetry lies."11
Jacobi has warned against considering the alamkāraśāstra a rhetoric,
pointing out that the subject matter of Indian poetics is consistently
determined in the best examples of ornate kävya, rather than in the arena
of debate and public persuasion.¹2 An insistance on separating the dis-
cussion of the categories of figuration from their exemplification raises
# The oldest and most recent significant representatives of the alamkāra tradition,
from the 7th and 17th centuries respectively.
# Dhvani 'tone' or 'suggestion'; a syncretistic school of criticism (9-10th century)
whose reappraisal of the older alamkāra tradition is still authoritative today. We will
deal with this important transition more fully later; pp. 78 ff.
10 De, HSP, II, p. 47.
11 De, HSP, II, p. 66.
¹2 H. Jacobi, trans., "Anandavardhana's Dhvanyaloka", Zeitschrift der Deutschen
Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, LVI, p. 392, n. 1.</p>
<pb n="16" />
<p>14
INTRODUCTION
absolutely unfounded theories on the bare bones of the contentless
figures. But the figures are nothing but their exemplifications; the fact
that they have logical reference and structure does not ipso facto make
them poetic-in this De is right—but neither does it make them non-
poetic, as De seems to think. The exemplification demonstrates the poetic
applicability of the form. Poetry, indeed, does not represent a use of
language at all, a service of language to an extrinsic end. According to
one view, and we think this is the view of the early Indian poeticians,
poetry can be taken as the exploitation of language for its own sake and
poetics as the investigation of language insofar as it escapes the immediate
limitations of utility and achieves a condition of self-illumination which
we might call beauty.
General as they are, the figures are not specialized in their application.
Comparison is inherently neither poetic nor rhetorical: A simile, to use
the formal terminology of the Indian poetic, is a statement about two
terms (upameya, upamāna 'subject and object of comparison') tending
to the explicit point that they share a common property (sādhāraṇadharma
*tertium') and expressed through use of some adverbial particle indicating
likeness ('like', 'as'). Customary law, for example, is based upon the
careful examination of similarities in this sense: A's behavior was very
much like B's (in another case), which was judged to be culpable (thus
establishing a principle of similarity: the law), and therefore A is also
guilty. The rhetorical use of the figures is equally irrelevant to their
pure form, their expressive tity. In part, the pure formalism of the
figures explains the possibility of confusion between poetic and rhetoric;
the figures are forms of assertion and judgement which are common to
all intelligent discourse. This point, which the later (medieval) Indian
critics of the figurative school often emphasized in order to establish that
the essence of poetry (beauty) cannot be shown on this level of formalism
(propositions) alone,13 was not unknown to tradition (where even the
terminology of poetics is borrowed from other formalistic disciplines,
particularly grammar and logic), nor, in all likelihood, to the figurationists
themselves. They situate poetics quite consciously next to the disciplines
of logic and grammar, because logic and grammar provide the background
and approach to the poetic problem.
By our notion of a rhetoric, the figures are among the persuasive
devices which further the course of an argument and produce conviction.
The argument of course is supposed to be true, and as such can get along
13 Dhvanikära and Anandavardhana, Dhvanyaloka, ed. Durgaprasad (Bombay,
1891), 1.14-15, 2.29 ff.</p>
<pb n="17" />
<p>15
without additional embellishments; but this is not the rhetorical point:
conviction and persuasion are functions of opinion; they are not the
same thing as the truth, and, as ends superadded to the truth and often
conflicting with it, require different and additional means-viz., the
figures. Moreover, the figures tend to be selected and defined on the basis
of their ability to further conviction, and since this latter is often con-
ceived in contradistinction to the truth, the figures seem to pullulate in
precisely those areas where language is a tour de force, where language
becomes so grammatically striking that its Pracht is substituted by the
audience for the content of the assertion.
THE PROBLEM
But there is some doubt whether this framework can be applied in
dealing with the figures as poetry. Poetry, although it also conveys a
truth, has no end beyond the entire comprehension of its own sense;
the figures, far from being extrinsic, constitute the very form of its ex-
pression and are the very means through which poetry is distinguished
and becomes voll Gesinnung. From the figures of speech derives that
special charm which is the innermost mark of the poetic apprehension.
Furthermore, the non-existence of Indian rhetoric as a discipline vis-à-vis
poetic reinforces our view that the figures were conceived as essential in
expression: the crucial subject matter of poetics.
Alone among contemporary Indian critics, V. Raghavan of Madras
appreciates the formalist view: "So poetry requires not only fact and
feeling but a beautiful form also; it has not only to be useful, but primarily
attractive". And "poetry is not mere thought... It will be easier to
dissociate love from its physical aspect than to keep the concept of poetry
aloof from its form."14 This "form", in which the notion of poctic beauty
is resumed, is the subject of study of the alamkarikas¹5 in the widest
sense. In attempting to do justice to the notion of figuration, Rāghavan
states the sense in which the figures, as forms of poetic expression, are a
proper subject matter for poetics: "If we try to arrive at a clear definition
of poetry with an objective differentia, certainly the definition will revolve
round the concept of Alañkāra ... the beautiful in poetry, the beautiful
form-saundaryam alańkāraḥ." The form of poetic beauty is not only
inseparable but, in the context of poetic language, it defines what we mean
14 V. Raghavan, chap. entitled "The Use and Abuse of Alankara in Sanskrit Liter-
ature", in his Studies on Some Concepts of Alankara Šāstra (Adyar Library, 1942),
pp. 48, 50. Cf. W. Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity (Meridian Books, 1960), pp.
268-69.
15 Alamkārikas, those concerned with alamkāra; the figurative school.
10 Rāghavan, p. 50; Rāghavan quotes Vāmana, Kävyālamkārasüūtrāṇi, 1.1.2.</p>
<pb n="18" />
<p>16
by beauty. The manifest, finished metaphor is an example of the poetic
imagination. Metaphor in general defines the limit and possibility of
poetic imagination; the figures are the structure of that possibility.
This has been recognized by Jacobi, who says: "Dadurch beansprucht
thatsächlich dieser Teil der Poetik eine wohlausgearbeitete Formenlehre
des dichterischen Ausdrucks zu sein." 17 But the conclusions drawn
therefrom by De are of considerably diminished import, for he says of
the ālamkārikas: "This formal treatment affords their works the general
appearance of technical manuals comprising a collection of definitions,
illustrations, and empirical canons elaborated for the benefit of the aspir-
ing poet. Poetry is regarded, more or less, as a mechanical series of
verbal devices. A desirable sense must prevail, diversified by means of
various tricks of phrasing ... consisting of the so-called poetic figures." 18
Though this is true, the notion is taken in so pejorative a sense that the
implications of such a poetic are never taken seriously enough to be
examined.
INTRODUCTION
(c) The Notion of Alamkāra
Having situated the poetic problem in a formalistic context, we must
now pose the question (following the Indian tradition): What is the specific
characteristic of poetic usage, its višeşana? If poetry shares its forms
with other rational discourse, there must be a criterion of application,
of usage which restricts the form and demonstrates it poetry. Indian
writers, from the beginning, conceived their problem as that of 'poetic
differentia', the višeṣaṇa, which both establishes the poetic genre as a
proper subject matter and which, by normative application, distinguishes
the finest examples of poetry. Since the forms of the poetic genre are
borrowed from logic and grammar, the question of poetic distinction is
of course crucial and in fact is reduced to the problem of application: Is
there a recognizably poetic exemplification of the standards of utterance?
The problem of the expressive characteristics peculiar to poetic speech
is not an easy one to deal with. The very first writers realized that they
were confronted with infinite modes and indefinite usages.19 In fact
17 Jacobi, Introduction to his translation of the Dhvanyaloka, op. cit., p. 392.
18 De, SPSA, p. 28. De continues his devastating, but misplaced, attack on the figura-
tionists throughout chapter 2; he is so intent on belittling expressionism that he appears
at times to question the need for expression itself. His is a caricature of the "aesthetic"
doctrine. Croce, far subtler, insists on the inseparability of expression and intuition,
and in effect makes the same point as Raghavan. Breviario, p. 45.
19
Anandavardhana, in Dhvanyaloka 3.37 (p. 210), is often quoted: "ananta hi</p>
<pb n="19" />
<p>THE PROBLEM
17
the most striking general, and in a sense canonical, difference is precisely
that the language of poetry is by nature and design not literal. Accepting
this category of expression, poetics appears as the systematization, the
regularization of that vast body of usage whose lower forms are labeled
current, figurative, idiomatic and which by and large stands in direct
opposition to the refined, precise, scientific uses of language whose
principle is consistency and univocality. The expressions of poetry are
in the broadest sense characterized only by deviating from that literal
purpose, by a negative correlation with the universal positive goal of
discourse: the truth. (Of course we do not thereby assert that poetry is
"false": the "truths" of poetry are the same as those of any other genre; we
are discussing here only the question of means, of realization. A poetic
statement is a tour de force, its truth realized despite propositions that
are, by the standards of science, false.)
21
Nevertheless, the forms constituting intelligent discourse generally
are assumed by the poetic, too, whose burden is to redefine their function.
'Similarity' (sādṛśya) is one of seven categories admitted in the mīmāṁsā
logic;20 comparison' (upamāna) is allowed by nyaya as one of four
criteria of apprehension, along with perception, inference, and verbal
authority. The problem we face is defining the poetic application of
this concept. It is not a simple problem like referring the logical form to a
certain content for specific exemplification. Poetry has no more content
than logic. In the same way as logic, it refers itself to the entire spectrum
of human experience and in the same way is concerned primarily with
the structure of that whole. Poetry is not a content, but a context;
poetic similarity is equally as formal as logical similarity: capable of
any exemplification and limited only by a countervailing notion of
falsehood. Nevertheless, the exemplification has a general quality
which it is the business of the poetic to make precise. The content of
the figure is important as a final test of validity (hence the form of the
alamkāra texts themselves: definition and exemplification).
vägvikalpaḥ" ("endless are the modes of utterance'); we return to the issue in more
exhaustive fashion below, p. 50 ff.
Šalikanātha, Prakaraṇapañcika (Benares, 1903-1904), p. 110; discussed in Jhā,
Purva Mimämsā, pp. 61-62. As a "padartha', sadrsya for the mīmāmsakas replaces
the 'visesa* of the nyayavaiseşika.
21 Pratyakşa, anumiti, śabda; cf. Annambhatta, Tarkasamgraha, section 36ff. (p.
24).
Understood not as the logically false, of course, but as the inappropriate, the
ineffective.</p>
<pb n="20" />
<p>18
INTRODUCTION
The exemplification does not in any way abridge the validity of the
form, but simply shows that it is capable of poetic representation. Here
is situated the solution to the problem of the distinctiveness of poetic
expression. Although the figures provide the referential background
and the formal structure of the discipline, it is not the ires as such
which are poetic, but rather their characteristic relation to that general
content, their "misuse". Poetic expression which is "true", nevertheless
deviates from the norms and standards of literal expression, which is the
most usual (or most obvious) apparatus for defining what is true; poetic
expression is false, yet it does not serve the ends of falsehood. This
dilemma has been particularly agonizing for moralist interpreters of
literature from Plato onwards. Poetry uses the structures of logic (as
modes of thought) not for an extrinsic purpose, but simply to explore the
limits of their misuse, to see what freedom we may have of them. It is
essential that the form, though falsely applied, express the same truth as
the literal application would support; "freedom" is not taken in the abso-
lute sense of disregarding the structures of consistency and the like.28 It
does have the sense, of crucial importance for poetry, of the undecided,
the suggestive, the implied, the ironic. When the poet says, "Oh that I
were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek", he uses the
forms of language (here a predication having the logical force of identifica-
tion) to express the impossible, the nonsensical--for only a madman
would consider himself a glove. But the form-logical identification-is
immediately understood poetry; that is to say, the proper intentional
sense is grasped despite, and also because of the misuse of forms: "I am
far away and wish to approach closely enough to touch her gentle, soft
cheek". Poetry is limited only by the conventions of such non-literal
usage.
In each case it is similarly impossible to separate the form (intentional
logic as expressed grammatically) from the poetry; the poetry consists
in the misuse of the form, within narrow limits. The study of poetic
expression consists in the identification of those logico-grammatical
forms of expression which are capable of such liberal or ironic exemplifica-
tion. In the above example, even the law of identity has a poetic counter-
part. Poetic comparison likewise contains an element of the impossible:
For instance, Ruyyaka, author of the Alamkarasarvasva, discussing the figure
virodha ('contradiction") states that a resolution (samadhāna) of the contradiction is
necessary; the apparent inconsistency is simply a matter of stating a consistency
more forcefully. Ruyyaka, Alamkārasarvasva (in Kävyamālā, no. 35) (Bombay, 1939),
p. 154. Cf. Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity, pp. 199ff.</p>
<pb n="21" />
<p>THE PROBLEM
"The professor winked at me so hard that his face was like a concertina
with a hole in it."24 This nevertheless suggests exactly the property which
is so striking in the subject. The unlikelihood of the ascription is the
test of the simile: literally, the quality named (hole, with its suggested
correlate, the pleats of the concertina) is present in the object of compari-
son (concertina) only. The mind of the listener immediately grasps its
counterpart in the subject. But the suggestion of the property in the
subject must not pass beyond the limits of the absurd or irrelevant; there
must be a basis for the comparison in the subject too, however farfetched
(the open eye or mouth).
19
The criterion of misapplication is clearly stated in the early definitions
of simile. "The [expression of] similitude, in terms of a qualitative aspect,
between the subject [of comparison] and an object [of comparison]
incompatible with it in place, time, activity, or the like, is called simile."
Rudrața says: "When a single quality, etc. common to both [the things
compared], which is realized (siddha) in one way [in the object], is made
real otherwise (anyatra) in the subject, that is simile, which is itself
threefold." The same necessity of misapplication is present in all the
other figures (even those based on sound patterns), but it may be, and
usually is, taken for granted. Only rarely is the principle of misapplication
itself suggested. Bhämaha's much discussed mention of vakrokti is
the first and most significant such proposition.27
The indefiniteness of this criterion of poetry is widely held to demon-
strate the futility of an analytic approach to poetry.28 The manner of
posing a problem usually defines the kind of solution required. The
definition of indefiniteness is impossible only if the problem is conceived
in extenso by assuming that the poetics is an attempt to anticipate every
conceivable instance of poetic utterance in its infinite variation and
intimate adjustment of context, time, and place. Poetics is, in this view,
a machine for writing poetry, a kaviśikṣā. It is as though we were to belittle
logic because it failed to provide us with arguments.
In the first place, the poetic will deal only with the significant genera of
poetic utterance analytically, though recognizing that in the poetic work
many co-occur in a complex unity. The question of what are the genera
of indefinite usage is settled in the only way possible: by reference to
24 Joyce Cary, The Horse's Mouth.
Bhāmaha, Kavyalamkāra (Bombay, 1909), 2.30.
26 Rudrata, Kāvyālamkāra (Bombay, 1887), 8.4.
27 Bhāmaha, 2.85; see below, pp. 42ff.
See below, pp. 51ff. Cf. Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity, p. 285.
18</p>
<pb n="22" />
<p>20
the several standards of definite usage from which the poetic forms deviate
and which they assume. It is significant that the major categories of poetic
analysis are provided by the sister disciplines of logic and grammar.
Poetry is nothing but the general possibility of reformulating standards
and commonplaces: of course, not randomly, but knowingly, and in such
a way that the sense is not lost, but is preserved through a fanciful trial.
Influenced by Aristotle's definition of metaphor, most Western inven-
tories of the figures have been based largely on patterns of word usage:
morphemic figuration. Metaphor for Aristotle is indeed the basic figure,
for it is a word used in other than its literal sense. 29 Syntactical structures
likewise are distorted (for example, when the predicate precedes the
subject); in the common figure chiasmos, a second phrase is added show-
ing this reversal. Many figures are defined by the variations of letters
within a word: "e'er", "ne'er",30 "... when his golden hayre / In th'Ocean
billowes he hath bathed fayre In the Indian poetic, an important
place is reserved for grammatical categories; but even when allowances
are made for the variations in grammatical standard between Sanskrit
and Greek or English, a certain difference of emphasis is plain. There are
almost no figures which, properly speaking, are syntactically defined
(cf. yathāsamkhya, krama); only one figure (in one author) is defined
as a word usage (Vamana's vakrokti, which resembles Aristotle's meta-
phor). Patterns of letters are discussed only in reference to rhyming
and in certain kinds of puns. Indeed, the Indian figures were conceived
not at all from the ang of the word and its conventional usage, but rather
were oriented to the proposition, were fundamentally logical in concep-
tion. This difference of approach is crucial. It not only belies De's reduc-
tion of all figures to "tricks of phrasing", confusing poetic with a Western
rhetoric, but it states boldly the sense in which the system of alamkāras
represents an inventory of the poetic imagination-and defines poetic
utterance in its concrete universality.
INTRODUCTION
30
***
* Aristotle, Poetics, 1457b, 7ff. A modern view, very similar, in Wellek and Warren,
Theory of Literature, pp. 183ff.
The Tudor rhetoricians made figures out of the largely grammatical Greek principles
of euphony: syncope, aphacresis, crasis, metathesis, and the like. In English, the dimin-
ished capacity for such elisions made their often artificial use that much more striking.
On the grammatical underpinning of the poetic, see below, p. 22, pp. 64ff. For the
Tudor figures, see W. Taylor's "Tudor Figures of Rhetoric", unpublished dissertation
(Chicago, 1937).
11 Spenser, Prothalamion.
Even the figures which are explicitly grammatical in their reference define patterns,
repetitions, of usage; see below, pp. 64ff.</p>
<pb n="23" />
<p>21
But the misapplication of the idea, poetically speaking, is only half
the figure; the form itself, logical or grammatical in origin, provides the
principle of definition, and it is of course on this differentiable aspect of
figuration that the treatises concentrate. Yet the manner in which they
are composed plays down the underlying logical or grammatical frame-
work, and gives some plausibility to the view that the figures are mere
collections or ornaments empirically discovered. The view is evidently
related to that which asserts the irrelevancy of the figures to poetics
generally.
Among the early writers, only Rudrata attempts to categorize the
figures according to their principles of definition; his treatment, though
ingenious, is broad and mentions only four groupings for some sixty
figures. Not until the close of the early figurative period, in the works of
certain of the encyclopedists, is there any really serious attempt to make
the outward presentation of the figures conform to their inner logic.
Ruyyaka must be mentioned as the writer who has gone farthest in this
direction. Much of our argument is based on his system.33 But the out-
ward arrangement of the figures, though it may technically be that of a
list, cannot hide the intentional structure which underlies the definition of
each figure and, in fact, relates each figure to others in terms of significant
variations, implying, if not stating, a universe of figures, a system (at
least) of definition.
THE PROBLEM
The subsequent history of alamkāra in India is emphatically not a
question of groping after aesthetic universals, but of what requirements
this implicit system of definition imposes upon the universe of poetic
discourse: What relations of subordination and superordination are to
be accepted; how one figure can participate in the idea of another (as
ślesa in simile); what constitutes a variety of another figure and hence can
be dropped or subordinated; whether, in fact, the form of the figure mani-
fests any inherent adaptability to misapplication (vakrokti); what further
suggestion is based on the misapplication (dhvani); whether, indeed, the
*Manifesting an insight to me mysterious, Keith concludes: "The division [of
figures] even in Ruyyaka is not logical" (Keith, SL, p. 399). The Alamkārasarvasva
of Ruyyaka has been translated into German by Jacobi (Zeitschrift der Deutschen
Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, LXII, pp. 289-336, 411-458, 597-628) and provided
with illuminating notes. Jacobi's longer article, somewhat misleadingly entitled
"Ueber Begriff und Wesen der poetischen Figuren in der Indischen Poetik" (= Kgl.
Ges. d. Wiss. Göttingen, Nachrichten. Phil-Hist. Klasse, 1908), is primarily an exposition
of Ruyyaka's syncretistic views. It is nevertheless one of the rare serious examinations
of the alamkārika position as a poetic. The respect which Jacobi pays to Ruyyaka
ought to be generalized to the entire school.</p>
<pb n="24" />
<p>22
notion of poetic deviation is uniquely or even adequately realized in the
universe of discourse called figuration (whether it may not be better
realized in some other non-figurative function of poetry, as dhvani);
what the principle of definition is, and whether it suffices for poetry; if
not, how it relates to other poetic principles.
INTRODUCTION
(II) HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
(a) Arthasabda
The system of the figures and the manner in which they express or fail
to express the inexpressible are topics which condition the entire history
of Indian poetics for the antifigurationists as well as the figurationists.
We have stated that the figure as form must have a poetic application,
must be employed so as to convey its intent despite some elemental
disregard of the sense and limits of the figure itself. But the notion of
figuration in its most general form (vakrokti) is not an adequate guide
either to the universe of figures or, in fact, to the manner of poetry itself;
for the inexpressible aspect, the element of deviation, varies considerably
in character from one major category of figuration to another and is
itself partly a function of the logical and grammatical genera implicit
in the figures. This is why the Indian poeticians proved so uninterested
in the universals of poetry-its essence, spirit, and the like-committed
as they were to the notion that their propositions were directed to a
discriminable subject matter and had always to make explicit the actual
variation of intent and understanding in the poetic language.
The time-worn division of figures into artha ('meaning') and sabda
(*word or grammatical form') is the first and most obvious attempt to
characterize deviation concretely. Certain figures, as we have said, are
basically misapplications of a logical or propositional form. For example,
simile (A is like B) and hyperbole, which is the poetic variety of predica-
tion itself (A is B, or A has B), are understood despite the fact that the
statement cannot be true: "They have yarns / of a skyscraper so tall
they had to put hinges / on the two top stories so to let the moon go by",34
viz. "the skyscrapers are tall, very tall". Other figures involve no aspect
of intention at all, but merely reflect variations in the structure of the
language itself and of its grammar (conceived, of course, on many levels-
phonology, morphology, syntax). Perhaps the most elemental such figure
Carl Sandburg.</p>
<pb n="25" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
23
is alliteration, which is an arrangement of the phonology of the language,
"poetic" because the regularities of recurrence and the limitations on the
occurrence of certain phonemes (or aspects of phonemes) is not charac-
teristic of usual speech, which is far more randomly organized. Most
other figures grouped as sabda are similarly regularizations of grammatical
features which ordinarily occur ad libitum. Yamaka ('cadence"), certainly
the most maligned of all the figures, is basically the Indian correspondent
to our rhyme: the repetition of a sequence of syllables at predetermined
positions in a metrical pattern, but not restricted to the end of lines as
in most Western poetry. Meter itself, though traditionally the subject of
another discipline and not treated as poetic, is still capable of the same
poetic regularization.
Much Indian scientific and religious literature is composed in simple
meters, often varieties of the epic śloka; poetic meters in contrast are
distinguished by their complexity, and by the absolute regularity of
their syllabic quantification (ārya meters apart, but these are non-Sans-
kritic in origin and even Jayadeva "poeticizes" them in these terms).
Instead of eight-syllable feet with only three syllables fixed as to length
(the sloka), poetic meters range in length from eleven to twenty-seven
syllables (averaging around twenty) with no variation permitted in the
quantification of individual syllables. Kālidāsa's meter, the mandākrāntā,
used so effectively in the Meghadūta, has quarters of seventeen syllables
arranged in the invariable sequence:
LLLL SSSSSL
LSLLSLL 35
The authors of the Dhvanyaloka make much of the difference in poetic
quality of the figures of artha and śabda, which they rechristened alamkāra
and citra kāvya, respectively; clearly, the deviation in the two cases has
different force, because the norms in the two cases are fundamentally
different. Poetry based on an intentional structure appeals to the intellect
and the understanding—the vakrokti has the aspect of true suggestion, of
meanings not said as such-whereas the poetry whose deviations are
grammatically based is addressed more to the ear and to those ineffable
harmonies which may stir the soul but whose sense is difficult to com-
prehend. The vakrokti in citrakāvya is not so much a conveying of mean-
ing as the imposition of modes of repetition (forms) on what is in principle
an inchoate, unstructured, and fundamentally unintentional level of
35 As kaś cit käntävirahaguruṇā svādhikärāt pramattaḥ (1").</p>
<pb n="26" />
<p>24
INTRODUCTION
expression-a kind of elemental ordering or creation in the stuff of lan-
guage.
Despite the wealth of figures in the Indian poetic and despite the ex-
actitude and breadth of their exemplification in the treatises, modern
critics have not shown much interest in the universe implied by the figures,
preferring to extrapolate theories of poetic beauty from the rare and
sketchy references to terms like vakrokti, rīti, and Sobhā.30 If they are
concerned with the figures at all, it is philologically, as an exercise in
the history of a text tradition.37 Critics concerned with intellectual history
(Ingalls, for example) often adopt the point of view of the dhvani theorists
and are puzzled by the persistent emphasis on figuration.38
Verbal beauty is a consideration proper to poetics, but the initial task
of the discipline is to describe the expressive apparatus by which this
poetic comprehension is achieved. To begin with, the poetic charm of
language has to be taken for granted; it is not an object of investigation,
but a criterion of identification. The question necessarily posed by the
first figurationists was "how", not "what".39 Of course, in time, when
the formal apparatus had been more or less successfully delineated,
critics, under the impetus of newer poetic genres, began to speculate on
the problem of beauty itself and to seek a single principle which underlies
poetic language. We will take up this important transition in its place.
It would not be accurate to say that the ālamkārikas were insensitive
to beauty, but rather that their task was to define a concrete context in
which the discussion of beauty would have meaning. Their view of
beauty was that it was best revealed in its own structure (much as Euclid
must have thought that the intellectual delight of formal contemplation
was best served not in pure subjectivity but in a system of postulates and
theorems).
* Typical is Keith, who, with Jovian disregard, adds: "On the classification of
figures of speech no serious thought appears to have been expended" (SL, p. 398).
The Indian texts, on the contrary, are almost exclusively devoted to questions of
concrete definition: the number of figures and related poetic categories.
37 P. V. Kane's History of Sanskrit Poetics. The figures, or rather the definitions of
the figures, are meticulously examined for the light they throw on the chronology of
the texts.
38 Cf. D. H. H. Ingalls, "Sanskrit Poetry and Sanskrit Poetics", a part of the Introduc-
tion (pp. 2-29) to his translation of the Subhāṣitaratnakoşa (Harvard Oriental Series,
44). De has called for, but no one has yet provided, a study of the "development of
the different conceptions of individual poetic figures ..." (HSP, II, p. 70). This is
indeed a desideratum, and one which might well precede speculation on the nature and
aims of the alamkāra criticism.
30 Contra De, SPSA, p. 2. Even historically, poetry is the first form of expression,
according to the folklorists.</p>
<pb n="27" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
25
(b) The Criteria of Differentiation
40
In early discussions, the structure of figuration was overshadowed by a
number of problems. The first was the elaboration, definition and collec-
tion of the subject matter. Bhāmaha, the earliest writer on the figures
whose text has survived, was still primarily concerned with blocking out
the main elements of the figurative universe. His text is a "collection"
par excellence; the figures are arranged in arbitrary groups (which may
have had a basis in different text traditions) and are almost entirely
devoid of subvarieties. Bhämaha and his follower Udbhata appear to
this extent somewhat primitive, but it is not possible to treat the entire
tradition as though it had not progressed beyond this stage. It is precisely
in the direction of greater order, greater systematization and greater
understanding of the implications for the system of the categories and
the definitions of figuration, that the tradition has evolved. The great
advance of Dandin over Bhämaha is in his arrangement, whenever pos-
sible, of the figures according to the canon of subordination. Nevertheless,
Bhāmaha and Dandin use and implicitly recognize much of the definitional
apparatus which is not explicitly stated until later with Rudraţa and
Ruyyaka. Daṇḍin does not even mention the distinction between artha
and sabda, though he groups his figures in such a way as to suggest that
he is aware of its importance.
Bhāmaha's definition of kavya, "sabdarthau sahitau kävyam", which is
discussed most frequently as if it meant 'kävya is word and sense joined'
-a rather self-evident proposition at best-seems from the context
clearly to recognize the distinction not between meaning and grammatical
form, but between types of figures. Dandin and Bhāmaha are both
** The relative priority of Bhämaha and Dandin is still a point highly disputed.
The passages upon which the intricate textual argument is based are given in P. V.
Kane, History of Sanskrit Poetics, pp. 102-133. To us, the textual argument is incon-
clusive; we accept the priority of Bhamaha on the premise that he is less concerned.
with system than Dandin. For opposing arguments, cf. A. B. Keith, SL, pp. 375 ff.
and De, HSP, I, p. 62.
The arthālamkāra in Kāvyādarśa, chap. 2; the rest in chaps. 1 and 3.
43 Kävyālamkāra, 1.16.
The preceding line from Bhamaha (1.15) is translated by De (HSP, II, p. 38):
"We, however, accept two kinds of ornaments, referring respectively to word and sense".
No trace of the import of this distinction is apparent in De's discussion of 1.16:
"Sabdārthau sahitau kāvyam" (in SPSA, pp. 18-20), where he seems to take it in the
truistic sense of the literal words themselves: "But mere sahitya of sabda and artha is not
poetry; it is grammatical fact, common to all speech" D. T. Tatacharya, expressing
the transition from 1.15 to 1.16 (in his learned modern commentary to Bhāmaha,
the Udyānavṛtti) says "nanu sariram tävat prathamam kāvyasyābhidhīyatām yasya
bhavatā dvividho 'lamkāra işyate / ucyate ..." But Bhāmaha is probably not discussing
the sarira ("body") of poetry at all; cf. below, pp. 29ff.</p>
<pb n="28" />
<p>26
aware of the fully articulated formal analysis of the simile into upameya,
upamāna, sādhāraṇadharma, and dyotaka," and use these categories in
distinguishing various similes as well as figures based on simile.
INTRODUCTION
(c) An Alternative System: The Stylistic Argument
The second problem which hindered the elaboration of formal figurative
categories was the lingering discussion of the poetic styles (riti or mārga),
which were originally geographical variations in the use or avoidance
of certain conventional aspects of Sanskrit syntax, such as long com-
pounds, involved etymological forms, certain kinds of alliteration, and
the like. Soon what was regional style became merely stylized usage:
rīti. At first two, then three, then five styles were differentiated on the basis
of certain typical conjunctions of the syntactic and grammatical characteris-
tics, or guņas ('qualities') relating to usage.
46
The analysis of poetry as rīti was fundamentally an empirical enterprise
and, as such, not really congenial to the Indian thinkers. It was based
on the notion that the occasional use of a particular feature was of greater
significance than the idea of the feature or its essential character. Poetry
as style was defined as a conventional configuration of certain positively
or negatively present characteristics; for example, the rīti called vaidarbhi
was defined by the presence of the guṇas (sāukumārya, prasādatvam, etc.)
and the absence of ojas." That the characteristic is present or absent is
the essential thing, not what it is or what natural purpose it serves. In a
sense the guna/rīti theory completes the alamkāra theory by providing
a concrete notion of poetic context lacking in the study of figures as
theoretic forms. But it is certainly not the case, as some have supposed,
that it was intended to supersede or replace the alamkāra theory.48
The subject and object of comparison, the common or comparable property, the
adverbial indicator of comparison ('like').
** Raghavan, Studies on Some Concepts of the Alankāra Šāstra, p. 131.
**
For complete list, see below, p. 32, note 68.
47 There is indeed a general correlation of the gunas with one of the styles, and their
opposites with the other (Dandin, Kāvyādarśa, 1.42), but several exceptions, notably
ojas (1.80) demonstrate the variability of the gunas vis-à-vis the styles. In some cases
the opposite of the guna is (apparently) also a guna; in others, a defect (doșa). Sec
below, p. 33. Dandin in all cases illustrates both the guna and its opposite, and these
illustrations may be taken as instances of the stylistic opposition thus made concrete.
** "The decline of the alamkāra system was probably synchronous with, and perhaps
hastened by, the rise of the rival riti-doctrine" (De, HSP, II, p. 66). What decline?
The alamkāra continues to preoccupy long after the riti has been fossilized as allitera-
tion by Rudrata. Attempts to elevate the riti into a competing poetic doctrine or school
are made tenuous by the certain identification of but a single writer (Vamana) with it.</p>
<pb n="29" />
<p>27
We have indicated the historical background of the guna/rīti theory
and its empirical preoccupation with differentiating various total styles
by calculating grammatical variables. Vämana was the first to have
attempted to state the crucial relation between the gunas and the alam-
kāras, but in so doing turns the matter on its head and makes of the
gunas not the predicates of a definition, but 'qualities', that is, 'virtues'
constituting poetry itself.49 Taking Dandin's definition of alamkāra-
"kävyaśobhākarān dharmän alañkārān pracakṣate" 50 Vāmana turns it into
a definition of guna—"kāvyaśobhāyāḥ kartāro dharmā guṇāḥ."51 To this
conception of the guṇas, the alamkāras are subordinated as specific
excitants or heighteners of the beauty thus produced: "tadatiśayahetavas
tv alamkārāḥ".5² To establish this distinction, which is crucial to his theo-
ry, he appeals to a number of analogies, most importantly that of the soul
and the body. Guņas pertain to the soul of poetry and are inherent, like
courage, and essential to it; the figures pertain to the body and, like clothes
and ornaments, are incidental and optional-at least this is the interpreta-
tion of the tradition which is accepted, in general, by De. In fairness it
must be admitted that the text is laconic and may not intend the distinc-
tion to be made in quite this way: all Vāmana says is "purve ... nityāḥ"
("pūrve guṇā nityāḥ. tair vinā kāvyaśobhānupapatteh").53 Elsewhere he
mentions the soul in connection with the definition of riti, implying a
distinction which becomes commonplace later.54
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
The way Vāmana intended the analogy of soul/body presents something
of a problem. First of all, it is hard to see just how the gunas are any
more inherent than the figures in the poetic expression, if they are
indeed present or absent as required for the differentiation of Vamana's
three styles. Daṇḍin expresses himself more appositely: The gunas are
Both writers who discuss style also discuss alamkāra in extenso. The riti theory and
Vāmana are side-issues in the history of Indian poetics. Reasons for De's ahistorical
interest in Vamana will be proposed below.
**Playing on the same equivocation in Sanskrit guna as in English "quality".
50 "We consider the figures properties producing beauty in poetry", Kävyādarśa, 2.1.
51 "The qualities are properties which are productive of poetic beauty", Kävyālam-
kārasūtrāņi, 3.1.1.
"The figures, on the other hand, are causes of their pre-eminence", ibid., 3.1.2.
"The former are inherent" (the former, viz., the qualities, are inherent; for without
them there is no realization of poetic beauty), ibid., 3.1.3 and vrytti.
** Ibid., 1.2.6, "ritir ātmā kāvyasya", "style is the soul [atman] of poetry", and the com-
mentary specifies the implication that poetry is thereby analogically the "body"
(sarira) whose soul is the riti. Cf. the definition of the dhvani in Dhvanyaloka 1.1:
"dhvanir ātmā kävyasya". The mention of the soul of poetry is given a different
interpretation by De, below, p. 29.</p>
<pb n="30" />
<p>28
INTRODUCTION
essential to the style, not to poetry as such.55 Furthermore, it is hard to
understand what real difference can be found between 'beauty and
"heightening of beauty", particularly if the distinction between 'bodily
ornaments' and 'spiritual qualities' (courage, etc.) is analogically intended.
In the poem, the beauty of the gunas, being essential and inherent, should
not require heightening; if it does, then it is not in itself adequate and
should not be described as nitya, primordinate. That two entirely different
kinds of beauty are meant seems improbable on the basis of Vamana's
first two sutras: "kāvyam grāhyam alamkārāt" and "saundaryam alam-
kāraḥ"58 He generalizes the notion of 'ornament' (anticipating the dis-
tinction between guņas and alamkāras) to mean beauty itself-a term
broad enough to include the gunas, too.
As an aspect of his general theory of subordination, Vāmana was also
the first to try to generalize about the figures of speech. In Vamana we
find not only attempts to order the aspects of poetry, but, within the one
aspect of figuration, to suggest an architectonic. In fact, Vāmana attempts
to reduce all the arthālamkāras to varieties of simile,57 a project disas-
trously one sided, but showing a clear awareness of how basic comparison
is to a large part of the figurative universe.
Difficulties of interpretation vitiate Vāmana's ambitious program of
ordering poetry and in part explain why the guna/riti theory was simply
abandoned by later writers or reduced to a place in the discussion of
alliteration (Mammața).58 Nevertheless, Vāmana must be accorded an
important role in the histor of poetics, for he was the first to explore
explicitly the problem of arrangement, pattern, and relations of subordin-
ation in the different aspects of poetry. His effort to show that all
arthālamkāras were types of simile was at least the first attempt to demon-
strate coherence in the figures.
It is widely held that Vāmana represents a step forward in the develop-
ment of Indian poetic thought because he considered for the first time
It is possible to see Vamana's preference for one of the styles, the vaidarbhi, as an
anticipation of this objection. According to Kävyālamkārasūtrāṇi, 1.2.14 the vaidarbh!
demonstrates all the gunas, the other two, pañcāli and gaudīyā, only some, and this
is taken to show the relative excellence of the vaidarbhi. But if the collocation of
qualities suffices to define the best poetry, then the vaidarbhi is, in a word, poetry, the
others, defective poetry. The equivocation in the word "quality" is drawn out to its
limit: on this view Vamana is no longer discussing style, but the normative conditions
of composition. For reasons we have indicated most of Vamana's colleagues found
it more congenial to discuss this problem in terms of the alamkāra theory.
5* *Poetry is perceptible through ornament' and 'Ornament is beauty".
57 Kävyälamkārasūtrāṇi, 4.2.1 ff.
58 Kävyaprakāśa, chap. 8.</p>
<pb n="31" />
<p>29
11
the atman or 'soul' of poetry. "The enquiry as to what is the 'soul' or
essence of poetry is for the first time definitely posed and systematically
worked out by Vamana 59 This seems a rather heavy load to put
upon what was probably a loose analogy. It is at least clear from Vāmana's
extremely short definition, "ritir ātmā kavyasya", that ātman is the predi-
cate, the višeşaṇa, and rīti the subject and višeşya. De's statement is, on
grammatical grounds, incorrect, for he apparently takes ātman to be the
subject of investigation, as if it were said: "the soul of poetry is riti..."
A small difference, but a crucial one, for we are in fact establishing
Vamana's subject matter: Vämana is not discussing the soul of poetry
at all. By this slight reinterpretation of Vamana's intent, De is able to
put forward what is in fact a remarkable theory of historical evolution,
according to which Vāmana's predecessors discussed only the 'body'
of poetry-that is, the figures and other formalistic categories: "... earlier
authors like Bhamaha and Dandin propose to confine themselves chiefly
to what they call the kāvyaśarīra or the body of poetry", as distinguished
from its ātman, its 'soul' or animating principle."
"61 This is demonstrably
and textually false and shows how easily analogies of 'soul' and 'body'
can get out of hand and eventually replace in discussion the subjects they
were originally meant merely to explicate. There are two references to the
'body' of poetry in Daṇḍin and Bhāmaha, and both are embarrassing
for De's historical assumptions. Bhāmaha 1.23 concerns a discussion
of the hero (nayaka). In 1.22 the inappropriateness of portraying this
hero's death has been asserted and a reason follows: 'But if it is not the
intention [of the poet] to make him coextensive with the body of the poem,
and not to show him participating in prosperity, then it is pointless to
mention him in praise at the beginning' (1.23). Whatever "kavyaśarīra"
may mean in such a context, it clearly has nothing to do with the opposi-
tion of soul and body. It appears to signify the poem as a work, as a
composition having a certain scope and bulk, and to imply that the hero
must be present throughout the work in order to be a hero; he cannot
be killed off before the end. Dandin likewise refers to a "sarira" (1.10) in
discussing the origins of poetry: "The inspired sages of old, aware that
poetry itself was not enough, and intending the mental formation of
their descendants, composed treatises in the form of precepts, relating
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
59 De, HSP, II, p. 90. Cf. also pp. 36 and 103, and SPSA, pp. 30-31.
60
The use of atman in the sense of 'chief topic' or 'basic principle' is well attested in
the săstraic literature, cf. Vacaspatimiśra's commentary on Samkhyakārikā 12 (topic
99) (= Poona Oriental Series, 10). As here, Vāmana's definition could be expressed
"kävyam rityātmakam". His own gloss is "ritir nämeyam ātmā kavyasya".
HSP, II, p. 34.
61</p>
<pb n="32" />
<p>30
to speech and its various styles" (1.9). In other words, they established the
poetics at the same time as the poetry. He continues: "taiḥ śarīram ca
kāvyānām alamkārāś ca daršitāḥ" ("the sages propounded both the body
and the figures of poems"). "šarīram tāvad iṣṭārthavyavacchinnä padāvalī"
("now, by "body" I mean a string of words distinguished by a desired
meaning'). Clearly Daṇḍin is distinguishing between the poetic 'body'
and the figures of speech. In the succeeding kārikās, he treats of that
body (1.11-39), discussing such matters as meter, language, and genres
of composition (epic poem, drama, etc.) and their typical content, making
clear that he intends by that term, reference to the extrinsic, descriptive
categories of poetry (which, as language, poetry may share with other
kinds of expression), categories of importance but not relating to the
proper expressive power of poetry, its višeşana. The alamkāras indeed
are precisely that topic and signify, if the contrast with śarīra is to
be forced at all, the 'soul' of the discussion. I point this out to show
that not only is it false to say that Dandin is preoccupied exclusively
with the body of poetry (on the level of textual interpretation), but that,
if his own use of the word is to be given any credence, he apparently
wishes to distinguish from the kávyaśarīra precisely that category of
discussion (the figures) which De claims constituted its essence. I do not
think we need to push Daṇḍin into an espousal of a doctrine of kävyātman.
Even if the alamkāras are distinguished from the body of poetry, there is
probably nothing more intended than the distinction between language
(those categories, including meter, which pertain to poetry because it is
language and does convey meanings) and poetic language (those categories
pertaining to the specific capacities of poetry, in one way or another
based on a notion of non-literalism). In this sense, śarīra would mean
something like 'content' or 'corpus'. The easy verbal analogy of 'body'
and 'ornament" was too much to resist.
INTRODUCTION
Under the influence of the dhvani theory, the gunas were resuscitated,
again analogically, and assigned a relation to the rasa, which had become
in its turn the "soul' of poetry ("dhvanir ātmā kāvyasya"); the gunas are to
dhvani (the spirit of poetry) as qualities of character (e.g., courage) are
to the human soul. This makes considerably more sense than Vāmana's
formulation (though it has been confused with it). In a poem whose
basic mood is vīra (the heroic), a stylistic quality such as ojas ('vigor',
Taken up in Dandin's two remaining chapters. Cf. M. Winternitz, Geschichte
der Indischen Literatur (Leipzig, 1920), III, pp. 12-14.
Dhvanyaloka, 1.1.
44 Ibid., 2.7 and Comm.</p>
<pb n="33" />
<p>31
use of long compounds) is essential, whereas a simile, let us say, could or
could not be used, depending on other considerations. That this is not
how the guṇa/rīti theory was originally intended has been adequately
shown.65 One of the points this introduction will make is that the dhvani
theory should not be used as a basis for interpreting doctrines that pre-
ceeded it.
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
Let us put aside for a moment the controversial problem of soul and
body and consider the functional relation, implied in the early alamkāra
texts, of the gunas to the figures. It is usually held that Daṇḍin, who alone
of the figurationists devotes considerable attention to the gunas as a
poetic category, conceived the two terms to be fundamentally identical
--the gunas being figures put to a specific use, that of distinguishing the
two styles of poetry (by being present in one or the other marga only),
the figures as such being common to both styles. This idea rests on a
reading of Dandin 2.3 which appears to me to be capable of another
interpretation; the topic is "alamkāra": "kāš cin märgavibhāgārtham
uktāḥ prāg apy alamkriyāḥ । sādhāraṇam alamkārajātam adya pradarśyate".
De translates: "For the purpose of classifying the margas, some alamkāras
have been already spoken of (by me in the previous chapter); now are
shown those alamkāras which are common (to both the mārgas)."**
Now, are the figures already spoken of' as classifying or separating
the mārgas, in fact the gunas? Or are they simply figures which Daṇḍin
has incidentally employed in his illustrations of the various gunas
(particularly samadhi, which has been defined as the se of metaphorical
expressions in 1.93)? The very common figures, alliteration and pun,
have, for instance, been illustrated several times in that discussion.
Alliteration, in fact, is treated by Daṇḍin only in the section on madhura
guna. The phrase that Dandin uses ("uktāḥ präg api") does not compel
us to identify the gunas and the alamkāras; to do so makes for a number
of exegetical problems: Daṇḍin treats the two categories quite distinctly,
and never confuses the terms. As usual, discussions of the supposed
identity of guna and alamkāra have involved only terminological quibbles
and have not included the broader question of the use of the terms as
critical categories in relation to poetry. From this angle, it is clear that
67
85 One other puzzling aspect of Vamana's theory is shown in this contrast with the
dhvani: the gunas are not for Vamana contextually appropriate or essential at all;
in the best poetry, all ten must be present. They are, as he says, "nityaḥ", "invariably
present. The notion of a 'virtue", as potentiality manifested in certain circumstances
(as courage), is hard to square with such absolutism.
HSP, II, p. 83.
*7 Kävyādarśa 1.52-61.</p>
<pb n="34" />
<p>32
INTRODUCTION
Dandin does not consider guna and alamkāra identical, and never could
have.
If Dandin's intention were indeed to employ certain figures to differ-
entiate the two styles, there would be no need for a new terminological
category (guna). But the major argument against identification are the
definitions of the guṇas themselves, whose context is that of the spoken
language. For gunas relate entirely to the stuff of language-to sound or
to its capacity to convey impressions 88 and never to ideational, logical,
or intentional categories, as do the figures.
68
The last half of Dandin 2.3 does not permit a decision between the
two interpretations. As understood by De and Taruņavācaspati, the term
sādhāraṇam (*common') in this passage is taken to refer to the two mārgas
previously differentiated: "We will now consider the figures which are
common to both styles, not peculiar to one or the other". But again,
nothing compels this interpretation, in many ways difficult. Sādhāraṇa
may also be taken as 'universal' ("having the same ādhāraṇa 'basis""),
contrasting, according to my interpretation, with the previous occasional
and incidental usage of the alamkāras.59 Here the figures are treated in
general, that is, without reference to possible contexts of application
(the various mārgas). Thus we would read the passage: "The group of
figures will now be demonstrated universally", that is, in principle and in
accordance with their basis and form, not occasionally or for purposes
of illustrating the styles.
In this interpretation, Dandin's theory of the figures does not differ
materially from that of Bhamaha, Udbhața, or Rudrața. For these writers,
** And in this sense, belong to the farira of poetry. Their inclusion in Dandin's
first chapter is thus decidedly appropriate, and may be seen as completing the discussion
begun in 1.10. Cf. above, p. 29. The ten gunas are: śleşa, the employment of a heavy
proportion of consonants to vowels; samatā, the use of consonants with similar phonic
properties; madhurya, alliteration; saukumārya, the avoidance of harsh consonants
and clusters; ojas, the predilection for compounding; prasāda, language easily under-
stood; arthavyakti, avoidance of double-entendre and other artificial encumbrances
on meaning; udāratva, language conveying a wealth of meaning; känti, language
universally agreeable or commonplace, and samadhi, the use of metaphor. It will be
seen that the first five relate to sound, the latter five to meaning. This both explains
and refutes Vāmana's highly artificial attempt to define each guna in relation both to
sound and sense. Cf. Kavyalamkārasūtrāṇi, 3.1.4 and 3.2.1 ff; also Dandin, Kavyadarsa,
1.41 ff.; Taruņavācaspati on Kávyādarśa, 2.1.
A comparable sense attaches to the term sādhāraṇa in the navyanyāya, where it
indicates that fallacy whose reason is too general for its application: "there is fire
on the mountain because it is a possible object of knowledge" (instead of the apposite
reason: "because there is smoke"). Sädhāraṇa, when referring to a principle, we
translate as 'universal': sämänya. Cf. Annambhaṭṭa, Tarkasamgraha, ed. Y. Athalye
(- Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series, 55), pp. 44-45 (section 53).</p>
<pb n="35" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
33
however, the gunas were not even considered proper to differentiate
styles (that is, to permit judgement of the poetic quality of the styles)
and so lost their operational significance. Vaidarbha märga, which, in
the total effect of its ten gunas, falls softly on the ear, may, according to
Bhämaha (1.34), be too enervated to be poetic; but a poem, even if
gaudīya in vigor and complexity, will be properly honored if it is well
figured and avoids excesses (1.35). The gunas, categories pertaining to
the poetic context, to the manner of poetry and not to its form and essence,
are of little value in discriminating poetry. Insofar as the guṇas can be
made precise and refer to varieties of deviant usage, they will become
figures of verbal effect-kinds of alliteration or degrees of compounding
(Rudraţa 2.3).70
The discussion of the qualities belongs properly to the prolegomena of
poetics, in which is treated the history, aims, and rewards of poetry as
well as matters pertaining to the content (sarira) and conditions of its
execution. The gunas must have originally been grouped (as the very
name implies) with the doşas ('defects', 'sins')-expressive factors which
run counter to and vitiate the desired poetic effect. The dosas form a
topic in most books on poetics, beginning with Bharata and Bhamaha,72
and their relevance seems clear, if peripheral: despite the peculiarly
expressive form of language which defines and constitutes poetry (named
vakrokti by Bhämaha), poetry still remains indissolubly bound to the
general forms and properties of language (nouns, verbs, intonations,
" It is probably in this sense that the laconic and indeed cryptic remark which Dandin
appends to his discussion of the alamkāras (2.366, ed., Tatacharya) is to be taken: "*yac ca
sandhyangavṛttyañgalakṣaṇādy ägamāntare । vyāvarṇitam idam ceşṭam alankāratayaiva
nah" ("And as for that described in the other sästra [viz. the Nāṭyaśāstra]—the san-
dhyañgas, etc.-this we also wish to understand as alamkara"). Whether this is just
a sop to the already well-established dramatic school of criticism or whether he really
means it is hard to decide. The remark, in the manner of a closing aside, is not
adequately explained; indeed, it is difficult to conceive how the notion of figuration
can be extended to cover such concepts as the five necessary moments in the development
of a plot, and the like. Bharata, supposed author of the Naṭyaśāstra, is careful to
distinguish alamkāras from lakṣaṇas and other properly dramatic concepts. That
Dandin, whose faculty of discrimination is perhaps the most highly developed of any
ālamkārika, should wish to annul such distinctions is improbable. The observation
may simply be intended in the sense of wishing Bharata well: "We do not wish here
to appear to detract from the dramatists' study of their own proper conceptual
terminology, which, taking the term in the broad sense of 'ornament', may collectively
be called the alamkāras of their discipline." Compare Vamana's broad dictum "saunda-
ryam alamkāraḥ" (1.1.2).
71 And indeed, as we have remarked above, it is in just this context that Dandin
discusses the guņas.
7ª Bharata, Nāṭyaśāstra, 16.88-95; Bhāmaha, Kāvyālamkāra, 1.47ff; chap. 4.</p>
<pb n="36" />
<p>34
INTRODUCTION
syntactical procedures) which, although they do not permit delineation
of a distinctive genre, function as necessary conditions of all utterance
and a fortiori of poetic utterance. They impose conditions upon the
poetic expression which are effective only in extremis: usually when the
poem violates some rule of com prehensibility or grammatical intention
(so that it no longer means what it was intended to, for example).73
Such are the doşas. It behooves any poet to be aware of the general, as
well as the specific, capacities of his medium, just as the sculptor would
not use the same tools on granite and wood.
The dosas ('defects', with a connotation of 'sin') clearly parallel
terminologically the gunas ('qualities', with a connotation of "virtue") and
like them, pertain to the general preconditions of poetic language. Un-
like the dosas, however, the gunas are relevant not in omission, but in
commission; they appear to characterize language which is functioning
properly. In the definitions of Daṇḍin and Vāmana, several of the gunas
are said to be literally 'non-dosas. Most of the others imply a corres-
ponding defect, as prasāda implies vyutpanna ('language understood with
difficulty'). A few, like ojas, appear basically neutral, relative not to
"good" or "bad" but simply to variations in effect: certain poetic contexts
call for compounding, certain others do not. But if the gunas are basically
the avoidance of dosas and not positive qualities pertaining specifically
to the poetic in utterance, it does not appear profitable to situate poetry
per se in the guṇas. Vāmana's attempt to do precisely that met with
little approval, as we have seen. This attempt would make no more sense
than would, for example, the definition of poetry in terms of the func-
tioning of nouns and verbs. Certainly, poetry cannot be thought of
without nouns and verbs, and these are essential to it, but they simply
do not relate to the level of poetry on which its specific differences are
to be found. In one sense the mere avoidance of negative conditions
(doşas) does create a positive condition which it is the business of the
poet to cultivate; but as such, the gunas are truistic and do not define
poetic expression any more than a properly inflected noun can be con-
sidered poetry (although, again, no poetry is possible without properly
inflected nouns).
In substituting these positive conditions of poetry (gunas) for the specific
differentia of poetry (the figures), Vāmana may be said to have attempted
a tour de force, but the basic universe of discourse of Indian poetics
78 Dandin, Kávyādarśa, 1.7 is to be understood in this sense, no doubt.
74 E.g., arthavyakti (comprehensibility") defined as aneyarthatvam, "whose meaning
need not be reasoned about' (Daṇdin, Kāvyādarśa, 1.73).</p>
<pb n="37" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
was against him. The guṇas, like the dosas, may help us to distinguish
good poetry from bad poetry, but they will never help us to conceive
poetry. And it was to this latter end that all Indian criticism was directed.
35
Moreover (and this is a point not to be taken lightly) the guna theory
as a poetic is simply not adequate to the poetry of the Indian classical
period. An attempt to define two (Daṇḍin) or three (Vāmana) or even
five styles seems destined from the start to fall short, to mistake the
fundamental character of the highly sophisticated and intellectual ex-
pressivism of the classical poem. The obvious quality of this latter is to be
found in its complex expressionistic structures-not in the impressions
it creates on the ear.
If Vamana posed for the first time the problem of the internal organiza-
tion of the poetic Geisteswelt, it was not his solution which proved sig-
nificant for the tradition. Moreover, the complexity and variety of figur-
ation (in which the poetic differentia was felt to reside) is better seen in
Bhāmaha and Daṇḍin, where figures were defined according to every
conceivable expressive peculiarity, not just that of comparison. It
remained for Rudrața" to attempt the first synthesis, maintaining the
structural variety of Dandin, yet proposing an explicit system of classifica-
tion which provided for more variables than did the monotonic one of
Vāmana. Rudrața introduces a four-fold classification of the figures
intended to comprehend all the non-grammatical types, or arthālamkāra.
name),
(d) Rudrata: The First Systematist
(1) Simile
Rudraţa accepts the fundamental character of simile, as do all other
Indian writers. Simile is, indeed, the figure par excellence. Reasons for
its priority are not hard to find: little or no poetry is possible without
extensive use of simile. This is particularly true of the stanzaic poetry of
the Indian classical period, where the poetic work was a sequence of static,
reposeful images. But theoretically, too, simile is the cornerstone of
the figurative world. Indian writers considered the poetic višeşana to be a
certain manner of usage-of structures of thought and conception
(which are fundamental to all reasoned discourse) but usage which,
though entirely successful and meaningful, is not understandable in
terms of literal conventions. The standard form of reasoned discourse is
the proposition: A is B. The most obvious poetic variation on the
"Kävyälamkāra, chaps. 7-10 (not to be confused with Bhämaha's work of the same</p>
<pb n="38" />
<p>36
INTRODUCTION
proposition is the introduction or the suggestion of an irrelevant second
subject (an A'), which equally or more emphatically possesses the same
property B. "The candles' ... flames looked at me like the eyes of tigers
just waking from sleep" (Joyce Cary). The poetic deviation, concretely
speaking, on the first level is this forceful irrelevancy (aprākaraḥikatva),
"the eyes of tigers". The sentence is about candles, not about eyes. In
fact, in a statement scientifically directed to candles, tigers' eyes would be
considered, except for very occasional references, quite inapposite,
relevant only in statements regarding jungle hunting without flashlights
and the like. Poetic simile adds poetry to statement by creating a second
and parallel universe beyond the apparent and immediate one, a universe
whose only claim to relevance is appropriateness in view of a predication,
or rather, whose claim on the attention of the reader is precisely a func-
tion of its being only similar-having the same property-but not posses-
sing any of the other characteristics of relevance such as the same cause,
context, motive, etc.
Simile, then, is in a sense poetry. It is the basic form of poetry-the
reasoned use of irrelevancy. Rudrața groups together, without further
attempts at explicit sub-classifications (most of which are obvious by
definition), those figures which merely add a dimension to a basic simile.78
For example, the force of simile is a comparison:77 the second subject
introduces a comparative standard, which ordinarily heightens the percep-
tion of the predicate in the real subject. Such comparison is made explicit
by the use of certain adverbial particles: 'like', 'as' (English); iva, -vad,
yathā (Sanskrit). But if such explicit comparison is suppressed, we have
identification (rūpaka: literally, 'characterizer", though often translated
'metaphor', which is misleading):78 not A is like A', qua B; but A is A¹,
qua B. It is still a simile (in comprehension), but its expression is con-
siderably more forceful, employing forms which suggest an ontological
as well as a perceptual indistinguishability. A further variety occurs when
A' is not itself mentioned, but is only suggested through predicating to A
(the real subject) a quality or mode of behavior appropriate only to A'
"Kavyālamkāra, chap. 8.
77 Upamă. The word is used both for the family of figures based on simile and for
the simile itself. See below.
78 "Anena rūpyate । iti rūpakam". One thing is characterized as though it were another;
it assumes the form (rūpa) of another. Predication is essential to the figure rūpaka;
metaphor in Aristotle's sense of "figurative usage" need involve only a word which
bears another meaning in that context. The latter notion is an aspect of several
Indian figures, notably utprekşă, but never of rüpaka: "The flute of morning stilled
in noon-/noon the implacable bassoon (e.e. cummings).
19</p>
<pb n="39" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
37
(utprekṣā).79 The simplest language often conceals such metaphors,
their conventionality having deprived them of all poetic force-for
example, "the darkness falls" (comparing the darkness to a heavy object).
With this elemental priority of simile in poetics may be compared the
basic function of analogy (upamāna) in the philosophical systems,
particularly the mīmāmsă. According to Prabhākara, perception ceases
to be inchoate as the mind becomes aware of similarities and differences
in its content; knowledge, definite perception, is awareness so determined
in similitude; similitude is prior even to the possibility of predication.80
Likewise, poetry comes into existence as soon as simile (the peculiar
non-literal simile of poetry) adds its unique dimension of irrelevance
which determines the literal predicate of otherwise non-poetic assertion.
(ii) Hyperbole
According to Rudrața, the proposition A is B may itself be poetic
without the addition of a comparable context, provided the proposition
itself is knowingly false. As simile describes accurately by contrasting
an irrelevant context, so hyperboles¹ is an intentionally accurate or under-
standable distortion of the proper relation between the predicate and its
subject. No third term is assumed. a skyscraper so tall they had to
put hinges / on the two top stories so to let the moon go by" (Sandburg).
False: the skyscraper does not have hinges, but true: the skyscraper is
very, very tall. Under the general rubric of hyperbole, Rudrața groups
those assertions which in some way defy the canonical or assumed relation
of a predicate or quality to its subject: for instance, the notion that it is
the quality which distinguishes the subject. A range of figures explores
the quality which is so distinctive that in certain contexts it merges into
qualities of the context and so renders the subject indistinguishable:
the whiteness of a girl's sārī as she goes to the tryst in the tropical moon-
light "hides" her (tadguṇa).
...
The relation of cause and effect is not considered separately by Rudraţa
as it is by later writers (e.g., Ruyyaka); this relationship, different from
similitude, still expresses a natural cohesion between two things in terms
79 Lit. a 'disregarding': the object of comparison is "overlooked", is implicit only
in the ascription of its mode to the subject: "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the
windowpanes ..." (T. S. Eliot). Emphatically cat-like!
80 Prabhākara's view as discussed in the Prakaraṇapañcikā of Šalikanātha, pp. 52-54;
cf. Keith, the Karma Mimamsa, p. 23; Gañgānātha Jhā, Pūrva Mīmāmsā în its Sources
(Benares, 1942), p. 96.
1 Arisaya, or atiśayokti. Like upamā, the word is used both for the genus and for
the most characteristic species, Kāvyālamkāra, chap. 9.</p>
<pb n="40" />
<p>38
of a property, namely that of consequence. Unlike similitude, the rela-
tion is not reciprocal. When that cause-effect relationship is conceived
in an appropriately distorted way, it is considered a variety of atiśayokti
'hyperbole'. The most obvious example is obtained simply by inverting
cause and effect (purva);"2 another type expresses a result (effect) without
its proper cause (vibhāvanā); still another, the properly functioning cause
without its usual result (vyāghata). The varieties are relatively obvious
(as well as limited) when the proper genera are understood. The logical
framework underlying this family of figures is evident.
INTRODUCTION
(iii) Pun: śleşa
Rudrata believed that simile and hyperbole are the two basic criteria
of figuration, but by themselves they establish only two of the four
possible categories of poetic usage; the remaining two are established by
permutation.³³ Simile and hyperbole are not always separable; in certain
figures, notably pun and its varieties, they are present in intimate union.84
Likewise, admitting the possibility that neither simile nor hyperbole
nor pun are present, we obtain a fourth, somewhat ill-defined group of
figures which Rudraţa calls vastava "natural'.85
86
Rudrata's notion of pun (śleșa), then, is that figure which is essentially
hyperbolic and comparative. It might be argued that pun is not an
arthālamkāra at all, insofar as it rests upon a chance identity or similarity
in the phonemic shape of two different morphemic sequences. Rudraţa
and the other writers, of course, discuss pun under this aspect (chap. 4),
wherein the "charm" is never very far from verbal tour de force, and
analogous to conundrums, etc. Certainly puns, like "the ranch named
Focus: where the sons raise meat" imply little or no comparison, strictly
speaking, for the only property held in common by the 'sun' and the 'son'
is the identical pronunciation of their respective morphemes. Such
similarity does of course have to be recognized as a common property,
*
Examples of all these varieties will be found in the Glossary.
3 Compare the four existential categories of the Sämkhya, defined by permutation
of the two terms "producer' (prakrti) and 'produced' (vikṛti). Samkhyakārikā, 3.
4Ślesa, as the figure double-entendre, means 'coalescence' (of the two meanings).
Not to be confused, nevertheless, with the guna "śleșa" (above, p. 32, note). Rudrata,
Kävyālamkāra, chap. 10.
58
Kävyālamkāra, chap. 7.
In an unpublished paper, "How Does Pun Differ From Simile" (delivered to the
AOS, 1962), I have attempted to justify this thoroughly poetic specialization of the
lowly play on words. It is too obviously a play on words to suggest a parallel between
Rudrata's 'sleșa' and the fourth Nyāya pramāṇa: śabda?</p>
<pb n="41" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
39
and several similes have in fact been defined wherein the tertium is nothing
but a pun (e.g., upamāsamuccaya).
But Sanskrit is much richer in double-entendres than is English. Several
factors combine to produce a far greater inventory of homonyms: the
wealth of vocabulary, the lack of a thoroughgoing distinction between
concrete and abstract applications of a given word, the great variety of
contextual variations permissible for each morpheme, the wide range of
derivational affixes in use, and the freedom with which descriptive epithets
are formed. Further, the relatively free word order of Sanskrit, and the
ability to compound stems and thus to leave aside even the grammatical
terminations of words, lends even greater opportunity to the facility of
punning. Although Dandin treats ślesa in the chapter on arthālamkāras,8
Rudrața first explicitly recognizes the possibility that pun may indeed
function on a level beyond that of mere verbal similarity; the two punned
senses may be implicitly comparable.88 Rudrața apparently thought that
the simultaneity of apprehension of the comparables in the punned
simile added an element of hyperbole which could not be expressed in
any other way.
87
Our own poetic education is such as to make us wary of any system in
which the most perfect poetic category is the pun. But again, our awareness
of the pun is conditioned by the impoverished and relatively exact vocabul-
ary of modern Western languages; we ought not to extrapolate from a
basis of incompetence. Many critics, De among them, have sought to
justify the pun:
It is true that it demands an intellectual strain disproportionate to the aesthetic
pleasure, and becomes tiresome and ineffective in the incredible and incessant
torturing of the language found in such lengthy triumphs of misplaced ingenuity
as those of Subandhu and Kavirājā; but sparingly and judiciously used, the
puns are often delightful in their terse brevity and twofold appropriateness.89
Keith is even more judicious:
Moreover, though we may easily find their paronomasias tedious, there is no
doubt that they are frequently rightly called models of twofold appropriateness,
and the free employment of figures of speech is often superior to the somewhat
BT Kavyādarśa, 2.310 ff.
This is especially true when the two punned senses are not limited to single words
in the sentence, but, as is the case in the elegant Sanskrit puns, are extended to the
entire sentence by several parallel double-entendres: "asāv udayam ārūḍhaḥ kāntimān
raktamandalah / rājā harati lokasya hṛdayam 'mrdubhiḥ karaih". Dandin, Kavyādarša,
2.311. Such facility is simply lacking in English.
89 Dasgupta and Dey [De], HSL, p. 33.</p>
<pb n="42" />
<p>40
INTRODUCTION
rhetorical manner which was introduced into Latin poetry by the practice of
declamation in the oratorical schools, which Juvenal so forcibly derides.**
'Paronomasia' is footnoted as follows: "English lends itself only to comic
effects, but Greek and Latin authors alike use this device with serious
efforts at beauty ..."
It is questionable whether such justifications enhance our appreciation
of the literary role of the pun, or clarify its peculiar place in classical
Sanskrit literature. Keith and De are evidently quite ashamed of the pun;
their grudging acceptance of it illustrates once again how alien is their
critical judgment to their poetic subject matter. Recent literary develop-
ments in the West, however, have focussed more attention on the capacity
of the pun. It is no longer possible, after Finnegan's Wake, to say that
the pun in English lends itself only to comic effects. The critic John Wain,
in terms which might apply almost literally to the maligned Subandhu or
Kavirājā, says of Joyce:
With Finnegan's Wake Joyce moved the pun in to the center and made it the
main instrument of his writing ... He wanted to present human life as an indi-
visible simultaneity and to banish the idea of linear time, so that the last sen-
tence of Finnegan's Wake comes back to the first, and the language is given an
extra dimension to convey that sense of density, that refusal to isolate experi-
ences and take them one at a time. 1
Commenting on the rational view of time and events which pun con-
tradicts, he says further: "A narrative, unilinear view of experience, which
underlay the work of both novelist and historian in the 18th and 19th
centuries, is an abstraction. It results from standing back and reasoning
about experience, sorting out its thick, knotty textures into manageable
threads". The critical attitude with which one is invested and which
seems so devastatingly appropriate and normal, is often in its more
fundamental aspects a function of intellectual history. Wain rather
romantically attributes the "unilinear view of experience" to the invention
of printing and a consequent degradation of the voice and its many-
levelled apprehension. "In literature only people from backward oral
areas had an [sic] resonance to inject into the language-the Yeatses,
the Synges, the Joyces, Faulkners, and Dylan Thomases". The language
is being remade to serve the purposes of new apprehensions of reality:
91
*
**
Keith, SL, p. 351.
New Republic, Aug. 7, 1965, p. 20.
Ibid. The influence of McLuhan is obvious.
Ibid., p. 21.</p>
<pb n="43" />
<p>41
multidimensional, simultaneous, at once abstract and concrete like a
Picasso painting.
The life history of Yuri Zhivago is told in a manner as far removed as possible
from the old linear narrative form which progressed from one event to the next
against a tidily arranged 'background'. Quite apart from the fact that the story
itself lurches from one coincidence to another there is no separable 'foreground"
or "background'. Everything that happens the death of a man, an idea occur-
ring to a philosopher or a line of verse to a poet, a storm, the birth of a child, an
outbreak of street fighting, an evening party at which people make speeches-
seems to occur on the same level of significance and at the same level of
significance and at the same closeness to the camera-eye.**
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
The notion of time itself is being broken down into a new model which
resembles in principle the pun.
I do not want to suggest that this apprehension of time, which is really
non-time, the irruption of non-history and immediate experience into
art, was that which in medieval India favored and selected the pun above
all other manners of literary expression. Differences must be admitted.
The history of our recent "anti-history" is itself peculiar; for it is a reaction
against the extreme rationalistic view of time expressed in the theory of
progress in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the newer literary
expressions, emphasizing inchoate experience, do serve as a more sugges-
tive approach to the understanding not only of classical Indian literary
modes, but also to the metaphysical and philosophical apprehensions
which they imply their ideals. By all accounts, the notion of linear time
was not one of the leitmotifs of Indian civilization. On the contrary, it
expressed in myriad ways not the sequential but the total existential
implication of each moment: the entire responsibility of the karmic act;
the cyclic return of all the worlds to their pre-created state; the eternal
transmigration of souls, the de-emphasis of "this moment" and its claim
to exclusive metaphysical validity, the doctrine of creation as "play", au
fond inexplicable all these puzzling aspects of Indian intellectual
history suggest why the pun is appropriate in Sanskrit literature.
The theory of signification which honored the pun was itself a reflection
of such a view of reality. If manifestations are themselves simultaneous
aspects of a whole, the meanings by which we respond to them will
likewise emphasize multi-dimensionality and simultaneity. The theory
of imagery we have been discussing is one attempt to deal with language
as a total instrument. Still, the realization of the pun in Sanskrit literature
is a far cry from its more recent enshrinement in English. For generations,
Ibid.</p>
<pb n="44" />
<p>42
the pun was a comic device. Even now, the language will not support
the burden of simultaneous apprehension which writers like Joyce have
put upon it: the language itself is deformed, made more like an echo
chamber of distorted and malformed words which imperfectly suggest
several adjacent ideas. "Jack the Nipple', said Wolmbs puffing deeply
on his wife, 'is not only a vicious murderer but a sex meany of the lowest
orgy'." The example is not Joyce, but John Lennon, M.B.E., to whom
Mr. Wain is devoting the review quoted. How far from this weak and
tawdry language, struggling with the shadow of an idea, is the elegant
stability of the Sanskrit śleșa, spinning out its burden of duplicity in neat,
precise verse, with never a phoneme out of place! One has the feeling
that if Joyce had been able to write in Sanskrit, he could have been himself
and Matthew Arnold, too.
INTRODUCTION
(iv) Svabhāvokti
The final category of Rudrața's system, vāstava ('natural': literally
'real'; derivative adjective from vastu "thing', as realis from Latin res),
would appear to contradict the idea of figuration itself, which is predicated
on the notion of systematic deviation from the norms of real utterance.
"Real [is that class of figures] wherein the nature of a thing is described;
and this must be pregnant of sense, but not ironical, comparative, hyper-
bolic, or punned."*95
Rudraţa evidently develops his category vastava within the tradition of
the much discussed figure svabhāvokti 'natural description'. Bhamaha,
the earliest writer in the figurative tradition proper, is already not quite
sure of the credentials of svabhāvokti. Although he gives an example, he
feels obliged to add that "some consider svabhāvokti a figure"; presumably
some do not. The occasion for his malaise is the obvious opposition
in terms between svabhāvokti and vakrokti, which Bhämaha in another
famous passage has declared to be the basic condition of all the figures.
98
$5 "vāstavam iti taj jeyam kriyate vastusvarūpakathanam yat/ puştärtham aviparitam
nirupamam anatiśayam aśleşam //", Rudraţa, Kävyālamkāra, 7.10.
** Svabhāva and svarüpa being synonymous. Note the evident relation to the first
Nyāya pramāṇa: pratyakṣa.
97 De states the case much too categorically and mistranslates also: "Such svabhāvokti
is not acceptable to Bhāmaha who refuses to acknowledge svabhāvokti as a poetic
figure at all". Kuntaka, Vakroktijivita, A Treatise on Sanskrit Poetics, ed. De (Calcutta,
1961), p. xx.
18 Kävyālamkāra, 2.85. "Saişā sarvaiva vakroktir anayārtho vibhāvyate । yatno 'syām
kavinā kāryaḥ ko 'lankāro ʼnayā vinā", "This [atiśayokti 'hyperbole'] is nothing but
vakrokti; by means of it the sense is displayed. The poet must make an effort in its
regard, for what figure is there which lacks [an element of] it?" But do the pronouns
refer to the vakrokti, or to the original subject, atiśayokti? Both are feminine.</p>
<pb n="45" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
He does, however, in discussing the poetic genre anibaddha (isolated
verses not bound together by any continuing theme or story), admit the
desirability of both vakrokti and svabhāvokti.
43
99
Daṇḍin, though he shows less hesitation about the figure, which he
treats in some detail, does appear to distinguish svabhāvokti more from
vakrokti generically." 100 But vakrokti represents poetry by synechdoche
and thus doubt is cast on the poetic status of "natural description".
Kuntaka, drawing the conclusions of this discussion, rules out svabhāvokti
as a figure.101
101
Of modern commentators, V. Rāghavan accepts the distinction be-
tween the two concepts: "Indeed, there are cases which do not show any
determinable and definable deviation, cases which we call 'natural descrip-
tion"",102 but he appears to be of the opinion that deviation is a function
of word (sabda) alone, "and it is because jāti concerns itself directly
with the thing as it is, without any great sabda vaicitrya, that Bhoja
counts jāti as an arthālamkāra and that, the first."103 It does not follow
that because a figure lacks sabdatvam it becomes of necessity an artha-
lamkāra: Rāghavan avoids the issue posed by Bhāmaha. Vakrokti is a
function of both word and sense. Svabhāvokti is a problem not because
it fails to show the verbal peculiarities of poetic speech, but precisely
because it appears not to involve those of sense either: "maviparitam
nirupamam anatiśayam aśleşam".
De is unable to elucidate the contradiction implied by the figure
svabhāvokti. Seeking in every author notions of
essence, De,
not inconsistently, discovers it in Bhāmaha's and Dandin's vakrokti:
"It seems, therefore, that Bhämaha regards vakrokti not as an alamkāra
but as a characteristic mode of expression which underlies all alamkāras
and which thus forms an essential element of Poetry itself, whose meaning
can be manifested by vakrokti alone."1
"104 Even if this is so, neither Bhā-
Misread by De (Kuntaka, Vakroktijivita, p. xvii) as referring to all poetry, not
simply to anibaddha. Bhāmaha, Kävyālamıkāra, 1.30: "anibaddham punar gāthāśloka-
mātrādi, tat punaḥ । yuktam vakrasvabhāvoktyä..." D. T. Tatacharya comments on
this last: "tad anibaddham punaḥ । vakroktyā svabhāvoktyä ca yuktam eva bhavati".
100 Kavyādarśa, 2.362. "Bhinnam dvidhā svabhāvoktir vakrotiś ceti vāñmayam", "the
expressive product is divided twofold: svabhāvokti and vakrokti".
102
P. 92.
103
Kuntaka, Vakroktijivita, 1.11ff. Cf. De, SPSA, p. 24.
"History of Svabhāvokti in Sanskrit Poetics", Some Problems of Alankāra Šāstra,
Ibid., p. 95. Not only Bhoja, but Dandin himself: "jätis cety ādyā sālamkṛtir
yathā...", "Jāti is the first figure.... N.B. jäti 'genus' is a term also used for the figure
svabhāvokti.
104 Vakroktijivita, ed. De, p. xviii.</p>
<pb n="46" />
<p>44
maha's conditional nor Dandin's categorical acceptance of svabhāvokti
(to which term vakrokti is several times opposed as the fundamental
alternative) is thereby made coherent or comprehensible. De notes that
Daṇḍin (2.8) refers to svabhävokti as "adyālamkṛtiḥ" ("the first or primary
figure'), but does not appear troubled by this non sequitur vis-à-vis his
own theory.
The nub of the problem is indeed a misunderstanding of the term
vakrokti. Bhāmaha means by it not so much an "essence" (if is under-
stood by that concept a generative or constituent principle defining the
manner of coming into being) ¹05 as a genus-a term which describes in a
general way the fundamental characteristic of all modes of poetic dic-
tion-their systematic deviation from a literal norm. Utterance which is
literal both in intent and form is not properly poetical. But Bhamaha is
nevertheless aware of certain borderline problems-most acutely, those
occasioned by language which is deviant (by the above definition) but
which in its deviation has already become conventional: idioms, clichés,
and the like.106 The figures lesa and sūkşma (2.86) are specifically rejected
because the vakrokti involved has been transformed into a calculus of
inference whereby from one thing said or done, another thing can be
understood. The grammarians refer to such an utterance, a type of
signification, as lakṣaṇā; the word stands as a token secondary marker
for the sense intended and has its meaning because the primary sense is in
fact unintelligible in that context: "the grandstands are cheering." 107
But more appositely, Bhämaha objects to the of cause and effect
(hetu) as a poetic figure, deeming it overly conventionalized. His own
example illustrates a cliché-ridden usage (2.87): "gato'stam arko bhātindur
INTRODUCTION
105 "The Indian theorists have almost neglected an important part of their task, viz.,
to find a definition of the nature of the subject of a poem as the product of the poet's
mind...". De, ed., Kuntaka, Vakroktijivita, Introduction, p. xix, n. 19. This inter-
pretation of Bhamaha derives ultimately from the dhvani theorists, notably Ananda-
vardhana: cf., Dhv. 3,37 and Comm., p. 208, where Bhamaha 2.85 is cited.
105 The "conventionality" of Sanskrit literature-a topic much discussed: Keith,
SL, p. 343 ff. for a typical view. The stereotypy of theme and style of the ornate poetry
has struck all modern commentators, and it has usually been opposed, pejoratively, to
a more individualistic ideal-presumably more characteristic of Western poetry since
the Renaissance. So Keith, ibid., pp. 345-346, and D. D. Kosambi, ed. Subhāṣitara-
trakoşa, Introduction (= Harvard Oriental Series, 42), pp. xlv-lxii. The latter states
the stylistic opposition in the ludicrous dress of Marxist social categories. The Indian
writers of the classical period were no less aware of the stereotype (a point which
should be made more often), but of course were far less unanimous in disapproving
of it. We note several cases below, and try to show here how the notion of convention
itself was understood poetically.
107 Cf. Mammaţa, Kävyaprakāśa, śloka 9.</p>
<pb n="47" />
<p>45
yānti vāsāya pakṣiṇaḥ" (the sun has set; the moon shines; the birds have
gone to rest'); these three statements are "causes" of the knowledge "this
is evening."
* 108
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
Now, most modern critics have said that Bhamaha rejects hetu and
the other figures because they are too literal lac the element of
vakrokti essential to a poetic figure.100 Yet this contention is plainly
contradicted by the examples in the text. Sükşma and leśa are not ex-
amples of literal usage by any standard, and hetu, as instanced in the texts,
is not either. None of Dandin's examples (he accepts the poetic quality of
hetu) satisfy the literal prerequisites of the conclusive cause-effect relation,
as defined in the nyāya—the invariable concomitance of the effect with
the cause (vyāpti), as: "Where there's smoke, there's fire." Daṇḍin's
examples,¹ as well as the single one of Bhamaha, are thoroughly poetic
in the sense that the logical form is misapplied for effect. Minimally,
each of the causes illustrated could have other effects, for example,
in the earlier quote, the knowledge that the sun had been eclipsed.
The words, or even the individual phrases used ("the sun has set")
may indeed be literal and exact, but this is beside the point, for the figure
is the relation of cause to effect and not the simple statements which
analytically express it. Bhāmaha objects to hetu not because he fears
that nyāyā may be enlarging its domain at the expense of poetry, but
110
108
The same example in Dandin, Kävyādarša, 2.244, with this explanation. See jñā-
paka hetu.
109 So De, HSP, II, p. 50. Bhämaha says (Kävyālamkāra, 2.86) "hetuś ca sūkşmo leso
'tha nalankāratayā mataḥ । samudāyābhidhānasya vakroktyanabhidhānataḥ" ("Hetu,
sükşma, and leśa are not considered figures, because the expression of the whole
(phrase) lacks an expression of vakrokti' i.e., vakrokti is absent in the composite effect,
not necessarily in the form).
110 Kävyädarśa, 2.235 ff.
IIL The best-known catalogue is in Rajasekhara, Kāvyamīmāmsā, chaps. 14-16.
Gonda, in his painstaking analysis of the simile in Sanskrit literature, deals with this
problem in psychological terms: "When a simile wears out and is no longer alive for
the poet or author, when it is no longer the only true expression, springing from an
inner urge, it develops into a traditional ornament" (Remarks on Similes in Sanskrit
Literature, p. 120). This distinction is most unfortunately put, opposing, as it seems
to, inspiration and form. In this monograph Gonda has taken for his problem the
determination of the contextual variations in the use of similes over a wide range of
literary and semi-literary material. The use of the simile in texts which are non- or
semi-poetic appears to him more "natural" than that of the poetic texts per se, which is
"artificial" (pp. 118-119). But this psychological point of view should not be confused
with an expressionistic one: what makes the figure conventional is not that it is "a
thing to be imposed on the language from a model" (p. 120), but that the model itself
has been identified with a specific content, a specific application. The model is assumed
by all figuration, whether natural, "springing from an inner urge", or highly stylized.
This, we think, was Bhämaha's point.</p>
<pb n="48" />
<p>46
INTRODUCTION
probably because of the highly stylized and conventional status which
relations of concomitance had come to occupy in Sanskrit poetry. We
have only to think of the pearls in the hoods of snakes, and the five
arrows of the Love God to realize how insipid the exploitation of such
conventional associations had become.¹¹1 It is often the function of
hetu thus to exploit the association, to draw out its conclusions, as shown
in these examples from Dandin: "The wind out of the south, touching
springs and sandal forests in the southern mountains, is destined to
relieve the weary wanderer",112 and, "The forests are sending forth new
shoots, the tanks are full of lotuses, the moon is full; but love turns all
this to poison in the eyes of the traveller [separated from his beloved]."¹1
Bhāmaha seems to adopt the special point of view that vakrokti in
such borderline cases, though formally present, is no longer recognized
as such and may therefore be considered nonexistent. The problem is
no more acute than that of any poetic idiom which becomes stereotyped
and imitative. Dandin is not so willing to dismiss these figures, thinking
that Bhāmaha's objection is misplaced. It is not the figure which lacks
vakrokti but its application; the poet remains free to exploit other
associations, which have not yet been stereotyped. Any figure, in the
view we are attributing to Dandin, could be denied poetic value on the
basis of conventional application (as Shakespeare's sonnet on stereotyped
similes descriptive of a woman's form).114
Conventional usage has been a problem from the earliest period of
grammatical speculation, but Indian thinkers have generally preferred
to consider it a special variety of literal usage and not itself inherently
poetical. What it amounts to in this view is the innovation of a term or a
form in a specific, but heretofore unattested, use. The desired meaning,
which is assumed and fixed, has, as it were, selected another means of
expression as precise as the literal one. ¹15 Such is not the case of the usage
styled vakrokti, for the meaning and the form are in essentially negative
correlation: all that can be said is that the meaning is not conveyed by the
112 Kävyādarśa, 2.238.
113 Kävyädarsa, 2.242.
114 Sonnet CXXX: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; / Coral is far more red
than her lips' red: / If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; / If hairs be wires,
black wires grow on her head...".
For example, the cliché "he hit the nail on the head"; its sense is so strictly deter-
mined as the substitute for what it means ("his remark was à propos"), that it may be
said to have supplanted that more literal expression. Its usage is as strictly regulated
as would be the phrase for which it stands; all attributes of the literal expression have
been transferred to the cliché, including that of literalism.</p>
<pb n="49" />
<p>47
close or literal interpretation of the form, and yet it is conveyed; this
indeterminateness is the vakrokti.
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
It can be assumed that neither Bhämaha nor Dandin intended to
oppose svabhāvokti to vakrokti so categorically, for to do so would have
been to deny poetic status to svabhāvokti, which neither is willing to do.
I think the key to the understanding of svabhāvokti lies in our discussion
of conventional discourse. Svabhāvokti is not to be taken as synonymous
with "literal" or direct discourse, but rather is a cover term for the poetic
possibilities implied by conventional language. This would in itself
account for Bhämaha's uncertainty regarding it. The point of view might
have been as follows: granted that certain poetic usages may by repetition
become conventional and lose their claim to be called poetry, nevertheless,
what of the inverse case? Cannot the inherent tendency of language to
stereotype, in certain cases and under certain conditions, be given a
poetical application? Conventionality, as a formal aspect of language,
ought also to have a certain, albeit very limited, poetic scope, just as
any structure of language may be so exploited.116 The conventional
becomes either more or less expressive than its usual function would
dictate. The most striking example is the genre of anibaddha poetry
called jāti (it is no accident that this is another name for the figure we are
discussing), in which a single detached verse encapsulates the characteristic
aspect of a certain general type: "The children, bodies grey with dust,
are intent at their play; assuming grave miens and voices, choosing one
among them to occupy the station of a King."
** 117
The description here is so vivid, the type brought into such striking
perspective, that, in the opinion of Dandin (and following him, Rudrața),
a special type of vakrokti has to be allowed which is aviparita (for it is
exact in reference), anupama (for there is no secondary reference),
anatiśaya (for the only exaggeration is that of the graphic quality and not
of the image itself), and aśleșa (for the words of the expression are not
themselves interesting). A type of vakrokti called svabhāvokti is, as it
were, vakra only in the secondary sense that of the manner of its
comprehension not with reference to its subject or content. It may be
opposed on this subordinate level to vakrokti, which by a misapplication
of form, distorts the apprehension of its content.¹18
116 Rhyme, alliteration.
117 Rudrata, Kavyalamkāra, 7.32. The discussion, it should be remembered, concerns
svabhāvokti as an arthālamkāra; the examples will still illustrate many śabdalamkāra,
such as metre, alliteration.
118 Dharminder Kumar, in an unpublished thesis of the Panjab University ("A Study
of Dandin") has put the matter justly, although from another perspective: "It is</p>
<pb n="50" />
<p>48
INTRODUCTION
What is implicit in Dandin-that svabhāvokti is a category of figures
which employ conventionality in a sense which can be called vakra-is
explicitly stated by Rudrata; those figures which are considered primarily
to illustrate that special quality of apprehension are grouped under the
term vāstava. Interestingly enough, besides jāti and hetu, Rudrața deals
with sükşma and leśa, as well as a host of figures based on syntactic
patterns lending emphasis, or exemplifying (without hyperbole) various
kinds of suggestion and inference. The ability of the mind to see an
unusual relationship is to Rudrața evidence of poetical intent, even when
there is no explicit comparison or secondary reference. Rudrata with
one stroke encompasses the whole realm of dhvani¹1¹9 in literal speech.
How misleading to consider svabhāvokti and västava merely as literal
expression and thus to conclude that the writers are dealing with a con-
tradiction, viz., literal speech as poetical.
(e) Poetic as an Intellectual Discipline
It is important to recognize that the vakrokti of the early alamkārikas
does not refer to metaphor in the Aristotelian sense. In fact, Vāmana is
the only writer to accord special mention to such a figure. The remaining
writers borrow metaphor from grammar, as an aspect of the theory of
signification,¹⁹0 and go on to situate poetry primarily on the level of
propositions. It is not the usage of individual morphemes that makes
poetry (as one interpretation of the dictum "sabdarthau sahitau kāvyam"
implies). Vakrokti is to be understood as describing the misapplication
of modes of thought and judgement. It is only in this way that we can
distinguish poetical from logical or scientific comprehension. In the
logical upamiti ("comparison'), the formal elements of comparison are
present, as is the understanding of a relation between the subject and a
similar. The proofs for the existence of God are often similes: as a product
requires a maker, so does this world (a product showing intelligence of
design) require a maker.¹1 The form of simile here is not poetic, because
incorrect to think that the term vakrokti denotes an element, while the svabhāvokti
is merely a figure, for it does not appear to be sound that all the figures excepting
svabhāvokti were to Dandin the different forms of vakrokti. There are certainly some
other figures as well which are devoid of the element of vakrokti and where the element
of svabhāvokti is conspicuous by its presence" (pp. 212-213).
119 Scil, which does not contribute to figures based on simile or hyperbole, such as
samäsokti (q.v.).
120 The concept of lakṣaṇā, or secondary denotation, spoken of above.
121
Sāmkhyakārikā 15; Udayanācārya, Nyāyakusumāñjali, 5.1.</p>
<pb n="51" />
<p>HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR SYSTEM
49
it is applied within the limits set by its defining conditions: the similitude
is, as far as the figure is a proof, exact. The problem of distinguishing the
literal from the poetic is not (as De sees it) that of distinguishing the
univocal from the equivocal word-failure to observe that the poem
may be literal on one level and poetic on another (that of proposition)
has vitiated much of De's otherwise perceptive criticism. In fact, the
figures of the early alamkārikas must be conceived as basic conditions to
poetic utterance-unavoidable mannerisms of the formulations we call
poetic; for the only alternative is to employ modes of thought and judg-
ment exactly (at least in intention): the only alternative to poetry is non-
poetry. The poet, by virtue of his decision to express himself poetically,
adopts the conditions of imagination-the figurative mode.
The interdependence of poetry and non-poetry cuts both ways. Just
as the principle of similitude is fundamental to certain logical judgements
as well as to poetry, so has the doctrine of metaphorical usage been put
to decidedly non-poetic tasks: the mīmāmsakas, for example, long before
the poeticians began to analyze poetry for its own sake, were using the
same basic tools in exegesis of the Veda. The Veda being eternal and
authorless obviously could not have had its origin in specific historical
events. The names which abound in the Upanişads were explained as
referring either to the continuers of the tradition, or, if that were not
possible, as concepts, taking the name as its "meaning": pravahana, "the
carrying onwards', etc. 122 Likewise, the statement "Trees sat at the sac-
rificial session", which would appear incompatible with the metaphysical
assumptions underlying the doctrine of eternality and infinity, is taken
figuratively as referring to the importance and universality of the sac-
rifice.123 Sankara adopts the mimämsaka techniques of metaphorical
analysis to render consonant the many Upanişadic passages which do
not favor his doctrine of the single, real ātman, that is, those which seem
pantheistic in tone.124
These speculations also suggest a historical relation between poetics
and ritualistic interpretation. It does not seem far-fetched that the origins
of Indian poetics evolved from such considerations. This would be con-
sistent both with the Indian traditions themselves (which group the alam-
kārikas with the mīmāmsakas and the grammarians) and with the nature
of the discipline. The mīmāmsaka point of view really differs very little
¹** Kumārila, Ślokavārtika on Mimāmsāsūtra, 1.1.27ff.
1 Mimämsäsūtra 1.1.32 with Śābarabhāşya. Cf. virodhābhāsa.
Vedānta sūtra with Samkarabhāşya 2.3.16,17; 2.1.14. Cf. nidarśană.</p>
<pb n="52" />
<p>50
from that of the poetician.125 Both are approaching usage from the angle
of its expressive technique; both are attempting to understand the tech-
nique as it contributes to a fundamental and correct understanding of the
text. But the text, though true (indeed, eternal), is shot through with
inconsistencies, and expressions which defy reason and immediate
comprehension. The analysis of the text will consist in the exhibition of
those techniques as forms, with notes as to how they are to be understood
(ipso facto, correctly) and how they are to be made to render sense. The
mīmāmsakas and the poeticians differ in several respects, nevertheless:
in terms of the refinement of the technique of interpretation, in terms
of the canonic character of the texts, and in terms of the scope of the
discipline. The mīmāmsakas wish to make consonant a small number of
passages which conflict with a canonical and literal majority, while the
poeticians have separated off a special subject for their unique attention
and are interested only by implication in the origins of their study. It is
enough that poetry is also true and serves some extrinsic purpose.¹
126
INTRODUCTION
(III) THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
(a) The Question of Infinitude
The figures with their subdivisions found in the pre-dhvani texts constitute
almost all of the figurative inventory. Later writers have added a few
new figures (as arthāpatti),127 but the steady growth in figurative elabora-
tion (a point made very often) is mainly one of appearance-a function of
regrouping, synthesizing divergent accounts, and accepting subdivisions
as independent figures. In late texts, figures based on rasa are elaborated
and illustrate the complicated categories of medieval logic. Yet the main
types and varieties are stated in Dandin, and the fundamental outline
of the subject is achieved in Rudrața. Still, critics from Anandavardhana
to the present have attributed theoretical inadequacy to the study of the
figures, alleging that poetic utterance is an undefinable subject matter:
15 It should be borne in mind that the mimāmsā, although a school of ritual inter-
pretation, is very likely the precursor of all the Indian schools of discursive reasoning:
what was at first textual exegesis became contextual exegesis. The oldest name of
the mimāmsă appears to have been nyaya; the logical framework of the poetic is its
most striking feature. See A. B. Keith, Indian Logic and Atomism, pp. 10-11.
IN An ancillary subject treated in the prolegomena of most early poetic texts: cf.
Dandin, Kävyädarśa, 1.1-10; Mammata, Kavyaprakāša, śloka 2.
See the Appendix for a list of those figures not defined before the medieval
period (post-Mammata).
137</p>
<pb n="53" />
<p>51
"anantā hi vāgvikalpaḥ" the variations of speech are unlimited'.128 More
recently, De commented: "... the poetic intuition differs in each poet ...
and there are bound, therefore, to be endless kinds of individual and
concrete expression which have their own standards and spheres in each
case, and which cannot repeat themselves." Yet it is just the task of
describing this futility which De sets before the alamkārikas: it [such
endless differentiation] appears to have afforded endless scope to the
scholastic ingenuity of later theorists who ... finding hardly anything to
systematize in respect of the essentials of theory, occupied themselves in
elaborating the details."129
THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
12
1
130
In dealing with the so-called infinitude of the figures, two questions
are easily confused. One relates to the form, our chief concern in this
Introduction, which we contend was the prime object of the studies of
the alamkārikas; the other derives from the application, the concrete
manifestation of the form, in other words, the poetry itself. Evidently
here, as in logic or any other formal discipline, the exemplification of
science is endless, resting as it does on principles which are not pertinent
to the science (observation, etc.). The older writers were aware of this
problem and carefully restricted their consideration to the form. Dandin,
defining the figures as properties conveying the beauty of poetry, says:
"te cădyāpi vikalpyante kas tān kārtsnyena vakṣyati" now they [the figures]
are to be discriminated; who will propound them all?' (2.1). Daṇḍin, by
not making clear whether he refers to the figures per se or to their exem-
plification, appears to offer justification to those who would deny the
theoretic urgency of his task: if the figures cannot be described in their
entirety, then why describe them at all? Of course, as in many of these
short, indeed laconic kārikās, more than one interpretation is possible.
To what does "entirety" refer? The intent of the author is often only the
reading attributed to Dandin by later commentators, all of whom were
writing under the burden of the dhvani theory, which held that the figures
were occasional aspects of the poetic work and were therefore arbitrary
in principle and definable ad libitum; anantā hi vāgvikalpāḥ.¹
130
Before attributing this view to the ālamkārikas themselves, it would
appear appropriate to investigate possible alternatives. The verb vik!p-,
which Dandin uses in the passive of the causative vikalpyante, does indeed
mean 'discriminate', 'render into the form of an alternative* (vikalpa
'kind'). But it just as strongly conveys the connotation of 'clothing in
www
Dhvanyaloka 3.37 (Commentary), p. 210.
De, SPSA, p. 77; HSP, II, p. 73.
Cf. De, SPSA, p. 15.</p>
<pb n="54" />
<p>52
the stuff of the imagination'. This sense is conveyed by the commentator
Vādijanghaladeva: "yadyapi kävyaśobhākaraḥ [sic] dharma alankārā
ityuktam tathāpi naitāvatālańkārasādhāraṇalakṣaṇamätrakathanād eva
jñātum pāryante । kim tvadyāpi [utprekṣya nirūpyante]¹³¹ lakṣaṇodāha-
raṇapradarśanena katicit",132 Although he repeats what had by then be-
come the standard remark about the anantatva of the figures, he does
render clearly the sense of vikalpyante: 'by an act of imagination, a certain
number are now to be fashioned with the aid of definitions and examples'.
In other words, it is the multiplicity of manifest figures which cannot be
described fully.133 The figure as form may be clothed in an infinitude of
referential dresses. Of course it is obvious that, qua poetry (qua kāvya),
the form alone defines the force of the expression; its referential content
is incidental and may be supplied as appropriate. Dandin appears to
confirm this intent in the last kärikā of chapter 2: 367:
which translates:
INTRODUCTION
panthāḥ sa eşa vivṛtaḥ parimāṇavṛttyā
samkṣipya vistaram anantam alamkriyāṇām
131
vācām atītya vişayam parivartamānān
abhyāsa eva vivarītum alam višeşān
Our attempt to rescue Dandin from the charge of anantatvam is rendered
problematical by his repeated references to 'varieties' of known figures
111
The path [of the figures] has been disclosed by the method of
circumscription,
Summing up the infinite extent of figurative exemplifications;134
When one goes beyond the subject matter of words [i.e., the verbal
science, poetics],
Practice alone is able to disclose the [existential] differentiations
[of individual figures].
Restored by the editor, D. T. Tatacharya (or by V. Krspamācārya?). The gerund
utpreksya may also have the connotation "looking over', 'comparing'.
Dandin, Kävyādarša (ed. Tatacharya), p. 64.
A remark so obvious that when made it would seem to require another inter-
pretation; but in Dandin's text it is a passing remark, one which can appear to antic-
ipate later theoretical discussions.
134 The Sanskrit term is alamkriyā, which is taken as synonymous with alamkāra
'figure'. But is it accidental that Dandin uses this exceptional term in those two con-
texts where by our interpretation he is discussing not the figure but the manifest figure?
The feminine often has the acceptation of concreteness. But contra, the term alamkriya
is required by the metre, and it is used once (4.64, Tatacharya ed.) where clearly no
distinction is intended. Also "tän" (masc.) in 2.1. Cf. Kavyādarsa 2.3 and above p. 31.</p>
<pb n="55" />
<p>THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
53
not defined by him, and presumably to be supplied in addition to those
defined (2.96; 168; 309; 347). The last three of these references seem
clearly directed to the problem of samsrsti figures appearing as sub-
varieties of other figures, several of which have nevertheless been men-
tioned in the main body of the treatise, as e.g., śleşa upamā. This also
is a problem that does not touch the structure of figuration itself, but
rather involves its concrete application in cases where several figures
co-occur. Yet it is also true that Dandin is the writer who elaborates
sub-classifications to their greatest extent. Often, as in upamā, his criteria
for sub-classifications are not formal, but contextual (nindopamā,
cațūpamā, etc.); aware of this, Daṇḍin may indeed be unwilling to over-
extend himself in subtleties. Still, even on this level, the problem is
really one of context and exemplification. Daṇḍin's lead in trying to
involve contextual definitions as subvarieties was not followed by his
successors, who stayed, by and large, within the limits of pure formalism.
If this is all Dandin meant by cautioning (2.1) against "complete"
inventories of figuration, then his warning was indeed heeded, and our
defense of him corresponds to the reading of Dandin by the tradition
itself.
The following attempt to sketch a classification of the figures should not
be taken as final. It is based on an enumeration of figures judged different
by the tradition, up to and including Mammața (but excluding Bhoja and
the Agnipurāṇa) 135 A few notes will be appended on the post-dhvani
figures, but they will not be dealt with in detail. Although the alamkāras
imply a system of classification, that system is capable of several represent-
ations, for it is essentially multivalent. A factor selected as basic by one
writer, may, to another writer, appear as secondary. Indeed the figures
are defined principally in terms of such emphases, and one is always free
to "distort" a figure.
136
The primary characteristic of the figurative universe is not its fixity,¹
but its selectivity. The figures realize the potentialities implicit in the
norms of grammar and logic in no set or predetermined archetectonic
(unlike the theorems of Euclid). We have grouped the figures primarily
on the basis of ease of definition. Categories considered as genera in
a large number of cases are taken as basic, especially when these genera
appear to remove the subjacent figures from immediate cross-relevance
(vyatireka bears a much more distinctive relationship to rūpaka, let us
16 That is, we make no effort to encompass the Agnipurana's figures in this sketch
of a system; they will be included in the Glossary.
Contra De, "fixed rhetorical categories", SPSA, p. 32.</p>
<pb n="56" />
<p>54
say, than it does to sūkṣma, for both rūpaka and vyatireka are subsumed
under the classification simile). At all points of the system, however,
cross fertilization is possible. Dipaka, which begins its career as a sa-
bdālamkāra, more and more falls under the sway of the most characteristic
arthālamkāra-simile-not because the form is redefined, but because
the context of application becomes more and more specialized; the figure
is used to imply similitudes.
INTRODUCTION
The classification suggested by Ruyyaka (the most extensive and detailed
one supplied by the tradition) is based in part on other considerations
(on the reference of the figure: division of logical figures into worldly,
verbal, and ratiocinative), but often coincides with our own, focussing on
the logical basis of similitude (emphasizing the distinctiveness, the identity
or the relative difference of the compared terms),137 We will follow
Ruyyaka or Rudrața whenever possible, but will often suggest new
orderings.
The figure is the form and is represented in the definition; it is distin-
guished from its exemplification, which, as we have seen, involves other
non-poetic factors and is illimitable. Yet one example is necessary for
each definition a characteristic example which will demonstrate in
concrete form the point made by the definition. Figurative poetics is not
a study of examples, a posteriori: one example per definition is generally
sufficient. It is in fact an a priori science, which treats its exemplification
more as a justification and, of course, as a means of conveying an idea.
The example shows the characteristic misuse of the logical or other form,
but also that the form is correctly apprehended despite the misuse. The
definition states only the form and the conditions of the misrepresentation
involved.
When this position is understood, the question of exhaustiveness still
remains, though somewhat mitigated: Are all the expressions which are in
principle poetic defined here? Since each figure has a place in a
nexus of possibilities, it would be difficult to be completely exhaustive;
the system is one which contains many more theoretical figures than actual
ones. But the principles and criteria of definition are exhaustive; their
possible combinations and permutations are difficult to encompass.
Still, each new figure can easily be placed in the system of definition.
Rarely indeed is there any suggestion of a novel principle of definition, 188
187 Ruyyaka, Alamkārasarvasva (Kāvyamālā, 35), pp. 181, 187, 206; p. 31.
138 The figure arthāpatti may be one such; a mode of valid knowledge in the mimāmsā
philosophy, but rejected by most other systems; in effect, reasoning a fortiori. First
defined as a poetic figure by Ruyyaka, Alamkārasarvasva, p. 196.</p>
<pb n="57" />
<p>55
In part then, the number of figures depends upon usage-but usage in
the narrow sense, not of concrete illustration but of characteristic varia-
tion. Two examples of simile which differ only in their reference, and not
in their modalities of expression, are considered to be the same figure.
It is only when the modality can be shown to have been altered that we
have a new figure. For example, the late figure vicitra (Ruyyaka, et al.)
would appear to be a special type of cause-effect relationship in which the
cause is characterized as prayatna 'effort', but it is in effect a special
type of visama (III).
(b) The System
I. SIMILE, comparison (upamā). The adjunction of a literally irrelevant
object (called the upamāna) which possesses in a higher degree a property
(samānadharma) also present in the subject (upameya), the comparison
thus calling attention forcefully to that distinctive feature by a kind of
transfer of emphasis.
THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
Figures based on simile, which add a determination to the basic simile
but which remain similes in intent, are of two fundamentally different
types:
(A) Figures which are variations on the form of the simile:
(i) an essential element is implicit.
all explicit upameya upamāna particle
implicit implicit implicit
upamā
prativa-
stūpamā
aprastuta- samāsokti
prasamsā
anyokti
ubhayanyasa
type of similitude
dharma (property)
kriyā (action)
These figures, where one of the four elements is implicit, should be com-
pared with IIIC below, where implicitude itself is a major element, not
sub-joined to simile.
The later authors, Udbhata, Rudrata and Mammața, use these and
similar formal discriminations to subdivide the figure upamā itself.
Since our classification deals only with those figures which have been
assigned status as major figures by some author, this formal analysis
does not appear here, but it may easily be imagined. Much attention
has been paid to the grammatical form of the comparative particle and
to the manner in which compounding may be employed.</p>
<pb n="58" />
<p>56
(ii) an essential element is repeated.
viz. the upameya
viz. the simile, but
inverted
viz, the upamāna
similes themselves
combine to suggest
a larger simile
INTRODUCTION
ananvaya
upameyopamā
the mode is comparison
recollection
inversion
mālā
upamārupaka
This last type is a very special case of what is usually treated as a sub-
variety of rūpaka: the repeated metaphorical identifications are all aspects
of a larger picture (see samastarūpaka and discussion).
A is like A
A is like B; B like A
(B) Figures which are modes of conceiving the common property.
The samanadharmata of the simile is its functional sine qua non. Although
the property (or mode of behavior) is 'common' and must be so in order
for the simile to operate, an element of distinctiveness is nevertheless
implied, and it is just as important for, without it, no emphatic transfer
would accrue to the upameya; the simile would not be poetic, but realistic.
This implicit relative distinctiveness may be conceived according to
several principles of relation:
(i) the differentiability of the common property as a conceptual mode
relating the two things compared.
(a) emphasis neither on the difference nor on the similarity:
upamā
smarana
pūrva
A is like B, C, D, etc.
the AB of the CD (see
example in Glossary)
samdeha
representation¹3⁹ samāhita
substitution
sāmya
A is like B
B is reminiscent of A
B is more important than A
(b) emphasis on the similarity (lack of difference):
the mode is identification rūpaka
A is B
A? B
illustration
drstänta
negative illustra- nidarśana
not A? not B
tion</p>
<p>(II)</p>
<p>denial
apahnuti not B; A!
bhrantimat B is taken for A
confusion
doubt
A or B?
B! (addressing A)
A for B
¹** Repeated, it appears to be the late figure ullekha, defined in Ruyyaka, p. 58.</p>
<pb n="59" />
<p>THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES</p>
<p>(to which Ruyyaka adds)
(here could also be put)</p>
<p>transformation¹40 pariņāma B becomes A
(c) emphasis is on the difference (lack of similarity):
the mode is excellence
vyatireka
A excells B
opinion
mata
some say B; I say A
B is jealous of A
jealousy
pratipa
revenge
pratyanika B takes revenge on A
(ii) the common property is itself limited as to the scope of its own
distinctiveness (modally limited).
is verbal only upamāsamuccaya
is literal only
is inessential
višeşokti (III)
sāmya (II)</p>
<p>is a mode of
action only
prativastūpamā
C is a pun
C is metaphorical
C is absolute
transfer of property
-with possession stated
transfer of mode of action
57
(iii) a property of the upamāna, that is, one not common, is transferred
to the subject, thus suggesting not only the identity of the two things,
but the common property itself. This is a special case of B(ii) in which
the relative distinctiveness and similarity of the two things are character-
ized as referentially distinct, and then only those aspects which in fact
do distinguish the compared things are employed in the transferral
relationship. Formally these figures are non-similes, that is, similes
which function by employing non-C instead of C. A typical case is
the so-called pathetic fallacy.
apahnuti (III)
vidarśanā
utprekşā
This variety could also be called hyperbolic simile from its manner of
misrepresenting the existence of the property in the subject. Ruyyaka,
rather tortuously it seems to me, tries to exploit this notion to the
extent of trying to make hyperbole (atiśayokti) itself an inverted utprekṣā,
and thus a kind of simile.141
140 But already recognized by Dandin as a sub-variety of upamā (Kāvyādarša, 2,41).
See vikriyā uparnā.
141 Alamkārasarvasva, p. 83.</p>
<pb n="60" />
<p>58
Since (A) and (B) are distinguished by criteria which are not alternatives
vis-à-vis each other, all of the types listed under (A) may be expanded by
the entire array of types under (B), just as is the simplest upamā. In the
Glossary we have often taken advantage of this indeterminacy in our
En examples. The more complex varieties given under (B), for
example pratyanika, could rarely illustrate type (A)'s upamā, much more
often a prativastūpamā or an ubhayanyasa. Likewise utprekṣā, suggesting
identification rather than stating it, can illustrate several varieties of
rūpaka (where the form is not in question).
II. HYPERBOLE. The reference is not to two things and a common
property but to one thing and its property, or its several properties.
In other words, hyperbole is a family of figures founded on the notion
of predication. Inevitably, as the reference is to more than one property,
there will also be, implicitly or otherwise, reference to a second subject
(mīlita, tadguṇa). To distinguish these cases from the foregoing, we
must appeal to the notion of pradhanatva: we must decide where the
main intent of the speaker lies in the comparison or in the relation of
properties.
There are three major varieties of hyperbole:
(A) Simple exaggeration (we include minimization as a special case).
The property or an analogous aspect of the subject is portrayed out of all
perspective, thus distinguishing the subject in its very being.
exaggeration of a property
an action
an effect
wealth or
nobility
INTRODUCTION
ego
affection
Fasa
sense of a
question
atiśayokti (in the narrow sense)
utprekṣā (IV)
utprekşă (V)142
udatta
ūrjasvi
preyas
rasavat
uttara (II) (probably to be considered a type
of conundrum)
thing to its property is metaphysically
(B) The relationship of the
distorted.
the property is larger than its substratum
without a proper substratum
adhika (II)
viseşa (I)
14* These aberrant utpreksā (see above B iii) seem not to be considered separate figures,
but varieties of atiśayokti, in accordance with the familiar classificatory tetrad: järi,
guna, kriyā, dravya.</p>
<pb n="61" />
<p>THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
found in several substrata
uncertain as to substrata
a quality shared by several per-
sons
(C) The relationship between properties of a thing is distorted.
an essential property represented as another apahnuti (II)
paradoxical qualities
leśa (II)
contradictory qualities
deficiency represented as potency
more than the usual number of epithets
quality predominates unexpectedly over
another
višeșa (II)
samsaya (II)
tulyayogita
quality fuses with another
quality fails to fuse, despite similarity
coalescence of qualities leads to confusion
of two things
virodha
viseşokti (I)
parikara
pihita
tadguṇa
atadguna
milita
59
At this point the categories of definition return us to the realm of
simile; but the emphasis remains on the qualities, and that is what keeps
milita itself from "fusing" with samásokti or utprekşā.
III. FIGURES based on relationships of causality (hetu) or character
(lakṣaṇa). The remaining arthālamkāras involve relationships other than
that of similitude between two or more things (ideas), primarily con-
comitance. The poetical vocabulary shows its dependence on the forms
of logic most clearly here. Indian logic is based on the notion of necessary
concomitance (vyāpti), which is shown to be without exception as
demonstrated by syllogism. Such concomitance between two things is
ordinarily in one direction only (in class logic, one term includes the other);
the relationship may be that of cause and effect. Inference based on
vyāpti will determine either the cause from the effect or vice versa.143
The concomitance, however, may be only occasional or conventional
and not strictly demonstrable, as when we say that the streams are over-
flowing because of rain in the hills; other causes can also be imagined.
Cause and effect remains the foundation of the inferential relationship,
and this aspect is always present in the play of the figure on the strictly
logical form. Even when the figure does not explicitly formulate an
inference, the distortion of the relation of concomitance is generally
14 Nyaya sutra 1.1.5; deşavat, pūrvavat; reasonings of the form sämänyato drsta
appear poetically as arthāntaranyāsa, Cf. Keith, Indian Logic pp. 88-9.</p>
<pb n="62" />
<p>60
INTRODUCTION
cast in terms of a universal expectation and its disappointment-the
strange and marvelous instead of the usual and mundane. The largest
number of causal figures involves the efficient cause (A), to the operation
of which can always be analogized the material cause (thus satisfying
both nyāya and sāṁkhya): as, for example, smoke is always a sign of
fire, cloth a sign of threads. A small number of figures, however, involve
an appeal to a final cause (B), either as a moral or a justification. Finally
(C), some figures are based on entirely conventional concomitances;¹
the expectation has the form of suggestion: the simple apprehension
of the other term in the concomitance, but lacking a specific element of
disappointment or distortion.
(A) figures of the efficient cause (kāraka);
cause leads to effect; poetic cause
hetu
The figure as described by Dandin includes many of the following types:
poetic cause
kävyalinga
(Hetu is often considered too literal or conventional,¹45 and this figure,
with the "poetic" specified, is substituted.)
enchainment of causes
cause-effect, incongruous
cause, effect with incongruous attributes
cause-effect, inverted (in time)
cause-effect, reciprocal
one cause, several effects
one cause, effects contrary to each other
one cause, effect contrary to that intended
one cause, obstructed, carries through to its
effect in a modified form
one cause, effect at a distance, or at an
interval, or in improper substratum
effect realized by a coincident cause
effect realized without its cause
kāraṇamālā¹46
vişama (II)
vişama (IV)
pūrva
See above, p. 44.
148 Also typable as a variety of malā, below VI (D).
anyonya
viseșa (III)
adhika (I)
vişama (III)
vyāghāta
asamgati
samadhi
vibhāvanā</p>
<p>(B) Figures of the final cause (jñāpaka)</p>
<p>benediction
āśiş
motive represented in an inappropriate subject utprekṣā (VI)
Operating, that is, through a lakṣaṇa: a sign indicating that another sense is to
be construed.</p>
<pb n="63" />
<p>moral drawn from an event or particular state nidarśană (I)
justification; a second instance to fortify the
first, often in the relationship from general
to particular and vice versa
(to which Ruyyaka adds) a fortiori con-
clusion
remark
response
praise
THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
blame
negation (of fact)
affirmation</p>
<p>(C) Figures of suggestion (often illustrate the dhvani of the later theory)
(irony)</p>
<p>deduction of a parokṣa, stated as such
lakṣaṇa (indicator) dhvani (thing suggested)
one thing
pretext
gestures
literal description
associations
context
context vibhāva
response
remark
blame
praise
affirmation (of another)
alternative or contrary
another
embarrassment
meaning
context
thing associated
mood
mood bhāva
arthantaranyasa
arthāpatti
anumāna
praśna
uttara
aprastuta-
praśamsă (III)
vyājastuti
äkşepa
vakrokti (1)
61</p>
<p>paryayokta
leśa (1)
sūkṣma
bhāva (II)
avasara
preyas (II)
bhāva (I)
These figures would correspond in general to Rudrata's category vāstava,
with the exception of those involving an element of incongruity so great
as to associate them with his notion of hyperbole. We have preferred
structure to intention in this categorization, and restrict hyperbole to
those figures involving patterns of quality and/or substratum only.
Nevertheless, as the universe of figures is multivalent, hyperbole will
be found associated with many other categories.147 Similarly, the notion
of suggestion can be determined in any relation and particularly in that
of similitude, where the figures samāsokti, aprastutapraśamsă, etc.
manifest it. There, the pattern of definition would lead us to consider
147 As Dandin says (2.220) "alañīkārāntarāṇām apy ekam āhuḥ parāyaṇam । vāgi śama-
hitām uktim imām atiśayāḥvayām" ("the form of expression, called hyperbole, celebrated
by Vägisa, is considered the sole aim [viz. purport] of [many] other figures'). Bhämaha's
remarks on atiśayokti/vakrokti (2,85 ff.) probably bear on the same point.</p>
<pb n="64" />
<p>62
it secondary to the simile, while here it either functions independently
or in terms of relations not otherwise categorized.
INTRODUCTION
IV. FIGURES based on conjunction or collocation. Distinguished from
the former category in that nothing more than coincidental coexistence
is implied; no notion of necessity or convention relates the two things
or events. As such, presence is assumed; inference is lacking. The figures
are "descriptive", and it is only the quality of the whole description which
distinguishes them from mere sentences of non-poetry (see svabhāvokti
discussion).
(A) conjunction of things
appropriate conjunction
inappropriate conjunction
conjunction of usually separate things
separation of usually conjoint things
exchange of one thing for another
(B) conjunction of qualities
expansion of descriptive adjuncts
capture of the exact genus in an
individual; meticulous description
sama
vişama (I)
sahokti
vinokti
parivṛtti
samuccaya
svabhāvokti
V. PUNS. As an arthālamkāra, pun (śleşa) participates in the idea of all
the preceding categories (as a śabdalamkāra, see below VI). Pun in
general is the simultaneous apprehension of two or more meanings,
determined in a given phonemic sequence. (The latter qualification
distinguishes pun from the figures of suggestion, where one meaning
suggests another.) When the grammatical analysis of the sequence is
identical, or nearly so, for the two meanings apprehended, those meanings
are a fortiori "compared", and we understand the figure as an arthālamkā-
ra. The simultaneity of the apprehension lends an element of hyperbole,
at least in manner. Pun resembles the figures of suggestion and colloca-
tion in that one of the two meanings is generally prākaraṇika (ʻrelevant'),
the other aprākaranika. The relevant meaning is, however, often not the
obvious one. As we have stated above, the pun in many ways constitutes
the figure par excellence. The universe of figures can from one point
of view be seen as a meticulous analysis of the components of the pun.
As a separate figure, arthaśleșa has been most exhaustively treated by
Rudrata, who, as we have seen, devotes an entire chapter to it. Ślesa,
as Dandin was the first to observe, is also the figure which combines</p>
<pb n="65" />
<p>63
most easily with other figures.148 Many double entendres have been
illustrated s.v., upamā, rūpaka, samäsokti, etc., where the pun formally
occupies the place of the tertium.149 Puns, which Rudraţa considers
major figures, can be said to have the double-entendre as their principal
orce, though they also all retain an aspect of simile. Here, unavoidably,
an appeal must be made to the intention of the poet and to the notion of a
universe of ideas from which he selects for emphasis, but which never-
theless imply an order insofar as his utterances are intelligible. In fine,
it should be noted that as a sabdaśleșa,¹5⁰ pun has been minutely distin-
guished as to the precise grammatical or syntactical element that carries
the double meaning. Our point of view, however, in keeping with the
character of the pun as primarily conveying an assertion, is that of the
referential or ontological character of the meanings played upon." 151
THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
(A) The two levels of punned meaning are ontologically the same:
both qualifications (of the subject)
avayava (see
samāsokti)
both nouns (subjects)
both moods (terms suggestive of moods)
aviseşa
vakra
(B) The two levels are the same, but the meanings are opposed.
the literal interpretation carries an
incompatibility which is resolved by the second virodhābhāsā
carries an outright contradiction
virodha (III)
151
148 "Śleşaḥ sarvāsu puşṇāti prāyo vakroktişu śriyam", Kāvyādarśa, 2.363. Empson's
recent discussion of ambiguity (esp. chaps. 3,4 and 6) brings Dandin's remark up to
date. Moreover, his distinctions recall those of the alamkarikas.
149 Ibid., 2.28, 87, 161, etc.
1.50 See below VI (F).
A number of English words have been used to translate the Sanskrit śleşa; none,
however, conveys the intended significance of that word and all have connotations
which are unfortunate. Pun", which covers much of the concept, is also used, and
perhaps primarily understood as word play of the type that Ogden Nash has made
famous. But Nash's punning, like Joyce's, is echo and not literal; the words are often
malformed to suggest the second sense. In many cases, especially in Nash, there is
no second sense, simply malformation for purposes of rhyme or rhythm. Word play
in this sense would probably fall under the Indian category prahelika ('conundrum")
or śleșa vakrokti (qq. vv.). Similarly "double-entendre', often preferable to pun, errs
in the other extreme, including a number of figures which involve two meanings, but
have no explicit grammatical basis of expression, such as irony. In these cases, the
content alone permits the decipherment of the double-entendre; the fleșa must have
grammatical reference. Lastly the learned 'paronomasia' includes cases which are not
puns, but only adjunctions of words similar in form but different in meaning: "But
from her grave in Mary-bone, / They've come and boned your Mary" (Thomas Hood).</p>
<pb n="66" />
<p>64
(C) The levels of the pun are ontologically different.
praise and blame
INTRODUCTION
a question and its answer
adjectives and complimentary nouns
pudique, risqué
vyāja (see
vyājastuti)
vakrokti (I),
type: kāku
tattva
ukti
(D) To the basic pun is added the tour de force that the second
meaning alone is referred to.
parisamkhyā
VI. GRAMMATICAL AND SYNTACTIC FIGURES: repetitions (śabdalamkara);
figures whose deviation from the norms of standard utterance consists
not in the misrepresentation of an idea or judgement, but of the grammati-
cal basis of speech itself. Grammar imposes a certain order on speech, in
that violation of its rules courts incomprehensibility, but within these
rules it permits great variation for emphasis, clarity, or style. Figures
which assume as a basis of deviation the standard grammatical (and by
that term we intend everything from phonics to the paragraph or even
beyond, provided the focus is the means of expression, not the idea
expressed: sabdalamkāra) form of the language are of course specific to a
given language, at least in the details of their functioning. The poetics of
classical India presupposes the Sanskrit language. Even though Prākrits
are often referred to, especially in exemplification, they supply no varia-
tions, because their use is based on the erroneous notion that the Prakrits
were in fact completely describable in terms of Sanskrit grammar. In
Sanskrit, as in most languages, scope for explicit violation of the rules of
grammar is extremely limited. Movements such as Dada or the San
Francisco school may from time to time experiment with these limitations,
but in general the acceptable verbal figures are of two types: those which
violate otherwise conventional, but not obligatory, patterns, that is, they
impose a pattern different from the one which, though not required, is
expected; and secondly, those which formalize what is normally a random
dimension of the grammatical material and thus create regularities where
none were expected. Examples of the former would be the English inver-
sion of subject and verb, which is allowed as "poetic", or the many
rhetorical figures which rearrange the sentence for emphasis-chiasmos,
for example.
The verbal figures described in the Indian poetic texts are, with only
rare and doubtful exceptions, of the second type: those which impose a</p>
<pb n="67" />
<p>65
form where none existed. A number of reasons can be advanced for this
surprising onesidedness. (1) The absence of an Indian "rhetoric", and its
attendant notion that somehow the outward arrangement of the assertion
is different from, or more influential than, the ideal arrangement deriving
from the subject itself (the figures arthālamkāra in general). (2) Convic-
tion (persuasion) as an intellectual function was never separated from
understanding. (3) The kinds of figures which best exemplify the first
type of verbal figure mentioned above depend on fixed word order,
notably lacking in Sanskrit, which therefore does not provide a basis of
expectation upon which to rearrange the sentence for effect. (4) Persuasion
is a natural and not exceptional accompaniment of delectation, and both
functions can be realized by formalizing language, either ab ovo, as in
the second type of śabdālamkāra, or ideally, through the assertive func-
tions of the arthālamkāra. (5) Finally, the general bias of the Indian
poetic is against identifying or comparing word-function and sense-
function, as would be done if a sense or a purpose were to be derived from
a peculiar arrangement of words. We have already referred to this
basically divergent attitude in distinguishing the Greek sense of metaphor
from the Indian. Here, figures based on words, that is "grammar"
narrowly defined, are describable in terms of form alone, and although
it is assumed that they produce distinctive impressions when heard, no
meaning, à la program music, is ever assigned them."
152
In the area of sabdālamkāra, particularly, that subtle appreciation of
detail is manifested which is both the Marengo and the Waterloo of
the Indian mind. The Indian "enumeration" seems always to have been
guided by the idea that if a subject is well enough known in its specifics,
its form and structure will be self evident. The monuments of this ap-
proach are the grammar of Pāṇini and related "grammatical" disquisi-
tions in other disciplines, including that of our immediate preoccupation,
figures of speech. We distinguish the several levels on which language
functions as indicator and means of expression, and find figures exhaus-
tively defined for each.
THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
(A) Phonemic repetitions
alliteration
anuprāsa
(Dandin defines a type of alliteration based not on the phoneme, but on
*** The closest approach to such teleological argumentation would be the attempt of
the dhvani school to subordinate the occurrence of certain figures and gunas to the
needs of the primordinate rasa. Cf. Dhvanyaloka 3.10ff.</p>
<pb n="68" />
<p>66
the distinctive feature; hence it could be considered a figure of phonetics.
Note that metrics [i.e. verse generally] would appear here also, as a
regularization of the feature syllabic quantity.)
metathetic alliteration
INTRODUCTION
repetition of fixed sequences of phonemes.
chekānuprāsa
(repetition
the predicate of sentence one becomes the
subject of sentence two, and so on
the subject of each sentence constitutes the
most characteristic aspect of its predicate,
and the subject of sentence one provides
the predicate for sentence two (the inverse
of the above)
interrupted by
distinctive vari-
(B) Morphemic repetitions
of homonyms
of the word or the sense
āvṛtti
of the syntactical category (subject, verb, etc.) dipaka
(This can also be seen as non-repetition, for one element
remains unrepeated, uniting the several phrases.)
of the word, but in a different sense (accepta-
tion)
the multiple predicates of several sentences
exactly parallel each other in terms of some
larger image (could involve subjects, verbs,
etc.)
ation)
yamaka
punaruktābhāsā
(C) Phrasal repetitions. There is no figure involving the repetition of
phrases only, for it is hard to see how it could be given a poetic twist.
But there are a number of figures which, in addition to the phrasal repeti-
tion, involve a characteristic fixation of certain words within these phrases,
creating a pattern within a pattern.
lāṭānuprāsa
ekāvalī
sāra
yathāsamkhya
It is only in these three figures that we see any interest shown in syntactical
arrangement (see above). Yet even here, the emphasis seems to be on
the enchainment of grammatical forms rather than on the irregularity</p>
<pb n="69" />
<p>THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
67
of the reformation itself. In other words, keeping to our earlier distinc-
tion, these figures, too, promote an order where there is normally none,
viz. in respect of word patterns across sentence or phrase boundaries.
(D) Repetition of figures
the figure itself: the figure mālā, superadded to any appropriate
figure, as upamāmālā or rūpakamālā
different figures: samsrsti; the figures may be inherently or
extrinsically related.
It is in terms of this category of complex figuration that the early Indian
poetic approached the problem of composition the actual manifestation
of poetry. Its discussion shows an awareness that the analytic tools of
figurative interpretation, ugh they reveal the ideal structure of poetry,
nevertheless do not account for the complex interdependence of various
kinds of figuration which we find in any actual poem. The figures rarely
occur in hermetic isolation. More often, and especially in the most
beautiful examples, it is precisely the number and the intimate blending
of figurative types which is striking and worthy of wonder and praise.
The Shakespearian trope: "Oh, that I might be a glove upon that hand /
That I might touch that check!" combines the figures rūpaka, āśiș, nidar-
sanā, and various alliterations and meter in its deceptive simplicity.
Nevertheless, the charm of such expression, the alamkārikas would hold,
is not, in fact, simple unless complexity itself is given a poetic value.153
What it means as poetry is still dependent on the meticulous isolation of
its constituent figures. The collocation has no other meaning or guiding
principle behind it.
(E) Repetition in larger grammatical frameworks (paragraphs, chapters,
etc.)
imagination
the figure bhävika
**
188 A plausible argument, which incidentally would serve to explain how it is that
certain styles and types of poetic speech (such as similes) can be used in non-poetic
contexts: Jesse Jones in a hectoring speech... advised the banks to improve
their capital position" (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.). Here the simplest form is used in
total isolation from other poetic factors. The premeditation of poetry lies not in the
stringing together of such isolated poetic atoms, but rather in the fruitful co-occur-
rence of the elements in a whole. The comic effect, on the other hand, can be seen as
a disproportion among the complex of elements (which includes content), an exaggera-
tion or an over emphasis of some at the expense of the complex image.
...</p>
<pb n="70" />
<p>68
Any poetic must ultimately account for the contrasting principles which
receive emphatic treatment in other theories of criticism. We meet here,
near the end of our list of figures, the imagination, a principle which we
might say has been emphasized almost to the point of exclusiveness in
many modern poe
and which dominates our contemporary attitudes
toward poetry. Originality is a quality highly favored; indescribability,
the state of having surpassed conventional limitations, is considered to be
the quality of the poetic product corresponding to the faculty of imagina-
tion and is considered proof of genius.154 In a certain sense, the poet is
thus the "culture hero", possessing as he does the virtues of individuality,
inimitability, and creative distinctiveness in an absolute degree. Our
attitude toward poetry is as stereotyped as that of classical India, where
such notions were in fact largely supplanted by their opposites.
In the Indian tradition, then, imagination (bhāvīka) is generally
described as the ability to make the several images of the individual
poetic statements coherent in terms demanded by the work as a larger
whole. It is manifested in such things as the plot (the story stringing
together the individual statements), by the lack of shocking contrast in
its development, by the general appropriateness of one image to its
neighbors, and the like.155 Modern critics have been worried by the
fleeting attention paid to this "crucial" concept; it is above all this short-
sightedness which has earned the Indian poetics its reputation of literary
irrelevance.156 We will examine possible historical reasons for this
difficulty in the following section; here we shall only remark that the point
INTRODUCTION
154 "One of the greatest limitations of Sanskrit poetics which hindered its growth into
a proper aesthetic was its almost total disinterest in the poetic personality by which a
work of art attains its individual character" (De, SPSA, p. 72).
"4 "... we search in
vain for a complete definition or clear discussion of the poetic imagination in the whole
range of Sanskrit poetics" (ibid.). "A poetic intuition cannot have a prescribed technique
of expression ... it is not an intellectual concept ... nor is there any passage to it from
the physical fact or the intellectual concept. It stands by itself" (ibid., pp. 76-77).
But on the uniqueness and inexplicability of the creative act, cf. Empson: "Things
temporarily or permanently inexplicable are not to be thought of as essentially
different from things that can be explained in some terms you happen to have at your
disposal... Explanations of literary matters are more like Pure than Analytical
geometry, and, if you cannot think of a construction, that may show that you would
be wise to use a different set of methods, but cannot show the problem is of a new
kind" (p. 285).
155
Dandin, Kävyādarśa, 2.364ff.
www
148 "The Indian theorists have almost neglected an important part of their task, viz.,
to find a definition of the nature of the subject of a poem as the product of the poet's
mind; this problem is the main issue of Western aesthetics. Only svabhāvokti and
bhävika can be adduced as a proof that the Indian theorists were conscious of the
problem...", De, ed., Kuntaka, Vakroktijivita, Introduction, p. xix.</p>
<pb n="71" />
<p>THE SYSTEM OF FIGURES
69
of view adopted by the Indian writers has kept them from discussing
imagination in the modern sense. Nevertheless, recent literature abounds
with attempts to turn bhāvika and similar notions into substitutes for
Western critical categories, into steps in the progress of the Indian mind
to profounder awareness of beauty.¹
167
Bhāvika is far from being a characteristic of all poetry: it is limited as
prabandhavişayo gunaḥ-a quality whose scope is the work. It is not met
with, according to Dandin, in those many poetic works which are not
wholes: the collections, anthologies, the isolated verses which were
characteristic of the classical poetic product. In the systems of the
ālamkārikas, bhāävika is a notion of secondary, though considerable,
importance, which was best accounted, in their precise terminology, a
figure, most likely of sabda, whose grammatical reference was that span
of utterance longer than that which would ordinarily be defined in the
grammar and which had no specifically grammatical means of indica-
tion.158 If bhāvika is a śabdālamkāra, then its reference is to the language
itself as a means of expression: it explains matters pertaining to arrange-
ment and not to expression; given the complexity and length of certain
poems, it tells how to state the appropriate "togetherness" of that mul-
tiplicity. Certain poetic works, without in any way augmenting or
diminishing their status as poetic works, do have a unity of theme or a
coherence of purpose which requires special notice, as differing from both
colloquial utterance and from the manner of existence of the events
referred to. Within this unity, the imagination of the poet could be said to
be working as a limiting factor comprehending and relating the discrete
content of the work: in the same way, the poet, composing alliterations,
can be relied upon not to break off in the middle with some harsh or
irrelevant sound. The imagination as a quality of the whole is an alamkāra
of repetition in much the same sense: it is (or is testimonial of) an ex-
pression of unity not otherwise present, imposed upon an aspect of the
linguistic continuum which is not ordinarily so formed. Life is not made
up of coherent or dramatic events as a rule. The classical critics were far
from thinking of this "quality of the [whole] work" as the psychological
157
"Nevertheless, the aberrations are at the same time attempts to reach the truth;
and in the midst of unlifted shadows one does often perceive a running thread of silver
lining", De, SPSA, p. 79.
158 "Bhävikālamkāras tu mahākāvyeşv eva niyamenāvasthitaḥ" (anon. Comm. "Hrda-
yañgama" to Kävyādarša 2.364-366 [p. 215]). I would like to think, for the sake of
completeness, that bhavika was not considered an arthālamkāra at all, since it does not
formulate the possibility of any concrete poetic expression or idea. Dandin, however,
does treat it at the end of his second chapter (on arthālamkāra), after samsrsti.</p>
<pb n="72" />
<p>70
arena in which genius and talent were to manifest themselves. Of far
greater relevance here is the composition of individual stanzas, which
are poetry in the Indian sense of the term and which require only limited
attainments, such as the ability to speak, think, and compose on the
manifold levels of non-referential language. Many, if not most, poems
have no other unity.
(F) Phonemic limitations whose principle is not inherent (sausabdya),
but arbitrary, that is, which rest on some notion having nothing to do
with phonics.
INTRODUCTION
the pattern of repeated phonemes enables
the verse to be shown in pictorial form
the pattern of repeated phonemes enables
the verse to be shown in geometrical form duşkara
conundrums: the solution to a problem is
hidden in the verse expressing it, which needs
to be seen differently
puns: by another morphological analysis,
a different meaning is understood in the
sequence. Can be seen as a yamaka whose
repetition is only implicit
citra
prahelikā
śleşa (sabdaśleşa)
(IV) THE ADEQUACY OF THE ĀLAMKĀRIKA POETIC
(a) Kāvya
Contemporary critics have too long been dependent on the reformulation
of the alamkāra theory proposed by the dhvani writers, Anandavardhana
and Abhinavagupta, for whom the alamkarika viewpoint is deprived
of its independent status and reduced to a moment in a more all-embrac-
ing view. Histories of Indian poetics have been little more than attempts
to justify this ex post facto subordination. The theory should be con-
sidered in its own terms and not for what defects may be predicated of it in
terms of another aesthetic. We have tried to keep strictly within the
bounds of an alamkāra poetic in this introduction. The scope of the
discussion ought, at this point, to be broadened to a certain extent, for
the characteristic adequacy of a poetic will inevitably correspond in
some measure to the poetry with which it was intended to deal. The
adequacy of a poetic may be determined in three ways (excepting the
disputations which one poetic directs against another):</p>
<pb n="73" />
<p>THE ADEQUACY OF THE "ALAMKARIKA" POETIC
(a) Is the theoretic system itself complete; are its constitutive principles
adequately worked out in their implications?
71
(b) Does that system adequately distinguish poetry as a genre from
other kinds of expression?
(c) Is the treatment of poetry internally well differentiated? Does the
poetic adequately describe the aims, means and varieties of the poetry
which constitutes its subject matter?
The first two points have been sufficiently discussed in what precedes,
as far as the alamkāraśāstra is concerned.
Question (c) can be interpreted in two senses which we might call
"contextual" and "metaphysical". De, Dasgupta, and Keith, the standard
Western or Westernized interpreters of Indian poetics, prefer to see all
poetics addressed to an abstract genre "poetry", to the nature of poetry
per se,159 and to account for the variety of poetics in terms of varyingly
adequate responses to that problem. In this section we will ask whether
the poetic may not be better accounted for by relating it to a kind or
style of poetry which was actually cultivated at a given time in India.
The alamkāra criticism, from the emphasis it places on the mahākävya¹80
and from the style of exemplification it adopts, is evidently addressed to
the stanzaic poetry of the Indian classical period. This poetic genre has
certain definite characteristics, which shape not only the aims and achieve-
ments of the poetry, but, ipso facto, limit the criticism focussing upon it.
These factors are well known, and we will not do anything here but sum-
marize them in outline and show how certain biases of the poetic turn
out to be in fact admirably descriptive of the genre.
The poetry of classical India was microcosmic poetry. The locus of
composition was a minimal unit of expression, the stanza, and this is
to be understood in a quite radical way as excluding larger units of com-
position such as the chapter or the work itself.161 The latter are in typical
cases not even present, as, for example, in the anthological and thematic
collections of Amaru and Mayūra. But even those compositions which
have a story or a plot, however loose-the mahākāvya par excellence-
retain the stanza as the unit of composition. Much that appears at first
blameworthy in classical poetry is explicable in terms of the de-emphasis
of the story. The story is never central; it is at best a pretext for stringing
poem as the product of the poet's mind" (De, cited above, n. 156).
Also called sargabandha, treated as poetry par excellence by Bhāmaha (1.18ff.)
and Dandin (1.14ff.).
150
H
161 See Renou, "Sur la structure du Kavya", Journal Asiatique, 1959, pp. 1ff; the genre
"stanzaic poetry" is defined, and its stylistics are thoroughly described from the point
of view of grammatical usage.</p>
<pb n="74" />
<p>72
INTRODUCTION
together admirable verses-really just a narrative theme. The story
may at any time be interrupted by long descriptive irrelevancies on the
sunrise, the mountains, the moonset, which appear extraneous by stand-
ards emphasizing the unity of plot. Moreover, the overdevelopment and
the stylistic complexity of the stanza itself testify to a smaller unit of
composition. It is the stanzas and not the work which have a life of their
own in the historical traditions of Indian literature. The anthologies are
collections of such stanzas from disparate sources. Little value is attached
to the whole work, to which stanzas are freely added or from which they
are excerpted by the tradition.
But what are the aims and possibilities of such a stanzaic style? Evi-
dently, the structure of the stanza itself is considered the major achieve-
ment of the poet. The character of the stanzas is determined in large
measure by traits adapted from the peculiarities of the Sanskrit language:
a complex metrics based on syllable length, a sonorous phonemic system,
a complexly rich consonant system, an enormous vocabulary enabling
richness and overtone in expression and great multidimensionality of
the image, and a syntactical system tending in the opposite direction-
to great compactness and density through inflection and the compounding
of entire clauses. The tendency is toward the expression of one bewilder-
ingly complex but stringently coherent idea or image within the stanzaic
unit. The stanza imposes its form on the poetic content, which is delivered
compactly as image, as figure.
The formulation of the principles of stanzaic composition is found
adequately expressed in the older alamkārika treatises and reaches its
essential statement in the theory of the figures, an attempt to comprehend
the ability of language (its forms of grammar and thought) to express
and sustain this ideal microcosm and encompass a second level of mean-
ing. Language must do so compactly and rigorously within the structures
of coherence and relation of the syntax; language must state imaginations.
The typical stanza aims at a richness of intelligibility which is at first
overwhelming, and it is that intelligibility which is the aim of the poet.
The amount encompassed within the strict syllabic limitations of the
longer (or poetic) meters, is so great that a complete translation is often
two or three times as long as the original. Translations will tend to be
flabby and prolix precisely where the original displays a tense compactness
and is most striking in its beauty. Such intelligibility, admittedly an
intellectual value, cannot rush immediately and full blown from the head
of the poet; theories of intuition are lamentably inept in explaining the
significance of the kávya or, par contre, its ability to provoke delight.</p>
<pb n="75" />
<p>THE ADEQUACY OF THE "ĀLAMKĀRIKA" POETIC
73
The arthālamkāras are the forms of that intelligible richness, from the
apparently mundane svabhāvokti, or jäti, which eschewing all figuration
per se, attempts to encompass the totality of an event, or a movement,
or an individual's characteristic moment:
The hawk on high circles slowly many times
Until he holds himself exactly poised.
Then, sighting with his downcast eye
a joint of meat cooking in the Chandala's yard,
he cages the extended breadth of his moving wings
closely for the sharp descent,
and seizes the meat half-cooked
right from the household pot.182
to the elegant upamās of Kālidāsa:
You will find her voice subdued, my wife and second life
While I'm away; a single cakravāka dove, longing for its mate.
Her heart so yearns, as these heavy lonesome days go by
That she's become, it seems, a wild lotus struck with frost.163
and the pure delight of the complex half-punned imagery of Mayura:
Deep in the blooms of the lotus; upon salient sharp-honed peaks
Alike falling; uniform at birth of day and at the evening hour of rest-
May the sun's effulgent rays protect you!
(Like travellers) arrived in chorus on the courtyards of three worlds,
Bestowing torrid merit, born of constant journey's toil.14
The poetry of the classical period was possessed of its own poetic, in
which the major practical issues of that genre were explored fully and
subtly. It cannot be denied that the great achievement of Sanskrit poetry
lies in its word pictures: the meticulously complete vignettes of the stanza
addressed to the mind in contemplative repose. What it attempted to do
was limited by that form as well as fulfilled by it. In the poetic of the
stanza we do not find discussions of issues which are not, or are only
peripherally, pertinent to the form, such as are posed by poetic works
whose principle of unity is much more broadly defined. Instead, we
find preoccupation with imagery, verbal and sensible, connotative and
denotative; an awareness of the possibilities of imagery constituted the
craft of the poet. Other poetics will, of course, emphasize the ability of
the poet to work in grander media; it would be difficult to describe the
roman fleuve in the categories of the alamkāraśāstra. The materials
18 Vidyakara, Subhāṣitaratnakoşa (trans. Ingalls), 1150.
163
Meghadūta 2.20 (my translation).
104
Süryaśataka 3 (my translation).</p>
<pb n="76" />
<p>74
INTRODUCTION
with which the novelist-cum-poet works are more vague, more disparate,
not so exclusively oriented to problems of expression. It becomes legitimate
to discuss the conception of the total work of art, the manner in which it
reflects its time, the leading ideas of the period, and the like, because the
poet is to a great extent concerned with representations of these broader
issues. The issue of the genius and the imagination of the poet, under-
stood not as a minor sort of combinatory facility ¹65 but as the real
fountainhead of the unity-now seen as structure-of a very complicated
work, may with justification be posed as a category of serious criticism.
But when we deal with the poetry of classical India, these notions have
little force; they are in fact impositions upon the subject matter. The
kävya poetry was complete in the stanza. The ability of a poet like Kāli-
dāsa to compose great works was in fact an ability to compose many
beautiful stanzas; the multiplication of stanzas does not alter the critical
point of view, for it was not a creative multiplicity. The alamkāra poetics,
in describing the materials and the technique of stanzaic composition
(to which the notion of concrete subject matter was either conventional or
irrelevant), adopted the only possible point of view adequate to the poetry.
(b) Natya
The foregoing does not imply that there were no other points of view
expressed even in classical times. Indeed the internal history of Indian
poetics gives much evidence for competing doctrines. But it is conclusive
for our view that the doctrines were conceived of as competing only
when the poetic genres referred to or implied were losing or had lost their
independent status. 166 The dhvani doctrine testifies to this amalgamation
of previously separate traditions. During the early creative period of the
alamkāraśāstra, as far as the texts show that tradition (7th-10th centuries),
another poetics coexisted alongside the figurative with little evidence of
interaction: that poetics which took as its problem the drama, and which
elaborated as its decisive concept the rasa.
The oldest extant work of Indian "poetics" is devoted to the drama:
the Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata.167 It is a compendium of topics relating to
105 Above, p. 67 re the figure bhāvika.
168 Viz. the dramatic and the stanzaic genres. See below.
167 Bibliography in De, HSP, I, pp. 44-45; we have used throughout this work the
edition of the Gaekwad Oriental Series, ed. M. Ramakrishna Kavi. Currently appear-
ing is the first complete English translation by Manomohan Ghosh, in the Bibliotheca
Indica, Calcutta, 1959-.</p>
<pb n="77" />
<p>THE ADEQUACY OF THE "ĀLAMKĀRIKA" POETIC
75
the drama and not, strictly speaking, poetic, for it deals with matters as
diverse as the construction of the theater and the use of make-up. It is
certainly allied to the purāṇa in style and is not the work of a single author
despite the eponymic attribution.
For criticism, the dramatic problem presented itself in a different light,
and Bharata's treatise attests this difference decisively; the drama is not
a creation of the word alone, or even of the word primarily. Of course
the language spoken on the stage is an essential element in the drama,
but the drama is, in addition and more importantly, a visual spectacle; the
language is but one element in the technical materials available to the
dramatist. If he imitates human actions and events, he first of all rep-
resents (or can represent) human actions and events directly by means of
characters, gestures, actions; the realm of immediacy is made available
through the actor, a crutch upon which the verbal poet is unable to de-
pend.
The communal character of the dramatic representation also contributed
to its distinctiveness. An audience was an essential part of the produc-
tion, a material in which an effect or an imprint was to be produced and
whose formation in this sense constituted the end of drama. Although the
kävya literature may have been recited, and historically may have been a
lineal descendant of bardic, epic poetry,168 in its developed form it was
far too complicated and polished to be enjoyed only viva voce; its audience
was more abstract: the learned, often an assemblage of other poets.169
The dramatic production was also determined in a different kind of time,
due largely to its dependence on a real audience. The kävya work could
be indefinitely long, for its unity was aggregate and ad libitum both for
14 Though few direct links have been discovered which would mediate the enormous
differences in style between the developed forms. Portions of the Rāmāyaṇa have
often been suggested as links. Cf. Dasgupta and Dey [De], HSL, p. 13.
189 The proper audience for poetry is first extensively discussed in the dhvani literature:
cf. "tena brūmaḥ sahrdayamanaḥpritaye tatsvarūpam™ (Dhvanyāloka 1.1), and the
commentary "sahṛdayahṛdayāhlādiśabdārthamayatvam eva kāvyalakṣaṇam" attributed
to a pūrvapakşin. The audience as the locus of the dramatic experience becomes doubly
important to Abhinavagupta, who analogized that experience to religious ecstasy:
below, p. 77. Again, this concern with the audience on the part of the dhvani theorists
testifies to the syncretistic character of their doctrine, for they were faced with the
problem of relating two genres whose audiences were in principle distinct, and whose
distinction was self evident. Abhinava's definition of the sahrdaya has often been
quoted "yeşām kāvyānušilanābhyāsavaśād višadībhūte manomukure varṇaniyatan-
mayibhavanayogyata te hrdayasamvādabhājaḥ sahrdayāḥ" (Locana on Dhv. 1.1, p. 11.
Cf. De, SPSA, pp. 54ff.). These connoisseurs may, as the tradition asserts, have
gathered occasionally to form a semi-permanent kavisabhā, in order to pass judgement
on the poetical works presented to them. The Tamil sangam is the most illustrious
case.</p>
<pb n="78" />
<p>76
the poet and his reader. The dramatist, however, was working with a
time span which itself imposed a kind of unity on his creation, in terms of
which a determinate effect was produced in a definite audience.
170
In the dramatic mode, it would, by contrast, not be far wrong to say
that the work as a whole constituted the unit of composition, into which
entered as conditioning factors the audience, the actors, their actions and
gestures, the events portrayed, and, finally, the spoken words of the play."
In contemporary terms the distinction between the written and dramatic
is somewhat obscured, owing to the great diffusion of printed texts.
Plays are produced, but they have also become an important part of the
written literature. One might wonder, for example, whether A Long
Day's Journey into Night was ever meant by its author to be performed.
As the unit of composition, the work's special existence, apart from
its conditional factors, was expressed in terms of the peculiar relation
which all of these factors bore to one another in the understanding of
the audience, and which constituted the proper consequence or effect
of the dramatic production. Bharata determines this special unity of
the work as the rasa or 'dominant mood', and this term has come to
denote the leading idea and is perhaps the most distinctive feature of
Indian poetics.
INTRODUCTION
We cannot develop here the many interesting implications of the rasa
theory for dramatic criticism. We are concerned with it only insofar
as it provides a contrast both in subject matter and in critical point of
view with the alamkāra theory, which we hold was addressed to the stan-
zaic poetry of the Sanskrit kävya. The two criticisms, coexisting for
several centuries, were largely kept compartmentalized not only by their
orientation to different subject matter, but also by their emphasis on the
means of expression. Neither was interested in the analogical question
of creativity.
170 Bharata deals with the spoken word as it affects drama in chaps. 15 (on metre)
and 16 (on the figures, gunas, dosas, etc.). Metre is important because of the many set
verses, in classical kavya style, which were placed in the dialogue of the drama, and
by which were stated its moods and climaxes, in a manner analogous to the arias of an
opera. In the chapter on figuration, Bharata mentions only four figures, upamā,
rūpaka, dipaka and yamaka; this has usually been taken as a primitive or germinal
form of the alamkāraśāstra; Bhämaha, the next writer whose works are extant,
discusses over thirty figures. It may be, and it is just as likely, that the four figures
were not intended as exhaustive, but were, like the metres of the preceding chapter,
presented in abridged form, more to suggest the importance of the subject to the dram-
atist, who would then be expected to turn to the available manuals of metrics and
figuration for fuller treatment. The alamkāra texts, similarly, refer peripherally to
topics which are central in the dramatic tradition, nāyaka, rasa, etc.</p>
<pb n="79" />
<p>THE ADEQUACY OF THE "ĀLAMKĀRIKA" POETIC
To the question "How is the rasa expressed?", the dramatic theorists
starting from the famous rasa sutra of Bharata proposed various and
increasingly subtle explanations involving a minute examination of the
range of conditions, effective causes, manner of comprehension, and
ultimate status of the rasa. Similarly, the alamkārikas, having situated
their discussion in reference to the question "How is the distinctiveness of
poetic speech realized, that is, understood?", spoke to issues focussing on
the capacity of language (both verbal and expressive) to convey more or a
different sense than the strict employment of its forms would permit.
The rasa was realized as an affective, not an intellective, unity-a mode
of feeling generated by and transcending the discrete conditions and
causes manifested on the stage. The language of the drama played no
more important a role, inherently, than did, let us say, the gestures, the
portrayal of the characters, the overtones which could be expected from
the realization by the audience that this character was indeed Rāma.
Abhinavagupta, the most brilliant in the long line of Bharata's commen-
tators, carries the view of his predecessor, Bhaṭṭa Nāyaka, one step farther
and boldly makes an analogy between the rasa experience and that of
final salvation: both transcend the limited, temporal character of finite
existence (here, the play) and realize the one central unifying theme of
that existence (the rasa); they differ, of course, in that the finite existence
to which the rasa corresponds is itself only a fiction, and the rasa therefore
ceases as soon as the play ceases. The older writers of the alamkāra
tradition showed a similar dependence on a theoretical framework bor-
rowed from another discipline, but instead of theology, it was logic and
to some extent grammar.
77
The two partly complimentary poetics were not of course pursued in
conditions of total separation; there is evidence for the effect of one upon
the other. Nevertheless, the striking fact about late classical criticism is
the continued development of two largely independent theories, addressed
to significantly divergent problems. 171
The dramatic criticism acknowledges the alamkāra doctrines in
Bharata's chapter on the figures, testimony to the fact that the set verses
of the drama have an important role to play in the generation of the
total effect of the play. Later treatises, such as the Dasarūpaka, take for
171 A striking, though incidental, corroboration of this divorce of poetry and drama
is provided by an investigation of characteristic metres in use by the two genres.
See Subhāşitaratnakoşa, Ingalls' Introduction (= Harvard Oriental Studies, 44),
p. 35; the alamkārikas sometimes refer to the "other sästra", as Dandin, Kävyādarśa,
2.366.</p>
<pb n="80" />
<p>78
granted the divorce of drama and alamkāra and concentrate on topics
of more immediate dramatic interest: characters, moods, kinds of drama,
and the like. The alamkāra tradition similarly recognizes the rasa as the
basis for certain figures, particularly the one called simply rasavat
('having a rasa"). This figure has provoked much speculation by the
dhvani writers, for it presages their own doctrine of the dhvani in the
figure.¹72 The original, figurative, expressionistic sense of rasavat is
doubtless to be seen in the context of the triad of figures of which it is
one: preyas, rasavat, ürjasvi. All three are expressions of certain kinds of
subjective excess and are probably to be thought of as special types of
hyperbole, distinguished because of their currency, if not for reasons of
form. Preyas signifies an expression overburdened with good intentions
and friendliness; rasavat, distinguished by one of the eight canonical
rasas (love, pity, etc.), and ūrjasvi, an expression of impertinence, an
excess of egoism. All three evidently differ in force from ordinary
language. The Indian philosophic emphasis on stability of temperament
would doubtless sufficiently distinguish language so emotionally loaded.
But, as we say, these evidences of interpenetration are superficial and
do not affect the basic divergence in point of view of the two poetics.
They represent areas of overlap, and are not proof of a single, constantly
developing and more profound aesthetic.
INTRODUCTION
(c) The Religious Lyric
With the advent of the dhvani theory, perhaps in the ninth century, we do
find an elaborate attempt to reconcile and unify the two divergent poetics
of kavya and nätya." 173 The dhvani school (dhvani 'tone, suggestion')
retains the leading ideas of both anterior poetics: the dhvani is the rasa,
the transcendent emotional significance of the work, recast and redefined
(in terms of a literary poetic) as the most essential form of vakrokti, that
function whereby language conveys (a) a further sense, or (b) a sense not
inferable from its component elements, words, logical forms, and the like.
The dhvani turns out to be a more general statement of the expressionist
17 Some more figures were elaborated after the dhvani-rasa theory became popular;
they are based on categories borrowed from that theory (cf. Ruyyaka, Alamkārasar-
vasva, pp. 232ff.). Here we discuss only the early evidence for interrelation. Rudrața,
in the last six chapters of Kavyalamkāra, sums up an entire dramatic theory. But this
is clearly an addendum; it occupies only about one quarter of the whole work.
References to rasa are found re some šabdālamkāras: ef. Daṇḍin, 1.52.
173 See the material on poetics in Introduction to Indian Literature, eds. van Buitenen
and Dimock (Asia Society, New York, 196?).</p>
<pb n="81" />
<p>THE ADEQUACY OF THE "ALAMKARIKA" POETIC
poetics, but a statement so general that it encompasses the whole dramatic
vocabulary including modalities that are non-linguistic. Poetry and
drama are reunited in a theory emphasizing their common expressionistic
basis, perhaps testifying in part to the collapse of drama as a living art
form and its maintenance in primarily literary terms.
The internal differentiation of the dhvani shows how syncretistic it is.
Its purest form is rasa itself. A literary poetics has now taken over the
portion of dramatic theory previously reserved to the ensemble of largely
non-linguistic suggestions-gestures, identifications, etc. Language
becomes in this view a surrogate of the real, by its nature able to suggest
everything immediately-not only ideas but moods, feelings not as
secondary factors of ideas or as a contextual affectation of some figure.
It is a hardy theory, and is argued ably by Anandavardhana in the first
chapter of Dhvanyaloka. But the dhvani school allows the older forms of
ālamkārika vakrokti, too. In this guise, the dhvani appears as the discrete
idea or sense suggested by the non-literal modality of the figure, which
in contrast to dhvani as rasa, is primary to whatever rasa it may also
express. In this way the alamkāra is integrated into the dhvani theory
and, at the same time, its association with the rasa is explained. This
relationship for the first time allows the problem to be posed of the
context in which the figures are used: Ānandavardhana espouses the
doctrine of aucitya 'appropriateness', whereby the figure is to be employed
only as it furthers the predominant mood: the rasa. Otherwise the discrete
sense of the figure predominates over the rasa.174
Finally, a type of dhvani is defined which is realized neither as rasa,
nor as figure, but directly as a meaning. This variety corresponds to
discrete suggestion, which operates through inference or association:
when from the statement of one thing, another (often the contrary) is
understood, as for example, irony.175 In fact the alamkārikas considered
this last type, as they did the first, special types of alamkāra. We have
discussed several based on inference and suggestion under the heading
"System of Figures".176 The dhvani theory really does not add anything to
79
174 Dhvanyaloka 3.32-33, 37-38; type defined at 2.25. Cf. supra, n. 153.
175 Ibid., 2.26. The latter two types, in which the rasa occupies the rank of a subor-
dinate element (to the sense or the figure expressed) are thereby termed gunibhūta-
yangya. Poetry in which the rasa/dhvani is totally absent, though poetry only by con-
vention, is admitted into the system as citrakāvya ("pictorial poetry"): ibid., 3.42.
178 This paradox is explained by the tendency of the dhvani theorists to equate figure
with the figure par excellence-simile (upamā). They were not prepared, for obvious
reasons, to admit the universality of the definition of figuration implied by the alam-
kārika treatises.</p>
<pb n="82" />
<p>80
the materials already elaborated by the figurationists, but it does propose
an important redefinition of principle whereby the distinction between
literary and dramatic poetics is annulled.
It is our view that this marriage of two distinct traditions would not
have been possible, even as a theoretical exercise, if the genres to which
they referred had not in fact largely lost their respective identities. Poetics,
in India as anywhere else, follows poetry, despite the attempts of unsym-
pathic critics to argue that it was in essence a normative discipline which
saw its ultimate justification in the education of the poet-an effort to
prescribe rules to aspiring poets." 177 There was no genre in early classical
times which exactly corresponded to that implied by the dhvani theory.
Both kavya and nāṭya can quite successfully be reinterpreted in terms of
the dhvani-rasa (in fact this has been so successfully done that the rasa
is today often considered the timeless standard for all Indian poetry,
from Kālidāsa to the present).178
The poetic form properly corresponding to the dhvani theory is a
genre which developed slowly in the late classical period and later became
the only really viable literary art in India, the renascent lyric (older
stotras, as those of Bāņa or Mayūra, are definitely within the classical
kävya style). The lyric devotional poem is best epitomized in the marvel-
ous Gitagovinda of Jayadeva, but is more voluminously represented
in the several vernacular literatures. This genre is in fact dramatic poetry;
poetry with a narrative basis in the divine event and intended to convey
the emotional fervor of the bhakta. It is not surprising therefore that we
meet overtones of theology in the poetics, as expressed by the third
great dhvani theorist, Abhinavagupta. The poetry itself begins and ends
in the service of an increasingly religious ideal: devotion to a personal
God. The primordinate rasa, śṛngāra 'love', needs only to be redeployed
(the subject matter of poetry has always been considered a mere condition-
ing factor, never an independent principle in criticism) from its earlier
evidently secular emphasis to a less mundane application. The poetics
of devotional poetry has never been more profoundly explored than in
the dhvani school which continues today to dominate Indian thinking on
poetics. Even De, so profoundly affected by Western theories of poetics,
and still finding many inadequacies in the dhvani theory, tends to think of
it as the typical, most characteristic Indian poetic.¹7
179
INTRODUCTION
177 De, SPSA, pp. 3, 76.
178 Cf. "Sanskrit Poetry and Sanskrit Poetics", a part of Ingalls' Introduction to his
translation of the Subhasitaratnakosa.
170 In Dasgupta and Dey [De], HSL, p. 581.</p>
<pb n="83" />
<p>81
The final, almost absurd consequences of this alliance of poetry and
religion were admitted in the sixteenth century by the school of Rūpago-
svāmin in Bengal, who chose to express their theology in poetic terms.
Bhakti is elevated into the 'regal' rasa (bhaktirasarāt), qne other forms of
affection are considered subordinate rasas.
CONCLUSION
(V) CONCLUSION
We have come a long way from the expressionistic poetics of Bhāmaha
and Dandin. The transition is harsh and seemingly total-the grammarian
has become the devotional mystic-but the civilization has also changed,
and the theory reflects the change. Certain fundamental ideas and
approaches are held in common: the expressionistic bias, precluding, even
in theories so evidently psychological as the dhvani-rasa, an explanation
(if any is needed) of the origin of individual poems; the striking parallelism
of the theory as universal poetic and the poetry as stylized creation; the
explicit borrowing, by the poetician, of his principles from another dis-
cipline, and the consequent absence of doctrines emphasizing the unity
of all the arts-"art for art's sake". The final cause is never made to
predominate over the efficient cause, the mechanism of poetry. Its aim
is always an extension of its operation, not an ultimate justification of
means viewed as disparate and secondary.
The dhvani, for all its culturally and historically imposed limitations,
was not an attempt at such a universal poetic, but one which did at least
reconcile drama and literary poetry. No school attempted to define a
category of art encompassing not only literary, but truly aesthetic
subject matter, such as sculpture, music, and painting. The notion of such
a universal or analogical aesthetic did not suggest itself to Indian thinkers,
as it has to our own since the Renaissance, because the creative act had
always been considered a matter of technique and style embodied in a
tradition, evolving from its own material, and not a manifestation of
the freely intuiting intellect, the genius. This applies equally to the
plastic and the verbal arts. India had art of a high order; but analogical
interpretations of different art forms were unknown. We have seen how
difficult it proved even to reconcile drama and kavya, similar in many
respects. An aesthetic would be impossible to conceive.
What are the intellectual foundations of the alamkāraśāstra, and what
are its claims to poetic relevance? We cannot discuss here in great detail
the interesting question of the dhvani in the context of medieval poetry-</p>
<pb n="84" />
<p>82
to what extent the dhvani clarifies the aspirations of that poetry and the
manner of its prosecution vis-à-vis the stylized poetry of the classical era.
It does appear that several points can be made in outline from the angle
of our main interest, the alamkāraśāstra. The Gitagovinda, to take the
supreme example, is a poem in a sense that no classical kāvya is, be it
epic or anthologic: it aims at a religious goal which is secondarily a
poetic goal, at the single idea of love and its embodiment in the God
Kṛṣṇa and his consort Rādhā, an ideal to be evoked in the hearer by
sympathy and involvement. The work serves that purpose in a very
direct sense. It is not surprising that the dramatic theory of Bharata
suggested itself as a more adequate model for interpreting this new
poetico-religious form than did the grammatical and abstractly intellectual
alamkāra theory which emphasized the understanding. Written poetry
had at this time in fact begun to serve purposes which formerly were
considered more appropriate to the drama.
From classical times, there is only a single poem known to us which by
any stretch of the imagination could be called dramatic in these terms:
the Meghaduta of Kālidāsa. It is of course a stanzaic poem of very high
quality and observes the important canons of that form: ornate meter,
stanzaic independence coinciding with a single, many-sided image, and
extensive employment of arthālamkāra. Yet as a work the Megħadūta has
a kind of dramatic unity, almost a "plot": the separation of lovers, the
voyage of the cloud to the beloved, its message and promise of reconcilia-
tion. This form, which we owe to the originality of Kālidāsa, was, how-
ever, felt to be so peculiar that it excited only imitations. It constitutes a
"genre" of its own.
The impact of the Meghaduta, whatever its dramatic form, is never-
theless very different from that of the medieval devotional poem. It
does not convey a rasa; or rather, whatever rasa is understood (śrīgāra
in separation) is certainly understood first in the individual stanzas,
then in their aggregation in accordance with the figure rasavat. The
Meghaduta is a stanzaic poem held together by an emotional thread
instead of a theme or a legend. The genre epitomized by the Gitagovinda
demands an accounting of the poem as a whole (the rasa is embodied
in whole chapters or cantos), unlike the Meghadūta, wherein the narrative
unity of the work (the voyage of a cloud) becomes the pretext for a set
of lovel intaglios.180
The alamkāraśāstra does not sufficiently account for the older (pre-
INTRODUCTION
190 The figure bhävika in manifestation.</p>
<pb n="85" />
<p>83
classical) Prākritic lyrics, like those of Hala and the Buddhist canon.
Also outside the purview of this poetic was the purely narrative literature,
partly gnomic and didactic, such as the Pañcatantra or the classic Bṛhatka-
tha. Here the story, without embellishment, carries the interest of the
reader, and the linguistic form is of less import-a simile here and there
for exposition. But the Indian tradition does not consider these literary
works as kävya. Kavya is that literary form whose interest is carried by
its ideal or grammatical shape-that shape which is so exhaustively
examined by the figurationists.
The origins of kavya are perhaps connected with the realization that
language need not always be subservient to a utilitarian object-its
reference whether it is something as mundane as a story or something
as remote as the eternal truth. Each language has a proper form, which
is independent of all subject matter and which, when recognized as such,
can be manipulated according to its inherent canons of excellence, thus
defining its own beauty. The kävya represents such a poetic ideal deter-
mined within the formal categories and possibilities of the Sanskrit
language.
CONCLUSION
The alamkāraśāstra represents a very minor step forward--from poetry
to the conceptualization of poetry. It is an attempt to state and arrange
the forms which freely used constitute poetry according to their implied
ideal categories. The field of interest is thus relatively narrow, and histor-
ically is quite precise: a certain modality of language, determined as
beautiful in itself. Language determined by an extrinsic end may be
secondarily beautiful, but its conceptualization does not properly concern
the poetician. Specific references to a subject matter are of course crucial
to the perception of the figure and heighten its comprehension; but a
subject viewed as technically necessary is a far cry from the subject as a
"great idea", & conception infusing a work of art and architectonically
becoming its central issue. This option lies outside that of the kävya,
and therefore of the alamkāraśāstra. It even fails to interest later poeti-
cians, whose notions of religious bhakti are to some extent more subject-
oriented than the pure poetry of the kävya. Even here the rasa communi-
cated by the poem is in the last analysis a function, albeit emotional, of
its form alone and not a conception imposed upon the poem; it is under-
stood in all the poetics as an expressive function of language itself,
hence not decisively different from the vakrokti of the alamkārikas.</p>
<pb n="86" />
<p>84
SCOPE OF THE GLOSSARY
(VI) SCOPE OF THE GLOSSARY
The following glossary is based on those poetic texts which were composed
during the formative period of Indian poetics: that period during which
the definition of the figure constituted the major problem, situated be-
tween a necessarily vague prehistory, perhaps characterized by specula-
tions on guna/doșa, and the rise in the ninth century of a poetics based on
the dhvani. The glossary attempts to define every figure and sub-figure
discussed in those texts, in accordance with methodological principles
which are set forth in the following section. It may not be out of place
here to indicate the reasons for restricting the scope of the glossary to
the manuals of the early poeticians-excluding the many medieval
writers who postdate the dhvani: Viśvanātha, Hemacandra, Ruyyaka,
Jayadeva, Appayya Dikşita, and Jagannatha, to name the most illustrious.
(a) In part our rationale can be inferred from the preceding discussion
of the appropriateness of the alamkāraśāstra to kavya. To include later
writers would necessitate a greatly increased referential apparatus without
substantially increasing the number of figurative categories treated.
Ruyyaka, for example, treats only four figures not named by the writers
we have included (the rasa figures excepted). Two of them, pariņāma
and ullekha, are in earlier texts, subvarieties of other figures. It is for his
conscious effort to arrange the figures that Ruyyaka is important (see
p. 21 ff.). Hemacandra names none. The later writers, especially Jayadeva,
Appayya, and Jagannātha, add certain figures and elaborate others on the
basis of secondary discriminations. For instance, those of Jayadeva,
accepted also by Appayya and Jagannātha, appear to be a quite late and
thoroughly syncretistic attempt to rescue the guna theory in the alamkāras
(praudhokti, lalita, praharşana). (For an inventory of the figures not
defined in this glossary but found in later writers, see Appendix.)
(b) A more crucial issue is raised by the character of the post-dhvani
poetics itself. It is a thoroughly eclectic poetics, accepting the dhvani or
analogous functions as the essence of poetic expression, yet attempting
to show the dhvani in the entire range of previously elaborated anal-
ytic categories-figures, guņas, and by absence in the doșas—as well as
in those categories which are immediately pertinent to the dhvani. The
tendency of the later poetics was to syncretism and was not, except for
a few writers like Ruyyaka, devoted to questions of definition and ana-
lysis. The figures in this late poetics are often sloppily defined, their
conceptualizations traditional and inconsistent. Mammața, the first of
the post-dhvani encyclopedists (and included in the glossary for that</p>
<pb n="87" />
<p>85
reason) already shows this tendency to a remarkable degree. The figure
sama, first met in Mammața, may, for instance, be based on a mis-
reading of an adverb in the Agnipurāņa (see s.v.). Since we have been
interested here in the system of the figures and problems associated with
the definition of its basic categories, it appears reasonable to concentrate
on those authors for whom this too was the major problem, as opposed
to an encyclopedist's "completeness".</p>
<p>(c) The almost total acceptance of the dhvani (or analogous categories)</p>
<p>as a single constitutive principle of poetry refocussed the problems and
aims of the later poetics. Accepting the argument of the Dhvanikāra
that the figures, although manifesting the dhvani essentially, were not
necessary to its expression, later writers, of course, do not consider the
figures the central issue of poetics; their interest lies more in demonstrat-
ing the dhvani in the figure than in showing the figures as a system of
categories comprising poetic expression. The elaboration of figures based
on rasa and its categories is illustrative of this tendency. The pre-dhvani
poetics thus constitutes a discrete problem whose solution is not facilitated
by considering the various transformations that the theory underwent at
the hands of the dhvani school and the encyclopedists. Too much has
already been done along these lines, and the result has often been complete
misapprehension of the aims of the early poeticians.
(d) By restricting ourselves to a group of writers having not only an
ideological bond, but a historical unity, it is hoped that our study gains
a certain consistency which will be useful in further studies of the tangled
intellectual history of Indian poetics. The basic poetic categories, all
elaborated in these writers, are found without too much fatiguing em-
broidery; the manner of defining the figure and arranging it in the universe
of poetic figures alone retains our attention.
SCOPE OF THE GLOSSARY
(VII) METHOD OF THE GLOSSARY
We are not dealing historically with individual figures, and therefore
shall not consider those aspects or that information about each figure
which do not serve to distinguish it from other figures. There will be,
in other words, no philological account of the minute changes in defini-
tion of which the figures are capable, and which has been the chief concern
of most of the Western students of the figures. 181 The first task has been
181 Johannes Nobel, Beiträge zür älteren Geschichte des Alamkāraśāstra (Inaugural-
Dissertation, Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Berlin, 1911). Nobel is dealing only</p>
<pb n="88" />
<p>86
to give a definition, in the light of numerous examples, which will specify
the classifying ideas behind the system of figures. Since we are dealing
with different authors, each of whom represents a different system or the
same system in a different way, it will be important to understand in what
sense generalization has been judged legitimate. The examples offered
by the authors are of prime importance in separating essential from non-
essential difference, since it is only through a comparison of each example
with many possible counter-examples that the notion underlying the
classification itself becomes explicit. The definitions are of interest
primarily as tests whereby two examples are judged to vary in respect of
some important feature. The alamkāraśāstra represents an extremely
close analysis of a specific subject matter-poetic utterance and the
attempt to follow out the reasoning involved in differentiating the con-
cepts by an examination of the terminology only misses the point. It
ignores the question of what makes an alamkāra possible: the relation of
a given figurative or deviate idea to the total possible inventory of such
ideas. It is only in its distinctiveness that each figure gets its full measure
of significance.
INTRODUCTION
Let us take several examples of the kinds of problems one meets with
in following this method of definition.
a) In the simplest case, the usage of a term is constant and occupies
an analogous place in each author's pattern of figures. Upamā is an
example of this uniformity. All authors agree that simile is a comparison
of two unlike things; in distinction to all other figures based upon an
adjunction of unlikes, the end, or intention, of the poet is comparison.
No example is offered by the writers which involves a comparison in the
sense indicated and which is not called a simile.
b) Often the same name is applied to figures whose examples indicate
that there is a significant difference between them. In aprastutaprašamsā
(or aprastutastotra), praise of something apparently irrelevant (with a
view to condemning the actual subject of the utterance) is implied by
Daṇḍin, who takes the name literally,182 while Udbhaţa gives an illustra-
tion which involves no moral judgement, but only a mention of something
irrelevant (with a view to suggesting an idea which is the actual subject
of the utterance).183 Though the definitions themselves give no ground
with a few figures chosen at random and has not, therefore, come to any notion of the
system of figures. It is characteristic of the subject, however, that he has discussed
the figures two by two, implying the possibility of assigning each figure a place.
Dandin, 2.340.
181
Udbhaţa, Kāvyālamkārasārasamgraha, 2.4.
188</p>
<pb n="89" />
<p>METHOD OF THE GLOSSARY
for making this distinction (samsă means both 'praise' and 'mention"),
we are obliged to do so because of a significant variation in the pattern
of examples. Moreover Dandin's example contrasts with that offered
for the figure vyajastuti (blame of something apparently irrelevant, with
a view to praisi the actual subject),184 while Udbhața intends a contrast
with the figure samāsokti, in which certain attributes of the (unmentioned)
subject are mentioned, insofar as they are identical with those of the
explicitly mentioned object.18
185 Because of this contrastive variation, the
two versions of aprastutaprasamsă must be judged different, since
otherwise the distinction between the parallel figures, vyājastuti and
samāsokti, would be obscured.
87
189
c) In the third case, different names have been applied to the same
figure. Usually this variation is purely nominal, involving no significant
contrasts within the system. For example, a reciprocal comparison is
termed variably anyonya ('each other"),188 upameyopamā ('comparison of
the subject compared"),¹87 paraspara ("mutual"), 188 and ubhaya ('both").¹
These terms are not met with elsewhere in the discussion of simile; all
mean approximately the same thing and all are based upon exactly the
same contrast within the universe of similes (statement plus inversion),
contrasting with the standard upamā (statement only) on the one hand,
and, if it is mentioned at all, with viparyaya (inversion without statement)
on the other.
184 Dandin, 2.343.
185 Udbhata, 2.10.
106 Dandin, 2.18.
But in other situations this case requires argument, in that the defini-
tions suggest a distinction which cannot be substantiated in the examples.
Å striking instance of such an intersection we find in the definitions of
the terms sambhāvyamāṇārtha (a type of atiśayokti, defined by Vāmana
as the exaggeration of an imagined quality),190 and utpadya, a type of
upamā defined by Rudrata, in which the object of comparison is hypoth-
esized in order to manifest a property of the subject for the purpose of
expressing the actual incomparability of the subject.191 But the examples
offered are parallel, and both express conditional similes of exactly the
type referred to more precisely by Rudrata. It would seem a matter of
187 Bhämaha, 3.36-7. Note that this term will appear as upameyopama in the Glossary.
We have used the carat there to indicate vowel fusions by samdhi.
188 Agni Purana, 344.11.
189 Rudrata, Kävyālamkāra, 8.9.
190 Vāmana, 4.3.10.
101 Rudrata, 8.15.</p>
<pb n="90" />
<p>88
taste whether the type should be assigned to the category upama or the
category atiśayokti, for an element of comparison as well as an element
of exaggeration is indeed present. Since the peculiarity of the figure is
best described in terms appropriate to upamā, it is listed there.
It will be seen that this method, as well as assuming a system of
figures, defines such a system. The fact that the method works is the
best proof that the figures are not haphazard lists of random verbal
phenomena. Despite occasional lapses, more pronounced in Mammaţa
and later writers, there is a consistency in the treatment not only of
individual figures, but in the kinds of figures deemed important. Each
figure was evidently seen to occupy a place, which was inimitable yet
finely attuned to adjacent figures, in the universe of poetic discourse.
We do not, of course, mean to imply that there is but one possible
system of alamkāras. Indeed, this is clearly not the case, and to maintain
otherwise would again deny autonomy to the different systems.
d) In the most obvious case, two authors may disagree as to the relev-
ance of a given figure in any system of figures. Bhämaha will not admit
hetu, sūkṣma, leśa, and a few others because he thinks they do not involve
an element of deviation, essential to any figure. 192 Dandin accepts these
figures, but objects to Bhāmaha's utprekṣāvayava, stating that it is only a
special kind of samsrsti.¹9
193 Mammaţa likewise rejects rašanopamā on
the grounds that iteration is an improper discrimination to apply to
the figurative idea.194 We have allowed all these figures, in the terms
required by the authors who accept them, because our purpose is not to
criticize the scope of the figurative idea, but rather to show the develop-
ment of which it is capable.
INTRODUCTION
e) Such disputes among different authors do not involve the definition
of the figure, but simply whether that definition can be included within
the idea of figuration. Other problems of relating the several systems
are not as clear cut. For example, Rudrața enumerates six kinds of
simile, calling one utpädya in which the object of comparison is hypoth-
esized. 195 Dandin, among his forty-odd kinds of simile, discusses several
which involve "hypothesis" (adbhuta, abhūta, asambhava, etc., but none
of these requires specifically the hypothesis of the object per se (rather,
a transfer of property to the object, or a generalization of the object,
or a predication of an incongruous property in the object).196 The type
193 Bhämaha, 2.86.
199 Dandin, 2.359.
194 Mammaţa, 134ff. This and later refs. are to serial order of topics, not verses.
195 Rudrata, 8.15.
19* Dandin, 2.24, 38, 39.</p>
<pb n="91" />
<p>89
noted by Rudrața, though far more general in intent (being one of six),
fits very nicely into Dandin's much larger system, and we have been
obliged to distinguish it from the adjacent items of that system. A certain
degree of equivocation must be allowed in all such distinctions, since
the ultimate level of discrimination is also the most complicated, and
certain authors, as Rudraţa in the present case, do not move on that level
of complexity. The apparent equivocation is really, then, a case of under-
elaboration, and we resolve it by requiring greater explicitness than the
author himself might.
f) A similar problem relates to those authors whose definitions (though
not their examples) deviate systematically from the standard definitions
because of an overall commitment. Vāmana, the most noteworthy case,
gives all the arthālamkāras as versions of simile, although this results in
some spectacular limitations being put upon those figures (aprastuta-
praśamsā, dīpaka, yathāsamkhya) which do not involve the terms of
the simile in their standard definitions (upameya, etc.).197 In these cases,
we have considered the figures to be the same as their standard counter-
parts, both because, by the method of examples, they turn out to be
indistinguishable, and because that aspect which would result in their
being considered different (for Vamana, that they are similes) is not an
issue pertaining to any particular figure, but to all figures.
All questions regarding the grouping of the figures have been treated
in the notes appended to each figure.
197 Vāmana, 4.3.1 ff.
METHOD OF THE GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="92" />
<p>POSTSCRIPT
Within the perspective of the history of Indian poetry, a case can be made
for the adequacy of the figurative poetic. As a matter of fact, viewing
the poetics and the poetry together offers more hope of resolving ad-
mittedly difficult problems of aesthetic interpretation than does the
arbitrary application to either the poetry or the poetic of foreign literary
and critical values or notions of aesthetic progress. But a prerequisite
of this approach is that the alamkāra criticism be taken seriously as
criticism, as an attempt to understand a kind of poetry in its form and
aim.
The question of a universal aesthetic is possible only in historical terms.
The false universality of the present may lead the more enthusiastic
critic to propose values and ideals for all time. In fact, even his criticism
assumes, and is dated by, the literary and cultural ideas of his age. It
appears quite unfruitful, given the enormous differences in the dimensions
of time and taste, to expect Indian criticism to have explored problems
whose relevance is a product of our recent past and of a different spirit.
It is in the realm of its assumptions that one civilization or civilized
tradition is most irreducibly different from another. These assumptions
color the same apparent fact, the same apparent problem, the same
apparent solutions, and give to them wholly novel dimensions-absurd
dimensions, if the historian-cum-critic insists on his own assumptions.
We do not intend here an extreme form of historicism, which indeed
would be as false to the Indian views of time and history as are those we
have criticized. The appearance of universality and total validity is an
essential aspect of the historical sequence of forms and indeed, in good
Hegelian terms, could be said to be worked out through that developing
sequence. This appears to offer more hope for understanding the peculiar
genius of what was certainly one of the most brilliant of India's civilized
traditions.</p>
<pb n="93" />
<p>91
Let us then resort, with Samuel Butler's "Presbyterian Knight and
Independent Squire" to the study of the figures:
POSTSCRIPT
For Rhetorick he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a Trope:
And when hapned to break off
I'th'middle of his speech, or cough,
H'had hard words, ready to shew why,
And tell what Rules he did it by.</p>
<pb n="94" />
<pb n="95" />
<p>A GLOSSARY OF INDIAN FIGURES
OF SPEECH</p>
<pb n="96" />
<pb n="97" />
<p>1. The definition of the figure.
2. References to the discussions of the figure in the various authors. The numbers
in parentheses indicate examples in the text.
3. Sanskrit example, illustrative of the figure, with expository notes and translation.
4. Example from English or American literature, illustrative of the figure.
5. Discussion of the place of the figure in the system of figures and related topics.
I, II, etc. are used to distinguish two or more figures with the same name.
AP Agni Purāņa (last half of the 9th century).
MAZD>
B
М
NŚ
R
U
V
NUMBERS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED
-
L
Bhāmaha, Kavyalamkāra (early 8th century).
Dandin, Kavyadarśa (first half of the 8th century).
Mammaţa, Kavyaprakāśa (late 11th century).
Bharata, Nātya Sastra (perhaps 7th century).
Rudrata, Kavyalamkāra (middle of the 9th century).
Udbhata, Kävyálamkārasārasamgraha (early 9th century).
Vāmana, Kavyálamkāravṛtti (end of the 8th century).
In the Glossary, the symbol is used to indicate vowels fused through samdhi, e.g.,
upameyőpamā.
The translations of the Sanskrit examples are intended to bring out the figure and are
not necessarily complete.
The glossary is organized by figures (terms named as such), in Sanskrit alphabetical
order. All subfigures are treated in alphabetical order under the main figure to which
they pertain. The main figures are set off in the text by centered headings.
The Sanskrit alphabet, in the order traditionally adopted for dictionaries and
glossaries, is:
a ā iiu
C
t
kh g
ch j
th d
th d
ph b
1
r
rfle o ai au
hm
gh n
jh n
dh p
dh 11
bh m
V
$ sh</p>
<pb n="98" />
<pb n="99" />
<p>atadguṇa, 'not having that thing's attribute': (1) a figure in which two
things or states remain distinguishable in spite of the likelihood or
the appropriateness of the one's dominant quality imposing itself
upon the other. (2) M 205. (3) dhavalo'si jahavi sundara tahavi tue
majjha rañjiam hiaam । rāabharie vi hiae suaha ṇihitto ṇa ratto'si
(Mammața: "Though you are pale, lover, my heart is made bright
by you; though you have entered my heart full of passion [redness],
you are not enamored [red]"). (4) "Cold-blooded, though with red
your blood be graced" (Leigh Hunt). (5) This is an expected tadguṇa
which fails to take place. It differs from nānātva atiśayôkti in that
there one thing is said to be twofold, while here two things are said
to be twofold; only our expectation of unity is multiplied, not the
thing itself.
Very few figures involve in their definition an element of expecta-
tion, though most in some way exploit it.
atiśaya
atiśaya, 'excess': (1) one of the four general categories into which
arthâlamkāra are grouped. (2) R 7.9, 9.1 (5) See śleṣa; cf. vāstava,
aupamya.
atiśayôkti
atiśayôkti, 'expression involving an exaggeration': (1) the exaggeration
of a quality or attribute in a characteristic way, so as to suggest
pre-eminence in its subject; hyperbole. (2) B 2.81-85, D 2.214-20,
V 4.3.10, U 2.11, AP 344.26, M 153. (3) mallikāmālabhāriṇyaḥ
sarvâñgīṇârdracandanāḥ । kṣaumavatyo na lakṣyante jyotsnāyām
abhisārikāḥ (Daṇḍin; the whiteness of the girls' dresses is exaggerated</p>
<pb n="100" />
<p>to the point of making them invisible in the moonlight: "Wearing
garlands of white jasmine and clothes of linen, their limbs moist
with sandal paste, the trysting ladies are hidden in the moonlight").
(4) "Pardon, once more; if you are going to load anything more
onto that statement, you want to get a couple of lighters and tow the
rest, because it's drawing all the water there is in the river already:
stick to facts... "(Mark Twain; the "weight" of the statement is
exaggerated to the point of threatening the seaworthiness of the
river packet). (5) Many types of upamā are based upon exaggerations
of the common property of one sort or another; these distortions
are, however, all subservient to the end of comparison: in hyperbole
there is no end other than the magnification of the subject itself.
Similarly, in utprekṣā, an attribute is figuratively associated with a
subject, but the distortion lies in that unlikely association, not in
the representation of the attribute itself. In hyperbole, the attribute
in its literal form should be naturally inherent in the given subject;
it is only its unworldly (lokâtikrāntagocara) or preposterous exten-
sion that makes it figurative.
Different writers have distinguished different characteristic ex-
aggerations. The most common (Bhāmaha, Daṇḍin, Vāmana,
Udbhața) is that of two objects in the presence of one another being
made indistinguishable by the property which both share (cf.
adhyavasāna). Daṇḍin recognizes the exaggeration of size to the
point of ultimate smallness (samśaya), as well as ultimate greatness
(ādhikya). Udbhața and Mammața allow the inversion of the first
type, where the same subject is considered multiple because of differ-
ent qualities (cf. nānātva). In addition, three types are based upon
a figurative transference of an attribute from one subject to another
(cf. sambhāvyamānârtha) and are distinguishable only with great
subtlety from other figures variously defined. Lastly, there is ex-
aggeration of a quality by attributing to it the nature of a cause in
respect of its own cause (kāryakāraṇapaurvâparyavīparyaya).
adhyavasāna, 'determination': (1) a type of atiśayôkti in which one thing
is characterized as another so as to exaggerate a quality which they
in some degree share. (2) M 153. (3) kamalam anambhasi kamale ca
kuvalaye tāni kanakalatikāyām । sā ca sukumārasubhagêty utpātapa-
ramparā kêyam (Mammaţa: "A lotus grows where no water is;
on this lotus are two buds; and the lotus with its buds grows on a
golden vine: Who can she be, this concatenation of wonders? Call
her fortunate and lovely"). (4) "She seemed to belong rightly to a</p>
<pb n="101" />
<p>madrigal-to require viewing through rhyme and harmony"
(Thomas Hardy). (5) Here the speaker is describing the girl as though
she were a lotus, and in Hardy's example, the girl is described as
though she were a song. The point of "indistinguishability" seems
to cross the subtle boundary of conscious rapprochement and, as
such, intrudes upon the domain of samāsôkti, an abbreviated
metaphor in which the subject is not mentioned. I think such cases
must be taken as examples of Mammața's sloppy encyclopedism.
ananyatva, 'identification': (1) a type of atiśayókti in which two qualities
or attributes, though in fact contrary, are considered indistin-
guishable. (2) U 2.12. (3) sa dadarśômām ... tapastejaḥsphuritayā
nijalāvaṇyasampadā । kṛśām apy akṛśām eva dṛśyamānām asamśayam
(Udbhata; though Umā is emaciated by her fasting, she appears
full blown because of the beauty which her penance imparts: "He
saw Umā ... wasted away but appearing full blown in the wealth of
beauty born of her ascetic power"). (4) "His departure gave Catherine
the first experimental conviction that a loss may sometimes be a
gain" (Jane Austen). (5) In these examples, two qualities are
mentioned; in the Sanskrit example given under atiśayôkti, two
objects are "rendered indistinguishable". It would seem that this
latter case is most typical of atiśayôkti, given as it is by most of the
writers whether they allow subtypes or not (Bhāmaha, Daṇḍin,
Vāmana, Udbhaţa, Mammața). This figure resembles an exaggerated
simile (cf. catu upamā), but it should be noticed that the qualities
compared here are contraries (kṛśatvam-akṛśatvam, "loss-gain"). The
aspect of similitude is an incidental consequence of a fortiori
premises. One may ask how the present examples differ from rūpaka
(metaphor). First, there can be no metaphorical identification of
qualities; second, metaphor need not be based on the identification
of items somehow contrary.
ādhikya, 'superabundance': (1) a type of atiśayôkti in which a quality or
attribute is quantitatively exaggerated out of all proportion. (2)
D 2.219. (3) aho viśālam bhūpāla bhuvanatritayôdaram / māti mātum
aśakyo'pi yaśorāśir yad atra te (Daṇḍin: "The extent of your fame,
itself measureless, comprehends, O King, the prosperity of the three
worlds"). (4) "I will not deceive you; he told me such a monstrous
lie once that it swelled my left ear up, and spread it so that I was
actually not able to see around it; it remained so for months, and
people came miles to see me fan myself with it" (Mark Twain).
(5) Cf. samśaya, where the attribute is minimized out of all propor-</p>
<pb n="102" />
<p>tion. This figure is not named by Daṇḍin, but by the commentator;
however, it evidently pairs with samśaya and is encompassed by the
"ādi" ('etc.') in 2.216.
kāryakāraṇapaurvâparyaviparyaya, 'inversion of the sequential relation-
ship of cause and effect': (1) a type of atiśayôkti in which the exag-
geration of a quality or attribute is accomplished by expressing it as
the cause of that which in the order of nature is its cause. (2)
U 2.13, M 153. (3) manye ca nipatanty asyāḥ kațâkṣā dikṣu prṣthataḥ/
prāyeṇâgre tu gacchanti smarabāṇaparamparāḥ (Udbhata; usually
the girl's love-lorn glances are the cause of Cupid's shooting the
bow; here Cupid beats Umā to the punch-thus expressing, accord-
ing to the commentary, how quickly Śiva took the tumble: "I
think that first the arrows of the Love-God were shot, next her
sidelong glances were scattered in the four directions"). (4) "Was
it for this that I might Myra see / Washing the water with her beauties
white?" (Fulke Greville). (5) Pūrva alamkāra differs from the present
case in two respects: There the inversion of the sequential relation-
ship is not subordinated to any other consideration, such as the
exaggeration of a quality, and temporal inversion is expressed
generally, not limited to the one case of cause-effect (not everything
which precedes is a cause).
nānātva, 'variety": (1) a type of atiśayôkti in which a quality or attribute
is exaggerated by considering it multiple, though it is in fact one.
(2) U 2.12, M 153. (3) acintayac ca bhagavan aho nu ramaṇīyatā
tapasâsyāḥ kṛtânyatvam kaumārād yena lakṣyate (Udbhaṭa: "The
Lord thought: 'Ay, such loveliness comes from her penance, yet how
different is the beauty from that of her youth!""). (4) "Any customer
can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black"
(Henry Ford; a many-sided blackness). (5) The present instance
differs from vyatireka alamkāra in two respects: The differentiation
attaches to a single quality of a single subject, not to a common
quality of two subjects; hence, the element of comparison is lacking.
Compare adhyavasāna, or ananyatva, where two qualities are con-
sidered uniform.
nirṇaya, 'conclusion': (1) a type of samśaya atiśayôkti in which the affected
doubt is resolved. (2) D 2.218. (3) nirṇetum śakyam astîti madhyam
tava nitambini/anyathânupapattyaiva payodharabharasthiteḥ (Daṇḍin:
"One can decide that your waist indeed is there, O lovely, for not
otherwise could the weight of your breasts be supported"). (4) "As
Nature H-y's Clay was blending, / Uncertain what her work should</p>
<pb n="103" />
<p>101
end in, / Whether in female or in male, / A Pin dropped in, and
turned the Scale" (Anon.). (5) The name is taken from the com-
mentary; see ädhikya.
samsaya, 'doubt': (1) a type of atiśayôkti in which a quality or attribute
is minimized to the point where doubt can be entertained as to its
existence or nature. (2) D 2.216 (217). (3) stanayor jaghanasyâpi
madhye madhyam priye tava । asti nâstiti sandeho na me'dyâpi
nivartate (Dandin: "The narrow waist that intervenes between your
breasts and buttocks, O lovely, is it there or is it not? My mind
cannot decide this doubt"). (4) "They have yarns... of the runt so
teeny-weeny it takes two men and a boy to see him" (Carl Sandburg).
(5) This in the inverse of exaggeration properly speaking, but as it repre-
sents just as great a deviation from the normal, Daṇḍin systematically
includes it here. Cf. adhikya. The point of the example is the small-
ness of the waist, not the doubt, which is only a psychologically ap-
propriate adjunct; hence, this figure differs from samśaya alamkāra.
sambhavâsambhava, 'possible, impossible': (1) two types of hyperbole.
(2) AP 344.26. (3) (4) No examples. (5) Another one of the mysteries
of the Agni Purāņa.
GLOSSARY
sambhāvyamānârtha, 'whose meaning is imagined': (1) same as utpadya
upamā. (2) B 2.81 (83), V 4.3.10, U 2.12, M 153. (5) This figure is
also called kalpana by Mammața. Vāmana and Bhāmaha give it no
name, but their two examples fit clearly into this category and
adhyavasāna. The figure is recognized by six writers: The present
four consider it a kind of hyperbole, but Daṇḍin and Rudraţa
discuss it under simile. Inasmuch as we have supposition of the
transferability of a quality from one subject to another, there is a cer-
tain exaggeration attendant upon such an irregularly proposed quality.
However, the end in all cases cited is comparison, and hyperbole
is only a means to that end. Though classifications are by no means
systematic, the end does generally serve as the genus. An example
of a transfer of property which does not serve the end of comparison
would be: "To us the hills shall lend / Their firmness and their
calm" (Henry Timrod). Bhāmaha's example comes closest, but it
still seems to be a simile: "apām yadi tvak chithilā cyutā syāt phaṇinām
iva / tadā śuklâmśukāni syur angeṣv ambhasi yoṣitām" (2.83; the "skin"
[i.e., foam] shed by the waters is transferred to the women as clothes:
'If the loose skin of the waters should fall away, like the skin of
snakes, then it would serve as white cloth for covering the bodies of
the women in the river').</p>
<pb n="104" />
<p>102
GLOSSARY
adhika
adhika (1), *superabundant': (1) a figure wherein two contraries are said
to proceed from the same cause. (2) R 9.26 (27). (3) muñcati vāri
payodo jvalantam analam ca yat tad āścaryam / udapadyata niranidher
vişam amṛtam cêti tac citram (Rudrața; a reference to the creation
myth wherein the primeval ocean gave forth both deadly poison
and the Gods' sustinence: "It is amazing that the clouds release both
blazing fire and water; that both poison and nectar emerge from
the watery sea"). (4) "The long, winding intricate sentences, with
their vast burden of subtle and complicated qualifications, befogged
the mind like clouds, and like clouds, too, dropped thunderbolts**
(Lytton Strachey).
adhika (II): (1) a figure wherein a thing is said to exceed or surpass in
size or grandeur its own basis or container. (2) R 9.28 (29), M 195.
(3) aho viśālam bhūpāla bhuvanatritayódaram । māti mātum aśak yo'pi
yaśorāśir yad atra te (Mammața; the king's glory cannot be con-
tained even by the three worlds; the example is also found in Daṇḍin
2.219 for the term ādhik ya atiśayôkti, q. v.). (4) "... warned me my
watch was relieved. It could not have lasted more than two hours:
many a week has seemed shorter" (Charlotte Bronte; two hours
exceed in duration the thing of which two hours is a part). (5)
Mammaţa in his definition allows for the possibility that the con-
tainer exceeds the term predicated upon it, but both his examples show
only the reverse (the present case).
anuprāsa
1.52-59,
anuprāsa, "throwing after": (1) alliteration. (2) B 2.5-8, D
V 4.1.8-10, U 1.3-10, AP 343.1-11, R 2.18-32, M 104-16. (3) kim
tayā cintayā kānte nitāntêti (Bhāmaha: "O lovely, why are you
afflicted with doubts?"). (5) Anuprāsa is treated by all the writers
except Bharata, but Daṇḍin considers it an aspect of madhura guna
rather than a figure. The varieties of alliteration considered are (a)
repetition of phonetic features (Daṇḍin: see varṇâvṛtti, note); (b)
repetition of phonemes or phoneme clusters (paruşa, upanāgarika,
grāmya, madhura, lalita, praudha, bhadra); (c) variation of vowels
within similar consonant strings and vice versa (cheka), and (d)
repetition of words or morphemes (lața). Alliteration is carefully
distinguished from yamaka (cadence), in that the occurrence of the
alliterated elements is not predetermined in verse or verse part. It is,
in other words, the phonemes or phonetic features that are being</p>
<pb n="105" />
<p>103
repeated, and not verses or verse parts. As stated sub voce, the
critical case is that of lāta anuprāsa. While the concept anuprāsa
itself is subject to little dispute, various writers distinguish different
kinds which are obviously designed to produce different effects on
the ear: one melodious, one effeminate, one vigorous, and so on.
For this reason, the subject of alliteration is closely tied to the dis-
cussion of the different styles (rīti, guna), and various writers
(Dandin, Rudrata) attempt to specify the stylistic limits of the
different alliterations. Mammața attempts to equate style and
alliteration (see vrtti). Ānandavardhana, of course, wants to view
the questions of style and alliteration as attempts, however partial,
by earlier writers to come to grips with the problem of mood (rasa)
and the subordination of all discrete elements in the composition to
it. Despite these extrinsic differences of opinion, the importance of
alliteration in poetry was never questioned, provided that its use
corresponded to the effect desired.
GLOSSARY
upanāgarika (perhaps a Prakrit dialect): (1) a type of alliteration in
which figure prominently clusters of identical stops (kk, tt) and clus-
ters of stops with homorganic nasal preceding (ñk, nt). (2) U 1.5,
M 108. (3) săndrâravindavṛndôtthamakarandâmbubindubhiḥ । syan-
dibhiḥ sundarasyandam nanditêndindirā kvacit (Udbhața: "Some-
where a bumblebee is delighted by the flowing drops of liquid honey
from thick clusters of white lotuses"). (5) Upanagarika resembles
madhura anuprāsa of the Agni Purāņa and Rudrața. The term may
mean "cultured". Cf. grāmya, to which it is opposed.
komala, 'soft': (1) same as grāmya anuprāsa. (2) M 110.
grāmya, 'common': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by the absence
of clusters and the predominance of liquids and nasals. (2) B 2.6,
U 1.6, M 110. (3) kelilolâlimālānām kalaiḥ kolāhalaiḥ kvacit ।
kurvatī kānanárūḍhaśrīnūpuraravabhramam (Udbhata: "Sometimes
accompanied by the soft humming of the bee swarms, playfully
restless, she simulates the maddening sound of the anklets of Sri
wandering in the forest"). (5) Bhāmaha apparently considers this
type defective or vulgar, but the other two authors allow it as one
of the five legitimate types. It is probably to be opposed to upanā-
garika, which may mean 'cultured or citified', as opposed to 'rustic,
villageois'. Compare Bhämaha's example "kim tayā cintayā kānte
nitāntā" with that offered under upanāgarika (which term Bhāmaha
does not use). Mammața calls this figure komala.
cheka, 'clever': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by metathetic</p>
<pb n="106" />
<p>104
GLOSSARY
variation of consonants and vocalic substitutions. (2) U 1.3, M 106.
(3) sa devo divasān ninye tasmiñ śailêndrakandare । garișthagoșthi-
prathamaiḥ pramathaiḥ paryupäsitaḥ (Udbhata: metathesis, as of
th-m to m-th, and substitutions, as of i and a fore and o: "The God
Siva spends his days in this cave of the high Himalaya, served by his
attendants, principal among the great assemblies"). (5) Both
authors distinguish this type from alliteration properly speaking,
inasmuch as its effect depends upon variation rather than repetition.
paruşa, "harsh': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by a predominance
of sibilants and of clusters involving sibilants or "r". (2) U 1.4,
AP 343.6-11, R 2.26-28, M 109. (3) lipsün sarvän so'ntarbrahmôdyair
brāhmaṇair vrtaḥ paśyan । jihrety agarhyabarhiḥśeşasayaḥ koşaśünyaḥ
san (Rudraţa; -ps-, -rbr-, -hm- and many single sibilants, including
the gutteral: "Surrounded by Brahmins who have penetrated the
Veda, he sits, watching avaricious people. He is ashamed deep
within himself, for he has abandoned his wealth; all that remains to
him is a bed of blameless feathers"). (5) The four writers who
distinguish five types of alliteration agree only on the name of this
one, though two other of the five types seem to be comparable
(cf. upanāgarika and madhura, grāmya and lalita). Parușa is said to
contribute to ojas guna, but this is a late attempt to rationalize two
unrelated systems. Dandin treats all alliterations as aspects of
mādhurya guna.
pādânuprāsa, 'foot-alliteration': (1) same as lāța anuprāsa. (2) V 4.1.10.
praudha, 'proud': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by clusters of
"T" followed by "y" or "n" or any stop except cerebrals or nasals,
and clusters of "t" with "p" or "k", (2) AP 343.5, R 2.24-25. (3)
káryákāryam anaryair unmārganirargalair galanmatibhiḥ / nâkarnyate
vikarṇair yuktóktibhir uktam uktam api (Rudrața; as -ry-, -rg-, -rn-,
-kt-: "The lowborn, heedless ones, who unfettered tread the paths of
unrighteousness as though they had lost their minds, do not heed
their duties or proscriptions, even though they be spoken by men of
sage counsel"). (5) According to Rudrata's commentator, this
anuprāsa is called by others ojas, which was originally defined by
Dandin as a stylistic quality consisting in the use of long compounds.
Praudha has no apparent counterpart in the five alliterations of
Udbhata and Mammața. See parușa.
bhadra, 'pleasant': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by the pre-
dominance of unvoiced gutterals and cerebrals and by the absence
of clustering. (2) AP 343.6, R 2.29-31. (3) utkatakarikaratatata-</p>
<pb n="107" />
<p>GLOSSARY
105
sphutapatanasupatukotibhiḥ kutilaiḥ । khele'pi na khalu nakharair
ullikhati hariḥ kharair ākhum (Rudrața: "Not in play does the lion
rip apart the rat with his hard, curved claws whose tips are quite
sharp from evident tearing into the tough hide of elephants' jaws").
(5) The definition is inferred from the example; Rudrata says baldly
that this style of alliteration employs "what is left"—the consonants
and clusters not used in the other four-specifying that whatever
clusters are used must be "agreeable to the car".
madhura, 'lovely': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by clusters of
stop following homorganic nasal, double "1" and "r" and "n" in
light syllables. (2) AP 343.3, R 2.20-23. (3) bhana taruni ramana-
mandiram anandasyandisundarêndumukhi / yadi sallilölläpini gacchasi
tatkim tvadīyam me । anaṇuraṇanmaṇimekhalam aviratašinjānamañ-
jumanjiram / parisaraṇam aruṇacaraṇe raṇaraṇakam akāraṇam kurute
(Rudrața: "Tell me, gentle lady with face lovely as the moon steeped
in joy, if indeed you are going, sweetly murmuring of love, to the
home of your lover, then why does your passing here, feet dripping
with lac, with necklaces jangling and anklets sounding incessantly
sweet, work in my soul this needless desire?"). (5) This figure
resembles upanāgarika anuprāsa in its clusters with homorganic
nasal. Rudrața gives rules for the proper use of this alliteration,
saying that the quality of "loveliness" will be lost if the "1" is used
more than two or three times and that the clusters of stops should
not exceed five. The scope of this rule is not specified, but it is
probably the śloka. Rudrața lays stress on the importance of
observing the proprieties in all five types of alliteration (2.32).
lalita, 'gay': (1) a type of alliteration characterized by the unclustered
letters "dh", "gh", "gh", "r", "s", and "1" in light syllables. (2)
AP 343.4-5, R 2.29-30. (3) malayânilalalanóllalamadakalakalakan-
thakalakalalalāmaḥ madhuramadhuvidhuramadhupo madhur ayam
adhună dhinoti dharām (Rudrața: "The spring now afflicts the earth;
bees are helpless from drinking sweet honey; the southern wind is
amorous with the arguments of kokila birds, muted with drink").
(5) As the example shows, the criteria are permissive rather than
obligatory: in the first half-śloka, the "1" is principally employed;
in the second, the "dh", which is only to say that the letters given
may be employed in a context of unclustered, short syllables. The
figure resembles grāmya.
laţa (läţiya) (a region): (1) the repetition within the same verse of a
word or words having the same meaning but, through the context,</p>
<pb n="108" />
<p>106
GLOSSARY
differing in acceptation. (2) B 2.8, U 1.8-10, M 112-16, V 4.1.10.
(3) drstim dṛṣṭisukhām dhehi candras candramukhôditaḥ (Bhāmaha;
candramukhā is apparently a vocative despite the ending, or it
represents secondary sandhi: "Let us see your face, lovely-to-see;
the moon, moon-face, is risen"). (4) "It w the same rounded,
pouting, childish prettiness, but with all love and belief in love
departed from it-the sadder for its beauty, like that wondrous
Medusa face, with the passionate, passionless lips" (George Eliot).
(5) Udbhata and Mammața give an elaborate classification of this
figure according to whether the word repeated follows immediately
(as here) or is placed at the beginning or the end of the half-verse;
similarly, they distinguish words free (having a case termination)
from words bound (in compound). Mammața and Vāmana (who
calls the figure pādânuprāsa) allow the repetition of the entire
half-sloka, provided that the words in both halves are the same
as: "yasya na savidhe dayità davadahanas tuhinadidhitis tasya ।
yasya ca savidhe dayită davadahanas tuhinadīdhitis tasya" (Mammaţa;
in the first half, dava- is attributive to tuhina-, in the second half,
just the reverse; "For him whose beloved is absent, the cool-rayed
moon is burning fire; for him whose beloved is present, the burning
fire [of the sun] is cool-rayed"). In this case, the alliteration has
become for all intents and purposes a yamaka, except that the indi-
vidual words are taken as the same words in both utterances, instead
of splitting the utterances differently. The figure lățânuprāsa thus
occupies the mid-position between alliteration and cadence, differing
from the former in its concern with words rather than phonemes,
and from the latter in its concern with meaning rather than phonemic
sequence. Cf. ävṛtti.
varņânuprāsa, "letter-alliteration': (1) same as varṇâvṛtti. (2) V 4.1.9.
varnâvṛtti, 'letter-repetition': (1) alliteration. (2) D 1.55, V 4.1.9. (3)
candre śaranniśôttamse kundastavakavibhrame । indranīlanibham
lakṣma samdadhāty anilaḥ [sic] śriyam (Dandin; we prefer the alinaḥ
of D. T. Tatacharya and most other Indian editors: "Its marks,
dark as sapphires, give the beauty of the bee swarm to the ornament
of the autumn night-the full moon, lovely as the jasmine bud").
(5) In Dandin, this is anuprāsa in the narrow sense, distinguished
from a kind of semi-alliteration in which only phonetic features,
such as dentality or gutturalness, are repeated: for example: eşa
räjā yada lakṣmīm prāptavān brāhmaṇapriyaḥ । tataḥ prabhṛti
dharmasya loke'sminn utsavo'bhavat ("as soon as that king, beloved</p>
<pb n="109" />
<p>GLOSSARY
107
of Brahmins, attained prosperity, there was a festival of righteousness
in the world") where the "s" of esa and the "r" of rājā are both
cerebrals, the "j" and following "y" are palatals, "d" and "1"" are
dentals, and so on. Vāmana, however, distinguishes varṇânuprāsa
from pādânuprāsa, or the repetition of metrical units (feet); in this
context, also, it amounts to alliteration in the usual sense: repetition
of identical phonemes in adjacent syllables. Anuprāsa, according
to Dandin, consists in observing the mean; the effect is lost if the
repeated phoneme is too far away (1.58), or if the phrase is too
broken by harsh junctures (1.59). The repetitions must be close
enough, but not too close, within these two limits.
vṛtti, 'mode': (1) a word applied to some or all of the kinds of alliteration.
(2) R 2.19, M 105-107. (5) The vṛtti is an old element of dramatic
theory, mentioned in Bharata, which seems to signify the basic
context of the play insofar as it determines a style of representation,
similar to Shakespeare's "tragical-comical-historical-pastoral". The
term thus has little relevance to poetics and the early writers ignore
it. Rudrata, however, uses the word in a neutral sense to mean the
five kinds of alliteration taken individually (vrtti literally signifies
only 'existence' or 'specific mode of existence') as the modes of
alliteration. At the same time, the dhvani theorists were examining
the older vocabulary in the light of their novel doctrine, and with
their general disposition to belittle or collapse such extrinsic distinc-
tions, vṛtti was lumped together with other stylistic concepts of the
older writers such as guna and rīti (see Dhvanyaloka 3.33; Ānandav-
ardhana on the Dhvanyāloka, p. 182). Ānandavardhana says that
the vrtti of Bharata is a function of the meaning (vācya), while that
of other writers is a function of the outward shape of the words
(vācaka). By the latter, he apparently signifies the kinds of allitera-
tion as distinguished by Udbhața (upanāgarikâdi). Out of this
confusion, Mammața, who everywhere attempts to reconcile the
views of the dhvani theorists with the older doctrines, propounds
the novel view that the three kinds of alliteration involving phonemic
repetition (that is, excepting cheka and lata) are to be called vṛtti,
and that these three are the equivalents of the three rītis, or styles of
diction, proposed by Vāmana, which originally referred to the entire
context of word and meaning ("ornate", "limpid", "intense", etc.),
but very little else can be expected of Mammața, who represents the
worst of the syncretistic tendency. Cf. Abhinavagupta on the Dhvan-
yaloka, p. 6.</p>
<pb n="110" />
<p>108
GLOSSARY
anumāna
anumāna, 'inference': (1) a figure in which an inference is explicitly formu-
lated. (2) R 7.56-63, M 182. (3) sävajñam āgamisyan nūnam patito'si
pādayos tasyāḥ । katham anyathā lalāṭe yāvakarasatilakapañktir
iyam? (Rudraţa; reference is to the painted toenails of the beloved:
"You must have fallen at her feet, having to return so contemptibly:
how else would that row of red lac spots appear on your brow?").
(4) "Scylla is toothlesse; yet when she was young, / She had both
tooth enough, and too much tongue: / What should I now of tooth-
lesse Scylla say? / But that her tongue hath worne her teeth away"
(Anon.). (5) The cause (sādhaka) may be inferred from the effect
(sādhya), or vice versa; it is essential that the term inferred be
parokşa-in some way not obvious. In both our examples, the cause
is inferred. The following lines from Somerset Maugham show
inference of the effect: "As I walked along the winding road ...
I mused upon what I should say. Do they not tell us that style is
the art of omission? If that is so, I should certainly write a very
pretty piece". In such instances, the effect is usually placed in future
time.
This figure differs from hetu alamkāra as the active differs from
the passive: in the latter figure, a relation of cause-effect is described;
in the former, it is used to secure intelligence of one or the other term
so related. It is curious that Mammața should reject hetu while
accepting anumana, as the ground of exclusion he advances for the
one should apply a fortiori to the other: no figurative usage need
be present. Rudrața distinguishes several types which are the
equivalents of Dandin's three kinds of hetu: dūrakārya, sahaja, and
kāryānantaraja. Rudrața's own version of hetu has no subtypes.
anyôkti
anyôkti, 'saying something else': (1) a figure in which the real subject
of comparison is suggested by explicit description of the object,
where, nevertheless, the two compared terms have no common
property, but only a mode action in common. (2) R 8.74 (75).
(3) muktvā salīlahamsam vikasitakamalôjjvalam saraḥ sarasam ।
bakalulitajalam palvalam abhilaşasi sakhe na hamso'si (Rudrata:
"Abandoning this pleasant lake with its swans and lotus blooms,
you long for the forest pool rough from the flight of cranes; yet,
friend, you are no swan"). (4) "... the men and women who in a
hundred different ways were laboring, as William Allen White said,</p>
<pb n="111" />
<p>109
to give the underdog a better kennel" (Frederick Lewis Allen). (5)
The girl and the swan (as the lover and the lake) share no common
property (guna) in the eyes of the Indian aestheticians, which is only
to say that the basis of the comparison is to be sought in a verb, in
an action (kriyā), rather than in a qualification; cf. vāk yârtha upamā.
Similarly, in the English example, the principal analogy is drawn
between the two acts of uplift, though the similarity between the dog
and the lower classes is perhaps more vivid than that between the
lover and the lake.
GLOSSARY
anyonya
anyonya, 'reciprocal': (1) a figure wherein two things are said to be
reciprocally cause and effect. (2) R 7.91 (92), M 187. (3) rūpam
yauvanalakṣmyā yauvanam api rūpasampadas tasyāḥ । anyonyam
alamkaraṇam vibhāti šaradindusundaryah (Rudrața: "Her beauty is
ornamented by her youth; her youth is heightened by her beauty;
she is as lovely as the autumn moon"). (4) "The Devil, having
nothing else to do, / Went off to tempt My Lady Poltagrue. / My
Lady, tempted by a private whim, / To his extreme annoyance,
tempted him" (Hilaire Belloc). (5) The reciprocity of cause and
effect is the same as being mutually conditioned.
apahnuti
apahnuti (I), 'denial': (1) a figure in which the object of con
son is
affirmed in place of the subject of comparison. (2) B 3.20 (21),
V 4.3.5. (3) nêyam virauti bhṛīgâlī madena mukharā muhuḥ । ayam
ākṛṣyamāṇasya kandarpadhanuşo dhvaniḥ (Bhāmaha: "It is not a
swarm of bees, humming incessantly of honey; it is the sound of
the Love-hunter's bow being drawn"). (4) "And there is not a
whisper on the air / Of any living voice but one so far / That I can
hear it only as a bar / Of lost, imperial music, played when fair /
And angel fingers wove, and unaware, / Dead leaves to garlands
where no roses are" (E. A. Robinson; that is not a whisper, that is
music). (5) Cf. tattvâpahava rūpaka.
apahnuti (II): (1) a figure in which an essential property of the subject is
denied and portrayed otherwise; irony of qualification. (2) D 2.304-
309, U 5.3, AP 345.18, M 146. (3) na pañceṣuḥ smaras tasya sahasram
patriņām (Daṇḍin: "The God of Love is not possessed of five arrows;
indeed he has a thousand"). (4) "Because these wings are no longer
wings to fly / But merely vans to beat the air" (T. S. Eliot). (5)</p>
<pb n="112" />
<p>110
GLOSSARY
Apahnuti is a figure found in all the writers after Bhāmaha, but no
unanimity as to its acceptation is discernable. It is related on the
one hand (by Bhāmaha and Vāmana) to the tattvåpahnava rūpaka
(which figure appears only in Dandin), and on the other to the
mata alamkāra (as here), wherein the interest attaches to the mis-
representation of the subject in a certain way. Subtypes are distin-
guished as to the intellective basis (opinion, necessity) of that
misrepresentation (Dandin) and as to the mode of its affirmation
(mere attribution, transformation: Mammața). See visaya, svarūpa,
śābdī, ārthi.
apahnuti (III): (1) a figure in which the subject of comparison is portrayed
as possessing a quality which in nature belongs to the object of
comparison. (2) R 8.57 (58). (3) navabisakisalayakomalasakalâva-
yavā vilāsinī saîşă । anandayati janānām nayanāni sitâmśulekhêva
(Rudrața: "A lovely, wanton lady with limbs as soft as new lotus
shoots delights the eyes of men just like the cool-rayed crescent").
(4) "Ask not the Cause, why sullen Spring / So long delays her
flow'rs to bear; / Why warbling birds forget to sing, / And Winter
Storms invert the year? / Chloris is gone: and fate provides / To
make it spring, where she resides" (John Dryden). (5) This figure
is just the reverse of adbhuta upamā, where a striking property of
the subject is transferred to the object. Cf. asambhava upamā, where
the quality is transferred from the subject to the object.
ārthi, 'implied': (1) a type of apahnuti in which the misrepresentation is
expressed via a transformation of the subject in question. (2) M 146C.
(3) amuşmiml lävaṇyâmṛtasarasi nūnam mrgadṛśaḥ smaraḥ sarvaplu-
staḥ prthujaghanabhāge nipatitaḥ / yad añgâñgārāṇām praśamapiśunā
näbhikuhare sikhādhūmasyêyam pariṇamati româvalivapuḥ (Mamma-
ța: "The God of Love, whose body was consumed [in the fire of] Siva's
[wrath], has now taken up his abode between that doe-eyed maiden's
broad thighs-veritable streams of beauty's nectar. See how the thin
line of hair on her navel has assumed the form of a wisp of smoke;
thus the smouldering coals of Love's body are being extinguished").
(4) "Full fathom five thy father lies; / Of his bones are coral made: /
Those are pearls that were his eyes: / Nothing of him that doth fade, /
But doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange"
(Shakespeare). (5) In śäbdi, the misrepresentation is accomplished
by simple denial and affirmation: hence it is called "explicit".
vişaya, 'circumstance': (1) a type of apahnuti in which the misrepresentation
is stated to depend upon a difference in point of view or condition.</p>
<pb n="113" />
<p>111
(2) D 2.306 (305). (3) candanam candrikā mando gandhavāhaś ca
dakṣiṇaḥ । sêyam agnimayī sṛṣṭir mayi śītā parān prati (Daṇḍin:
"For me, these things—the sandal paste, the moonlight, and the
softly blowing southern wind-are made of fire; others may think
them cool"). (4) "Those who have crossed / With direct eyes, to
death's other Kingdom / Remember us—if at all-not as lost /
Violent souls, but only / As the hollow men / The stuffed men"
(T. S. Eliot). (5) In svarupa, the misrepresentation is a function
of the nature of the thing itself; that is, it amounts to a reinterpretation
of that thing.
GLOSSARY
śābdī, 'literal': (1) a type of apahnuti in which the misrepresentation is a
function of denial and contrary affirmation. (2) M 146C. (3)
avāptaḥ prāgalbhyam parinatarucaḥ śailatanaye kalamko naîvâyam
vilasati śaśâmkasya vapuşi amuşyêyam manye vigaladamṛtasyan-
diśiśire [sic] iti śrāntā śete rajaniramanī gādham urasi (Mammața:
"That is no mere spot which has appeared on the moon's full,
brilliant form, O Pārvati; rather I think the courtesan of the Night
lies exhausted in tight embrace on his broad chest cool from the
flowing stream of nectar"). (4) "Stay, O sweet, and do not rise! /
The light that shines comes from thine eyes: / The day breaks not:
it is my heart, / Because that you and I must part" (John Donne; in
this example both the daylight and daybreak are misrepresented,
the former as the light in her eyes, the latter in the weak pun. Both
are literal, the latter almost too literal). (5) Cf. ärthi.
svarūpa, "natural': (1) a type of apahnuti in which the misrepresentation
is expressed as a reinterpretation of the nature of the thing itself.
(2) D 2.308 (307). (3) amṛtasyandikiraṇaś candramā nāmato mataḥ ।
anya evâyam arthâtmā viṣaniṣyandidīdhitiḥ (Daṇḍin; the moon is
different to the rejected lover: "The moon is generally considered
to have rays of flowing nectar; but it has another soul as well, for
its brilliance is steeped in poison"). (4) "Death, be not proud, though
some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so"
(John Donne). (5) Cf. vişaya.
aprastutapraśamsā
aprastutaprašamsā (I), 'mentioning the irrelevant*: (1) a figure in which
the real but implicit subject matter is obliquely referred to by means
of an explicit, but apparently irrelevant, subject which, however,
stands in a specific relationship to the former. (2) B 3.28 (29),
U 5.8, AP 345.16, M 151. (3) prīņitapraṇayi svādu kāle parinatam</p>
<pb n="114" />
<p>112
GLOSSARY
bahu । vinā puruṣakāreņa phalam paśyata śākhinām (Bhāmaha; a
courtier is referring to the bounteousness of the king: "Regard the
fruit of the trees, pleasing to those who seek it, sweet and ripe in its
own time, grown heavy without the aid of man"). (4) "O powerful
western fallen star! / O shades of night-O moody, tearful night! /
O great star disappear'd-O the black murk that hides the star! / O
cruel hands that hold me powerless-O helpless soul of me! / O harsh
surrounding cloud that will not free my soul" (Walt Whitman;
referring to the death of President Lincoln). (5) This figure is usually
distinguished from samāsôkti; for a discussion of its relation to that
figure, see samāsôkti. It is apparently the same as the figure paryāya
of Rudrata, who does not recognize aprastutaprašamsă. It is also
called aprastutastotra in Daṇḍin and the Agni Purāņa.
adhyāropa, 'figurative attribution': (1) a type of aprastutapraśamsā in
which qualities are attributed to the explicit subject which can apply
literally only to the implicit subject. (2) M 152C. (3) kas tvam
bhoḥ-kathayāmi daivahatakam mām viddhi śākhôṭakaṁ । --vairā-
gyád iva vakşi sādhu viditam kasmad idam kathyate । -vamenâtra
vatas tam adhvagajanaḥ sarvatmană sevate / na cchayâpi parōpakā-
rakarane märgasthitasyâpi me (Mammața; the tree to which the
courtier likens himself is literally incapable of speech: "Who might
you be?' 'I will tell you: think of me as a twisted and accursed
sakhota tree!' 'You seem to be speaking in a spirit of indifference!"
"Well said!' 'Why do you describe urself thus?' 'On the left over
there is a banyan tree which travellers resort to with great relief.
But I have no shade to serve others with, though I too grow along
the road""). (4) "Of the Folly of Loving when the Season of Love
is past: Ye old mule! that think yourself so fair, / Leave off with
craft and beauty to repair" (Thomas Wyatt). (5) Mammața divides
intimation in two ways: by considering the relation of the two sub-
jects, and by the relation of the qualities expressed to their subjects.
This is an example of the latter topic. For an example of intimation
in which the qualities are not thus attributed to the expressed subject,
see aprastutaprašamsā.
kärya, 'effect': (1) a type of aprastutaprašamsa in which the real subject
is an effect and is intimated through a description of its cause. (2)
M 152. (3) yāṭāḥ kin na milanti sundari punaś cintā tvayā matkṛte / nô
kāryā nitarām kṛśási kathayaty evam sabaşpe mayi / lajjāmantharatā-
rakeṇa nipatatpītâśrunā cakşuşă । dṛṣṭvā mām hasitena bhävimara-
ṇōtsāhas tayā sūcitaḥ (Amaru, quoted by Mammața; a lover thus</p>
<pb n="115" />
<p>113
describes the cause of his early return from a journey: "Those who
have gone to another country, why should they not return? Beloved,
you must grieve for me no longer; you have grown so thin! Even
while I speak to you in tears, you look at me with eyes downcast
with shame and full of pale tears, while your hysterical laughter
surely portends approaching death!"). (4) "With how sad steps,
O Moon! thou climb'st the skies! / How silently, and with how wan
a face! / What! may it be, that even in heavenly place / That busy
archer his sharp arrows tries?" (Sir Philip Sydney; the effect of
being in love is described through its causc). (5) Cf. nimitta.
tulya, 'equal': (1) a type of aprastutapraśamsă in which the relation be-
tween the implicit and explicit subjects is one of similitude, real or
apparent. (2) M 152. (5) If the similitude is real, we have sädṛśya-
matra; if only punned, samāsókti; if the implicit subject itself is
punned, sleșa. See these terms for examples.
For the earlier writers, intimation seems only to have been used
where a relation of similitude could be seen; it is often described in
the same terms as upamā ('simile"), the implicit term being the subject
of comparison (upameya). But Mammața broadens the figure to
include other relations: that of cause-effect, and general-specific.
See aprastutapraśamsā.
nimitta, 'cause': (1) a type of aprastutapraśamsā in which the real subject
is a cause and is intimated through a description of its effect. (2)
M 152. (3) rājan rājasutā na pāṭhayati mām devyo'pi tūṣṇīm sthitaḥ /
kubje bhojaya mām kumāra sacivair nâdyâpi kim bhujyate /ittham nātha
śukas tavāribhavane mukto'dhvagaiḥ pañjarāt । citrasthān avalokya
šūnyavalabhāv ekaîkam ābhāṣate (Mammaţa; describing the fright
caused by the news that the king has set out against his enemies:
""O King, the princesses do not address me! Even the Queens
remain silent! Hey, humpback! come play with me! Prince! why
aren't you with your friends?' Thus does the parrot, who has been
freed by passersby from its cage in your enemy's palace, carry on
as he wanders about the empty halls looking at the portraits").
(4) "Help me to seek! for I lost it there; / And if that ye have found it,
ye that be here, / And seek to convey it secretly, / Handle it soft, and
treat it tenderly, /... It was mine heart! I pray you heartily / Help
me to seek" (Sir Thomas Wyatt; the poet is in love, which has
resulted in the loss of his heart). (5) Cf. kārya.
visesa, 'speciality': (1) a type of aprastutaprašamas in which the real
subject is particular and is intimated through mention of an ap-
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="116" />
<p>114
GLOSSARY
propriate universal. (2) M 152. (3) suhṛdvadhübāspajalapramā-
rjanam karoti vairapratiyatanena yaḥ sa eva pujyaḥ sa pumān sa
nītimān sujīvitam tasya sa bhājanam śriyaḥ (Mammata; this is spoken
by a minister of the slain Naraka and urges retaliation on Kṛṣṇa:
"The Prince who wipes away the tears of his friends by taking re-
venge on his enemies, he alone is honorable, he is a man and a just
man, his auspicious life is a vessel of good fortune"). (4) "But at my
back I always hear / Time's winged chariot hurrying near" (Andrew
Marvell; to his coy mistress). (5) Cf. sāmānya.
ślesa, "double-entendre': (1) a type of tulya aprastutaprašamsă in which
the real subject is intimated by puns or double meanings. (2) M
152C. (3) pumstväd api pravicaled yadi yady adho'pi yāyād yadi
pranayane na mahān api syāt abhyuddharet tad api viśvam itidr-
siyam kenapi dik prakațită puruşôttamena (Mammața; flattery of a
king; reference is to the forms of Visņu: "Even if he deviates from
masculinity [from heroism], even if he descends to earth [suffers
reverses], even if he is not of great size [not powerful], nevertheless,
he upholds the earth; in this way has the expanse of this earth been
made manifest by the Great Lord [a great lord]"). (4) "... A dripping
Pauper crawls along the way, / The only real willing out-of-doorer, /
And says, or seems to say, / 'Well, I am poor enough but here's a
pourer!" (Thomas Hood; the subject intimated is the rainstorm).
(5) Cf. samāsôkti and sādṛśyamātra. Śleșa differs from avayava
ślesa in that the real subject is there explicit and the pun ancillary.
samāsôkti, 'concise speech': (1) a type of tulya aprastutapraśamsā in which
the real subject is intimated by puns (or double meanings) on the
descriptive qualifications of the explicit subject. (2) M 152C. (3)
yenâsy abhyuditena candra gamitaḥ kläntim ravau tatra te । yujyeta
pratikartum eva na punas tasyaiva pädagrahaḥ kṣinenaitad anuşthitam
yadi tataḥ kim lajjase nô manāg । asty evam jaḍadhāmatā tu bhavato
yad vyomni visphūrjase (Mammața; this is spoken to a poor man who
has demeaned himself by asking alms. The sun and moon (ex-
plicit subjects) are not punned upon, but the descriptive qualifica-
tions are as pāda, 'ray' and 'foot', kṣīņa, 'new moon' and 'prop-
ertyless', etc. Note that the last pun requires substitutability of
the phonemes /d/ and /1/ in jadadhāmatā-jaladhāmatā. "By whose
rising have you become so pale, O moon? You should try to out-
shine [emulate] him and not be eclipsed by his rays [fall at his feet];
and if you have done this through being but a thin crescent [because
of your poverty], you should be ashamed indeed! So be it! By the</p>
<pb n="117" />
<p>115
mere fact of your shining in the sky, you are a veritable treasure of
coolness [of stupidity]"). (4) "Beneath in the Dust, the mouldy old
Crust of Moll Batchelor lately was shoven, / Who was skill'd in
the Arts of Pyes, Custards and Tarts, / And every Device of the
Oven. When she'd liv'd long enough, she made her last Puff, /
A Puff by her Husband much prais'd; / And here she doth lie, and
makes a Dirt Pye, / In Hopes that her Crust may be rais'd" (Anon.;
an epitaph. The real subject of Moll's death and resurrection is
suggested by puns on her culinary abilities). (5) In śleșa, the real
subject itself is effected through a pun on the explicit subject, not
entirely on its qualifications. Cf. also sādṛśyamnātra.
sādṛśyamātra, 'mere similitude': (1) a type of tulya aprastutaprašamsā
in which the real subject is intimated through the force alone of its
similitude with the explicit subject. (2) M 152C. (3) ādāya vāri
paritaḥ saritām mukhebhyaḥ kin tävad arjitam anena durarnavena /
kṣārīkṛtam ca vaḍavādahane hutam ca pātālakukṣikuhare vinivesitam
ca (Mammața; the picture is that of a wealthy man wasting his
resources: "Taking all the water from the mouths of rivers hereabouts,
making it salty and throwing it on the submarine fires and losing it
into the secret maws of hell: what indeed has this ocean profited?").
(4) "It's but little good you'll do a-watering the last year's crop"
(George Eliot). (5) By mere similitude is meant that no puns or
double meanings operate to suggest the implicit subject. See śleşa
and samāsôkti. The relation is also between particulars, much as
if it were a drstânta with the subject implicit. Cf. višeșa and sāmānya.
sāmānya, 'generality': (1) a type of aprastutaprašamsă in which the real
subject is universal and is intimated through description of an
appropriate particular. (2) M 152. (3) etat tasya mukhät kiyat
kamalinīpatre kaṇam vāriņo yan muktāmaṇir ity amaņsta sa jaḍaḥ
śṛṇv anyad asmād api । añgulyagralaghukriyāpravilayiny ādīyamāne
śanaiḥ kutrôddiya gato mamêty anudinam nidrāti nântaḥ śucā (Bhallata,
quoted by Mammața; the universal here is said to be that the
property sentiment of fools is apt to be overextended. Punctuation
would help in this example: a comma after kiyat, a period after
jaḍaḥ, a comma after śanaiḥ: "How few words [of sense] come from
his mouth; he thinks a drop of dew fallen on a lotus petal to be a
pearl of high price! And listen to this: slowly lifting the dewdrop
until it melts between the tender movements of his fingers, he cries,
'Where has my pearl flown to?' and he cannot sleep for the pain in
his soul!"). (4) DA / Dayadhvam: I have heard the key / Turn in the
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="118" />
<p>116
GLOSSARY
door once and turn once only / We think of the key, each in his
prison / Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison" (T. S. Eliot;
the explanation is given by Eliot himself in his notes, quoting
F. H. Bradley: "My external sensations are no less private to myself
than are my thoughts or my feelings. In either case my experience
falls within my own circle, a circle closed on the outside ...").
(5) Cf. višeşa.
aprastutapraśamsā (II): (1) an elliptical simile in which the subject of
comparison is referred to by a sign or token, usually a double-
entendre based on comparable qualities common to the two things.
(2) V 4.3.4. (3) lāvaṇyasindhur aparaiva hi kêyam atra yatrôtpalāni
śasina saha samplavante unmajjati dviradakumbhatați ca yatra
yatrapare kadalikāṇḍamṛṇāladaṇḍāḥ (Vāmana; the other river is, of
course, a young lady in the river. The lotuses refer to her eyes, the
lobes to her breasts, etc. "Who can that second River of Beauty be-
where the lotuses are playing with the moon and the submerged
elephant shows his great frontal lobes, and where [are seen] other
soft stalks like the trunks of banana trees?"). (4) "Lemon tree very
pretty, and the lemon flow'r is sweet; but the fruit of the poor lemon
is impossible to eat" (traditional folksong; the poet refers to his
disappointed love). (5) This figure resembles the usual samäsökti
inasmuch as the emphasis is placed on recognition of the implicit
subject through qualifications which can apply to both subject and
object. Vāmana is concerned only with those aspects of the several
figures which display features of the simile; he departs from tradition
in many such cases. His figure samāsôkti is defined as total ellipsis
of the subject, by which is probably meant reference through
similitude only, not (as here) through punned qualifications. Vāmana
would have conformed more closely to tradition by reversing the
names of the two figures. Cf. adhyavasāna atiśayôkti, where the
point is the confusion of two things.
aprastutaprašamsā (III): (1) a figure in which blame of an implicit subject
is to be understood through praise of an explicit object. (2) D 2.340
(341-42). (3) sukham jivanti harina vaneşv aparasevinah । anyair
ayatnasulabhais tṛṇadarbhâñkurâdibhiḥ (Dandin; this is to be under-
stood as a complaint addressed to an illiberal benefactor: "The gentle
deer in the forest think only of serving others and live without
hardship on easily obtainable grasses, darbha shoots, and the like").
(4) "... the Dean expatiated upon what is perhaps the most mysterious
characteristic of genius, its tendency to appear among members of</p>
<pb n="119" />
<p>117
the human race" (E. M. Forster; an apparent encomium of genius,
but in reality a remark directed against mankind as such). (5) This
type of aprastutapraśamsā is just the opposite of vyājastuti. For
Dandin, the figure has little to do with samāsôkti; he is the only
writer who treats both fig for whom this is true (see samāsôkti).
GLOSSARY
abhivyakti
abhivyakti, 'manifestation': (1) intimation. (2) AP 345.7-18. (5) This
figure may represent a stage in the prehistory of the dhvani theory.
It is described by the author of the Agni Purāņa as twofold: śruti and
dhvani, and the former is then described in terms quite similar to the
classical analysis of the kinds of meaning (mukhyā, lākṣaṇikī, and
gauni). The category dhvani (also called ākṣepa), which may and
should be the gauni of the preceding triad (cf. Dhvanyaloka, chap.
1), is then subdivided into five common alamkāras: ākṣepa, aprast-
utastotra, samāsôkti, apahnuti, and paryäyôkta. In addition, the
term abhivyakti has become a standard gloss for dhvani in the later
writings. Abhinavagupta asserts that the nispatti of Bharata's
rasasūtra means abhivyakti (quoted in Kävyapradipa). According to
S. K. De, the Agni Purāņa may have been contemporary with the
author of the kārikās of the Dhvanyaloka. The matter is made
hypothetical by the terseness of the Agni Purana, which offers no
examples for any of the figures defined.
artha
artha, 'sense': (1) a cover term for those figures whose poetic effect was
thought to depend on the meaning of the expression rather than on
verbal patterns or devices. (2) B 1.16, V 1.1.1, D 3.186, U 5.12,
AP 344.1, R 7.9, M chap. 10. (5) Although the arthâlamkāra are
on the whole formally defined, the nature of the form differs from
that of the more obvious sabdâlamkāra. These latter figures repose
upon non-referential criteria, such as morpheme type (see śleșa)
and metre (see yamaka). The former involve characteristics attribut-
able to the subjects of the utterance or to the relation between the
subject and a descriptive phrase, such as comparability (simile),
exaggeration (hyperbole), non-literalness, or combinations of these.
The basic distinction is that between grammatical form and inten-
tional reference, but the formal aspect of both should not be under-
estimated (see upamā, vyatireka, śleşa).</p>
<pb n="120" />
<p>118
GLOSSARY
arthântaranyasa
arthântaranyāsa, 'introduction of another matter': (1) a figure in which
a proposition or remark is justified or substantiated by the adjunc-
tion of a relevant moral or rationale; apodixis. (2) B 2.71-74,
D 2.169-79, V 4.3.21 U 2.4, AP 344.24, R 8.79-84, M 165. (3)
priyena samgrathya vipaksasamnidhāv upâhitām vakṣasi pīvarastane ।
srajam na kācid vijahau jalâvilām vasanti hi premni guṇā na vastuni
(Bhāravi, quoted by Vamana: "She clasps to her full bosom the
water-faded garland once offered by her lover in the presence of her
rivals, for quality resides in the thought, not the thing"). (4) "Hoist
up sail while gale doth last, / Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure"
(Robert Southwell). (5) This figure differs from drstânta in that the
intention of the speaker is to establish his remark, not to clarify it.
The particle "for" may be understood to be connecting the proposi-
tion and its substantiation and provides one basis for subdividing
the figure (Bhāmaha, Udbhaṭa). Rudrața, however, and to some
extent Mammața, consider arthântaranyāsa a conjunction of remarks
general and specific, while drstânta is a relation of two observations,
both specific and neither amenable to the intention of the speaker.
Cf. drstânta and ubhayanyasa. Though founded on a similitude,
arthântaranyāsa may function through antithesis (vaidharmya: Agni
Purāṇa, Rudrata, Mammața). That its end is not the description
of that similitude distinguishes this figure from upamā. Daṇḍin
considers eight ubtypes, distinguished with reference to the natur
and scope of proof itself; universal (višvavyāpi), particular (višeṣastha),
apparent (śleşâviddha), paradoxical, i.e., apparently false (viro-
dhavat); and by considering the relation of the speaker to his thesis:
disapproval (ayuktakāri), approval (yuktâtman), qualified disapproval
(yuktayukta), and qualified approval (viparyaya). Vāmana alone
considers the figure indivisible.
ayuktakāri, 'doing wrong³: (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa in which the
situation referred to in proposition and substantiation is condemned
by the speaker. (2) D 2.170 (176). (3) madhupānakalāt kaṇṭhān
nirgato'py alinām dhvaniḥ । kațur bhavati karṇasya kāminām pāpam
īdṛśam (Dandin: "The sounding of the bees, though it issues from
throats thick with honey, is harsh to the ears of lovers. What a
shame this is!"). (4) "The waters of the Mississippi and Missouri
unite and form one river. The water of the latter is exceedingly
turbid, and the former clear. When they first meet the waters refuse
to mingle .... By degrees the clear, bright waters of the one become</p>
<pb n="121" />
<p>GLOSSARY
***
119
united with those of the other, and the clearness is lost forever.
Virtuous and vicious persons can associate for a time, keeping their
characters distinct. But if the associations be continued, the virtuous,
pure character will become soiled by the vicious. No one can
associate freely with the wicked without coming in some measure
like them* (Robert Blackwell). (5) Cf. yuktâtman and yuktâyukta.
yuktâtman, 'essentially correct': (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa in which
the situation referred to in proposition and substantiation is ap-
proved by the speaker. (2) D 2.170 (177). (3) ayam mama dahaty
añgam ambhojadalasamstaraḥ । hutâśanapratinidhir dâhâtmā nanu
yujyate (Daṇḍin: "This expanse of lotus flowers pains my whole
being, yet it may be proper that something as brilliant as fire have a
soul aflame"). (4) "No, I just couldn't feel the same about her
again.' 'Well, why feel the same? One has to change as one gets
older. Why, then years ago I couldn't be interested in anything later
than the Sumerian age and I assure you that now I find even the
Christian era full of significance"" (Evelyn Waugh). (5) Cf. ayukta-
käri, where the situation is judged ill.
yuktâyukta, 'correct and incorrect': (1) a type of arthântaranyasa in
which the situation referred to in proposition and substantiation is
generally or conditionally approved by the speaker but for some
reason is, in this case, considered irregular. (2) D 2.170 (178).
(3) kşiņotu kāmam śītâmśuḥ kim vasanto dunoti mām / malinâcaritam
karma surabher nanv asāmpratam (Daṇḍin: "Let the moon consume
me if it wants to! Why does the springtime make me suffer? Such
a black deed is surely unsuited to the sweet season"). (4) "Before she
realized it she was absorbed in what had so often been on her mind
lately. His warm playfulness, his affectionate tenderness-what
had become of it? Oh no, no! she caught herself, how can I be
thinking of such things again! The sweet desires of the flesh are the
nets of Satan" (O. E. Rolvaag). (5) Here the inconsistency is in
fact condemned (ayuktatva is siddha). Cf. viparyaya, the reverse.
viparīta, 'reversed': (1) same as vaidharmya arthântaranyasa. (2) R
8.82.
viparyaya (I), 'reversal': (1) a type of arthântaranyasa in which the situa-
tion referred to in proposition and substantiation is generally or
conditionally condemnable, but is here for some reason approved.
(2) D 2.170 (179). (3) kumudāny api dāhāya kim ayam kamalâkaraḥ ।
na hindugrhyeşûgreșu süryagrhyo mrdur bhavet (Dandin: "So much
do the night lotuses afflict me, how much more ought the day lotus</p>
<pb n="122" />
<p>120
GLOSSARY
to burn! For one of the sun's retinue will not be mild when the
friends of the moon are harsh!"). (4) "Sweet is the rose, but grows
upon a brere; / Sweet is the juniper, but sharp his bough: / So
every sweet with sour is temper'd still, / That maketh it be coveted
the more: / For easy things, that may be got at will, / Most sorts of
men do set but little store" (Edmund Spenser). (5) The term "reversal"
is probably to be taken as reversal of yuk tâyukta, where an otherwise
appropriate situation is deemed in some respect inappropriate. Here
the inconsistency is accepted.
viparyaya (II): (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa in which the substantiation,
having the form of a general remark, follows the proposition, which
is particular in reference. (2) U 2.4. (3) siva apaśyac câtikaştāni
tapyamānām tapāmsy umam । asambhavyapaticchānām kanyānām
kā parā gatiḥ (Udbhaṭa; Umā had set her mind on having none but
Śiva: "[Śiva] watched Umā practicing austerities of unbelievable
austerity; what other recourse have girls who desire a perfect hus-
band?"). (4) "On the College of Wadham at Oxford being insured
from Fire, after a Member had been suspected of an unnatural
Crime: Well did the amorous sons of Wadham / Their house secure
from future flame; / They knew their crime, the crime of Sodom, /
And judg'd their punishment the same" (Anon.). (5) Udbhata
is the first writer to classify apodixis in this way, but he perversely
applies the term viparyaya to that type which the earlier writers
consider perfectly normal: a particular remark justified by a general
remark, as: "Keep in the heart the journal nature keeps; / Mark
down the limp nasturtium leaf with frost" (Conrad Aiken). Udbhața's
innovation is, of course, that he allows the general remark to precede,
as in the example offered under yuktâtman. Rudraṭa and Mammaţa
both allow for this same distinction, but do not give it a name.
virodhavat, 'contradictory': (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa in which a
seeming paradox is justified. (2) D 2.170 (175). (3) jagad ānandayaty
eşa malino'pi niśākaraḥ । anugrhṇāti hi parān sadoşo'pi dvijeśvaraḥ
(Dandin: "The orb of the night, though covered with blemishes,
delights the whole world; but then, a Brahmin, even if he have
faults, confers favors upon others"). (4) "Before you despise Adam
as deficient in penetration, pray ask yourself... if you ever could,
without hard head-breaking demonstration, believe evil of the one
supremely pretty woman who has bewitched you. No: people
who love downy peaches are apt not to think of the stone, and
sometimes jar their teeth terribly against it" (George Eliot). (5)
...</p>
<pb n="123" />
<p>121
This figure differs from viparyaya in that the inconsistency is here
accepted, not excused.
višeşastha, 'specific': (1) a type of arthântaranyasa in which the situation
and substantiation are of specific import, that is, do not apply to
all men. (2) D 2.170 (173). (3) payomucaḥ parītāpam haranty eva
śarīriņām । nanv ātmalābho mahatām paraduḥkhôpaśāntaye (Daṇḍin:
"The great rain clouds relieve the scorching heat of summer for
the wandering ascetics, for it is the office of the great to alleviate the
suffering of others"). (4) "What he said had a hateful truth in it,
and another defect of my character is that I enjoy the company
of those, however depraved, who can give me a Roland for my
Oliver (Somerset Maugham).
GLOSSARY
viśvavyāpin, "universal': (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa in which the situa-
tion and substantiation are of universal import, that is, apply to all
men. (2) D 2.170 (172). (3) bhagavantau jagannetre suryācandra-
masāv api । paśya gacchata evâstam niyatiḥ kena langhyate (Dandin:
"The blessed eyes of the world, the sun and moon, even they must
set; who can escape his fate?"). (4) "The glorious lamp of heaven,
the sun, The higher he's a-getting, / The sooner will his race be
run, / And nearer he's to setting. /..../ Then be not coy, but use
your time, / And while ye may, go marry: / For having lost but once
your prime, / You may for ever tarry" (Robert Herrick). (5) The
figure is contrasted with višeşastha.
vaidharmya, 'difference': (1) a type of arthântaranyasa in which the verbs
of the proposition and its substantiation are opposite in sense;
substantiation by antithesis. (2) M 165C. (3) hrdayena nirvṛtānām
bhavati nṛṇām sarvam eva nirvṛtaye । indur api tathāhi manaḥ kheda-
yatitarām priyavirahe (Rudrata: "Everything delights those whose
hearts are full of bliss; to lovers in separation even the cool moon
afflicts the mind unmercifully"). (4) "You may think I was seeing
lions in the path, but it is never safe to reckon on meeting nothing
more formidable than a sheep" (Oliver Onions). (5) Vaidharmya is
the same as viparīta. The figure is known to the Agni Purāņa, but
is not named (344.24). Cf. vaidharmya drsfânta and remarks under
arthântaranyasa.
śleşâviddha, 'invested with double-entendre': (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa
in which a pun underlies the attempted substantiation. (2) D 2.170
(174). (3) utpädayati lokasya prītim malayamārutaḥ । nanu dākṣi-
nyasampannaḥ sarvasya bhavati priyaḥ (Daṇḍin; dākṣinya means both
*southern', as applied to the wind, and 'polite', as applied to the</p>
<pb n="124" />
<p>122
GLOSSARY
friend: "The wind from the southern mountain arouses joy amongst
men; indeed one born in the South [accomplished in piety] is every-
body's friend"). (4) "So round his melancholy neck, / A rope he
did entwine, /. And there he hung, till he was dead / As any nail
in town- / For though distress had cut him up, / It could not cut
him down!" (Thomas Hood).
sādharmya, 'similitude': (1) a type of arthântaranyāsa in which the verbs
of both proposition and substantiation are parallel in sense, that
is not antithetical. (2) M 165. (3) (4) See arthântaranyāsa. (5)
This subcategory is arthântaranyāsa itself—a category invented by
Mammaţa to balance vaidharmya, q.v.
avayava
avayava, 'member': (1) an arthaśleșa in which the second meaning,
suggested through puns on certain aspects or qualifications of the
primary subject, augments or ameliorates the force of the description.
(2) R 10.18. (3) bhujayugale balabhadraḥ sakalajagallañghane tathā
balijit । akrūro hṛdaye'sau rājābhūd arjuno yaśasi (Rudrața; the puns
are balabhadraḥ, balijit, and arjunaḥ which apply to the king as
descriptive adjectives but are also the names of great heroes:
"In his two arms fortunate of strength [Balabhadra], in overwhelm-
ing the whole world a conqueror of his enemies [Balijit], straight-
forward [Akrūra] in his heart and glorious [Arjuna] in his fame, was
this King"). (4) "The scene in water colours thus I paint" (Thomas
Hood; the rainy day is described in "watery" words). (5) I think
the point is not that the pun is between an adjective and a proper
name, since several other types involve this same feature (avišeşa,
perhaps tattva), and since the name of the type would itself then be
inexplicable. It is to be contrasted with aviseșa, where the pun is
on the primary subject, not on any qualifications of it.
avasara
avasara, 'occasion': (1) a figure in which a sentiment is expressed through
a description of a particular fact strongly suggestive of it. (2)
R 7.103 (104). (3) tad idam aranyam tasmin daśarathavacanânupāla-
navyasani/nivasan bāhusahāyaś cakāra rakṣaḥkṣayaṇrāmaḥ (Rudraṭa;
through an association with Rāma, the idea is intimated that this
is a holy place: "In this forest Rāma lived, faithful to the com-
mands of his father, and with his bare hands, he slew all the demons").
(4) "The moon shines bright:-in such a night as this, / When the</p>
<pb n="125" />
<p>123
sweet wind did gently kiss the trees, / And they did make no noise,
-in such a night / Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls, /
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents, / Where Cressid lay
that night" (Shakespeare). (5) Rudrata gives two examples, the
first expressing nobility (holiness), the second love; the occasion for
Shakespeare's remark is clearly amorous. In this and several other
figures, Rudrața delineates what appear to be types of dhvani, or
suggestion. On the other hand, the figures leśa, sükşma, paryāya,
and avasara can be related to the earlier figure paryāyôkta, not
present in Rudrața's classification and never before subdivided.
Rudrata, probably a Käśmiri and a contemporary of Anandavar-
dhana, may indeed have been familiar with the dhvani theory and
may have attempted to incorporate it into a standard alamkāra
treatise. The Agni Purāṇa also propounds a curious view of dhvani
(see abhivyakti).
GLOSSARY
aviseşa
aviseşa, 'lacking qualifications': (1) an arthaśleşa in which the double-
entendre is expressed in and through the noun or subject of the
utterance, instead of through qualifications thereof. (2) R 10.3. (3)
śaradindusundararucam sukumārām surabhiparimalām anisam ।
nidadhāti nålpapunyaḥ kanthe navamalikām kāntām (Rudraţa;
navamalikā is both 'jasmine' and a girl's name: "No one who does
not deserve it puts jasmine around his neck: she who has the beauty
of the autumn moon is sweet and always fragrantly perfumed").
(4) "Synthesis, smoking in a corner / Groans, pulls himself together"
(Robert Graves). (5) The point here is that the pun is not carried
by the adjectival qualifications (the first half śloka or the phrase
"pulls himself together") as it is in the canonic śleșa (cf. aviruddha-
kriyā, viruddhakarman). Indeed, the qualifications apply equally
to either sense, but those senses are expressed by a single word
here (the noun), which, syntactically primordinate, carries the
double-entendre.
asamgati
asamgati, *non-concomitance³: (1) same as dūrakārya hetu. (2) R. 9.48
(49), M 191.
asambhava
asambhava, 'impossibility': (1) an arthaśleşa in which an apparently</p>
<pb n="126" />
<p>124
GLOSSARY
inapplicable qualification, when understood as a pun, becomes a
descriptive qualification. (2) R 10.16. (3) parihṛtabhujamgasangaḥ
samanayano na kuruşe vrşam câdhaḥ / nany anya eva drstas tvam atra
paramêśvaro jagati (Rudrața; here a king is likened to Śiva, despite
the epithets given, which seem to distinguish him from Siva; these
epithets are understood as puns which, in fact, describe the king:
"You have avoided the company of snakes [suspicious characters],
you have an even number of eyes [do not have three eyes] and do not
mount a bull [never decrease prosperity]; still you are another visible
Lord of Lords [Siva] in this world"). (4) "Oh, Daddy dear, what is
a basket?' /Said a youthful and mischievous elf: /*All baskets, me boy,
are children of joy. / In fact you're a basket yourself" (Anon.;
"basket" does not seem to apply to the boy until it is understood that,
in this dialect, "basket" and "bastard" are synonymous). (5) The
name "impossibility" refers to the fact that the distinctive qualifica-
tion cannot apply to that subject from which the real subject is
being distinguished: samanayanaḥ ('equal-eyed') applies to the king,
but not to Śiva who has three eyes; nevertheless, the qualification
'uneven-eyed' is so commonly applied to Śiva that the resemblance
of the two qualifications is enough to suggest Siva. This śleşa
amounts to a vyatireka expressed through puns, but it also fits into
the canonic pattern of śleşa, where a qualification generally carries
the double-entendre (cf. viruddhakarman).
ahetu
ahetu, 'absence of cause': (1) same as višeşôkti II. (2) R 9.54 (55).
ākṣepa
ākşepa, 'objection': (1) a figure in which is expressed an objection to or
denial of some state of affairs, either real or imagined, either past,
present, or future; contradiction. (2) B 2.66-70, D 2.120-68, U 2,2-3,
AP 345.14-15, R 8.89-91, M 161. (3) aham tvām yadi nēkṣeya
kṣaṇam apy utsukā tataḥ । iyad evâstv ato'nyena kim uktenápriyeņa te
(Bhamaha; the girl is threatening to expire if her lover leaves her;
"If I should not see you, even for a moment, my impassioned soul ....
Enough of that! Why should I repeat more unpleasantness?").
(4) "Streets that follow like a tedious argument / Of insidious
intent / To lead you to an overwhelming question ... / Oh, do not
ask, "What is it?" / Let us go and make our visit" (T. S. Eliot).
(5) Bhāmaha and Daṇḍin define this figure as pratiședhôkti ('the</p>
<pb n="127" />
<p>125
enunciation of an interdiction'), the most obvious case relating to
an event about to take place which the speaker wishes to prevent or
avoid (vakşaymana, bhavisyat). But the notion of interdiction is also
applied to past time, in the sense of contradiction, where the event
is too unlikely or preposterous wonderful (ukta, vṛtta). Bhämaha
and those following him, Udbhaṭa and Mammața, leave the matter
there, but Dandin offers a third variety by applying the interdiction
to present time (vartamāna), where the connotation is that of doubt
or suspicion as to which of two alternatives is the more likely or
desirable. The general notion of objection or denial is thus strongly
qualified by the temporal relation of the events and the speaker
and presents an interesting study in miniature of the possible kinds
of negation. Rudrața views the figure more in these latter terms,
i.e., as a question of mode rather than a mere matter of time, and
he distinguishes two varieties: an impossible event (that is, one
which is negated) is either conventionally accepted (prasiddha: as,
the "burning" of moonlight to the lover), or is entirely irrational
(viruddha; as, measuring the sea with a dish). The original idea of
preventing an imminent and objectionable event is here completely
lost sight of, and the negation is made a quality of the event itself.
GLOSSARY
Dandin goes on to illustrate twenty-one other types of ākṣepa, of
two basic sorts. One element in a relation is objected to or denied
(either cause or effect, or subject or predicate). For example, a
denial of the effect would be: "Baby roused its father's ire / By a
cold and formal lisp. / So he placed it on the fire / And reduced it
to a crisp. / Mother said, 'Oh, stop a bit!/ This is overdoing it!""
(Harry Graham). The remaining seventeen varieties reflect differing
affective suggestions which can accompany contradiction. Most
illustrate the very first and most obvious sort, that of threatening or
prevention; a girl says "don't go" to her lover with anger, despair,
irony, bitterness, disgust, etc.
In the Agni Purāṇa, ākṣepa is also the genus, equated with dhvani
(see abhivyakti), of five figures: äkşepa, aprastutastotra, samāsôkti,
apahmuti, and paryāyôkta.
ukta, 'spoken': (1) a kind of ākṣepa in which the state of affairs denied
or questioned has already occurred. (2) B 2.67 (70), D 2.122 (121),
U 2.2-3, M 161. (3) anañgaḥ pañcabhiḥ puspair viśvam vyajayatê-
subhiḥ । ity asambhāvyam atha vā vicitrā vastuśaktayaḥ (Daṇḍin: "The
God of Love conquered the whole world with five flower-tipped
arrows. This is quite impossible; amazing is the power of things!").</p>
<pb n="128" />
<p>126
GLOSSARY
(4) "No, no, for my Virginity, / When I lose that, says Rose, I'll
dye: Behind the Elmes, last Night, cry'd Dick, / Rose, were you
not extremely Sick?" (Matthew Prior). (5) Dandin uses the term
vṛtta ('occurred'). Compare vakṣyamāna and vartamāna, where the
facts are about to occur or are occurring.
prasiddha, 'established', 'well known': (1) a type of akşepa in which the
question takes the form of an objection to a conventional or well-
known fact. (2) R 8.89 (90). (3) janayati samtāpam asau candraka-
lākomalâpi me citram । athavā kim atra citram dahati himānī hi
bhūmiruhaḥ (Rudrața; during the separation of lovers, it is conven-
tional to speak of the "burning" moon: "It is marvellous that the
soft-rayed moon causes such a fever; yet perhaps it is not so odd:
do not the winter snows consume all things that grow on earth!").
(4) **You a Magistrate chief', his wife tauntingly said, / 'You a
Methodist-Teacher! and caught with your Maid! / A delicate Text
you've chosen to handle / And fine holding forth, without Daylight
or Candle!" / Quoth Gabriel, 'My Dear, as I hope for Salvation,
/ You make in your Änger a wrong Application; / This evening I
taught how frail our Condition; / And the good Maid and I were but
at-Repetition" (Anon.). (5) Both examples offer a rationale which
attempts to meet the objection. This rationale is based upon the
situation objected to being well known; compare viruddha akşepa,
where the question takes the form of exposing an irrational im-
possibility. By "well known", drața refers to the character of
certain situations which, though unlikely (the moon burning, a
Methodist fornicating), are not entirely unexpected when they do
occur. Most caricatures depend upon this basic plausibility of
the conventionally implausible. Prasiddha resembles ukta ākṣepa,
but the emphasis is modal, not temporal.
bhavisyat, 'about to be': (1) same as vakşyamāna ākṣepa. (2) D 2.126 (125).
vakṣyamāna, 'about to be spoken': (1) a type of ākṣepa in which the state
of affairs denied or questioned has not yet occurred. (2) B 2.67
(69), D 2.126 (125), U 2.2-3, M 161. (3) satyam bravimi na tvam
mām drastum vallabha lapsyase । anyacumbanasamkrāntalākşâraktena
cakşuşă (Daṇḍin; a threat designed to prevent a state of affairs:
"I'm telling you the truth. You'll not be able to see me, lover,
with eyes red from the lac of others' lips!"). (4) "You like words
like damn and hell now, don't you?" I said I reckoned so. 'Well,
I don't,' said Uncle Jack, 'not unless there's extreme provocation
connected with 'em.... Scout, you'll get in trouble if you go around</p>
<pb n="129" />
<p>127
saying things like that. You want to grow up to be a lady, don't
you?"" (Harper Lee). (5) Vaksyamāna is the same as bhavisyat
ākṣepa of Daṇḍin. Compare ukta and vartamāna ākṣepa.
vartamāna, 'being': (1) a type of akşepa in which the state of affairs
denied or questioned is now taking place. (2) D 2.124 (123). (3)
kutaḥ kuvalayam karṇe karoșşi kalabhāṣiṇi । kim apāñgam aparyāptam
asmin karmaṇi manyase (Daṇḍin; flattery is suggested through a
fanciful alternative: "Why do you fix a lotus at your ear, my soft-
voiced one? Do you think your sidelong glance unable to attract
me?"). (4) "In a church which is furnish'd with mullion and gable,
/ With altar and reredos, with gargoyle and groin, / The penitent's
dresses are sealskin and sable, / The odour of sanctity's eau-de-
Cologne. / But only could Lucifer, flying from Hades, / Gaze down
on this crowd with its panniers and paints. / He would say, as he
looked at the lords and the ladies, / 'Oh, where is All Sinners", if
this is All Saints"?"" (Edmund Yates; blame is suggested through a
fanciful alternative). (5) Only Dandin offers this middle term be-
tween ukta, *spoken' and vakṣyamāna, 'about to be spoken'. Though
all three types of objection can be reduced to what appears to be
this mere outward distinction of time, it is interesting to note the
changes of mode which parallel and are probably functions of that
distinction. An objection referring to past time (ukta) is inevitably
ironical and expresses amazement or suspicion; that referring to
future time (vakşyamana) tends to be hortatory or interdictive and
need not be founded upon a hyperbole. Similarly, the akşepa of
present time (vartamāna), objecting to something that is in the process
of completion but not yet accomplished, has in mind an alternative
end, preferable or indifferent.
Doubtless it was a consideration like this which prompted Rudrata
to recast the definition of akşepa in modal terms; the state objected
to is either consistent with convention or impossible to contemplate
(prasiddha, viruddha). Complete parallelism is, however, not to be
looked for.
GLOSSARY
viruddha, 'contradicted': (1) a type of ākṣepa in which the objection refers
to an impossible situation-one not conventionally realizable.
(2) R. 8.89 (91). (3) tava gaṇayāmi guṇān aham alam athavása-
tpralāpinīm dhin mām । kaḥ khalu kumbhair ambho mătum alam
jalanidher akhilam (Rudraţa: "I am enumerating your qualities!
Enough of my thoughtless muttering! Who indeed would try to
measure the whole sea with a pot?"). (4) "How is it that this girl</p>
<pb n="130" />
<p>128
GLOSSARY
could cry at having to tell Sam Bannett she could not think of him,
and then treat another lover as she treated the Virginian? I cannot
tell you, having never (as I said before) been a woman myself"
(Owen Wister). (5) Compare prasiddha, where the situation is
conventional though in fact just as impossible. Here the impossibility
is carried by the fact itself (counting an infinitude, understanding a
woman). Of course, poetic license must be allowed in determining
just what facts are admitted.
vṛtta, 'occurred': (1) same as ukta ākṣepa. (2) D 2.122 (121).
āvṛtti
āvṛtti, 'repetition': (1) the repetition of a word or an idea in the same or a
closely related phrase. (2) D 2.116, AP 343.18-20. (5) Dandin
distinguishes three types of repetition: the sense but not the word
may be repeated (arthavṛtti), the word but not the sense (padávṛtti),
or both the word and the sense (ubhayâvṛtti). See s.v. for examples.
In the Agni Purāṇa, āvṛtti is discussed in the same terms as lāṭānu-
präsa of Udbhata, as to whether the words are bound or free (paratan-
tra or svatantra) and as a part of anuprāsa (along with yamaka).
arthâvṛtti, 'repetition of the sense': (1) a figure in which the same idea is
repeated through different words; paraphrase. (2) D 2.116 (117).
(3) vikasanti kadambāni sphuţanti kutajadrumāḥ । unmīlanti ca
kandalyo dalanti kakubhäni ca (Dandin; all the verbs mean "bloom":
"The cadamba tree is coming out, the kutaja is flowering, the kandalī
bush is blooming, the kakubh is breaking out"). (4) "If a man
wished to abstract himself from the world to remove himself from
within the reach of temptation-to place himself beyond the pos-
sibility of any inducement to look out of the window-we should
recommend him by all means go to Lant Street" (Charles Dickens).
(5) In this type of repetition, the important thing is that the words
themselves be different. Cf. ubhayâvṛtti.
ubhayâvṛtti, 'repetition of both' (sc. the word and sense): (1) a figure in
which the same word is repeated in the same sense. (2) D 2.116
(119). (3) jitvā viśvam bhavān atra viharaty avarodhanaiḥ । viharaty
apsarobhis te ripuvargo divam gataḥ (Dandin: "Overrunning this
world, my Lord sports with the harem; his enemies, gone to heaven,
sport with the Nymphs"). (4) "So loveliness reigned and stillness,
and together made the shape of loveliness itself, a form from which
life had parted" (Virginia Woolf). (5) Cf. artha- and padâvṛtti,
where one or the other, but not both is repeated.</p>
<pb n="131" />
<p>129
padâvṛtti, 'repetition of the word': (1) a figure in which the same word is
repeated each time in a different sense. (2) D 2.116 (118). (3)
utkaṇṭhayati meghānām mālā vṛndam kalāpinām । yūnām côtkaṇṭha-
yaty eva mänasam makaradhvajaḥ (Dandin; the verb is taken first
in its literal sense, 'raises the neck', i.e., causes to harken, and then
in a figurative sense, "causes to be enamored": "The massing clouds
make the flocks of peacocks harken; the God of Love puts longing
into the minds of youths"). (4) "Old black rooks flapping along the
sky and old black taxicabs flapping down the street" (Joyce Cary).
(5) Cf. ubhayâvṛtti, where the same word is repeated in the same
sense. Padâvṛtti is the logical opposite of arthâvṛtti, q.v.
GLOSSARY
āśiş
aśiş, 'benediction': (1) a figure expressing a wish for prosperity, good
fortune, or reconciliation. (2) B 3.55 (56-57), D 2.357. (3) pātu vaḥ
paramam jyotir aváñmanasagocaram (Dandin: "May the supreme
Light, best seen by the detached spirit, protect you"). (4) "Let
endless peace your steadfast hearts accord / And blessed plenty wait
upon your board; / And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound,/
That fruitful issue may to you afford" (Edmund Spenser). (5) This
figure, appropriately enough, occurs at the end of Bhamaha's and
Daṇḍin's lists. Like several earlier figures (preyas, ūrjasvi, rasavat),
it was thought too closely allied to the content of its expression (see
note on artha alamkāra) and hence was discarded by later writers.
akti
ukti, 'speech': (1) an arthaślesa in which the second meaning is vulgar or
risqué. (2) R 10.14. (3) kalavataḥ sambhṛtamaṇḍalasya yayā
hasantyáiva hṛtāšu lakṣmīḥ । nṛṇām apāngena kṛtaś ca kāmas tasyāḥ
karasthā nanu nālikaśrīḥ (Rudrata; apparently this is an encomium
of a proper young lady, but a second sense may be obtained roughly
as follows: "The good fortune of those she cozzens is in the palm of
her hand she who laughingly accepts payment from her well-
ensconced paramour and who will make love at the flick of an eye-
brow"; "She holds the beauty of the lotus [the fortune of fools] in
her hand and by her side-long glance [with playful glance] is passion
[love] inspired [made] in [with] men; she laughing stole the beauty
[money] of the moon [of her client] full orbed [in the midst of his
friends]"). (4) "Let us roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness
up into one ball, / And tear our pleasures with rough strife / Through</p>
<pb n="132" />
<p>130
GLOSSARY
the iron gates of life" (Andrew Marvell). (5) As in the other kinds
of arthaślesa which Rudraţa describes, the second meaning should
further in some relevant way the sense of the first or evident meaning.
Mere punning for the sake of punning (word play) is strictly relegated
to the realm of śabdaśleşa. So here the vulgar undertone does not
serve the end of lewdness, but rather expands and directs the appar-
ently innocent intent of the overtone, which is to say that both
examples suggest that innocence is but a veil.
uttara
uttara (I), 'answer': (1) a figure in which a preceding remark is inferred
from the reply given to it. (2) R 7.93 (94), M 188. (3) bhana mānam anya-
tha me bhrukuțim vidhātum maunam aham asahā। śaknomi tasya pura-
taḥ sakhi na khalu parāñīmukhībhavitum (Rudrata; from this we are to
infer that the girl has been receiving instruction in how to simulate
anger in the presence of her lover: "Describe anger another way,
friend. I am unable to produce a brow-bent silence! I cannot remain
with my face averted before him!"). (4) ***When you call me that,
smile!' And he looked at Trampas across the table" (Owen Wister;
the Virginian has just been called a "son of a..."
."). (5) See praśna.
uttara (II): (1) a figure wherein is given a series of fanciful answers to
one or more questions. (2) R 8.72 (73), M 121-22. (3) kim maraṇam
däridryam ko vyadhir jivitam daridrasya / kaḥ svargaḥ sanmitram suka-
latram suprabhuḥ susutaḥ (Rudrata: "What is death? Poverty. What is
sickness? The life of the poor. What is heaven? True friends, a
good wife, a fine master, devoted children"). (4) "You are old,
Father William,' the young man said, / 'And your hair has become
very white; / And yet you incessantly stand on your head- / Do
you think, at your age, it is right?' / 'In my youth,' Father William
replied to his son, / 'I feared it might injure the brain; / But, now
that I'm perfectly sure I have none, / Why, I do it again and again."
/ "You are old,' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before, / And have
grown most uncommonly fat; / Yet you turned a back-somersault
in at the door-/ Pray, what is the reason of that" / "In my youth,"
said the sage, as he shook his gray locks, / 'I kept all my limbs very
supple / By the use of this ointment-one shilling the box- / Allow
me to sell you a couple?"" (Lewis Carroll). (5) Compare this poetic
figure with the conundrum praśnôttara, a series of answers to ques-
tions involving a pun.</p>
<pb n="133" />
<p>GLOSSARY
131
utpreksā
utprekṣā, 'ascription': (1) a figure in which a property or mode of behavior
is attributed to a subject literally incapable of sustaining that property,
whereby an implicit simile is suggested whose subject (upameya)
is the subject eiving the attributed property and whose object
(upamāna) is the real basis of that property. (2) B 2.91 (92), D 2.221-34
(222, 224, 226), V 4.3.9, U 3.3-4, AP 344.24-25, R 8.32-37 (33, 35,
37), R 9.11-15 (12-13, 15), M 137. (3) kimśukavyapadeśena tarum
äruhya sarvataḥ dagdhâdagdham araṇyānyāḥ paśyativa vibhāvasuḥ
(Bhamaha; here the red flowers are portrayed as fire, consuming the
tree and looking for unburnt parts of the forest: "It is as though
fire had climbed the tree in the guise of kimśuka flowers and was
looking all about the forest for trees yet unburnt"). (4) "The yellow
fog that rubs its back upon the windowpanes, / The yellow smoke
that rubs its muzzle on the windowpanes / Licked its tongue into
the corners of the evening, / Lingered upon the pools that stand in
drains, / Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, /
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, / And seeing that it was
a soft October night, / Curled once about the house, and fell asleep"
(T. S. Eliot; the fog is portrayed as a cat). (5) The figure utprekșā
probably comes closer than any other to capturing the sense of the
vague term metaphor. Although rūpaka is generally translated
'metaphor' (a custom we have followed), its use in the Sanskrit
anthologies makes clear that a far more precise meaning is to be
attached to the term than 'metaphor' will allow. We have, when
the context required such precision, used the phrase "metaphorical
identification" for rūpaka, in the sense that two ontologically un-
related things are treated gramatically as one thing or, in other words,
are identified one with another. The relation of identification is of
course directly from one term to another and does not require the
interposition of properties, although these may implicitly substantiate
the identification. Carl Sandburg's "moon mist mourning veils" or
the standard cliché "face-moon" illustrate the necessary explicitness
of such identifications. The usual technique for constructing rūpakas
is the dvandva compound with the object of comparison (upamāna)
in the final position (gramatically free). In English we have elaborated
another mode of expression, probably because our language does
not encourage explicit compounding to such an extent: namely the
subjective genitive, as "the orb of her face", where the object of
comparison ("orb") is again the syntactically free term. Utprekşā</p>
<pb n="134" />
<p>132
GLOSSARY
differs from rūpaka in that, instead of the subject and object of
comparison being identified with one another, a property character-
istic of the object is said of the subject in the most general sense (as
predicate, or verb, or even as an independent noun phrase introduced
by "as though"). This case is more devious and more universal,
though both rūpaka and utprekşă do involve the metaphorical
(literally 'carrying over') transfer of something onto something else.
It might be said that utprekşã was a rūpaka with suppression of the
object. The standard technique, both in English and in Sanskrit,
of utprekşā is simply a noun, representing the subject of comparison,
followed by a verb or predicate which literally must be understood
with the objects of comparison, as: "And one blue parasol cries all
the way to school" (Thomas Hood). A parasol can't cry, but a
parasol with rain dripping off may be likened to a little girl's face,
which can. A rūpaka represents a total identification of two things;
an utprekṣā is only a partial coalescence through the transfer of a
characteristic property or function. Other figures are of course very
closely related to utprekṣā; perhaps the most significant is samāsökti,
where the subject of comparison is entirely implicit in an expression
which in fact represents the object of comparison: "A bird in the hand
is worth two in the bush", refers to the advisability of choosing
a present advantage (whatever it may be) rather than a future
and more attractive advantage. Utprekṣā does not subsume com-
pletely the subject of comparison in this way: it remains explicit,
usually as the subject of the sentence. Mixing these closely related
figures in any protracted discourse is, of course, quite common,
especially in the case of utprekṣā and rūpaka (sometimes enumerated
as a separate figure, or utprekşâvayava). Virginia Woolf is partic-
ularly rich in such complicated metaphors, as: "Suddenly, as if
the movement of his hand had released it, the load of her cumulated
impressions [rupaka] of him tilted up, and down poured in a ponder-
ous avalanche all she felt about him [utprekṣā]." Notice how easily
the one figure can be transformed into the other: "Suddenly, as if
the movement of his hand had released their load, her cumulated
impressions of him tilted up [utprekṣā] and down poured the ponder-
ous avalanche of all she felt about him [rūpaka]."
It is curious that the figure utpreksā, which in importance is
perhaps second only to upamā and rūpaka, and which is recorded by
all the writers from Bhāmaha onwards, should never have been
made the subject of an elaborate subdivision or classification so</p>
<pb n="135" />
<p>133
typical of the alamkārika writers. Only Udbhata even suggests the
possibility of subdividing utprekṣā, and goes only so far as to
enumerate two types (bhävâbhäva). Even more surprising is the
unanimity which is evident in the defining of the figure. Rudraţa,
though offering no classification, does give six rate definitions
of the figure, two of which seem to refer to Udbhata's earlier dich-
otomy. These six types will be discussed separately, even though
they involve no terminology and no important deviation from the
general definition, because of the typical astuteness which Rudraţa
demonstrates in discussing the principles underlying the various
aspects of this important figure. His first definition is the same as
that already given, and we will not repeat it here. A mode of action
appropriate to one thing is attributed to another, in terms of an
implicit simile. That simile, so explained, is nothing but a standard
comparison (see upamā) involving a subject, an object, and a real
property justifying the similitude (such as those attributed to the
cat in Eliot's verse, for example). Now, according to Rudrața, the
case is not always so straightforward: for instead of the real property
or mode of behavior simply, (a) a second, or subordinate simile
(that is, an entire subordinate comparison) may be ascribed to the
original subject (type 2), invoking the same three terms; (b) a quality
may be attributed to, or implied in another thing, not directly
through an upamāna, but in virtue of the relation of both upameya
and upamāna to the terms of a further simile which is then under-
stood as justifying the first attribution; or, (c) the ascription may
not be based upon a real similitude at all, but may be entirely con-
ventional. These types follow.
GLOSSARY
utprekṣā (II): (1) the ascription of a characteristic to a subject, not in
terms of an implicit object of comparison simply, but through the
relation of that subject and object to a further subject and object
which, as a more general simile, justify the first attribution. (2) R 8.34
(35). (3) āpāṇḍugaṇḍapālīviracitamrganābhipatrarūpeṇa । śaśiśańka-
yêva patitam lāñchanam asyā mukhe sutanoh (Rudrața: "the spot
has fallen on her face"; the immediate simile suggested is that of
the beauty marks on the girl's face (subject) and the spots on the
moon (object); but this simile suggests a further simile of the girl's
face as such (subject) and the moon (object), which in fact justifies and
explains the first simile and the attribution based upon it: "A beauty
mark has fallen on to the face of this slender-bodied girl, thinking
it the moon, for her pale cheeks are decorated with lines of musk</p>
<pb n="136" />
<p>134
GLOSSARY
from the navel of the deer"). (4) "Desolate and lone / All night long
on the lake / Where fog trails and mist creeps, / The whistle of a
boat / Calls and cries unendingly, / Like some lost child / In tears
and trouble / Hunting the harbor's breast / And the harbor's eyes"
(Carl Sandburg; here all the parts are made explicit to facilitate
comprehension: the first utprekṣā [the whistle cries] is followed by
the object on which it is based [the child], by which is constituted
the immediate simile; but that simile is extended: first subject [whistle]
to another [harbor] and first object [child] to another [breast], which
further simile [here in the form of a rūpaka] justifies the first). (5)
The point here does not concern the utprekṣä itself, but only the
mode of interpreting the ascription which constitutes the utpreksā;
that is, relating that ascription to the simile or similes which it
assumes. In this case, the immediate simile so understood is, in a
way, not adequate unto itself (compare the next type) because it
represents a subordinate and limited aspect of a more universal
simile, which situation is suggested by mention of any of its aspects.
The form is exactly parallel to the rūpaka called samastavastuvişaya,
*referring to the whole thing (as well as its parts)', and illustrates
the generality of the formal framework proposed by the Indian
aestheticians.
utprekşā (III): (1) the ascription of a characteristic or mode of behavior
to a subject, not through direct comparison with an implicit object,
as in simile, but via a conventional attribute of that object to which
the subject bears a certain relation. (2) R 8.36 (37). (3) atighana-
kunkumarāgā puraḥ patākêva dṛśyate samdhya । udayatațântaritasya
prathayaty asannatām bhānoḥ (Rudrata; the dawn does not herald the
approach of the sun merely in virtue of its natural relation of
precedence to the sun, but, according to the Indian mythology,
because the sun's chariot carries a banner the color of the dawn:
"The dawn is seen like a flag of deep saffron, heralding the approach
of the morning sun hidden behind the eastern hills"). (4) "The
Baronet stroked his brow, as if he already felt Bully Bottom's
garland" (George Meredith; the Baronet is being compared to
Bully Bottom, not directly, in virtue of his "being distinguished by
woman", but through the garland which Titania has, in signification,
placed upon Bully's brow). (5) The irregularity which this variety of
utprekşā accounts for is that of the apparent irrelevance of the terms
to one another. In a standard simile, the subject is related to the
object through a property which, with some plausibility, can be</p>
<pb n="137" />
<p>135
found in both (though in fact it is limited to the object). So with the
utprekşā founded on a standard simile (see above), but in this case,
instead of a simple object, there are two terms, related conventionally
or accidentally, one of which serves as the technical object of
comparison to the subject (as the flag), the other of which, though
not sharing any similarity with the subject, gives the rationale for
the figurative usage or transfer (as the sun). The figurative or
metaphorical ascription is meaningless when the subject is related
to either object in isolation: the dawn may behave like the flag only
of the sun, the Baronet may wear the garland only of Bully Bottom;
yet in both cases the metaphor is understood as a relation between
the dawn and the sun, between the Baronet and Bottom. The form
which this utprekşā embodies seems to be that of paramparita rūpaka
(see utprekṣā II).
GLOSSARY
Rudrata, having accounted for certain non-standard similes as
foundations for the figure utpreksā, discusses the figure again in
terms of the thing said to have the property ascribed (the subject);
specifically, in terms of the relation of that subject (or upameya) to
that ascribed property. Now, again the point of departure is the
standard simile, and here the subject of comparison, as we said,
may plausibly be thought of as having the property, in the most real
and literal sense. The transfer is justified in terms of a real similarity.
Rudrata's type four illustrates this.
utprekṣā V): (1) a metaphorical ascription of a property or mode of
behavior justified by an inherently plausible similarity between the
explicit object and the implicit subject. (2) R 9.11 (12). (3) ghanasa-
mayasaliladhaute nabhasi šaraccandrikā visarpanti । atisāndratayêha
nṛṇām gātrāṇy anulimpativêyam (Rudrata; while the moonlight can-
not "anoint" anything, the utprekṣā and its implied simile are
plausible because of the almost substantial quality of the tropical
moonbeams, which do something very near to "flowing" over the
body: "In a sky cleansed by the streaming rain of the monsoon
clouds, the autumn moon wanders and, almost like an unguent,
anoints the limbs of men"). (4) "The very touch of that canvas was
enough to make my hand sing. I felt the colour flowing on to it as
sweet as cream" (Joyce Cary; as in the Sanskrit, we have the "flow-
ing" of color, but the simile is spelled out by adding "cream" as
the object of comparison). (5) The point is not that the usage is
not figurative, but that the figuration is plausible in terms of an
inherent pattern of behavior present in both the object and implied</p>
<pb n="138" />
<p>136
GLOSSARY
subject. Since the relation is inherent and does not involve the
context, Rudrața considers it sambhāvita ('hypothetical'). In the
next variety of utprekṣā, the subject does not possess a plausible
relation to the object.
utprekşā (V): (1) a metaphorical ascription of a property or mode of
behavior justified by an accidental but relevant context. (2) R 9.11
(13). (3) pallavitam candrakarair akhilam nīlâśmakuṭṭimôrvīșu ।
tārāpratimābhir idam puspitam avanīpateḥ saudham (Rudraţa; the
moonbeams make the stucco palace appear as if flowering: "Its
spacious floors set with sapphires, the entire royal palace seemed
covered with buds in the moonlight; its fine stucco walls were forced
into flower by reflections of stars"). (4) "Arthur Donnithorne was ...
stared at, from a dingy olive-green piece of tapestry, by Pharoah's
daughter and her maidens, who ought to have been minding the
infant Moses" (George Eliot; the Pharoah's daughter, being present
only in a piece of tapestry, would not ordinarily be characterized as
"staring" were it not for the handsome young Arthur, who distracts
her). (5) This utprekşă can be seen as one in which the ascription is
more in view of the grammatical direct object of the assertion than
its grammatical subject. (Note that the words subject and object
are not used here as "subject of comparison", etc.) The ascription
could be called "transitive": the moonbeams do not behave as
vivifiers because of some quality which they inherently possess, but
only because of their effect on the stones of the palace; similarly,
the portrait does not "stare" because the artist has woven her that
way, but because of the presence of an object to be stared at, namely
Arthur. It might appear that it was in fact the grammatical object
(jewels, Arthur) in these examples which subtended the ascribed
quality; an interpretation of this sort is lent authority by both ex-
amples being in the passive voice. There are two reasons why this
view can not be accepted: the passives can always be expressed as
actives with no alteration whatever in the argument, and the Sanskrit
authors always speak of the ascribed quality as a kriyā, or simply,
*act.' It is this act which, aside from grammatical expression,
constitutes the basic element of the utprekṣā, and in terms of the act
are defined subject (kartṛ) and object (kāraṇa). It would be perverse
to use these well-known terms in a non-standard sense. The subject
is the only plausible basis for the act, and these two types of ascrip-
tion differ precisely in the reference of that ascription to the third
term (the direct object), or in the ascription's irrelevance to it.</p>
<pb n="139" />
<p>137
Lastly, a sixth type of utprekşā is possible, where the ascription is
not a quality or a mode of behavior at all, but a fanciful rationale
for a perfectly literal action (see below).
utprekṣā (VI): (1) the metaphorical ascription of a motive or rationale.
(2) R 9.14 (15). (3) sarasi samullasadambhasi kādambaviyogaduya-
mānêva । nalini jalapraveśam cakāra varşâgame sadyah (Rudrata:
"Nalini takes her bath in the laughing river every day at the onset
of the rains, as though she were grieving for the departed geese").
(4) "Her great dark eyes with their long eyelashes touch one so
strangely, as if an imprisoned frisky sprite looked out of them"
(George Eliot). (5) This is one of the most frequently met types of
utprekṣā, and yet it differs significantly from those so far described.
The fancifulness of the ascription is here more explicit and obvious
and seems less to concern the structure of the figure as an ontological
treason. A motive or rationale is, of course, less inherent than a
mode of behavior or a quality, both of which imply an ontological
agent (kartr); the ascription of a motive, on the other hand, neces-
sarily involves a bystander as well, and an element of indeterminacy
is built into the situation. That this is considered to be utpreksā
shows that it is ascription and not the thing ascribed which defines
the figure. But since a motive is necessarily ascribed, it might seem
that any explanation of whatever sort would qualify as an utprekṣā.
Rudrata obviates this objection by specifying that the motive ascribed
must replace another more obvious, natural, or literal motive. In
this sense, we say the "fanciful" ascription of a motive: Nalini really
enters the water to bathe, the girl looks at him in a manner which
has nothing to do with sprites or imprisonment. The second motive
thus plays the same role as the second quality or mode of behavior
in that it brings in another term or situation which functions as
the object of comparison (imprisoned sprite). What appeared at
first to be an irregular utprekṣā now appears as a double utprekṣā: an
ascription of a motive which itself bears a relation of ascription to
another [literal] motive. This variety of utprekşā fits into the se-
quence of the previous two in a perfectly rational way once its form
is understood: just as the ascription of type four took place in
reference to the subject alone (first person), and that of type five
took place also in reference to the direct object (third person), this
type demonstrates those ascriptions dependent upon the second
person, or observer. This again illustrates the characteristic insight
of the Indian writers into the structure of the figures and their ability
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="140" />
<p>138
GLOSSARY
to classify exhaustively and rationally the appearances of poetic
inspiration.
One other problem is discussed by Dandin and repeated by some
commentators: the use of the comparative particle (iva) in some
utprekṣās has led some thinkers to identify utprekşā and upamā.
The example discussed by Dandin is limpativa tamaḥ ('the darkness,
as it were, anoints'). Now, the English seems to distinguish the
two usages where the Sanskrit does not: we use "as it were", "as if",
or "as though" for utprekṣā, and "like" or "as" for simile. Dandin
likewise insists upon the substance of the difference, even though
the word may be the same (2.227-34). A simile relates two similars
in terms of a shared quality: the iva attaches to the object of com-
parison. In the utprekşā, the iva attaches to the verb, which cannot
be considered an object of comparison since it possesses no property.
utprekşâvayava
utprekşâvayava, 'component parts of the ascription': (1) a type of meta-
phorical ascription (utpreksā) in which further subordinate metaphors
explicate and expand the principal ascription. (2) B 3.46 (47),
V 4.3.31, 33. (3) añgulībhir iva keśasamcayam samnigṛhya timiram
maricibhiḥ । kuḍmalikṛtasarojalocanam cumbativa rajanimukham śaśī
(Vāmana; the principal ascription is: "the moon, as it were, kisses
the face of the night"; this is extended by drawing a parallel between
fingers playing with a maiden's tresses and the rays of the moon
glancing through the darkness (as through tree branches, etc.):
"Grasping the darkness with its rays as though it were hair and they
were fingers, the moon kisses the face of the night, her eyes demurely
closed-lotuses on the lake unbloomed!"). (4) "The Moon, like a
flower, / In heaven's high bower, / With silent delight / Sits and smiles
on the night" (William Blake; almost identical to Vamana's example,
except that the subordinate parallel is between the moon itself and a
flower). (5) Utprekşâvayava is an independent figure in Bhamaha,
and one of the two compound figures (samsrșți) allowed by Vamana
(see upamārupaka); it may be considered in the same context as
utpreksā. It differs from simple utprekṣā only in being associated
with other and subordinate figures in a "mixed" metaphor. Both the
English and Sanskrit examples show an upamā and a rūpaka in
conjunction with the principal utprekṣā. Later writers consider this
figure nothing but one of the many kinds of multiple alamkāra
(samsrsti), and its early enumeration as a separate figure probably</p>
<pb n="141" />
<p>GLOSSARY
139
involves no other issues than the extreme frequency with which this
particular metaphorical complex is encountered. The poet is always
tempted to draw out his ascriptions (utpreksās), especially as they can
become quite obscure without much effort, and certainly because an
enlarged metaphor is more of a poetic object than an abbreviated
one. Vāmana's definition of utprekşåvayava is brief in the extreme
and quite misleading at first glance: he says simply: "utprekşähetur
utprekşâvayavaḥ" ('utprekşâvayava means the cause of an utprekşă
[is given]). This is to be understood in the sense that the subordinate
metaphors or similes define the broader context in which the main
utpreksā becomes alive.
udätta
udatta, 'lofty': (1) a figure in which great accumulation of wealth or
greatness of character (viz. self-denial) is described. (2) B 3.12(11, 13),
D 2.300-303, U 4.8, M 176-77. (3) muktāḥ kelivisūtrahāragalitāḥ
sammārjanībhir hṛtāḥ prātaḥ prāñgaṇasīmni mantharacaladbālâñ-
ghriläkşârunāḥ / dūrād dāḍimabījaśańkitadhiyaḥ karşanti keliśukā yad
vidvadbhavaneşu bhojanrpates tat tyāgalīlāyitam (Mammața: "Bestow-
ing benefits is so much a game to your Majesty that in the homes of
your advisors the pearls, dropped from necklaces broken in the
sports of love, are swept up by the charwomen and, scattered about
the borders of the yards, are marked by red lac from the feet of
slowly strolling maidens; pet parrots drag the pearls away thinking
them to be pomegranate seeds"). (4) "The business was a gold mine,
as Sigsag had said. The profits on wine and liquor were of course
high; we paid no rent; and the best people in America were our
customers. There was no overhead; refrigerators, light, office ex-
penses, telephone, glasses, ice and waiters were paid for by the hotel;
and a thick golden stream of profit ran into what von Kyling called
'the General Welfare*. And along with the profits from the
immense turnover of champagne-a hundred cases sometimes being
used in some single party-there were of course liberal tips on how
to treble that profit on the stock-market" (Ludwig Bemelmans).
(5) The figure is always described as being two fold; if great wealth
can be appropriated, then it can also be relinquished; the greatness
of character is founded upon previously acquired material greatness.
The common example is Rāma leaving his capital for the forest:
"udāttam śaktimān rāmo guruvākyânurodhakaḥ । vihāyôpanatam
rājyam yathā vanam upāgamat" (Bhämaha: 'Mighty Rāma, faithful
...</p>
<pb n="142" />
<p>140
GLOSSARY
to the words of his teacher, abandoned his prosperous and devoted
kingdom and entered the forest'). Compare: "Till at length / Your
ignorance • / ... deliver you as most / Abated captives to some
nation / That won you without blows! Despising, / For you, the
city, thus I turn my back: There is a world elsewhere" (Shakespeare;
Coriolanus speaks).
The element of exaggeration is not necessarily present, but of
course this amounts to a kind of hyperbole (see atiśayôkti). Udbhata
is careful to distinguish this figure from rasavad alamkāra, for here
the evocation of the rasa (for example, vīra rasa in the two quota-
tions given above) is subordinated to other considerations: a descrip-
tion of the forest, or the obloquy heaped upon Coriolanus' enemies.
The example from Bhāmaha does not support the distinction very
well; Udbhata's example is a description of the wealth of the Himâ-
laya as a background for Pärvati's birth.
The present figure is one of the group of figures which seem to
depend more on their subject matter than on form. Compare rasavad,
ūrjasvi, preyas. Except for Mammața, these figures are restricted
to the earlier writers. Anandavardhana devotes much significant
argument to these figures (especially rasavat) in discussing the
relation between rasa and alamkāra; they do show that in the earlier
literature the tendency was to include the notion of "mood" within
that of "figure", and not the reverse, as happened later.
upamā
upamā, *comparison*: (1) the comparison of one thing with a substantially
different thing in terms of a property, quality, or mode of behavior
which they share; simile. (2) NS 16.40-52, B 2.30-33, D 2.14-65
(51-56) (discuss upamādosa), V 4.2.1-21, U 1.15-21, AP 344.6-21,
R 8.4-31, M 125-34. (3) ambhoruham ivâtâmram mugdhe karatalam
tava (Dandin: "Like a pale pink lotus, my sweet! your hand ...").
(4) "My Luve's like a red, red rose" (Robert Burns). (5) Upamä, one
of the four original alamkāras, is in all the rhetorics the most im-
portant figure. This is due in part to the universality of the simile
in works of art, but another and more cogent reason no doubt
concerns the place of simile in the system of the alamkāras. Of the
approximately one hundred figures enumerated, perhaps fifty are
reducible to a basic simile or are describable in terms appropriate to
the simile. One of the authors, Vāmana, even attempts to state all of
the figures involving meaning (arthâlamkāra) as similes, but his</p>
<pb n="143" />
<p>141
definitions of certain cases are vicious or too restricted (cf. śleşa).
The two systematic writers, Dandin and Rudrata, as well as the
compiler Mammața, consider simile the characteristic figure and
offer elaborate classifications of it. Upamã was recognized as a
category of interpretation as far back as Yaska's Nirukta, and it
figures in the Nighanțu (3.13), but the term signifies generally
metaphorical usage and comprehends what are later considered.
separate figures (rūpaka, samāsókti).
The broader question of the poetic scope and nature of simile
would of course be the most interesting to raise at this juncture.
The limitations put upon this work forbid it. A sketch, however,
may be in order, insofar as the later alamkāra tradition itself develops
along lines which bring into prominence just that discussion. In the
dhvani theory and in the work on vakrôkti, the notion is propounded
that poetry necessarily involves non-literalness: the poetic passage
must refer to a greater range of ideas and things than its immediate
words literally convey. In this same context, the importance of
simile is probably also to be located. The simile is just such a broad-
ening of the expression: a second thing, by nature irrelevant, is
brought into the context, whereby the first, the relevant, or subject
term is illuminated in a peculiarly characteristic way. The simplest
from of non-literalness is just this doubling of the subject. Of
course, the non-literal is not at all the irrelevant; the ultimate aim
of all poetic diction is coherence, unity, and accuracy and is no
wise different from science in this respect. But the skill of the poet
lies in his ability to create that coherence out of words and phrases
that are constantly fleeing into the shady mists of connotation,
constantly avoiding their original meaning and scope. Likewise,
the poet who proclaims that his love is like a rose says something far
more accurate about that young lady as she is than he could hope to
express in terms of her eyes, hair, or physical shape. He does this
via an irrelevant discursus which takes us for a moment to the field
of botany and associated connotations. This irrelevance is, of
course, irrelevant only in the realm of the literal and scientific and
constitutes the point of departure for those describing the poetic
function of comparison. The ultimate relevance of such oblique
reference is at the heart of the poetic problem. By singling out a
thing which is so obviously different-a rose or the moon-the
poet, by a type of Platonic definition, and by placing it against his
subject, immediately cancels out in the reader's mind the entire
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="144" />
<p>142
GLOSSARY
range of literally irrelevant and incomparable aspects and connota-
tions of each term so juxtaposed taken separately, and presents only
those two things as manifesting some common aspect, the tertium,
which by the force of this being abstracted and displayed alone, as
it were, redounds to the descriptive credit of the original subject.
Simile accomplishes this feat of intellective specification by the use
of particles such as "like" (iva).
The simile is limited in its expressive power only by the ability
of the mind to comprehend the two things as common; the appro-
priateness of the simile is primarily a question of the comparing
object being precisely proportioned to the subject in just that aspect
which is contextually relevant, although in rare cases the object
itself may have to be considered.
All Indian writers agree on analyzing the simile into the four com-
ponent aspects we have introduced: (a) the upameya, or 'thing to be
compared': the subject of comparison, through which the simile is
related to the literal or outward sequence of ideas which constitute
the framework of the poem (compare this literal and grammatical
freedom of the subject in upamã with its necessary subordination in
rupaka); (b) the upamana, or 'agent of comparison': the object
introduced to concentrate attention on the essentials of aspect or
behavior; (c) the sādhāraṇadharma, 'shared property*: the quality
so singled out; and (d) the dyotaka, or 'clarifying' element: the
comparative adverb "like" (iva), or a similar indicator. This termin-
ology goes back at least to Pāṇini, who uses it in describing certain
compounds which express comparisons (3.1.10, 3.4.45, 2.1.55-56,
etc.). The same concepts are also used to describe those figures which
depend upon a basic simile but do not express an explicit comparison,
such as rūpaka, utprekṣā, vyatireka, etc. In this work, the words
"subject" and "object" are used in the senses given above unless
otherwise specified, and some care must be taken not to confuse
this usage with the more common philosophical or grammatical
subjects or objects.
All comparisons necessarily involve an element of non-identity,
but of course the terms of some comparisons are far more "realistic"
(sc. similar) than others, as: "Featured like him, like him with friends
possessed" (Shakespeare). Vāmana alone of our authors seems to
have perceived this problem and allows a simile called tattvakhyāna,
or 'literal', where the end is not praise or blame, but merely precision.
Simile here seems to leave the strictly poetic realm, in the sense</p>
<pb n="145" />
<p>143
defined above; who indeed would deprive the scientist of the use of
such convenient explanatory devices as "sodium reacts like potassium
in many compounds". Perhaps it is for this reason that Bhāmaha,
the earliest writer we know about, avers that no figure can be really
poetic unless it also has a touch of exaggeration, or atiśayókti
(B 2.81, 85), associated with it (repeated by Daṇḍin 2.220). Bhāmaha,
Udbhata, and Mammața all emphasize in defining upama that the
things compared must in fact be substantially different contrary
by reason of place, time, or mode of action', as Bhāmaha says.
Mammaţa boldly defines simile as 'similarity in difference' (sādhar-
myam bhede). But the other writers, though they consider only
similes which by any standard would be considered poetic, do not
appear to have been aware of the problem of over-extension, or "end",
as it were. Dandin says only that upamā is sādṛśyam (*similitude").
The problem is perhaps more academic than real, since the non-
poetic similes are just those where the expressive potential of
simile is least well exploited, that is, where so little difference is
understood between the terms that comparison itself is almost otiose.
It might almost be said: "give a simile something to do, and it will
be poetic". The comparison of sodium and potassium is not un-
poetic because of the subject matter, but just because, for all practical
purposes, the two things are in fact indistinguishable, are like
Tweedledum and Tweedledee (note that the last simile is highly
poetic).
GLOSSARY
Simile is limited on the one side by the indistinguishability or
literal replacability of its terms, but it also has the same limit on the
other side, for beyond simile lies the realm of metaphor (rūpaka),
where, despite differences great enough to permit scope to simile,
the terms of comparison are identified with each other-said in such
a way that sameness alone is suggested and not similarity-as in
the phrase "realm of metaphor." The mode or the modal reality
of the comparison changes, but the terms of its description do not;
in rūpaka, for instance, the object of comparison (upamāna) is
"projected onto" (meta-phor) or, as we say, identified with the subject
of comparison (upameya): not "her face is like the moon" but "her
face is the moon" (the moon of her face delights the evening crowd).
The common property is usually not expressed, since the aim of
metaphor is to suppress all difference; the comparative particle of
course is necessarily absent (but cf. utprekṣā, where it reappears in
a new sense).</p>
<pb n="146" />
<p>144
GLOSSARY
In this way, the various figures involving a duplication of the
context are explained and reduced to similes. We need not charac-
terize them more fully here, since at least half of this work is con-
cerned with just that problem. However, some accounting of the
various classifications proposed for simile itself is necessary.
The general tendency is for the discriminations or subtypes more
and more to be based on the quadripartite structure we have given.
The earlier writers, however, while obviously recognizing that
structure in defining the basic figure, tended to classify simile in
terms of the end or final cause of the comparison. This is especially
interesting in view of the universal preoccupation with structure,
even among the early writers, in classifying rüpaka. This difference
seems to reflect the character of the problem under consideration.
Since comparison is always a matter of degree, it would appear
appropriate to consider the usage of the various degrees, which is
not a question of structure, but of the kinds of things compared
and the reasons for that selection of things; but metaphor, being
identification pure and simple, is never a question of degree (except
in the sense that the metaphor can be more or less well specified
in its parts, or complete), and the only relevant question concerns
the scope of the identification, which has little to do with the things
themselves, but is entirely a matter of the poet's employing or
not employing the ideal metaphorical type (see rūpaka).
In classifying upamā, the non-structural, contextual, tradition
may be said to begin with Bharata himself, for he allows similes of
praise (praśamsā) and blame (nindā), as well as three similes which
differ as to the degree of comparability intended by the poet:
sadrsi, or entirely comparable, that is, where the subject and object
possess the same property to a great degree; kimcitsadrší, where the
same subject shares comparable qualities with several objects
and is therefore partially comparable; and kalpita, where, strictly
speaking, no comparability at all is alleged; that is, no property is
described as common to both subject and object, but rather different
descriptive properties are assigned to both which are, in fact, similar
(the similarity is not literal, but analogical).
The other, or structural, tradition may claim almost the same
antiquity, for Bhāmaha, who specifically objects to the classification
by praise and blame as irrelevant (2.37), enumerates only three
kinds of upamā, depending only on the grammatical device by which
the similitude is expressed. We have mentioned previously only the</p>
<pb n="147" />
<p>145
adverb "like" in this connection, but Bhāmaha allows two others
beside yathêvaśabda upamā, namely samāsa, where the simile is
expressed by a compound word instead of the adverb (moon-faced),
and vati, ('possessing the suffix -vat'), where the upamāna is also
in bound form-bound not by the upameya, but rather by an ad-
verbial suffix having the same meaning as iva (moon-like face).
It is in this context that the argument as to the relative antiquity of
Bhamaha and Daṇḍin finds its moment. The two authors appear
to be engaged in mutual refutation. Bhāmaha not only rejects a
sequence of similes in exactly the order in which Dandin gives them
(nindāprasamsâcikhyāsā), mentioning äcikhyāsā, which term is
peculiar to Dandin, but in reply, Dandin appears to belittle the
classification by grammatical type in his rather offhand enumeration
of approximately fifty words and conventions for expressing simile
(2.57-65). Elsewhere, Dandin objects to figures which are peculiar
to Bhāmaha (upamārūpaka, utprekṣâvayava, ananvaya, sasamdeha) in
2.358-59. Much controversy has been occasioned by this chronology,
and we make these comments only insofar as the problem may com-
pliment that of the sequence of analytical models proposed for simile.
Dandin accepts Bharata's point of view entirely, but advances the
classification to an undreamed of degree of subtlety. His treatment
of upamā is probably unequaled in the history of alamkāraśāstra
for its length, perspecuity, and philosophical interest. The thirty-
four types illustrate a variety of intuitional situations which the
upamā may facilitate. From the old varieties of 'praise' and 'blame',
we progress to judiciousness' (ācikhyāsā), 'confusion' (moha),
'amazement' (adbhuta), 'flattery' (cațu). All of these are specific
ways of representing (or misrepresenting) the basic similitude, the
singled-out property.
GLOSSARY
An important distinction introduced by Dandin and accepted by
later authors is that between simile of quality and simile of mode of
action. The former is regarded as the typical comparison, and is
that which has been described above; in the latter, the notion of
common property is broadened to include modes of action; in
effect, adjectival similes are replaced by verbal similes (he is as swift
as a horse; he runs like a horse). Because the subject and object are
related now through a verb, the latter type of simile is called
vākyârtha, or 'referring to the entire phrase' (of noun and verb).
The simple simile, or simile of property, does not involve the verb.
Vāmana also mentions this distinction.</p>
<pb n="148" />
<p>146
GLOSSARY
The contextual point of view loses ground after Dandin; only the
Agni Purāṇa is fully committed to it. Vāmana allows the three-
fold distinction "stuti [for prašamsā] nindā tattvākhyāna", presumably
more on the authority of Bharata than Dandin, but at the same time,
he suggests another distinction which soon becomes dominant, and
which is clearly based on the method of Bhāmaha. This distinction
is the first which clearly sets forth the four elements of simile as
criteria. A simile in which all four elements are explicit is called
pūrṇa, or 'complete"; if one or more of the elements is implicit only,
the simile is called lupta, or 'deficient'. Bhamaha's samāsôpamā
would be an example of a lupta upamā, since neither the tertium
nor the particle are expressed. Udbhata, who follows Bhamaha in
most matters, here adapts the pūrṇa-lupta distinction to his predeces-
sor's three types and comes up with fourteen varieties of simile.
Calling lupta samkṣepa, or 'ellipsis', Udbhața defines four varieties
depending on which element or elements are not expressed (tertium,
particle, both, both plus subject). (See sāmyavācaka, tadvāci-
samkşepa.) Mammața takes up this problem again and goes to
absurd lengths to illustrate certain possible ellipses (cf. upameyadyo-
takalupta). These types usually amount to Bhāmaha's samāsôpamā,
but some involve other principles.
Udbhata also improves upon Bhamaha's category vati, where,
it will be remembered, the object of comparison was bound by a
comparative suffix -vat. Admitting this type, Udbhata then finds
certain other morphological contexts where the object of comparison
in some form or other appears in bound form with verb-, adverb-,
or adjective-forming suffixes. The Sanskrit language, in fact, allows
any noun to be made into a verb having the sense of "behaves like X"
(see ācāra); likewise an adverbial accusative in -am, always distin-
guished from the accusative case, may express the idea of similitude
when suffixed to the object of comparison (see namul). Lastly, other
taddhita suffixes than -vat are comparative in meaning (-kalpa, g.v.).
Rudrata in a way represents a summation of the structural
tradition. He allows the same three types as Bhāmaha and Udbhața,
calling them väkyôpamā (not the same as Daṇḍin's vākyârthôpama)
for Bhamaha's yathêvaśabdopamā, as opposed to samāsôpamā,
which name Rudrața keeps, and pratyaya, or suffixed similes, by
which term Rudrața apparently intends all those formed by suffixa-
tion as described by Udbhata. In reference to samāsa upamā, it
might be remarked that the compound so formed is a bahuvrihi, or</p>
<pb n="149" />
<p>147
adjectival compound, thus distinguishing the compound which forms
a simile from that which forms a rūpaka and which is a karmadharaya
type of tatpuruşa. The terms of that compound, as we remark else-
where, are inverted. From the simile "moon-face(d)", we get the
metaphor "face-moon", but this inversion is just a transparent way
of illustrating the contrast in compound type.
As vākyopamā, that is, similes expressed through free (not bound)
nouns and adverbs, Rudraţa admits six types, all of which are
known from other authors but whose selection here again typifies the
author's preoccupation with system. The first type (unnamed) is a
canonical purna upamā with all four elements explicit; the second
shows ellipsis of the common property (sämänyâbhāva—the same
as Dandin's vastu upamā). This pair illustrates the standard simile
in which the only variable element is the tertium. Next come two
similes which may be called reciprocal or reflexive, in which the
subject is in effect compared to itself: this may be done either by
not mentioning an object at all (ananvaya: "her face is like her face"),
or, when an object is given, by immediately proposing that object
as subject (ubhaya: "the moon is like her face"). This is Daņdin's
upameyopamā. Lastly, we may have similes in which either the prop-
erty (tertium) or the object are assumed to be hypothetical for the
purposes of the poet (kalpita and utpadya, or abhūta).
Rudrața also mentions a simile which is evidently patterned on
the standard treatment of rūpaka and which shows very well the
influence of the structural approach to the definition of these figures:
he distinguishes samastaviśaya from ekadeśin, assuming the standard
metaphorical whole (cf. rūpaka).
atiśaya, 'pre-eminence': (1) an upama in which the similitude is expressed
by minimizing the difference between the things compared to the
point where they appear as bare facts without qualitative differ-
entiation. (2) D 2.22. (3) tvayy eva tvanmukham drstam dṛśyate divi
candramāḥ / iyaty eva bhidā nânya (Daṇḍin: "Your face is seen on
you, the moon is seen in the sky; so much are they different and
no more"). (4) "For the time being he had lost the primitive faculty
that instinctively classifies the various sensory impressions according
to their relative values. One afternoon he saw a transport truck run
into an automobile. But this bloody accident impressed him no
more vividly than the sight, a few minutes later, of a scrap of news-
paper fluttering in the wind" (Carson McCullers). (5) For variations
on the theme of minimizing the difference, see caļu, tattvåkhyāna.
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="150" />
<p>148
GLOSSARY
Here the common property is not shared to different degrees, yet the
two similars are not "confused" as in samsaya. In catu, the common
property is shared to different degrees, but that difference is over-
looked. See also pratiyamana vyatireka, bhedamātra vyatireka,
vyatirekarūpaka.
adbhuta, 'marvellous': (1) an upamā in which a real property of the sub-
ject is predicated of the object; a presumed similitude is thus ex-
pressed. (2) D 2.24, AP 344.16. (3) yadi kimcid bhavet padmam
udbhru vibhrāntalocanam / tat te mukhaśriyam dhattām (Dandin: "If
there were a lotus with arching brows and roaming glance, then it
would have the beauty of your face"). (4)"It's lovely, lovely, lovely',
she said, with diminishing cadence, ending in pensiveness once more.
'Do you see that little bit just there? No, not where the trees are that
bare spot that looks brown and warm in the sun. With a little
sage-brush, that spot would look something like a place I know on
Bear Creek. Only, of course, you don't get the clear air here""
(Owen Wister). (5) Cf. abhūta, asādhāraṇa.
ananvaya, 'lack of consequence': (1) self-comparison; an upamā in which
the subject doubles as object. (2) R 8.11 (12). (3) iyam iyam iva
tava ca tanuḥ (Rudrata: "Your body resembles itself alone").
(4) "It was always a source of great preoccupation with the ladies
that no bit of pad should show through the natural hair. Often
they put up a tentative hand to feel, even in the midst of the most
absorbing conversation; and then faces wore the expression
which is seen only on the faces of women whose fingers investigate the
back of their heads" (Vita Sackville-West). (5) This figure is an
independent alamkāra for Bhamaha (3.44), Vāmana (4.3.14),
Udbhața (6.4), and Mammața (135). Daṇḍin (2.358) considers it
equivalent to his asādhāraṇa upamā.
aniyama, 'absence of restriction': (1) an upamā in which the similitude
is said to extend to any object exhibiting the common property.
(2) D 2.20, AP 344.12. (3) padmaṇ tāvat tavânveti mukham anyac ca
tādṛśam । asti ced astu tatkārī (Daṇḍin: "Your face resembles the
lotus, and whatever may be said to be similar to the lotus-why your
face resembles that as well"). (4) "When, dearest I but think of thee, /
Methinks all things that lovely be Are present, and my soul
delighted" (Sir John Suckling). (5) Cf. niyama. This figure differs
from ācikhyāsā in that there the idea is that we are debating the
appropriateness of the object of comparison.
anyonya, 'mutual': (1) an upamā in which the similitude is made reciprocal.
***</p>
<pb n="151" />
<p>GLOSSARY
149
(2) D 2.18. (3) tavânanam ivâmbhojam ambhojam iva te mukham
(Daṇḍin: "Your face is like a lotus; the lotus is like your face").
(4) "She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and
starry skies; / And all that's best of dark and bright / Meet in her
aspect and her eyes" (Byron). (5) Anyonya is the same as upameyő-
pamā of Bhāmaha, Vāmana, Udbhata, and Mammața; as paraspa-
ropamā of the Agni Purāņa; as ubhayopamā of Rudrata.
abbūta, 'not happened': (1) an upama in which the object of comparison
is a hypothetical universal and is, strictly speaking, nonexistent.
(2) D 2.38. (3) sarvapadmaprabhāsāraḥ samāhrta iva kvacit /
tvadānanam vibhāti (Daṇḍin: "Like the distilled essence of every
lotus' beauty, your face is lovely"). (4) "I am thinking of him-
loosely I admit-very much as some political cartoonist might think
of a generalized and consolidated figure that turns a deaf ear to the
Bolshevist and his sinister whisperings ..." (Oliver Onions). (5) The
idea is that the object is never exposed to the pettiness of mere
experience, yet it can be expressed as an extrapolation on experience.
The subject is thus, a fortiori, elevated above the mundane. In
adbhuta, there is a transfer of property from subject to object; here
the object is impossible in its own terms. In utpāďya, the object
is hypothetical, but not generalized.
asambhava, impossibility": (1) an upama in which an incongruous
property, in fact belonging to the subject, is predicated of the object
of comparison. (2) V 4.2.20. (3) cakästi vadane tasyāḥ smitacchāyā
vikäsinaḥ/unnidrasyâravindas ya madhye mugdhêva candrikā (Vāmana:
"A smile appears on her bright face like pure moonlight among
sleepless lotuses"). (4) "Holt was constantly attentive: the Admiral's
flag-lieutenant hung over her like a decorated cliff" (Nicholas
Monsarrat). (5) Asambhava differs from asambhāvita only in being
stated positively, and from adbhuta in being stated as a proposition.
asambhāvita, 'impossible': (1) an upamā in which the subject of comparison
is, strictly speaking, nonexistent; that is, the common property
proposed is incongruous or unlikely. (2) D 2.39. (3) candrabimbäd
iva vişam candanād iva pāvakaḥ । parușā vāg ito vakträt (Daṇḍin:
"A harsh word from her mouth would be like poison from the moon's
disc or fire from sandal-paste"). (4) "There's that Bessy Cranage-
she'll be flauntin' i' new finery three weeks after you're gone, I'll
be bound: she'll no more go on in her new ways without you, than
a dog 'ull stand on its hind-legs when there's nobody looking""
(George Eliot). (5) This is ironical comparison, for two things are</p>
<pb n="152" />
<p>150
GLOSSARY
compared through a property they do not have in order to express
the opposite property. The other forms of unreal comparison
(adbhuta, abhůta) are exaggerations only.
asādhāraṇa, "particular': (1) an upamä in which the absence of proper
objects of com
is described. (2) D 2.37, AP 344.19. (3)
candrâravindayoḥ kakṣyām atikramya mukham tava । ātmanaîvâbhavat
tulyam (Dandin: "Exceeding the style of the moon or lotus flower,
your face is indeed like itself alone"). (4) ***She [Nature] is', the
secretary continued, 'like an assemblage of blondes and brunettes,
whose tresses-' 'Oh, bother the blondes and brunettes!' 'Well, she
is like a picture gallery, where the features-' 'No, no; Nature is
like Nature; why introduce similes?" (Voltaire, quoted by E. M.
Forster). (5) Asādhāraṇa is a variation of ananvaya, from which it
differs in that the object of comparison, though ultimately rejected,
is mentioned.
ācāra, 'conduct': (1) a type of upamā in which the object is expressed in a
verbal form. (2) U 1.17,19. (3) sa duḥsthiyan kṛtârtho'pi niḥśeșaî-
śvaryasampadā । nikāmakamanīye'pi narakīyati kānane (Udbhaṭa:
"He [Śiva], all goals fulfilled in his infinite power, nevertheless suffered
[behaved himself in the manner of one suffering] in that forest lovely
yet filled with the tortures of hell [behaving like hell; helling]").
(4) "The hills belly-rumbled with thunder" (McDonald Hastings).
(5) This facility of Sanskrit is a function of the denominative con-
ation, whereby any noun or adjective can be transformed into a
verb having the sense of "resembling, acting like X" (Pāṇini 3.1.10).
In the following example, a comparison is first drawn, then the object
is cleverly substituted for the grammatical subject in order to produce
a similar effect: "And there he would lie all day long on the lawn
brooding presumably over his poetry, till he reminded one of a cat
watching birds, and then he clapped his paws together when he had
found the word ..." (Virginia Woolf). By other writers, this type of
comparison is classified differently: see pratyaya, upameyadyotaka-
lupta, dharmadyotakalupta.
Compare also colloquial English "to rat", and "to dovetail," etc.
ācikhyāsā, "wanting to explain': (1) an upamă in which the propriety
or aptness of the comparison is in doubt. (2) B 2.37, D 2.32. (3)
candreṇa tvanmukham tulyam ity acikhyāsu me manaḥ sa guno
vâstu doşo vā (Dandin: "Your face is indeed like the moon, but I
can't decide whether this is a virtue or a vice"). (4) "Some moralist
or mythological poet / Compares the solitary soul to a swan; / I am</p>
<pb n="153" />
<p>151
satisfied with that, / Satisfied if a troubled mirror show it, / Before
that brief gleam of its life is gone, / An image of its state" (William
Butler Yeats). (5) The figure is not defined by Bhamaha, who con-
siders the term otiose. Here the intention of the speaker is neither
praise nor blame (cf. prašamsā, nindā, to which ācikhyāsā stands
as third in a triad); the speaker is rather unable to decide between
the two.
GLOSSARY
ārthī, 'implied': (1) a type of pūrṇa upamā in which the similarity of
two things is inferred or indirectly expressed. (2) M 127. (3) dură-
lokaḥ sa samare nidāghâmbararatnavat (Mammața: "His aspect is
as painful to look upon as is the summer sun"). (4) "The candles'
... flames looked at me like the eyes of tigers just waking from sleep"
(Joyce Cary). (5) A subtlety is intended. A comparison, strictly
speaking, is the expression of a relation of similitude between two
things which have a property in common. But properties are
distinguished from modes of action or behavior. A comparison
based upon a like action permits only an inference as to the similitude
of the things as possessing properties. In the example, candles are
compared to eyes in virtue of their having a capacity in common-
"looked at me": the flame looked at me just as the eyes of tigers
might look at me. We may then presume that the eyes resemble
the flame as to color, size, or what have you, but this, the literal
comparison (cf. śābdī) is not made explicit. The same distinction
is involved in the definition of the väkyârtha upamā.
utpādya, 'invented': (1) an upamā in which the object of the comparison
exists only in the poet's hypothesis and exhibits a striking quality
of the subject. (2) R 8.15 (16). (3) kumudadaladīdhitīnām tvak
sambhūya cyaveta yadi tābhyaḥ । idam upamiyeta tayā sutanor asyāḥ
stanavaraṇam (Rudrața: "If skin could be imagined on the reflec-
tions of the lotus petals (in the pond), and if that skin might be
touched-there would be something that might be comparable to
the gossamer of her breasts"). (4) "The new moon behind her head,
an old helmet upon it, a diadem of accidental dewdrops round her
brow, would have been adjuncts sufficient to strike the note of
Artemis, Athena or Hera" (Thomas Hardy). (5) In adbhuta upamā,
a property is hypothetically transferred from subject to object; here
the object is hypothesized as a substratum for the property. Compare
the following rūpaka, where the basis of the identification is likewise
hypothesized: "Dr. MacBride had fixed upon me his full, mastering
eye: and it occurred to me that if they had policemen in heaven,</p>
<pb n="154" />
<p>152
GLOSSARY
he would be at least a centurion in the force" (Owen Wister).
utprekşita, 'opined': (1) an upamä in which the similitude is expressed
as a relative and subjective opinion about which of several objects
of comparison is most likely or approriate. (2) D 2.23. (3) mayy
evâsya mukhaśrīr ity alam indor vikatthanaiḥ / padme'pi sã yad asty
eva (Dandin: "Enough of the moon's boasting 'I alone rival the
beauty of her face'; her loveliness is found in the lotus, too"). (4)
"... I give you your choice which was the bluest-the aimlessly
fluttering butterflies, the nodding harebells, or her demure and
reprehensible eyes" (Oliver Onions). (5) The name of this simile
may be taken in the sense of "reflected, considered", in which case
the emphasis in the examples should be placed on the judicious
meditation of the speaker vis-à-vis the scope of his simile. Ut-
prekşita differs from samsayôpama in that the confusion in the lat-
ter is between the object and the subject, and from nirnaya in that
the object in that case is distinguished from its own subject, not
putatively, as here, from several other objects.
upamānadharmadyotakalupta, ellipsis of the object, common property,
and the particle of comparison': (1) self-explanatory term. (2)
M 134. (3) mṛganayanā harate muner manaḥ (Mammaţa: "Gazelle-
eyes' steals the ascetic's mind away"). (4) "Perhaps he lurks in
yonder woodbine bower / To steal soft kisses from her lips, and
catch / Ambrosial odours from her passing sighs" (William White-
head). (5) The compound mrganayanā (gazelle-eyed') and the phrase
"ambrosial odours" are alone relevant here. Each is a simile in
miniature when interpreted, for example, "whose eyes are like the
eyes of a gazelle". Only the subject is explicit: "eyes" and "odours"
are mentioned but once and are taken as the subjects of comparison.
Cf. upameyadharmadyotakalupta.
upamānalupta, "ellipsis of the object': (1) an upama in which the object of
comparison is not made explicit. (2) M 129. (3) sakalakaraṇa-
paraviśrāmaśrīvitaraṇam na sarasakāvyasya । dṛśyate'tha nisamyate
vā sadṛśam amśâmśamātreṇa (Mammața: "There is nothing seen
or heard which even in the smallest part resembles mood poetry-
-nothing at all which provides such joyful relaxation of all the
senses"). (4) "Per Hansa stood there in the darkness of the winter
night, looking after the disappearing figure.... No, her equal was not
to be found!" (O. E. Rolvaag). (5) Mammața's example can be taken
in two ways. The obviousness of the first borders on pettiness: true po-
etry is like nothing (ellipsis through non-existence). This would amount</p>
<pb n="155" />
<p>153
to asādhāraṇa upamā; for example: "Fair was this meadow, as thought
me overall; / With floweres sweet embroidered was it all; / As for to
speak of gum, or herb, or tree, / Comparison may none y-maked be"
(Chaucer). A more likely interpretation is that poetry is implicitly
compared to yoga through the alification providing relaxation
of all the senses". We have followed the latter interpretation in
giving the English example: the absence of a proper object is mentioned
only to suggest that Per Hansa's wife has supra-feminine qualities.
"She could be both minister and father confessor, that woman!"
upameyadyotakalupta, 'ellipsis of the subject and particle of comparison':
(1) self-explanatory term. (2) M 133. (3) kṛpāṇōdagradordaṇḍaḥ sa
[rāja] sahasrayudhiyati (Mammața: "With a sword held in his
outstretched hand, the King resembles a man having a thousand
weapons (sahasrayudha)"). (4) "Then Jesse Jones brought a new
note into the self-congratulatory deliberations. In a hectoring speech,
he advised the banks to improve their capital position ..." (Arthur
Schlesinger, Jr.). (5) The point here turns upon a rather flimsy
grammatical exegesis. "In a hectoring speech" must be taken to
mean "in a speech in which he behaved himself like Hector", as the
Sanskrit is taken to mean "he behaved himself like Sahasrayudha".
"Himself" becomes the subject of the comparison as grammatical
object of the verb "behave" and parallel to "Hector". Hence the
ellipsis. Many of Mammaţa's classifications are similarly far-fetched.
Cf. ācāra.
upameyadharmadyotakalupta, ellipsis of the subject, the common
GLOSSARY
property, and the particle of comparison': (1) self-explanatory term.
(2) U 1.17. (3) tām śašicchāyavadanām ... gaurīm prati mano dadhau
(Udbhata: "[Siva] contemplated Gauri, whose face had the beauty
of the moon"). (4) "... he recognized the pail-of-water-over-the-head
experience..." (Margery Allingham). (5) In the Sanskrit, "[the
beauty of whose] face [is like] the beauty of the moon", only the
latter beauty is explicit. In the English, the experience which the
pail of water, etc. suffices to characterize is not named in so many
words. Cf. upamānadharmadyotakalupta. For the problem of
distinguishing such similes from metaphors (rūpaka), see lupta
upamā.
ubhaya, "both': (1) same as anyonya. (2) R 8.9.
ekadesin, 'having parts, partial: (1) a multiple upamā wherein several
corresponding parts of the subject and object are compared without
that comparison being extended to the principal terms themselves.</p>
<pb n="156" />
<p>154
GLOSSARY
(2) R 8.29 (31). (3) kamaladalair adharair iva daśanair iva kesarair
virājante alivalayair alakair iva kamalair vadanair iva nalinyaḥ
(Rudrata: "The lotuses are splendid-their petals like lips, their
filaments like teeth, bees like locks of hair swarming about their
face-like blooms"). (4) "... Mr. Moseley came in and knocked on
the counter with a half crown. His face was as red as red ink; and
he had a complete new colour scheme, all in browns. Brown suit,
the colour of old ale. Golden brown tie like lager. Brown boots
shining like china beer handles. Guinness socks. And a new brown
bowler, the colour of bitter beer, over his left eye" (Joyce Cary).
(5) See samastavastu upamā, in which the major terms are men-
tioned.
ekabahu, 'singular-plural': (1) an upamā in which the subject is plural
and the object singular. (2) NŚ 16.42 (43). (3) śaśâñkavat prakāśante
jyotimsi (Bharata: "The stars shine like the rabbit-marked moon").
(4) "These parties of theirs... were like chain-smoking: each cigarette
was lighted in the hope that it might be more satisfactory than the
rest" (Vita Sackville-West). (5) By later writers, non-parallelism
of number is considered a defect (vacanabheda doşa). Here we have
a curious inconsistency in the general tendency to preserve a classi-
fication at any cost. The terms of most similes are, of course, paral-
lel: "She stood breast-high among the corn, / Like the sweet-
heart of the sun" (Thomas Hood).
kalpapprabhṛti, 'having the form of, etc.': (1) upamā which contains
such an expression of comparison instead of the comparative particle
("as", "like"). (2) U 1.21. (3) caṇḍalakalpe kandarpam pluştvå
mayi tirohite / samjātâtulanairāśyā kim sā śokān mṛtā bhavet (Udbha-
ta: "While I was hidden there in the form of an outcaste man, Love
was consumed; and she [Pārvatī], in whom an immense despair was
born, appeared about to die of sorrow"). (4) "... drawn with Düreres-
que vigor and dash" (Thomas Hardy). (5) For other examples of
similes formed with taddhita suffixes, see s.v. and sadrsa, samāsa.
kalpita, 'artificial': (1) an upamā wherein the similitude is stated in terms
of comparable properties of the subject and object, but not through
one property, common to both. (2) NŚ 16.46 (49), AP 344.21, R 8.13
(14). (3) mukham apurṇakapolam mṛgamadalikhitârdhapattralekham
te । bhāti lasatsakalakalam sphutalañchanam indubimbam iva (Rudra-
ța: "Your face, full-cheeked and bearing the beauty marks of musk,
resembles the full moon's orb with its argent spots"). (4) "I saw
the professor winking at me so hard that his face was like a con-</p>
<pb n="157" />
<p>GLOSSARY
155
certina with a hole in it" (Joyce Cary). (5) Cf. sadṛśavyatireka.
kimcitsadṛśī, 'somewhat similar': (1) an upamā in which one subject is
compared to several objects by means of several properties. (2)
NS 16.46 (51), AP 344.21. (3) sampurṇacandravadanā nīlôtpalada-
lêkṣaṇā । mattamātañgagamanā samprāptêyam sakhi mama (Bharata:
"My friend has been at last secured whose face is like the full moon,
whose eyes resemble the petals of the blue lotus, whose walk is
undulant like a rutting elephant"). (4) "Eustacia's dream... had as
many ramifications as the Cretan labyrinth, as many fluctuations
as the Northern Lights, as much colour as a parterre in June, and
was as crowded with figures as a coronation" (Thomas Hardy).
(5) This figure differs from utprekşita in that property is there unique,
from ekadešin in that the similitudes are there subsidiary in a whole,
and from samuccaya in that there we have but one object.
gamana, 'going': (1) probably the same as rašanā upamā (2) AP 344.20.
(5) Since the Agni Purāṇa gives no examples, the definition of this
unique item is subject to caution. The text reads: "upameyam yad
anyasya tad anyasyopamā matā । yady uttarottaram yāti tadâsau
gamanôpamā" (if the upameya of one term is deemed the upama of
another, and the sequence is continued, then this is gamana').
catu, 'flattering words': (1) an upama in which the real difference between
subject and object-that of possessing the common property to a
lesser and a greater degree, respectively-though recognized, is
voluntarily ignored. (2) D 2.35. (3) mrgêkşanâñkam te vaktram
mṛgenaivánkitaḥ śaśī / tathapi sama evâsau nôtkarşī (Daṇḍin: "Your
glance is learned from the gazelle. The moon is marked with the
gazelle itself: he is thus quite similar, but in no way superior").
(4) "Ask me no more where Jove bestows, / When June is past,
the fading rose; / For in your beauty's orient deep / These flowers,
as in their causes, sleep" (Thomas Carew). (5) Catu differs from
atisaya in that there the difference between the subject and object,
as far as the common property is concerned, is cancelled.
namul (fictive for the accusative absolute in -am): (1) an upamă in which
the force of the comparison is rendered by means of such a construc-
tion. (2) U 1.20. (3) sa dagdhavigraheṇâpi vīryamātrasthitâtmanā ।
spṛṣṭaḥ kāmena samanyaprāṇicintam acintayat (Udbhata: "Touched
by Love, though Love's body was consumed and his force consisted
of heroism alone, Siva remained pensive with cares common to all
men"). (4) "Another head came into view from behind the wings of a
chair, and its owner glared at us with a Harvard accent" (Peter de</p>
<pb n="158" />
<p>156
GLOSSARY
Vries). (5) The English example illustrates the grammatical point
only grosso modo, of course. The comparison of Harvard glances
with Harvard speech is expressed via an adverbial clause which is
functionally similar to the Sanskrit "had the cares which all men
have". Mammața (130) calls this a type of ayotakalupta.
tattvâkhyāna, 'literal description': (1) an upamă in which the similitude
is assumed to lend itself to a confusion, so that one is obliged to
identify the subject and object of the comparison. (2) D 2.36.
(3) na padmam mukham evêdam na bhṛīgau cakşuşi ime (Dandin:
"That is no lotus, that is a face; those are not bees, they are eyes").
(4) "I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, / But no such roses
see I in her cheeks" (Shakespeare). (5) This figure differs from
nirṇaya in that there a state of doubt or suspicion is assumed, here
there is merely a possibility of confusion. In hyperbolic exaggeration,
tattvåkhyāna is the next step beyond catu. Cf. tattvâpahnava rūpaka.
tattvâkhyāna (II): (1) an upamā in which the aim is merely to represent-
neither to praise or blame. (2) V 4.2.7. (3) tām rohiṇīm vijānīhi
jyotişām atra maṇḍale । yas tanvi tärakānyāsaḥ śakaṭākāram āśritaḥ
(Vāmana; Rohini or Taurus, the "red one", is so called from Al-
debaran, the main star: "Know that configuration of stars to be
Rohini which in form resembles a cart"). (4) "To my notion all of
the early part of Mourning Becomes Electra has the sinewy and
homely narrative strength of-let me reach for a comparison which
does him neither too little nor too much honor-a novel Charles
Reade" (Alexander Woollcott). (5) For Vāmana, this is the middle
term in the triad stuti ... nindă. Cf. Daṇḍin, where tattvâkhyāna is
replaced by acikhyāsā—doubt as to the appropriateness of praise or
blame.
taddhita, 'secondary suffix*: (1) an upamā utilizing such a suffix to express
the comparison. (2) U 1.20, M 127. (3) (4) For examples, see
subtypes vati, kalpapprabhṛti. (5) The well-known grammatical
term. Mammața distinguishes taddhita upamā from similes formed
by samāsa (compounding), q.v.
tadvācisamkşepa,'ellipsis of the comparative particle': (1) same as
dyotakalupta. (2) U 1.18.
tulyayoga, 'conjunction of equals': (1) an upama in which the object is of
strikingly exalted station vis-à-vis the subject. (2) D 2.48 (49).
(3) divo jāgarti rakṣāyai pulomârir bhuvo bhavān । asurās tena hanyante
sâvalepäs tvaya nṛpaḥ (Dandin: "Indra keeps watch in heaven and
you, O Lord, on earth; demons are slain by him and by you, the</p>
<pb n="159" />
<p>157
proud and haughty"). (4) "And then the hyena laughed out. Pleased
at such an arrangement! Pleased at having her enemy converted
into a dean with twelve-hundred a year! Medea, when she describes
the customs of her native country. assures her astonished auditor
that in her land captives, when taken, are eaten. "You pardon them?"
says Medea. "We do indeed,' says the mild Grecian. 'We eat them!'
says she of Colchis, with terrific energy. Mrs. Proudie was the Medea
of Barchester; she had no idea of not eating Mr. Slope" (Anthony
Trollope). (5) Cf. tulyayogitā alamkāra where the same conjunction
is expressed literally and not through the use of figurative devices
(simile or metaphor).
GLOSSARY
dyotakalupta, ellipsis of the comparative particle': (1) self-explanatory
term. (2) M 130. (3) tataḥ... kāminīgaṇdapāṇḍună । ... candrena
mähêndrī dig alamkṛtā (Mammața; the Sanskrit translates literally as
"lover's-cheek-pale moon": "The eastern quarter is adorned by the
moon pale as a lover's cheek"). (4) "Her forehead ivory white"
(Edmund Spenser). (5) Mammața also includes here certain denom-
inative constructions: cf. ācāra and dharmadyotakalupta. This variety
of ellipsis is also known as tadvāci, pratyaya, vādi, q.v.
dharma, 'property': (1) an upamā in which the similitude is spelled out by
mentioning the comparable property or aspect of the two terms.
(2) D 2.15, AP 344.10. (3) ambhoruham ivātāmram mugdhe karatalam
tava (Dandin: "The palm of your hand is like a pale lotus"). (4)
"River roughed up with little waves like the flat side of cheese
grater" (Joyce Cary). (5) Cf. vastu, where that property is implicit.
The notion of property is here taken in an exact sense, and presum-
ably excludes those similes based on mode of action or result; cf.
vākyârtha. Vāmana uses the word guna instead of dharma; cf. the
commonplace distinction guṇa-kriyā. Here is an example of a simile
whose common property is a mode of action: "Richard arrested
his resumption of speech, and he continued slowly to fizz like an
ill-corked effervescence" (George Meredith).
dharmadyotakalupta, 'ellipsis of the common property and the particle of
comparison': (1) self-explanatory term. (2) M 131. (3) savitā
vidhavati vidhur api savitarati tathā dinanti yāminyaḥ । yāminayanti
dināni ca sukhaduḥkhavašīkṛte manasi (Mammața; in the Sanskrit,
all the upamāna are denominative verbs: "The sun resembles the
moon and the moon, the sun; the hours of the night are as those of
the day and those of the day, the night for one whose mind is afflicted
by the round of pleasure and pain"). (4) "No profane hand shall</p>
<pb n="160" />
<p>158
GLOSSARY
cyava.
dare, for me... to Bowdlerize my Shakespeare ..." (Anon., quoted in
Burton Stevenson; here one is enjoined from turning the author's
edition into one like Dr. Bowdler's in the matter of expurgation-the
common property). (5) The figure is also known as samyatadvācivi-
ācāra. Udbhata's exam is tridaśâdhîśaśärdūlaḥ ("Indra-
tiger'), an epithet of Siva; compare a term like "moonstone".
dharmalupta, 'ellipsis of the common property': (1) self-explanatory
term. (2) M 128. (3) rājīvam iva te vaktram netre nilôtpale iva
(Dandin: "Your face is like a lotus; your eyes are like lotus petals").
(4) "My delight and thy delight / Walking, like two angels white,
/ In the garden of the night" (Robert Bridges). (5) This figure is
also known as vastu, sāmyavācakasamkṣepa. Cf. dharma upamā.
dharmôpamānalupta, 'ellipsis of the common property and the object of
comparison': (1) self-explanatory term. (2) M 132. (3) funţuṇāyamāno
marişyasi kaṇṭakakalitāni ketakīvanāni । mālatīkusumasadrksam
bħramara bhraman na prāpsyasi (Mammața: "Buzzing about in the
thorny ketaki groves, O bee! you will surely die; yet you will not
resemble the malatī flower"). (4) "For her own person, / It beggar'd
all description" (Shakespeare). (5) Mammața's example requires
such a tortuous interpretation that this commentator blushes to
give it. "You will never attain similarity with the mālatī flower" is
taken to mean: "the malati flower is like nothing else in the world
insofar as you are concerned". Cf. upamānalupta and the note thereon.
nindā (I), 'blame': (1) an upamā whose intention is to depreciate or
belittle and whose object of comparison is therefore pejorative.
(2) NS 16.46 (48), V 4.2.7. (3) kalatram । hālāhalam visam
ivâpaguņam (Vāmana; the poison was so deadly it threatened to
kill all life: "An evil wife is like the poison Śiva swallowed"). (4)
"Both of you are good at keeping secrets-like onions on the breath
.." (Joyce Cary). (5) Ninda is the opposite of stuti, "praise'. Cf.
ācikhyāsā, tattvåkhyāna.
nindā (II): (1) an upamā wherein, by an ironic depreciation of the object,
flattery of the subject is intended. (2) B 2.37, D 2.30, AP 344.21.
(3) padmam bahurajaś candraḥ kṣayī tābhyāṇ tavânanam । samānam
api sôtsekam (Daṇḍin: "The lotus is spotted with pollen, the moon
wanes; your face, though similar, is more proud"). (4) "If when the
sun at noon displays / His brighter rays, / Thou but appear, / He then
all pale with shame and fear, / Quencheth his light, / Hides his dark
brow, flys from thy sight, / And grows more dim / Compared to
thee than stars to him" (Thomas Carew). (5) See above.
...</p>
<pb n="161" />
<p>159
niyama, 'restriction': (1) an upamā in which the similitude is said to be
limited to the object in question. (2) D 2.19, AP 344.12. (3) tvan-
mukham kamalenafva tulyam nânyena kena cit (Dandin: "Your face
may be compared to the lotus and to the lotus alone"). (4) "He
looked over his paper with that plump, gratified satisfaction at a
chance to shine which in the dog world is the peculiarity of the hound"
(Margery Allingham). (5) Cf. aniyama.
GLOSSARY
nirņaya, "deduction': (1) an upamā in which the two comparable things
are distinguished from one another through a deduction based upon,
but critical of, their excessive similarity. (2) D 2.27. (3) na padma-
syêndunigráhyasyêndulajjäkarī dyutih atas tvanmukham evêdam
(Dandin: "That can't be the gleam of a lotus putting the moon to
shame, since the lotus is liege to the moon; it must be your face").
(4) "He was as a ghost, all whose power of wandering free through
these upper regions ceases at cockcrow; or rather he was the oppo-
site of a ghost, for till cockcrow he must again be a serf" (Anthony
Trollope; reference is made to the dependence of the Bishop on his
wife). (5) In tattvåkhyāna, the same distinction is made, but without
the semblance of an argument.
niścaya, 'decision': (1) probably the same as nirṇaya. (2) AP 344.12.
(5) No example is given, but the commentary on D 2.27 equates
this term with nirnaya.
padârthavṛtti, 'whose scope is the meaning of a word': (1) an upamā which
expresses a relationship between things in terms of a common prop-
erty, not between actions in terms of analogy. (2) V 4.2.3. (3)
haritanuşu babhrutvagvimukhāsu yāsām । kanakakaṇasadharmā
mānmatho romabhedaḥ (Vāmana: "On whose golden bodies, now
divested of their clothes of reddish bark, was seen the lovely thin
line of hair resembling a string of golden beads"). (4) "Her breast
like to a bowl of cream uncrudded ..." (Edmund Spenser). (5) Cf.
vakyârthavrtti, dharma.
paraspara, 'mutual': (1) same as anyonya. (2) AP 344.11.
pūrņa, 'full': (1) an upamā in which the four characteristic elements of
the comparison are explicitly stated. (2) V 4.2.5, R 8.5 (6), M 126.
(3) svapne'pi samareṣu tvām vijayaśrīr na muñcati । prabhāvaprabha-
vam käntam svâdhīnapatikā yathā (Mammața: "Even in the sleep
between battles, the Goddess of Victory cleaves to you, O King,
like a faithful wife to her excellently beautiful lover"). (4) "The moon
was coming up ... making ... the houses look like fresh cut blocks
of coal, glittering green and blue" (Joyce Cary). (5) The four charac-</p>
<pb n="162" />
<p>160
GLOSSARY
teristic elements of every simile, whether explicit or not, are (a)
the subject of comparison (upameya: "houses"), (b) the object of
comparison (upamāna: "blocks of coal"), (c) the common property
(sādhāraṇadharma: "glittering ..."), and (d) the comparative particle
(dyotaka: "like"). Cf. lupta and the various terms mentioned for
examples of ellipsis. See upamă for the problem of translation,
and the appropriate terms for a discussion of their meaning and
context. Pūrna is described by Rudrata, but not named.
prativastu, 'counterpart': (1) example; an upama in which the object of
comparison is introduced as the subject of another situation which
manifests the relevant common property and in which the comparative
particle is absent. (2) B 2.34-35 (36), D 2.46 (47). (3) naîko'pi
tvādṛśo'dyāpi jāyamāneṣu rājasu । nanu dvitīyo nâsty eva pārijātasya
pādapaḥ (Daṇḍin: "There is not even one who resembles you among
the victorious kings; but then, the coral tree has no imitator either").
(4) "Follow a shadow, it still flies you; / Seem to fly it, it will pursue:
/ So court a mistress, she denies you; / Let her alone, she will court
you. Say, are not women, truly, then, / Styled but the shadows
of us men?" (Ben Jonson). (5) Prativastu is considered by others
to be a separate figure, perhaps because the comparative particle is
necessarily absent. In this it differs from vakyártha upama.
pratişedha, 'prohibition': (1) an upama in which certain flaws of the object
are said to vitiate the comparison. (2) D 2.34. (3) na jātu śaktir indos
te mukhena pratigar jitum kalańkino jaḍasya (Daṇḍin: "Indeed
the moon cannot rival your face; mark its cold and blemished air").
(4) "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / ... Rough winds do
shake the darling buds of May, / And summer's lease hath all too
short a date" (Shakespeare). (5) This figure differs from nindā in that
here the mood is the indicative rather than the "optative". In
vyatireka, the virtue of the subject, rather than the vice of the object,
is usually alleged as prohibition.
pratyaya, "suffix': (1) an upamā in which the force of the comparison is
rendered by a verbal suffix. (2) R 8.23 (24). (5) Pratyaya is considered
by Rudrata to be an ellipsis of the comparative particle. Cf. dyotaka-
lupta. The same as ācāra.
prasamsā, 'praise': (1) un upamā whose intention is to appreciate or
praise, that is, whose upamāna is mejorative. (2) N$ 16.46 (47),
B 2.37, D 2.31, AP 344.21. (3) brahmaṇo'py udbhavaḥ padmas
candraḥ śambhuśirodhṛtaḥ । tau tulyau tvanmukhena (Daṇḍin: "The
lotus is born of Brahman, the moon is fixed on the brow of Siva;</p>
<pb n="163" />
<p>161
both resemble your face"). (4) "She stood breast-high among the
corn, / Clasp'd by the golden light of morn, / Like the sweetheart of
the sun, Who many a glowing kiss had won" (Thomas Hood).
(5) This figure illustrates the definition of the upamāna (object of
comparison) as "that term in which the property resides to a higher
degree"; by drawing a comparison with an exalted object, the subject
necessarily participates in its elevation. Cf. ninda, which can also
praise the subject through irony. Prašamsā is the same as stuti.
bahu, 'many': (1) an upamă in which a number of different objects are
mentioned. (2) D 2.40, AP 344.14. (3) candanôdakacandrâmśucan-
drakāntâdisītalaḥ । sparśas tava (Dandin: "Your touch is cool as
moonstone, as the fall of moonbeams, as sandal-water"). (4) "As
lightning, or a taper's light,/Thine eyes, and not thy noise, waked me"
(John Donne). (5) Bahu differs from utprekşita in that here there is no
effort to find the right object; from mālā II in that there the multitude
of objects manifests a multitude of properties, here there is but one
property.
GLOSSARY
bahveka, 'plural-singular': (1) an upama in which the subject is singular
and the object plural. (2) NS 16.42 (44). (3) śyenabarhiṇabhāsānām
tulyârthaḥ [sa kaścit] (Bharata: "He is like eagles, peacocks, and
hawks"). (4) "Behold a critic, pitched like the castrati" (Theodore
Roethke). (5) See the note on ekabahu. An example of comparing
plural with plural is: ". elegant shoppers wrapped like dainty
bears" (Edgell Rickword). Bharata, not an accomplished classifier,
neglects the possibilities offered by the Sanskrit dual.
mālā (I), 'garland': (1) an upama in which a series of comparisons are
given which not only involve the same similitude, but in which a
qualification of that similitude becomes the subject of the following
simile. (2) D 2.42. (3) pūṣṇy ātapa ivâhnîva pūṣā vyomniva vāsaraḥ ।
vikramas tvayy adhāl lakṣmīm (Daṇḍin: "Victory founded its good
fortune on you, just as the heat did in the sun, the sun did in the day,
and the day did in the sky"). (4) "He moves among men as most
men move among things" (Bernard Shaw). (5) This type of mālā
differs from the following in that there but one similitude is stated.
It differs from rasand in that the architectonic moves from substratum
to manifestation rather than from subject of comparison to object
of comparison. Cf. asambhävita.
mālā (II): (1) an upama in which one subject is compared to several objects
through one or several properties. (2) AP 344.15, R 8.25 (26), M 134.
(3) śyāmālatêva tanvi candrakalêvâtinirmalā să me । hamsiva kalálāpā</p>
<pb n="164" />
<p>162
GLOSSARY
caitanyam harati nidrêva (Rudraţa: "Slender as the dark creeper, spot-
less as the new-born, waxing moon, soft-throated as the swan,
she steals my reason as do dreams"). (4) "What follows should be
prefaced with some simile-the simile of a powdermine, a thunder-
bolt, an earthquake-for it blew Philip up in the air and flattened
him on the ground and swallowed him up in the depths" (E. M.
Forster). (5) This figure is the same as kimcitsadrśi, except that
here the possibility of one property is allowed, at least by Mammaţa:
"My heart is like a singing bird / Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; /
My heart is like an apple-tree / Whose boughs are bent with thick-
set fruit; / My heart is like a rainbow shell/That paddles in a halcyon
sea; / My heart is gladder than all these, / Because my love is come
to me" (Christina Georgina Rossetti). Bhāmaha (2.38) mentions
the term mālā, but not in a way that would permit precise definition
of its significance.
moha, 'bewilderment': (1) an upamä in which the two terms of comparison
are confused with one another. (2) D 2.25, AP 344.17. (3) śaśity
utprekṣya tanvañgi tvanmukham tvanmukhâśayā । indum apy anu-
dhāvāmi (Daṇḍin: "Now I'm running about after the moon, seeking
for your face, for I thought that your face was the moon"). (4)
""When I slung my teeth over that,' he remarked, 'I thought I was
chewing a hammock"" (Owen Wister). (5) Moha differs from bhrān-
timat alamkāra only in that the comparability of the two confused
terms is here necessarily paramount.
yathêvaśabda, 'the words yatha (as) and iva (like)': (1) an upamā wherein
the force of the comparison is borne by one of these words, the usual
adverbial particles of comparison. (2) B 2.31, U 1.16. (3) kṣaṇam
kāmajvarôtthityai bhūyaḥ samtāpavṛddhaye । viyoginām abhúc cândrī
candrikā candanam yathā (Udbhata: "The moonlight of the full
moon, like sandal paste, rouses the sudden fever of love in parted
lovers and so increases their suffering"). (4) "And there was Hetty,
like a bright-cheeked apple hanging over the orchard wall" (George
Eliot). (5) Yathêvaśabda is to be distinguished from those similes
expressed through compounding (samāsa). See also dyotakalupta
upamā.
rašanā, 'rope': (1) a concatenation of upamās in which the subject of
comparison of the first simile is the same as the object of comparison
of the following. (2) R 8.27 (28), M 134C. (3) nabha iva vimalam
salilam salilam ivānandakārī śaśibimbam । śašibimbam iva lasaddyuti
taruṇīvadanam śarat kurute (Rudrața: "The autumn season makes</p>
<pb n="165" />
<p>163
the crystal water clear as sky, the round, refreshing moon limpid as
water, the maiden's coquettish mien like the glancing moon"). (4) "If
when the sun at noon displays/His brighter rays,/Thou but appear, /
He 1 /... grows more dim / Compared to thee than stars to
him" (Thomas Carew).
lupta, "ellipsis': (1) an upamā in which at least one of the four characteris-
...
GLOSSARY
***
tic elements is not explicitly stated. (2) V 4.2.6, M 126. (3) (4) See
the various subtypes grouped under the names of the element drop-
ped: upameya, upamāna, dyotaka, dharma. (5) All the writers implic-
itly recognize this type, beginning with Bhämaha who distinguishes
similes containing a particle of comparison (yathêvaśabda) from
those formed by compounding and therefore without such a particle.
Likewise, Daṇḍin distinguishes dharma and vastu upamās on the
basis of the former mentioning the common property and the latter
not. The distinction between purna and lupta upamā has, however,
become such a commonplace in the later poetics that it is usually
imposed by commentators whenever possible upon the earlier writers,
even though they manifestly had other reasons for arranging their
distinctions in the way they did. Mammața shows the way, being
the first writer to ignore completely considerations of subject matter
and intention in defining simile in favor of elements of construction.
This may be called the triumph of the material principle over the
final.
I have the following simile to add to Mammața's collection, which
seems to exhibit ellipsis of both the subject and object of comparison:
"Smell of boot polish like a lion cage" (Joyce Cary). Here someone's
boots are being compared to those of a lion tamer.
vati, 'the suffix -vat ('like¹): (1) an upamā wherein the force of the com-
parison is borne by such a particle suffixed to the object of com-
parison. (2) B 2.33, U 1.20-21, M 127. (3) dvijātivad adhīte "sau
guruvac cânuśāsti naḥ (Bhāmaha: "Brahmin-like he studies; guru-
like he instructs us"). (4) "Lion-like March cometh in" (W. D.
Howells). (5) This is the example par excellence of the use of a
taddhita suffix in forming similes. In English, the same word may be
used in or out of compound, but in Sanskrit, the morphemes are
different: -vat only in compound, iva never in compound. In the
ordinary uncompounded simile (cf. vākyârthavṛtti and pădârthavṛtti),
this type is subdivided into those which express a nominal comparison
and those which express a verbal comparison. The examples given
illustrate the latter subtype, which seems more natural. Compare the</p>
<pb n="166" />
<p>164
GLOSSARY
**
phrase drawn with Düreresque vigor and dash" (Thomas Hardy),
which expresses a purely nominal similitude (vigor like that of Dürer).
This type is recognized by Yaşka (3.17), who asserts that it
expresses a perfect or total similitude (siddha), as opposed to a
partial or presumed similitude expressed by iva.
vastu, 'the real thing': (1) same as dharmalupta upamā. (2) D 2.16, AP
344.10. (5) The name implies, according to the commentary, that
the emphasis is to be placed on the things compared, rather than on
the common property. See the note on lupta.
vākya, 'phrase': (1) an upamă in which the comparison is expressed in
the form of a phrase, that is, a relation of independent words. (2)
R 8.5-16, M 127. (3) svapne'pi samareșu tvām vijayaśrīr na muñcati /
prabhāvaprabhavam kāntam svâdhīnapatikā yathā (Mammaţa: see
purna for the translation). (4) "Let us go then, you and I / When
the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized
upon a table" (T. S. Eliot). (5) In this sense, the term is distinguished
from similes formed by compounding and those which are telescoped
into verbs (cf. samāsa, taddhita, pratyaya). As an instance of the
baroque complexity which these classifications can attain, take the
two terms pūrṇa upamā and vākya upamā. For Mammaţa, vākya is
the first subtype of purna; for Rudrata, púrna is the first subtype of
vākya. Although both authors define the term vākya in approxim-
ately the same way, the system of classification in which the term
figures obliges us to modify that meaning slightly and consider its
two occurences to be of different scope. For Rudrata, a dharmalupta
upamā is a type of vākya on the same level as a pūrṇa; for Mammaţa,
it is simply a non-purna and may or may not be a vākya.
vākyârthavṛtti, 'whose scope is the phrase': (1) an upamā whose two
terms extend each to an entire phrase or sentence. (2) D 2.43 (44-
45), V 4.2.3, AP 344.19. (3) tvadānanam adhirâkşam āvirdaśanadidhiti /
bhramadbhṛngam ivalakşyakesaram bhāti pankajam (Dandin: "your
face of gently roaming glance and lustrous smile gleams like a lotus
with its darting bees and filaments so fine"). (4) "The readers of
the Boston Evening Transcript / Sway in the wind like a field of ripe
corn" (T. S. Eliot). (5) These similes extend to the entire phrase in
the sense that the similitude involves, and in fact is basically a func-
tion of, the verb. On the other hand, a "simple" simile expresses a
direct relationship between two nouns through a common property
(cf. pādârthavṛtti) and does not involve the sentence itself, that is,
the grammatical association of noun plus verb. A simile extending</p>
<pb n="167" />
<p>GLOSSARY
⠀⠀⠀
165
to the verb is thus coextensive with the phrase and is sometimes
thought of as a simile of action or mode of behavior. A good test for
discriminating such a phrasal simile is this: the same verb is either
repeated, as: "The daylight struck down with a pallid glare upon the
tatters of soot draping the flue as sea-weed drapes a cky fissure"
(Thomas Hardy), or must be supplied in the other of the two phrases
(as in the example from Eliot) to make sense. "My Luve's like a red,
red rose" (Robert Burns) requires no such suppletion.
vândilopa, "ellipsis of vā, etc.": (1) same as dyotakalupta. (2) M 130. (5) vā
is a term standing here for the ensemble of comparative particles.
Though its usual meaning is 'or', it can be taken in the sense of iva
according to Böhtlingk and Roth.
vikriyā, 'transformation³: (1) an upamā in which the subject of comparison
is expressed as a transformation or modification of the object. (2)
D 2.41, AP 344.15. (3) candrabimbād ivôtkīrṇam padmagarbhād
ivôddhṛtam । tava tanvañgi vadanam (Dandin: "O slender-limbed,
your face seems carved from the moon's circle or raised from the
lotus' bud"). (4) "Lowood shook loose its tresses; it became all
green and it made a strange ground-sunshine out of the wealth
of its wild primrose plants" (Charlotte Bronte; here the object is
expressed as a transformation of the subject). (5) In the post-dhvani
or encyclopaedic writers on figuration, this variety of simile is raised
to the status of a separate figure, called pariņāma (transformation).
Cf. Ruyyaka, Alamkārasarvasva (KM edition, p. 51).
viparīta, 'reversed': (1) probably the same as viparyāsa. (2) AP 344.11-12.
viparyāsa, 'transposition': (1) an upamā in which that term which in the
order of nature is the subject of comparison is cast in the form of
the object, and, similarly, the object term is cast as the subject.
(2) D 2.17. (3) tvadānanam ivônnidram aravindam abhūt (Dandin:
"The full-blown lotus was like your sleepless face"). (4) "The flowers
did smile, like those upon her face" (William Drummond). (5) By
"order of nature", we refer to the definitions of the subject and
object as those terms in which the common property resides to a
lesser and to a greater degree, respectively. In this type of simile,
each of the two terms is expressed in the formal position naturally
appropriate to the other, thus exaggerating the prominence of the
in fact inferior subject. In cațu, there is merely a cancellation of this
difference, not an inversion.
virodha, 'opposition": (1) an upama in which the similitude is so expressed
as to imply rivalry on the part of the things compared. (2) D 2.33.</p>
<pb n="168" />
<p>166
GLOSSARY
(3) śatapattram śaraccandras tvadānanam iti trayam । parasparaviro-
dhi (Dandin: "The hundred-petaled lotus, the autumn moon, your
face these three are warring"). (4) "Speak,' she said, 'thou fairest; /
Beauty thou impairest ..." (Henry Constable; here Venus addresses
Adonis). (5) The idea seems to be that nothing breeds incompatibility
like similitude. In atisaya, the difference between the terms of com-
parison is minimized; here that minimum is dialectically turned into
its opposite: mutual contradiction.
vyatireka, 'distinction*: (1) an upamă of the Agni Purāṇa whose meaning
is unclear. There are no parallels. (2) AP 344.14. (5) The text
reads: "yad ucyate'tiriktatvam vyatirekôpamā tu sā" ("where pre-
eminence is expressed, that is called vyatirekôpamā"). This figure is
probably the same as atiśaya upamā.
śrautī, 'audible': (1) an upamā in which the force of the comparison is
made explicit. (2) M 127. (3) svapne'pi samareșu tvām vijayaśrīr na
muñcati । prabhāvaprabhavam kantam svádhīnapatikā yathā (Mam-
maţa; see pūrṇa for the translation). (4) "However, I kept myself
safe yet, though I began, like my Lord Rochester's mistress, that
loved his company, but would not admit him farther, to have the
scandal of a whore, without the joy" (Daniel Defoe). (5) A subtlety
is intended: cf. ärthi and vākya upamā.
śleşa, 'double-entendre': (1) an upamā in which the common property
is replaced by a pun. (2) D 2.28. (3) śiśirâmsupratispardhi śrīmat
surabhigandhi ca / ambhojam iva te vaktram (Dandin; "rival"means
"enemy" when applied to the lotus, "similar to" when applied to the
face, and Sri refers to the goddess when applied to the lotus, to
"beauty" when applied to the face: "Like the lotus is your face:
moon's rival, abode of Sri, perfumed"). (4) "Now it's time I was
up at the office to get my vay-bill and see the coach loaded; for
coaches is like guns-they requires to be loaded with wery great
care, afore they go off"" (Charles Dickens; the venerable Mr.
Weller, Sr. speaking). (5) Here we have an example of the ubiquity
of śleșa alamkāra; Daṇḍin regularly expresses interrelationships of
figures by considering one a subtype of another.
samsaya, 'doubt': (1) an upamā in which doubt is expressed as to
which of the two things being compared is which. (2) D 2.26, AP
344.18. (3) kim padmam antarbhrāntâli kim te lolėkṣaṇam mukham ।
mama dolāyate cittam (Dandin: "My mind doth ponder well:
is it a lotus bud with captive bees or a sloe-eyed maiden's face?").
(4) "I observe: 'Our sentimental friend the moon! / Or possibly
...</p>
<pb n="169" />
<p>167
(fantastic, I confess) / It may be Prester John's balloon / Or an old
battered lantern hung aloft/To light poor travellers to their distress*"*
(T. S. Eliot). (5) If such a doubt is subjected to reasoning, we have
nirnaya; if related to other people's opinion, mata. See also samdeha
alamkāra and subtypes.
GLOSSARY
samkşepa, 'ellipsis': (1) same as lupta. (2) U 1.17. (5) Only four types are
given by Udbhata: ellipsis of the property, of the particle, of both,
and of both plus the subject. See samyavācaka, tadvāci. Mammaţa
gives nineteen types of lupta in all.
sadṛśapada, "the word 'resembling"": (1) an upamā wherein a word such
as sadría expresses the force of the comparison. (2) U 1.16. (3)
prabodhad dhavalam rätrau kiñjalkâlīnaşatpadam । půrnendubimbena
samam āsīt kumudakānanam (Udbhata: "The lotuses were quite
similar to the orb of the full moon-freshly white from blooming
and drawing the night bees to their pollen cups"). (4) "... and their
other North Oxford acquaintances of the same kidney" (Michael
Innes). (5) Udbhața probably intends by this term that large and
vague category of words capable of expressing the idea of resem-
blance. He thinks of the two most common (yathā, iva) as different,
probably in the sense that they set up the norm to which the others
approximate.
sadršī, 'similar': (1) an upamā in which two things are represented as
fully comparable. (2) NS 16.50, AP 344.21. (3) yat tvayâdya kṛtam
karma paracittânurodhinä । sadṛśam na tathaiva syād atimănuşa-
karmaṇaḥ (Bharata: "What you did today out of compassion for
another could be compared only to the deed of a superhuman soul").
(4) **T. S. Eliot resembles one of those mighty castles in Bavaria which
are remarkably visible, famed for their unsightliness, and too
expensive to tear down" (Karl Shapiro). (5) Sadṛśī is distinguished
on the one hand from kimcitsadrsi, where one thing is compared
to several others through its aspects (partial similitudes), and on
the other from kalpita, in that the similitude is here actually present
in both terms, and the common properties apply literally to both
subjects; the similitude is not just an analogy of qualities which they
severally possess.
samastavişaya, *the whole matter*: (1) an upamā in which two things and
their several corresponding parts are systematically compared. (2)
R 8.29 (30). (3) alivalayair alakair iva kusumastabakaiḥ stanair iva
vasante / bhānti latā lalanā īva pāṇibhir iva kisalayaiḥ sapadi (Rudraţa:
"The climbing vines resemble maidens, their clouds of bees like</p>
<pb n="170" />
<p>168
GLOSSARY
tresses, their clusters of blossoms like bosoms, their tendrils like
clasping arms"). (4) "She summed her life up every day; / Modest
as morn, as mid-day bright, / Gentle as evening, cool as night"
(Andrew Marvell). (5) See also ekadesin. These two terms are but
tardy extensions of a commonplace distinction usually applied to
rūpaka alamkāra.
samana, uniform': (1) an upama in which the common property is
replaced by a play on words. (2) D 2.29. (3) bālêvôdyānalātêyam
sālakānanaśobhini (Dandin: "The young girl is like a forest creeper--
of beautiful tresses [alaka] and aspect [anana]" or "beautifying the
forest [kānana] of śāl trees [sāla]"). (4) "Why is a lady like a hinge?
Because she is a thing to adore" (M. E. W. Sherwood, quoted by
Russell Lynes). (5) A play on words differs from a pun in that the
latter plays upon a legitimate duplicity of meaning (double-entendre):
a word can in context be taken in either of two senses (cf. śleşa
upamā). But here there are no words at the base of the play, only
the appearance of words (hence the name 'uniform') which must be
differently construed to obtain the two desired senses. Only as the
construction of the sentence is decided are the words themselves
determined. This is, as it were, a syntactical pun. The Sanskrit
example is clearer because the component words of the two senses
don't even have a common phonemic basis; they are functions of a
different analysis of the long compound word sālakānana as sa-
alaka-ānana and sāla-kānana.
samāsa (1), "compound': (1) an upamā in which the object of comparison
occupies the first position in a compound word. (2) B 2.32, AP 344.8-
9, R 8.17-22. (3) [sā] kamalapattrâkşi śaśâñkavadanā (Bhāmaha:
"Lotus petal-eyed, moon-faced, she ..."). (4) "Dawn broke in Lon-
don, clear and sweet, dove grey and honey" (Evelyn Waugh). (5)
Several subtypes are recognized, depending on what element of the
simile completes the compound: the common property (as in Waugh's
example), the subject of comparison (as in the Sanskrit; compare
"pot-belly"), and the Agni Purāṇa seems to include here compounds
of type indusamam ('moon-like'), in which the comparative particle
takes second place. It is important to remark that all such com-
pounds are adjectival, but that none involve the object of comparison
in second position (see rūpaka).
samāsa (II): (1) an upamā in which the object of comparison is in an
oblique case and is compounded with, that is, followed by, the
comparative particle. (2) M 127. (3) atyāyatair niyamakãribhir</p>
<pb n="171" />
<p>GLOSSARY
169
uddhatānām divyaiḥ prabhābhir anapayamayair upāyaiḥ śaurir
bhujair iva caturbhir adaḥ sada yo lakṣmīvilāsabhuvanair bhuvanam
babhāra (Mammața: in the Sanskrit, the two terms of comparison,
'arms' and 'powers', are in the instrumental case: "Like Śrīkṛṣṇa,
who supports the world with his four arms where Lakşmi finds
delight, [this King supports the world] with the four royal powers,
wide extending, punishers of the haughty, divinely glorious, and
eternal"). (4) "There was a great clock ticking, and every time it
ticked the tears all fell together with a noise like broken glass tinkling
in a plate" (Joyce Cary). (5) In addition to the commonplace ex-
ample mentioned in connection with the Agni Purāṇa in the previous
entry, Mammața includes in the present category of simile this
bizarre and unparalleled instance whereby we are given to under-
stand that the comparative particle (iva, 'like'), when preceded by
its object of comparison in an oblique case, is considered to form a
compound with it. In the grammatical literature, such compounds
are admitted.
samuccaya, 'accumulation': (1) an upama in which a second common
property cumulates the effect of the first common property. (2)
D 2.21, AP 344.13. (3) na kāntyaiva mukham tava / hlādanâkhyena
cânveti karmaṇêndum (Daṇḍin: "Not only in beauty is your face
likened to the moon, but in its gladdening charm"). (4) "The sun's
beams seemed to hit the white road with a directed energy and bounce
back like a rubber ball" (Somerset Maugham). (5) This figure differs
from utprekşita upamā in that here the properties alone are relevant
"... to hit ... and bounce back ..."); no question is intended as to
the adequacy of the object to represent the comparison. Samuccaya
differs from målä upamā in iterating only the property, but not the
object. It has no relation whatever to the upamāsamuccaya alamkāra
of Rudrata.
sāmānyâbhāva, 'ellipsis of the common property': (1) same as dharmalupta
upamā. (2) R 8.7 (8).
sāmyatadvācisamkşepa, 'ellipsis of the common property and the com-
parative particle': (1) same as dharmadyotakalupta. (2) U 1.18.
sāmyavācakasamkṣepa, 'ellipsis of the common property': (1) same as
dharmalupta. (2) U 1.17.
samyopameyatadvācisamkşepa, 'ellipsis of the common property, the
particle of comparison, and the subject of comparison': (1) same as
upameyadharmadyotakalupta. (2) U 1.17.
stuti, 'praise': (1) same as prašamsā upamā. (2) V 4.2.7.</p>
<pb n="172" />
<p>170
hetu, 'cause': (1) an upamā in which the common property is expressed
as the cause of the similitude. (2) D 2.50. (3) käntyä candramasam
dhămnā sūryam dhairyeṇa cârṇavam । rājann anukaroşi (Dandin:
"O King, you rival the moon with your beauty, the sun with your
glory, the sea with your steadfastness"). (4) "At the edge of this
box there lies a great wooden doll, which, so far as mutilation is
concerned, bears a strong resemblance to the finest Greek sculpture,
and especially in the total loss of its nose" (George Eliot). (5)
Specifically intended is that the common property be expressed
grammatically as a cause would be expressed; for example, with
the instrumental or, in the English, with "in."
GLOSSARY
upamārupaka
upamārūpaka (I), 'simile-metaphor': (1) a figure consisting of a rúpaka
to which is subordinated, in completion of the image, an upamä
('simile'). (2) B 3.34 (35). (3) samagragaganâyāmamānadaṇḍo
rathônginaḥ । pādo jayati siddhastrīmukhêndunavadarpaṇaḥ (Bhāma-
ha; according to the commentator, D. T. Tatacharya, the figure
concerns only the final attributive compound: "mukham indur iva
mukhênduḥ । tasyâbhütapûrvo darpaṇa ivêti"—literally, foot-mirror
[rüpaka] for the moonlike faces [upamā]; "May Viṣṇu's foot be
victorious, which is the measuring stick of the entire heaven and
a new mirror for the moon-like faces of the celestial maidens").
(4) "Thou [West Wind] on hose stream, 'mid the steep sky's com-
motion, Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed"
(Shelley). (5) The definition which Bhämaha gives is clearly different
from that for the figure upamārūpaka of Vămana (see paramparita
rūpaka), but his example is inconclusive. Mukhêndu ('face-moon')
would by later writers be considered not an upamā, but another
rüpaka (see samasta rūpaka); the figure would show then a rüpaka
subordinated to another rūpaka, and indeed illustrate a paramparita
rūpaka. Our English example appears to illustrate Bhamaha's
intention better than his own example: a completely articulated simile</p>
<p>(clouds like leaves) is subjoined to the main metaphor (wind-stream)</p>
<p>in order to give added force to the identification of property or
aspect which that metaphor suggests. Likewise, this independent
figure should not be confused with the upamā, a subspecies of
rūpaka, delineated by Dandin; in this latter case, the metaphorical
identification is completed by a mention of the common property
which justifies it.</p>
<pb n="173" />
<p>171
upamārūpaka (II): (1) same as paramparita rūpaka. (2) V 4.3.31-32. (5)
This is one of the two kinds of multiple figure (samsṛşti) given by
Vāmana (cf. utprekşåvayava).
GLOSSARY
upamāsamuccaya
upamāsamuccaya, 'simile-conjunction': (1) same as samāna upamă.
(2) R 4.32 (34).
upameyôpamā
upameyôpamā, 'comparison of the compared': (1) same as anyonya
upamā. (2) B 3.36 (37), V 4.3.15, U 5.14, M 136. (5) Another name
for the same concept is ubhaya upamā.
ubhayanyasa
ubhayanyasa, "introducing both': (1) a figure in which the statement
of two general remarks suggests a parallel between them, which may
in turn suggest a specific reference but in which there is no explicit
comparison. (2) R 8.85 (86). (3) sakalajagatsādhāraṇavibhavā bhuvi
sādhavo'dhunā viralāḥ । santi kiyantas taravaḥ susvādusugandhi-
căruphalāḥ (Rudrața: "Rare indeed are those genial souls whose
dominion is spread throughout the world; how many trees are there
sweet smelling and bearing tender fruit?"). (4) "When the lute is
broken, Sweet tones are remembered not; / When the lips have
spoken, / Loved accents are soon forgot" (Shelley). (5) This figure
is peculiar to Rudraţa and seems to fill the classificatory gap occa-
sioned by his definitions of arthântaranyäsa and dṛșțânta: here we
have adjunction of remarks general; in drșțânta, of remarks specific;
and in arthântaranyäsa, of a remark specific and its appropriate
universal. The purpose of this figure is both illustrative and com-
parative and may be seen as a continuation of prativastu (prativas-
túpamā) alamkāra and drstânta. Though the references seem to be
general in both examples cited above, a particular (a beneficent king,
a departed mistress) is obviously intended.
ūrjasvi
ūrjasvi, 'violent': (1) the expression of extraordinary self-assurance or
arrogance. (2) B 3.7, D 2.294 (293), U 4.5. (3) apakartâham asmiti
hṛdi te mā sma bhūd bhayam । vimukheşu na me khaḍgaḥ prahartum
jātu väñchati (Daṇḍin: "Let there be no fear in your heart from think-
ing yourself an evil rogue; my sword never wishes to strike the backs</p>
<pb n="174" />
<p>172
GLOSSARY
of those who flee from me!"). (4) "Nor Mike Fink along the Ohio
and the Mississippi, half wild horse and half cock-eyed alligator,
the rest of him snags and snapping turtle. 'I can out-run, out-jump,
out-shoot, out-brag, out-drink, and out-fight, rough and tumble,
no holds barred, any man on both sides of the river from Pittsburgh
to New Orleans and back again to St. Louis. My trigger finger itches
and I want to go redhot. War, famine and bloodshed puts flesh on
my bones, and hardship's my daily bread"" (Carl Sandburg).
(5) As the third in the trio preyas, rasavat, ūrjasvi, this figure may
originally have meant "excess in the portrayal of a rasa", and this
explanation is in fact adopted by Udbhata, though his example in
no way differs from the one given. The other two writers seem to
pair ürjasvi with preyas (excess of animosity and excess of compliance).
Mammaţa treats this trio, not under alamkāra, but in 'subordinated
suggestion' (gunibhūtavyañgyadhvani; 66 ff.). He tries to reintegrate
Anandavardhana, who was not interested in figures except as they
manifested a kind of imperfect dhvani, into the poetic tradition.
Cf. rasavat and udātta.
ekâvali
ekâvali, 'a single row': (1) a figure in which a series of statements is so
arranged that a notion introduced as a qualification (direct object,
etc.) in a preceding statement becomes the subject of the following
qualification, and so on. (2) R 7.109 (110-11), M 198. (3) salilam
vikāsikamalam kamalāni sugandhimadhusamṛddhāni । madhu līnāliku-
lâkulam alikulam api madhuraraṇitam iha (Rudrața: "The stream is
abloom with lotuses and the lotuses are replete with sweet-smelling
nectar; the nectar is attracting bee swarms, and the bees are gently
buzzing"). (4) "I come from the city of Boston, / The home of the
bean and the cod, / Where the Cabots speak only to Lowells, / And
the Lowells speak only to God" (Anon.). (5) Compare kāraṇamālā,
where a similar causal sequence is portrayed, and sāra, where a
gradation of excellences constitutes the "necklace". Mālā ('garland')
has of course been associated with many figures, notably upama,
as a series of (usually) concatenated comparisons. The present
figure illustrates a rhetorical form only-that of superadded qualifi-
cation.
aucitya
aucitya, "appropriateness': (1) the appropriate correspondance of subject</p>
<pb n="175" />
<p>173
and style, acting and mood; a blend of vigor and gentleness. (2)
AP 345.5. (5) This is one of the six šabdârthâlamkāra enumerated by
the Agni Purāṇa in an unparalleled treatment (cf. abhivyakti, the
sixth such figure). All six are elements of style rather than forms of
speech and belong rather to that subject (guṇa). It is difficult to say
precisely what is meant in the text, both due to the lack of examples
and because the Agni Purāṇa also gives an entirely unique account
of the gunas themselves. It seems safe to say that Dandin's and
Vāmana's list of ten has been differently sorted out, some now being
called śabdârthâlamkāras, as kānti, some gunas, as śleşa. The
catalytic factor may indeed be the dhvani theory (see abhivyakti),
for the term aucitya is of extreme importance in that latter specula-
tion (Dhvanyaloka, chap. 3); there seems to be no specific reference
to such a concept among Dandin's ten gunas.
GLOSSARY
aupamya
aupamya, 'comparative': (1) a generic term for those figures based
ultimately on upamă (simile') or describable in terms of the same
structure (upameya, upamāna). (2) R 7.9, 8.1. (5) Rudrata divides
arthålamkāra into four subtypes: aupamya, västava (descriptive),
atiśaya (hyperbolic), and śleșa (punning). In this, he improves upon
Vāmana, who wanted all the figures involving meaning to be derived
from upamã.
kānti
kānti, 'loveliness': (1) agreeable or pleasant utterance in appropriate
circumstances. (2) AP 345.4. (5) This is one of the six sabdartha-
lamkāra of the Agni Purana (see aucitya and abhivyakti). Känti
may be related to the guṇa "kānta" of Daṇḍin. See prašasti.
kāraṇamālā
kāraṇamālā, 'garland of causes': (1) a figure wherein an effect (a term so
introduced) is said to be the cause of a subsequent effect, and so on.
(2) R 7.84 (85), M 186. (3) vinayena bhavati gunavän gunavati
loko'nurajyate sakalaḥ । abhigamyate'nuraktaḥ sasahāyo yujyate
lakṣmya (Rudrața: "By just actions one attains virtue; the whole
world delights in a virtuous man. When one is loved, he is never
alone; a befriended man enjoys prosperity"). (4) "By the side of a
murmuring stream an elderly gentleman sat. / On the top of his
head was a wig, and a-top of his wig was his hat. / The wind it blew</p>
<pb n="176" />
<p>174
GLOSSARY
high and blew strong, as the elderly gentleman sat; / And bore from
his head in a trice, and plunged in the river his hat. / The gentleman
then took his cane which lay by his side as he sat; / And he dropped
in the river his wig, in attempting to get out his hat. / His breast it
grew cold with despair, and full in his eye madness sat; / So he flung
in the river his cane to swim with his wig, and his hat. / Cool reflexion at
last came across while this elderly gentleman sat; / So he thought
he would follow the stream and look for his cane, wig, and hat. /
His head being thicker than common, o'er-balanced the rest of his
fat; / And in plumped this son of a woman to follow his wig, cane,
and hat" (George Canning). (5) The figure is nothing but a string of
causes enchainées.
kävyadrstânta
kávyadṛṣṭânta, 'poetic example': (1) same as drșțânta. (2) U 6.8. (5)
Udbhata has been reading Bhāmaha, where dṛṣṭânta has its logical
connotation only.
kävyalinga
kavyalinga, 'poetic cause': (1) a figure in which a metaphorical relation
of cause and effect is expressed conventionally either as intention
or rationale. (2) M 174. (3) praṇayisakhīsalīlaparihāsarasâdhigatair
lalitasirişapuspahananair api tämyati yat । vapuşi vadhāya tatra tava
sastram upakşipataḥ patatu śirasy akāṇḍe'yam îṇḍa ivâişa bhujaḥ
(Mammata; the subject phrase "may my arm fall" describes the con-
ventional effect and riposte to the cause: the attack of the love god:
"My body suffers from the blows of gay śirīşa flowers that you
stole from the mocking games of her dearest friends! You have
certainly shot these weapons in the hope of killing me. May my
defenceless arm fall for once on your head!"). (4) "When he saw
in their bright eyes the shadow of the registry office, he told them
that the memory of his one great love would always prevent him
from forming any permanent tie" (Somerset Maugham; the registry
office is the cause of the convenient memory). (5) There is little
ground for distinguishing this rather obscure figure from the ordinary
hetu (q.v.). The main structural argument for the distinction is that
the cause is here specified as poetic; for hetu, such a determination has
always been implicit. Yet the figure has been rejected by several
authors on the ground that it involves no element of vakrôkti,
metaphorical utterance. Mammaţa's kāvyalinga may represent no</p>
<pb n="177" />
<p>GLOSSARY
175
more than an effort to take account of that hypothetical objection:
he does not himself define a figure hetu and indeed says, in discussing
the figure kāraṇamālā, "pūrvôktakavyalingam eva hetuh" (the figure
hetu is indeed nothing but the previously mentioned figure kāvya-
ling Mammaţa's three examples show quite forcefully that he
intends the expression of the relation of cause and effect to be other
than descriptive-definitely conventional and presumptive; the
figure thus resembles leśa (I).
kāvyahetu
kävyahetu, 'poetic cause': (1) same as smaraṇa alamkāra. (2) U 6.7.
(5) In the text, Udbhața also calls this kávyalinga; Mammaţa uses
the name kavyalinga for another figure and calls this one smaraṇa.
Kavyahetu is a jñāpaka hetu whose purpose is comparison.
krama
krama, 'series*: (1) same as yathāsamkhya. (2) D 2.273, V 4.3.17.
gumphanā
gumphanā, 'stringing': (1) composition. (2) AP 342.31. (5) Gumphanā
is skill at managing the sequence of the narrative; it is paraphrased
by the term racanã. If the Sarasvatīkaṇthâbharaṇa (2.118) can be
allowed to have preserved the poetic tradition of the Agni Purāṇa,
the term may mean only balanced composition and be similar to the
figure yathāsamkhya.
citra
citra, 'glitter' (and duşkara, 'difficult', krīda, 'play'): (1) names used
variously by the different authors to cover four separate phenomena,
but grouped together because of their basis in pure word play. (2)
D 3.186, AP 343.22-31, R 5.1-33, M 4, 121. See also (5) and the
terms there defined. (5) After the triumph of the rasa-dhvani theory,
the term citrakavya comes to be used for the third and lowest kind of
poetry, where mere verbal virtuosity precludes the expression of any
rasa.
(a) In the most obvious sense, "word play" refers to the composi-
tion of various puzzles and games, riddles and conundrums, and
the like. None of the authors, except perhaps the Agni Purana,
goes as far as calling this sort of thing poetry, but several treat of
it because of its obvious function of entertaining the same audience</p>
<pb n="178" />
<p>176
GLOSSARY
for whom the poetry was destined and also because in some manner
it does demonstrate the virtuosity of the "poet" who wrote it. Dandin
gives sixteen different types of conundrum in treating of prahelikā.
The Agni Purana and Rudrata give approximately the same list
of six games, but the former calls them citra (the eighth sabdálam-
kāra of nine), and the latter krīdā, appending the topic to a discussion
of citra (types [b] and [c] below), a śabdâlamkāra. In both treatments,
prahelikā is but one of six games given, the others being cyuta,
gūḍha (or gupta), praśna, and samasyā (variously subdivided to make
six).
A more important category of word play, however, is the various
kinds of patterned verses, which probably have their origin in the
figure yamaka ('cadence"). Three types can be distinguished, depend-
ing upon the principle of repetition involved. (b) Included here are
verses which, through a geometrical limitation of the sequence of
their syllables, can be read in more than one way to give the same
meaning. The most transparent example is the palindrome (pratilo-
mânuloma), which specifies that the sequence of syllables be the
same when read backwards. But the Indian authors have been
ingenious in inventing other principles of total repetition, such as
'hop-scotch' (anulomaviloma), 'zig-zag' (gomůtrika), 'criss-cross'
(muraja), 'double palindrome (sarvatobhadra), elephant-walk'
(gajapada), and 'knight-at-chess' (turagapada). The geometric 'cart-
track' (rathapada) is two palindromes separated by non-geometrical
sequences and could be taken as an example of the next type. No
specific name has been given to these geometrics. Dandin treats
them as an extension of yamaka, along with (d), following in what
he calls duşkara. The Agni Purāṇa may intend this type by its cate-
gory vikalpa duşkara, but some examples of it (sarvatobhadra) are
included in bandha duşkara (c). Rudrața and Mammața treat both
this and the next type (c) under the category citra, though Rudraţa
does not mix the examples indiscriminately, which perhaps implies
that he was aware of a difference of principle.
(c) When the principle of limitation is not applied to the entire
sequence of syllables, but requires repetition only of certain strategi-
cally placed syllables in terms of which the whole verse can be ar-
ranged in imitation of natural objects, we have a type of word play
most commonly known by the name bandha (Agni Purāṇa, Mam-
mata); examples are: khadga ('sword'), cakra ('wheel'), dhanu
('bow'), padma ('lotus'), musala ('pestle'), śara ('arrow'), śakti</p>
<pb n="179" />
<p>GLOSSARY
177
('lance'), süla ('spike'), and hala (plough"). Rudrata apparently
considers pictorial verses citra par excellence, for they get first place
in his account. He gives no specific name, however; type (b) above
is also considered citrakavya.
Lastly (d), the princ of repetition may be located not in the
verse at all, but in the individual syllable; that is, the place of the
syllable is not specified, but rather its phonemic quality. Dandin
and the Agni Purāṇa call this type niyama, and Dandin gives examples
of verses composed of four or fewer vowels or consonants, including
one tour de force the only consonant in which is the phoneme
"n".
The last three types depart in certain respects from the classic
yamaka, which is a repetition of phonemically identical syllable
sequences in specifically defined and symmetrically related parts of
the verse. The first type (b) can be seen as a variation on the maha-
yamaka (q.v.), inasmuch as the entire verse is somehow repeated;
but the repetition is subjected to conditions which in turn limit the
occurrence of syllables within the verse, and this is foreign to yamaka.
The second type (c) involves a repetition only of specifically placed
syllables and does not refer to symmetrically related parts of the
verse. Type (d), of course, puts no restriction at all upon sequence.
It may be seen from the preceding that not all authors agree
either on the terminology or typology of citrakavya. Dandin, the
earliest writer to deal with the subject, defines types (a), (b), and
(d), calling them prahelikä, duşkara, and niyama. The Agni Purāṇa
seems to refer to all four under the names (a) citra, (b) vikalpa, (c)
bandha, and (d) niyama, and groups the last three together as
duşkara. Rudrața, in turn, considers (a) krīdā, (b) and (c) citra,
but ignores (d). Lastly, Mammața, who uses only the term citra,
treats indiscriminately of (b) and (c).
Citra, as a category of poetry, is extremely important in the history
of Indian poetic speculation. The growing contempt for the poet's
virtuosity on the part of the critics probably reflects in part the
increasing dependence of the poets on these devices, a fact that
Sanskrit literary history has often remarked. From its origins per-
haps ultimately in religious symbolism, citrakāvya has passed from
one extreme (Dandin's view that it is a kind of recreation of the poet
and his audience) to the other, becoming more and more a central
issue opposing the poet to his audience (the critics). The development
of the tantric religious systems may have accentuated this divorce,</p>
<pb n="180" />
<p>178
GLOSSARY
for the magical undertone, especially of the pictorial verses, is
apparent.
anulomaviloma, 'with the grain, ignoring the grain': (1) a type of word
play in which the syllables of a second half verse or second verse
repeat in a leapfrogging sequence those of the first (half) verse.
(2) R 5.22-23. (3) samaraṇamahitopā yâstanämâripātā sarama-
nahimatoyâpāstamānâritāpā (Rudrata: "Those who destroy the
enemies of the Gods and cause to fall the enemies of those whose
glory is decayed by having departed, the sufferings of his enemies,
being arrogance, were assuaged by applications of water borne from
snow to a lover"). (4) The form is: A Ba Ca Da Ea Fa Ga Ha Ja /
A Ca Ba Da Fa Ea Ga Ja Ha. (5) Cf. pratilomânuloma; the word
viloma also means 'against the grain', but the connotation of the
pre-verb vi- is simply 'irrespective of rather than 'contrary to as
conveyed by prati-. Loma means 'hair'; the idea conveyed is that of
stroking hair in the way it naturally lies, or the inverse.
ambuja, 'lotus': (1) same as padma. (2) AP 343.46.
***
arthacitra, 'word play of sense': (1) another term for alamkāra. (2) M 70.
(5) Mammaţa is following Anandavardhana, who thinks that figures
of speech which do not evoke any rasa are mere word play, distin-
guished from riddles and cadence (śabdacitra) only in that they involve
the meanings of the words instead of their outward form (sabda).
They lack the poetic charm which alone derives from an appropriately
evoked rasa. Mammața mistakes this rhetorical remark for a classi-
fication of citra and reproduces it in that context.
ardhabhrama, 'half-rotation': (1) a type of word play in which a verse,
each of whose four pādas is written on a separate line, can be read
either in the normal way or as a helix, from outer verticals inwards.
(2) D 3.80 (81), AP 343.39 (text reads ardhābhyām in error), R 5.3
(18). (3):
mā no bha va ta vā nī kam
no da yā ya na mā ni nī
bha yā da me yā mā mā vā
va ya me no ma ya na ta.
Dandin
("O Liebesgott, vor dem wir uns verneigen! Dein Heer, die Grollende,
trägt den Sieg davon; wir mögen ein Vergehen begangen haben oder
nicht, so empfinden wir doch aus Furcht eine unermessliche Pein"
(Böhtlingk). Or: "O God of Love! your beloved, phalanx-like, is
certainly not for our misfortune! May we not be deemed sinners!</p>
<pb n="181" />
<p>179
Our incompassible sufferings are from fear of you alone!") (4) The
form is:
A
B
B
I
C J
GLOSSARY
C D E F
J K L M
P
O
DK P S
GH
NG
Q R M F
TQ LE
(5) Reading as a helix, that is, downwards on the first column,
upwards on the eighth, then downwards on the second and upwards
on the seventh, and so on, gives exactly the same sequence of syllables
as reading from left to right in the normal way. Compare sarvato-
bhadra, where the verse can be read backwards and forwards as well.
kārakagūdha, *concealment of the subject': (1) a grammatical riddle in
which the subject at first reading is concealed by a false samdhi, but
which another reading (dividing the words differently) reveals.
(2) R 5.26 (30). (3) pibato väri tavasyām sariti śarāveņa pātitau kena
(Rudraţa; pătitau has no subject, but by reading śarāveṇa 'with a
dish' as sarāv eņa, 'arrows, O antelope', the subject is supplied;
"While drinking water in this stream with a dish, by whom have been
shot at you?"). (4) Read the example under kriyāgūdha on "Why did
the raise her bill (razorbill) raise her bill?" (Oliver Onions; deformed
for our purpose here). (5) Rudraţa lists six games (krīḍā) of which
this is one; cf. kriyāgūḍha.
kriyāgūdha, 'concealment of the verb': (1) a grammatical puzzle in
which the verb at first reading is concealed by samdhi. (2) R 5.26
(30). (3) vāri šiśiram ramaṇyo ratikhedād apuruṣasyêva (Rudrața;
ramaṇyo, "ladies' requires a verb; by reading apuruşasyêva, "as though
of a non-man" as apur uşasy eva, 'drank only at dawn', it is supplied:
"The ladies, exhausted from passion, the cool water as though of a
non-man"). (4) "Why did the razorbill razorbill?" "So the sea-
urchin could sea-urchin" (Oliver Onions). (5) See kārakagūḍha.
krīḍā, 'play': (1) puzzles or conundrums. (2) R 5.24. (5) A cover term
for six games: mātracyuta, binducyuta, prahelikā, kārakagūḍha,
kriyāgūḍha, and praśnôttara. Rudrața distinguishes these six from
citra, which are syllable arrangements and legitimate figures (cf.
pratilomânuloma), by calling them "merely playful"; that is, they
serve no function of embellishment and are not poetic. But Rudraţa,
following Dandin, treats of them presumably because they please
and divert the same sophisticated audience for which the poetry
was intended. The six games are wider in scope than our conun-
drums, which term could usefully translate the third type, prahelikā;</p>
<pb n="182" />
<p>180
GLOSSARY
types one and two depend on altering the written verse in a system-
atic way, types four and five on false samdhi, and six is a question
which answers itself.
khadga, 'sword': (1) a verse or pair of verses whose syllables can be
arranged, in terms of certain repetitions, in the visual form of a
sword. (2) R 5.2 (6, 7), M 121. (3) märârisakrarāmēbhamukhair
āsāraramhasă । sărârabdhastavā nityam tadartiharaṇakṣamā । mātā
natānāṁ samghaṭṭaḥ śriyām bādhitasambhramā । mānyâtha sīmā
rāmāṇām śam me diśyād umâdijā (Rudraţa: "May Umã, the first
born, show me favor-she who is praised most excellently and with the
violence of a cloudburst by Siva, Indra, Rāma, and Gaņēša, and
who is able to remove their sufferings, mother of the devoted and
collection of bounties, who cancels error, and who serves as the
honorable model of women"). (4) The reader is referred to the appen-
dix of Rudrața's text, where he will find the "picture" which this
verse defines. (5) Such picture verses, generally referred to as bandha
('ligature', 'bond'), are first mentioned in the Agni Purāṇa and con-
stitute probably the most original and indeed the most curious
contribution of that text to poetics. The tantric symbolism of these
verse arrangements is evident, but their actual function is not so.
Some late writers, like Māgha, employ them, but it is clear that they
have no other purpose than to demonstrate the virtuosity of the
author. One chapter (the nineteenth) of the Sisupalavadha contains
a great number of these devices, and one may wonder if there is
not some relation between the virtuosity so demonstrated and the
concurrently rendered climax of the poem: the fight between
Kṛṣṇa and Siśupāla.
gajapadapātha, 'elephant-gait-version': (1) a verse which, when cach of
its four pādas is placed on a separate line, can be read either by vertical
pairs of syllables from left to right, or in the normal way. This
horizontal movement of two syllables at once is likened to the gait
of the elephant, whose two legs are always in unison. (2) R 5.2
(16). (3):
ye nā nā dhī nā vā dhī rā
nă dhī vā rā dhi rā rā jan
kim nā nā śam nā kam śam te
nā śan kan te'śam te te jaḥ
Rudraţa
("Those of your courtiers, O King, who preserve the force of
various epithets, are powerful, who eradicate obstacles and who do</p>
<pb n="183" />
<p>GLOSSARY
not preserve non-wisdom, why do they not notice your heavenly
grace, replete with many desires? [They do not observe that] your
glory is not auspicious".) (4) The form is:
A B BC B D CE
B C DE CEE F
181
(5) The same syllable sequence is obtained by reading the left vertical
pair from top to bottom, then the second vertical pair, and so on.
gupta, 'hidden': (1) probably the same as (kārakakriya) gūḍha. (2) AP
343.22 (26). (5) As always with the Agni Purāṇa, no examples are
given, but the context suggests that Rudrata's two krīdā are meant.
gomütrika, 'cow piss': (1) a verse the syllables of whose constituent
pādas, when placed on separate lines, can be read either by zig-zag-
ging from one line to the other, or in the regular way. (2) D 3.78-79,
AP 343.36-38. (3):
ma da no ma di rā kṣī ņā ma på ñīgā stro ja ye da yam
ma de no ya di tat kṣī ņa ma na ñgā yāñ ja lim da de
Dandin
("Should the love-power of drunken-eyed women, armed with side-
long glances, conquer me-if this my sin should finally be destroyed,
I would give thanks to the Love God".) (4) The form is:
A B C D E F G H
AI CJ EK GL
(5) The same syllable sequence can be obtained by reading lower
first vertical (A), upper second vertical (B), lower third vertical (C),
and so on. This amounts to requiring that every other syllable be
the same as the corresponding syllable in the next pāda. The Agni
Purāṇa gives three other names for this type of limited verse:
dhenu ('cow'), aśvapada 'horse track'), and jālabandha ("lattice").
The appropriateness of the more common name is evident.
cakra, "wheel': (1) a series of verses which can, in terms of certain signi-
ficant repeated syllables, be arranged in the visual form of a wheel.
(2) AP 343.47-54, R 5.2 (6-13). (3) See Rudrața's examples for
khadga, musala, dhanu, śara, śūla, šakti, and hala, in that order.
(5) The first half verse of each śloka begins with the same syllable
(mã), and this constitutes the "hub". The first half verse itself
is the spoke and the second half verse the part of the felloe to the
right of the spoke, up to the next spoke. The syllable at the junction
of the spoke and the felloe is thus part of three half verses and is</p>
<pb n="184" />
<p>182
GLOSSARY
consequently the same in all three: last syllable of the preceding
verse, last syllable of the first half verse, and first syllable of the second
half verse following. In Rudrata's example, eight verses are given,
constituting a wheel of eight spokes.
cakrâbjaka, 'wheel-lotus': (1) presumably some combination of cakra
and padma. (2) AP 343.55. (5) No examples and no similar type
in the other texts.
cyuta, 'fallen': (1) a group of conundrums which operate by dropping
significant parts of the written Sanskrit sentence, such as vowel
indicators, nasal vowel marks (anusvāra), final aspiration (visarga),
and perhaps consonants ("r" in clusters). (2) AP 343.22, 28. (4)
"There's a little old fellow and he has a little paint-pot, / And a
paucity of brushes is something that he ain't got, / And when he
sees a road sign, the road sign he betters, / And expresses of himself
by eliminating letters. / Thus Through Road" / Becomes 'Rough
Road' / And 'Curves Dangerous' / Is transformed to 'Curves Anger
Us..."" (Morris Bishop). (5) No Sanskrit examples are given, but in
part cyuta is evidently the same as Rudrața's matracyuta and
binducyuta. The idea is that by dropping these discriminating ele-
ments, another meaning is obtained. The possibility of this game,
of course, depends on the fact that short "a" is inherent in all
syllables and is "what is left" when superscripts are dropped.
cyutadatta, 'dropped-added': (1) apparently a combination of cyuta and
datta; perhaps certain discriminating elements are replaced by others.
(2) AP 343.22, 30. (5) No example is given. Cf. cyuta, datta.
turagapada, 'horse path': (1) a verse whose syllables, when arranged by
pādas on separate lines, can be read either in the manner of the
moves of a knight at chess or in the regular way. (2) R 5.2 (15). (3):
se nā līlī lī nā nā lī
lī nā nā nā nā lī li li
nā lī nā li le nā lī nā
lī līlī nā nā nā nā lī
Rudrata
("I praise the army whose leader is mighty in play, which is devoted
--I, who am not acquainted with untruth, whose men are mounted
in carts and keep together in various rows, who does not perpetrate
meaningless deeds for his dependents, who has generals who assume
the leadership of happy men, who has men of several sorts and no
fools". (4) The form is:</p>
<pb n="185" />
<p>GLOSSARY
15
2
6
8
183
4
10
3
11 7 9
(5) This amounts to the famous puzzle of moving the knight so
that it touches every square only once. I am indebted to V. Raghavan
for suggesting the nature of the solution. It is beyond my powers
to complete it.
daņda, 'stick": (1) probably the same as khadga. (2) AP 343.37, 55. (5)
No example.
datta, 'given': (1) probably a group of conundrums which function by
adding certain significant parts of the written Sanskrit sentence, as
vowel indictors, nasal vowel marks (anusvāra), final aspiration
(visarga), and perhaps consonants. (2) AP 343.22, 29. (4) "But the
old fellow feels a slight dissatisfaction / With the uninspiring process
of pure subtraction. / The evidence would indicate he's taken as his
mission The improvement of the road signs by the process of
addition. Thus Traffic Light Ahead' / Becomes "Traffic Slight
Ahead' / And 'Gas and Oil' / Is improved to 'Gasp and Boil..."
(Morris Bishop). (5) No Sanskrit examples are given, but the context
permits a comparison with cyuta and leads to the inference that
datta is the reverse of this. Like cyuta, the games depend on the
fact that the short vowel "a" is inherent in every syllable, and that
graphically other vowels and vowel aspects are superscripts to that
simple vowel. The second type, "consonantal" datta, presents more
of a problem, but may refer to adding parts of ligatures, as "r"
which is an obvious superscript.
duşkara, 'difficult to accomplish': (1) a general name for various types of
picture verses and geometric verses. (2) D 3.78, 83, AP 342.20,
343.32. (5) In general, duşkara is distinguished from puzzles and
conundrums, which Dandin includes in prahelikā and the Agni
Purāņa calls citra. Duşkara then refers to those extensions of yamaka
in which the principle of repetition is not linear, or in which the
limitation on occurrence applies only to certain letters (e.g., one
vowel or consonant) or to certain places in the verse (picture verses).
These two types are clearly delimited by Dandin (reference cited),
who does not recognize any pictorial verses. (His gomutrika may
provide the key to the explanation of the origin of these latter: for
Daṇḍin, the zig-zag is clearly a geometrical verse with a graphic
name; it may have encouraged others, more literal minded, to</p>
<pb n="186" />
<p>184
GLOSSARY
explore further the field of graphic representation.) The Agni
Purāṇa apparently follows Daṇḍin's usage of the term, but it makes
an explicit distinction between three types of duşkara, only the first
and third of which have clear parallels in Dandin (verses employing
only limited vowels or consonants and picture verses). The second
type (vikalpa) may refer to geometrical verses, for the palindrome
is referred to, yet sarvatobhadra is included in the third type (picture
verses or bandha).
dhanu, 'bow': (1) a verse whose syllables can, in terms of certain significant
repetitions, be arranged in the visual form of a bow. (2) R 5.2 (9).
(3) mām abhīdā śaraṇyā mutsadaivârukpradă ca dhiḥ / dhīrā pavitrā
samtrāsāt träsīṣṭhā mātar ārama (Rudrața: "O mother, save me
from fear and lay off! you who dispense confidence, are a refuge,
a giver of health always and uniquely enjoyable, wise, steadfast and
holy"). (5) The first half verse is the "bow", the second, the "string".
The syllables joining at each end are dhĩ and ma (second of the first
half and last of the second; the Indian bow generally has an extension
at the top above the junction with the string). For metrical reasons,
Rudrața also refers to dhanu as bāṇāsana (same meaning).
niyama, 'limit': (1) a verse whose phonemic content is limited to certain
vowels, consonants, or points of articulation. (2) D 3.83ff., AP
343.33-34. (3) śrīdīpti hrīkirti dhiniti gihpriti । edhete dve dve te ye
neme devese [only two vowels]; nūnam nunnāni nānena nānanenânanāni
naḥ । nānenā nanu nānūnenainenānānino ninīḥ [one consonant]; agā
gām gāngakākākagāhakāghakākākahā । ahāhānga khagāñkāgakan-
gakhagakākaka [only gutterals]. All these examples are from Dandin:
"They are not two overlords who prosper there, they are prosperity
and beauty, shame and fame, wisdom and polity, celebrity and
pleasure"; the last two examples are unclear). (5) One well-known
example from literature of this virtuosity is the seventh chapter of
The Ten Princes (also by Dandin) where no labials at all are employed,
on the pretext that the narrator has wounded his lips in love-making.
See (5) under duşkara, of which this is the first type.
padma, "lotus': (1) a verse whose syllables can, in terms of certain signi-
ficant repetitions, be arranged in the visual form of a lotus. (2)
R 5.21, M 121. (3) bhasate pratibhāsāra rasâbhâtâhatâvibhā ।
bhāvitātmā śubhā vāde devâbhā vata te sabhā (Mammaţa: "O essence
of glory! your council is indeed brilliant, beautified by the eight
moods, of unbeatable beauty, in which is revealed the ultimate soul
of justice, clever in dispute, and similar to God"). (5) The syllable</p>
<pb n="187" />
<p>GLOSSARY
185
bhā forms the center of the lotus. The two syllables following or
preceding bha constitute the "petals". The "center" recurs after
every two "petals". One begins with bhā, reads out along the first
petal and back along the second to the center, then out along the
third, back along the fourth, and so on, until one reaches the last
petal, which should be the inverse of the first (here bhāsate and te
sabhā) and lead back to the center. In the present example, the petals
at the end of each pada and the beginning of the next are also inver-
sions.
pratilomânuloma, 'against the grain, with the grain': (1) a type of word
play in which the syllables of a second half verse repeat in exact
inverse order those of the first half verse. (2) AP 343.34-35, R 5.3
(17). (3) vedâpanne sa śakle racitanijarugucchedayatne'ramêre
devâsakte'mudakşo baladamanayadas todadurgâsavāse / sevāsargād
udasto dayanamadalavakşodamukte saväde reme ratneʼyadacche
gurujanitacirakleśasanne"padāve (Rudrața: "A certain person, whose
eyes know no pleasures, who gives directions for countermanding
strength and who has ceased to desire serving others, delights in
this virtuous man, accomplished in the Vedas, agreeable, who strikes
down evil men and in whom is ingrained the struggle to eradicate
his own suffering, who is devoted to the Gods and inherently capable
of storming the bastions of sickness, who is free by having crushed the
droplets of pride in giving, garrulous, spotless, accepting a fall
from grace and devoted only to the trials born of attendance upon
his master"). (4) The form is A Ba Ca Da / Da Ca Ba A. (5) Note
that the pattern, as usual, is that of syllables (consonant plus vowel)
rather than that of phonemes. See also anulomaviloma. This is
not exactly a palindrome, since the meaning of the reverse reading
is not the same; cf. "Madam, I'm Adam" and "Able was I ere I saw
Elba" (James Joyce).
praśna (praśnôttara), "question' (or 'question-answer'): (1) a conundrum
in which the same word answers several questions, but is used as a
pun and is taken in a different sense for each question. (2) AP
343.22-24, R 5.26 (31-32). (3) udyan divasakaro'sau kim kurute
kathaya me mṛgâyâśu / kathayânindrāya tathā kim karavāṇi kvaṇita-
kāmaḥ । ahiṇavakamaladalâruņiņa māņu phurattiņa keṇa । jāṇijjāi
taruniaṇassa niddhā bhaṇa ahareṇa (Rudrața; the third question is
of course in Prakrit. Aharena is the answer to all three: 'day' (ahar)
and night' (ena), 'stupid' (ahare) 'make noise' ('na, samdhi for aṇa),
'by her lower lip' (adhareṇa: "dh" becomes "h" in most Prakrits):</p>
<pb n="188" />
<p>186
GLOSSARY
"What does the sun make when he rises? Tell me quickly, spy it
out! Say, stupid, what should I do if I want to be loud? How do
you tell when a girl is angry?"). (4) "What is that which will make
you catch cold-cure the cold-and pay the doctor's bills?" (Robert
Merry; answer: a draft).
bandha, 'delimitation': (1) the generic term for those verses which can be
arranged, in terms of certain significant repeated syllables, in the
visual form of natural objects, as swords, wheels, axes, etc. (2)
AP 343.33 (35-65), M 121. (3) (4) See śara, cakra, muraja, etc.
(5) For both Rudrața and Mammața, pictorial verses represent
citra par excellence; the older name of the Agni Purāņa is retained
only as a part of the name of each type, as khadgabandha. In the
Agni Purāņa, moreover, bandha is one of three types of duskara
and is distinguished from citra, this last being a general name for
conundrums, puzzles, and the like. Most probably this type of
verse with obvious magical connotations grew out of the older
geometrically arranged verses (palindromes, etc.), which are prom-
inent in Dandin. The bridge may have been the geometric gomutrika
('cow piss')-in Dandin simply a vivid name for a verse which can
be read in a zig-zag fashion. The Agni Purāņa significantly groups
gomūtrika in bandha verses.
The only instance I know in English of a verse that is what it
means is: "Yet this I Prophesie; Thou shalt be seen, / (Tho' with
some short Parenthesis between:) / High on the Throne of Wit"
(John Dryden).
binducyuta, 'dropping the anusvára': (1) a type of word play in which
one phrase, by dropping a nasal phoneme, is transformed into
another phrase with another meaning. (2) R 5.25 (28). (3) kanto
nayanânandi balênduḥ khe na bhavati sadā (Rudrata: "The lovely
young moon, delightful to see, is not always in the sky". By dropping
a nasal, we get "bale duḥkhena" or "The lovely moon, delightful to
see, young girl, is always accompanied by sadness"). (5) See cyuta.
Rudrata gives examples for only two of the Agni Purāņa's four types:
this one and matracyuta.
matracyuta, 'dropping the vowel sign': (1) a type of word play in which
one phrase, by dropping the graphic syllabic modification indicating
a vowel phoneme, is transformed into another phrase with another
meaning. (2) R 5.25 (28). (3) niyatam agamyam adṛśyam bhavati
kile trasyato raṇōpāntam (Rudrața: "In truth, for the fearful the
environs of battle are unapproachable and their sight cannot be</p>
<pb n="189" />
<p>GLOSSARY
187
borne". By dropping the "i" in kila, we get kalatrasya toraṇôpantam
or "For women, the environs of the city's gates are unapproachable
and their sight cannot be borne"). (5) Cf. binducyuta and cyuta.
By dropping the vowel discriminator, a short "a" is obtained, since
this vowel is considered inherent in the syllable sign itself.
muraja, 'drum': (1) a verse whose syllables can be read either in a criss-
cross form similar to the lacing of an Indian drum (mṛdañgam), or
in the regular way. (2) AP 343.59, R. 5.3 (19), M 121. (3):
sa ra là ba ha lā ra mba
ta ra lā li ba lā ra vā
và ra là ba ha là ma nda
ka ra là ba ha lā ma lā
Rudraţa, Mammaţa
("The autumn is full of the sounds of undulating armies of bees,
thick and long; dense with geese; where kings are quick and amala
fruits are plentiful".) (5) The first and last lines can be read also on
the four-syllable diagonals up and down, beginning and ending
with the same syllables as the lines. The two internal lines must be
taken in halves, but the same principle applies.
musala, 'pestle': (1) a verse whose syllables can be arranged, in terms
of certain significant repetitions, in the visual form of a pestle. (2)
R 5.2 (8). (3) māyāvinaṇ mahāhāvā rasāyātam lasadbhujā । jātalīlā-
yathāsāravācam mahişam āvadhiḥ (Rudrata: "You, O mother, of
great blandishments and gleaming arms, in whom joy is fulfilled,
you have slain the buffalo demon, hiding in deceit, puffed up with
pride, whose words did not correspond to the truth"). (4) See the
appendix to Rudrața for the picture that this forms. (5) No mortar,
oddly enough.
rathapada, "cart path': (1) a verse wherein the two even or the two odd
pādas (but not both) are palindromes, thus producing the appearance
of a cart track. (2) R 5.2 (14). (3):
itikşită surais cakre
yā yamāmamamāyayā
mahişam pātu vo gauri
sāyatāsisitāyasā
Rudraţa
("Thus observed by the Gods, may Gauri, who without guile sent
the buffalo demon to the nether world, Gauri, who has slain those
demons who have destroyed property with their long arrows-may
she protect you!") (4) The form of the second and fourth lines is:</p>
<pb n="190" />
<p>188
GLOSSARY
A B C D D C B A and E F G H H G F E. (5) Two other padas
are gaja and turaga.
vikalpa, 'alternation': (1) a kind of duşkara. (2) AP 343.33, 34. (5) No
example is given and there are no subdivisions; this may refer to
geom rical verses-those which can be read by rearranging the
syllables in a regular pattern (as palindrome). See duşkara. The
text reads "vikalpaḥ pratilomyânulomyad evâbhidhīyate / prātilomya-
nulomyam ca śabdenârthena jayate । anekadhavṛttavarṇavinyāsaiḥ
silpakalpanā" (343.33-34; *Vikalpa gets its name from the backwards
and forwards arrangement of syllables; the arrangement functions
on both the levels of word and sense and is a technical construction
of phoneme sequences repeated more than once").
vyährtârtha, 'whose meaning is spoken': (1) same as ekacchanna prahelikā.
(2) R 5.25 (29). (5) See prahelikā. The name vyāhṛtârtha probably
intends that the paradox is made explicit in the riddle, and concerns
the nature of the thing rather than words (see spaşṭapracchannârtha).
śakti, "lance': (1) a verse whose syllables can be arranged, in terms of
certain significant repetitions, in the visual form of a lance. (2)
R 5.2 (12). (3) māhiṣākhye raṇe'nyā nu să nu nānêyam atra hi /
himâtañkād ivâmum ca kam kampinam upaplutam (Rudrața: "Was
it she or another in the battle with the buffalo demon? Was it he,
shuddering, who was consumed as though by the enemy of the
snow?"). (4) See the appendix to Rudrata for the picture that this
forms.
śabdacitra, 'word play of words': (1) citra, properly speaking. (2) M 70.
(5) See arthacitra.
śara, 'arrow': (1) a verse whose syllables can be arranged, in terms of
certain significant repetitions, in the visual form of an arrow. (2)
R 5.2 (10). (3) mānanāparuṣam lokadevīņ sadrasa sannama । manasā
sādaram gatvā sarvadā dāsyam añga tâm (Rudrața: "O truly devoted,
approach respectfully and honor the world Goddess with your mind
and every effort from which anger has been driven out by service").</p>
<p>(4) See the appendix to Rudraţa for the picture that this forms. (5)</p>
<p>The first pāda is the shaft, the second is the point, and the third and
fourth are the feathers and bonds.
śūla, "spike': (1) a verse whose syllables can be arranged, in terms of
certain significant repetitions, in the visual form of a spike. (2)
R 5.2 (11). (3) mã muṣo rājasa svâsüml lokakūtêśadevatām tām
śivāvāśitām siddhyâdhyāsitām hi stutām stuhi (Rudrața: "O violent
one, do not delight in your own life: praise the Goddess-she who</p>
<pb n="191" />
<p>189
is diety to the world's high rulers, she who is obedient to Siva and
fulfilled with all success, she who is praised by all"). (4) See the
appendix to Rudrața for the picture that this forms. (5) The first
half śloka constitutes the shaft; six syllables suffice for the three
prongs by reading forwards and backwards, each time adding the
final syllable of the first half.
GLOSSARY
samasya, 'union': (1) a verbal game which consists in discovering the
words of one verse which have been hidden systematically in a
much larger verse. (2) AP 343.23, 31. (5) No examples are given,
but the puzzle is well known, at least as far as the letters of a word
are concerned, by the name "acrostic"; for example: "Dread monster,
ruthless foe / Ever travelling to and fro / And causing tears of grief to
flow, / The good, the loved, and those that be / Hale and strong,
must yield to thee" (Robert Blackwell).
sarvatobhadra, 'auspicious in all ways': (1) a verse, having the same
number of lines as syllables, which can be read backwards and
forwards both vertically and horizontally. (2) D 3.80 (82), AP 343.41,
R 5.3 (20), M 121. (3) sāmāyāmāmāyā māsā mārānāyānārāmā ।
yānāvārārāvānāyā māyā rāmā mārāyāmā (Daṇḍin; this verse is also
deemed to make sense when read backwards: by putting these two
verses together on eight lines of one pāda each, the same double
verse can be read backwards or forwards along the horizontals, or
backwards or forwards along the verticals: "This lovely young lady,
an extension of the fever of Love, a union of devices for inducing
love, a snare made of the tinkling of her anklets, whose beauty is
sorcery, is destined quickly to be the death of me, along with the
moon"). (5) Cf. ardhabhrama, which is conceived as a half verse which
can be so arranged.
spastapracchannârtha, 'whose hidden meaning becomes clear': (1) same
as ubhayacchanna prahelikā. (2) R 5.25 (29). (5) See prahelikā and
vyährtârtha.
hala, 'plough': (1) a verse whose syllables can be arranged, in terms of
certain significant repetitions, in the visual form of a plough. (2)
R 5.2 (13). (3) mätañgânañgavidhinâmunā pādam tam udyatam ।
tangayitvā sirasy asya nipätyâhanti ramhasa(Rudrața: "Gauri, lifting
her foot and bringing it down on his head in the manner of a proud
elephant, slew him violently"). (4) See the appendix to Rudrața for
the picture that this forms.</p>
<pb n="192" />
<p>190
GLOSSARY
chāyā
chāyā, 'shadow': (1) clever imitation of other styles or dialects. (2)
AP 342.21-25. (5) This is the first śabdâlamkāra of the Agni Purāṇa;
four styles are enumerated: the vernacular (lokôkti), scholarly jargon
(chekôkti), children's speech (arbhakôkti), and the talk of drunks
(mattôkti).
chekânuprāsa
chekânuprāsa, "clever alliteration': (1) same as cheka, a type of anuprāsa.
(2) U 1.3 (5). (5) Chekânuprāsa is considered by Udbhata to be an
alamkāra separate from anuprāsa strictly speaking.
jāti
jāti, 'genus': (1) same as svabhāvokti. (2) R 7.30 (31-33).
tattva
tattva, 'reality': (1) an arthaśleșa in which puns, in appearance descriptive
adjectival qualifications of the subject, involve a second meaning as
predicate nouns which metaphorize the subject. (2) R 10.20 (21).
(3) nayane hi taralatāra sutanu kapolau ca candrakantau te / adharo'pi
padmarāgas tribhuvanaratnam tato vadanam (Rudrața; the parts of
the girl's face are described by adjectives which are also names of
jewels which compliment that particular feature: "For her eyes are
glancing [two pearls of great price], her cheeks are beautiful as the
moon [moonstones], her lower lip has the color of the lotus [is a
ruby], and thus her face is the jewel of the three worlds"). (4)
""Before you had those timber toes, / Your love I did allow, / But
then, you know, you stand upon / Another footing now!"" (Thomas
Hood; spoken by a lady whose soldier-lover has returned from the
wars minus both his legs: the pun on "footing" suggests that the lady
would prefer a lover with a complete set of limbs. He "stands on
another footing" in the direct sense because conditions have changed,
but that "other footing" refers also to his wooden legs and heightens
the force of the description). (5) The second meaning of this pun
transforms a simple description into the figure rūpaka. The figure
differs from avayava śleșa in that the pun is not merely on the
qualification, but also on the status of the qualification as a gram-
matical adjective. The implicit rüpaka of this type of śleșa, moreover,
distinguishes it from avayava, where the pun suggests at most a
flattering comparison.</p>
<pb n="193" />
<p>GLOSSARY
191
tadguṇa
tadguņa, 'having that thing's attribute': (1) a figure in which one thing is
said to assume the quality or property of another thing, from
which thereby it is made difficult to distinguish. (2) R 9.22-25. (3)
navadhautadhavalavasanāś candrikayā sāndrayā tirogamitāḥ । rama-
nabhavanāny aśañkam sarpanty abhisārikāḥ sapadi (Rudrata: "Hidden
by the thick moonlight, their garments white and newly washed,
the women approach fearlessly the homes of their lovers"). (4) "Half
a mile away across the young corn you saw her white sweater at
the cliff's edge, and it seemed part of the whiteness of the screaming
seabirds, of the whiteness of the awful glimpses of chalk where the
turf suddenly ended in air, of the crawling whiteness of the waves
far below" (Oliver Onions). (5) Rudrața considers two types: one
in which the indistinguishables in fact share the property which
makes them indistinguishable, and the other in which they do not
but where the property of one imposes itself upon that of the other.
This latter resembles pihita and seems to differ from it only in defini-
tion: here the pre-eminent quality lends itself to the other subject;
there, the pre-eminent quality hides the other.
Tadguņa differs from bhräntimat only as to the poetic end of the
confusion. Here, presumably, the end is not to compare, but to
portray the quality in a certain way. See note (5) to sambhāvyamā-
nårtha atiśayôkti: such subtle distinctions are necessarily subjective
and may not be entirely clear from the examples alone. See also
atadguna.
tulyayogitā
tulyayogitā, 'equal joining': (1) a figure in which several subjects sharing
a property or mode of action, though in unequal degrees, are re-
presented as equivalently endowed; the lesser subject is thus magni-
fied. (2) B 3.26 (27), D 2.330 (331-32), V 4.3.26, U 5.7, M 158. (3)
seso himagiris tvam ca mahanto guravaḥ sthiraḥ । yad alanghitama-
ryādāś calantīm bibhṛtha kṣitim (Bhāmaha: "The primeval serpent,
the Himalaya and you, O King, are weighty and firm; you three,
surpassing all limitation, support the unstable world"). (4) "... he
had the harmlessness of the serpent and the wisdom of the dove"
(Samuel Butler). (5) Tulyayogită functions as a comparison, but
the common property is predicated of the subject and object jointly.
Dandin also gives a type of upamā based upon the conjunction of
evident unequals. This figure can be subdivided as to its purpose</p>
<pb n="194" />
<p>192
GLOSSARY
(nindā, stuti) and in relation to the grammar of its subject (prastāva-
bhaj).
aprastāvabhāj, "not relating to the subject of the utterance': (1) a type of
tulyayogită in which the concatenated terms are obliquely related
to the intentional subject of the utterance. (2) U 5.7. (3) tvadanga-
mārdavam draştuḥ kasya citte na bhāsate । mālatīšaśabhṛllekhākadali-
nāṁ kaṭhoratā (Udbhața; the subject is the softness of Uma's
body; the concatenated terms share the opposite property and stand
as objects of comparison: "Who would not think the mālatī flower,
the crescent moon, or the plantain tree harsh and rough when he
had seen the softness of your body?"). (4) "The soundproof walls
shut out all noise from the street, and, in the hushed atmosphere
common to art galleries, cathedrals, and banks, Max's melodious
drawl sounded less out of place..." (Margery Allingham). (5) In
aprastāvabhāj, the concatenated terms are the topical subjects of
the utterance. The term appears in Mammața as aprākaranika
(with the same meaning).
aprākaranika, 'not relating to the subject': (1) same as aprastāvabhāj. (2)
M 158C.
nindā, 'blame: (1) a type of tulyayogitā which has blame or depreciation
for its purpose. (2) D 2.330 (332). (3) sañgatāni mṛgâkṣīṇām
taḍidvilasitāni ca । kṣaṇadvayam na tişthanti ghanârabdhāny api
svayam (Daṇḍin: "Neither affairs with young ladies nor the fleeting
bolts of lightning last for more than a few moments-though begun
profoundly [begun in the clouds]"). (4) "Death lays his icy hand on
kings: / Sceptre and Crown / Must tumble down, / And in the dust
be equal made / With the poor crooked scythe and spade" (James
Shirley). (5) Cf. stuti tulyayogitā.
prastāvabbāj, 'relating to the subject of the utterance': (1) a type of
tulyayogita in which the concatenated terms function as the intentional
subject of the utterance. (2) U 5.7. (3) pāṇḍukṣāmam vadanam
hrdayam sarasam taválasam ca vapuḥ / ävedayati [sic] nitantam
kşetriyarogam sakhi hrdantah (Mammața: "Your face, pale and
wan, your soulful heart and indolent form betray an incurable
disease in the soul"). (4) "The streets near the station were full of
the smell of beer and coffee and decaying fruit and a shirt-sleeved
populace moved through them with the intimate abandon of
boarders going down the passage to the bathroom" (Edith Wharton).
(5) Prastāvabhāj is to be distinguished from aprastāvabhāj. This term
appears in Mammața as prākaraṇika (with the same meaning).</p>
<pb n="195" />
<p>193
prākaraṇika, 'relating to the subject of the utterance': (1) same as
prastāävabhāj. (2) M 158C.
stuti, 'praise': (1) a type of tulyayogita whose purpose is praise or apprecia-
tion. (2) D 2.330 (331). (3) yamaḥ kubero varuṇaḥ sahasråkşo
bhavan api । bibhraty ananyaviṣayām lokapāla iti śrutim (D lin:
"The God of Death, the God of Wealth, the Lord Visņu, Indra
himself, and you, O King, bear the unmistakable appellation "World-
Protector"). (4) "... inquisitive with the inquisitiveness of a despot
and worried as with the responsibilities of a god" (G. K. Chesterton).
(5) Cf. nindā.
GLOSSARY
dipaka
dipaka, 'enlightener": (1) a construction wherein several parallel phrases
are each completed by a single (unrepeated) word or phrase; zeugma.
(2) NS 16.40, 53-55, B 2.25-29, D 2.97-115, V 4.3.18-19, U 1.14, R
7.64-71, M 156-57. (3) sarāmsi hamsaiḥ kusumaiś ca vṛkṣaḥ mattair
dvirephais ca saroruhāṇi । goṣṭhibhir udyānavanāni caîva tasminn
aśūnyāni sadā kriyante (Bharata: "In this city, the ponds are filled
with swans, the trees with flowers, the lotuses with drunken bees,
and the pleasure groves with elite parties"). (4) "All things uncomely
and broken, all things worn out and old, / The cry of a child by the
roadway, the creak of a lumbering cart, / The heavy steps of the
ploughman, splashing the wintry mould, / Are wronging your image
that blossoms rose in the deeps of my heart" (W. B. Yeats), (5)
Zeugma is one of the universal devices of any stylized literary mode
and is one of the four original figures of speech recognized by
Bharata. The name dipaka (from dip-, 'shine'), which has been
translated as "enlightener' or 'illuminator', is a more vivid formula-
tion of the subjective effect of this alamkāra than is the static zeugma
('yoke'), which describes only the grammatical appearance or form
of the figure. The word which ties together the various phrases by
being at once a grammatical part of them all illuminates the entire
phrase, or at least those parts of it which require that word in order
to be understood. By multiplying the phrases dependent on the
zeugma, the effect of illumination in increased. The effect may be
compared to the Latin or German sentence in which the English
speaker waits breathlessly for the verb. The figure zeugma has been
classified in two ways by the Indian theorists: as to the place of the
common word in the total construction, and by the grammatical
role which the common word plays in the construction. The two</p>
<pb n="196" />
<p>194
GLOSSARY
modes are not exclusive, and several authors employ both. First
of all, the shared word may occur at the beginning (ādi), in the middle
(madhya), or at the end (anta) of the total construction. These words
are usually interpreted to mean first, interior, or fourth quarters of
the verse and not absolute first or last position in the verse (see,
madhya dipaka). It is interesting in this connection to compare the
renaissance classification of zeugma into prozeugma, mesozeugma,
and hypozeugma (Taylor, p. 132-33). All the writers except Bharata
and Mammața reproduce this extrinsic triad, and it may represent
the oldest view on the figure. Daṇḍin, however, proposes a fourfold
division by part of speech, in line with his several other uses of the
same discrimination (cf. svabhāvôkti, vyatireka, višeşôkti): the word
shared by the several phrases may be either an adjective (guna), a
verb (kriyā), a generic noun (jāti), or an proper name (dravya).
Dandin does not abandon the threefold division, so his treatment
may be said to produce a twelvefold zeugma. This classification by
grammatical role is unknown only in the two earliest writers, Bharata
and Bhamaha. Since the encyclopaedist Mammața uses it ex-
clusively, we may presume that the older threefold division was
no longer felt to be adequately diagnostic. However, the later
writers simplify Dandin's four grammatical parts of speech into
two-kriya, 'verb' and käraka or kartr, 'noun' (see kriyā dīpaka)-and
Vāmana accepts only kriyā as legitimate.
It should be remarked that the word "zeugma" is more commonly
applied in English rhetoric to a defect of construction whereby a
single word is related to two (or more) in such a way that the
construction is not the same for the two (for example: "She came in
a flood of tears and a bath chair", where "in" is used both modally
and locatively). This is a special case of the more general figure,
but in usage the two must not be confounded, as no defect is intended
in our use of zeugma.
Oddly enough, the Agni Purāṇa, which represents an independent
samkhya-oriented poetic tradition, ignores the figure dipaka. This is
doubly curious, as that text in no way minimizes verbal figures—as
opposed to figures founded on meaning (tropes)—and in view of
the fact that dipaka is one of the four figures known to Bharata
(with upamā, rūpaka, and yamaka).
anta, 'final': (1) a type of zeugma in which the grammatical element
shared by the several phrases occurs at the end of the entire construc-
tion. (2) B 2.25 (29), D 2.102 (104-105), V 4.3.19, U 1.14, R 7.65</p>
<pb n="197" />
<p>195
(68, 71). (3) dūrād utkaṇṭhante dayitānām samnidhau tu lajjante ।
trasyanti vepamānāḥ śayane navapariṇayā vadhvaḥ (Rudrata: "They
long when their lovers are far, are shy when they are present, in
bed are trembling and afraid the newly-wed women"). (4) "The
new m on behind her head, an old helmet upon it, a diadem of
accidental dewdrops round her brow, would have been adjuncts
sufficient to strike the note of Artemis, Athena, or Hera" (Thomas
Hardy). (5) The examples also show karaka dipaka and kriyā. See
ādi, madhya.
GLOSSARY
ādi, 'initial': (1) a type of zeugma in which the grammatical element
shared by the several phrases occurs at the beginning of the entire
construction. (2) B 2.25 (27), D 2.102 (98-101), V 4.3.19, U 1.14,
R 7.65 (66, 69). (3) nidrâpaharati jägaram upaśamayati madanadaha-
nasamtāpam । janayati käntäsamgamasukham ca ko'nyas tato
bandhuḥ (Rudrata: "Sleep steals wakefulness away, calms the burn-
ing passions of love, excites the pleasure of meeting the beloved;
what else can be compared to it?"). (4) "Mrs. Pascoe stood at the
gate looking after them; stood at the gate until the trap was round
the corner; stood at the gate, looking now to the right, now to the
left; then went back to her cottage" (Virginia Woolf). (5) Both
examples also illustrate kāraka dīpaka (or dravya).
ekârtha, 'integral': (1) a type of zeugma in which the tenor of the several
conjoined phrases is complimentary. (2) D 2.112 (111). (3) haraty
ābhogam āśānām grhṇāti jyotişām gaṇam । adatte câd me prāṇān
asau jaladharâvali (Daṇḍin: "The garland of rain clouds fills up the
expanse of the sky, sequesters the flock of stars, and steals away
my hopes"). (4) "A coyote sings more sweetly to me than any bird.
He pushes the horizon back with his voice. He makes a gift of
space. He says that something is still hidden. He reports escape.
He acknowledges himself. He celebrates survival" (Jessamyn West).
(5) Compare viruddhârtha dipaka, where the tenor of the conjoined
phrases is contradictory or contrary, and also śleşa dīpaka, where the
phrases are neither contrary nor complimentary, but merely punned.
The Sanskrit example also illustrates anta dipaka and jäti dipaka, the
English, adi and jāti.
kāraka, 'nominal': (1) a type of zeugma in which the word common
to the several phrases is a noun, usually the subject of the entire
construction. (2) R 7.64 (69-71), M 156. (3) sramsayati gātram
akhilam glapayati ceto nikāmam anuragaḥ । janam asulabham prati
sakhe prāṇān api mañkṣu muṣṇāti (Rudrața: "Passion exhausts the</p>
<pb n="198" />
<p>196
GLOSSARY
body and makes the mind languid, but friend, when the loved one
is unattainable, it quickly steals one's life away"). (4) "No profane
hand shall dare, for me, to curtail my Chaucer, to Bowdlerize my
Shakespeare, or mutilate my Milton" (Anon., quoted in Burton
Stevenson). (5) This item cove two of Dandin's four types: jāti
and dravya. The Sanskrit example also illustrates madhya dipaka,
the English, ādi. Also called karty ('agent").
kriyā, 'verbal': (1) a type of zeugma in which the word common to the
several phrases is a verb. (2) D 2.97 (99, 104), V 4.3.18, U 1.14,
R 7.64 (66-68), M 156. (3) kāntā dadāti madanam madanaḥ samtāpam
asamam anupaśamam । samtāpo maraṇam aho tathâpi śaraṇam
nṛṇām saiva (Rudrața: "The beloved woman imparts longing;
longing, unquenchable and incomparable passion; passion, death.
She is thus the only refuge of men"). (4) "Not poets alone, nor
artists, nor that superior order of mind which arrogates to itself all
refinement, feel this, but dogs and all men" (Theodore Dreiser).
(5) Dandin recognizes kriyā dīpaka as one of four types (see jäti,
guṇa, dravya), Vāmana as the only type, and the other authors, as
one of two types (see kāraka). This classification by the gram-
matical function of the common word (or phrase) is not known in
the oldest texts (Bharata and Bhāmaha), but Dandin produces the
standard fourfold division here as in other figures (svabhāvôkti,
vyatireka, višeşôkti). It becomes simplified later by the coalescing of
jäti and dravya into kāraka and the dropping of guna dipaka.
Vāmana's ignorance of other varieties is curious, but is probably
due to his programmatic attempt to reduce all the figures to kinds of
simile. A zeugma in which the shared word is a noun does not fit
as well into the frame of comparison as does the verbal zeugma,
since the figure then recounts only different aspects of one subject
rather than the same aspect of two different subjects. The Sanskrit
example also shows ādi dīpaka (the verb occurs not first, but in the
first quarter stanza); the English shows madhya dipaka.
guņa, 'adjectival': (1) a type of zeugma in which the word common to
the several phrases is an adjective of description. (2) D 2.97 (100).
(3) śyāmalāḥ prāvṛṣeṇyābhir diśo jīmūtapańktibhiḥ । bhuvaś ca suku-
mārābhir navaśādvalarājibhiḥ (Daṇḍin: "The sky is dark with great
ranks of rain clouds, the earth with sweet shoots of new grass").
(4) "Beautiful lofty things: O'Leary's noble head" / My father upon
the Abbey stage, before him a raging crowd / ... Standish O'Grady
supporting himself between the tables / Speaking to a drunken</p>
<pb n="199" />
<p>197
audience high nonsensical words; / Augusta Gregory seated at her
great ormolu table..." (W. B. Yeats). (5) Both examples also
illustrate ādi dīpaka. Adjectival dipaka is noted only by Dandin
and probably was not felt to be different from verbal (kriya) dipaka
by later writers, inasmuch as the verb "to be" can be supplied in all
such cases.
GLOSSARY
jāti, 'generic': (1) a type of zeugma in which the word common to the
several phrases is a generic noun. (2) D 2.97 (98, 103, 105). (3)
pavano dakṣiṇaḥ parṇam jīrṇam harati vīrudhām । sa evâvanatâñgīnām
mānabhangāya kalpate (Daṇḍin: "The southern wind wafts away
the withered leaf of plants, calms the anger of modest women").
(4) "A book, like a person, has its fortunes with one; is lucky or
unlucky in the precise moment of its falling in our way, and often
by some happy accident counts with us for something more than its
independent value" (Walter Pater). (5) Both examples also illustrate
ādi dīpaka. Cf. dravya, where a proper (specific) noun supplies the
unity of phrase.
dravya, 'material': (1) a type of zeugma in which the word common
to the several phrases is a proper name (or specific referent). (2)
D 2.97 (101). (3) viṣṇunā vikramasthena dānavānām vibhūtayaḥ ।
kvāpi nītāḥ kuto'py āsann ānītā daivatarddhayaḥ (Dandin: "Some-
where the wealth and fortune of the Dānavas were taken by Viṣṇu
victorious, from somewhere the success and prosperity of the Gods
were brought"). (4) "Old Professor Huxtable, performing with the
method of a clock his change of dress, let himself down into his
chair; filled his pipe; chose his paper; crossed his feet; and extracated
his glasses" (Virginia Woolf). (5) Both examples also illustrate ādi
dipaka. Cf. jāti, where a generic term occupies the common slot.
madhya, 'mid': (1) a type of zeugma in which the grammatical element
shared by the various phrases occurs in the middle of the entire
construction. (2) B 2.25 (28), D 2.102 (103-104), V 4.3.19, U 1.14,
R 7.65 (67, 70). (3) sramsayati gātram akhilam glapayati ceto
nikāmam anurāgaḥ । janam asulabham prati sakhe prāṇān api mankṣu
muşņāti (Rudrața: for the translation, see käraka). (4) "Her
presence brought memories of such things as Bourbon roses, rubies
and tropical midnights; her moods recalled lotus-eaters and the
march in Athalie', her motions, the ebb and flow of the sea, her
voice, the viola" (Thomas Hardy). (5) The "middle" of the construc-
tion is usually interpreted to mean the second or third quarter of a
verse (cf. Rudraṭa's example for ädikriyādipaka, 7.66). The English</p>
<pb n="200" />
<p>198
GLOSSARY
example runs contrary to this convention in that the word "recalled",
while standing third in its phrase, occurs in the first of the phrases
united by the zeugma. The Sanskrit example also illustrates kāraka
dipaka, the English, kriyā dīpaka. See ādi, anta.
mālā, 'garland': (1) a type of zeugma in which the related phrases not
only share a common word, but express a sequence of ideas in such
a way that the following phrase recalls or refers to the former. (2)
(2) D 2.108 (107), M 157. (3) śuklaḥ śvetârciso vṛddhyai pakṣaḥ
pañcaśarasya saḥ । sa ca rāgasya rāgo'pi yūnām ratyutsavaśriyaḥ
(Dandin: "The waxing phase makes for the prosperity of the white-
rayed moon, the moon, of the Love God, he, of passion, passion, for
youths' happiness in festival of love"). (4) "... while [the Wise
Youth] remained tranquil on his solid unambitious ground, fitting
his morality to the laws, his conscience to his morality, his comfort
to his conscience" (George Meredith). (5) Both examples also show
ādi dīpaka, in the sense noted under madhya (5). Various figures
illustrate this enchainement of ideas: notably upamā, rūpaka, and
nidaršanā. See also the figures kāraṇamālā and ekâvalī, to which
mālā dīpaka seems merely the added application of a zeugma.
viruddhârtha, 'disparate': (1) a type of zeugma in which the tenor of
the several conjoined phrases is contrary or contradictory. (2)
D 2.110 (109). (3) avalepam anañgasya vardhayanti balāhakāḥ ।
karśayanti tu gharmasya marutôddhūtasikarāḥ (Dandin: "The rain
clouds increase the arrogance of the Love God, but diminish the
summer's heat-their showers blown about by the wind"). (4) "But
in sooth Mr. Slope was pursuing Mrs. Bold in obedience to his better
instincts, and the signora in obedience to his worser" (Anthony
Trollope). (5) See ekârtha dipaka, in which the partial phrases are
complimentary, that is, express compatible ideas.
ślişta, 'punned': (1) a type of zeugma in which the related phrases not
only share a common word, but have appended puns expressing
similarity. (2) D 2.114 (113). (3) hṛdyagandhavahās tuīgās tamāla-
śyāmalatviṣaḥ / divi bhramanti jīmūtā bhuvi caite matangajāḥ (Dandin:
"Carrying pleasant odors, lofty, hides as dark as the tamåla flower,
the clouds roam in the sky, here on earth, elephants"). (4) "As lines
so loves oblique may well / Themselves at every Angle greet: / But
ours so truly Parallel, / Though infinite can never meet" (Andrew
Marvell). (5) This should be compared with mālā dīpaka, where the
relation between the various phrases is based upon a real implication
of meanings. The puns have nothing to do with the zeugma, but</p>
<pb n="201" />
<p>GLOSSARY
199
are simply additional modes of expressing relation (usually similarity)
and can therefore reinforce the zeugma. The point may be that the
zeugma is entirely a formal device and may adjoin either legitimately
consequential notions (mäld) or those whose similarity is entirely
verbal (ślişta).
duşkara
duşkara, 'difficult to accomplish': (1) a figure defined and treated under
citra alamkāra.
drstânta
drsțânta, 'example': (1) the adjunction of a second situation which bears
upon the same point as the first and where the purpose is entirely
one of illustration. (2) U 6.8, R 8.94 (95-96), M 155. (3) kimcâtra
bahunőktena vraja bhartāram āpnuhi । udanvantam anāsādya mahā-
nadyaḥ kim āsate (Udbhața: "What's the point of talking further?
Go out and get yourself a husband! What fate will befall the great
rivers if they do not fall into the ocean?"). (4) "Have you not in
a Chimney seen / A sullen faggot, wet and green, / How coyly it
receives the heat / And at both ends does fume and sweat? / So fares
it with the harmless Maid / When first upon her Back she's laid; /
But the kind experienced Dame / Cracks, and rejoices in the flame"
(John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester). (5) The relationship is here between
two specific situations, and the purpose of the rapproc nement is
clarification. That is why a rigorous parallelism of element and
aspect is required. In prativastûpamā alaṇkāra, one common property
is shared; the terms themselves need not be comparable. Note in
Wilmot's example the duplication which borders on double-entendre:
"sullen ... coyly... heat ... fume", etc. Likewise, the intention of the
speaker is not necessarily substantiation (where a doubt might arise),
and in this drstânta differs from arthântaranyása, even though there
is a general tendency to consider the latter a relation between two
remarks -a specific and its corresponding universal-which is more
an explanation of the process of explanation than a condition of the
relation between two terms which do clarify one another (cf.
Dandin's example for virodhavat arthântaranyāsa). Both are illustra-
tions, but the word "illustration" is equivocal. All these figures
(especially vāk yârtha upama) differ from simile in that the comparative
particle is lacking; but aside from this, all can be and usually are
described in the same terms (subject, object, common property or</p>
<pb n="202" />
<p>200
GLOSSARY
aspect). Rudraţa carries this principle of explanation to the extreme
of excluding all considerations of intention on the part of the speaker
-a purely structural analysis but there are so many figures to
account for that this apparent simplification really serves only to
confuse the many legitimate subtleties of analysis contained in
Dandin, for example. The example may be thought of as introduced
by the particle "so".
avivakşita, 'not the intended subject': (1) a type of drstânta in which the
subject term or phrase follows the object or example. (2) R 8.94
(96). (3) lokam lolitakisalayavişavanavāto'pi mañkṣu mohayati ।
tāpayatitarām tasya hṛdayam tvadgamanavārtâpi (Rudrata: "The
forest wind, heavy with the fragrance of swaying buds, intoxicates
everyone; the news of your coming quickens the pain in her heart").
(4) "Do you know these flashes of the absolute and unalterable
rightness of a thing? One of them blinded Saul of Tarsus on the road
to Damascus; something of the same kind blinded me for the whole
length of Lower Regent Street" (Oliver Onions). (5) Cf. vivakṣita.
vivakşita, 'intended subject': (1) a type of drstânta in which the term or
situation intended as subject by the speaker precedes the term or
situation intended as example or object. (2) R 8.94 (95). (3) tvayi
dṛṣṭa eva tasyā nirvāti mano manobhavajvalitam aloke hi sitâmsor
vikasati kumudam kumudvatyāḥ (Rudrața: "Her heart enflames with
love as soon as he appears; at the sight of the moon, the lotus
blooms"). (4) "But she was the bossiest human I'd ever seen, and
my father indicated the same, but following his style in such matters,
he couldn't say so direct but referred her case to a play by a man
named Shakespeare, saying she needed taming" (Robert Lewis
Taylor). (5) This figure is a good example of Rudrata's purely formal
classification (see note on drsțânta).
vaidharmya, 'difference': (1) a type of drsțânta in which the phrase serving
as example (object) involves terms and aspect antithetical to the
phrase standing as subject. (2) M 155. (3) tavaâhave sahasakarma-
śarmaṇaḥ karam krpāṇântikam äninişatah । bhatāḥ pareşām visarāru-
tām agur dadhaty avate sthiratām hi pamsavaḥ (Mammața: "You of
the violent deed! at your challenge the enemy's soldiers-their
sword-girt arms about to strike-perish utterly! So motes of dust
are steady as long as the wind does not blow"). (4) "The righteous
minds of innkeepers / Induce them now and then / To crack a bottle
with a friend / or treat unmoneyed men, / But who hath seen the
Grocer / Treat housemaids to his teas / Or crack a bottle of fish-</p>
<pb n="203" />
<p>201
sauce / Or stand a man a cheese?" (G. K. Chesterton). (5) The
classification is refuted by Rudraţa (8.86C), who would consider
this a variation on samuccaya alamkāra. See also the remarks under
drstânta vyatireka.
sādharmya, 'similitude': (1) a type of drstânta in which the terms and
aspect of subject and examples are in balanced concord. (2) M 155.
(3) tvayi dṛşta eva tasyā nirvātt mano manobhavajvalitam । áloke hi
himâmsor vikasati kusumam kumudvatyāḥ (Mammața; the example
is the same as that offered by Rudrata for vivaksita drsțânta). (4) "So
shuts the marigold her leaves / At the departure of the sun; / So
from the honeysuckle sheaves / The bee goes when the day is done; /
So sits the turtle when she is but one / And so all woe, as I since she
is gone" (William Browne). (5) This is, of course, drșțânta itself,
to be understood as a subtype only in the sense that Mammaţa
recognizes an antithetical example, too (cf. vaidharmya).
GLOSSARY
nidarśanā
nidarśanā (I) (neuter in Dandin and Vämana), 'pointing to': (1) a figure
in which a particular situation is translated into a general truth, and
a moral is drawn which is based upon the mode of action and the
ultimate tendency of that situation. (2) B 3.32 (33), D 2.348 (349-50),
V 4.3.20, M 150. (3) ayam mandadyutir bhāsvān astam prati yiyāsati /
udayaḥ patanāyêti śrīmato bodhayan narán (Bhāmaha: "The dull
red sun nears the western term, telling the wise that greatness is
but the precedent of decline"). (4) "Poor HALL caught his death
standing under a spout, / Expecting till midnight when NAN would
come out, / But fatal his patience, as cruel the Dame, / And curst
was the Weather that quench'd the man's flame. /'Who e'er thou art,
that read'st these moral lines, / Make love at home, and go to bed
betimes" (Matthew Prior). (5) This figure differs from arthântara-
nyasa in that the general truth is here expressed as the very meaning
of the particular situation, not as another and more valid formula-
tion of it. Some writers (Dandin, Vāmana) define the figure as a
relation of two situations through a similar consequence: moral
instruction in terms of the final cause. The second situation is seen
not as extrinsic to the first, maintaining a relation of similitude to it,
but it is, as it were, a universalization of the same idea. This view-
point gives a rationale for the transition to the second type, described
first by Mammata, which, in the modern writers (Candrâloka),
supplants the other.</p>
<pb n="204" />
<p>202
GLOSSARY
asat, 'unauspicious': (1) a type of nidaršanā in which the instruction
given is baleful. (2) D 2.348 (350). (3) atyuccapadâdhyāsaḥ patană-
yêty arthaśālinam śamsat । āpāṇḍu patati patram taror idam bandha-
nagrantheḥ (Vāmana: "The withered leaf falls from its once firm
stem on the tree, warning the attentive that the attainment of an
exalted position is but a pretext for a greater fall"). (4) "When
the leaves in autumn wither/With a tawny tanned face / Warped and
wrinkled up together, / The year's late beauty to disgrace; / There
thy life's glass may'st thou find thee: / Green now, grey now, gone
anon, Leaving, worldling, of thine own / Neither fruit nor leaf
behind thee" (Joshua Sylvester). (5) Cf. sat.
sat, 'auspicious': (1) a type of nidarśana in which the instruction given is
auspicious. (2) D 2.348 (349). (3) udayann eşa savitā padmeşv
arpayati śriyam । vibhāvayitum rddhīnām phalam suhrdanugraham
(Dandin: "The rising sun has wrought beauty in the lotus, conveying
the results of success, pleasing to friends"). (4) "He thus became
immensely Rich, / And built the Splendid Mansion which / Is called
/ 'The Cedars, / Muswell Hill'. / Where he resides in Affluence still /
To show what Everybody might / Become by /SIMPLY DOING
RIGHT" (Hilaire Belloc). (5) Cf. asat.
nidaršanā (II): (1) negative illustration; a figure in which the illustrative
example demonstrates in the negative the point originally made in
the negative. (2) M 149. (3) kva súryaprabhavo vamśaḥ kva câlpavi-
şayā matiḥ । titīrṣur dustaraṇı mohād uḍupenâsmi sāgaram (Kālidāsa,
quoted by Mammața; the poet thus indicates his modesty before
the task he has set himself: telling the true history of the Rāghava:
"How can my feeble skill cope with a race born of the sun? I am
about to cross the fearsome ocean in a rowboat"). (4) "I've heard it
said my father was a bang-up poker player. But there wasn't much
chance of his winning, not with those chaps. Mostly, they were
serious, hard-working professional men-thieves, forgers, cutthroats,
small-time river pirates and a backslid preacher or two-as interesting
spoken a group as you would care to meet, but they could no more
have gambled honest than they would have been comfortable in
church" (Robert Lewis Taylor). (5) According to Mammața, this
illustration through two negatives or opposites suggests a simile.
Indeed, the positive understanding derived from the figure is a
simile: "crossing the sea in a rowboat is like describing the Rāghava";
"those who gamble dishonestly resemble those who are uncomfort-
able in church". Yet the point seems rather truistical and implicit</p>
<pb n="205" />
<p>203
GLOSSARY
in the notion of illustration anyway. The figure serves as the negative
of both the figures nidarśanā (I) and drstânta, depending on whether
illustration or instruction is intended. Cf. also vidarśanā.
mālā, 'garland": (1) a type of nidarśanā in which several situations are
expressed as equivalent to the situation standing as subject of the
utterance. (2) M 149C. (3) dorbhyāṁ titīrṣati tarañgavatībhujañgam
ādātum icchati kare hariņâñkabimbam / merum lilanghayişati dhruvam
eşa deva yas te guṇān gaditum udyamam ādadhāti (Māgha, quoted by
Mammaţa: "He who arrogates to himself the task of extolling your
virtues, O King, is attempting to swim across the limitless ocean, is
trying to grasp the moon in his hand or to climb the primeval
mountain"). (4) "I'd love to waltz with you. I'd love to have my
tonsils out, I'd love to be in a midnight fire at sea" (Dorothy Parker).
(5) This figure is merely a repetition of nidaršanā II.
parikara
parikara, 'entourage': (1) a figure in which the adjectival qualifications
or epithets of a thing are multiplied with a view to re-enforcing the
distinctiveness of that thing. (2) R 7.72 (73-76), M 183. (3) upacita-
pariņāmaramyam svadu sugandhi svayam kare patitam । phalam
utsrjya tadānīm tāmyasi mugdhe mudhêdānīm (Rudrata; the excellence
of the "fruit" abandoned is thus emphasized: "Abandoning this
fruit, which has ripened in its own time and, sweet smelling, has
fallen of itself into your hand, you now regret, O lovely-how
uselessly!"). (4) "This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy; /
This senior-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid; / Regent of love-rimes,
lord of folded arms, / Th'anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, /
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents, / Dread prince of plackets, king
of codpieces,/ Sole imperator and great general / Of trotting paritors:
-O my little heart!-/ And I to be a corporal of his field, / And wear
his colours like a tumbler's hoop!" (Shakespeare). (5) Rudraţa
gives four examples, each illustrating one of the four genera of
meaning: jāti, kriyā, guṇa, and dravya. The example cited is dravya;
the English example, a potpourri.
parivṛtti
parivṛtti, 'exchange': (1) a figure expressing non-literally an exchange of
ideas or things; "give and take". (2) B 3.40 (41), D 2.355 (356),
V 4.3.16, U 5.16, R 7.77 (78), M 172. (3) sastrapraharam dadatā
bhujena tava bhūbhujām । cirârjitam hrtam teşam yaśaḥ kumudapāṇ-</p>
<pb n="206" />
<p>204
GLOSSARY
duram (Dandin: "Striking blows with your sword, O King, your arm
has seized the long possessed and lotus-pale glory of this earth's
princes"). (4) "By whose direction found'st thou out this place?"
'By love, that first did prompt me to enquire. He lent me counsel,
and I lent him eyes"" (Shakespeare). (5) The idea that one action
entails both an acquisition and a loss is central to all the varieties of
parivṛtti mentioned by our authors. The differentiating criteria are
extrinsic to the notion of exchange and concern only the things
exchanged; they may be similar or dissimilar (Vāmana); if dissimilar,
better for worse or worse for better (Mammața, Udbhața); the ex-
change may be auspicious or inauspicious (Udbhata), literal or
figurative (Rudrata). Only Bhãāmaha, the earliest of the writers,
diverges in any way from this sterile mechanism by asserting that
the exchange must be seconded by drawing a moral (arthântaranyāsa,
q.v.), as: "pradaya vittam arthibhyaḥ sa yasodhanam adita / satām viśva-
janīnānām idam askhalitam vratam" (Giving wealth to all who ask, he
obtains a treasure of glory: such is the inescapable duty of the just').
nyūna, 'deficient*: (1) a type of parivṛtti in which the item exchanged is
inferior in quality or station to the item acquired. (2) U 5.16,
M 172C. (3) netröragavalabhrämyan mandarâdriśiraścyutaiḥ । ratnair
āpūrya dugdhâbdhim yaḥ samādatta kaustubham (Udbhața; Vișņu
is referred to: "He filled up the sea of milk with jewels fallen from
the primeval mountain top where he wandered in the Snake King's
caves; then he took from the sea a magic jewel of inestimable price").
(4) "Seeing my flesh must die so soon, / And want a head to dine
next noon,- / Just at the stroke, when my veins start and spread, /
Set on my soul an everlasting head" (Sir Walter Raleigh; in expecta-
tion of his execution).
višişța, "qualified': (1) a type of parivṛtti in which the item exchanged is
superior in quality or station to the item acquired. (2) U 5.16,
M 172C. (3) latās tv adhvanyānām ahaha dṛśam ādāya sahasā dadaty
ādhivyādhibhramiruditamohavyatikaram (Mammața; the wanderers
are reminded of their distant loves: "The lovely creepers steal the
sight of wanderers and give back pain, suffering, loss, sobbing, and
confusion"). (4) "Even such is Time, that takes in trust / Our youth,
our joys, all we have, / And pays us but with age and dust" (Sir
Walter Raleigh).
sama, 'equal': (1) a type of parivṛtti in which the item exchanged and the
item acquired are similar or of equal value. (2) U 5.16, V 4.3.16,
M 172C. (3) (4) See parivṛtti.</p>
<pb n="207" />
<p>GLOSSARY
205
parisamkhyā
parisamkhya, 'delimitation': (1) an alamkāra identical with niyamavat
śleşa. (2) R 7.79, M 185. (5) The name most generally means
'enumeration', but the logicians use the term in a special sense:
'exhaustive enumeration'; hence the application here, where a
series of ideas are limited to special senses through an enumeration
based upon mention of those limitations.
paryāya
paryāya (I), 'synonym': (1) same as aprastutapraśamsă II. (2) R 7.42
(43). (5) This term evidently suppletes the otherwise absent
figure aprastutapraśamsā in Rudrata. The definition alone could be
interpreted as the figure paryāyôkta, also absent in Rudrața. It is
the inverse of bhāva II.
paryāya (II): (1) same as višeșa II. (2) R 7.44 (45-46), M 180-81. (5) A
single thing is represented in several contexts, or several things in
one context. The unique thing is generally a state of soul, such as
happiness or valor, and the poetic force of the figure is presumably a
function of a figurative denial of the law of the excluded middle.
There is no obvious relation to the figure paryāyôkta or to the other
variety of paryaya given by Rudrața. Mammața accepts both paryāya
in sense two and paryāyökta, establishing them as separate figures.
paryāyôkta
paryāyôkta, 'periphrasis': (1) a figure in which a speaker conveys his
intention without reference to the evident motive which prompts
his utterance; oblique reference. (2) B 3.8-9, D 2.295-97, U 4.6,
AP 345.18, M 175. (3) daśaty asau sahakärasya mañjarim । tam
aham vārayişyāmi yuvābhyām svairam asyatām (Dandin: "The
cuckoo is eating the mango blooms; I'll go shoo him off. You two
sit down here in peace"). (4) "*I should like that very much. Where
shall we go? I reflected a moment and answered, 'I hardly like to
suggest a public bar, but I notice the Eagle is close by, and though
it is but a primitive place with a small bar and very hard chairs, it
is a free house. The beer is said to be drinkable'. The only difficulty
is that I am forbidden by my doctor to drink beer'. I understand
that the Eagle frequently has whisky, rum, and gin, as well as beer'.
'I was hoping that we might find more congenial surroundings at
your studio'. 'I'm afraid my studio is in process of cleaning. We
should not be comfortable there. Why not come and try the lemonade</p>
<pb n="208" />
<p>206
GLOSSARY
at the Eagle?" (Joyce Cary; neither speaker has any money).
(5) The figure might be called "pretext" (both examples illustrate this
kind of oblique reference), but the term would be too limited for
the Sanskrit cases, some of which would make good illustrations for
Anandavardhana's dhvani. The specific alleging of a pretext is the
figure leśa. Bhāmaha's example from the Ratnáharaṇa shows a
periphrasis without the alleging of a pretext: "grheśv adhvasu vā
nânnam bhunjmahe yad adhitinaḥ / na bhunjate dvijās..." (We do not
eat food, either at home or while travelling, which learned Brahmins
have not tasted"). This is uttered by Kṛṣṇa in order to avoid being
given poisoned food. Similarly, the example from Dandin is spoken
by a go-between who has arranged the rendez-vous and now takes
her leave. All these cases share the common trait of making an
oblique reference without that reference being based in any way
upon simile or its elements. The figure samasôkti also involves
oblique reference, but to an object which is understood as the subject
of a comparison and by means of a recitation of properties presum-
ably common to both the implicit and explicit subject. Aprastuta-
prašamsă reposes on other kinds of relation (such as cause-effect),
but that relation is commonly evident in the examples. Paryāyôkta,
however, depends upon nothing but context and connotation for its
comprehension, and it need not serve even a descriptive (let alone
comparative) end. It would seem that all cases of suggestion not
otherwise classifiable should be referred to this head. Mammaţa
gives paryāyôkta as well as paryaya II, establishing the two as differ-
ent figures.
pihita
pihita, 'hidden': (1) a figure in which a quality or attribute is pictured as
withstanding, and predominant over another quality which in the
normal state of affairs would be the stronger. (2) R 9.50 (51). (3)
priyatamaviyogajanitā kṛśatā katham iva tavêyam añgeṣu । lasadin-
dukalākomalakāntikalāpeṣu lakṣyeta (Rudrața; the thinness of her
aspect is obscured by her moon-like glamour: "The thinness which
you suffer in separation from your lover is not easily perceived,
for your limbs are effulgent with beauty gentle as the glimmer of
the waning moon"). (4) "He that looks still on your eyes, / Though
the winter have begun / To benumb our arteries, / Shall not want
the summer sun" (William Browne). (5) Cf. tadguņa. Unlike
sambhāvyamānârtha, there is no transference of quality here, only</p>
<pb n="209" />
<p>GLOSSARY
207
cancellation as far as the onlooker is concerned. Pihita could be
mentioned as a special kind of adhikya atiśayókti: there the exaggera-
tion of the force of the quality also minimizes another quality.
It differs from atiśayôkti in that the qualities in pihita are not
contraries, but may be any two not normally concomitant.
punaruktábhāsa
punaruktâbhāsa, 'appearance of redundancy': (1) a figure in which two
homonyms are used in the same sentence in different senses. (2)
U 1.3, M 122-24. (3) tanuvapur ajaghanyo'sau karikuñjararudhira kta-
kharanakharaḥ । tejodhāma mahaḥ pṛthumanasām indro harijiṣṇuḥ
(Mammaţa; tanu-vapur is not, as one might be led to believe,
*body-body", but 'slight-bodied': "The lion, accustomed to conquer,
slender bodied, first among beasts, the nails of his paws red with
the blood of lordly elephants, a repository of splendor, majesty
itself, the Indra of the ambitious"). (4) "... for if I was a light of
literature at all it was of the very lightest kind" (Samuel Butler).
(5) Compare ävṛtti, where the repetition is not apparent, but real.
For Mammața, this is the only alamkāra which involves both
sabda and artha.
pūrva
pūrva (I), 'previous': (1) a figure in which the subject of comparison is
said to precede in the order of creation or time the object to which
it is compared. (2) R 8.97 (98). (3) kāle jaladakulákuladaśadisi
pūrvam viyoginīvadanam । galadaviralasalilabharam paścăd upajāyate
gaganam (Rudrața; the face of the woman separated from her lover
was created before the sky: "In the season when the ten directions of
the sky are obscured by legions of clouds, the face of the separated
wife appears first; only then does the sky release its load of incessant,
flowing rain"). (4) "Be you not proud of that rich hair / Which
wantons with the love-sick air; / Whereas that ruby which you wear, /
Sunk from the tip of your soft ear, / Will last to be a precious stone /
When all your world of beauty's gone" (Robert Herrick; the beauty
of the ruby will outlast the beauty of her hair). (5) There are a
confusing number of figures and subtypes which involve in some
way or other tampering with the normal time sequence. In the
present case, since we are dealing with an implicit comparison, an
assumption of the object's natural primordinateness is legitimate
because, for the purposes of the comparison, it possesses reality in a</p>
<pb n="210" />
<p>208
GLOSSARY
higher degree (that aspect of reality which is relevant the common
property). By inverting this assumption, we obtain an effect some-
what like vyatireka. Usually, however, the temporal inversion serves
as a modality for exaggerating a quality of presumed effect (kārya-
kāraṇapaurvâparyaviparyaya atiśayôkti), or it is simply one of the
ways in which the causal process is distorted, for whatever effect
(käryânantaraja hetu and pūrva II).
pūrva (II): (1) same as kāryânantaraja hetu (2) R 9.3 (4). (5) See pūrva I.
Expressed as an inference, this figure is also noted by Rudraţa
under anumāna.
prativastupamā
prativastupamā, 'counterpart simile': (1) same as prativastu upamā.
(2) V 4.3.2, U 1.22-23, M 154. (5) Prativastūpamā involves the repeti-
tion of the common property; there need be no parallelism of terms
within the two situations. At any rate, this figure differs from
drstânta in that the emphasis is placed upon the repetition and not
on the parallelism. Cf. also ubhayanyāsa.
pratipa
pratipa, against the grain": (1) a simile in which an affected pity or blame
is directed at the subject of comparison in the presence of the object,
or vice versa. (2) R. 8.76 (77-78), M 201. (3) garvam asamvähyam
imam locanayugalena vahasi kim bhadre । santidṛśani diši diši saraḥsu
nanu nīlanalināni (Rudraţa, Mammata; interpreted differently, see
below: "How can your eyes bear such insupportable arrogance?
There are hundreds of blue lotuses in all the ponds"). (4) "Cupid
and my Campaspe played / At cards for kisses-Cupid paid: /
He stakes his quiver, bow and arrows,/ His mother's doves, and team
of sparrows; / Loses them too; then down he throws / The coral of
his lip, the rose / Growing on's cheek (but none knows how); / With
these, the crystal of his brow, / And then the dimple of his chin:/
All these did my Campaspe win. / At last he set her both his eyes, /
She won, and Cupid blind did rise. / O Love! has she done this to
thee? What shall, alas, become of me?" (John Lyly: the speaker
pities himself as he watches his rival, Cupid). (5) This figure seems
to be a minor variation on vyatireka in which the outright distinction
between the two terms compared is qualified or mediated by an
expression of affected pity or blame. In the two examples given
above, the lotuses and Cupid are depicted as exciting the envy of the</p>
<pb n="211" />
<p>209
GLOSSARY
subject with which they are implicitly compared. All of Mammata's
examples show an affectation of inferiority for or on the part of the
object of comparison. Rudrața, however, though he gives the same
example in one case, says that the inferiority attaches to the subject of
comparison and thus amounts to an ironic affirmation of that sub-
ject's comparability. He interprets the example already given as a
taunt cast at the girl who is unable to bear the sight of the lotuses.
Compare the following example: "The Model Boy of my time-we
never had but the one-was perfect: perfect in manners, perfect in
dress, perfect in conduct, perfect in filial piety, perfect in exterior
godliness; but at bottom he was a prig; and as for the contents of
his skull, they could have changed place with the contents of a pie, and
nobody would have been the worse off for it but the pie" (Mark Twain).
pratyanika
pratyanīka, 'counter-attack': (1) a figure in which the object of comparison
is represented as taking revenge for a set-back initially suffered at
the hands of the subject. (2) R 8.92 (93), M 196. (3) yadi tava tayā
jigişos tadvadanam ahāri kāntisarvasvam । mama tatra kim apatitam
tapasi sitâmšo yad evam mām (Rudrața: "The beauty of the cool-
rayed moon, contesting my beloved's glance, has been claimed away;
how does it happen then, O moon, that the sight of you consumes
me?"). (4) "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, / Who is
already sick and pale with grief / That thou her maid art far more
fair than she" (Shakespeare). (5) This is a vyatireka with the tables
turned. The term on whom the revenge is wreaked is ordinarily a
neutral, but may also be the subject of comparison. The English
example is perhaps wide of the mark in that the object of comparison
itself is not only set back initially (by the girl to whom the remark is
directed) but is also finally dishonored (by the sun); but the intent is
the same as that of the Sanskrit: the speaker is disturbed by the
suggestive beauty of the pale moon. Cf. pratipa, where the object
is determined as resentful, but where no element of riposte is present.
prasasti
prasasti, "flattery: (1) skill at employing words capable of melting the
resistance of others. (2) AP 345.3-4. (5) Prašasti may be divided
into premôkti ('speaking kindnesses') and stuti (praise"). Kanti,
the next sabdârthâlamkāra, is described as the use of such flattery in
appropriate circumstances.</p>
<pb n="212" />
<p>210
GLOSSARY
praśna
praśna, "question': (1) a figure wherein a question or remark suggests its
answer or reply. (2) R 7.93 (95). (3) kim svargād adhikasukham
bandhusuhrtpanditaiḥ samam lakşmiḥ । saurajyam adurbhikşam
satkávyarasâmṛtâsvādaḥ (Rudrața; poetry is preferable to salvation:
"Is the nectar-like taste of true poetry-a prosperous empire which
knows no famine and the good fortune of relations, friends, and
teachers alike more agreeable than salvation?"). (4) "Was this the
face that launch'd a thousand ships, / And burnt the topless towers of
Ilium?" (Christopher Marlowe). (5) The rhetorical question. Rudra-
ţa calls this also uttara (q.v.), but since it is the reverse of the first
type, we give it here. Praśna differs from parisankhya in that the
answer alone is intended, not the nature of the concept.
prahelikā
prahelikā, 'riddle': (1) a puzzle, riddle, conundrum; a phrase, statement,
or question constructed deliberately so that its meaning shall be
misconstrued, but in some way intimating a solution to the difficulty
thus created. (2) B 2.19, D 3.96-124, AP 343.22, 25-26, R 5.25 (29).
(3) katham api na dṛśyate'sãv anvakşam harati vasanāni (Rudraţa;
answer: vayuh; "He is not at all visible though he seizes most
obviously their clothing"; answer: the wind). (4) "What is that which
is often brought to table, often cut, but never eaten?" (Robert Merry;
answer: a ack of cards). (5) Prahelikā is first mentioned by
Bhāmaha as an illegitimate extension of yamaka ('cadence'); serving
no poetic purpose, this topic was apparently soon adopted into the
growing rag bag of citrakavya. Dandin, who gives the most extensive
treatment (enumerating sixteen types), also avers that such puzzles
serve only as recreation for scholars or critics and perhaps can be used
to demonstrate the prowess of one writer over another a sort of
verbal jujitsu. The Agni Purāṇa and Rudrața both mention only
two types of riddle: one in which the answer is already contained
in the riddle phrase by a different reading of words (spașțapracchan-
nârtha), and the other, the most frequently met variety, in which an
apparent paradox is proposed (vyähṛta). Both types can be found in
Dandin, the first as ubhayacchanna, the second as ekacchanna. The
example given above illustrates the second type. Since neither the
names or the types found in Daṇḍin are met with elsewhere, the
sixteen varieties will be given here.
ubhayacchanna, 'both concealed': (1) a conundrum in the form of a</p>
<pb n="213" />
<p>GLOSSARY
211
question in which the key to the solution is hidden, usually by a
grammatical device. (2) D 3.105 (122). (3) kena kaḥ saha sambhūya
sarvakāryeşu sannidhim । labdhvá bhojanakale tu yadi drsto nirasyate
(Dandin; the answer is "the hair" and is given by understanding kena
as the instrumental not of the interrogative, but of the noun ka
('head'); it is considered improper to show one's hair during eating:
"What with which coexisting in all their actions, and having come
together during meal time, is, nevertheless, as soon as seen, put
aside?"). (4) "What kind of cat is most valued in Sunday-school?"
(Robert Merry; answer: a catechism). (5) The paradox here is
entirely concealed because neither the answer nor a paradoxical
reference which would suggest the nature of the solution is given
explicitly in the statement; in fact, the first reading does not suggest
that a paradox is even intended. In the examples, the key is given
by a linguistic interpretation of one of the words of the statement
(kena from ka; catechism as a kind of cat). Cf. vañcita and parusa.
This and the following type (ekacchanna) represent a different kind
of classification in that they necessarily involve the question form.
Most Sanskrit riddles are not questions, unlike the English ones.
The majority of the prahelikā concern the mode of concealment
(riddle-ness), whereas these two concern the mode of solution (given
a question).
ekacchanna, "partly concealed': (1) a conundrum in the form of a question
in which the key to the solution is partly given by a descriptive
qualification. (2) D 3.104 (121). (3) na sprśaty āyudham jātu na
strīņām stanamaṇḍalam । amanuş yasya kasyâpi hasto'yam na kilápha-
lah (Dandin; intended is the gandharva-[amanuşya] hasta, a name for
the eranda tree: "He touches no weapon and not even the breast of
woman; the hand of this unmasculine thing is nevertheless provided
with fruits"). (4) "Who prolongs his work to as great a length as
possible, and still completes it in time?" (Robert Merry; answer:
the rope-maker). (5) The name "partly concealed" refers to the fact
that a part of the truth must be given in order for the paradox to be
understood. In the Sanskrit examples, the fruit (of the tree) is
regarded as giving just enough clarity for the paradox to function.
In the English, the word "length" fulfills the same function, for it
candidly refers to the rope, too. This and the preceding type repre-
sent a different level of classification and are opposed to one another
in the sense that ubhayacchanna involves only an apparent paradox.
Compare višeşôkti alamkāra, virodha, and virodhâbhāsa.</p>
<pb n="214" />
<p>212
GLOSSARY
nāmântarita, 'of another name': (1) a conundrum whose solution is
effected by understanding that the statement in fact implies a name
and not the subject apparently intended. (2) D 3.102 (116). (3)
ādau rājéty adhīrākṣi pārthivaḥ ko'pi gīyate । sanâtanaś ca naîvâsau
rājā nápi sanātanaḥ (Daṇḍin; answer: the tree ījātana, i.e., rājā
accompanied by [sa] absence of [na] non- [a] posterity [tana]. This
tree is neither a king nor eternal [sanātanaḥ]: "There is a certain
earth-lord, called a 'king' at first, who is eternal; but he is neither a
king nor eternal"). (4) "What word is that to which if you add a
syllable you will make it shorter?" (Robert Merry; answer: the word
"short"). (5) In effect, the conundrum is here the obfuscation of a
name. It differs from parusa prahelika in that the statement of the
conundrum conceals the name itself, which is then put in quotes,
rather than simply concealing another possible interpretation (usually
etymological) of the name.
nibhṛta, "hidden': (1) a conundrum whose solution is hidden by a sequence
of descriptive qualifications, each of which involves a parallelism of
attribute between the hidden subject and the apparent meaning of
the statement. (2) D 3.102 (117). (3) hrtadravyam naram tyaktvä
dhanavantam vrajanti kāḥ । nānābhañgisamākṛṣṭalokā veśyā na
durdharāḥ (Daṇḍin; here the prostitutes are to be taken as "rivers",
the penniless man as "mined mountains", the rich man as "the sea"
(as the repository of jewels), the coquetry as "ripples", and so on.
Instead of reading "what prostitute is not difficult to support?"
the phrase now reads "what rivers are not to be bathed in [veśyā]?"
The translation is: "Which prostitutes are not difficult to put up with,
to whom men are attracted by various artifices and who abandon a
man when they have taken his money in favor of one who has
money?"). (4) "What is that which, supposing its greatest breadth
to be four inches, length nine inches, and depth three inches, con-
tains a solid foot?" (Robert Merry; answer: a shoe). (5) This
conundrum differs from samānarūpa only grammatically: the latter
should involve a similarity of form (nominal comparability), the
former a similarity of qualification (adjectival comparability).
pariharikā, 'avoiding': (1) a conundrum whose solution is effected by
interpreting a series of words, in secondary senses, in such a way
that each succeeding one refers to the preceding secondary sense.
(2) D 3.104 (120). (3) vijitâtmabhavadveṣigurupādahato janaḥ ।
himapahamitradharair vyāptam vyomábhinandati (Dandin: "vind
[inst.] garudena jita indras tasyâtmabhavaḥ putraḥ arjunas tasya</p>
<pb n="215" />
<p>GLOSSARY
213
dveşī śatruḥ karṇas tasya guruḥ pitā sūryas tasya pādaiḥ kiraṇaiḥ hataḥ
santapitaḥ" and "himâpaho vahniḥ tasyâmitrāni jalāni teṣām dharair
jaladharaih meghaiḥ vyāptam"; the example is written in what
amounts to a code; translation would not clarify anything). (4)
"When does a temperance lecturer say a grammar lesson?" (Robert
Merry; answer: when he declines a drink). (5) "Drink" as a verb
refers to "declines" in one sense, as a potion, in another. Strings
such as the Sanskrit offers are unobtainable in English. This conun-
drum is identical with a later doşa, neyârthatva.
paruşa, 'hard': (1) a conundrum whose solution is given by applying an
apparent or false etymology (which is not justified by any usage)
to a word in the statement. (2) D 3.100 (113). (3) surah suralaye
svairam bhramanti daśanârcișă । majjanta iva mattās te saure sarasi
samprati (Dandin; by taking suraḥ 'gods' as sură asti yeṣām te surāḥ,
the meaning 'drunkards' is obtained. This satisfies the paradox of
the gods' being intoxicated: "The Gods wander freely in heaven
showing their teeth, like drunken elephants in your celestial tank).
(4) "What vessel is that which is always asking leave to move?"
(Robert Merry; answer: can-I-ster).
prakalpita, 'arranged': (1) a conundrum whose solution is given by under-
standing the context in which the statement is made, and does not
depend on any power of words to convey several meanings. (2)
D 3.101 (115). (3) gira skhalantyā namreṇa sirasā dīnayā dṛśā /
tişthantam api sôtkampam vṛddhe māņ nânukampase (Da it
would appear that this is addressed to an old lady, and therefore
seems out of place; the solution is given by taking vrddhe as a name
for Lakşmi: "You have no pity on me, aged lady, though I stand
here agitated, with afflicted visage, bent head, and faltering voice").
(4) ""Now then: five crows were sitting in a tree .. A man came by
with a gun. He shot one of them. How many were left in the tree?"
"That is no problem', said Sofie. There were four crows left, of
course'. 'Yes, if they were such dumb crows as you.... Now, Hans,
how many were left?' 'None', answered Hans, thoughtfully. Right-
o!. There were none left But say, Hans, what do you think
became of the others?" ... I suppose they flew away" (O. E. Rol-
vaag). (5) Vrddhā is not a pun, for Lakşmi bears that epithet in
approximately the sense of 'the fully developed one'. The conundrum
plays only on the legitimate connotations of the one word. Similarly,
Rolvaag seems to be referring to a single crow, whereas in fact his
question concerns the species crow and its social behavior. There
-...</p>
<pb n="216" />
<p>214
GLOSSARY
is no pun in the strict sense (compare vañcita prahelikā); the puzzler
simply phrases his statement in such a way that the listener is led to
consider the wrong context for the statement.
pramuşita, 'distracted': (1) a conundrum in which the solution is hidden
by a series of extremely difficult, archaic, or irregular words. (2)
D 3.99 (111). (3) khâtayaḥ kani kāle te sphātayaḥ sphārhavalgavaḥ ।
candre sākṣād bhavanty atra vāyavo mama dhāriṇaḥ (Dandin: "Young
lady! [kani] your words [air-goers], full of sense, are sweet to my
desire in this your lovely [moon-like] condition; my life [winds] is now
secure"). (5) The best English equivalent for this puzzle is the rebus,
a sequence of pictures and words whose puns, synonyms, and spatial
arrangement are the key to comprehending the meaning. Compare
this one from Robert Merry which involves only diagrams: "Mr.
-wood being at the. of king of terrors, 10 mills for his quakers,
and who, which and what. They odor for Dr. Juvenile Humanity,
who to Dr. Hay preservers, and little devil behold scarlet his
assistance; but B 4 he arrived, the not legally good changed color,
taker
and
was ct. for" (Mr. Dashwood, being at the point of death,
the
sent for his friends and relatives. They sent for Dr. Childs, who
inclosed a few lines to Dr. Barnes and imp-lo-red his assistance.
But before he arrived, the invalid died, and the undertaker was sent
for).
Böhtlingk expresses indignation at this sort of thing, calling it too
difficult for man or beast: "Ein solches Rätsel kann nur ein Inder
lösen and wenn er uns die Lösung mittheilt, fragen wir, wie konnte
Dandin ein Rätsel aufgeben, das ein normal gebildetes Gehirn nie
und nimmer lösen wird?" Such scholarly impatience is too often
met with a regrettable ethno-centrism. Puzzles of this sort are
common in all literate cultures, especially among the un- or under-
educated; but when an Indian is obscure, the Western critic deems
it his specific vice and never considers the purpose of the obscurity
or its nature. Would Böhtlingk condemn all light verse? Comparative
studies, such as the present one, may in some measure dispel this
unwarranted prejudice which, in its way, is quite flattering to the
Sanskrit language, for it would seem to imply that anything written
in Sanskrit is ipso facto serious and great.
vañcita, 'deceived': (1) a conundrum whose solution is obtained by taking
one of the words in the statement of the conundrum in a secondary,</p>
<pb n="217" />
<p>215
but not lexically unjustifiable, sense. (2) D 3.98 (109). (3) kubjām
āsevamānasya yathā te vardhate ratiḥ । naivam nirvisato nārīr
amarastrīviḍambinīḥ (Daṇḍin; kubjā ('humpback') should be taken
in the secondary sense of kanyakubjā (the city), that is, Kanauj):
"Your passion grows as you consort with the hunchback woman;
you have no use for women who outdo the wives of the Gods").
(4) "Who was the first that bore arms?" (Robert Merry; answer:
Adam; arrived at by taking "arms" in the sense of "upper extremi-
ties"). (5) In these two examples, the obvious context suggests that
kubjā be taken in the sense of 'female hunchback', and that "arms"
be taken as "firearms". The writer uses this evident primary sense
to deceive us.
GLOSSARY
vyutkrānta, 'out of order': (1) a conundrum whose solution is obtained
by rearranging the words of the statement. (2) D 3.99 (110). (3)
dande cumbati padminyā hamsaḥ karkaśakaṇṭake । mukham valgura-
vam kurvams tuṇḍenâñgāni ghaṭṭayan (Daṇḍin; the proper sense is
given by reading "karkasakante dande padminyà añgāni ghaṭṭayan
valguravam kurvan hamsas tundena (padminyaḥ) mukham cumbati":
"Rubbing the members of the lotus on its stalk rough with spines,
the swan kisses the face [of the lotus] with his beak, making a soft
murmuring"). (4) "Was he short taken" (James Joyce; an example of
the classical "anastrophe"). (5) This is a sort of anagram of words
instead of letters.
samkīrņa, 'mixed': (1) a riddle containing more than one of the riddles
listed under prahelikā. (2) D 3.105 (123-24). (3) sahayā sagajā senā
sabhatêyam na cej jitā । amātriko'yam mūḍhaḥ syād akṣarajñaś ca
naḥ sutaḥ (Daṇḍin; a mixture of nāmântarita (sahayā and sagajā
taken as 'consisting of ha, ya, ga, and ja') and vañcita (sena in the
unusual sense of sa-ina); but would this not more properly be inter-
preted as pramuşita? "If that army, with horse, elephant, and foot
not be conquered, then our son, though he know the ineffable
[akşara], is indeed unlettered and stupid"; or, "If the alphabet,
with its 'h, y, g, j, i, n, bh, t' be not learnt, then our son, though
he know letters, is indeed ..."). (4) "In what ship, and in what
capacity, do young ladies like to engage?" (Robert Merry: answer:
in court ship, as marry-ners; the first illustrates nämântarita, the
second, parusa).
samkhyāta, *counted': (1) a conundrum whose solution is given by
interpreting qualities in another way than that intended by the
statement. (2) D 3.101 (114). (3) nāsikyamadhyā paritaś caturvarṇa-</p>
<pb n="218" />
<p>216
GLOSSARY
vibhūşitā। asti kācit purī yasyām aṣṭavarṇâhvayā nṛpāḥ (Daṇḍin:
"There is a certain city, adorned with the four castes, in the midst of
the Nāsikyas, whose kings are called "eight fold""; or: "There is a
certain city with a nasal in the middle, surrounded by four phonemes,
whose kings bear a title of eight phonemes"; the answer is Kāñci,
capital of the Pallavāḥ). (4) "What has four eyes and can't see?"
(Trad.; answer: Mississippi).
samāgata, "conjoined': (1) a conundrum whose solution is already
contained in the statement of the conundrum and is revealed by a
different reading of the constituent words (samdhi). (2) D 3.98 (108).
(3) na mayā gorasâbhijñam cetaḥ kasmāt prakupyasi / asthānaruditair
ebhir alam ālokitêkṣaṇe (Daṇḍin; the answer is obtained by reading
na me āgo-rasâbhijñam, etc.: "I did not mark my mind with cow
milk; why are you angry? Quit these inappropriate sobbings, my
love of sidelong glances"; or: "My mind is not distinguished by a
taste for sin ..."). (4) "What is that which is invisible, but never out
of sight?" (Robert Merry; answer: by reading "in visible", the letters
"i" or "s").
samānarūpa, 'of the same appearance': (1) a conundrum whose solution
is given by interpreting several related words of the statement in
appropriate secondary meanings. (2) D 3.100 (112). (3) atrôdyāne
mayā dṛṣṭā vallarī pañcapallavā pallave pallave tāmra yasyām
kusumamanjarī (Dandin; the "creeper" is her arm, the "shoots"
her fingers, and the "bud" her red fingernail: "I saw in the garden a
creeper with five shoots, and on each shoot a scarlet flower bud").
(4) "Why is it profitable to keep fowl?" (Robert Merry; answer: for
every grain they give a peck). (5) This type appears to be the same
as vañcita, but with the added qualification that more than one word
be taken in a secondary sense. The relation of the secondary senses
then suggests the solution to the conundrum; as neither "grain"
nor "peck" by itself is sufficient to enlighten the reader, their conjunc-
tion alone suggests the secondary sense (relating to grain as a col-
lective) in which they both are to be taken.
samānaśabda, 'composed of the same words': (1) a conundrum whose
solution is effected by substituting synonyms for identifiable mor-
phemic elements of less than word length. (2) D 3.103 (118). (3)
jitaprakṛṣṭakeśakhyo yas tavâbhūmisâhvayaḥ । sa mām adya prabhu-
tôtkam karoti kalabhāşiņi (Daṇḍin; the girl's lips are meant. Consider
'having the same name' (sâhvayaḥ) as 'non-earth' (a-bhumi). A
synonym for bhūmi is dharā: substituting, we get a-dhara, which (not</p>
<pb n="219" />
<p>217
so morphemicized) is a common word for the lips (adhar-a is the
lower one); likewise, prakṛṣṭakeśa is to be taken as pra-vāla by the
same process of substitution, and this is the name of a creeper:
"surpassing the pravāla creeper": "Something of yours, famed for
having conquered excellent hair, and with the name of non-earth, now
makes me awaken to desire"). (4) "Father plugs an abbreviation"
(Robert Merry; this is so decoded as the name of a river: the "Pa-
taps-co" in Baltimore). (5) Compare pramuşita, where the etymologi-
cal analyses are in theory legitimate (though our English example
shows some of this type).
sammūḍha, *confused': (1) a conundrum whose solution consists in prop-
erly interpreting the intentional force of the statement, that is, in
grasping fully its syntactical relationships. (2) D 3.103 (119). (3)
śayanīye parāvṛtya śayitau kāminau krudhā । tathaiva śayitau rāgāt
svairam mukham acumbatām (Daṇḍin; by taking tathaiva not as "in
the same position" but as "turning over again", the statement is no
longer paradoxical: "In the bed the two recumbent lovers turn
over from anger; likewise recumbent they kiss each other's faces in
passion"). (4) "How can five persons divide five eggs, so that each
man shall receive one, and still one remain in the dish?" (Robert
Merry; answer: one takes the dish with the egg). (5) This type is
similar to prakalpita, but here the context in which the phrase is
spoken does not provide the key; rather the reverse: the ability of
the phrase to correctly represent the occurrence is at issue. One
egg can remain in the dish when it is realized that this does not
preclude the dish itself being appropriated. As in the Sanskrit
example, the confusing word is "still", for the mind is, as it were,
compelled to conceive of an entirely unchanged first condition: that
the egg not only remains in the dish, but that the dish is still on the
table. The mind is thus carried beyond the actual descriptive content
of the phrase, where only one aspect of the original condition is
unchanged, and falls into the syntactical blunder of overextending
the prodosis in the apodosis. As in prakalpita, however, no power
of words to convey two meanings is here employed.
GLOSSARY
preyas
preyas (I), 'more agreeable': (1) the expression of affection in an extra-
ordinary way. (2) B 3.5, D 2.275 (276). (3) adya ya mama govinda
jātā tvayi gṛhâgate । kālenaîşā bhavet prītis tavaîvâgamanät punaḥ
(Bhāmaha, Dandin; spoken by Vidura: "The joy which I feel at</p>
<pb n="220" />
<p>218
GLOSSARY
your coming today, Govinda, will return only when you come again!").
(4) "Dear Mrs. A., / Hooray, hooray, / At last you are deflowered. /
On this as every other day / I love you. -Noel Coward" (quoted by
Wolcott Gibbs; telegram sent to Gertrude Lawrence on the occasion
of her marriage). (5) See rasavat, úrjasvi.
preyas (II): (1) that quality of a work of art by which descriptive situations
elicit and sustain in every way appropriately the basic mood (rasa)
of the work. (2) U 4.2. (3) iyam ca sutavāllabhyān nirviśeṣā spṛhāvatī/
ullāpayitum ārabdhā kṛtvēmam kroḍa atmanaḥ (Udbhaţa; Pārvatī
is fondling a young fawn: "Paying no heed to the difference and made
loving through tenderness for all offspring, she began to hum and
took it to her breast"). (4) "There will be a rusty gun on the wall,
sweetheart, / The rifle grooves curling with flakes of rust. / A spider
will make a silver string next in the darkest, warmest corner of it. /
The trigger and the range-finder, they too will be rusty. / And
no hands will polish the gun, and it will hang on the wall. / Fore-
finger and thumbs will point absently and casually toward it. / It
will be spoken among half-forgotten, wished-to-be-forgotten things. /
They will tell the spider: Go on, you're doing good work" (Carl
Sandburg; the title of this poem is "A. E. F." and its mood is śānta).
(5) Udbhata incorporates several elements of the rasa theory into
the traditional corpus of alamkāra. His pretext is the figure rasavat,
which from the time of Bhamaha could be determined in any
passage in which a rasa was evident or pre-eminent. The two figures
closely allied to rasavat, namely ürjasvi and preyas, which originally
meant only 'arrogance' and 'compliance' and so contrasted with
rasavat (as reposing upon the ego and not upon bhāvas common to
all and especially the audience), are reinterpreted as special cases of
rasavat: excessive demonstration of any rasa, and the present adapta-
tion of situation and mood. We need not go into the precise and
sometimes subtle analysis of situation (vibhāva, anubhāva, etc.);
suffice it to say that the present figure can be explained (and is by
later writers) as a composition whose situational elements are consist-
ent and evocative of the proper final mood.
bhāva
bhāva (I), 'emotion': (1) a figure wherein the visible effect of an emotional
state, together with its apparently unrelated cause, suggests the nature
of that emotional state, which, in turn, explains the relevance of the
cause. (2) R 7.38 (39). (3) grāmataruṇam taruṇyā navavañjulama-</p>
<pb n="221" />
<p>219
ħjarisanāthakaram paśyantyā bhavati muhur nitarām malinā
mukhacchāyā (Rudraţa; the girl's troubled look [visible effect],
with its cause [the flower in the youth's hand], suggest her emotion
[despair], since the cause is seen to be a secret signal that the rendez-
vous must be postponed: "The girl's face is troubled as she looks
upon the village youth with a new garland of hibiscus in his hand").
(4) ".
we had a small game, / And Ah Sin took a hand: / It was
Euchre. The same / He did not understand; / But he smiled as he
sat by the table, / With a smile that was child-like and bland. / ... /
But the hands that were played / By that heathen Chinee, / And the
points that he made, / Were quite frightful to see,-/ Till at last he
put down a right bower, / Which the same Nye had dealt unto me.
/ Then I looked up at Nye, / And he gazed upon me; / And he rose
with a sign, / And said, 'Can this be? / We are ruined by Chinese
cheap labour', / And he went for that heathen Chinee" (Bret Harte:
Nye's sigh [visible effect], with its cause [right bower in wrong hand],
suggest his emotion [thirst for revenge], since the cause is seen to
be an indication of dishonest play). (5) This figure is testimony
to the efforts of the stricter poeticians to include suggestion [dhvani]
within the realm of figure as traditionally conceived. Bhāva is
more limited in scope than rasavat alamkāra, aiming only at suggest-
ing a specific, temporally limited emotion, rather than a mood
[rasa] which would be a general characteristic of the work itself.
It is a kind of periphrasis of the soul; but since we know from the
Dhvanyaloka that the soul can only be obliquely referred to, bhāva
is hard to differentiate from the notion of suggestion itself. The
figure differs from aprastutaprašamsā both in that the intimated
subject is there capable of representation, and in that the means of
suggestion are similitudes of subject and explicit object. See
paryāyôkta.
GLOSSARY
bhāva (II): (1) a figure in which a literal truth is expressed for the purpose
of conveying a hidden intention. (2) R 7.40 (41). (3) ekākini yad
abalā taruṇī tathäham asmin grhe grhapatiś ca gato videśam । kim
yācase tad iha väsam iyam varākī śvaśrür mamândhabadhira nanu
mūḍha pāntha (Rudrata; the girl is inviting the wayfarer to bed:
"I am alone and weak and innocent, and my husband has left this
house for a far country; why do you ask refuge here? Don't you
realize that my mother-in-law is about, deaf and blind? Stupid
traveller!"). (4) "Good night. If I get to talkin' and tossin', or
what not, you'll understand you're to 'Yes, I'll wake you'. 'No</p>
<pb n="222" />
<p>220
GLOSSARY
don't yu', for God's sake!' 'Not?' 'Don't yu' touch me'. 'What'll
I do?' 'Roll away quick to your side. It don't last but a minute ....
Oh, just don't let your arm or your laig touch me if I go to jumpin'
around. I'm dreamin' of Indians when I do that. And if anything
touches me then, I'm liable to grab my knife right in my sleep""
(Owen Wister: the Virginian wishes to avoid sharing a bed with the
drummer). (5) Cf. paryāyôkta, where the hidden intention is con-
veyed by a remark with no apparent relevance. This figure, like
vyājôkti, conveys a type of irony, but does not involve speaking
the opposite of one's real intent.
bhāvika
bhāvika, 'expressive": (1) the coherence of the entire work in a clear and
realistic unity. (2) B 3.53-54, D 2.364-66, U 6.6. (3) (4) No examples
are offered by Bhāmaha or Daṇḍin. (5) This curious alamkāra,
defined as a quality [guna] of the entire work, perhaps represents the
extreme interpretation of the extent of the figure of speech. Here is
clearer than usual the etymological sense of alamkāra: a 'making
adequate' of the work of art. Bhāvika perceived in such aspects
as the relevance of the various parts of the story to one another, the
clarification of difficult contexts by an emphasis on a chain of events,
the suitability of the story to be represented in the form chosen,
clarity of language, and so on. Daṇḍin explains that this figure is a
function of the poet's intention or desire (abhipraya) and can be seen
as a competent rendering of that unity in the work. For a speculative
treatment of the figure, see the Introduction, pp. 50 ff.
bhrāntimat
bhrāntimat, 'confused': (1) a figure in which one thing, usually the object
of comparison, is mistaken for another, usually the subject of compa-
rison. (2) R 8.87 (88), M 200. (3) pālayati tvayi vasudhām vividhâdhva-
radhūmamālinīḥ kakubhaḥ । paśyanti dūyante ghanasamayâśańkayā
hamsāḥ (Rudrata: "While you, O King, protect the earth, the moun-
tain peaks are blackened by the smoke of so many sacrifices that
the geese, looking on, mistake them for the rain clouds and are sad").
(4) "... her eyes in heaven / Would through the airy region stream
so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night"
(Shakespeare). (5) No element of doubt is admitted by those defining
this term; confusion is complete to the point of mistake. In this
the figure differs from samsaya and from rūpaka. As in pratīpa and</p>
<pb n="223" />
<p>221
pratyanīka, Rudrața decrees that the two things confounded are
subject and object of an implied simile; Mammața is more imprecise.
Of course, any terms capable of being so confused must be similar,
so the question is really one of whether the aspect of similitude is
the predominant feature or not-the motive, as it were. As Rudrata's
example shows, this need not be the case, for there the alleged con-
fusion of sacrificial smoke and clouds is subordinate to the flattery
of the king, which is the obvious motive.
GLOSSARY
mata
mata, 'deemed': (1) a figure in which one thing, conventionally well
known and functioning as the subject of comparison, is taken to be
another thing (the object) by a specially qualified observer. (2)
R 8.69 (70-71). (3) madirāmadabharapāṭalam alikulanilálakálidha-
mmillam । taruṇīmukham iti yad idam kathayati lokaḥ samasto'yam /
manye'ham indur eşaḥ sphutam udaye'runaruciḥ sthitaiḥ pašcat ।
udayagirau chadmaparair niśātamobhir grhīta iva (Rudrața: "What
the common herd deem to be a maiden's face, flushed with the first
ecstasies of drink and framed in hair whose braids are dark as a
cloud of bees, I know to be the ruddy-glowing risen moon, attacked
by the black vapors of night hidden like secrets behind the eastern
mountain"). (4) "The fairness of that lady that I see / Yond in
the garden roamen to and fro, / Is cause of all my crying and my
woe. I noot wher she be woman or goddess; / But Venus is it,
soothly, as I guess" (Chaucer). (5) Like the figures pratipa, pratyanika,
and bhrāntimat, this figure may be thought of as an implicit simile,
on the principle that what is confusable is comparable. But the
intention of the speaker may or may not be to compare: in the second
example, the point of the rapprochement lies in the striking antithesis
rather than in the similitude of the two things. As a good example
of how those writers go astray who classify only by formal criteria,
the Sanskrit example, which is a simile, reads also 'what looks like a
girl's face to the unwashed is the moon to me'.
milita
milita, 'fused': (1) a figure wherein two qualities or aspects of the same
thing are said to be indistinguishable, one imposing itself on the
other. (2) R 7.106 (107-108), M 197. (3) madirāmadabharapāṭalaka-
polatalalocaneşu vadaneșu । kopo manasvinīnām na lakṣyate kāmibhiḥ
prabhavan (Rudrața: "The anger caused by teasing lovers cannot be</p>
<pb n="224" />
<p>222
GLOSSARY
seen on the faces of the spirited women whose cheeks are flushed and
whose eyes are bloodshot from devotion to spiritous liquor").
(4) "The hippopotamus's day / Is passed in sleep; at night he hunts;
/ God works in a mysterious way-/ The Church can sleep and feed
at once" (T. S. Eliot). (5) If this figure is to be distinguished from
ordinary atiśayokti, the difference is most probably that the confusion
of the two states through a property is to be understood literally and
not as exaggeration. If so, the figure would be an asserted samsaya:
it is not that the redness of her cheeks due to wine imposes itself
figuratively on the redness of passion; one really can't tell from the
redness alone what causes it. Milita differs from pihita in that the
states confused are similar, not disparate.
mudrā
mudrā, 'seal': (1) the ability of the poet to express his intentions clearly.
(2) AP 342.26. (5) This is the second šabdâlamkära of the Agni
Purāṇa and can also be called sayyā ('bed'). Presumably, what is
meant is the old idea of sähitya as the unity of word and meaning,
the expression of just the right idea in just the right way. In the
Sarasvatīkanthabharaṇa (2.125), the term is described as the able
rendering of the context of an idea.
yathāsamkhya
yathāsamkhya, 'each to each': (1) a figure consisting of ordered sequences
of terms, such as nouns and adjectives or subjects and objects of
comparison, so arranged that item one of the first sequence matches
item one of the second, item two of the first matches item two of
the second, and so on. (2) B 2.89 (90), D 2.273 (274), V 4.3.17,
U 3.2, AP 346.21, R 7.34 (36-37), M 164. (3) dhruvam te coritā
tanvi smitêkşaṇamukhadyutiḥ । snātum ambhaḥ praviṣṭāyāḥ kumu-
dôtpalapankajaiḥ (Daṇḍin: "As you entered the water to bathe, you
certainly stole the beauty of your smile, eyes, and face from the red
lotus, the blue lotus, and the white lotus"). (4) "The Piazza, with
its three great attractions-the Palazzo Pubblico, the Collegiate
Church, and the Caffe Garibaldi: the intellect, the soul, and the
body had never looked more charming" (E. M. Forster). (5)
Dandin gives as alternate names for this figure krama and samkhyāna;
Vāmana uses only krama. In the Agni Purāṇa, yathāsamkhya
is considered a guna rather than an alamkāra!</p>
<pb n="225" />
<p>GLOSSARY
yamaka
yamaka, 'doubled' or 'restraint': (1) a figure in which a part of a verse,
specified either as to length or position or both, is repeated within
the confines of the same verse, usually in such a way that the meaning
of the two readings is different; word play (one of the meanings
usually given to paronomasia). (2) NŠ 16.59-86, B 2.9-20 (definition,
17), D 3.1-72, V 4.1.1-7, AP 343.12-17, R 3.1-59, M 117-18. (3) na
te dhir dhira bhogeşu ramaṇīyeşu samgată । munin api haranty ete
ramani yeşu samgatā (Bhāmaha; second repeats fourth pāda: "O
steadfast, your consciousness is not acquainted with delightful
pleasures; they seduce even the sages with whom a beautiful woman
is involved"). (4) From an anonymous poem, entitled "London, sad
London", written during the early part of the Civil War:
What wants thee, that thou art in this sad taking?
A King.
What made him first remove hence his residing?
Siding.
Did any here deny him satisfaction?
Faction.
Tell me whereon this strength of Faction lies.
On lies.
What did'st thou do when the King left Parliament?
Lament.
What terms would'st give to gain his company?
223
Any.
But how would'st serve him, with thy best endeavour?
Ever.
(5) Yamaka, one of the four original alamkāras (with upamā, rūpaka,
and dipaka), resembles a kind of paronomasia which goes by that
somewhat inexact name "word play" in English. But because of
its highly developed and formal character in Sanskrit, I have chosen
a more appropriate rendering: "cadence". The etymology of the
word can be traced either directly to the root yam- ('restrain') or
to the derived form yama- (which can mean 'twin') from the same
root. The application of either is obvious. Yamaka is a pun spelled
out. Except for the earliest writer, Bharata, it is specifically stated
that the meanings of the repeated portions must be different, and
this involves either splitting the words differently (different morpheme
boundaries) or taking each word as a double-entendre. Either way,
a kind of pun is recalled (see śleșa): in the former, bhinnapada, in the</p>
<pb n="226" />
<p>224
GLOSSARY
latter, abhinnapada (different or identical words). The term "parono-
masia" can be used loosely either of word play or of punning (double-
entendre); when the two meanings of an identical sequence of words
are obtained simultaneously, we have śleșa or pun; when they are
obtained sequentially, we have yamaka or 'cadence'.
In English poetry, the figure yamaka is generally restricted to
light verse and doggerel: "But from her grave in Mary-bone / They've
come and boned your Mary" (Thomas Hood; referring to body-
snatchers; a parivrtti yamaka). Occasionally, it serves a satirical
purpose, as in Joyce Cary's watercolour slaughtercolour
...
66
99
"
mortarcolour scortacolour tortacolour thoughtacolour …..
a samastapāda yamaka based on the movie industry's overuse of the
suffix "-color" ("technicolor, vistacolor", etc.). Nowadays, in
America at any rate, yamakas are found most frequently in advertis-
ing jargon, where it is apparently believed that they awaken curiosity:
"For news you can depend on, depend on the Chicago Daily News".
This is also a parivṛtti yamaka.
The figure yamaka is closely related to, and probably the progenitor
of, several other figures, notably lāțânuprāsa and the various kinds
of citra. The former involves repetition of contiguous words (like
Bharata's yamakas), and the latter depend on principles of repetition
other than the obvious linear one (such as zig-zag, palindrome,
hop-scotch, etc.). The figure has been minutely subdivided, especially
by Bharata, Dandin, and Rudrata, but all the distinctions relate
only to the scope and place of the repetition in the verse (first pāda,
beginning of first pāda, first half of first pāda, etc.). For this reason,
I have not attempted to give an English example for each variety.
English verses employ yamakas in no such consistent fashion (all
would be classified as samuccaya yamakas by the precious), and
most of the English yamakas are not found in verse, anyhow. All
the infinite varieties reduce to the same uniform notion: repetition
of word spans with different meanings.
Udbhata alone of the early writers does not mention yamaka,
though he devotes much thought to an elaborate classification of
lāțânuprāsa. The other writers differ largely as to the degree to
which the analysis is carried. Bhamaha proposes only five types,
Vāmana a half-dozen, and Mammața, though admitting the infinity
of possible types, illustrates only five. Bharata, however, describes
ten varieties, which is rather surprising considering that he finds only
four types of upamā. Dandin's elaborate classification differs from
...</p>
<pb n="227" />
<p>225
Rudrata's only in detail and in the fact that he proposes little special
terminology to cover the multitude of types. Rudrața gives a technical
name for each variety, only a very few of which seem to have been
traditional (see samudga yamaka). Both writers distinguish yamakas
whose scope is the entire pāda (quarter verse) from those whose
scope is only a fraction of a pâda (samastapādaja, pādaikadeśaja).
In the former category are included half śloka and whole śloka
yamakas (samudgaka, mahāyamaka). (See also mukha, samdamša,
ävṛti, garbha, samdaştaka, puccha, pañkti, parivṛtti, and yugmaka
yamakas). The latter variety is, of course, infinite, and both writers
classify as to where and how much of the pāda is involved (ādimad-
hyânta yamakas, etc.) and also as to how many pādas exhibit yama-
kas, and how many times the yamaka itself is repeated. Many of
these varieties have no name. Rudrața, the supreme technician,
divides "partial" yamaka into those whose scope is the half pāda
and those whose scope is a quarter or a third of a pāda (see antâdika,
vaktra, adimadhya, etc.). All writers profess to be incapable of
dealing with yamaka in its entirety.
After the triumph of the dhvani theory, yamaka comes to be con-
sidered the type par excellence of citrakāvya, the lowest of the three
varieties of poetry, which embodies nothing of poetic value and
displays mere verbal virtuosity. (See citra.) Yamaka and citra are,
however, distinguished from one another very sharply by the
tradition. Cf. the consistent yamakas of Raghuvarsa 9th canto.
akşara, 'syllable': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are syllables which occur either once, at the beginning of each pāda,
or in such a way that the entire pada or verse is composed of doubles.
(2) V 4.1.2. (3) nānākāreņa kāntābhrür ärādhitamanobhuvā । viviktena
vilāsena tatakşa hṛdayam nṛṇām (Vāmana: "The eyebrows of a
lovely girl strike into the heart of a man with varied coquetry,
each of their shapes delightful to the Love God"), vividhadhavavanā
nagagargharghanānāvivitatagagnānāmamajjajjanānā (Vāmana; un-
clear in meaning). (5) Most yamakas are repetitions defined in pādas
or parts of pādas, rather than in single syllables, but compare pădâdi
yamaka, where only the location of the repetition is specified.
anta, "end': (1) see pădânta.
GLOSSARY
antâdika, 'final-initial': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are the last half of the first pāda and the first half of the second. (2)
R 3.23 (24). (3) nārīņām alasam nâbhi lasannābhi kadambakam ।
paramastram anañgasya kasya no ramayen manaḥ (Rudrata: "Whose</p>
<pb n="228" />
<p>226
GLOSSARY
heart would not be delighted by the army of young women, langorous,
trepid, with gay navels-indeed the great weapon of the Love God?").
(4) The form is: xA Ax xx xx. (5) Cf. vyasta, samasta.
ardhaparivṛtti, 'alternation by halves': (1) a type of yamaka consisting of
a samasta plus an adyanta yamaka. (2) R 3.34 (35). (3) sasāra
sākam darpeṇa kamdarpeṇa sasārasă । śarannavānā bibhrāṇā nāvi-
bhrāṇā śaram navā (Rudrața: "The autumn now appears, replete with
ducks and the proud God of Love, her new cart bearing grass to
the accompaniment of the chirpings of birds"). (4) The form is:
AB BA CD DC. (5) The samasta yamaka accounts for the internal
repetition (BB, DD), the adyanta for the enveloping repetition (A..A
C..C).
avyapeta, 'uninterrupted': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated
sequences are contiguous. (2) D 3.1 (4-18), AP 343.12. (3) ramaṇī
ramaṇīyā me pāṭalâpāṭalâmśukā । vāruṇîvâruṇībhūtasaurabhā saura-
bhâspadam (Dandin: "My beloved is lovely as the western sky
illuminated by the setting sun, her gown flecked with pink and sweet
smelling"). (4) The form, for this example only, is: AAx BBx CCx
DDx. (5) Cf. vyapeta yamaka.
ādi, "beginning': (1) see pădâdi.
ādimadhya, 'initial-mid': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated
elements are the first and second third of each päda. (2) R 3.52
(53). (3) sa rane saraṇena nrpo balitävalitârijanaḥ । padam āpa damāt
svamater ucitam rucitam ca nijam (Rudrața: "The King, whose
enemies were enveloped by his strength, attained that station in
battle by means of his vehicle and through his self-restraint which
was appropriate in his own view and pleasant"). (4) The form is:
AAx BBx CCx DDx. (5) Compare adyanta, type (b), and madhyânta.
Only Rudraţa divides the pāda into thirds for purposes of defining
the scope of yamaka.
ädyanta, 'initial-final': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated
elements are: (a) the first half of the preceding pāda and the last
half of the following pāda, (b) the first and last third of each pāda,
(c) the first and last quarter of each pāda, or (d) the first and last
half of each päda. (2) R 3.32, 3.50 (54), 3.44 (46), M 118 (365). (3)
dīnā dūnavişādīnā śarapāditabhisarā senā tena parāse nā raņe
pumjivitêrane (Rudrata; type (c) is illustrated: "Oh man, the army,
afflicted, whose leader was desperate and in whom the wound
of fear was produced by showers of arrows, was defeated by him
in a battle which excited the lives of men"). (4) The form is: AxxA</p>
<pb n="229" />
<p>227
BzzB CxxC DxxD. (5) Type (a) is not illustrated; it is the inverse of
antadika.
GLOSSARY
āmredita, 'reiterated': (1) a type of yamaka in which the word at the end
of each pada is repeated. (2) NS 16.79 (80), AP 343.16. (3) vijṛmbhi-
tam nihśvasitam muhur muhuḥ katham vidheyasmaraṇam de pade /
yathā ca te dhyānam idaṁ punaḥ punar dhruvam gatâte rajanī vinā
vinā (Bharata: "Again and again yawning and sighing; why is your
remembrance fixed on these several situations? Just as your medita-
tion returns again and again, so indeed the night passes without her,
without her"). (5) This yamaka of Bharata is peculiar in referring
to the repetition of words; in fact, the later definitions of yamaka
specify that the two readings obtained by repetition must have a
different word base, and that the scope of the repetition is usually the
pada or a fractional part thereof (that is, must be entirely independent
of the semantic content of the utterance). Bharata is less strict on
this point; āmreḍita yamaka resembles läțânuprāsa, except that the
repetition of words is confined to the end of the pāda.
avali, 'necklace': (1) a type of yamaka showing varied types of repetition
within the confines of single pādas. (2) B 2.9 (14). (3) sitâsitakşīm
supayodharâdharām susammadām vyaktamadām lalāmadām । ghanā-
għanā nīlaghanā ghanālakām priyām imām utsukayanti yanti ca
(Bhāmaha: "The great dark heaps of clouds come to and cause to
pine my love, thick locked, with eyes both light and dark, her body
with such lovely breasts and lips, by whom passion is manifested,
giver of ornament"). (4) The form, for this example only, is: AAxxBB
xCxCxC DDxDDx xxxxEE. (5) This type of random repetition
shows the close relation between alliteration (anuprāsa) and cadence
(yamaka). Later writers tend to extend the scope of the repetition
to larger parts of the verse and thus lessen the possibility of such
free play.
āvṛti, "covering¹: (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are the first and fourth pādas. (2) R 3.3 (6), M 118C. (3) mudaratādī
samarajirâjitaḥ pravrddhatejäḥ prathamo dhanuşmatām । bhavan
bibhartiha nagaś ca medinīm udāratāḍīsamarājirajitaḥ (Rudrata; text
and commentator agree in taking "beautiful ..." as a nominative
masculine, agreeing with "mountain", though the sense would seem
better served by interpreting it as an accusative feminine, with
"earth". No metrical change would be occasioned. "With pleasure
crushing your enemies, unconquered on the field of battle, of mature
glory, first among archers, you, O King, support here the world as</p>
<pb n="230" />
<p>228
GLOSSARY
does the Himalaya, beautiful with even rows of lofty tādī trees").
(4) The form is: A x x A. (5) Compare mukha, garbha, etc.
ekântarapāda, 'pādas with one (pada) intervening': (1) a type of yamaka
in which the repeated elements are corresponding parts of non-
adjacent pādas. (2) V 4.1.2. (3) udvejayati bhūtāni yasya rājñaḥ
kušāsanam/ simhâsanaviyuktasya tasya kṣipram kuśâsanam (Vāmana:
"The evil government of a king who afflicts mankind will quickly
be transformed into residence among the kusa grass for him, when
his lion-throne is lost"). (4) The form is: xx xA xx xA. (5) The scope
of the repetition is not specified; the example shows half pādas.
Naturally, the repetition could occur at the beginning or in the
middle of non-adjacent pādas as well.
känci, 'Conjeeveram': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are located severally at the beginning and end of each pāda, or, in
the manner of a combination of madhya yamaka and ädyanta yamaka,
are the first and last quarters and second and third quarters of each
pāda. (2) NŚ 16.66 (67), AP 343.15, R. 3.44 (47). (3) yāmam yāmaṇ
candravatīnām dravatīnām । vyaktávyaktä särajanīnām rajanīnām
(Bharata: "The going, going of the golden rivers; appear and dis-
appear the nights, like butter"). yā mānītânītāyāmā lokâdhîrā dhirâ-
lokā । sênâsannâsannā senā sâram hatvâha tvā sāram (Rudraţa:
"Your army, supported by haughty women, greatly expanded,
expelling the sufferings of mankind, terrible to see, is ready and near.
Having felled the enemy, your army thus reports to you"). (4)
The forms are: AAxBB CCxDD, etc. and ABBA CDDC EFFE
GHHG. (5) See madhya and ādyanta yamaka. The name kāñcī
probably refers to the city, but may be intended only in the sense of
'girdle'.
garbha, 'womb': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements are
the second and third pädas of the verse. (2) R 3.7 (8). (3) yo rājyam
asadya bhavaty acintaḥ samud ratârambharataḥ sadaiva । samudra-
tāram bharataḥ sa daivapramāṇam ārabhya payasy udtâse (Rudraţa:
"The king who, having attained empire, becomes careless, indulgent,
and spends his time in making love is, as it were, attempting to
cross the ocean by swimming and, by the will of fate, finds himself
abandoned in the water"). (4) The form is: x AA x. (5) Cf. avṛti
yamaka.
cakraka, 'circular': (1) a type of yamaka in which the last half of each
pāda is repeated by the first half of the following pada, and in which
the first half of the first pāda is repeated by the last half of the fourth</p>
<pb n="231" />
<p>229
GLOSSARY
pāda. (2) R 3.30 (31). (3) sabhājanam samānīya sa mānī yaḥ sphutann
api sphutam na pihitam cakre hitam cakre sabhājanam (Rudraţa:
"He is haughty who, though brilliant, gathering his courtiers, does
good in the kingdom, not obviously, but covertly, evidencing pleas-
ure"). (4) The form is: AB BC CD DA. (5) In effect, this is a com-
bination of all the kinds of antâdika yamaka listed in R 3.23-30.
Cf. varša, samasta, vyasta, madhya.
cakravāla, 'circle': (1) a type of yamaka in which the last part of
each pāda is the same as the first part of the following pāda. (2)
NS 16.72 (74), AP 343.16 (alternate reading). (3) śailās [talais;
alternate reading], tathā śatrubhir āhatähatā । hataś ca bhūyas tv
anupumkhagaiḥ khagaiḥ । khagais ca sarvair yudhi samcitās citās /
citādhirūḍhā nihatās talais talaiḥ (Bharata: "Struck again and again
by the enemy arrows, true to their shafts, collected and heaped up
by birds who grasp at the death of the stricken"). (5) The example
shows a triple yamaka in each päda, but the definition does not make
this obligatory. If the reading talaiḥ is accepted, then this type is the
same as the preceding except that the scope of the repetition is
not specified (the interior of each pada is not involved).
caturvyavasita, 'determined by fours': (1) a type of yamaka in which all
four pādas are the same. (2) NŚ 16.81 (82), AP 343.17. (3) vāraṇānām
ayam eva kālo vāraṇânāmayam eva kālaḥ । vāraṇānām ayam eva kālo
vā raṇānām ayam eva kalaḥ (Bharata: "This is the season of varaṇa
flowers, the time when elephants have no diseases, when death
stalks his enemies and suggestion is of battles"). (5) Note that
minor variations in samdhi do not vitiate the identity of the yamaka.
Each päda, though phonemically identical, has a different morphemic
analysis; the first and third, which appear the same morphemically,
are assigned to different homonyms: vāraṇa (a "flower' and 'enemy").
This is the same as pankti yamaka.
duşkara, 'difficult': (1) a yamaka involving greater limitation on occurrence
and scope than is usual. (2) D 3.38 ff. (3) (4) See, for example,
mahāyamaka. See also under citra.
pañkti, "series': (1) same as caturvyavasita. (2) R 3.10 (12).
parivṛtti, 'exchange': (1) a type of yamaka in which the fourth pada
repeats the first and the third repeats the second; this is, in effect,
a combination of avṛti and garbha yamakas. (2) R 3.13 (14). (3)
mudā ratâsau ramaṇī yatā yam smarasy ado'lam kurutena voḍhā ।
smarasyado'lamkurute'navodhām udāratâsau ramaṇiyatāyām (Rudra-
ta: "The girl whom you have married is devoted to you from pleasure</p>
<pb n="232" />
<p>230
GLOSSARY
[and not from hope of gain]. You think on this too much; it is
appropriate in matters of the heart: excess of love always ornaments
a proud woman"). (4) The form is: A B B A. (5) Cf. yugmaka
yamaka.
pādamadhya, 'middle of the pāda': (1) a type of yamaka in which a
repetition occurs in the middle of one, or each pāda, or in which
one or both of the middle (second and third) pādas contains the
repetition. (2) B 2.9 (12), D 3.1-2 (5-6), V 4.1.2, AP 343.15. (3)
mcghanādena hamsānām madano madanodină । nunnamānam manaḥ
strīņām saha ratyā vigāhate (Dandin; here the yamaka occurs in
the second pāda: "Love, together with his wife, Passion, enters the
anger-freed minds of women by means of the thunder, which also
drives out the pride of the swans"). (5) The scope of the repetition
is not prescribed: compare madhya yamaka of Rudrata. Bharata
recognizes pādâdi and pădânta yamakas, but not pädamadhya.
The equivocation in the meaning of "middle" is shared by the two
other terms. Rudraţa attempts to specify the scope of all repetitions,
but the earlier writers are sometimes satisfied by indicating merely
the place of the repetition-here the middle of the pāda, or the middle
pāda.
pādayor ādimadhyântayamakāni, 'yamakas involving two pādas': (1) same
as pādādi, pādamadhya, and pădânta yamakas, except that the scope
of the repetition is two adjacent pādas, rather than one pāda alone.
(2) V 4.1.2. (3) bhramara drumapuşpāṇi bhrama ratyai piban madhul
kā kundakusume prītiḥ käkum dattvā virauşi kim (Vāmana: "Bee,
go roam from flower to tree-flower for pleasure drinking honey;
what joy is there in the jasmine bloom? Why do you make such a
noise, murmuring?"). (4) The form, for this example only, is:
Axxx Axxx Bxxx Bxxx. (5) For Vāmana, a pădâdi yamaka has only
the form AAxx BBxx CCxx DDxx; hence this variation in which the
word pāda appears in the dual.
pādasamudgaka, ''päda-casket': (1) a type of yamaka where the repeated
elements are the first and second half of the same pāda. (2) R 3.36
(37-39). (3) rasāsāra rasāsāra vidā raṇavidāraṇa । bhavatârambhava-
târam mahiyatam ahiyata (Rudrața: "O essence of the earth! O
shower of moods! O exterminator in battle! By you, wise and enter-
prising, the enemy, sent to earth, has been slain"). (4) The form is:
AA BB CC DD. (5) Rudrața gives two other examples, in which
not all pādas show repetition (AA xx BB xx ; xx AA xx BB). Compare
samudga yamaka.</p>
<pb n="233" />
<p>231
pādâdi (I), 'beginning of the päda': (1) a type of yamaka in which each
pada begins with the same word. (2) NŠ 16.77 (78). (3) viṣṇuḥ sṛjati
bhūtāni vişnuḥ samharate prajāḥ । vişnuḥ prasute trailokyam vişnur
lokâdhidaivatam (Bharata: "Vișņu creates all things; Vişņu destroys
men; Vișņu evolves the three worlds; Viṣņu is the all high God!").
(5) Like āmredita yamaka, this early type violates the rule requiring a
different morphemic content for each repetition. Compare lățânuprāsa.
pădâdi (II): (1) a type of yamaka in which a repetition occurs at the
beginning of one, or of each päda, or in which the first pāda contains
the repetition. (2) B 2.9-10 (11), D 3.1-2 (4), V 4.1.2, AP 343.15.
(3) mânena mānena sakhi praṇayo bhūt priye jane । khaṇḍitā kaṇṭham
āślişya tam eva kuru satrapam (Dandin: "Friend, don't show affection
for your lover by such anger! Though betrayed, you must embrace
him and make him ashamed"). (5) See pādamadhya. Vāmana's
example shows each pāda beginning with a different yamaka (note
the difference from pādâdi I, where the same word, not repeated,
begins each păda). The scope of the repetition is not specified.
pādẫnta (I), "end of the päda': (1) a type of yamaka in which each päda
ends with the same word. (2) NS 16.63 (64). (3) dinakṣayāt samhṛta-
rasmimaṇḍalam diviva lagnam tapaniyamaṇḍalam । vibhāti tāmram divi
süryamaṇḍalam yathā taruṇyāḥ stanabhāramaṇḍalam (Bharata: "The
burnished sun seems fixed in the western heaven at the close of day,
its orb of rays restrained. The copper-colored sun disk shines in
the sky like a young girl's heavy breast"). (5) See pădâdi I.
pädânta (II): (1) a type of yamaka in which a repetition occurs at the end
of one, or of each päda, or in which the first pāda contains the repeti-
tion. (2) B 2.9-10 (12), D 3.1-2 (7), V 4.1.2, AP 343.15. (3) aranyam
kaiścid ākrāntam kaiścit sadma divâukasām padātirathanaga-
śvarahitair ahitais tava (Daṇḍin: "Some of your enemies, shorn of
soldiers, chariots, elephant, and horse, have retired to the forest,
some to the seats of the Gods"). (5) See pădâdi II.
pādâbhyāsa, 'repetition of the pāda': (1) same as samastapāda yamaka.
(2) B 2.9 (13), D 3.53 (57-66). (5) Bhāmaha gives an example
illustrating Rudrata's samdaştaka yamaka (second and fourth pādas
identical). Daṇḍin illustrates pāda repetition in all possible loci,
including triple repetitions.
GLOSSARY
pādaikadeśaja, 'relating to parts (only) of pādas': (1) a generic term for
all those kinds of repetition whose scope is less than pāda length.
(2) R 3.2 (20-55). (5) The opposed term is samastapādaja ('referring
to the entire päda'). This division classifies all yamakas in the most</p>
<pb n="234" />
<p>232
GLOSSARY
general way, and each alternative is itself minutely subdivided.
Partial pāda yamakas are either half pāda, one-third pāda, or one-
fourth pada in length. For examples, see antâdika, ädimadhya,
vaktra yamakas.
puccha, 'tail': (1) a type of yamaka where the repeated elements are the
third and fourth pâdas. (2) R 3.10 (11). (3) uttuñgamātañgakulâkule
yo vyajesta satrún samare sadâiva । sa sāram ānīya mahâri cakram
sasāra mānī yamahâricakram (Rudrata: "The insolent King, slayer
of Death, approached the circle of the enemy carrying his best wide-
spoked discus; he triumphed in the battle over his enemies confused
with herds of lofty elephants"). (4) The form is: x x A A. (5) For
Daṇḍin, this is an unnamed subtype of samudga yamaka (D 3.63).
Cf. mukha yamaka.
pratiloma, 'against the grain': (1) same as pratilomânuloma citra; palin-
drome. (2) D 3.73 (74-77). (5) This is the last yamaka treated by
Dandin before going on to duşkara (gomūtrika, etc.). On the differ-
ence between citra and yamaka see citra.
prahelikā, 'conundrum': (1) a bad yamaka. (2) B 2.19. (5) Bhāmaha
probably is referring to repetitive verses in which the principle of
repetition is not linear, as gomütrika, muraja, turagapada, and the
like. These are not 'conundrums' properly speaking, and the use of
"prahelikā" is misleading. For a discussion of the difference between
these extensions of yamaka, see citra, prahelikā.
bbañga, 'analysis': (1) juncture. (2) V 4.1.3 (4-6). (5) A category in the
analysis of yamaka; according to Vāmana, the yamaka is successful
if the repeated elements of the verse show different word junctures
for each reading. He gives three illustrations: (a) śṛnkhalā, "chain";
where the juncture occurs between different (successive) syllables for
each reading, that is, not between the same syllable for both readings.
For example: kali-kama-dhug and kalikā-madhu. (b) parivartaka,
'exchange'; where the juncture varies only by one consonant, attach-
ing that consonant by one reading to the preceding word and, by the
other, to the following. For example: -dhug-arhitam and -madhu-
garhitam. (c) cūrṇa, 'mixture'; where the juncture by one reading
breaks up a consonant cluster which is, by the other reading, within a
word. For example: -unmukta-sukti-mīnām- and -unmukta-šuk-
timīnām- Yamakas which do not involve these charming junctures
are, in fact, dull and uninspired in that both readings repose upon
the same words, distinguishable only as puns. Nevertheless, certain
puns also show junctures of this sort.</p>
<pb n="235" />
<p>233
GLOSSARY
madhya, 'middle': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are either the last and first halves of the second and third pādas,
or the second and third quarters of each päda. (2) R 3.27 (28),
3.44 (45). (3) samastabhuvanavyāpiyasasas taraséhate । raséha te
priyam kartum prāṇair api mahipate (Rudrata: "The earth desires
quickly to do you favor, even with its life, O great King! Your glory
penetrates the whole world"). (4) The form is: xx xA Ax xx. (5)
The other madhya, whose scope is only the quarter pāda instead of
the half päda, would have the form xAAx xBBx xCCx xDDx. The
literal appropriateness of the name is revealed by a cursory examina-
tion of the schemata. Compare pādamadhya yamaka, where the
scope is not so exactly determined.
madhyânta, 'mid-final': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are the second and last thirds of each päda. (2) R 3.52 (55). (3)
asatām ahito yudhi sāratayā ratayā । sa tayôruruce ruruce paramêbha-
vate bhavate (Rudrața: "O widely renowned, this person, in battle
the nemesis of evil men, is pleased with you, possessor of fine ele-
phants, because of your pithiness, and out of pleasure"). (4) The
form is: XAA XBB xCC xDD. (5) The example has no yamaka in the
first päda. Compare ädimadhya and ädyanta yamakas.
mahāyamaka (I), 'great yamaka': (1) a type of yamaka consisting of
four identical pādas, each of which is itself a yamaka of half-pāda
scope. (2) D 3.70 (71). (3) samānayāsa mānayā samānayâsamânayā ।
samānayā samānayā samāna yā samānayā (Daṇḍin: "O unequalled!
O uniformly active! With this universal arrogance, join me! O
haughty! Arrogance which is beautiful and decisive!"). (4) The
form is: AA AA AA AA.
mahāyamaka (II): (1) same as ślokâbhyāsa yamaka. (2) R 3.16 (18-19).
mālā (I), "garland': (1) a type of yamaka in which each half pāda is itself
a complete yamaka; it consists, that is, of repeated quarter pādas.
(2) R 3.40 (43). (3) bhītâbhītā sannâsannā sênā senâgatyâgatyä ।
dhirâdhirâha tvä hatvā samtrāsam trayasvâyasvä (Rudraţa: "O
steadfast! O expeller of misery! The opposing army with its leader,
drawn up in front and fearful, miserable and near, having advanced
because it had no other choice, thus informs you: 'Having reduced
us, please save us from fear!' Your coming is their only remaining
hope"). (4) The form is: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH. (5) In
effect, this is a combination of vaktra and śikhā yamakas.
mālā (II): (1) a type of yamaka in which one consonant is repeated, and
the syllabic vowel is varied. (2) NŚ 16.83 (84). (3) hali bali hali</p>
<pb n="236" />
<p>234
GLOSSARY
māli kheli mālī salī jali । khalo balo balo malo musalī tv abhirakṣatu
(Bharata: the translation is approximate; "May Baladeva protect
you: with a plow, strong, from Hala, garlanded, shaking, having a
different garland, a sal flower, and water; cruel, strong, Bala, a
forest").
mukha, 'face': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements are
the first and second pādas. (2) R 3.3 (4). (3) cakram dahataram
cakranda hatâram । khaḍgena tavājau rājann arinārī (Rudraţa: "O
King, the wives of your enemies, struck by your sword, quickly
scourging the mass of your enemies in battle, moan"). (4) The form
is: A A x x. (5) Compare puccha, samdamśa, āvṛti, garbha, and
samdaṣṭaka yamakas for other types of whole pāda repetitions.
yugmaka, 'pair': (1) a type of yamaka in which the second pāda repeats
the first, and the fourth the third. (2) R 3.13 (15), M 118 (361). (3)
vinayam eno nayata sukhädinā vinã yamenônayatā sukhâdinā ।
mahājano'dīyata mānasād aram mahâjanodī yatamānasādaram (Rud-
rata: "This noble person, suffering no blemish, alone, yet destroying
the arrogance of his enemies, extirpating those who disrupt festivals,
is quickly carried away by Death, defying the doctors, who has
approached, hungry for life, the great reaper, consumer of
happiness"). (4) The form is: A ABB. (5) In effect, this is a combina-
tion of mukha and puccha yamakas. Compare parivṛtti, which is a
combination of garbha and ävṛti (A B B A).
vamsa, 'flute': (1) a type of yamaka in which the first half of each succeed-
ing pada repeats the second half of the preceding päāda. (2) R 3.27
(29). (3) grişmeņa mahimânito himänītoyaśobhitaḥ । yaso'bhitaḥ
parvatasya parva tasya hi tan mahat (Rudrata: "The grandeur of
the mountain, beautified by the melting snow, has been wrought by
the summer heat, and its glory is all about, for its festival is of great
extent"). (4) The form is: XA AB BC Cx. (5) This is a combination
of madhya and samasta yamakas. A cakraka yamaka completes the
circle by having the last half of the fourth pāda repeat the first half
pāda.
vaktra, 'mouth', 'origin': (1) a type of yamaka in which the first half
pāda of each pāda is a yamaka consisting of repeated quarter pādas.
(2) R 3.40 (41). (3) ghanaghanâbhinīlānām āsthām āsthāya śāśvatīm ।
calâcalâpi kamale līnālīnām ihâvalī (Rudraţa: "Moving and motion-
less on the lotus adheres a wreath of bees, dark as the rain cloud,
perpetually in place"). (4) The form is: AAxx BBxx CCxx DDxx.
(5) Cf. śikha and mālā yamakas.</p>
<pb n="237" />
<p>235
vikrānta, 'overstepped': (1) a type of yamaka in which the second and
fourth pādas are the same. (2) NŚ 16.70 (71), AP 343.16. (3) sa
pūrvam vāraṇo bhūtvā dviśṛīga iva parvataḥ / abhavad dantavaikalyād
viśṛnga iva parvataḥ (Bharata: "That elephant was formerly like a
two-peaked mountain, but now, for the loss of his tusks, is like a
peakless mountain"). (4) The form is: x A x A. (5) Bharata, as usual,
allows entire words to be repeated. Compare sandaştaka yamaka.
vyapeta, 'interrupted': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated se-
quences are not contiguous. (2) D 3.1, 19 (20-32), AP 343.12. (3)
karo'titāmro rāmāṇām tantrītāḍanavibhramam । karoti sérsye [or
sêrşyam (D. T. Tatacharya)] kante ca śravaṇôtpalatādanam (Daṇḍin:
"The red-lac'd hands of the beloved coquettishly strum the lute;
and when her lover makes her angry, they disarrange the flowers at
her ear"). (4) The form, for this example only, is: Axx xxx Axx xxx.
(5) Dandin gives thirteen examples without introducing special
terminology. They illustrate various possible loci of the interrupted
sequences and could be classified in the same way as uninterrupted
yamakas (see pädâdi, pâdamadhya, pädânta).
vyapetâvyapeta, 'interrupted-uninterrupted': (1) a type of yamaka in
which a contiguous repeated sequence is itself repeated in a non-
contiguous place. (2) D 3.33 (34-36), AP 343.12. (3) kâlam kālam
anālakṣyatāratārakam īkşitum । täratâramyarasitam kālam kālama-
hāghanam (Daṇḍin: "What woman is able to look at the great black
rain clouds in their season, hiding the myriads of stars and, death-
like and fearsome, resounding in the great distances"). (5) Daṇḍin
gives two other examples illustrating different loci for this non-
contiguous repetition of contiguous repetitions. See vyapeta yamaka.
vyasta, 'separated': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are the second half of the third pada and the first half of the fourth
pāda. (2) R 3.23 (25). (3) paśyanti pathikāḥ kōmaśikhidhūmaśikhām
iva / imām padmalayâlīnām layâlīnām mahâvalim (Rudrata: "The
passersby observe a great column of bees, thickly entwined, above
the lotus pond, like a tongue of smoke from the fire of Love").
(4) The form is: xx xx xA Ax. (5) The name probably signifies only
that this is half of a samasta (complete) yamaka. The same pattern
in the first two pādas is called antâdika.
śikhā, 'tuft': (1) a type of yamaka in which the last half of each pāda is a
yamaka consisting of repeated quarter pädas. (2) R 3.40 (42).
(3) yāsām citte māno'māno nārīr bhūyo'ram tā rantā । sārapremā
sannâsannā jayetaîvânantā nantā (Rudrața: "May the virtuous man,
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="238" />
<p>236
GLOSSARY
the able lover, obedient and always agreeable, be quickly victorious
over women, who are so numerous and so near and in whose minds
is immeasurable pride"). (4) The form is: xxAA xxBB xxCC xxDD.
(5) See vaktra and mālā yamakas.
ślokâbhyāsa, 'repetition of the śloka': (1) a yamaka in which the repeated
element is the entire verse. (2) D 3.67 (68-69). (3) vināyakena bhavatā
vṛttôpacitabāhună । svamitrôddharinâbhītā prthviyam atulâśrita ।
vināyakena bhavatā vṛttôpacitabāhunā । svamitrôddhāriņā bhītā
prthvi yamatulâśritā (Daṇḍin: "This incomparable earth, confident,
is devoted to you who remove obstacles, whose powerful arms are
round, and who upholds his friends. This earth, like death, has taken
refuge and is afraid of your present enemy who is leaderless, whose
arms are engaged in laying waste, and who seized both property and
friends"). (5) This is the same as mahāyamaka II.
samdamsa, 'tongs': (1) a type of yamaka in which the repeated elements
are the first and third pādas. (2) R 3.3 (5). (3) sannārībharaṇômāyam
ārādhya vidhuśekharam । sannåribharaṇo'mayas tatas tvam pṛthivīm
jaya (Rudrata: "Having pleased Siva, moon on his brow, who resorts
to Umā, the support of chaste women, you will certainly conquer the
earth, for the elephants of your enemies have been lost, and you
are free from disease"). (4) The form is: A x A x. (5) See samda-
staka.
samdaşta (I), 'pinched': (1) a type of yamaka in which the word at the
beginning of each pāda is repeated. (2) NŚ 16.75 (76), AP 343.16
(alternate reading). (3) paśya paśya raṇam asya me guṇān yena yena
vasagām karoti mām । yena yena hi mamâiti darśanam tena tena
vašagām karoti mām (Bharata; should undoubtedly be emended to
ramaṇasya me: "Look, look at the virtues of my lover, by which he
makes me do his will! For by them I have my view of him, and by
them he makes me do his will!"). (5) This is the opposite of amredita
yamaka and is one of Bharata's peculiar yamakas which makes
reference to units of meaning, rather than to sequences of phonemes
of necessarily different meaning.
samdaşța (II): (1) a type of yamaka in which the first part of the succeed-
ing pāda repeats the last part of the preceding pāda for the three
pāda junctures within the verse. (2) D 3.51 (52). (3) upôḍharăgâpy
abalā madena sā । madenasā manyurasena yojitā । na yojitâtmānam
anañgatāpitām । gatâpi tāpāya mamâsa nêyate (Dandin: "Though
she had been made amorous with drink, the young woman would
not join her love-sick self to me, as she was inspired by the very</p>
<pb n="239" />
<p>237
soul of fury because of my unfaithfulness; her leaving did not
make me suffer too much"). (4) The form, for this example only,
is: xxA AXB BxC Cxx. (5) The scope of the repetition is unspecified;
otherwise, this yamaka resembles vamśa yamaka.
samdaşṭaka, 'pincers': (1) same as vikrānta yamaka. (2) R 3.7 (9). (5)
The earlier version of Bharata allows a certain amount of word repeti-
tion; Rudrata, of course, proscribes it. Mammața offers an example
(118, 364) which the commentator calls a samdaṣṭaka yamaka, but
it shows repetition only of the last half of the second and fourth
pādas (xx xA xx xA). The figure is mentioned in B 2.10, but is not
illustrated.
GLOSSARY
samasta, 'entire': (1) a yamaka in which the first half of the second and
fourth pādas repeat the last half of the first and third, respectively.
(2) R 3.23 (26). (3) pusyan vilāsam nārīṇām sannârīṇām kulakṣayam]
ā kalpam vasudhāsāra sudhāsāra jagaj jaya (Rudrața: "O essence of
the earth! O shower of nectar! May you rule the earth till the end
of the age, encouraging the coquetry of women and promoting
the familial ruin of your crushed enemies!"). (4) The form is: XA
Ax xB Bx. (5) In effect, this is a combination of antâdika and vyasta
yamakas.
samastapāda (I), 'all pādas': (1) same as pādânta I. (2) B 2.9 (15).
samastapāda (II): (1) a type of yamaka in which the same repetition
occurs at the end of each päda. (2) V 4.1.2. (3) natônnatabhrūgati-
baddhalāsyām vilokya tanvīm śaśipeśalâsyām । manaḥ kim uttāmyasi
cañcalâsyām kṛtī smarājñā yadi puṣkalā syām (Vāmana; first two
pādas in third person, third in second, and fourth in first: "Looking
at this slender girl whose face is gentle as the moon, where the dance
is formed by the rising and the falling of her brow, why do you lose
heart? The fickle authority of Love should be recognized in her,
if I am any judge"). (4) The form, for this example only, is: xxxA
XXXÁ XXXÁ XXXA. (5) This differs from samastapāda I only in not
referring to words. It differs from pädânta (of Vamana) in that there
a different yamaka occurs at the end of each päda (not the same
word in all pādas).
samastapādaja, 'referring to whole pādas*: (1) a generic category for
those yamakas whose scope is not less than an entire päda. (2)
R 3.2 (4-19). (5) Samastapādaja is opposed to pādaikadeśaja yamaka;
for illustrations, see mukha, pańkti, samudgaka, mahāyamaka, etc.
It is the same as pādâbhyāsa yamaka.
samuccaya, 'collection': (1) a yamaka which is composed of several</p>
<pb n="240" />
<p>238
GLOSSARY
randomly related yamakas. (2) M 118. (5) No example is given.
samudga, 'round box or casket': (1) a type of yamaka in which the entire
half śloka is repeated. (2) NŚ 16.68 (69), B 2.10, D 3.53 (54-56),
AP 343.16 (the text reads samsarga), R 3.16 (17). (3) nanāma loko
vidam anavena mahi na câritramud äradhiram ।/ na nâmalo'kovidamā-
navênam ahīnacāritram udāradhīram (Rudrața: "The people, festive
and not without spotlessness, honor with praises the wise man who
does not delight at the salvation of his enemies but afflicts their
consciences, and whose master is the arrogance of the stupid, whose
behavior is integral, who is noble and steadfast"). (4) The form is:
A/A. (5) Samudga shows to best advantage the requirement of all
yamakas that the two readings involve different meanings and
different word separations. In repeating the entire half śloka, this
type demonstrates its close affinity with śleșa, where it would be
expected that the two meanings emerge from a single reading.
Samudga(ka) is the only type of yamaka (aside from the threefold
distinction into ādi, madhya, and anta) whose name is consistently
and universally used. Compare samdasta, also found in many texts,
but varying widely in acceptation.
yāvadarthatā
yāvadarthatā, 'correspondence to the needful': (1) absence of either
superfluity or inadequacy in either word or content. (2) AP 345.6.
(5) This is the fifth sabdárthalamkāra of the Agni Purāņa. See
aucitya and abhivyakti. In principle, there appears to be little differ-
ence between this term and the sabdâlamkāra "mudrā"; however,
there may be intended here simply a reference to prolixity and its
contrary defect, terseness, and not to the adequacy of the word to the
sense, as such.
yukti
yukti, junction': (1) a figurative usage. (2) AP 342.29-30. (5) This is
the fourth sabdârthâlamkāra; it is defined literally as the joining of a
word and a meaning which appear to be unrelated one to the other
("ayuktayor iva mitho vācyavācakayor dvayoḥ । yojanāyai kalpamānā
yuktir uktā manīşibhiḥ"). The examples given in the Sarasvatīkaṇthâ-
bharaṇa (2.98 ff.) suggest that this term may signify, like Daṇḍin's
guna "samadhi", the use of a word in a secondary sense the function
called in mīmāmsā "rūdhi" (cf. Mammața, chap. 2, kā. 18). Like
Kuntaka's vakrôkti, the scope of this figuration is sixfold: relating</p>
<pb n="241" />
<p>239
to words, meanings, sentences, intentions, contexts, and entire
compositions.
GLOSSARY
rasavat
rasavat, 'expressing a mood': (1) a figure in which is clearly expressed a
mood or rasa-usually śrīgāra, the amorous. (2) B 3.6, D 2.275
(280-92), U 4.3-4, M 66 (123C.). (3) mṛtêti pretya samgantum yayā
me maraṇam matam । sâişâvantī mayā labdhā katham atráiva janmani
(Dandin; śrīgāra rasa: "She whom I thought had gone beyond to
death, who made me want to follow her, did it happen that I won her
to me in this present life, my Väsavadattā?"). (4) "Everywhere
the vastness and terror of the immense night which is roused and
stirred for a brief while by the day, but which returns, and will
remain at last eternal, holding everything in its silence and its living
gloom" (D. H. Lawrence; perhaps śānta rasa). (5) This figure be-
comes crucial for the tenants of the dhvani theory, who want to es-
tablish the autonomous expression of rasa vis-à-vis the figures of
speech. Should there be a figure which itself is the expression of a
rasa, the contrary would a fortiori be proven, and the rasa would be
subordinated to the general notion of the figure. The outcome of
the argument allows rasavat as the general term for those figures
which contain a touch of rasa, but where the rasa is not the major
end of the poet employing that figure. Rasa as the proper end is
pure dhvani and not related to any figure (Dhvanyāloka 2.5).
rupaka
rūpaka, 'having the form of: (1) metaphorical identification. A figure
in which the subject of comparison is identified with its object by a
specific process of grammatical subordination. (2) NŚ 16.56-58,
B 2.21-24, D 2.66-96, V 4.3.6, U 1.11-13, AP 344.22-23 (the definitions
of both Bhamaha and Dandin are repeated), R 8.38-56, M 139-45.
(3) taḍidvalayakakşyāṇām balākāmālabhāriņām / payomucām dhvanir
dhīro dunoti mama tāṇ priyām (Bhāmaha; the lightning is charac-
terized as a bracelet, the cranes as a garland: "The roaring of the
great clouds, wearing a bracelet of lightning and a garland of cranes,
frightens my love"). (4) "The flute of morning stilled in noon- 1
noon the implacable bassoon- / now twilight seeks the thrill of
moon, / washed with a wild and thin / despair of violin" (e. e.
cummings). (5) Rūpaka, one of the four original alamkāras, is
considered by all writers to be a development of upamā and is, in</p>
<pb n="242" />
<p>240
GLOSSARY
principle, a simile or comparison. While in upamā the two terms
(subject and object of comparison, or upameya and upamāna) are
literally compared, usually through the use of a comparative particle
such as "like" or "as", in rūpaka that comparison is expressed as
an identification of the two. No longer is her face "like" the moon,
it is the moon. We use the word identification in the root sense:
the "making identical" of what is different. By virtue of this identi-
fication, the behavior and properties of the moon (or object) are
ipso facto transferred to the face (or subject), and propositions which
are literally true of the moon are now understood as applying, in
the poet's intention, to the face exclusively (the moon is brilliant;
her face-moon is brilliant). Of course, this transfer of property
constitutes the aim of the poet who uses rūpaka, as well as allied
figures, such as utprekṣā; but the manner and the technique of the
transfer (metaphor) differ for each of the figures. This formal differ-
ence constitutes the distinctive, or essential feature of each figure
and naturally preoccupies the writers on the subject.
By "identification" is meant the specific characterization of one
thing (the subject of comparison) as another (the object). Both
terms must be mentioned specifically (thus distinguishing rūpaka
from samăsôkti), and the relation between them must be immediate
and substantial rather than through an aspect or a property, as in
utprekşā or upamā. The proper grammatical form through which
this substantial identification is expressed is ideally the compound
noun, with the object of comparison following (as, face-moon; see
samastarūpaka). Since the object alone is grammatically free, the
syntax of the sentence relates to it exclusively; from this total
subordination-morphological as well as syntactic of the subject
(face-), the suggestion of identification or fusion derives. It is not
the compounding of the terms which defines the rūpaka, but rather
specifically the subordination of the subject to the morphologically
free object. This is shown most directly by the interpretation of
inverse compounds (where the object is grammatically subordinated
to the subject, as moon-face) as upamās (similes) showing ellipsis
of the common property (tertium). (Cf. R 8.21 ff. For exceptions,
see samasta rūpaka.) Two other varieties of grammatical subordina-
tion must be allowed as rūpakas, since they accomplish the same
expressive end: simple predication and the use of a subjective genetive.
Both Dandin and Rudrața define an uncompounded (asamastaru-
paka) metaphor where the object is simply predicated of the subject</p>
<pb n="243" />
<p>GLOSSARY
241
(her face is the moon). The identification is so evident here as not
to require explanation; the difference between upamā and rūpaka is
also best perceived in this case. The grammatical subordination
is that of the imposition of the object on the subject. A subjective
genitive is often employed in English to express an identification;
although our language permits compounding, the use of this device
is restricted, compared to Sanskrit at any rate, and prepositional
phrases having the object of comparison in the syntactically free
position are generally used instead (the face of time, rather than the
time-face). The irreversibility of this construction is even clearer
than in the case of direct compounding: careful consideration may
be required to distinguish the upamā "lotus-eye" from the rupaka
"eye-lotus", but the rūpaka "the lotus of her eye" simply cannot be
turned into a simile "the eye of her lotus". For one reason, the genitive
is no longer subjective. A comparative idea must somehow be
introduced into the genitive (as, "her eye of lotus hue") where the
notion of the common property is made explicit ("of lotus hue" is
"lotus-hued").
Since rūpaka is an identification of two things, the classifications
of this figure have generally followed the line of specifying the degree
of identification or the kind of (non-) parallelism involved in the
fusion. The notion of "degree" implies and is always discussed in
terms of a standard metaphorical type, usually referred to as
samasta-[vastu]vişaya or complete metaphor, wherein not only the
two terms themselves (the major terms) are identified, but several
aspects or parts of each major term are likewise identified with
parallel aspects of the other major term, resulting in a total image.
A metaphor in which only some of the subordinate aspects of the
two major terms are identified-in which, in other words, some of
the aspects associated with the subject of comparison are not meta-
phorically identified is considered a partial metaphor (ekadeśavi-
varti). Dandin, in turn, enumerates several different types of
partialness as the non-metaphorized term or terms is or are the subject
of comparison itself (major term, avayavi), the subordinate aspects
of the subject term (avayava), only some of the subordinate aspects
(vişama), or, finally, the major and some of the subordinate aspects
(ekāñga). The other terms in all of these types, which are understood
from a comparison with the complete metaphor already described,
are, in fact, metaphorical identifications. The elements of the image
are implicit. Dandin also considers two types of avayava rūpaka,</p>
<pb n="244" />
<p>242
GLOSSARY
for the subsidiary aspect of the subject of comparison may be
identified with aspects of the object which subtend a very different
relation to each other than do the aspects of the subject (ayukta
rūpaka); for example, in terms of the standard total image of the
girl's face (subject) and the lotus pond (object), the smile may be
identified with the moonlight and the eyes with the "lotuses". Now,
if the lotuses are that type which bloom only during the day, they
will be related to the moonlight in a quite different way than the
eyes are to the smile of the girl. This approaches what we mean by
mixed metaphor, but more often the latter is a kind of utpreksā.
Rudrata, admitting the same complete metaphor in his descriptive
model, classifies it in a somewhat different way. Instead of allowing
certain aspects of the total image to be treated (almost at random)
in terms of the subject only and outside the metaphor, Rudraţa
distinguishes only the two cases where all or some of the subsidiary
aspects are drawn out in metaphor (sâvayava), or none at all are
(niravayava). The latter case is not the same as Daṇḍin's avayavi,
since Dandin requires that the total image be present at least implicitly
in the descriptive qualifications of the subject. Rudrața intends that
only the major term be mentioned. The sâvayava category is then
divided into three types, not according to which subordinate aspects
of the subject are or are not identified, but as to the nature of the
aspect vis-à-vis the aspect with which it is identified. The aspects of
the subject and the object may be inherent qualities of the subject
and object respectively (sahaja), or they may be accidental (āhārya),
or those of one may be inherent and those of the other accidental
(ubhaya). The classification recalls the ayukta rūpaka of Daṇḍin in
that it introduces a philosophical discrimination, but here the criterion
of consistency is not primary.
Rudrața goes on to consider several types of niravayava rūpaka,
that is, metaphorical identifications not involving subsidiary meta-
phors. Of course, the simplest type is metaphor itself: one subject
and one object so identified (śuddha). But there are certain cases of
metaphor involving more than one identification which are not to
be taken as expressing a total image. The several metaphors are not
comprehended in a relation of subordination, as were those analyzed
in terms of a major term and its aspects. Three such "compound"
but not "complex" metaphors are recognized by Rudrata: the same
subject of comparison may be identified with a number of different
objects of comparison, giving a 'garland' of metaphors (mälä);</p>
<pb n="245" />
<p>243
the object of comparison of the first metaphor may become the subject
of comparison of the following, and so on, giving a chain of meta-
phors (rašanā); lastly, the object of comparison of one metaphor
may itself imply a second, completely independent, metaphorical
identification which, as it were, grows out of the first (paramparita,
or "continuous" metaphor). Mammața considers this last a separate
type, not a subtype of niravayava rüpaka. Otherwise, his classifica-
tion is a simplified version of Rudraţa's.
GLOSSARY
Dandin, as is his wont, completes the discussion of rūpaka by
considering the implications of other figures for this figure. Among
the rūpakas so qualified are viruddha (the figure virodha), hetu, ślişta
(the figure śleșa), upamā, vyatireka, ākṣepa, and rūpaka itself. This
last is a three-member metaphor differing from the types of complex
and compound metaphors in that the three terms are identified
with each other as such and imply no relation of subordination or
qualification. Further categories proposed by Daṇḍin and illustrat-
ing various principles are (sa)viśeṣaṇa rūpaka, where the metaphors
are grammatically adjectival, that is neither compounded (samasta)
nor predicated (asamasta); samādhana rupaka, where an inconsistency
in the metaphor is alleged and explained; and the curious tattvapa-
hnava or "denial of identity", which at first glance appears to be the
very inverse of rūpaka or "identification". See that term.
The other writers propose classifications which adumbrate those
more fully outlined by Daṇḍin or Rudrata.
The definitions of rūpaka are remarkably uniform, yet some authors
(Dandin, Udbhața, Rudrața) emphasize the negative aspect of
identification and thus relate the figure explicitly to upamă, while
others (Bhāmaha, Vāmana) consider the identification in a positive
way. The rüpaka is, for the former group, a simile with the difference
between the two things suppressed (tirobhūtabheda) and, for the latter
group, is simply an identification (tattva) of the two things.
ayukta, 'unrelated': (1) a type of complex rüpaka in which the objects
of the subsidiary metaphors are not mutually related in terms of
some well-known cliché or image which in fact suggests a contrary;
mixed metaphor. (2) D 2.78. (3) idam ärdrasmitajyotsnam snigdhane-
trôpalam mukham (Dandin; "moonlight" and "day lotus" are not
usually connected in popular usage: "This face is radiant with its
moonlight of tender smiles and the soft day lotus of its eye"). (4)
"'De sun is made of mud from de bottom of de river; / De moon is
made o' fox-fire, as you might disciver'" (Owen Wister; fire and</p>
<pb n="246" />
<p>244
GLOSSARY
mud). (5) Cf. yukta rūpaka and ekânga rūpaka. See also samkīrṇa,
where the "mixed metaphor" is more generally defined and is not
limited to an opposition of ideas.
avayava (I), 'part': (1) a complex rūpaka in which the subsidiary aspects
of the identified subject and object are themselves explicitly identified
and become members of the total metaphor, but in which the
principal metaphor is only implicitly expressed, the subject alone
being mentioned. (2) D 2.72 (71). (3) akasmād eva te caṇḍi sphuritâ-
dharapallavam । mukham muktāruco dhatte gharmâmbhaḥkaṇamañ-
jarīḥ (Dandin; her lip is metaphorically a blossom, her beads of
sweat are blossoms, but her face is just her face: "Suddenly your face,
O cruel one! the blossom of its lower lip bursting forth, gives to the
garland of beads of sweat the appearance of pearls"). (4) "In striving
to avoid that terrible Charybdis of a Slope she was in great danger of
falling into an unseen Scylla on the other hand, that Scylla being
Bertie Stanhope" (Anthony Trollope; Mrs. Bold is not here meta-
phorically identified with Ulysses). (5) Cf. avayavi.
avayava (II): (1) a complex metaphor showing identification of subsidiary
aspects. (2) R 8.41-42 (43-45). (3) (4) See the terms mentioned
under (5). (5) The figure is subdivided into three types, depending
upon how necessarily related to the principal metaphor are the
subordinate metaphors: sahaja (the sub-aspects of both are inherent
qualities), āhārya (they are accidental qualities), and ubhaya (the
sub-aspects of one are inherent, of the other, accidental).
The text reads sâvayava.
avayavi, 'whole': (1) a complex rūpaka in which certain subsidiary aspects
of the principal subject are mentioned descriptively, while it alone
is described metaphorically. (2) D 2.74 (73). (3) valgitabhru gala-
dgharmajalam alokitēkṣaṇam । vivṛṇoti madâvasthām idam vadana-
pankajam (Dandin; the face is a lotus, but the brows, sweat, and eyes
are but themselves: "The lotus of her face betrays intoxication with
its fluttering brows, dripping beads of sweat, and inviting glances").
(4) "But two men in an aeroplane are twins in a womb. The very
pulse of one must be the pulse of both, their senses, glances, thoughts,
such a unison of co-operation as the former world never saw"
(Oliver Onions). (5) Cf. avayava, the inverse case.
aślişta, 'not punned': (1) a rūpaka in which the descriptive qualifications
apply to one or the other of the metaphorically identified terms
(usually the object) and not to both, in the manner of a pun. (2) M
145. (3) niravadhi ca nirāśrayam ca yasya sthitam anivartitakautu-</p>
<pb n="247" />
<p>GLOSSARY
245
kaprapañcam / prathama iha bhavān sa kūrmamūrtir jayati caturdaśa-
lokavallikandaḥ (Mammața; here the qualifications apply primarily
to Vișņu, not to the "fourteen-world-lotus-root": ""May the Lord
Vişnu in the form of a tortoise be victorious, infinite and independent,
source of inexhaustible amazement, the root of the vine of the four-
teen worlds!"). (4) "Give me / My scrip of Joy, immortal diet; /
My bottle of Salvation; / My gown of Glory, hope's true gage; /
and thus I'll take my pilgrimage" (Sir Walter Raleigh; "diet" applies
to the scrip, not the joy, and "gage" to glory, not the gown). (5)
Cf. ślista. This subtype does not concern the metaphor properly
speaking, but only the descriptive qualifications appended thereto.
This aside, aślişta is indistinguishable from the genus metaphor itself.
asamasta, 'uncompounded': (1) a rūpaka in which the subject and object
of identification are expressed as grammatically independent words;
identification by predication. (2) D 2.68 (67). (3) añgulyaḥ pallavany
äsan kusumāni nakhatvişaḥ / bāhū late vasantaśrīs tvam naḥ pratya-
kşacāriņi (Daṇḍin: "Your fingers are new sprouts, the beams from their
nails are flowers, your arms are vines; indeed, you are the beauty of
spring in visible form"). (4) "And she balanced in the delight of her
thought, / A wren, happy, tail into the wind" (Theodore Roethke).
(5) The object is predicated of the subject (or parenthetically
predicated of it) instead of standing as final member in a compound
word. Cf. samasta and the discussion thereunder. This case is
distinguishable from upamă (simile) only in the absence of the
comparative particle (iva, 'like'), but later writers have also distin-
guished similes without the comparative particle (cf. dyotakalupta
upamā), as "dawn-eyed". But the two cases, even in their similarity,
are necessarily distinct, for the rūpaka is by nature uncompounded
(reposing upon a predication), while the upamā is always compounded
(with the object preceding). The case "gauze of evening" (Virginia
Woolf; cf. samasta) is equivocal, but because it does not involve a
predication explicitly, I have considered it under samasta rūpaka.
Asamasta is the same as Rudrața's "first" rūpaka (R 8.38, 39).
asamāsa, 'not a compound': (1) same as asamasta. (2) R 8.38 (39).
ākṣepa, 'challenge': (1) a rūpaka in which the adequacy of the metaphor
is challenged by pointing out in the subject a property which the
object does not in fact possess. (2) D 2.91. (3) mukhacandrasya
candratvam ittham anyopatäpinah na te sundari samvādi (Daṇḍin:
"The qualities of the moon, O Lovely, do not entirely correspond
with those of your face-moon which makes others suffer"). (4)
...</p>
<pb n="248" />
<p>246
GLOSSARY
"Re-enter LION and MOONSHINE .... LYSANDER: This lion is
a very fox for his valour. THESEUS: True, and a goose for his
discretion. DEMETRIUS: Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot
carry his discretion; and the fox carries the goose. THESEUS: His
discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour; for the goose carries
not the fox. It is well: leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to
the moon" (Shakespeare).
āhārya, 'adventitious': (1) a complex rūpaka in which the subsidiary
metaphors repose upon accidental properties of the subject and object
of the principal metaphor. (2) R 8.42 (44). (3) vikasitatārākumude
gaganasarasy amalacandrikāsalile । vilasati śaśikalahamsaḥ právr-
dvipadapagame sadyaḥ (Rudraṭa; the moon and stars are only oc-
casional aspects of the sky; the lotus and the swan are occasional
aspects of the lake: "At the close of the oppressive rainy season, the
great swan of the moon diverts himself in the lake of the sky, of
blooming lotus-stars, of ripples of clear moonbeams"). (4) "Up in
the heavenly saloon / Sheriff sun and rustler moon / Gamble, stuck
in the sheriff's mouth / The fag end of an afternoon" (James Michie;
sun, moon, and afternoon are occasional properties of the heavens;
sheriff, rustler, and cigarette are similarly occasional properties of a
saloon). (5) Ahārya is a subtype of savayava rūpaka contrasted with
sahaja and ubhaya, q.v. The basis of this classification seems to be
the logical notion of inherence (samavāya). If a term (concept,
thing, property, or any mixture thereof) is related to another so that
the destruction of the second entails the destruction of the first,
the relation of the first to the second is said to be inherent. This
does not imply that the relation itself is eternal or cannot be subject
to modification. Blue is said to be an inherent property of the pot,
not because the pot is necessarily blue, but because the destruction
of the pot cannot be conceived without destroying its color. (Note
that the reverse is not the case, by which we mean that the pot is
not inherently related to blue; the relation of inherence is not neces-
sarily reciprocal.) Similarly, the relation of a lotus to its parts (cf.
the example under sahaja) is inherent, while the relation of the sky
to its members (sun, moon, and stars), though eternal, is not inherent,
since their absence is perfectly compatible with the continued exist-
ence of the sky (at night, at new moon, and during the day; or when
the sky is overcast). Of course, scientific astronomy would take a
different view, but poets are allowed a certain license.
upamā, 'simile¹: (1) a type of rūpaka in which the property which under-</p>
<pb n="249" />
<p>GLOSSARY
247
lies the metaphorical identification of the subject and object is made
explicit for each of the terms. (2) D 2.88 (89). (3) ayam ālohitacchāyo
madena mukhacandramaḥ । sannaddhôdayaragasya candrasya prati-
garjati(Dandin:"The moon of her face, slightly flushed from drink, dis-
putes with the moon, ruddy above the eastern hills"). (4) "She was
a limpet, with the sensitive side of her stuck to a rock, for ever dead
to the rush of fresh and beautiful things" (Virginia Woolf). (5) Cf.
vyatireka rūpaka. The difference between simile and metaphor is
here exemplified. Both repose upon a similitude (shared property or
aspect), but metaphor adds a second dimension by proposing an
identification of the two similar things. Simile is thus in principle a
realistic figure, while metaphor is necessarily figurative. But as the
various subclassifications of simile show, the similitude may be
exaggerated beyond any probability (cf. cafu, tattvâkhyāna); it is,
however, that element of exaggeration which defines the figure as
simile: in metaphor, no exaggeration is possible because the two
things have become one. As far as the common property is concerned,
there is no distinction between the figures. That is why, throughout
this work, figures whose specificity relates to the common property
may be exemplified by metaphors, even where the original calls for a
simile, and vice versa. This was generally recognized by the Indian
authors themselves, who usually classify simile in reference to the
elements of similitude (among which is the common property), while
metaphor is classified almost exclusively in reference to the com-
plexity of the identification involved.
ubhaya, 'both': (1) a complex rūpaka in which the subsidiary metaphors
repose upon the inherent properties of one, and the accidental
properties of the other of the two terms in the principal metaphor.
(2) R 8.42 (45). (3) alikulakuntalabhārāḥ sarasijavadanāś ca cakra-
vākakucāḥ । rājanti hamsavasanāḥ samprati vāṇīvilāsinyaḥ (Rudraţa;
the bees, lotuses, etc. are accidental concomitants of the tank; the
tresses, faces, etc. are inherent properties of the girls: "The forest
maidens-the river Vāņi-are lovely with their lotus-faces and chign-
ons of bees, their breasts of nightingales and clothes of swans").
(4) "A steamer, probably bound for Cardiff, now crosses the horizon,
while near at hand one bell of a foxglove swings to and fro with a
bumble-bee for a clapper" (Virginia Woolf; the bumblebee is ac-
cidentally related to the foxglove; the clapper is inherent in the bell).
(5) This figure is a type of savayava rüpaka, contrasted with sahaja
and āhārya. For the meaning of "inherence", see āhārya (5).</p>
<pb n="250" />
<p>248
GLOSSARY
ekadeśavivarti, ekadeśi, 'partial': (1) a complex rūpaka, some of the aspects
of whose subject, subordinate or principal, are not metaphorically
identified with the corresponding aspect of the object, but are de-
scribed literally. (2) B 2.22 (24), U 1.12, R 8.41 (56), M 141. (3)
yasya ranântaḥpure kare kurvato mandalâgralatām । rasasammukhy
api sahasā parāñmukhī bhavati ripusenā (Mammața; the battle-
harem and sword-vine are metaphors, but neither the king nor his
enemy are specified as lover or rival: "When the King puts his hands
to the vine of his sword in the harem of battle, his enemy's army,
though at first filled with passion, is quickly chased away"). (4)
"America, for many of us, used to mean a very large apron, covered
with a pattern of lozenges, edged by a frill, and chastely suspended
by a boundary tape round the ample waist of Canada" (E. M. Fors-
ter). (5) All the authors emphasize that the mere incompleteness of
the total metaphor is not the only consideration: those aspects not
specified must in fact be articulating parts of the metaphor and be
readily inferrible as such. "Mixed" metaphor is definitely not de
rigeur.
Ekadeśavivarti is the opposite of samastavastuvişaya; Bhāmaha
and Udbhata know only this single distinction for all of rūpaka,
which then amounts to "complete" and "partial". In the more subtle
classifications of Daṇḍin and Rudrața, the term is the equivalent of
several others or has several subclassifications. Cf. avayava, avayavi,
ekânga
ekânga, 'one member": (1) a simple (but potentially complex) rūpaka in
which one aspect is treated metaphorically, the whole and the other
aspect are treated descriptively. (2) D 2.76 (75). (3) madapāṭala-
gandena raktanetrôtpalena te mukhena mugdhaḥ so'py eșa jano
rāgamayaḥ kṛtaḥ (Dandin; the "eye-lotuses" are an aspect of the
face, but the face itself and its other aspects (flushed cheeks) are
not metaphorically identified with anything else, though the whole
is probably meant to imply a lotus pond: "Anyone bewildered by
your face, its cheeks pink with drink and its eye-lotuses tender with
affection, is turned into a passion"). (4) "It was a night so beautiful
that your soul seemed hardly able to bear the prison of the body.
You felt that it was ready to be wafted away on the immaterial air,
and death bore all the aspect of a beloved friend" (Somerset
Maugham). (5) We say potentially complex because of the possibility
that several subsidiary aspects be metaphorically identified in this
way. According to Dandin, the proper terms would be dvyañga,</p>
<pb n="251" />
<p>249
tryañga, etc. (two-membered, three-membered). As the figure stands,
however, only one metaphor is explicit and therefore must be simple
(śuddha); we may see this type as complex by definition (as Dandin
certainly does): the fourth possibility in the quartet samastavastu
(principal and subordinate), avayavi (principal), avayava (subordin-
ate), ekânga (part of the subordinate). If so, it differs from avayava
in that there all the subordinate aspects described must be made
subjects of the metaphor. Here some must be left literal, as, in
Maugham's example, the soul or the night.
tattvâpahnava, 'denial of the real': (1) a type of rūpaka in which the
existence of the real subject is denied, and the object is affirmed in
place of it. (2) D 2.95 (94). (3) nâitan mukham idam padmam na
netre bhramarāv imau । etāni kesarāṇy eva nâitā dantârcişas tava
(Dandin: "This is no face, but a lotus; these are not eyes, but bees;
these are flower filaments and not the gleams of her teeth"). (4)
"What looks like a stone wall to a layman is a triumphal arch to a
corporation lawyer* (Finley P. Dunne). (5) Formally, this figure is
just the inverse of tattvåkhyāna, where the subject is affirmed in
place of the object, but affirmation is classified as simile, denial as
metaphor. This difference testifies again to that more basic distinc-
tion between simile and metaphor: the former is in principle realistic,
the latter is in principle figurative (cf. upamā rūpaka). Denying the
existence of the object of comparison does no more than reaffirm
the "pre-similar" nature of thin whereas de ing the existence of
the subject strikes at the very heart of all actuality (which, for the
purposes of poetics, we may take as a complex of subjects, attributes,
and actions).
GLOSSARY
niravayava, 'without members': (1) a non-complex metaphor; that is,
one showing no metaphorical identification of subsidiary aspects or
elements. (2) R 8.41,46. (3) (4) See (5). (5) Cf. savayava. This
figure is subdivided into four types: śuddha (one metaphor), mālā
(several independent metaphors), rašanā (several interdependent
metaphors), and paramparita (a single metaphor with a multiple
predicate or object). See these terms for examples.
paramparita, 'continuous': (1) a type of non-complex rūpaka in which
the main metaphor is continued by a second which is grammatically
subordinate to the object of the first and which gives a rationale for
its identification. (2) R 8.46-47 (51), M 145. (3) smaraśabaracă-
payaşțir jayati janânandajaladhiśaśilekhä lävaṇyasalilasindhuḥ
sakalakalākamalasarasiyam (Rudrața; the girl is metaphorically</p>
<pb n="252" />
<p>250
GLOSSARY
identified with a bow; this, in itself, is unclear until the bow is said to
belong to the love-hunter: she is the love-hunter's bow: "This lovely
maiden conquers all-she is a lotus pond of all the arts, a river of
beauty, a crescent moon on the lake of earthly joys, the bow of the
love-hunter"). (4) "Our caresses, our tender words, our still rapture
under the influence of autumn sunsets, or pillared vistas, or calm
majestic statues, or Beethoven symphonies, all bring with them the
consciousness that they are mere waves and ripples in an unfathom-
able ocean of love and beauty" (George Eliot). (5) The term param-
parita is defined with differing emphases by the two authors who use
it: Rudraţa draws attention to the formal peculiarity of the com-
pound word which expresses the metaphor; namely, that it contains
one subject but two objects of comparison (love, subject; hunter,
object; bow, object), this second object referring to a second subject
which is outside the compound: the girl. This verbalistic account
seems to avoid the main point, which is the relation of inclusion or
extension obtaining between the object of the principal metaphor and
the second metaphor (bow? which bow? love-hunter's bow). Mam-
mata, with uncharacteristic insight, fixes upon this conceptual rela-
tionship and expresses it as that of condition and conditioned (only
by knowing that the bow is that of the love-hunter does it make
sense to equate it with the girl.)
Paramparita is classified as a type of niravayava rūpaka, a non-
complex metaphor without subordinate metaphorical identifications;
that is, the relation of subordination discussed above does not involve
the relation of a whole to its parts, which is what is intended by the
term "complex". Cf. sâvayava, niravayava. Analytically, paramparita
is the inverse of avayava, for the metaphor that in avayava would be
the whole (love-hunter) is here the subordinate (at least grammatic-
ally), and the part (girl-bow) is the principal. But this is not the point
at issue, for the form of paramparita is not merely the inverse of the
form of sâvayava (where the principal, neatly spelled out, is accom-
panied by metaphorically identified aspects, neatly spelled out and
inserted at appropriate places in the larger idea: an architectonic of
metaphor); rather, in paramparita the subordinate metaphor (which
is the principal of savayava in meaning) is both a grammatical and
conceptual element of an aspect (the object) of the principal meta-
phor. Instead of being founded upon a part, it is a part: it is inte-
grated in what is analytically its own consequence.
Paramparita is apparently identical with the upamārūpaka alam-</p>
<pb n="253" />
<p>GLOSSARY
251
kāra of Vāmana, which is defined as a rūpaka (metaphor) founded
upon an upamā (simile). The examples, however, are the same:
Vāmana probably takes "rajanipuramdhrirodhratilakaḥ śaśī "('the
moon is the beauty mark of the night-woman') to mean: 'of the
night, which resembles a woman'. It is upon this idea of similitude
(though expressed as a metaphor) that the identification of moon and
beauty mark is predicated. An alternative explanation would be:
"the night with the moon is like a woman with her beauty mark",
though one fails to see in this case just how this figure differs from
simple metaphor (which is also founded upon a similitude). Vāmana
is eager to reduce all figures to a basic simile, so perhaps his contor-
tions have no other rationale.
This integration of metaphor into metaphor should be distin-
guished from rūpaka rūpaka, which only a triple metaphor
(identification of three terms).
bhedabhāj, "distinct': (1) another name for ašlişța rūpaka.
mālā, 'garland': (1) a type of non-complex metaphor in which the same
subject is successively identified with a number of objects, each
suggesting a different property or aspect. (2) U 1.13, R 8.46 (49),
M 144. (3) kusumayudhaparamâstram lavaṇyamahôdadhir gunani-
dhānam । ānandamandiram aho hṛdi dayitā skhalati me šalyam
(Rudrața: "Alas, that lady has shot an arrow into my heart! She
is the ultimate weapon of the God of Love, an ocean of beauty, a
treasure-trove of qualities, a palace of pleasure!"). (4) "This royal
throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, / This earth of majesty, this seat
of Mars, / This other Eden, demi-paradise, / This fortress built by
Nature for herself / Against infection and the hand of war, / This
happy breed of men, this little world, / This precious stone set in
the silver sea, / This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this
England, This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings
(Shakespeare). (5) Cf. niravayava; most of the common figures
(upamā, vyatireka) are capable of this extension, since they are all
analyzable into the same elements: thing compared, object of
comparison, common property, etc. Mammața also gives an example
for a garland of paramparita metaphors. No new principle is
involved.
"
---
yukta, 'related': (1) a type of complex rūpaka in which the objects of
the subsidiary metaphors go together, that is, are mutually related
in terms of some well-known cliché or image. (2) D 2.77. (3)
smitapuspôjjvalam lolanetrabhṛñgam idam mukham (Dandin; bees</p>
<pb n="254" />
<p>252
GLOSSARY
and flowers, with which the eyes and the smile are identified, are
thus mutually related: "This face is radiant with its smile-flower
and the bees which are her roaming eyes"). (4) "Saratoga perhaps
deserves our greater homage, as being characteristically democratic
and American ... Let us, then, make Saratoga the heaven of our
aspiration, but let us yet a while content ourselves with Newport as
the lowly earth of our residence" (Henry James). (5) Cf. ayukta
rūpaka. In Dandin's classification, this term is to be taken as a
subtype of dvyañga (or tryañga) rūpaka, which is itself an extension
of ekânga, q.v. That is to say, when more than one sub-aspect of an
image is made the subject of a metaphorical identification, these
identifications may be classified as to their mutual compatibility.
We may not apply this classification to those metaphors in which the
principal identification is explicit, since presumably in that case
all the subsidiary objects will be aspects of the principal, and thus
a fortiori go together.
rašanā, "rope¹: (1) a series of rūpaka in which the object of identification
of the preceding metaphor becomes the subject of the following,
and so on. (2) R 8.46 (50), M 145C. (3) kisalayakarair latānām
karakamalaih kāminām jagaj jayati । nalinīnām kamalamukhair
mukhêndubhir yoşitäṇ madanaḥ (Rudrața; the bud-hands of the
creepers, then the hand-lotuses of the girls: "The Love God conquers
the entire world with weapons which are the bud-hands of creepers,
with the hand-lotuses of lovers, with the lotus-faces of the blue lotus
plant, with the face-moons of maidens"). (4) "Nor doth this wood
lack worlds of company, / For you, in my respect, are all the world"
(Shakespeare). (5) This figure is the inverse of rašanā upamā.
rūpaka, 'metaphor': (1) a rūpaka in which the object of a simple meta-
phorical identification is itself taken as the subject of a further meta-
phor; a triple metaphor. (2) D 2.93. (3) mukhapañkajarañgeʼsmin
bhrūlatānartaki tava । lilānṛtyam karoti (Dandin; on the stage which
is a lotus which is her face: on the face-lotus-stage: "On the stage
of your face-lotus, the player of your brow-creeper acts out a
divertissement"). (4) "In those mirrors, the minds of men, in those
pools of uneasy water, in which clouds forever turn and shadows
form" (Virginia Woolf; in those mind-mirror-pools). (5) If the two
identifications are independently taken, a mālārūpaka is formed.
I think, however, that in Virginia Woolf's example, the "pools"
should be taken with the "mirrors" rather than with "minds",
since it is their reflecting surface which is to be emphasized by the</p>
<pb n="255" />
<p>253
metaphor. This figure is a rašanā rūpaka in which the term taken as
both subject and object is expressed only once. It differs from
paramparita in that only a term is metaphorically subordinated to
the principal metaphor, not another metaphor.
viruddha, 'obstructed': (1) a rūpaka in which the metaphorical identifica-
tion takes place in the presence of and despite characteristics sufficient
to distinguish the two terms. (2) D 2.83. (3) na milayati padmāni na
nabho'py avagahate । tvanmukhêndur mamâsūnām haraṇāyaîva kalpate
(Dandin: "The moon of your face does not cause the lotuses to close
and does not swim amongst the clouds, but it does seem uniquely
able to enslave me!"). (4) "You are a tulip seen to-day, / But,
dearest, of so short a stay / That where you grew scarce men can
say" (Robert Herrick). (5) Viruddha differs from vyatireka rūpaka
in that the identification overrides the distinction. The "obstruction",
specifically, is the non-performance by the subject of the metaphor
of an act which is characteristic of the object: the moon causes
lotuses to close; a tulip grows in a garden.
višeşaņa, 'qualification': (1) a rūpaka which descriptively qualifics another
word. (2) D 2.82 (81). (3) haripadaḥ śirolagnajahnukanyājalâmśukaḥ
। jayaty asuraniḥśañkasurânandôtsavadhvajaḥ (Daṇḍin; Vişnu's foot
is said to be wreathed with "Ganges water-gauze"; note that the
Ganges is said to have sprung from a footprint of Vişņu: "May the
foot of Vişņu be victorious: the banner of the festival of joy of the
Gods who were made fearless [by that foot] of the hosts of demons,
[the banner] being the water-gauze of the Ganges attached to the
mast [of Vișņu's foot]"). (4) "Books were on his shelves by Wells
and Shaw; on the table serious sixpenny weeklies written by pale
men in muddy boots-the weekly creak and screech of brains rinsed
in cold water and wrung dry-melancholy papers" (Virginia Woolf).
(5) These metaphors differ from samastavastuvişaya rūpaka in that
a relation other than that of whole to part underlies the subordina-
tion of one to the other component metaphor. In the examples, it is
that of substantive and qualification. Of course, this formal distinc-
tion does not affect the meaning or subject matter of the metaphor,
and it should be possible to express the matter as a samastavastuvişaya
by stating the terms in that relation.
GLOSSARY
vişama, 'uneven': (1) a complex rüpaka in which the principal identifica-
tion is made explicit together with only some of the subordinate
identifications; the remaining aspects are treated descriptively and
unmetaphorically. (2) D 2.79 (80). (3) madaraktakapolena man-</p>
<pb n="256" />
<p>254
GLOSSARY
mathas tvanmukhêndunā । nartitabhrūlatenálam marditum bhuvana-
trayam (Daṇḍin; "face-moon" is explicit, along with "brow-creeper",
but "cheeks flushed with drink" is descriptive and does not continue
the metaphor: "The God of Love has punished the world enough
with the noon of your face, its cheeks flushed with drink, its brow-
creeper dancing"). (4) "Let us by reverend degrees draw near, / I
feel the Goddess here. / Lo I, dread Sack, an humble priest of thine /
First kiss this cup thy shrine. / That with more hallowed lips and
inlarg'd soul / I may receive the whole" (Anon., "In Praise of Sack";
"Sack Goddess" should be taken as the principal; the drinker and
his cup are identified with the priest and the shrine, but neither the
"priest's" soul nor his lips is metaphorically identified). (5) This
figure amounts to a combination of avayavi and ekânga rūpakas.
It is a samastavastuvişaya rūpaka with some of the subordinate
aspects not metaphorically identified.
vyatireka, 'distinction': (1) a rūpaka in which a distinction is drawn
between the metaphorically identified object and its real counterpart;
a literal re-evaluation of the metaphor itself. (2) D 2.88 (90). (3)
candramāḥ piyate devair mayā tvanmukhacandramaḥ / asamagro'py
asau śaśvad ayam āpūrṇamaṇḍalaḥ (Dandin: "The moon[beams] are
drunk by the Gods, [the beams from] your face-moon I drink; the
former is often less than full, the latter ever and always perfect").
(4) "I will be Paris, and for love of thee, / Instead of Troy, shall
Wertenberg be sacked" (Christopher Marlowe; Faustus is speaking).
(5) Vyatireka differs from viruddha rūpaka in that the distinction is
specified for both the subject and object, giving the subject a positive
content (Wertenberg), whereas, in viruddha, the inadequacy alone of
the subject is shown, hence the name "obstructed".
Cf. upamā rūpaka. This subfigure is vyatireka alamkāra expressed
in the form of a metaphor, just as upamā rūpaka was a simile ex-
pressed as a metaphor. In the more formal classifications which
follow Dandin, such combinations would be relegated to the etcetera
category samkīrṇa, q.v.
vyasta, 'separate': (1) same as asamasta. (2) D 2.68. (5) Used only in
the term samastavyasta.
Suddha, 'simple': (1) a non-complex rūpaka without subsidiary metaphors
of any kind. (2) R 8.46 (48), M 143. (3) kaḥ purayed aśeşān kāmān
upaśamitasakalasamtāpaḥ । akhilârthinām yadi tvam na syāḥ kalpadru-
mo rajan (Rudrața: "Who would fulfill the numberless wishes of your
suitors, O King, were you not the veritable tree of desire through</p>
<pb n="257" />
<p>255
which all suffering is assuaged"). (4) "Christ, whose Glory fills
the Skies, Christ, the true, the only Light" (Charles Wesley). (5)
The point is not that the metaphor is uncompounded (cf. asamasta),
but that the image coined by the metaphor is not extended by other
metaphors or metaphorical usages dependent in some way upon
that first metaphor.
GLOSSARY
This is the type par excellence of niravayava metaphor; according
to Rudraţa, mālā, rašanā, and paramparita are variously defined
combinations of suddha rūpakas. All are called niravayava ('lacking
members') for this reason. See these terms.
ślişta, 'punned': (1) a rūpaka to which certain descriptive qualifications
are appended which are to be taken differently for each of the two
terms of the metaphor. (2) D 2.87, M 145. (3) rājahamsôpabhoga-
rham bhramaraprarthyasaurabham । sakhi vaktrâmbujam idam tava
(Dandin; for the lotus, "swan-enjoyed" and "bee-beloved"; for the
face, "king-enjoyed" and "suitor-beloved": "Friend, the lotus of
your face is worthy of being enjoyed by the Great King [the swan]
and so sweet as to attract a lover [bee]"). (4) "A Woman is a book,
and often found / To prove far better in the Sheets than bound: /
No marvel then why men take such delight / Above all things to
study in the night" (Anon.). (5) Mammața takes ślișța to be a category
in the determination of paramparita rūpaka, along with mālā. There
is no clear reason why puns may not serve in other metaphors as
well.
sakala, "whole': (1) same as samastavastuvişaya. (2) D 2.70 (69).
samkīrṇa, 'mixed': (1) a complex rūpaka in which a principal subject
and several of its aspects are metaphorically identified with objects
having no mutual relation. (2) R 8.52-55. (3) lakṣmīs tvam mukham
indur nayane nilôtpale karau kamale । keśaḥ kekikalāpo daśanā api
kundakalikās te (Rudrata: "You are Lakşmi; your face is the moon,
your eyes, blue lotuses, your hands, white lotuses, your tresses, a
peacock's tail, and your teeth, jasmine buds"). (4) "One man is a
living soul, but two men are an india rubber milking machine for a
beer engine, and three men are noses off and four men are an asylum
for cretins and five men are a committee and twenty-five are a meeting
and after that you get to the mummy house at the British Museum,
and the Sovereign People and Common Humanity and the Average
and the Public and the Majority and the Life Force and Statistics
and the Economic Man brainless, eyeless, wicked spawn of the
universal toad sitting in the black bloody ditch of eternal night and</p>
<pb n="258" />
<p>256
GLOSSARY
croaking for its mate which is the specter of Hell" (Joyce Cary;
the principal, mankind, has its parts, one man, two men, three men,
etc., severally identified with uninterrelated objects). (5) In popular
usage, a "mixed metaphor" has a much wider application. The
majority of current les would probably fall into other cate-
gories than rūpaka; for example: "The crowned heads of Europe
were quaking in their boots", where "heads" is an example of
vakrôkti II (lakṣaṇā) and "quaking ..." an example of utpreksā.
But the essential point-a lack of parallelism in multiple figurative
predication is well illustrated by the present case. The clearest
instance is rūpaka, for all the terms-subject, object, and aspects-are
there necessarily explicit; in utprekşā and vakrôkti II (lakṣaṇā),
the subject is implied by a sort of shorthand. Some mixed metaphors
may not be vicious, as the examples show. Cary's mixture serves a
specific poetic purpose in that it increases the emphasis of the se-
quence itself. In ayukta rūpaka, a more explicit opposition in the
objects of identification is required, making the metaphor more
mixed than this.
samasta, 'compounded': (1) a rūpaka in which the subject and object of
identification are compounded into a single grammatical word,
the subject preceding. (2) D 2.68 (66). (3) bāhulatā pāṇipadmam
caraṇapallavaḥ (Dandin; three separate examples: "Arm-vines, hand-
lotuses, foot-buds"). (4) "The weeds wear moon mist mourning
veils" arl Sandburg). (5) English is sufficiently like Sanskrit to
permit a valid illustration of this grammatical point. A rūpaka is
the identification of a subject (literal) with an object (figurative).
This identification may be accomplished by the simple assertion of
an identity (see asamasta), but it may also repose upon an implica-
tion grounded upon a grammatical feature of the language, namely,
that the last member of a compound alone has a direct relation to
the rest of the sentence (it carries the case termination, plural
termination, etc.). The first member has syntactical reality only
through the second and therefore is subordinated to and is taken
when possible as an equivalent of the second. Through grammatical
identification, concrete identification is implied. Now, into this
syntactic framework the poet inserts words freely and particularly
seeks those expressions whose intuitive or logical structure differs
from that, implied and ready made, of the grammar. Such is "moon
mist mourning veils", where the literal and primary fact, "mist",
is grammatically subordinated, in the manner described above, to</p>
<pb n="259" />
<p>GLOSSARY
257
that idea which is only a figurative and intuitive qualification of
"mourning veil". Grammatically, the primary fact is now "veil",
and through this confusion of primacy and subordination on differ-
ent levels, the identification of the two terms is accomplished. In
the phrase "dear tiger-lily, fanged and striped" (Conrad Aiken),
the literal fact and the grammatically defined primary term coincide
in "lily". Here is no instance of identification, because the consist-
ency of the various levels reasserts a fortiori the literally acceptable
subordination of the first term: "lily like a tiger". For this reason,
the Indian aestheticians consider such compounds upamā (simile),
not metaphor. The degree of subordination is limited by the in-
tuitive possibilities of the terms involved. The compound "milk-
machine" is neither a rūpaka nor an upamă, for the subordination is
merely teleological and can have nothing to do with the representa-
tion of the terms themselves. Which is to say, in Pāņinean phrase-
ology, that tatpuruşa compounds can be figurative only when they
are karmadhāraya, where both members have the same case relation-
ship (samănâdhikaraṇatva). We have, however, one skew case in
English, as in Virginia Woolf's phrase "gauze of evening": there is
not much question that this is a metaphor in the Indian sense, as it
identifies the evening (subject) with gauze (object). It does not mean
"the gauze belonging to evening"; it is the equivalent of "evening-
gauze", but since English does not offer the same facility for com-
pounding as Sanskrit, poets employ this "of" of identification (see
Twain's example under samastavastuvişaya). A case relationship
implying subordination is used to indicate equivalence. We may
ordain for English a karmadhārayagarbhatatpuruşasamāsa. Such an
"of" of identification must be carefully distinguished from the other
"ofs": : a sine qua non is that the grammatically independent term
(gauze) is the representation of the term thereto subordinated (eve-
ning), as "moon mist mourning veils". In the example: "And there
the lion's ruddy eyes / Shall flow with tears of gold" (William Blake),
"tears of gold" does not satisfy this criterion; rather, "gold" is a
representation of "tears", and we have upama, not rūpaka.
samastavastuvişaya, 'referring to the entire thing': (1) a rūpaka in which
the subject of identification and its several parts or aspects are
identified in rigorously parallel fashion with the object and its
several parts; complex metaphor. (2) B 2.22 (23), U 1.12, R 8.41-
55, M 140. (3) jyotsnäbhasmacchuraṇadhavalā bibhratī tārakâsthiny
antardhanavyasanarasikā rātrikāpālikiyam । dvipăd dvīpam bhramati</p>
<pb n="260" />
<p>258
GLOSSARY
dadhati candramudrākapāle nyastam siddhanjanaparimalam lancha-
nasya cchalena (Mammața; the principal subject "night" is identified
with the principal object "beggar woman"; their respective parts
are the subjects of various subordinate identifications: "moonlight-
ash smeared body", "stars-beads", "moon-bowl", etc.: "The
woman of the night, white with the smeared ash of moonbeams,
who wears a necklace of stars and shows great interest in hidden
things, wanders from island to island gathering in the begging bowl
of the moon fragrances and magic ointments, dark appearing").
(4) "We see bursting upon us the domes and steeples of Saint Paul,
giant young chief of the North ... carving his beneficent way with
the tomahawk of commercial enterprise, sounding the war whoop of
Christian Culture, tearing off the reeking scalp of sloth and supersti-
tion" (Mark Twain). (5) In distinguishing this metaphor from eka-
deśavivarti, the important thing is that none of the aspects of the
subject be descriptively treated (not identified metaphorically).
Samastavastuvişaya is the type of complex rūpaka whose many
variations herein described are simply the non-identification of
one or another characteristic part: avayava (the principal subject-
object), avayavi (the subordinates), ekâñga (the principal and some
subordinates), and vișama (some subordinates). All these terms are
types of ekadeśavivarti, but only Dandin goes beyond the basic
distinction to elaborate types of partiality. The relation of the sub-
metaphors to the main metaphor is that of a part or aspect to the
whole. For a discussion of other kinds of subordination, see
paramparita and višeşana rūpaka.
gar
samastavyasta, *'compounded and separate': (1) two rūpakas in the same
expression, one of which is in the form of a compound word, the
other not. (2) D 2.68. (3) smitam mukhêndor jyotsnā (Daṇḍin: "The
smile is the beam of her face-moon"). (4) "Walled in by towering
stone-/ Peaked margin of antiquity's delay" (Allen Tate). (5) This
is paramparita rūpaka defined in a purely formal fashion, without
reference to the kind of relation existing between two metaphors.
samādhāna, 'justification': (1) a rūpaka in which a justification is offered
for a previously expressed inconsistency in the metaphor. (2) D 2.92.
(3) mukhêndur api te caṇḍi mām nirdahati nirdayam । bhāgyadoṣān
mamaiva (Daṇḍin: "Even the moon of your face, O cruel girl,
consumes me fierily! Such is the defect of my fate!"). (4) "LION: ...
For all the rest, / Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers twain /
At large discourse while here they do remain. THESEUS: I wonder</p>
<pb n="261" />
<p>259
if the lion be to speak. DEMETRIUS: No wonder, my lord. One
lion may, when many asses do" (Shakespeare; the player Snug has
introduced himself as the Lion: a theatrical metaphor). (5) In
akşepa rūpaka, a property sufficient to distinguish subject from object
is pointed out, and the metaphor itself is cast into doubt; here an
attempt is made to override that suspicion and thereby to save the
original metaphor. In viruddha, the same difference is expressed
negatively (non-performance by the subject of an action proper to
the object), in vyatireka, positively (the proper action of the subject
is also given), but in both, the mode is the indicative; in samā-
dhāna and ākṣepa, the adequacy of the metaphor has yet to be decided.
samāsa, *compound': (1) same as samasta. (2) R 8.40. (5) All types of
rūpaka given by Rudrata, except asamāsa, are examples of samāsa.
saviśeşaņa, 'with a qualification': (1) another term for višeșaṇa rūpaka.
sâvayava, 'having parts': (1) another name for avayava II.
hetu, 'cause': (1) a rūpaka in which a cause is given for the identification
of the subject and object; or, in which the common property under-
lying the identification is expressed in the form of a cause. (2) D 2.86.
(3) gāmbhīryeṇa samudro'si gauraveṇāsi parvataḥ । kāmadatvāc ca
lokānām asi tvam kalpapādapaḥ (Dandin: "You are the ocean for
depth, O King, and the mountain for weightiness; having granted
boons to all men, you are the tree of desire!"). (4) "LYSANDER:
This lion is a very fox for his valour. THESEUS: True, and a
goose for his discretion" (Shakespeare). (5) Cf. hetu upamā.
GLOSSARY
läţânuprāsa
lāţânuprāsa, 'Gujarati alliteration': (1) same as lāțīyā, a type of anuprāsa.
(2) U 1.8-10. (5) Udbhața considers it a separate alamkāra.
leśa
lesa (I), 'trace': (1) a figure in which a pretext is alleged to cover an
embarrassing or otherwise unpleasant situation. (2) D 2.265 (266-
67). (3) ănandâśru pravṛttam me katham dṛṣṭvaiva kanyakām । akşi
me puşparajasā vātôddhūtena kampitam (Dandin; the lover is ashamed
to admit his tears of joy: "Why should I cry for joy at the sight of
that maiden? My eyes are only bothered by some wind-blown
flower pollen"). (4) "I was a-stannin' heah, an' de dog was a-
stannin' heah; de dog he went for de shell, gwine to pick a fuss wid
it; but I didn't; I says, "Jes' make youseff at home heah; lay still
whah you is, or bust up de place, jes" as you's a mind to, but I's got</p>
<pb n="262" />
<p>260
GLOSSARY
business out in de woods, I has!""" (Mark Twain; the darky's
"business" is a pretext for his hasty withdrawal; the scene is the siege
of Vicksburg). (5) The figure is rejected by Bhämaha (2.86) as not
involving vakrôkti.
leśa (II): (1) a figure in which a quality is portrayed as involving a defect,
or vice versa. (2) R 7.100 (101-102). (3) hrdayam sadaiva yeşām
anabhijñam guṇaviyogaduḥkhasya । dhanyás te guṇahīnā vidagdha-
goşṭhīrasâpetāḥ (Rudrața: "They whose simple minds are unaware
of the pains of ignorance are indeed blessed, for they feel no compul-
sion to attend the assemblies of the wise"). (4) "... bankruptcy
itself can be a pleasure. I'd been bankrupt four times. There's
nothing like a good smash for getting rid of small worries, the things
that don't matter, but peck a man to death" (Joyce Cary). (5) The
Sanskrit example shows a defect implying a virtue, the other a
virtue implying a defect: "Every cloud has a silver lining".
leśa (III): (1) same as vyājastuti. (2) D 2.268-72.
vakra
vakra, 'crooked': (1) an artha śleşa in which underlying the double-
entendre is a further equivocation of mood (rasa). (2) R 10.9. (3)
akramya madhyadeśam vidadhat samvähanam tathâñgānām । patati
karaḥ kāñcyām api tava nirjitakāmarūpasya (Rudrata; taking the
nouns as names of countries gives one rasa (vīra), as parts of the
female anatomy, another (śrīgāra); "Overcoming Madhyadeśa
[grasping her waist], sending your army against [caressing] the Añgas
[her limbs], your hand has fallen even on Kāñci [on her girdle], O
you who has conquered Kamarūpa [bested the Love God]"). (4)
"License my roving hands, and let them go / Before, between, behind,
above, below. / Oh, my America, my Newfoundland, / My kingdom's
safest when with one man manned" (John Donne). (5) Here the
equivocation is thought of on two levels: literal (the word itself
having two meanings) and contextual (the two literal meanings
implying contrary or contradictory emotions). As such, there are
four meanings here being punned, and the form presents a nice
problem to the dhvani theorist; is the śleșa here subordinate to the
expression of the rasa, or vice versa?
vakrôkti
vakrôkti (I), 'evasive speech': (1) a figure in which a rejoinder is appended
to a certain remark, either by the speaker or another, in such a way</p>
<pb n="263" />
<p>261
that a second meaning is read into that remark. (2) R 2.14-17,
M 103. (3) aho kenêdṛśí buddhir dāruṇā tava nirmitā / triguṇā śruyate
buddhir na tu dārumayi kvacit (Mammața; also a pun on the
philosophical sense of "buddhi": in the threefold manifestations of
sattva, tamas, and rajas; "Hey, who made your will so pitiless
[dāruṇā]? Will is said to be threefold, but never, ever made of wood
[dāru]"). (4) ""I mean: what do I tell Jane? She's down at the apart-
ment by now. She called me. She was worrying that bad about
you'. "What's she want?' 'It has all different names', Captain Dyer
said. "They use like a bed for it. You ought to know, sonny boy***
(James Gould Cozzens). (5) This is one of the rare figures which are
essentially dialectical, involving the development of an idea from
thesis to antithesis. We are here very close to our own idea of irony
if we take this to mean reference to something through its opposite,
or, at any rate, its other. It differs from irony in requiring that the
thesis, that is, the conventional formulation which is to be referred
to through its opposite, be explicit. Although vakrôkti can be ex-
pressed through a pun (see śleșa vakrôkti), it differs from pun in
requiring that the pun be a reinterpretation of something previously
mentioned, not simply a self-contained play on words.
kāku, 'intonation': (1) a type of vakrökti in which the rejoinder is not
stated, but is conveyed through an ironic inflection of the voice.
(2) R 2.16 (17), M 103. (3) gurujanaparatantratayā dūrataram deśam
udyato gantum । alikulakokilalalite naîşyati sakhi surabhisamayeʼsau
(Mammaţa; meaning: "he will surely go": "He intends to go to a far
land out of obedience to his teacher; surely he will not leave in the
sweet-smelling season gay with the sounds of bee and cuckoo!").
(4) ""I don't want to interfere', she said, using the tone and the phrase
to mean its exact opposite" (Margery Allingham). (5) This is vakrôkti
in the sense that the conversation proceeds on the basis of the under-
standing, not the remark. There is no reply because it is not neces-
sary. The phrase is its own rejoinder and conveys its reinterpretation
through an inflection rather than mere verbal stuff. Stated linguis-
tically, the two senses of kāku vakrôkti are carried one by the seg-
mental morphemes, the other by the suprasegmental; in śleșa vakrók-
ti, they are carried by two different sequences. That irony is con-
sidered a type of vakrôkti in this sense, shows that the Indian writers
were aware of it as a function of the continuum of speech, not, as
might appear on the face of it, as a static relation of two super-
imposed meanings, like sleșa. This is a profound view of irony and
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="264" />
<p>262
GLOSSARY
shows how the idea of a figure can be treated quite independently
of the expressive modes which it may entail. A conversation is
here reproduced, not in its accustomed time continuum, but quite
simultaneously, indifferent to time.
śleşa 'double-entendre': (1) a type of vakrôkti in which the second sense is
conveyed through a rejoinder based on a pun or a play on words.
(2) R 2.14 (15), M 103. (3) kim gauri mām prati ruşă । nanu gaur
aham kupyāmi kām prati । mayîty anumānato'ham jānāmy atas ।
tvam anumānata eva satyam (Rudraţa: "ŠIVA: Why are you angry
with me, Gauri? SHE: Why am I deemed a cow [gaur] by you? With
whom should I be angry? HE: I know by inference [anumănato]
that you are angry with me. SHE: indeed, you are anumānato [anumā-
nata: not devoted to Umã, another name for Gauri]"). (4) "POLO-
NIUS: My honourable lord, I will most humbly take my leave of
you. HAMLET: You cannot sir take from me anything that I will
more willingly part withal: except my life, except my life, except my
life** (Shakespeare). (5) As in śleșa arthântaranyāsa, a second topic
is intimated through a pun, but here that duality is comprehended
in the form of repartee-a conversation (or monologue) on two planes.
vakrôkti (II): (1) a figure wherein a word is used in a figurative sense
based on similitude; metonymy of resemblance. (2) V 4.3.8. (3)
samsthānena sphuratu subhagaḥ svarcişă cumbatu dyām (Vāmana;
"kiss" is used in a figurative sense: "May the blessed one be brilliant
with excellence; may he kiss the day with his darting rays"). (4)
"She stood breast-high among corn, / Clasp'd by the golden light
of morn" (Thomas Hood). (5) The Indian writers distinguish several
types of figurative usage (lakṣaṇā), depending on the kind of relation-
ship existing between the literal and secondary senses. For example,
the relation of proximity underlies "the grandstand roared with
approval"; that of whole-part in "Washington was scandalized by
it". Vāmana specifies that the relation be understood in this figure
as being restricted to similitude only: though light cannot "clasp"
anything, the meaning is obtained here through the striking simil-
arity of that act with the literal effective manifestation of the light.
The figure utprekṣā, as described by Dandin, appears identical with
this one, but involves a totally different orientation.
This one figure, sauf erreur, marks the only effort of an Indian
ālamkārika to define a poetic figure in the referential usage of single
words (trope, metonymy) which plays such a large role in our own
rhetorics. See the Introduction.</p>
<pb n="265" />
<p>GLOSSARY
263
vākovākya
vākovākya, 'dialogue': (1) a figure containing a remark and a reply.
(2) AP 342.32-33. (5) Vākovākya may be divided into rjúkti and
vakrôkti. The latter is the well-known alamkāra of Rudraţa and
Mammața consisting of a reply which consciously mistakes the con-
tent of the question; irony. Rjúkti is defined as 'inherent' (sahaja)
speech, perhaps conversation. Again the scope of the figures is
demonstrated (cf. bhävika). Vākovākya constitutes the sixth sabda-
lamkāra. Other figures involving conversation are praśna and uttara.
vastava
vastava, 'descriptive': (1) a generic term for those figures which are
neither comparative nor hyperbolic. (2) R 7.9-10. (5) Rudraţa
intends those figures which are more rhetorical than poetic, involving
arrangements and sequences of terms, or descriptive intimations.
The list is given in 7.11-12. See aupamya, atiśaya, and śleşa.
vidarśanā
vidarśanā, 'making apparent': (1) a figure in which a similitude is sug-
gested by attributing to one subject a property which is characterized
as really belonging to another. (2) U 5.10. (3) vinôcitena patyā ca
rūpavaty api kaminī । vidhuvandhyavibhāvaryaḥ prabibharti višobha-
tām (Udbhaṭa: "A girl without a husband, though she be beautiful,
offers a sight rivalling in ugliness the moonless night"). (4) "In
phrases full of the audible equivalents of Capital Letters, he now
went on to assure Mr. Stoyte ..." (Aldous Huxley). (5) Just as one
woman cannot carry the ugliness of something else, so capital letters
cannot be an attribute of the spoken word; nevertheless, the adjunc-
tion suggests comparability of the woman and the night, of
audible and visible sententiousness.
But for the example which Udbhața offers, this figure would be
indistinguishable from nidarśană II of Mammața, for the definitions
are almost equivalent. In Mammața, the rapprochement is via a
similar or common result, and two distinct verbs underlie the contrast;
here there is but one verb, which does not apply literally to the sense
expressed, and the rapprochement is simply with the object of that
verb, as taken figuratively. This figure is perhaps a "portmanteau"
of nidarśanā.
A second type is mentioned by Udbhata in the definition, wherein
the two situations are in fact related, but no example is offered.</p>
<pb n="266" />
<p>264
GLOSSARY
He may be referring to the more common nidarśană I. The examples
also suggest that vidarśanā is similar to utprekṣā, but the figurativeness
of the ascription is literally pointed out.
vinokti
vinôkti, 'speech including the word "without": (1) a figure in which two
things are presented as excluding one another. (2) M 171. (3)
arucir niśayā vinā šaśī šaśinā sāpi vinâ mahattamaḥ । ubhayena vinā
manobhavasphuritam naîva cakāsti kāminoḥ (Mammața: "The moon
without the night has no brilliance; the moonless night is fearful
and dark; without both, no thought of love comes to the minds of
lovers"). (4) "Through want of [passion] she had sung without being
merry, possessed without enjoying, outshone without triumphing"
(Thomas Hardy). (5) Vinôkti is an obvious inversion of sahokti
("speech including the word 'with"").
vibhāvanā
vibhāvanā, *manifesting': (1) a figure in which an effect is realized in the
absence of its normal or conventional cause, thus implying another,
unusual cause. (2) B 2.77 (78), D 2.199-204, V 4.3.13, U 2.9, AP
344.27, R 9.16 (21), M 162. (3) apītamattāḥ śikhino dišo"nutkaṇṭhi-
tâkulāḥ nipo'viliptasurabhir abhraştakaluşam jalam (Bhāmaha; a
description of the rainy season: "The peacocks are drunk without
having imbibed, the skies are confused without being in love, the
nipa tree is sweet smelling without being anointed, the water is
corrupt without having sinned"). (4) "O world invisible, we view
thee, / O world intangible, we touch thee, / O world unknowable, we
know thee, / Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!" (Francis Thompson;
presumably a description of religious man). (5) Outwardly, this
figure resembles a simple virodha (contradiction); its peculiarity
reposes in the fact that the two terms contradicted are cause and
effect, not any two coexistent properties. According to Dandin
and the Agni Purāṇa, vibhāvanā is of two sorts, depending on whether
another (less common) cause is implied (kāraṇântaram), or whether
the nature of the thing itself provides the explanation (svābhāvika).
Rudrata, finally, divides the former into vibhāvanā of the subject
(abhidheya) and vibhāvanā of an aspect of the subject (vikāra).
kāraņântaram, another condition': (1) a type of vibhāvanā in which a less
usual cause is to be inferred as explanation of the seeming contradic-
tion. (2) D 2.199 (200), AP 344.28, R 9.16 (17). (3) apitakṣībakā-</p>
<pb n="267" />
<p>265
dambam asammṛṣstâmalâmbaram । aprasāditaśuddhâmbu jagad āsīn
manoharam (Dandin; the cause of these paradoxical phenomena is
the autumn weather: "The geese are intoxicated without having
drunk, the sky is clear without having been cleaned, the waters are
pure and have not been ven grace: the world is so lovely!"). (4)
"My tale was heard, and yet it was not told; / My fruit is fall'n,
and yet my leaves are green; / My youth is spent, and yet I am not
old" (Chidock Tichborne; written just before his execution at the
age of twenty-eight). (5) See svābhāvika.
GLOSSARY
svābhāvika(tva), 'natural(ness)': (1) a type of vibhāvanā in which the
nature of the thing so described is implied as the explanation of the
seeming contradiction. (2) D 2.199 (201), AP 344.28, R. 9.20 (21).
(3) anañjitásitā dṛṣṭir bhrūr anāvarjitā natā । arañjito'ruņaś câyam
adharas tava sundari (Daṇḍin; her anger is the "cause" of her parad-
oxical appearance; she doesn't love him: "Your glance is dark
without eyeshade, your brow is arched with no one bending it,
your lip is full colored and not a touch of lipstick"). (4) "Lo, lo!
how brave she decks her bounteous bower, / With silken curtains
and gold coverlets, / Therein to shroud her sumptuous belamour, /
Yet neither spins nor cards, nor cares nor frets, / But to her mother
Nature all her care she lets" (Edmund Spenser; the lilies bloom
"naturally"). (5) See käraṇântara.
virodha
virodha, 'contradiction': (1) a figure in which contradictory properties
are expressed of the same subject; the affirmation of the excluded
middle. (2) B 3.24 (25), D 2.333-39, V 4.3.12, U 5.6, AP 344.28, R
9.30-44, M 166-67. (3) upāntarūḍhôpavanacchāyāśītâpi dhūr asau ।
vidūradeśān api vaḥ samtāpayati vidviṣaḥ (Bhāmaha; the king's
"cool" sovereignty inflames his enemies: "The royal sovereignty,
cool in the shade of the city's environing groves, consumes his
enemies, though they be in a distant land"). (4) "I find no peace,
and all my war is done; / I fear and hope, I burn, and freeze like
ice; / I fly aloft, yet can I not arise; / And nought I have, and all
the world I seize on" (Sir Thomas Wyatt; "Description of the con-
trarious Passions in a Lover"). (5) This figure is elaborately catalo-
gued by Rudrața, probably following Dandin's sketchy and un-
named sixfold division, into fourteen types based on the common-
place distinction jāti, guna, kriya, dravya (genus', 'attribute', 'act',
'substance"). (Rudraţa asserts, however, that one of the fourteen</p>
<pb n="268" />
<p>266
GLOSSARY
types—jāti dravya-is theoretical only.) The contradiction may
exemplify any of these categories, or may involve terms from any
two of them. (For an example of multiple or complex virodha, see
gunakriyā virodha.) Mammața copies this scheme. Virodha differs
from pihita and like figures in emphasis only. Where the intention
is to show two incompatibles as equally valid, and where no implicit
decision is made, we have virodha; if the intention is to exaggerate
one of the incompatibles at the expense of the other, we have hyper-
bole, which uses contradiction as a means. Like all the subtle
distinctions of alaṇkāraśāstra, the properly understood intention of
the poet is the ultimate clue. For this reason, it might be added,
the body of poetic distinctions can be a powerful adjunct in coming
to grips with the poet's often murky thoughts.
kriya, 'verb': (1) a type of virodha where the incompatibility is that of
two actions of the same subject. (2) D 2.334, R 9.36, M 167. (3)
balamṛgalocanāyāś caritam idam citram atra yad asau mäm / jadayati
samtāpayati ca dure hrdaye ca me vasati (Rudrata; "soothes" and
"inflames": "How can this doe-eyed girl perform such wonders? She
both soothes and inflames me from a distance, yet she resides in
my heart!"). (4) "It's bad when they think well of you, Cokey,
because you get to think too much of yourself. And it's bad when
they think badly of you because you may get to think badly of them.
Take your mind off your work" (Joyce Cary; "think well" and
"think badly").
guņa, 'attribute': (1) a type of virodha where the incompatibility is that
of two (adjectivally stated) attributes of the subject. (2) R 9.35, M
167. (3) satatam musalásaktā bahutaragrhakarmaghaṭanayā nṛpate ।
dvijapatnīnām kațhināḥ sati bhavati karāḥ sarojasukumārāḥ (Mam-
mata; "harsh" and "soft": "The hands of the Brahmin ladies,
busily attached to the duties of the home, forever making foods and
sauces, have become rough; yet in your presence, King, those hands
are lotus soft!"). (4) "Behold a critic, pitched like the castrati, ।
Imperious youngling, though approaching forty" (Theodore Roeth-
ke). (5) Dandin gives an (unclassified) example which, though based
on guna, does not show virodha in any accepted sense: "tanumadhyam
pṛthuśroņi raktâuştham asitêkṣaṇam । natanabhi vapuḥ strīņām kam
na hanty unnatastanam" (Thin waisted and ample thighed, red lipped
and black eyed, with depressed navel and raised breasts-who would
not be striken by the body of a woman?"); compare: "This will
celebrate the occasion-a curious sense rising in her, at once freakish</p>
<pb n="269" />
<p>267
and tender, of celebrating a festival, as if two emotions were called
up in her, one profound-for what could be more serious than the
love of man for woman, what more commanding, more impressive,
bearing in its bosom the seeds of death; at the same time these
lovers, these people entering into illusion glittering eyed, must be
danced around with mockery, decorated with garlands" (Virginia
Woolf). Both examples show only a situation of contrasts, not
contradiction (D 2.336).
GLOSSARY
gunakriya, 'attribute-verb': (1) a type of complex virodha where incom-
patibility is shown between actions and qualities or traits of the same
subject. (2) R 9.39, M 167. (3) sā komalâpi dalayati mama hṛdayam
(Rudrata: "O how that tender one causes my heart to break!").
(4) "Of course I don't deny that if I were thoroughly unscrupulous
I could make a sensation. It would be rather amusing to show the
man with his passion for beauty and his careless treatment of his
obligations, his fine style and his personal hatred for soap and water,
his idealism and his tippling in disreputable pubs; but honestly,
would it pay?" (Somerset Maugham).
jāti, "genus': (1) a type of virodha where generic incompatibility is shown
in the same subject. (2) D 2.335, R. 9.37, M 167. (3) ekasyām eva
tanau bibharti yugapan naratvasimhatve / manujatvavarahat ve tatháiva
yo vibhur asau jayati (Rudrata; "manliness" and "lionhood" in
speaking of a form of Vişnu: "May he be victorious, the Lord who
unites in one body humanity and lionhood, manliness and porcinity").
(4) "Now I am well aware that pettiness and grandeur, malice and
charity, hatred and love, can find place side by side in the same human
heart" (Somerset Maugham; "pettiness and grandeur"). (5) The
logical category "genus" is never given abstract substantiation, but
is always considered to be a peculiar kind of attribute. In this sense,
the important distinction is between genus and guṇa, not between
genus and species (dravya). This turns out to be largely a matter of
morphology: if a pot is red, then redness is a generic attribute of
its color.
dravya, 'particular thing': (1) a type of virodha where the incompatibility
is that of particular individual things or ideas. (2) D 2.337, R 9.34,
M 167. (3) atrêndranīlabhittişu guhāsu śaile sadā suvelâkhye /
anyonyanabhibhūte tejastamasi pravartete (Rudrata; tejas ['energy"]
and tamas ['indolence'] paired with "glimmering" and "shadow":
"The glimmering and the shadow, ever contending, persist on the
sapphire-set walls of the caves of Mount Suvela"). (4) "[Theodore</p>
<pb n="270" />
<p>268
GLOSSARY
Roosevelt] is an interesting combination of St. Vitus and St. Paul"
(J. Morely, quoted by Frederick Lewis Allen). (5) These categories
are ill translated by our own; witness the example "energy" considered
as a category of substance.
virodha (II): (1) same as asamgati. (2) V 4.3.12. (5) The subject of virodha
has been fully developed in relation to the causal process. Various
contradictions or distortions of the normal relation of cause and
effect are exemplified by the figures anyonya, pūrva, vyāghāta,
asaṇgati, samādhi, and ahetu. An ordinary virodha concerns aspects
of one subject and does not extend necessarily to relations between
many subjects, nor is it based on any notion of the propriety of
such relationship, as implied, for example, by the notion of cause and
effect.
virodha (III): (1) an artha ślesa in which a positive term or thought is
directly contradicted by its negative, and resolution of the contradic-
tion is effected by understanding one (usually the negative) as a pun.
(2) R 10.5. (3) samvardhitavividhādhikakamalo'py avadalitanālikaḥ
so'bhūt । sakalâridararasiko'py anabhimataparâñganāsañgaḥ (Rudra-
ta; the first reading suggests that the king is both an enjoyer of
the wives of his enemies and uninterested in the wives of others, but
dāra (first "wife") also means "sword": "Although he has nurtured
various excellent lotuses, he has destroyed lotuses [fools]; although
he is an amateur of all his enemies' wives, he disdains the embraces
of others' women [swords]"). (4) "In those old days, the Nymph
called Etiquette / (Appalling thought to dwell on) was not born.
/ They had their May, but no Mayfair as yet, / No fashions varying
as the hues of morn" (C. S. Calverly; "May" without "Mayfair"
appears to be a contradiction, until Mayfair is understood as a
[fashionable] quarter of London). (5) This figure is virodha alamkāra
expressed through śleşa. See also virodhâbhâsa. This could better
be called paradox.
virodhábhāsa
virodhâbhāsa, 'appearance of paradox': (1) an artha ślesa in which two
terms appear to contradict each other, and in which the contradiction
is resolved by understanding one or the other as a pun. (2) R 10.22.
(3) tava dakşiņo'pi vāmo balabhadro'pi pralamba eşa bhujaḥ / duryod-
hano'pi rajan yudhisthiro'stity aho citram (Rudrata; the king's arm
is both "right" and "left", but "left" also means "unpropitious" (for
his enemies); Pralamba and Balabhadra, Duryodhana and Yudhi-</p>
<pb n="271" />
<p>269
șțhira are enemies in the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata: "Your
arm is left, although it is right [clever], Pralamba [pendant] although
Balabhadra [strong], although Duryodhana [difficult to fight], it is
Yudhisthira [firm in battle]"). (4) "Until yesterday I had no idea that
there were any families or persons whose origin was a Terminus"
(Oscar Wilde; Lady Bracknall refers to Jack's having been abandoned,
as an infant, in the cloak-room of Victoria Station). (5) This figure
differs from virodha III only in that the apparent paradox is borne
by the meanings of the words, rather than by a formal (positive-
negative) contrast. Both are appearances of paradox, and both are
resolved in the same way.
GLOSSARY
visesa
višeşa (I), 'difference": (1) a figure in which a quality or thing is represented
without, or in separation from its natural substratum or basis.
(2) R 9.5 (6), M 203. (3) divam apy upayātānām ākalpam analpagu-
ṇagaṇā yeşām । ramayanti jaganti giraḥ katham iha kavayo na te
vandyāḥ (Rudrata; the poet's voice is represented here in separation
from his body: "Why are the poets now gone beyond to heaven not
honored here-poets whose voices will delight the worlds and mani-
fest numberless qualities till the end of time?"). (4) "... when the
door opened, and a somewhat forbidding countenance peeped into
the room. The eyes in the forbidding countenance looked very
earnestly at Mr. Pickwick, for several seconds, and were to all
appearance satisfied with their investigation; for the body to which
the forbidding countenance belonged, slowly brought itself into the
apartment, and presented the form of an elderly individual in top-
boots-not to keep the reader any longer in suspense, in short, the
eyes were the wandering eyes of Mr. Grummer, and the body was
the body of the same gentleman" (Charles Dickens). (5) Cf. adhika
II, where the substratum is exceeded or surpassed by the condition
which it limits. In the following example from Shelley, the sub-
stratum is actually left behind: "My heart, for my weak feet were
weary soon, / Did companion thee".
višeşa (II): (1) a figure in which a single quality or thing is represented
as inhering in, or being in conjunction with, several natural substrata
or bases. (2) R 9.7 (8), M 203. (3) sā vasai tujjha hiae să cciacchisu
sāa vaaṇesu । ahmārisāṇa sundara oāso kattha pāvāṇam (Mammaţa;
spoken by a jealous wife about her rival: "She resides in your heart,
in your eyes and voice; where is there place for sinners like us?").</p>
<pb n="272" />
<p>270
GLOSSARY
(4) "Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war, / How to divide the
conquest of thy sight;/... My heart doth plead that thou in him
dost lie, / A closet never pierced with crystal eyes, / But the defendant
doth that plea deny, / And says in him thy fair appearance lies"
(Shakespeare; the same idea as in the Prakrit example with the added
fillip that the various "residences" of "her" are considered contestants;
cf. the figure pratyanika).
višeşa (III): (1) a figure in which a single cause is represented as producing,
in addition to its usual effect, another, literally impossible effect.
(2) R 9.9 (10), M 203. (3) likhitam bālamrgâkşya mama manasi
tayā śarīram ātmīyam । sphuṭam ātmano likhantyā tilakaṁ vimale
kapolatale (Rudrața; applying cosmetics produces not only the
tilakam but also a mark on the young man's soul: "As she paints
the bright tilaka mark on her spotless cheek, her whole form is
graven in my mind"). (4) "Why I tie about thy wrist, / Julia, this
silken twist; / For what other reason is't/ But to show thee how, in
part / Thou my pretty captive art? / But thy bond-slave is my heart
..." (Robert Herrick). (5) Compare asamgati, where the only effect
produced is literally impossible. The present case seems to be the
combination of an ordinary hetu with asamgati.
viseşôkti
višeşôkti (I), 'giving a difference': (1) a figure in which a deficiency (a
negative attribute), either natural or occasional, is pointed out in
such a way as to magnify or emphasize the capability of its subject.
(2) B 3.22, D 2.323. (3) ekas trīņi jayati jaganti kusumâyudhaḥ ।
haratâpi tanum yasya śambhunā na hrtam balam (Bhāmaha; though
incorporeal, Love conquers all with his flowered arrows: "One
Love God has conquered the three worlds, and though Siva stole
his body away, his force remains"). (4) "The eyes in front of their
[women's] face are not used for seeing with, but for improving the
appearance. Hang the thickest veil in front of them and a girl of
seventeen will still see the other woman, through two doors and a
brick wall, with the various organs of perception existing in her skin,
which changes color, her breasts which tingle, and her brain which
performs evolutions of incalculable direction and speed" (Joyce
Cary; though they cannot see, yet they are aware). (5) The present
case differs from vibhāvanä in showing only a deficiency in the ability
of the subject as a means to exaggerating the power of a given
cause which realizes its effect in a normal way. But the emphasis</p>
<pb n="273" />
<p>271
in vibhāvanā rests entirely upon a negated cause as the cause of just
that "impossible" effect. In other words, we wonder, in vibhāvanā,
that the effect should come at all, but here we wonder at how it
has come about, or, to put it another way, the proximate cause is
denied in vibhāvanā, but in višeşôkti, only a condition is denied.
Dandin classifies višeşôkti into five sorts, using the common four-
some-jāti, guna, kriyā, and dravya (cf. virodha)—and adding a
fifth, called hetu, which is "qualified deficiency", much as visişțâ-
dvaita is "qualified non-dualism". Compare višeșôkti II, the exact
reverse of this term.
GLOSSARY
kriyā, 'verb': (1) a type of višeșôkti in which the subject's deficiency is
that of an action usually contributing to a given effect. (2) D 2.323
(326). (3) na baddha bhrukuțir nâpi sphurito daśanacchadah । na ca
raktábhavad dṛṣṭir jitam ca dvişatām kulam (Daṇḍin; the king invests
his enemies without the slightest sign of anger: "His brows unlower-
ing, his lips not athrob, his glance uninflamed-yet he conquers the
hosts of his enemies!"). (4) "So forth those joyous Birds did pass
along / Adown the Lee, that to them murmur'd low, / As he would
speak, but that he lack'd a tongue, / Yet did by signs his glad affec-
tion show, / Making his stream run slow" (Edmund Spenser; the
stream is unable to speak, yet he shows his affection).
guna, 'attribute': (1) a type of višeşôkti in which the subject's deficiency
is that of a specific (adjectival) attribute usually associated with that
effect. (2) D 2.323 (324). (3) na kațhoram na vā tīkṣṇam āyudham
puşpadhanvanaḥ/ tathapi jitam evâsid amună bhuvanatrayam (Dandin:
"The Love God's weapon-his bow of flowers-is neither hard nor
sharp, yet with its aid he has subdued the three worlds!"). (4) "The
turtle lives 'twixt plated decks / Which practically conceal its sex. /
I think it clever of the turtle / In such a fix to be so fertile" (Ogden
Nash).
jāti, 'genus*: (1) a type of višeşôkti in which the subject's deficiency is
that of a generic characteristic usually associated with the given
capacity or effect. (2) D 2.323 (325). (3) na devakanyakā nápi
gandharvakulasambhavā । tathâpy eṣā tapobhañgam vidhätum vedhaso'
py alam (Dandin: "Though not one of the heavenly chorus, not
even a daughter of the Gods, she could still disrupt the penances of
Brahma!"). (4) "I know I'm not a great novelist', he will tell you.
*When I compare myself with the giants I simply don't exist .... All
I want people to say is that I do my best .... And after all, the
proof of the pudding is in the eating: The Eye of the Needle sold</p>
<pb n="274" />
<p>272
GLOSSARY
thirty-five thousand in England and eighty thousand in America,
and for the serial rights of my next book I've got the biggest terms I've
ever had yet"" (Somerset Maugham; though not a great novelist,
his books sell). (5) See the remark on jāti virodha; jāti here means
'class'.
dravya, *substance*: (1) a type of višeşôkti in which the subject's deficiency
is that of particular things which usually accompany its capacity or
effect. (2) D 2.323 (327). (3) na rathā na ca mātañgā na hayā na ca
pattayaḥ । strīṇām apâñgadṛṣṭyâiva jīyate jagatām trayam (Daṇḍin;
though unaccompanied by the accoutrements of war, Love conquers
all: "No chariots! No elephants or horses! No infantry! With
sidelong glances alone do the ladies conquer the three worlds!").
(4) "From thence to Heaven's brideless hall, / Where no corrupted
voices brawl; / No conscience molten into gold; / Nor forged
accusers bought and sold; / No cause deferred; nor vainspent jour-
ney; / For there Christ is the King's Attorney, / Who pleads for all
without degrees, / And he hath angels, but no fees" (Sir Walter
Raleigh; though it lack the accoutrements of a courtroom, yet
justice is done).
hetu, 'cause': (1) a type of viseşôkti in which the subject's deficiency is
not total, but qualified; the deficient attribute is present but in an
unusual or improbable form. (2) D 2.329 (328). (3) ekacakro
ratho yantā vikalo viṣamā hayāḥ । ākrāmaty eva tejasvī tathāpy arko
nabhastalam (Dandin; references are to the disc of the sun, the seven
days of the week, and the dawn, said to be anūru, 'lacking thighs':
"The burning sun still courses through the heavens, though his
chariot has but one wheel, his steeds are uneven, and his driver
maimed"). (4) "As I walked along the winding road ... I mused
upon what I should say. Do they not tell us that style is the art of
omission? If that is so I should certainly write a very pretty piece"
(Somerset Maugham; the author's style is present, but its form is a
bit unusual).
višeşôkti (II): (1) a figure wherein no effect obtains despite the presence
of an effective cause. (2) U 5.4, M 163. (3) nidrānivṛttāv udite dyura-
tne sakhījane dvārapadam parāpte/ ślathīkṛtâśleşarase bhujamge cacāla
nâlinganato'ñganā (Mammața; the causes for awakening are present,
but the girl, exhausted by lovemaking, remains asleep: "The sun
has risen to put an end to sleep, the troop of friends awaits outside
the door, yet the lady departs not from a loose embrace in the arms
of a lover who has tamed her passion"). (4) "But Adam could not sit</p>
<pb n="275" />
<p>GLOSSARY
273
down to his reading again, and he sauntered along by the brook and
stood leaning against the stiles, with eager, intense eyes, which looked
as if they saw something very vividly; but it was not the brook, or
the willows, or the fields or the sky" (George Eliot). (5) This figure is
just the inverse of viseșôkti I, where the effect is present, the con-
tributing cause absent. But, as Mammața shows, a clever scholiast
can turn black into white; he cites the example, originally from
Bhamaha, which we have given under višeşôkti I and interprets it:
"Deprivation of body is usually followed by deprivation of power;
this does not happen in the case of Love, whose power is unimpaired."
By taking as the effective cause the very deficiency which other
writers allege, the same example can be made to prove contraries.
The influence of Sanskrit logic, where double negatives are the
preferred modes of exposition (e.g., concomitance is the non-existence
of mutual absence), upon Mammața is evident, to the detriment of
his poetics.
Udbhata and Mammața subdivide into several classes: the ex-
planation for the non-operation is given (nimittadrsti) or left to
inference (nimittâdṛști). Mammața adds in logical fashion a third
category where the explanation is quite beyond us (acintyanimitta)
-but he gives the same example as for nimittadrsti!
acintyanimitta, 'inconceivable cause': (1) a type of viseşôkti II whose
distinctiveness is questionable. (2) M 163. (5) See višeşôkti II.
The example offered is identical with that of anuktanimitta višeşôkti
(see nimittâdrsti).
anuktanimitta, 'whose cause is not expressed': (1) same as nimittâdrsti
viśeșôkti. (2) M 163.
uktanimitta, "whose cause is expressed': (1) same as nimittadṛṣți višeşőkti.
(2) M 163.
nimittadṛşți, 'evidence of cause': (1) a type of višeşôkti II in which an
explanation is given for the unexpected non-operation of the cause.
(2) U 5.5, M 163. (3) ittham visamsthulam dṛṣṭvā tavakīnam viceştitam/
nôdeti kimapi prașțum satvarasyäpi me vacaḥ (Udbhaţa; the reason
why he didn't speak is given; it was Parvati's stumbling gait: "Seeing
your hesitating gait, no words arose to put a question, though I was
eager"). (4) "Miss Thorne declared that she was delighted to
have Mrs. Bold and Dr. Stanhope still with her; and Mr. Thorne
would have said the same, had he not been checked by a yawn, which
he could not suppress" (Anthony Trollope). (5) The figure is called
uktanimitta in Mammata.</p>
<pb n="276" />
<p>274
GLOSSARY
nimittâdṛṣţi, "non-evidence of cause': (1) a type of viseşôkti II in which
no explanation is given for the unexpected interruption of the cause.
(2) U 5.5, M 163. (3) (3) maharddhini gṛhe janma rūpam smarasuhr-
dvayaḥ । tathâpi na sukhaprāptiḥ kasya citrīyate na dhiḥ (Udbhața;
fate is alleged to be the unspoken explanation for the girl's un-
happiness: "Though born in a family of great wealth, beautiful
and young and befriended by Love, she was not happy. Who does
not marvel at it?"). (4) ***A fine painter, Mr. Esdaile, it's a pleasure
to work for him', the old man ran on; and I did not reply that in my
experience few pleasures in the world lasted quite so long. I was
thinking of other things, the nature of which you may guess at"
(Oliver Onions). (5) This and the previous type illustrate a topic
which preoccupies certain logicians, since it is relevant to the con-
sideration of what constitutes an inferrible proposition (thesis). A
cause, or condition is not sufficient in itself to account for an effect:
the absence of counteracting causes or conditions is just as necessary;
thus the absence of certainty is also an element in the inferribleness of
propositions. Certainty causes the operation of the syllogism to be
fruitless. The figure is called anuktanimitta by Mammaţa.
višeşôkti (III): (1) a striking identification of non-similar things, obtained
by expressing one of the terms on the distinctive level of reality
appropriate to the other. (2) V 4.3.23. (3) dyūtam hi nāma purusa-
syâsimhâsanam rājyam Mṛcchakaṭika, quoted by Vāmana); vyasanam
hi nāma sôcchvāsam maraṇam (Vāmana: "Gambling for some men
is a kingdom without a throne!" "Sin is breathing death!"). (4)
"Fame is a food that dead men eat" (Henry Austin Dobson; food
and fame are ontologically different entities: food is expressed on
the ideal plane appropriate to fame). (5) This figure is just the inverse
of vyatireka, where two otherwise similar things are said to be subject
to a point of difference which is generally figurative or at least
irrelevant. Here, two otherwise different things are said to be subject
to a point of similarity, which is just as figurative. Despite his
examples, Vāmana's definition is misleading, for his terms resemble
those used by others for vyatireka ("ekaguṇahānikalpanāyām śeşa-
sämyadārdhyam"), but his definition of vyatireka is correspondingly
skew (in which the pre-eminence of the subject is expressed).
The issue is thus neatly avoided, since the pre-eminence is expressed
precisely by pointing out a defect in the other term.</p>
<pb n="277" />
<p>GLOSSARY
275
vişama
vişama (I), 'dissimilar': (1) a figure wherein the relationship between
two things, which may exist either in fact or in the mind of the speaker,
is considered incongruous. (2) R 7.47-50, M 194. (3) rūpam kva
madhuram etat kva cêdam asyāḥ sudaruṇam vyasanam । iti cintayanti
pathikās tava vairivadhüm vane drstva (Rudrata; flattery of the
victorious warrior: "How can such beauty exist in such sinful and
harsh condition? Thus do the travellers wonder who see in the
forests the wives of your vanquished enemies"). (4) "Did He smile
His work to see? / Did He who made the lamb make thee?" (William
Blake; a tiger is referred to). (5) The relation under consideration
may not in fact exist, as: "He had the passion of Romeo in the body
of Sir Toby Belch" (Somerset Maugham); the incongruity is given
figurative force.
vişama (II): (1) a figure in which the causal process is described as
functioning in an incongruous way: either an outclassed cause
accomplishes its effect, or a potent cause somehow fails to accomplish
its effect. (2) R 7.51 (52-53). (3) tvadbhṛtyavayavan api sodhum
samare kşamā na te kṣudrāḥ । asidhārāpathapatitaṇ tvam tu nihanyā
mahêndram api (Rudrața: "Your vile enemies can't withstand even
the little fingers of your dependents in battle; and you, O King,
would slay even Indra should he fall beneath your sword!"). (4) "Ah,
how can those fair Eyes endure / To give the wounds they will
not cure!" (John Dryden). (5) This figure resembles the two types
of višeşôkti, but, unlike them, does not repose upon the idea of
deficiency. In višeşôkti, a cause must be specifically unable to
produce that effect; here no judgment is implied beyond the mere
improbability of the event.
vişama (III): (1) a figure in which a cause is described as producing the
contrary effect of the one desired. (2) R 7.54 (55), M 194. (3)
utkanthā paritāpo raṇaraṇakam jāgaras tanos tanută । phalam idam
aho mayâptam sukhāya mṛgalocanăm dṛṣṭvā (Rudrata: "Longing,
sorrow, and regret, wakefulness and loss of weight-this is the result
I have gained when I sought her out for pleasure"). (4) "But thence
I learn, and find the lesson true, / Drugs poison him that so fell sick
of you" (Shakespeare; drugs only aggravate the sickness of love).
(5) Cf. višeşa III and abhäva hetu.
vişama (IV): (1) a figure in which a cause and its effect are described as
possessing incompatible qualities. (2) M 194. (3) sadyaḥ karasparsam
avāpya citram rane rane yasya kṛpāṇalekhā । tamalanīlā śaradindu-</p>
<pb n="278" />
<p>276
GLOSSARY
pāṇḍu yasas trilokyabharaṇam prasūte (Mammața; the sword is
said to be dark blue and its effect, glory, to be the color of the autumn
moon: "Always in his hand, in battle after battle, that thin sword,
dark as a blue lotus, engenders in him glory worthy of the three
worlds and pale as the autumn moon"). (4) "My mother bore
me in the southern wild, / And I am black, but O, my soul is white!"
(William Blake). (5) An example of cause and effect differing as to
mode of action is: "The walls were of old plaster ... marked with
the blood of mosquitoes and bed-bugs slain in portentous battles
long ago by theologians now gone forth to bestow their thus uplifted
visions upon a materialistic world" (Sinclair Lewis). We are to
believe that the fight with bedbugs has prepared the theologian for
his later calling.
vyatireka
vyatireka (I), 'distinction': (1) a figure wherein two notoriously similar
things are said to be subject to a point of difference; usually the
subject of comparison is stated to excel the object, surpassing the
norm of its own comparability; hence, an inverted simile. (2) B 2.75
(76), D 2.180-98, V 4.3.22, U 2.6, R 7.86-89, M 159. (3) kuvala-
yavanam pratyākhyātam navam madhu ninditam hasitam amṛtam
bhagnam svādoḥ padam rasasampadaḥ । vişam upahitam cintāvyājān
manasy api kāminām caturamadhurair līlātantrais tavårdhavilokitaiḥ
(Vāmana: "The lotus forest repudiated! The new springtime has
been put to shame! Honey has become a mockery, the state of sweet
satisfaction is ended, and poison, in the guise of longing, has been
put into the minds of lovers by your playful, passionate, coquettish
sidelong glance"). (4) "Eyes, that displace / The neighbour diamond,
and outface That sunshine by their own sweet grace" (Richard
Crashaw). (5) The most extensive anatomies of this figure are given
by Dandin and Mammața and rest upon the same sorts of criteria.
Dandin divides first, into those dissimilitudes whose common
property is expressed (śabdôpādāna), and second, into those where
it is implicit (pratīyamāna). Mammaţa follows suit, but subdivides
the former category as to whether a verbal or nominal similitude is
expressed (sabda, artha). Both authors admit formal criteria
depending upon the number, character, and scope of the differential
qualifications which express the dissimilitude (eka, ubhaya, ādhikya,
hetu). In the Sanskrit texts considered, there is but one example
offered of a vyatireka whose function is to extol the object at the</p>
<pb n="279" />
<p>GLOSSARY
277
expense of the subject of comparison. Cf. vyatireka II.
artha, 'implicit*: (1) a type of vyatireka in which the comparative particle
(iva, 'like') is present, expressing a similitude of action or behavior.
(2) M 160. (3) asimâtrasahāyo'pi prabhūtâriparābhave । nâivânya-
tucchajanavat sagarvo'yam mahadhrtih (Mammata: "Armed only
with a sword, in the midst of his enemies' rout, King Mahādhṛti is
not swelled up with pride like the rest of the vain world"). (4) "...
and art, the most nervous of the three, musn't be pushed aside like a
butterfly" (E. M. Forster). (5) In sabda vyatireka, the comparative
particle expresses a nominal similitude, that is, a similitude of two
things through a common property. This same distinction was made
for simile (upamā). It pervades the thinking of the Indian aesthe-
ticians: cf. vākyârthôpamā. Here the form of vyatireka is overlaid,
but the distinction (artha-śabda) concerns only the terms in respect
of their comparability. In Forster's example, an injunction forbids
us to push aside art like we push aside a butterfly (note the repetition
of the verbal idea when the figure is spelled out; cf. vākyartha), but
the difference in our attitude is meaningful only insofar as the terms
are comparable. In äkşipta vyatireka, the comparative particle is
not expressed. The form is ärtha in the commentary.
ahetu, 'without the cause': (1) same as nimittâdṛṣṭi vyatireka. (2) M 160.
(5) See sahetu vyatireka.
ākşipta, 'implied': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the force of the distinc-
tion is carried by circumlocutions which avoid the comparative
particle entirely. (2) M 160. (3) iyam sunayanā dāsīkṛtatāmarasaśriyā।
ānanenâkalankena jayatindum kalańkinam (Mammața: "This girl
of lovely eyes and beauty which enslaves the day lotus-she conquers
the spotted moon with her unblemished face"). (4) "Bacchus must
now his power resign- / I am the only God of wine!" (Henry Carey;
instead of: Bacchus is unlike me, for I am a drinker). (5) In pratiya-
māna, it is the similitude which is understood, not the comparative
particle. Cf. artha, sabda-the other members of Mammața's triad.
akşepa, 'refusal': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the underlying similitude
is admitted only tentatively, as a prelude to showing the difference
(refuting the similitude). (2) D 2.186 (187). (3) sthitimān api dhīro'pi
ratnānām akaro'pi san । tava kakṣām na yāty eva malino makaralayaḥ
(Dandin: "Though it is steadfast and a mine of jewels, the ocean
cannot be compared to you, O King, for it is dark colored"). (4)
"Her sacred beauty hath enchanted heaven; / And, had she liv'd
before the siege of Troy, / Helen, whose beauty summon'd Greece</p>
<pb n="280" />
<p>278
GLOSSARY
to arms, / And drew and thousand ships to Tenedos, / Had not been
nam'd in Homer's Iliads" (Christopher Marlowe; Tamburlaine
praises his dead Zenocrate). (5) Here the interest resides in the form
the differentiation takes: we have only concessive similitude, so that
the distinction has the aspect of a refutation of that similitude. Usu-
ally, the similitude is unflinchingly admitted. Marlowe, however,
allows Helen her virtues only so long as the accidents of time are
respected; the similitude of Zenocrate and Helen is in fact a fiction
whose only purpose is to lead the unsuspecting reader to a more
forceful perception of the pre-eminence of the former. In the Sanskrit
example, the similitude is introduced by the word api, the discrimina-
tion by eva. This has the advantage of making the concession explicit.
adhikya, 'superabundance': (1) a type of vyatireka in which both the
pre-eminence of the subject of comparison and the defectiveness of
the object in respect of the criterion of differentiation are stated.
(2) D 2.192 (191). (3) abhrūvilāsam aspṛṣṭamadarāgam mṛgêkṣaṇam ।
idam tu nayanadvandvam tava tadguṇabhūşitam (Daṇdin: "The doe's
glance is unrelieved by coquettish brows, untouched by love's heady
passion; your two eyes redeem this lack"). (4) "Mr. Irwine was like
a good meal o' victual, you were the better for him without thinking
on it, and Mr. Ryde was like a dose o' physic, he gripped you and
worreted you, and after all he left you much the same" (George
Eliot; two preachers are being distinguished; note the subordinate
comparisons). (5) In bhedamatra, the bare distinction is made
between the two things, and there is no expression of pre-eminence
since the distinction is entirely circumstantial. Note the subordina-
tion of the similes to the synchisis: a common "samsrsti" in English.
ubhaya, "both': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the point of difference is
made explicit for both things being distinguished. (2) D 2.184 (183).
(3) abhinnavelau gambhīrāv amburāśir bhavān api । asāv añjanasañ-
kāśas tvam tu cāmīkaradyutiḥ (Dandin: "You, O King, and the ocean
both are deep and limitless, but it has the appearance of collyrium
and you that of gold!"). (4) "Old black rooks flapping along the
sky and old black taxicabs flapping down the street" (Joyce Cary).
(5) Cf. eka vyatireka, where the difference of one term only is given.
eka, 'one': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the point of difference is made
explicit for only one of the things being distinguished. (2) D 2.182
(181). (3) dhairyalāvaṇyagāmbhiryapramukhais tvam udanvataḥ ।
gunais tulyo'si bhedas tu vapuşâivêdṛšena te (Daṇḍin: "You are indeed
similar to the ocean in steadfastness, kindness [saltiness] and depth;</p>
<pb n="281" />
<p>279
however, you differ as to your aspect"). (4) "I like the front
window", I said, 'for the view. As good as a Rolls. Better; higher
and not the same responsibility not to run over the poor" (Joyce
Cary; in a London bus). (5) There is, of course, no mystery about
how the distinction applies to the other term (it being only the con-
verse); the point is that for that term, the appropriate qualification is
only suggested (the ocean has another form; the driver of the Rolls
has a responsibility). Cf. ubhaya.
gamyamāna, 'being understood': (1) same as pratīyamāna vyatireka.
(2) V 4.3.22C.
GLOSSARY
jati, "genus': (1) a type of vyatireka in which an instance, usually figurative,
is distinguished from its own genus by pointing out the sense in
which it is figurative. (2) D 2.198 (197). (3) aratnâlokasaṛṇhāryam
ahāryam süryaraśmibhiḥ । dṛṣṭirodhakaram yūnām yauvanaprabhavam
tamaḥ (Dandin: "The passionate darkness born of youth which
obstructs the vision of the young is impenetrable even to the clear
brilliance of jewels and cannot be dispelled by the rays of the sun").
(4) "He had merely meant to express his feeling that the streams which
ran through their veins were not yet purified by time to that perfec-
tion, had not yet become as genuine an ichor, as to be worthy of
being called blood in a genealogical sense" (Anthony Trollope; here
common blood is distinguished from noble blood, but the principle
is the same). (5) This amounts to specifying the two senses of a
legitimate double-entendre, insofar as one meaning is literal and
the other figurative. Cf. śleșa, where the duplicity of meaning is
founded upon a pun, not a double-entendre.
drstânta, 'example': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the distinction is cast
in the form of proposition and example, and where the example
involves the contrary property or aspect. (2) U 2.7. (3) śīrṇapa-
rṇâmbuvātāšakaşte' pi tapasi sthitam / samudvahantīm [Umām] nâpů-
rvam garvam anyatapasvivat (Udbhața: "Umã was not overborne by
unprecedented pride like other ascetics, whose privations were made
difficult by a diet of withered leaves, water, and air"). (4) "I may be
nothing but an old failure, having muffed just about everything I
ever put my hand to; I seem to have the Midas touch in reverse"
(Saul Bellow). (5) Udbhata says that this figure is the same as
vaidharmya dṛṣṭânta. This is a curious point, because Udbhața is
the first known writer to mention drstânta as a figure, and among
the later writers, only Mammața recognizes a vaidharmya subtype.
Of course, all the figures ultimately go back to sources unknown</p>
<pb n="282" />
<p>280
GLOSSARY
to us (in the sense, at least, that the writers never tell us when they
are innovating), but here is an example of a notion refuted before
it is stated. The issue is not major, for it reduces to a decision
as to which of the two figures (drstânta, vyatireka) here com-
bined is primary, and that seems to depend on the intention of
the speaker. In the example from Saul Bellow, the distinction seems
more important than the illustration (he is not looking around for
un mot juste at any rate).
nimittadṛṣţi, "whose cause is evident': (1) a type of vyatireka in which a
cause explains the pre-eminence of the subject. (2) U 2.6. (3)
padman ca nisi niḥśrīkam divā candram ca nişprabham । sphuraccha-
yena satatam mukhenâdhaḥ prakurvatīm [Umām] (Udbhata; Uma's
face surpasses both the lotus and the moon because it is beautiful
both by day and by night: "Umă, conquering with her ever-
radiant face the lotus, at night unlovely, and the moon, dull by
day").
(4) "Return sweet Evening / Not sumptuously adorned, nor
needing aid, / Like homely featured Night, of clustering gems; /
A star or two, just twinkling on thy brow, / Suffices thee" (William
Cowper).
nimittâdṛṣţi, 'whose cause is not evident': (1) a type of vyatireka in which
the cause of the subject's pre-eminence is only hinted at. (2) U 2.6.
(3) să gaurī śikharam gatvā dadarśômām tapaḥkṛśām । rāhupītapra-
bhasyêndor jayantīm dūratas tanum (Udbhața; the explanation-the
eclipse is not given: Rāhu is unable to obscure the moon for long,
whereas Uma's pale and intense tapas is constant; "Gauri, gone to
the mountain peak, saw Umā, frail through penance but conquering
from afar the beauty of the pale, eclipsing moon"). (4) "I think
that I shall never see / A billboard lovely as a tree. / Perhaps unless
the billboards fall, / I'll never see a tree at all" (Ogden Nash; why
trees are preferable to billboards is left to our imagination). (5)
Udbhata subdivides vyatireka only in this way (cf. nimittadrsti);
now, any distinctive qualification can be taken as a cause of dis-
similitude or pre-eminence, but it seems that we should take Udbhaṭa
more literally than that, and see his cause to be an effective and not
merely formal cause. Eka and ubhaya vyatireka concern distinctive
qualifications only as forms. In hetu vyatireka, the discrimination is
itself given the form of a cause; in the present case, the cause is
taken to mean the explanation of that discrimination.
pratiyamāna, 'being understood, implicit': (1) a type of vyatireka in</p>
<pb n="283" />
<p>281
which the similitude which underlies the discrimination is not
mentioned explicitly, but where the distinction is spelled out. (2)
D 2.189 (190-98). (3) tvanmukham kamalam cêti dvayor apy anayor
bhidā । kamalam jalasamrohi tvanmukham tvadupāśrayam (Daṇḍin;
their loveliness is not mentioned: "Your face and the lotus differ in
this: the lotus grows in the water, and your face appears only on
you"). (4) "A man's profession is not like his wife which he must
take once and for all for better or for worse without proof before-
hand" (Samuel Butler). (5) This figure is the same as gamyamāna
of Vamana. Dandin distinguishes vyatireka into two broad classes-
this and sabdôpādāna (explicit) and then subdivides each type
further. As examples, of ādhikya, bhedamātra, jāti. Cf. atiśayôpamā,
which differs from this type only in asserting that the difference
given is unique.
GLOSSARI
bhedamatra, 'the difference only': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the bare
and circumstantial difference of the two comparable things is stated.
(2) D 2.192 (190). (3) tvanmukham kamalam cêti dvayor apy anayor
bhidā । kamalam jalasamrohi tvanmukham tvadupäśrayam (Daṇḍin;
see the translation under pratiyamāna). (4) "When a man bleeds
inwardly, it is a dangerous thing for himself; but when he laughs
inwardly, it bodes no good to other people" (Charles Dickens).
(5) This figure is to be distinguished from adhikya, in which the
differentiation of the two terms involves the assignment of pre-
eminent and defective status, respectively. Here the differentiation
is entirely circumstantial, eschewing such judgements. Cf. catu
upamā, which simile consists in overlooking the difference.
mālā, 'garland': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the subject of comparison
is distinguished from several objects in terms of several properties;
a series of vyatirekas having the same subject. (2) M 160C. (3)
haravan na vişamadṛṣṭir harivan na vibho vidhūtavitatavṛṣaḥ । ravivan
na câtiduḥsahakaratāpitabhūḥ kadācid asi (Mammața: "Unlike Siva,
you have but two eyes, O King. Unlike Kṛṣṇa, you have not
overthrown the great bull demon (viz. vice personified as a bull).
Unlike the sun, you do not beat down upon the earth with rays
[hands] of great violence"). (4) "But your voice, -never the rush-
ing / Of a river underground, / Not the rising of the wind / In the
trees before the rain, / Not the feet of children pushing / Yellow
leaves along the gutters / In the blue and bitter fall, / Shall content my
musing mind / For the beauty of that sound" (Edna St. Vincent
Millay). (5) This category is introduced by Mammața only to show</p>
<pb n="284" />
<p>282
GLOSSARY
the futility of such classifications; cf. artha, śabda, ākşipta, hetu,
and elements of the structure of vyatireka.
vyasta, 'separate': (1) same as eka vyatireka. (2) R 7.86 (87). (5) Cf.
samasta.
sabda, 'literal': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the comparative particle
is present expressing a similitude of two nominal ideas through a
common property. (2) M 160. (3) jitêndriyatayā samyagvidyāvṛ-
ddhanişeviṇaḥ / atigāḍhaguṇasyâsya nâbjavad bhañgurā guṇāḥ (Mam-
maţa: "Your virtues [garlands] are not fragile like those of the lotus,
for your qualities are deep rooted and you honor the aged sages by
your great self-control"). (4) "Men's muscles move better when
their souls are making merry music, though their merriment is of
a poor blundering sort, not at all like the merriment of birds"
(George Eliot). (5) Cf. artha; the distinction is the same as that
applied to simile (cf. ärtha, śābda) and concerns only the interpreta-
tion of the comparative particle. For a full discussion, see vákyâ-
rthavrtti. In the example offered under artha vyatireka, "like" ex-
presses a verbal similitude ("pushed aside"), here a nominal similitude
("poor blundering sort"). The distinction is linguistic and not
absolute: the former could be expressed nominally ("as light as"),
the second verbally ("blunders"). The form sābda is found in the
commentary.
śabdôpādāna, 'literal': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the similitudė
which underlies the differentiation of the comparable things is
spelled out. (2) D 2.180-88. (3) tvanmukham pundarīkam ca phulle
surabhigandhini । bhramadbhramaram ambhojam lolanetram mukham
tu te (Dandin: "Your face and the lotus are full blown and sweet
smelling, but the flower is surrounded by wandering bees and the
face has a coquettish glance"). (4) "All human things are subject to
decay, / And, when Fate summons, Monarchs must obey: / This
Flecknoe found, who, like Augustus, young / Was called to Empire
and had govern'd long: / In Prose and Verse was own'd without
dispute / Through all the realms of Non-sense, absolute (John
Dryden). (5) Cf. pratiyamana, where the similitude is only implied.
See kalpitôpamā.
śleşa, 'double-entendre': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the similitude
on which the distinction is founded is punned upon. (2) D 2.186
(185), M 160. (3) akhandamandalaḥ śrīman paśyáişa prthivipatiḥ ।
na nišākaravaj jātu kalāvaikalyam āgataḥ (Mammaţa: "Regard that
great Lord of prosperous court [whose disc is full] and who embodies</p>
<pb n="285" />
<p>283
good fortune [beauty]; unlike the full moon, he need never suffer
decrepitude [enter the waning phase]"). (4) "a politician is an arse
upon / which everyone has sat except a man" (e. e. cummings).
(5) In Dandin's example, the qualifications which serve to discriminate
the two things are also punned: "tvam samudraś ca durvärau mahā-
sattvau satejasau/ ayam tu yuvayor bhedaḥ sa jaḍātmā patur bhavān"
("You and the ocean, O King, are indomitable [uncrossable], of
great character [containing many substances], violent [stormy]; this,
however, is the difference between you: the ocean is cold [stupid]
souled; you, however, are acrid [keen witted]"). Compare: "When I
am dead, I hope it may be said: / 'His sins were scarlet, but his
books were read"" (Hilaire Belloc).
sadrša, 'similar': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the distinction is itself
cast in terms which suggest comparable aspects of the two things.
(2) D 2.192 (193-95). (3) candro'yam ambarôttamso hamso'yam
toyabhūşaṇam nabho nakṣatramālidam utphullakumudam payaḥ
(Dandin; the four terms are distinguished, but all are expressed as
ornaments of the distinguishing feature: "The moon is an ornament
of the sky, the swan adorns the lake; the sky has a necklace of stars,
the lake is abloom with lotuses"). (4) "That punctual servant of all
work, the sun, had just risen, and begun to strike a light on the
morning of the thirteenth of May, one thousand eight hundred and
twenty-seven, when Mr. Samuel Pickwick burst like another sun
from his slumbers, threw open his chamber window, and looked
out upon the world beneath" (Charles Dickens). (5) This is instead
of stating the distinction as an adjunction to the description of the
similarity of the two things (cf. śabdōpādāna).
samasta, *conjoined': (1) same as ubhaya or ädhikya vyatireka. (2) R
7.86 (88). (5) Cf. vyasta. Rudrata's classification stops at this
distinction. His intention is probably closer to the adhikya of Dandin,
since there it is a question explicitly of pre-eminence and inferiority,
not just of distinctive qualifications applied to both terms.
sahetu, including the cause': (1) same as nimittadṛşți vyatireka. (2)
M 160. (5) Mammața distinguishes four types, according to whether
the cause for the discrimination is given for both, for one or the
other, or for neither of the two compared things. He offers examples
only for the first category.
GLOSSARY
hetu, 'cause': (1) a type of vyatireka in which the distinctive qualification
is cast in the form of a cause (of that difference). (2) D 2.186 (188).
(3) vahann api mahim krtsnām saśailadvīpasāgarām । bhartrbhāvād</p>
<pb n="286" />
<p>284
GLOSSARY
bhujañgānām šeṣas tvatto nikṛṣyate (Daṇḍin: "Although you both
support the whole world with its islands and mountains and seas,
you surpass the great Serpent who is only the first among snakes").
(4) "In Germany the Reformation was due to the passionate convic-
tion of Luther. In England it was due to a palace intrigue" (E. M.
Forster). (5) Cf. nimittâdrsti.
vyatireka (II): (1) a vyatireka in which the expression of difference focuses
upon the pre-eminence of the object of comparison. (2) R 7.89 (90).
(3) kṣiṇaḥ kṣiṇo'pi śaśī bhūyo bhūyo vivardhate satyam । virama
prasīda sundari yauvanam anivarti yātam (Rudrața: "The waning
moon grows less and less, but will become again complete. Be kind,
O lovely, and leave off anger; youth once gone does not return").
(4) "Still do the stars impart their light / To those that travel in the
night; Still time runs on, nor doth the hand / Or shadow on the
dial stand; / The streams still glide and constant are:
e: / Only my mind /
Untrue I find / Which carelessly / Neglects to be / Like stream or
shadow, hand or star" (William Cartwright). (5) Though this could
easily be included in the first variety of vyatireka, it is worthy of
note that of the thirty or forty examples offered in the different texts,
only this one of Rudraţa fails to exhibit the usual exaggeration and
consequent flattery of the subject of comparison (in the present
case, the mind). Of course, in English poetry, such instances are if
anything more frequent than the flattery, and several have been
included as examples of subtypes of vyatireka I where the point at
issue is formal and does not contest with the intention of the speaker
(cf. hetu, śabda). Rudrața's late arrival does, however, pose one
interesting problem of interpretation. If the intention of the speaker
is flattery, the vyatireka amounts to an elliptical simile, for the differ-
ential qualifications all operate to the disadvantage of the object or
the advantage of the subject, and thus reinforce their basic similitude
by cancelling the natural relation of the subject (which shares the
property of comparison to a lesser degree) and the object (to a
greater). However, once the discrimination of the two terms is
divested of this function, the character of the figure assumes only
secondary importance, for it then acquiesces in the natural mode of
expression of its own terms and becomes either a matter of fact
distinction or an anti-simile, as above. It cannot be said that the
intention of the poet is to compare mind and stream, etc., in the
same sense as that in which moon and face are habitually compared;
his intention is rather to express the peculiarity of the subject, not</p>
<pb n="287" />
<p>285
ironically (cf. asādhāraṇa upamā), but factually. In this effort, the
underlying comparability of the distinguished terms is only a con-
dition or a means to the end of that distinction, and far from assum-
ing primary importance (through irony), it is effective only as it
remains just below the level of interest, as the basses in an orchestra.
GLOSSARY
vyāghāta
vyāghāta, 'obstacle': (1) a figure in which a cause, for some reason
obstructed in its operation, is carried through to its effect in another
way by another cause which is a modified version of the obstruction.
(2) M 206. (3) dṛśā dagdham manasijam jīvayanti dṛśâiva yāḥ ।
virūpâkşasya jayinīs tāḥ stuve vamalocanāḥ (Mammata; Love,
consumed by the fire of Siva's glance, is reanimated by the glances of
the young ladies: "I praise their lovely, conquering eyes in whose
glances the God of Love again lives, whose body was consumed by
another's glance"). (4) "Catherine rushed to congratulate him, but
knew not what to say, and her eloquence was only in her eyes. From
them, however, the eight parts of speech shone out most expressively,
and James could combine them with ease" (Jane Austen). (5) The
cause, as it were, is shown getting the best of its hindrance by taking a
form whereby that hindrance can be turned to its own ends. This
figure is neither višeşôkti, because the first cause, though obstructed,
does contribute to the final effect, nor is it asamgati, because a
mediating cause is introduced to explain the effect.
vyāghāta (II): (1) same as višeşôkti II. (2) R 9.52 (53). (5) There may be a
slight difference in that the absence of obstruction is specifically
alleged.
vyaja
vyāja, 'pretence': (1) an artha śleșa in which praise is understood from
apparent blame, or vice versa. (2) R 10.11. (3) tvayā madarthe
samupetya dattam idam yatha bhogavate śarīram । tathâsya te dūti
kṛtasya śakyā pratikriyânena na janmanā me (Rudrața; spoken by a
girl to her messenger after learning that her lover found the messenger
a bit too pliable and not uniquely concerned with arranging the
rendez-vous; as apparent praise, bhogavate is taken as "lover' and
pratikriyā as 'recompense'; but as blame, as 'snake' and 'vengeance".
The snake image is further suggested by the messenger's returning
with [the lover's] teeth wounds on her lips; "You have gone for my
sake and given your body to my lover [serpent], O procuress; I will</p>
<pb n="288" />
<p>286
GLOSSARY
never be able in my life to repay you [get even with you]"). (4)
"When other fair ones to the shades go down / Still Chloe, Flavia,
Delia, stay in town: / Those ghosts of beauty wandering here reside,
/ And haunt the places where their honour died" (Alexander Pope;
the pun is on two kinds of death). (5) Both examples show apparent
praise which is blame. This sleșa differs from vyājastuti alamkāra
only in that a pun is at the bottom of the irony. It is perfectly
possible, of course, to express such pretence of praise without actually
employing puns.
vyājastuti
vyājastuti, "deceptive eulogy': (1) a figure in which apparent blame con-
ceals real praise or appreciation. (2) B 3.30 (31), D 2.343-47, V
4.3.24, U 5.9, R 10.11 (12-13), M 169. (3) pumsaḥ purāṇād ācchidya
śrīs tvayā paribhujyate । rājann ikṣvākuvamśyasya kim idam tava
yujyate (Dandin; Śrī is the wife of Vişņu: "O King, you have stolen
Śri [prosperity] from her former spouse and enjoyed her! Can this
deed be condoned in the scion of the Ikṣvāku clan?"). (4) "The poor
man's sins are glaring; / In the face of ghostly warning / He is caught
in the fact / Of an overt act- / Buying greens on Sunday morning"
(T. L. Peacock; really a defense of the lower classes). (5) The earlier
writers consider only the case of blame concealing praise (although
Dandin in his unique interpretation of the figure aprastutaprašamsā,
considers it to be blame concealed as praise of something irrelevant).
But Rudraţa and Mammața extend the figure and take account of
the other possibility that of praise concealing blame: "tvayā
madarthe samupetya dattam idam yathā bhogavate śarīram । tathâsya
te dūti kṛtasya śakyā pratikriyanena na janmanā me (Rudrața; for
translation, see vyāja); or: "Lament him, Mauchline husbands a",/
He often did assist ye; / For had ye staid whole weeks awa', /
Your wives they ne'er had missed ye" (Robert Burns; "praise" of
the gay deceased).
Rudrata groups this figure with those based upon a pun. Sec
vyāja.
vyājôkti
vyājôkti, 'pretext': (1) same as leśa I. (2) V 4.3.25, M 184.
Sabda
Sabda, 'word': (1) a generic term for those figures whose poetic effect</p>
<pb n="289" />
<p>287
depends upon some aspect of their grammatical, phonemic, or
metrical form, and not upon the idea they convey. (2) B 1.15-16,
D 3.186, V 1.1.1, 4.1.1 (vṛtti), U 5.12, AP 342.18-19, R 2.13, M 103C.
(5) See artha. The common examples of śabdâlamkāra are anuprāsā
(alliteration), yamaka (word play, cadence), certain kinds of punning
(śleşa), prehelikā (conundrum), and the citra, or verses arranged in
imitation of visual forms. Only the Agni Purana deviates significantly
from this canonical list, by adding six figures which have no parallel
except in much later works (Sarasvatīkanthabharaṇa). They are (a)
chāyā, imitation of specific verbal styles, (b) mudrā, the poet's
ability to translate his intentions into plausible situations. (c) ukti,
use of injunctions, (d) yukti, figurative usage, (e) gumphanā, ability
to construct the narrative, and (f) vākovākya, conversation. These
notions, which have to do with the technical skills of the poet, are
matched by certain stylistic figures which the Agni Purāṇa treats
under śabdârthâlamkāra and which relate to the congruence and
appropriateness of the different aspects of the poem to one another
(see praśasti, kānti, aucitya, samkṣepa, yävadarthatā, and abhivyakti).
These irregular notions of poetic style have been incorporated into
the traditional treatment of the figures. Anuprāsa and the others are
treated as the seventh, eighth, and ninth śabdâlamkāra. The five
figures aksepa, aprastutastotra, samāsökti, apahnuti, and paryäyökta
are considered subtypes of abhivyakti. The arthålamkāra are the
usual ones, mainly based on simile. A fusion of several different
systems is indicated also by the fact that the Agni Purāṇa, despite
this incorporation of style into the figures, treats at length (though
again with innovations) the traditional topic of style (kavyaguna).
One figure (yathāsamkhya) finds its way into this category. This
early attempt at broadening the notion of verbal figure was not,
however, viewed with favor by later writers. With the triumph of
the dhvani school, an eclipse of the śabdâlamkāra is evident, at least
among the poeticians. Mammaţa goes so far as to view even yamaka
as a citra. The previously elaborate classifications of yamaka and
anuprāsa are reduced or are even ignored entirely (Rasagañgâdhara).
This is doubly curious, since the poetry written during this period
(eleventh-sixteenth centuries) is, for the most part, alleged to depend
upon such verbal devices.
GLOSSARY
Sabdârtha
Sabdârtha, 'word-sense': (1) a generic term used to indicate those in-</p>
<pb n="290" />
<p>288
GLOSSARY
determinate figures whose poetic effect cannot be assigned exclusively
to either their formal character or to the meaning they convey, but
rather involves both. (2) AP 345.1, M 124. (5) See śabda, artha.
This category in the Agni Purāṇa includes six figures: prašasti,
kānti, aucitya, samkṣepa, yāvadarthatā, and abhivyakti. All are
aspects of literary style concerned with the integration of the various
elements of a poem, and the most interesting is the last: abhivyakti.
Here are treated the various kinds of meaning-direct, connotational,
and secondary which a word or phrase may convey, and five
modes of relating the suggested meaning to the major sense of the
poem are outlined. All five happen to be traditional alamkāras:
ākṣepa, aprastutastotra, samāsôkti, apahnuti, paryāyôkta, and in this
sense they are taken as examples of dhvani. The category dhvani
is not otherwise noted, and we may here be in the presence of one
of the forerunner theories involving this term. Out of this may have
grown the dhvani which denied all association with figures of speech
as expressively necessary. It is easy to see how this notion may have
arisen out of an examination of those figures of speech which do
convey a second meaning, not literally expressed, as abbreviated
metaphors (samāsôkti). It is, however, just as possible in theory
to take the Agni Purāṇa as a conservative text attempting to re-
integrate an already proposed dhvani (the kārikās of the Dhvanyaloka
may have been approximately contemporary) into a traditional
structuring of the figures.
Sayyā
śayyā, 'bed': (1) same as mudrā. (2) AP 342.26.
ślişta
ślişta, 'punned, conjoined': (1) a variant form of slesa.
śleşa
śleşa, 'adhesion' or 'conjoined': (1) paronomasia; pun; double-entendre;
the simultaneous expression of two (or more) meanings. (2) B 3.14,
D 2.310, V 4.3.7, U 4.9, R 4.1, 10.1, M 119, 147. (3) akṛstâmala-
maṇḍalâgrarucayaḥ samınaddhavakṣaḥsthalāḥ söṣmāṇo vraṇino vipa-
kşahrdayaprônmäāthinaḥ karkaśāḥ / udvṛttă guravaś ca yasya vasinaḥ
śyāmāyamănânanā yodhā māravadhüstanāś ca na dadhuḥ kşobham sa
vo'vyāj jinaḥ (Vāmana; all the descriptive adjectives have one sense
when taken with the noun "warriors", another when taken with</p>
<pb n="291" />
<p>GLOSSARY
289
"women's breasts"; "May he alone conquer you who is unaffected
by soldiers and the breasts of lovely women, brilliant with their
spotless drawn scimitars [the nipples of whose spotless circles gleam
when revealed], whose chests are girded [whose chests are full
blown lively [heaving], scarred [wounded], striking fear into the
hearts of their enemies [producing agitation in the hearts of their
rivals], rough [firm], arrogant [swollen], stolid [heavy], and whose
faces are dark with rage [whose tips are dark]"). (4) "Beneath in the
Dust, the mouldy old Crust / Of Moll Batchelor lately was shoven,
/ Who was skill'd in the Arts of Pyes, Custards and Tarts, / And
every Device of the Oven. / When she'd liv'd long enough, she made
her last Puff, / A Puff by her Husband much prais'd; / And here she
doth lie, and makes a Dirt Pye, / In hopes that her Crust may be
rais'd" (Anon.; the puns here relate the kitchen and the tomb).
(5) The confusion of terms is here significant and oddly appropriate
to the concept involved; the first two writers to define pun, Bhamaha
and Dandin, prefer the term ślișța, perhaps to distinguish double-
entendre from the well-known guna (stylistic quality) "śleșa" (usually
defined as the appropriateness of word and sense) which dates at
least from the Nāṭyaśāstra. The two terms thus contrasted are only
grammatically different, the former being a past participle, 'con-
joined', and the latter a derived noun, 'conjunction'. The first
writer to confuse the issue was Vamana, who uses "ślesa" only.
Udbhata follows Bhamaha's lead, but does not treat the gunas in the
part of his work we have. The Agni Purāṇa describes the guna
"śleşa", but ignores the alamkara. Rudrața does not consider the
gunas, but calls the alamkāra "śleşa". Mammața, to complete the
confusion, refutes the guņa "śleșa" (he accepts only three guṇas),
but follows Rudrața in describing śleșa alamkāra. On the level of
the idea, we fare little better. It is obvious that all the writers are
talking about the same thing, but their definitions, though having
some elements in common, vary widely. Ślesa is subdivided in
extremely different ways. Its relation to the other figures is only
partially described.
Ślesa is the associating figure par excellence: it is found in conjunc-
tion with a long list of other figures, notably upamā, rūpaka, arthân-
taranyāsa, vyatireka, vakrôkti, ākṣepa, dīpaka, sahôkti, hetu, etc.
With these figures, the śleşa occupies the subordinate place and serves
as the means whereby the idea of the figure is expressed. For ex-
ample, in upamāśleşa the pun replaces the common property as that</p>
<pb n="292" />
<p>290
GLOSSARY
element in terms of which the subject and object are compared
("Why is a woman like a hinge? Because she's a thing to adore";
M. E. W. Sherwood). It would appear that śleșa is at least compatible
with every figure except svabhāvokti and embodies more fully than
any other figure the universality of the poetic idea. It comes closer
than any other figure to the essence of poetry, variously expressed
as "vicchitti", "vaicitrya", "vakrôkti", etc. ('strikingness", "charming-
ness', 'circumlocution'), inasmuch as no expression containing a
śleşa can ever be regarded as a mere statement, an apodiction.
Theoretically, too, the idea of a pun, in which two different meanings
inhere in the same phonemic span, is an employment of language
which transcends the character of language, at once demonstrating
the limitations of non-poetic speech and using those limitations to
another purpose. Punning in Sanskrit is not the weak-kneed and
self-conscious crudity that it is in most Western languages. A pun
involving only one word or a single idea is an object of indifference
to the Sanskrit writer; it becomes interesting only when whole
ideas and complicated concepts are double-entendus. A person who
knows only English or Greek simply cannot appreciate the elegance
and refinement of punned verse as written in India, the reading of
which resembles nothing so much as a continuous re-awakening of
one's own apprehensive powers.
Puns are very sharply distinguished from the pointless word play
which deforms so much light verse in English and which, in Sanskrit,
is relegated to the category yamaka, or cadence. Ogden Nash, for
example, abounds in usages which depend upon the associative
power of partial or incomplete repetition ("In spite of her sniffle /
Isabel's chiffle"), or Thomas Hood's: "But from her grave in Mary-
bone / They've come and boned your Mary". These are not puns,
because the expression of the ideas is not simultaneous. All that
happens is that two ideas totally unrelated are here juxtaposed
through the extraneous (and even forced) similarity of the words
which carry them. They are nascent puns, if you like, or inchoate
puns which the author has left unclothed with their bare unrelatedness
showing. Simultaneity of expression is at once the formal criterion
and the condition of delectation of double-entendre. It is the one
feature which all writers are able to agree upon.
Formally, then, śleşa is most characteristically differentiated
from yamaka; but in terms of its content (the two ideas conjoined),
the figure which is most often taken as crucial is rūpaka (metaphor).</p>
<pb n="293" />
<p>291
In fact, both Bhāmaha and Vāmana define ślesa in relation to rūpaka,
for has this latter not been already defined as the imposition of an
object onto a subject that is, the identification as though there were
coalescence in reality of a subject of description with a similar object,
as eye-lotus or face-moon? The answer is again obvious and is the
same answer: śleşa may be taken as a rüpaka with simultaneous
expression of subject and object.
The treatment of śleșa in terms of rūpaka is, however, far too
narrow to do justice to the concept of double-entendre, for since
rūpaka itself is an identification only of similars, this view seems to
imply that śleșa, too, is at bottom a comparison (upamā) or can, at
any rate, be described in the same context (cf. Bhāmaha's definition
"upamänena yat tattvam upameyasya sãdhyate..."). But it is simply
not true that every śleșa rests on an implicit comparison, for there
are puns, in the extreme case, which involve words of different
form classes or even do not involve the same words (as: "The moon-
shine's bright on my Old Kentucky Home", or: "Focus, where the
Sons raise Meat" as the name of a ranch). It is, of course, true that
many double-entendres (especially the best) do repose upon such an
implicit comparison; for example: "But then, you know, you stand
upon / Another footing now" (see asambhava śleşa); but the concept
is not wide enough. Hence later writers follow Dandin in not
committing themselves on the subject: a pun is simply 'two senses
expressed in the same words" ("anekârtham ekarūpânvitam vacaḥ").
The dhvani writers are understandably preoccupied with śleşâ-
lamkāra; as defined, it borders precariously upon the domain of
suggestion. In fact, one of the most important functions of śleşa is
to suggest (vakra, etc.). We cannot enter here into the niceties of
dhvani theory, but in general it can be remarked that the suggested
sense of that system is not, strictly speaking, expressed (in words) at
all; not only is the most characteristic dhvani [rasadhvani] "in-
expressible", but even those evocations of discrete ideas and things
which are considered subordinate are not denotatively comprehended
in the utterance as the two meanings of a pun always are. The
distinction here rests upon a theory of signification which all
alamkārikas are far from sharing and which is not entirely germane
to the subject of poetic figures. Hence we leave the matter at that,
remarking only that here again śleşa occupies a crucial position in
the history of aesthetic speculation.
Ślesa cannot ultimately be defined in relation to the content of
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="294" />
<p>292
GLOSSARY
the figure (that is, the idea it expresses), since, as has been noted,
śleşa can be associated with almost any other figure-not merely
in the sense of adjunction of two figures, but as an essential element.
in the expression of that other figure's idea. That is why most later
writers resort to what amounts to a formal, or grammatical, classi-
fication of subtypes.
The earliest writer, Bhāmaha, who treats ślişta as a variety of
metaphor (rupaka), gives two independent classifications; the identity
of the subject and the object can be expressed in any of three aspects:
adjectival qualification (guna), mode of activity (kriyā), or essence
(nāma). (These correspond to the grammatical triad adjective,
verb, and noun, but Bhāmaha's intention is not to equate them with
the formal categories, at least in the sense that he treats primarily
the aspects of the thing thereby expressed.) Secondly, Bhamaha
notes that ślişta can be associated with three other alamkāras:
sahôkti, hetu, and upamā. Oddly, he gives only three examples for
these six types, each exemplifying one term of each triad (although
the triads have no relation to one another).
Dandin also gives two classifications, and one of them recognizes
the formal aspect of śleșa, for the phoneme span which expresses
the double-entendre may consist of the same words for both senses
(abhinnapada), or of different words (bhinnapada). (Compare
"another footing now", using the same words, with "moonshine's
bright", using different words.) This distinction is essentially the
same as the more popular later version artha-sabda, but the elabora-
tion which this has received has somewhat clouded the issue (for
example, see varṇaśleşa, where it is not at all clear that vibhau
would be taken as an example of bhinnapada śleşa by Dandin, despite
its being considered sabdaśleşa by Rudrața). We might say, in
modern parlance, that the "morpho-phonemics" of the two spans
are either the same or different. As an aside, it should be noted that
most writers (beginning with Udbhata) specifically exempt intona-
tion as a consideration in determining this difference. It is inevitable
that many compounds will be differently accented as they are taken
in different senses, but unless the analysis also reveals a morphemic
difference in the line (doṣā-kara, vs. doșâkara), these compounds
are not considered different.
Dandin's other classification is also formal, but is extrinsic to
the double-entendre strictly speaking: it assumes a standard form
for the pun, which is on qualifications of two (given) nouns. These</p>
<pb n="295" />
<p>293
two (hence unpunned) nouns may construct with one verb [abhin-
nakriyā], with two verbs which are different in sense [aviruddhakriyā],
or with two verbs which are contrary in sense [viruddhakarman].
Neither the nouns or the verbs are punned; the puns reside only in
the adjectives pertaining to the nouns. Having thus introduced the
verb into the system, Dandin proceeds to state the possible relations
between the two senses of the pun: they may be entirely different,
but consistent (avirodhin), contradictory (virodhin), they may be two
aspects of the same concept (niyamâkṣeparūpa), or, finally, an aspect
and the concept itself (niyamavat). Dandin is the only writer who
shows metaphysical ability in the organization of his classifications;
this one is extremely interesting in laying bare the generic kinds of
oppositions which any two meanings may have: they will either be
indifferent or generically related; if indifferent, then either compatible
or contradictory, if generic, then either as species or as genus and
species. Needless to say, this categorization was not followed by
later writers, whose interests become more and more formal and
verbal. But it does have an interesting parallel in the ten types of
artha ślesa which Rudrața describes. These, however, relate to the
kinds of situations in which śleșa can be used and suggest a context
similar to that of the dhvani theory, rather than involving the struc-
ture of meaning itself.
Vāmana does not subdivide śleșa. Udbhața is the first to use the
terms sabda and artha śleșa, probably in the sense described above,
but since no explanation is contained in the text, we have only the
opinions of commentators to go on, all of whom were posterior
to the writers (notably Rudrata) who developed sabda and artha
ślesa in great detail. There is always a tendency in such cases to read
back into the text the later opinions.
GLOSSARY
With Rudrata, the idea of double-entendre reaches its apogee.
He recognizes the distinction of ślesa into śabda and artha, but raises
each to the status of an independent subject. Chapter Four of his
work is devoted to the former and Chapter Ten to the latter. More-
over, artha śleşa represents one of the four large categories into which
artha alamkāras are divided, the others being 'descriptive' (vāstava),
*comparative" (aupamya), and hyperbolic' (atisaya). The division
implies that artha śleşa is both comparative and hyperbolic (since
"descriptive" is neither comparative nor hyperbolic) and as such
represents for Rudrața the most poctic as well as the most interesting
case. Such an inference is not entirely without plausibility, inasmuch</p>
<pb n="296" />
<p>294
GLOSSARY
as an artha śleșa does bring together two ideas in such a way that one
heightens the effect of the other (hyperbole). This point is made
clearer in the discussions which accompany the individual figures.
It should be emphasized that mere punning, that is, punning which
is not based on the meanings involved and which does not aim at an
end to which those meanings are relevant, is definitely unacceptable
here. In this sense, too, the concept of artha (śleșa) has acquired a
positive content; in Dandin, it was a residual category (a-bhinna-
pada): that pun which cannot be explained by grammatical exegesis.
The ways in which the two meanings can complement one another
are ten: (a) they can be qualified in the same way (aviśeșa), (b)
or not (virodha); (c) the second may constitute flattery of the first
(adhika); (d) the pun may suggest a further contrast of mood
(vakra); (e) one may be flattery, the other reproof-ironic praise
(vyāja); (f) the second meaning may be risqué (ukti); (g) the two
meanings may be similar but take contradictory qualifications
(asambhava); (h) the second meaning may augment the force of an
adjectival description (avayava), or (i) the force of the names
themselves (tattva); (j) and, lastly, if they cannot be qualified in
the same way (case b), the contradiction in qualification may be a
function of the meanings of the terms, rather than a question of
mere negation (virodhābhāsa).
Rudrata is not less inventive with regard to śabda śleşa. Given
that the two meanings must relate to a different morphemic analysis
of the common span, that difference can be specified in terms of
the kinds of morphemes (form classes) which are thus confused.
Rudrața gives eight examples, starting with the syllable (varṇa; this
alone is sub-morphemic), stem (pada), gender-indicating suffix
(linga), verb root (prakrti), nominal affix (pratyaya; excluding inflec-
tions), inflection (vibhakti; both nominal and verbal), and number-
indicating suffix (vacana).
It is clear that the subdivisions of artha are not incompatible with
those of sabda, but it would indeed be rare for an example to be
found showing both grammatical and contextual precocity to such a
degree. Nothing within the realm of human experience is beyond
the power of the Sanskrit language, but we feel that here, at least,
we are straining at the limits.
Mammaţa repeats Rudrața's classification of sabda śleşa, but he no-
tices only one "śleşa" in his chapter on arthâlamkāra. Many of the oth-
ers, however, have been treated as separate figures (e.g., virodhâbhāsa).</p>
<pb n="297" />
<p>GLOSSARY
295
abhinnakriya, 'identical verb': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the
verb does not participate in either sense of the double-entendre,
but satisfies both indiscriminately. (2) D 2.314 (316). (3) vakrāḥ
svabhāvamadhurāḥ śamsantyo rāgam ulvaṇam । dṛśo dūṭyaś ca karşanti
kāntābhiḥ preşitäḥ priyān (Dandin: "Sidelong [devious], by nature
affectionate and making declaration of heated passion, both glances
and go-betweens are attractive when sent by the beloved to the
lover"). (4) "Two dozen cows, knee-deep in grass, I saw, and
twenty-seven goats, / And heard a hundred sparrows pour / Upon a
bank ten thousand notes. / And, though I've seen the golden notes/
That rich men pour in city banks, / And know the sparrow's note is
'cheep', / I lifted up my heart in thanks" (Samuel Hoffenstein). (5)
Here the verbs karşanti and "pour" go with either of the subjects
whose qualifications are punned upon: in the English, the "bankers"
or the "sparrows" pour "notes" into or upon "banks". Cf. viru-
ddhakriya and aviruddhakriya, where each of the senses of the pun
demands a different verb. Note that though identical, the verb
itself is not here punned upon; compare Harry Graham's reproachful
"Baby roused its father's ire / By a cold and formal lisp. / So he
placed it on the fire / And reduced it to a crisp. / Mother said, 'Oh,
stop a bit! This is overdoing it!"" where the pun is the verb.
abhinnapada, 'same words': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the morph-
emic analysis implicit in both meanings is the same. (2) D 2.310
(311). (3) asāv udayam ārūḍhaḥ kāntimän raktamaṇḍalaḥ । rājā
harati lokasya hrdayam mydubhiḥ karaiḥ (Dandin: "This moon
[King], mounted on the eastern mountain [having attained prosperity],
lovely, ruddy orbed [whose courtiers are devoted], delights the hearts
of men with his soft rays [low taxes]"). (4) "Did you hear about
the moth who chewed a hole in the rug because he wanted to see the
floor show? And then he covered it over because he didn't want to
see the whole show?" (Lennart Rydfors). (5) Dandin does not men-
tion the distinction artha/śabda śleșa, but the present two types could
easily be argued into it. On the other hand, the differentiae are
stated in such a way as to make possible a division such as we have
discussed under artha śleşa, where two different "etyma", though the
"same" word, would not exemplify artha śleşa in the strict sense,
being homonyms.
artha, 'meaning': (1) a type of ślesa in which the double-entendre reposes
upon a legitimate duplicity of meanings within those meanings
properly ascribed to the word and not upon some accidental gram-</p>
<pb n="298" />
<p>296
GLOSSARY
matical or formal feature. (2) U 4.9, 10, R 10.1, M 147. (3) svayam
ca pallavâtāmrabhāsvatkaravirājinī । prabhātasamdhyêva [bhagavati]
Udbhata; the word kara is taken in two legitimate senses: 'hand'
of Parvati and 'ray' of the dawn: "She is brilliant like the dawn
onrushing, her hands [rays] red gleaming like new buds"). (4) "There
was a young lady from Wantage / Of whom the town clerk took
advantage. / Said the borough surveyor: /'Indeed you must pay 'er. /
You've totally altered her frontage"" (Anon.; "frontage" in two
senses). (5) We may distinguish three levels of double-entendre or
paronomasia: (a) in which two occurrences of the same etymon
differ as to context, as here; (b) in which two etyma have the same
phonemic shape; pun, properly speaking; and (c) in which two
words, differing as to phonemic shape, are used in such a way as to
suggest cancellation of that difference; plays on words, such as
Ogden Nash has popularized. The same distinction may be seen in
Sanskrit most clearly where type (a) is artha śleşa. It would seem
that Sanskrit, so rich in natural puns, does not feel the need to distort
words to obtain unnatural ones (type c); nevertheless, the same kind
of discrimination can be seen first, in those puns which require a
different accentuation, as muktāśṛīḥ (on the first syllable a bahuvrīki
meaning 'by whom ugliness was dispelled'; on the last, a tatpurusa
meaning 'beauty of pearls'), and secondly, in those playful puns
where the word divisions of one sense are not the same as those of
the other, as in the pun of Kālidāsa 'u mêti mātrā tapaso nişiddhā
paścăd Umākhyām sumukhī jagāma" ("from her mother's warning her
"don't, don't (do tapas)", she came to be called Umā'). These types
are generally grouped indiscriminately under śabda śleşa.
aviruddhakriya, 'unopposed verbs': (1) a type of paronomasia in which
separate verbs accompany each of the senses of the double-entendre.
(2) D 2.314 (317). (3) madhurā rāgavardhinyaḥ komalāḥ kokilagiraḥ ।
akarnyante madakalāḥ ślişyante câsitêkṣaṇaḥ (Dandin: "Lovely,
inspiring passion, soft and low from sipping drink, voices of night-
ingales are heard and dark-eyed girls are embraced"). (5) The classi-
cal form of the pun in Sanskrit is a series of adjectives or qualifica-
tions which apply equally to one or another of two given subjects.
Given this form, the present distinction should be understood as an
attempt to include the verb within the frame of reference of double-
entendre, since the two nouns may or may not be accompanied by
different verbs and, if they are, the verbs may or may not be opposed
in meaning. It should be noted that in these types, the verb is not</p>
<pb n="299" />
<p>GLOSSARY
297
itself punned and hence, as far as the pun is concerned, it provides
only an extrinsic, though relevant, classification.
avirodhin, 'non-contradicting': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the
double-entendre is suscitated by the application of a single qualifica-
tion to two subjects in such a way that the qualification is understood
differently for each, but without implying a contradiction. (2)
D 2.315 (321). (3) mahībhṛd bhürikaṭakas tejasvī niyatôdayaḥ । dakṣaḥ
prajāpatiś câsīt svāmī śaktidharaś ca saḥ (Dandin: "The King
[mountain], possessing many camps [valleys], glorious, of consistent
prosperity [having regular heights], clever (Dakşa by name], protector
of men [the father of men], Lord, and bearing a spear [powerful]").
(4) "Them young gells are like th' unripe grain; they'll make a good
meal by-and-by, but they're squashy as yet" (George Eliot). (5)
See virodhin.
akşepa, 'objection': (1) see under śleşa ākṣepa.
upamā, "simile': (1) see under śleșa upamā.
kriya, 'verb': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the double-entendre
resides in a verb; a pun on verbs. (2) B 3.14 (19). (3) unnatā lokada-
yitā mahāntaḥ prājyavarṣiṇaḥ śamayanti kşites tāpam surājāno
ghanā iva (Bhāmaha: "Good kings, like rain clouds, calm the suffer-
ing of the earth-lofty, beloved of men, great, and giving copiously
of their rain"). (4) "How beastly the bourgeois is especially the
male of the species-/ Nicely groomed, like a mushroom / Standing
there so sleek and erect and eyeable- / and like a fungus, living on
the remains of bygone life" (D. H. Lawrence). (5) Bhāmaha offers
three examples for six types enumerated; this one serves also for
upamā śleşa. As far as the verb is concerned, we must interpret
loosely: the verbal idea here includes the object of the verb as well.
These examples should be compared with those of guna śleşa
('adjective). Bhāmaha, the first writer to discuss śleșa as a figure,
does not seem too ready to force these equivocations into sharp
categories of mode and means: the simple adjectives in our examples
above are not puns, because they can apply with equal justice to
both subjects in the same sense, though they do not mean exactly
the same thing as qualifications of the two subjects-that difference
is to be sought in the kinds of things the subjects are rather than
in a consideration of the kinds of usage and context the adjectives
themselves are capable of sustaining. Bhāmaha seems more interested
in defining this difference than in specifying the source and scope
of the equivocation itself.</p>
<pb n="300" />
<p>298
guna, 'property, adjective': (1) a pun on adjectives. (2) B 3.14 (18).
(3) chāyāvanto gatavyālāḥ svärohaḥ phaladayinaḥ । märgadrumā
mahāntaś ca pareşām eva bhūtaye (Bhāmaha: "Shady [possessing
lustre], free of snakes [suspicious characters], firm rooted [independ-
ent], and producing fruits [benefits], both the roadside trees and great
men live for the benefit of others"). (4) "As lines so loves oblique
may well Themselves at every Angle greet: / But ours so truly
Parallel, Though infinite can never meet" (Andrew Marvell).
(5) Bhāmaha's example is also used for upamā śleşa. See the discus-
sion under kriyā śleșa. The examples show how subtle can be the
difference between pun and metaphorical usage. "Chāyā" has two
senses here which are merely the two ends of a continuum: "shade,
complexion, aspect, lustre"; similarly, "oblique" with the added
overtones of "contrast". As puns, these meanings would have to
be considered different.
GLOSSARY
naman, 'name, noun': (1) a pun in which a noun figures as the locus of
the double-entendre. (2) B 3.14 (20). (3) ratnavattvād agādhatvāt
svamaryādâvilañghanat । bahusattvåśrayatväc ca sadrśas tvam
udanvatā (Bhāmaha; the terms "having jewels", etc. are expressed
as abstract nouns in -tva: "You resemble the ocean for possessing
jewels, for depth, for keeping within your own limits, for containing
many substances [much strength of character]"). (4) "You tell
'em, whalebone, you've been around the ladies" (S. J. Perelman).
(5) Cf. kriya and guna śleşa. This example serves also for hetu
śleșa. Bhāmaha, in specifying the grammatical classification of the
pun, lays the groundwork for the elaborate stratifications of Rudraţa
and Mammața where every conceivable form class (root, suffix,
gender, number, etc.) is shown to be capable of expressing a double-
entendre. See ślesa.
niyamavat, 'restricted': (1) a type of paronomasia in which a double-
entendre is explicitly limited to its further or irregular sense. (2)
D 2.314 (319). (3) nistrimśatvam asāv eva dhanuşy evâsya vakratā ।
sareşv eva narendrasya mārgaṇatvam ca vartate (Dandin: "Sharpness
is but in his sword, deviousness [being curved] but in his bow, supplic-
ation [seeking a target] only in his arrows"). (4) "Who could
continue to exist where there are no cows but the cows on the chim-
ney-pots; nothing redolent of Pan but pan-tiles; no crop but a stone
crop?" (Charles Dickens). (5) The figure is the same as parisamkhyā
alamkāra. This is a sort of pun a fortiori, in which the distinction
implicit in the pun is made explicit and the pun is thereby literally</p>
<pb n="301" />
<p>GLOSSARY
299
annulled. Since, however, of the two senses, it is the less obvious,
obscure, or figurative which is affirmed, it is readily seen that the
denial of the double-entendre is a mere formal device whereby the
more obvious, clear, and primary sense is ironically intended.
This type is contrasted with iyamâkṣeparūpa śleșa, wherein the
primary meaning is broadened to include the secondary.
niyamâkṣeparūpa, 'having the form of an objection to limitation': (1)
a type of paronomasia in which the double-entendre is explicitly
extended to another, more current, sense. (2) D 2.315 (320). (3)
padmānām eva daṇḍeșu kaṇṭakas tvayi rakṣati । athavā dṛśyate
rāgimithunâlinganeşv api (Dandin: "As long as you are King,
thorniness/rivalry/horripilation exists only in the stalks of lotuses;
but then, it could also be seen in the embraces of love-making
couples"). (4) "As you are doubtless aware', began Marcel, drawing
on his praline, 'Harper's Bazaar not only prognosticates the mode
but frequently publishes news of consuming interest-you will
pardon the play on words-to gourmets"" (S. J. Perelman). (5) The
name of this figure implies that the pun is an objection to the scope
of meaning of a word, the extended meaning thereby offered being
the rest of the double-entendre. Now, the example from S. J. Perel-
man does not formulate an objection as such, but since the purpose
of the parenthesis is to mark off clearly the second meaning of "con-
suming" and to focus the attention of the reader on that extension, I
believe it legitimately mentioned here. The parenthesis ca also be
taken as an ironic objection.
pada, 'word': (1) a type of verbal pun (sabda śleşa) in which the constituent
words of a phrase are differently separated to give different senses to
the phrase. (2) R 4.5, M 119C. (3) prthu-kārttasvara-pātram</p>
<p>(prthuka-ārtta-svara-pătram) bhūşita-niḥśeşaparijanam (bhu-uşita)</p>
<p>deva vilasatkarenu-gahanam (bila-satka-renu-gahanam) samprati
samam āvayoḥ sadanam (Mammața: "Our residences are quite
similar, O King: furnished with extensive gold [furnished with the
pained howling of children], where the entire court is adorned with
jewels [where all of the residents sleep on the bare ground], where
young elephants bathe and play [where the mice emerge from their
holes and play in the dust]"). (4) "Only Seven: A pastoral Story
after Wordsworth: I marvell'd why a simple child, / That lightly
draws its breath, / Should utter groans so very wild / And look as
pale as Death. / Adopting a parental tone, / I ask'd her why
she cried; The damsel answered with a groan, / 'I've got a pain</p>
<pb n="302" />
<p>300
GLOSSARY
inside!' / । Postscript: To borrow Wordsworth's name was
wrong, / Or slightly misapplied; / And so I'd better call my song,
/ 'Lines after Ache-Inside"" (H. S. Leigh). (5) Rudrata's example
not only shows compound words which can be analyzed differently,
but also sequences of grammatically independent words showing
different junctures (śarīram adaḥ; śarīra-madaḥ).
This type of pun, in Rudrața and Mammața, assumes the word
as one of the possible loci of sabda śleşa and contrasts with other
topics such as letter (varna), root (prakrti), gender (linga), etc.
Hence the word pada is to be understood in its strictly grammatical
sense: that whose final is an inflection; that is, since pada is here
distinguished from inflection (vibhakti), it should be taken as the
grammatical añga (Pāṇ. 1.4.13, 14).
prakṛti, *root element*: (1) a type of paronomasia in which the locus of
the double-entendre is the primary and uninflected root. (2) R 4.28,
M 119C. (3) ayam sarvāṇi śāstrāṇi hṛdi jñeșu ca vakṣyati । sämart-
hyakrd amitrāṇām mitrāṇām ca nṛpâtmajaḥ (Mammața: "He holds in
his heart and [speaks] to the wise all the śāstras; he makes [destroys]
the ability of both his friends and his enemies"). (4) "So they ought
to be your best friends", I said. "With all that money. You stick to
them, old man. Clasp them to your soul with bands of steel-say
steal ..."" (Joyce Cary). (5) The double-entendre here consists in a
doubt as to which of two roots a given inflected form should be
assigned: in the Sanskrit, vakşyati can be taken as the third singular
future active of both vah 'to carry' and vac 'to speak'. It should be
noted for purposes of comparison with other types of śleşa (such
as linga, vacana, etc.) that no equivocation attaches to any of the
inflectional elements of the form (future, singular, etc.). As to the
English example, though it is not as convincing, we may reason as
follows: "steel" and "steal" are nominal forms of two roots "to steel"
and "to steal" which are not identical in all forms (as, "steeled"
and "stolen"). The two roots are, however, accidentally identical
in the present case (cf. Skt. kṛt, nominal of both kr, 'to do' and krt
*to cut'), as well as in their infinitives. We would be hard pressed
to find in English, with its analytical structure, so revealing an
example as vakṣyati.
pratyaya, 'affix*: (1) a type of paronomasia in which the double-entendre
depends upon the phonemic identity of two affixes. (2) R 4.26,
M 119C. (3) pramathanivahamadhye jātu cit tvatprasādād । aham
ucitaruciḥ syān nandită să tathā me (Mammața; may be read either
...</p>
<pb n="303" />
<p>GLOSSARY
301
"aham ucitaruciḥ syām nanditā; sā tathā me" or "aham ucitaruciḥ;
syāt nandită să tathā me", in which case nandità is to be taken as an
-r stem: "Sometimes in the midst of your attendant hosts, by your
grace, O Śiva, I am an enjoyer who has become appropriately
delighted [likewise, I, as it were, occupy the state of your mount
Nandi]"). (4) "A dripping pauper crawls along the way / The only
real willing out-of-doorer / And says, or seems to say / 'Well, I
am poor enough-but here's a pourer!"" (Thomas Hood). (5) As in
the other types of sabda śleșa, the point is here that the locus of the
pun is restricted to the formal element in question: - or -m alone
being equivocal and not the stem sya- 'am/is'. Likewise, the element
-tā is both the nominative singular feminine of the past participle
and the nominative singular masculine of an agent noun, but the root
is the same: nand- 'to enjoy'. The English example, as usual, is not
as finely adjusted to the point at issue, for the root "pour" is not the
same as the root "poor"; but the example does involve as well an
equivocation based on the affix, namely the "-er" of the comparative
degree and the "-er" of the agent noun. So we offer it here and hope
that any more crucial example will be brought to our attention by
the kind reader.
bhāṣā, "language¹: (1) a kind of paronomasia in which the double-
entendre depends upon the apparent or verbal (I hesitate to say
"phonemic") identity between two languages. (2) R 4.10, 16, M
119C. (3) akalañkakula kalalaya bahulilälola vimalabāhubala ।
khalamaulikila komala mañgalakamalālalāma lala (Rudrața; it is
asserted that this can be read in six languages: samskṛta, prākṛta,
māgadhi, paiśācī, sūrasenī, and apabhramśa; in Sanskrit, it is but a
string of vocatives: "O thou, be delighted! of spotless family, re-
pository of the arts, stumbling from too much gay sport, strong in
your spotless arms, a thorn in the heads of the corrupt, loveable,
bearing the beauty mark of the lotus of good fortune!"). (4) "I don't
know what I'm doing mucking about with a lot of French authors at
this hour, anyway. First thing you know I'll be reciting Fleurs du
Mal to myself ... and I'll say off Verlaine too; he was always chasing
Rimbauds" (Dorothy Parker). (5) In this category, the meanings
need not be different; and this shows to what extent ślesa was a
question of technical manipulation of forms rather than (always)
directed at some intelligent purpose. Rudrața gives examples for
two-, three-, four-, five-, and six-language puns.
Curiously, bhășă śleşa is included in the eight kinds of sabda</p>
<pb n="304" />
<p>302
GLOSSARY
śleșa, all the other of which localize the double-entendre in some
formal element of the same language. Completeness demands that
this possibility be accounted for: the language is itself a form. This
would then represent the other pole to artha śleşa, where no formal
element can be ascribed as the locus of the double-entendre: language
is grasped as meaning alone.
bhinnapada, 'different words': (1) same as pada śleşa. (2) D 2.310 (312).
rūpaka, 'metaphor': (1) for rüpaka śleşa, see under rūpaka. (2) D 2.313.
linga, 'gender': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the double-entendre
depends upon the phonemic identity of gender-indicating suffixes.
(2) R 4.8, M 119C. (3) devī mahi kumārī padmānām bhāvanī rasāhārī /
sukhanī rāja tiro'hitam ahimānam tasya saddhārī (Rudrața; as mas-
culines, the first line must be read as nominative-n stems, as feminines,
as stems in -ī; other types of punning are here evidenced, mostly
pada ślesa: for the king, rāja ('be brilliant'), for the girl, rajati
('illuminates'). Note also that, for the king, tasya is also a vocative
from the obscure root tas- ('slay"): "Be brilliant! Slay the enemy,
proud as a snake, O playful, festal, destroyer of evil, engenderer of
prosperity, depository of passion, bringer of pleasure, upholder
of the just!" or: "The earth, the queen, young, happy, source of
lotuses and of spices, illuminates him who has assumed pride and
upholds him!"). (4) "... I'm a pris'ner, gen'l'm'n. Con-fined, as
the lady said" (Charles Dickens). (5) Of course, our English example
stretches a point, since the grammatical category in question does not
exist. Contextually, however, the sense of the illustration is clear,
since the word "confined" in feminine syntax means quite a different
thing.
vacana, "number': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the double-entendre
depends upon the phonemic identity of numerical suffixes. (2)
R 4.28(30), M 119C. (3) äryo'si taromālyaḥ satyo'natakukṣayaḥ
stavāvacyaḥ / sannäbhayo yuvatayaḥ sanmukhyaḥ sunayană vandyaḥ
(Rudrata; for singular, äryo'si, etc.; for plural, aryo (from pl. of
ārī) 'sita-romālyah (from pl. of romāli), etc. Note that the example
also involves linga śleșa and pada śleşa; I think it is impossible to
find vacana śleşa "pure", as it were: "You are a noble [the wives of
your enemies], the ornament of strength [the hair on whose navels
is black], truthful [faithful], destroyer of the lands of the unbent
[with round bellies], who cannot be praised in words [silent before
compliments], fearless of those he has destroyed [with beautiful
navels], who consorts with women [being young women], first among</p>
<pb n="305" />
<p>303
GLOSSARY
the respectable [whose faces are beautiful], leader of good govern-
ment [of beautiful eyes], praiseworthy [are to be seized]"). (4) "Ben
Battle was a soldier bold, / And used to war's alarms; / But a cannon-
ball took off his legs, / So he laid down his arms" (Thomas Hood;
we might claim here an equivocation between dual and plural. At
least it is a numerical idea which is punned upon). (5) Strictly speak-
ing, no illustration is possible from English since any pun involving
plural-singular contrast (e.g., "rose", "rows") would also involve a
different etymon. Here the point is that the same word lends itself
to two numerically different references. Perhaps a pun could be
found involving the word "sheep" (sing.) and "sheep" (pl.).
varņa, 'syllable, letter': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the locus of the
double-entendre is restricted to a single phoneme. (2) R 4.3, M 119C.
(3) alaňkāraḥ śañkākaranarakapālam parijano viśīrṇâñgo bhṛīgi vasu
ca vrşa eko bahuvayāḥ । avasthêyam sthāṇor api bhavati sarvâmara-
guror vidhau vakre mūrdhni sthitavati vayam ke punar ami (Mammata;
the pun is restricted to the syllable -au of vidhau, which happens to
be the locative singular of both vidhi ("fate") and vidhu ('moon"): "His
only ornament is a human skull which inspires fright; his attendant
is Bhrigi, the one who has consumed his own limbs; his wealth is
one old bull. Such is the condition of Siva, Lord of all the Gods!
Since inscrutable fate [the curved moon] sits on his brow, what
indeed do we mere mortals amount to?"). (4) "Oh, the moon
shines bright on my old Kentucky home" (Anon.; or: moonshine's).
(5) This category shows a delicacy of interpretation which is truly
astounding: at first glance, this seems to be an instance of pratyaya
śleşa, where the affix is quite accidentally a single letter. But this
analysis does not stand examination, because in the case of vidhau,
the pratyaya is not punned at all, since it is locative singular in both
cases (we say that the locative singular of both -i and -u stems is -au).
Neither can the pun be attributed to the roots, for they are not the
same (one is -i stem, the other -u stem). It might appear then that we
have a case of vibhakti śleșa, where two inflections have the same
form. But this interpretation, too, is invalid, for it cannot be said
that the locative singular of two form classes is two inflections.
We are left then with the recondite category pun on nominal form
class, which in this unique instance involves only one syllable: hence
the classification. Our English example is of course fictitious, since
it is, strictly speaking, a case of vibhakti śleșa (the "-s" being both
present singular of verbs and contraction of the nominal verb),</p>
<pb n="306" />
<p>304
GLOSSARY
but since it involves but a single letter, I have included it here. No
pun of this finesse can be conceived in English, since the only basis
for a distinction of form classes in English nouns is the formation
of the plural, and we could not find two words in different form classes
which had the same plural.
vibhakti, 'inflection': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the double-
entendre depends upon the phonemic identity of two inflections.
(2) R 4.28, M 119C. (3) sarvasvam hara sarvasya tvam bhavacche-
datatparaḥ । nayópakārasāmmukhyam āyāsi tanuvartanam (Mam-
mața; spoken by a thief to his son, hara and naya are imperatives;
spoken by a devotee of Śiva, hara is vocative and naya- a nominal
stem: "O Śiva, thou art the whole of everything [steal everything],
you whose intention is to destroy the bonds of being [you must
intend to break through the walls to everyone's treasure]. You
have attained that state of soul which consists of an ensemble of
help and counsel [bring into play every device and countermeasure
and you will exhaust the efforts of others"]. (4) "Will there never
come a season / Which shall rid us from the curse / Of a prose that
knows no reason / And an unmelodious verse: / ... / When there
stands a muzzled stripling, / Mute, beside a muzzled bore: / When
the Rudyards cease from Kipling / And the Haggards Ride no more?"
(J. K. Stephen). (5) This type may be understood in two ways:
either as defined, or as a pun on an inflection common to verbs and
nouns. In the first case, which is probably that of Rudrata, vibhakti
is to be understood as a specific type of pratyaya (affix); in the second
(Mammața), pratyaya śleşa will be understood as limited to the
general affixes of the nominal form class, whether inflections or not,
while vibhakti will involve the contrast between inflections (neces-
sarily) of verb and noun. The names thus do not exactly specify
the scope of the pun intended. Another favorite example stems
from the identity of the genitive plural present participle and the
third singular middle imperative -tām, as, jīvatām ('may he live'
and of those living').
viruddhakarman, 'opposed verbs': (1) a type of paronomasia in which
a separate verb accompanies each of the senses of the double-en-
tendre, and which verbs are moreover opposite in meaning. (2)
D 2.314 (318). (3) rāgam ādarśayann eşa vāruniyogavardhitam /
tirobhavati gharmâmśur añgajas tu vijrmbhate (Dandin: "Having
revealed a passion [redness] born of association with intoxicating
liquors [the western sky], the God of Love shows his full power;</p>
<pb n="307" />
<p>305
the sun, however, sinks from sight"). (4) "At Thieves I bark'd, at
lovers wagg'd my tail, / And thus I pleas'd both Lord and Lady
Frail" (John Wilkes; "pleas'd" is the double-entendre; "bark'd"
and "wagg'd", which are opposite in sense, accompany each meaning
of "pleas'd"). (5) This figure contrasts with aviruddhakriyā, which
has two verbs which are not opposite in sense, and abhinnakriyā,
which has one verb only.
virodhin, *contradicting*: (1) a type of paronomasia in which a double-
entendre is suscitated through the resolution of an apparent con-
tradiction between a noun and a qualification appended on it.
(2) D 2.315 (322). (3) acyuto'py avṛṣacchedī rājâpy aviditakṣayaḥ ।
devo'py avibudho jajñe śañkaropy abhujañgavān (Dandin: "Although
he is Vişņu [not deviating from the right way], he has not slain the
demon Vrsa; although the moon [King], he does not know diminu-
ation [never suffers decline]; although a God [King], he is not a God
[not surrounded by wise men]; although Śiva [appeasing], he is not
possessed of snakes [questionable friends]"). (4) "Now as they bore
him off the field, / Said he, 'Let others shoot, / For here I leave
my second leg, / And the Forty-second Foot!"" (Thomas Hood).
(5) Nobody has forty-two feet on his leg. The point here is that no
pun would be understood were it not for the juxtaposition of
incompatibles which serves then as the efficient cause of the double-
entendre. Usually, in Sanskrit punning, the duplicity of meaning is
suscitated by the adjunction of two different things which are said
to have the same qualifications (see avirodhin). There is no con-
tradiction between the thing and the qualification taken singly.
See aviruddhakriyā for notes on form.
vyatireka, 'distinction': (1) see śleșa vyatireka. (2) D 2.313.
sabda, 'word': (1) a type of paronomasia in which some point of gram-
matical interpretation is involved in distinguishing the meanings of
the double-entendre. (2) U 4.10, M 119. (3) prabhātasamdhyêva ...
muktāśris tvam eva pārvati (Udbhata; applying to Parvati,
muktâśrīḥ, a bahuvrīhi with udātta accent on the first member; apply-
ing to the dawn, an appositive tatpuruşa, "beauty of pearl", with ac-
cent on the stem of the final member: "Pārvatī, by whom ugliness
was abandoned [beautiful as a pearl], is like the onrushing dawn").
(4) "This is how it came to pass that their children were white and
puny; they were suffering from home-sickness" (Samuel Butler;
here is a pun on the compound form "sea-sickness": ordinarily the
compound form "home-sick" does not express a cause, but the ab-
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="308" />
<p>306
GLOSSARY
sence of the antidote). (5) If the pun depends on no determinable
formal equivocation, but only on a legitimate duplicity of meaning
assignable to the word (lexical item, etymon) itself, we have artha
śleşa (q.v.). For a full discussion of this difference, see artha śleşa.
Mammaţa takes the distinction sabda/artha śleșa from Udbhata
and then finds that Rudrata's eight grammatical categories of śleșa
can be taken as subdivisions of sabda śleşa. Thus do systems grow.
He treats sabda śleșa in ullāsa 9 (kārikā 119) and artha śleșa in
10 (kārikā 147).
sahôkti, 'expression of concomitance': (1) sahôkti alamkāra accompanied
by śleşa. (2) B 3.17 (18). (3) (4) (5) See guņa śleșa.
hetu, 'cause': (1) a type of paronomasia in which the double-entendre
accompanies hetu alamkāra. (2) B 3.17 (20). (3) (4) (5) See nāma
śleşa.
samsaya
samśaya (I) 'doubt': (1) same as samdeha. (2) R 8.59, 61. (5) See
samdeha.
samsaya (II): (1) a figure in which two similar but discriminable things
are said to be subject to a doubt concerning their respective nature
or mode of action. (2) R 8.65 (66). (3) gamanam adhitam hamsais
tvattah subhage tvayā nu hamsebhyah । kim śaśinaḥ pratibimbam
vadanam te kim mukhasya śaśī (Rudraţa; in the first half śloka, the
mode of cause and effect is suspended: who taught whom? In the
last half, the question is: the beauty of which term is the model
for that of the other? "Did the swans teach you how to walk, O
lovely, or did you teach the swans? Is your face modeled on the
moon, or the moon on your face?"). (4) "Such was the mutual
love and reciprocal respect that this worthy man had to his flock,
and his flock to him, that it was hard to judge whether he delighted
more in having such a people, or they in having such a pastor"
(Carl Sandburg). (5) This figure differs from the ordinary samdeha
only in that it is not qua comparability that the two similar things
are doubted. Here they are confused through some other aspect of
their relation (which is, of course, many sided), as, for example,
cause-effect (which is cause and which effect?), if they happen to be
related as to cause and effect (either in fact or in the poet's imagina-
tion). For other exaggerations of nature and mode of action, cf.
adhika and visama. The present type differs from them inasmuch
as it is expressed by means of a doubt, not declaratively.</p>
<pb n="309" />
<p>GLOSSARY
307
samsrsti
samsrsti, 'combination': (1) a multiple or compound figure. (2) B 3.48-
51, D 2.363 (samkīrṇa, 2.359), V 4.3.30-33, U 6.5, M 207. (3) (4)
See following discussion for examples. (5) The three terms samsrsti,
samkīrṇa, and samkara, used in general to refer to the combination
or compounding of other figures of speech, have such a variety of
particular acceptations in the various authors that it is impossible
to separate them clearly. In general, the phenomenon of the multiple
figure was considered, from Daṇḍin onwards, in two aspects: the
two or more constituent figures could be related somehow, or they
could be purely extrinsic to one another. Only Bhāmaha and Vamana
do not make this distinction in some form; their term samsrșți is
therefore to be taken as referring to the genus of multiple alamkāras.
That they do use the term samsrsti and not one of the other terms,
probably testifies to the originality of this term, the others being
used ad hoc by later writers. Dandin, however, in making the
distinction between related and independent figures in conjunction,
employs the term samkīrṇa in the generic sense of Bhamaha's
samsrsti. The word samsṛșți does appear in Daṇḍin's definition of
samkīrṇa ("nānālamkārasamsṛṣṭiḥ samkīrṇam") and suggests that the
use of samkīrṇa is idiosyncratic and well within the normal variation
of otherwise univocal technical terminology (Dandin, for example,
refers to svabhävôkti as svabhāvâkhyāna (2.4) for metrical reasons).
Within samkīrṇa, Dandin enumerates two types: mutually
related (angângi), and independent (samakakṣatā), depending on
whether or not one figure implies the other in the sense that the other
cannot be grasped as a figure without the first. Udbhața recognizes
this distinction, but applies to it the two terms which up to now
appear to be but mere stylistic variations of one another: samsrsti
(for unrelated figures) and samkara (from the same root -ki as
samkīrṇa; for related figures). Within the latter term, Udbhața finds
four subtypes: Dandin's familiar añgâñgi (renamed anugrahyângu-
grähaka) as well as an ekaśabdâbhidhāna (where the two figures
overlap in the total expression), samdeha (where they coalesce entire-
ly), and a type in which both sabda and artha alamkāras (śabdârtha-
vivarti) are mixed. Mammața repeats the entire discussion of Ud-
bhata except for his omission of the subtype ekaśabdábhidhāna.
Rudraţa, however, introduces the ultimate element of confusion
by using the term samkara in the generic sense, as did Dandin, and
not mentioning samsrsti at all. His two types, vyaktâmśa and avya-</p>
<pb n="310" />
<p>308
GLOSSARY
ktâmśa, seem to refer to the same distinction as Dandin intended by
samakakṣatā and añgâñgi, but his definitions of them are analogical
and do not permit precise rendering. The former is said to resemble
a mixture of rice and sesame, where the components remain discrete,
the latter to resemble a mixture of milk and curds, where the com-
ponents fuse in an indissoluble agglutinate.
Whatever use is made of this terminology, all the writers agree on
regarding śleșa or pun as the compoundable figure par excellence.
Dandin's remark to this effect (2.363) probably to be taken in
context with his previous discussion of samkirna. Most of the ex-
amples offered by the various writers involve śleșa as one of the
figures.
añgâñgi (-tva; -bhāvāvasthāna), 'related as whole and part': (1) a type of
complex alamkāra (samkara) in which the several constituent figures
are mutually interrelated in the sense that the figurativeness of some
cannot be understood apart from the others. (2) D 2.360 (361),
U 5.13, M 208. (3) ākṣipanty aravindani mugdhe tava mukhaśriyam /
kośadaṇḍasamagrāṇām kim eşām asti duşkaram (Dandin; the slesa of
the second half verse depends on the upamā of the first: if the lotuses
were not "disputing" the beauty of her face, then their "buds" and
"stalks" would not be taken as weapons: "treasury" and "army":
"The lotuses are attacking the beauty of your face! Is this difficult
for them, whose means are buds [treasury] and stalks [army]?").
(4) "He[the biographer] will row out over that great ocean of material,
and lower down into it, here and there, a little bucket, which will
bring up to the light of day some characteristic specimen, from those
far depths, to be examined with a careful curiosity" (Lytton Strachey;
the samāsôkti of "bucket", "specimen", and "depths" cannot be
understood apart from the rūpaka "ocean of material"). (5) A
subordination of implication only is to be understood by this term;
the two figures concerned are formally distinguishable (cf. samdeha)
and occupy different places in the total phrase (cf. avyaktāmśa,
ekaśabdábhidhāna). They are not, however, entirely independent-a
mere concomitance of figures as in samakakşată: should one of
the figures (the angin) be deleted, the other (the anga) no longer
makes any sense as a figure. The terms samkara and samsrsti are
used by Udbhata and Mammața in the sense of this distinction, but
Dandin, who does not use the term samkara, views both as types of
samsrsti. For the use of the terminology, see samsrsti. The figure
is called anugrahyânugrāhaka by Udbhața.</p>
<pb n="311" />
<p>309
anugrahyânugrahaka, 'related as facilitated and facilitating': (1) same as
añgâñgi samsṛṣți. (2) U 5.13.
avyaktâmśa, 'whose parts are not manifest': (1) a type of complex
alamkāra (samkara) in which the component figures are so expressed
as to make impossible a decision as to the location of each in the
phrase. (2) R 10.25 (28-29). (3) alokanam bhavatyā jananayanâ-
nandanêndukarajālam (Rudraţa; in this case, the commentator
asserts that the compound can be taken in one way as an upamā,
in another as a rūpaka: "Your glance is a net of moonbeams, delight-
ing the eyes of men"). (4) "Even when the President, the Rev. Dr.
Willoughby Quarles ... than whom no man had written more about
the necessity of baptism by immersion, in fact in every way a
thoroughly than-whom figure ..." (Sinclair Lewis; the last phrase
can be taken as an arthântaranyāsa or a rūpaka). (5) As a karma-
dharaya ("jananayanânandana evêndukarajalam"), the figure in the
Sanskrit example is a rūpaka; as a locative tatpuruşa ("jananayanâ-
nandana indukarajālam"), the attributive relation to the subject aloka-
nam can, it is said, be interpreted as a simile lacking the comparative
particle (iva). It may be said that this latter interpretation seems to
be at variance with Rudrata's own treatment of both simile and
metaphor. "Indukarajalam" by itself would not be an upamā, since
the upamāna follows the upameya (R 8.21); neither would the predi-
cative assertion "alokanam indukarajalam", since this is the
clearest type of aka (metaphor) definable in Rudrata's system
(8.38-39). This difficulty does, however, parallel Bhāmaha's appar-
ently inconsistent definition of the figure upamārupaka, where the
example of the upamā is just such a rūpaka. It may be that the formal
discriminations were not rigorously applied to those cases where,
despite the predicative identification of upameya and upamāna,
the idea of comparison was judged to be uppermost in the mind of
the poet. If this irregularity is allowed, the example then indeed.
illustrates the definition of avyaktâmśa, for both interpretations are
valid (neither can be refuted), and both apply to exactly the same
word sequence. In the English example, if the phrase "than-whom
figure" is taken as a predicate to Dr. Quarles, we have a rūpaka;
however, the phrase can also be taken as a general summary of the
preceding descriptive passage (arthântaranyāsa). Compare ekaša-
bdâbhidhāna, where the two figures only overlap; here they coalesce
entirely. This type is the same as the samdeha of Udbhata and the
aniścaya of Mammaţa. Rudrața gives another example which the
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="312" />
<p>310
GLOSSARY
commentator interprets as an añgåñgi samsṛṣți; that is, a simple
relation of implication exists between the two figures, not physical
coalescence. Rudrața's definitions of this dichotomy (vyaktâm-
śāvyaktâmśa) are only analogical (see samsṛșți), and much leeway
must be allowed in their interpretation.
ekaśabdábhidhāna, 'naming by the same words': (1) a type of complex
alamkāra (samkara) where the two constituent figures overlap as
to the words which express them. (2) U 5.12. (3) mâivam evâstha
sacchāyavarṇikācārukarnikā । ambhojiniva citrasthā dṛṣṭimătrasu-
khapradā (Udbhata; Gauri is here compared to a lotus as delighting
the eyes only (upamā); another common property is offered which is,
in fact, a pun referring to the golden earrings of Gauri and to the seed
pods within the lotus (ślesa); the two figures share the word ambho-
jini ("lotus"): "Don't remain so, dazzling and giving pleasure only
to the eyes, like a lotus, earrings [seed pods] of beautifully shaded
gold"). (4) "But the man who fell in love with Rozzie was the poor
little Peter Pan who wanted to creep back into his mother's womb
and be safe and warm and comfortable for the rest of his life. Isola-
tionist, with navel defence" (Joyce Cary; same analysis except that
the figures are rüpaka and śleşa). (5) This type is recognized as
such only by Udbhata, who distinguishes it from samdeha samkara:
here the two figures are partially different and wholly identifiable;
in samdeha, they are expressed in wholly the same words and are
not identifiable. To the naive observer, this type would appear
to be more akin to samsṛṣți than to samkara, but the fact that there
is partial coalescence is sufficient to make the two figures constitutive
and "interdependent".
vyaktâmsa, 'whose parts are evident': (1) a type of complex alamkāra
(samkara) in which the component figures are separable as to the
words which express them. (2) R 10.25. (3) abhiyujya lolanayanā
sādhvasajanitöruvepathusvedä । abalêva vairisenā nṛpa janye bhajyate
bhavatā (Rudraţa; an upamā in the last half, a pun in the first: "When
attached, its leaders unsteady [eyes rolling], sweat and great trembling
[trembling at the thighs] produced suddenly, the enemy army, like a
young girl, O King, is enjoyed by you"). (4) "As lightning, or a
taper's light, Thine eyes, and not thy noise, waked me" (John
Donne; upamă in the first line, vyatireka in the second). (5) The
example here is identical to that offered by Udbhata to illustrate the
exact inverse (see ekaśabdábhidhäna). But Rudrața takes the
śleșa as confined to the word which is actually punned, while</p>
<pb n="313" />
<p>311
Udbhata apparently considers that the pun extends to the words
which are said to be alike by virtue of the pun (here "abalêva vairisenä"
and "thine eyes"). If Rudrața is correct, then vyaktâmśa may be
equated with samakakşatā; it should, however, be noted that the
distinctions implied by the two terms are not the same: vyaktâmśa
may mean 'whose parts are not in doubt' (see avyaktâmśa) whereas
samakakşatā means 'whose parts are not subordinate' (see añgangi).
See samsrsti for a discussion of these classifications.
GLOSSARY
śabdârthavarti, 'involving both (figures of) word and sense': (1) a type of
multiple alamkāra (samsrsti) in which are mixed both śabda and
artha alamkāras. (2) U 5.12, M 210. (3) spaștôllasatkiraṇakesara-
suryabimbavistīrṇakarnikam atho divasâravindam । śliştâştadigdala-
kalāpamukhāvatārabaddhândhakāramadhupâvali samcukoca (Mam-
mața; contains both rūpakas (an arthâlamkāra) and anuprāsa (a
šabdâlaṇkāra): "The lotus of the day closes its vast pericarp, the
sun's orb and its filaments the clearly dancing rays, with a swarm of
bees the great darkness-clinging to the face of the eight direc-
tions"). (4) "Glory be to God for dappled things- / For skics of
couple-colour as a brinded cow; / For rose-moles all in stipple upon
trout that swim; / Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; /
Landscape plotted and pieced-fold, fallow, and plough; / And all
trades, their gear and tackle and trim. / All things counter, original,
spare and strange; / Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) /
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; a dazzle, dim; / He fathers-forth whose
beauty is past change: Praise him" (Gerard Manly Hopkins;
anuprāsa and upamā). (5) This type would exemplify samkara or
complex alamkāra, for the same word span may share two or more
figures. It differs from avyaktâmsa in that the basis of interpretation
is not such that one figure, once defined, necessarily excludes the
other: here both are conjointly possible and discrete because the
figures do not refer to the same definand (one refers to phonemic
patterns, the other to morphemic contrasts and usages).
samkara, 'intermixture': (1) a multiple alamkāra. (2) U 5.11, 13, R
10.24-29, M 208-210. (5) See samsrsti. The term is often used to
signify complex alamkāra as opposed to compound alamkāra.
samkīrṇa, *commingled': (1) a multiple alamkāra. (2) D 2.359-363.
(5) See samsrsti.
samdeha, 'doubt': (1) same as avyaktâmśa samkara. (2) U 5.11. (5) Also
called aniscaya in Mammaţa.
samakakşatā, 'equality': (1) same as vyaktâmśa samkara or samsrsti.</p>
<pb n="314" />
<p>312
GLOSSARY
(2) D 2.360 (362). (5) In Daṇḍin, the term is opposed to añgangi,
in the sense that no relation of implication exists between the two
figures; in Rudrața, however, it is opposed to avyaktamsa, in that
the parts of the phrase expressing the several figures are physically
separable. The two ideas are therefore of differing extent, but in
intent they are the same.
samkara
samkara, 'intermixture': (1) another word for samsṛșți.
samkirna
samkīrṇa, 'commingled': (1) another word for samsṛṣți.
samkşepa
samkşepa, 'abbreviation': (1) terseness, condensation of meaning into
few words. (2) AP 345.6. (5) This is one of the sabdârthâlamkāra
of the Agni Purāṇa.
samdeha
samdeha, 'doubt': (1) a figure in which the speaker hesitates to identify
which of two similar things is which; the expression of a similitude
through the affectation of an inability to decide the relative identity
of two things the subject and object of comparison. (2) B 3.42 (43),
V 4.3.11, U 6.2-3, R 8.59-64, M 138. kim idam līnâlikulam
kamalam kim vā mukham sunīlakacam । iti samsete lokas tvayi
sutanu sarovatīrṇāyām (Rudrata; cf. samsaya: "As you descend to
the lake, O Lovely, onlookers are bound to wonder if that is a face
set in hair of darkest hue or a bee-girt lotus"). (4) "Mr. Smith,
suddenly meeting the lovely young thing, may not be sure whether
his feet are treading a polished studio floor or whether they have
little Mercury wings on them that waft him through the empyrean
(Oliver Onions). (5) Rudraţa names this figure samsaya,
departing from tradition slightly (the word also means 'doubt"),
perhaps because he enlarges the scope of the figure beyond simile
(see samsaya II). Daṇḍin (2.358) mentions the figure only to assert
its identity with his samsaya upama. The figure has two forms in the
early writers, judging by the examples offered; this difference is
recognized by Rudrata and Mammaţa, who subdivide into those
doubts about which no attempt is made to decide (aniścaya),
following Dandin and Vāmana, and those in which the doubt is</p>
<pb n="315" />
<p>313
either resolved or in which a discrimination is offered which would
permit its resolution (niścayânta, niścayagarbha), following Bhāmaha.
Udbhata, though following Bhämaha, distinguishes those doubts
which are feigned and those which are real, perhaps anticipating
bhrāntimat alamkāra; however, a "feigned" doubt for him involves
the suggestion of another figure, usually upamā (simile), and in this
respect he returns to the opinion of Dandin. I append here Udbhata's
example for "real" doubt, since none of the other writers seems wil-
ling to limit the figure in this way: "haste kim asya niḥśeṣadai-
tyahrddalanodbhavaḥ yaśaḥsamcaya eşa syāt pindibhāvo'sya kim
kṛtaḥ । nābhipadmaspṛhâyātaḥ kim hamso nâişa cañcalaḥ । iti yasyâ-
bhitaḥ śankham aśañkiştârjavo janaḥh" ("Can this be in [Siva's] hand
the accumulation of glory born of his destroying all the demons'
loves? Why has it become spherical? Can it be a swan filled with
desire for his lotus-navel? But it is motionless! So does the stupid
fellow wonder about the conch shell'). Or: "He thought he saw an
Elephant, / That practised on a fife: / He looked again, and found
it was/A letter from his wife. / "At length I realize', he said, / 'The
bitterness of Life!"" (Lewis Carroll).
GLOSSARY
aniscaya, 'undecided': (1) a type of samdeha in which the resolution of
the doubt is neither intimated nor given. (2) R 8.59 (60). (3)
asyāḥ sargavidhau prajāpatir abhūc candro nu kāntipradaḥ śṛīgārđi-
karasaḥ svayam nu madano māso nu puspâkaraḥ । vedâbhyāsajaḍaḥ
nu vişayavyāvṛttakautūhalo nirmātum prabhaven manoharam idam
rūpam purāṇo muniḥ (Kālidāsa, quoted by Rudrata: "The God
Prajāpati presided at her birth! Or was it the moon, giver of beauty?
Or was it Love, made of pure affection? Or the springtime, the
mine of flowers? How could the ancient sage-his mind dulled by
recitation of the Veda, his curiosity turned away from outward things
-conspire to create this excellently lovely form?"). (4) "God bless
the King, I mean the faith's defender; / God bless-no harm in
blessing the Pretender:/ But who Pretender is, or who is King,
/ God bless us all-that's quite another thing" (John Byrom). (5)
In niscayagarbha, the doubt is implicitly resolved by proposing a
reason why the two things cannot be the same. In niscayânta, this
is put positively and one learns what, in fact, they are. Note that
neither example can be taken as a simile: in the first case, the inten-
tion is not to compare Prajāpati with the moon, etc., but, quite the
contrary, to say that only the moon, etc. are qualified to serve as
tutelary deities at Urvasi's birth (this might be called a samdeha</p>
<pb n="316" />
<p>314
GLOSSARY
vyatireka). Byrom likewise expresses only the insecurity of man's
state and is unsure which "tutelary deity" guides him.
niścayagarbha, 'pregnant with decision': (1) a type of samdeha in which
the doubt is implicitly resolved by advancing a discriminating
qualification which makes it impossible that the two things in question
can be the same. (2) R 8.61 (62-63). (3) etat kim śašibimbam na tad
asti katham kalañkam añke'sya / kim và vadanam idam tat katham
iyam iyati prabhâsya syāt (Rudrata: "Can that be the moon's orb?
Impossible; there are no spots upon it! Can it then be a face?
If so, how could it be so brilliant?"). (4) "Women ben full of Ragerie,
/ Yet swinken not sans secresie / Thilke Moral shall ye understand, /
From Schoole-boy's Tale of fayre Irelond: / Which to the Fennes
hath him betake, / To filch the gray Ducke fro the Lake. / Right
then, there passen by the Way / His Aunt, and eke her Daughters
tway. Ducke in his Trowses hath he hent, / Not to be spied of
Ladies gent. / 'But ho! our Nephew', (crieth one) / 'Ho', quoth
another, 'Cozen John'; / And stoppen, and laugh, and callen out,—।
This sely Clerk full low doth lout: / They asken that, and talken this,
/*Lo here is Coz, and here is Miss'. / But, as he glozeth with Speeches
soote, The Ducke sore tickleth his Erse-root: / Force-piece and
buttons all-to-brest, / Forth thrust a white neck, and red crest. /
*Te-he', cry'd Ladies; Clerke nought spake: / Miss star'd; and gray
Ducke crieth Quake. / 'O Moder, Moder" (quoth the daughter) /
'Be thilke same thing Maids longen a'ter? / 'Bette is to pyne on coals
and chalke, / Then trust on Mon, whose yerde can talke'" (Alexander
Pope; "Imitation of Chaucer"). (5) The discrimination is given,
but the proper identification is not made: cf. niścayânta.
niścayânta, 'conclusive': (1) a type of sardeha in which the doubt is
resolved by the proper identification of the two similar things.
(2) R 8.61 (64). (3) kim ayam hariḥ katham tad gauraḥ kim vā
haraḥ kva so'sya vṛṣaḥ । iti samśayya bhavantam nämnā niścinvate
lokāḥ (Rudraţa: "Is he Kṛṣṇa? Why is he not dark? Is he Śiva?
Where is his bull? In this way onlookers at first doubting now at
last conclude who you are, O King"). (4) "Surely she lean'd o'er
me-her hair / Fell about my face .... / Nothing: the autumn-fall of
leaves" (Dante Gabriel Rossetti). (5) Cf. aniścaya and niscayagarbha
samdeha.
bhedânukti, 'non-expression of the difference': (1) same as aniścaya.
(2) M 138.
bhedôkti, 'expression of the difference': (1) same as niscayagarbha. (2) M 138.</p>
<pb n="317" />
<p>GLOSSARY
315
sama
sama, "together': (1) a figure in which is depicted an appropriate conjunc-
tion of events, persons, or qualities. (2) M 193. (3) dhātuḥ śilpâtiša-
yanikaşasthānam eșā mṛgâkṣī । rüpe devo'py ayam anupamo datta-
patraḥ smarasya । jātam daivāt sadṛśam anayoḥ samgatam yat tad
etat śrngārasyöpanatam adhunā rājyam ekâtapatram (Mammaţa;
a marriage is described: "This doe-eyed maiden is the veritable
touchstone of the creator's skill; in beauty, the King is incomparable
and the given vessel of Love itself! That their union should come
about through fate means that the kingdom of Love has been
brought under one umbrella!"). (4) "Happy, happy, happy Pair! /
None but the Brave, / None but the Brave, / None but the Brave
deserves the Fair" (John Dryden). (5) In origin, this figure may simply
be an adverb mistaken for a name in an enumerative verse. The
Agni Purāṇa affirms that the arthålamkāra (q.v.) are eight in number
(344.2-3); the chapter is devoted to definitions of them, and from
that text, we learn that the eight are svarūpa (3), sādṛśya (5), utprekṣā
(25), atiśaya (26), višeşôkti (27), vibhāvanā (28), virodha (29), and
hetu (30). The introductory verse enumerating the eight gives, how-
ever, only seven, ignoring viseşôkti. After hetu, the words "samam
astadhā" ("together, eightfold') close the half verse, presumably to
fill out the metre. Later commentators and writers, apparently
ignoring the body of the text, have raised this superfluous adverb
(samam) into the eighth arthålamkāra, and it is included in all later
anthologies, starting with Mammața. The Sarasvatīkaṇṭhâbharaṇa,
which follows the Agni Purāṇa closely, does not mention samâlam-
kāra. There is a sāmya, but it refers to intimated similes. If this
interpretation is correct, we have here an excellent instance of the
eclectic resilience of the later encyclopaedists. None of the printed
texts of the Agni Purāņa, not even the so-called critical edition of
S. M. Bhattacharya, seem to have noticed this anacoluthon.
samadhi
samadhi, 'conjunction': (1) a figure in which a desired effect is accomplished
by the coincidental intervention of another and quite irrelevant
cause. (2) M 192. (3) mānam asyā nirākartum pādayor me patișyataḥ
। upakārāya diṣṭyėdam udīrṇam ghanagarjitam (Mammața: "As I
fell at her feet to beg respite from her wrath, to my aid came a
great exploding thunderclap"). (4) "I asked professors who teach
the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness. And I went to</p>
<pb n="318" />
<p>316
GLOSSARY
famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men. / They
all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying
to fool with them. / And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered
out along the Desplaines river / And I saw a crowd of Hungarians
under the trees with their women and children and keg of beer and
an accordion" (Carl Sandburg). (5) This figure differs from vyāghāta
in that the intervening cause is unrelated to the original (obstructed)
motive. Samadhi is the same as samahita of Bhamaha and Dandin.
samāsôkti
samāsôkti, 'concise speech': (1) a figure in which the descriptive qualifica-
tions of an explicit subject suggest an implicitly comparable object
to which they likewise apply. (2) B 2.79 (80), D 2.205-213, V 4.3.3,
U 2.10, AP 345.17, R 8.67 (68), M 148. (3) skandhavān ṛjur avyālaḥ
sthiro'nekamahāphalaḥ । jātas tarur ayam côccaiḥ pātitaś ca nabha-
svatā (Bhāmaha; the description of the tree suggests the picture of a
noble man fallen on hard times: "A great tree has grown here, with
many limbs, erect and without flaws, firm and bestowing many
great fruits; now it has fallen from its high place, uprooted by the
wind"). (4) "The young man ... reached down the boughs where
the scarlet beady cherries hung thick underneath, and tore off
handfull after handfull of the sleek cool-fleshed fruit. Cherries
touched his ears and his neck as he stretched forward, their chill
finger-tips sending a flash down his blood. All shades of red, from
a golden vermillion to a rich crimson glowed and met his eyes under
a darkness of leaves" (D. H. Lawrence; the description of the tree
suggests the young man's incipient passion). (5) This figure is
easily confused with aprastutapraśamsā, and any attempt to distin-
guish sharply the two figures is rendered fruitless by an historical
examination of the relation between them. Though each writer
distinguishes them in his way, none follows exactly his predecessor,
and the same concept is likely to end up on both sides of the defini-
tion at one time or other. There are two criteria involved in the
distinction, from which only Daṇḍin deviates significantly. The first
is that samāsôkti tends to repose on the identity of descriptive
qualifications of two terms: one explicit, the upamāna; one implicit,
the upameya. There is no emphasis placed on the implicit term, thus
making it into the explanation of the occasion of the remark itself.
Aprastutaprašamsa, on the other hand, generally imposes upon the
terms such an emphasis, and it can function through relations other</p>
<pb n="319" />
<p>317
than identity of qualification, such as similitude or causality. We
might say that in aprastutaprašamsā the remark is always motivated,
while in samāsôkti the suggestion of the other situation is subordin-
ated to the requirements of clever characterization. The case is
perhaps clearest in Bhāmaha, the first writer to define both terms:
"yatrôkte gamyate'nyo'rthas" (where another meaning is understood
in a given expression"; samāsôkti) and "adhikarād apetasya vastuno'-
nyasya yā stutiḥ" ("mention made of a subject irrelevant to the topic';
aprastutapraśamsā). Evidently exegesis is still required. Udbhata
and Mammața conform in general to this pattern, but the latter
complicates the discussion by defining a type of aprastutaprašamsă
based on samāsôkti. This is perfectly reasonable and justified by
the distinction given above: where the identity of descriptive qualifi-
cations serves (in lieu of other possible relations) to suggest the real
subject of the motivated remark, we have conjunction. Rudrața's
definition is straightforward, but since he does not accept the figure
aprastutapraśamsā, his samāsôkti can be made to cover both cases:
the object of comparison serves to suggest the subject of comparison.
Vāmana, in his attempt to reduce all figures to a basic simile, is
forced to modify the present distinction inasmuch as it is indifferent
to the nature of comparison (cf. Rudrata's definition). For him,
the subject of comparison is unmentioned in samāsôkti, but is
partially mentioned (that is, through its attributes only) in aprastuta-
praśamsă. Thus samāsôkti covers the two terms as used by the other
writers, and aprastutapraśaņīsā is unparalleled (cf. aprastutaprašamsā
II), but resembles the more usual samāsôkti. It is Dandin's treatment,
however, which diverges farthest from the norm. He defines samā-
sôkti in the way Mammața defines tulya aprastutapraśamsā, and his
aprastutaprašamsă is etymologically interpreted as a kind of vyāja-
stuti (concealed praise) which could be called "concealed blame"
(cf. aprastutapraśamsă III). Only Dandin subdivides samāsôkti, so
the peculiar character of his general definition must be born in
mind when examining these subtypes. The qualifications will either
apply equally to both subjects (tulyâkāraviśeşana), or some to both
and some to the implicit subject only (bhinnâbhinnavišeşaṇa).
Thirdly, the qualifications may cease to apply to either subject in
time (apūrva).
GLOSSARY
The encyclopaedist Ruyyaka has stated the opposition between
aprastutaprašamsā and samāsôkti most rigorously. Accepting the
usual version of aprastutaprašamsā, he understands the other figure</p>
<pb n="320" />
<p>318
GLOSSARY
as its exact inverse: "prastutad aprastutapratītau samāsôktir uktā ॥
adhunā tadvaiparītyenâprastutāt prastutapratītāv aprastutaprašamsô-
cyate" ("samäsôkti is defined as the understanding of what was not
intended, on the basis of what was; now in opposition to that,
aprastutaprašamsă is defined as the understanding of what was
intended on the basis of what was not'; p. 132). This recapitulates
rather forcefully and with perhaps too much antithesis what was
stated earlier: in aprastutapraśamsă the purpose of the utterance
(its prastuta) is precisely what is not said; in samāsökti, for the most
part, that implicit reference should not be understood as the main
topic itself. The implicit aprastuta serves only as a flattering back-
ground; for example, when a king is described in terms also appro-
priate to the Diety: "he is of clever mien [four faced]". In these terms,
then, samăsôkti appears as a simile in which the upamāna is implicit.
apūrva, 'unprecedented': (1) a type of samāsôkti in which the qualifica-
tions will cease to apply to either subject at some future time. (2)
D 2.213 (212). (3) nivṛttavyālasamsargo nisargamadhurâśayaḥ ।
ayam ambhonidhiḥ kastam kālena parišuşyati (Dandin; the reference
is to the eventual demise of a liberal benefactor: "This great ocean
where serpents [evil men] perish and whose fund of fresh water
[affection] is elemental will in time, alas, dry up!"). (4) "There was a
lean and haggard woman, too-a prisoner's wife who was watering,
with great solicitude, the wretched stump of a dried-up, withered
plant, which, it was plain to see, could never send forth a green leaf
again too true an emblem, perhaps, of the office she had come
there to discharge" (Charles Dickens; in this example, the qualifica-
tion [sending forth a green leaf] has already ceased to apply, but the
function of the periphrasis remains the same to indicate termination
through parallelism of change).
tulyâkāraviseşaņa, 'whose qualifications apply in the same respect': (1) a
type of samāsôkti in which the qualifications apply in the same respect
to both the expressed and understood subjects. (2) D 2.208 (209).
(3) rūḍhamūlaḥ phalabharaiḥ puṣṇann anišam arthinaḥ । sāndracchāyo
mahāvrkṣaḥ so'yam āsādito mayā (Daṇḍin: "I have seated myself
under this great tree, deep rooted and thick shading, which ever
provides for the needy with its harvests of fruit"). (4) "And then
he dwelt for a while on the wife of a man called Socrates, who he
didn't bother to place, though I judged he had something to do with
the mule train, as there was a fair number of foreigners amongst
them" (Robert Lewis Taylor).</p>
<pb n="321" />
<p>319
bhinnâbhinnaviseṣaṇa, 'whose qualifications apply both differently and
in the same respect': (1) a type of samāsökti in which some of the
qualifications apply only to the understood subject. (2) D 2.208
(210). (3) analpavitapâbhogaḥ phalapuspasamṛddhiman / sôcchrāyaḥ
sthairyavān daivād eșa labdho mayā drumaḥ (D din; a benefactor
is thus referred to: "My fortune is that I have found this tree of
expansive foliage, rich with fruit and flower, lofty and steadfast").
(4) "*Is the gray mare made over to anybody? inquired Mr. Weller
anxiously. George nodded in the affirmative. "Vell, that's all right",
said Mr. Weller. 'Coach taken care of, also?" "Con-signed in a
safe quarter', replied George, wringing the heads off half a dozen
shrimps, and swallowing them without any more ado. "Wery good,
wery good', said Mr. Weller. 'Alvays see to the drag ven you go
downhill. Is the vaybill all clear and straight for'erd?" "The schedule,
sir', said Pell, guessing at Mr. Weller's meaning, 'the schedule is as
plain and satisfactory as pen and ink can make it"" (Charles Dickens;
the references are to the legal liquidation of a bankrupt coachman's
property. The first two remarks apply only to the lawsuit; the last
two ("downhill", "vay-bill") apply to the legal "journey" the coach-
man is about to make).
GLOSSARY
samāhita
samāhita (I), 'composed': (1) a figure wherein a similitude serves as the
basis for the total identification of two similar things in the mind of a
particular person; a consciously formulated metaphor. (2) V 4.3.29.
(3) tanvī meghajalârdrapallavatayā dhautâdharêvâśrubhiḥ śūnyévâ-
bharaṇaiḥ svakālavirahād viśrāntapuṣpôdgamă । cintāmaunam ivâsthi-
tā madhulihām śabdair vină lakşyate candi mám avadhūya pädapati-
tam jātânutāpēva sā (Vāmana; Purūravas addresses the creeper as
though it were Urvasi: "The thin creeper, its leaves wet with the rain,
is like her lip wet with tears; like her dress without jewels, the creeper
sleeps through its flowerless season without the sound of bees like
my love lost in thought; the cruel thing spurns me fallen at its feet
like my love whom I hurt"). (4) "Sleepily she cuddled up in the fold
of his left arm, her cheek against his heart, though a hard hand which
seemed to be pounding against a wall was trying to wake her up
again; she would just let it go on pounding all it pleased. She had to
sleep some more!... But now mother was here. Hurriedly she was
transferred into her mother's arms and squeezed almost to a pan-
cake. She had to gasp for breath; nevertheless she snuggled into</p>
<pb n="322" />
<p>320
GLOSSARY
her arms as closely as she could, for she felt, oh, so sleepy! ... But no
peace here, either! Here, too, a hand pounded against a wall. Were
they tearing down the house?" (O. E. Rolvaag; the parents' chests
are represented as a wall). (5) Though the element of confusion is
present objectively, the figure differs from bhräntimat in that the
confusion is subjectively willed, or is at least not the concomitant
of error. The identification of the two things here differs from
rūpaka, since the mode of the identification is volitional, not conven-
tional; a stratum of explicit consciousness is overlaid on the identifi-
cation.
samāhita (II): (1) same as samādhi. (2) B 3.10, D 2.298 (299).
samuccaya
samuccaya, 'accumulation': (1) a figure consisting of the multiplication
of descriptive adjuncts to a thing or mood. (2) R 7.19 (20-26),
7.27 (28-29), 8.103 (104), M 178-79. (3) sukham idam etāvad iha
sphārasphuradindumaṇḍalā rajanī । saudhatalam kāvyakathā suhṛdaḥ
snigdhā vidagdhäś ca (Rudrața: "It is so pleasant here! The night is
brilliant with a glimmering moon; here on the palace roof poetry is
read; friends are kind and clever"). (4) "As [the Public] sat, listening
to his speeches, in which considerations of stolid plainness succeeded
one another with complete flatness, they felt, involved and supported
by the colossal tedium, that their confidence was finally assured"
(Lytton Strachey; Lord Hartington is quite a bore). (5) Rudraţa
gives many examples showing not different kinds of accumulation,
but differences in the kinds of things accumulated. In general, his
distinctions follow the canonical fourfold pattern of jāti, kriyā,
guna, and dravya. The accumulation of states, events, or adjuncts is,
of course, designed to re-enforce the tone of a description, as in
parikara alamkāra, where the qualifications or epithets alone of a
thing are multiplied. Formally, samuccaya is the same as dipaka
alamkāra, but in fact the motives underlying their use are diametrically
opposed: here the emphasis is on the quantity of adjuncts; in dipaka,
it is on the single word which bears the syntactical force of the
whole sentence.
sahőkti
sahôkti 'speech containing the word "with": (1) a figure in which two
separate things or ideas are represented as conjoined or occurring
at once. (2) B 3.38 (39), 3.17, D 2.351 (352-56), V 4.3.28,U 5.15,</p>
<pb n="323" />
<p>GLOSSARY
321
AP 344.23, R 7.13-18, 8.99 (102), M 170. (3) bhavadaparādhaiḥ
särdham samtāpo vardhatetarām tasyāḥ । kṣayam eti sā varākī
snehena samam tvadīyena (Rudrața: "Together with your unfaith-
fulness, her suffering grows and grows; the unfortunate girl is ruined
along with your love for her"). (4) "Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's
gate sings, / And Phoebus gins arise, / His steeds to water at those
springs / On chaliced flowers that lies; / And winking Mary-buds
begin / To ope their golden eyes: / With everything that pretty is, /
My lady sweet, arise; / Arise, arise!" (Shakespeare). (5) Accom-
paniment is, of course, one type of association, and this latter notion
can always suggest a comparison (as in the second example). Some
writers, notably Vāmana and the Agni Purāṇa, have emphasized the
comparative aspect of sahôkti; others have preferred to leave its
definition purely formal (as in the first example). Rudrața allows
both. The many definitions and examples which Rudrata gives are
not distinguished by any special terminology, and in fact the
discriminations are quite extrinsic and depend on the actual relation-
ship of the things said to be accompanying one another. One example
refers to two things which, in fact, do physically accompany one
another (breasts and attractiveness), another to two things which are
always complimentary (man's unfaithfulness and woman's sorrow),
the third to two things which are merely contemporary, never con-
tigent. Dandin's three examples show contemporaneous association,
either through qualities (as: "saha dīrghā mama śvāsair imāḥ sam-
prati rätrayaḥ", 'the nights are long, and my sighs"), or through
actions (as: "yānti sārdham janânandair vṛddhim surabhivāsarāḥ",
'the spring days are fulfilled, along with the peoples' joys'). Mam-
mata has taken the obvious step of inventing a figure vinôkti ('exclu-
sion').
sādṛśya
sādṛśya, "similitude': (1) a generic term for simile (upamā) and those
figures based upon it. (2) AP 344.5 (6-24). (5) See aupamya, a term
used by Rudrața with the same intent. The term here refers to
upamā, rūpaka, sahôkti, and arthântaranyasa.
sāmānya
sāmānya, 'identity': (1) same as ananyatva atiśayôkti. (2) M 202.</p>
<pb n="324" />
<p>322
GLOSSARY
sāmya
sāmya (I), 'likeness': (1) a figure in which the subject of comparison is
represented as fulfilling the function of the object of comparison.
(2) R 8.105 (106). (3) abhisara ramaṇam kim imām diśam aindrīm
ākulam vilokayasi । śašinaḥ karoti kāryam sakalam mukham eva te
mughde (Rudraţa: "Go to your lover! Why are you gazing distract-
edly at the eastern sky? O foolish girl, your face is accomplishing
the work of the moon!"). (4) "O saw ye not fair Ines? / She's gone
into the West, / To dazzle when the sun is down, / And rob the world
of rest" (Thomas Hood). (5) Cf. pihita alamkāra, where one quality
superimposes itself upon another. Here the two subjects are not
confused, though their functions make them interchangeable.
sāmya (II): (1) a figure in which the subject and object of comparison
differ only modally. (2) R 8.107 (108). (3) mrgam mrṛgáñkaḥ sahajam
kalañkam bibharti tasyās tu mukham kadācit । āhāryam evaņ
mṛganābhipattram iyān aśeşeṇa tayor višeṣaḥ (Rudraţa: "The rabbit-
marked moon is inherently spotted; her face, however, is only oc-
casionally marked with lines of musk. This is the only difference
between them"). (4) "Far more welcome than the spring; / He that
parteth from you never / Shall enjoy a spring forever" (William
Browne). (5) In these examples, one of the terms compared is
represented as existing continuously, while the other exists only
temporarily. The figure is thus distinguished from cațu upamā
in that the difference there is simply overlooked, and from atisaya
upamā in that the difference is there reduced to the bare fact of
separate existence. All three figures agree in ignoring the concrete
difference between the things compared, that is, their sharing the
common property in different degrees.
sāra
sāra, 'pith': (1) a figure wherein is expressed a concatenated series such
that each succeeding term expresses a characteristic improvement
in relation to the preceding. (2) R 7.96 (97), M 190. (3) rājye säram
vasudhā vasumdharāyām puram pure saudham । saudhe talpam talpe
varanganânangasarvasvam (Rudrata: "In the kingdom, the earth is
best, on the earth, the capital, in the capital, your palace, in the
palace, a bed, in the bed, the entire wealth of the Love God-that
beautiful woman"). (4) "The mouth seemed formed less to speak then
to quiver, less to quiver than to kiss, (some might have added) less
to kiss than to curl" (Thomas Hardy). (5) This figure amounts to a</p>
<pb n="325" />
<p>323
sequence of related comparatives; here the comparative degree of
the adjective connects the series of terms as, in ekâvalī, they were
connected through the notion of qualification and, in kāraṇamālā,
through the relation of cause and effect. See also the various similes
and metaphors extended into sequences (mālā).
GLOSSARY
sükşma
sūkşma (I), 'subtle': (1) a figure in which an intention or idea is said to be
conveyed through a gesture, glance, or means other than language.
(2) B 2.86, D 2.235, 260 (261-64), M 189. (3) padmasammilanād
atra súcito nisi samgamaḥ । āśvāsayitum icchantyā priyam angaja-
pīḍitam (Daṇḍin: "Putting a lotus on, she indicates a rendez-vous
that night, desiring to comfort her love-lorn favorite"). (4) "The
voice was Southern and gentle and drawling; and a second voice
came in immediate answer, cracked and querulous: 'It ain't again.
Who says it's again? Who told you, anyway?" And the first voice
responded caressingly:-'Why, your Sunday clothes told me, Uncle
Hughey. They are speakin' mighty loud o' nuptials"" (Owen
Wister). (5) The Sanskrit example is literal, the English attributes an
intention to an inanimate object. This figure is one of several
dealing with communication (see paryāya, vakrôkti, leśa). It may
seem curious that a figure of speech could be defined in an area which
is specifically non-verbal or extra-verbal. In the first place, the figure
is a representation of such an occurrence in words and may be com-
patible with figurative usage. Secondly, taken in the context of the
other figures indicating an intention of the speaker, the present
figure has a certain place in the system and may not be ignored.
sūkşma (II): (1) same as utprekṣā of Daṇḍin. (2) R 7.98 (99).
smaraṇa
smarana, 'recollection': (1) a figure conveying a recollection based on
similitude. (2) M 199. (3) nimnanābhikuhareşu yad ambhaḥ plävitam
caladṛśām laharībhiḥ । tadbhavaiḥ kuharutaiḥ suranāryaḥ smārītāḥ
suratakantharutānām (Mammața: "The water of the waves laps
in the deep navels of the swift-glancing nymphs, reminding one of
goddesses making love and the throaty murmurings of their pas-
sion"). (4) "Her presence brought memories of such things as Bour-
bon roses, rubies and tropical midnights; her moods recalled lotus-
eaters and the march in Athalie'; her motions, the ebb and flow
of the sea; her voice, the viola" (Thomas Hardy). (5) The point of</p>
<pb n="326" />
<p>324
GLOSSARY
this figure is that one of the relations upon which recollection can
be based is similitude (the others are contiguity, contemporaneity,
etc.), and such recollection constitutes an implicit simile. Another
name for this figure is kävyahetu.
svabhāvokti
svabhāvokti, 'telling the nature (of a thing)': (1) a figure in which a natural
or typical individual is characterized. (2) B 1.30, 2.93, D 2.8 (9-13),
U 3.5, R 7.30 (31-33: jāti), M 168. (3) dhūlīdhūsaratanavo rājyasthi-
tiracanakalpitâikanṛpāḥ । krtamukhavādyavikārāḥ krīḍanti suni-
rbharam dimbhāḥ (Rudrata: "The children are intent at their play,
bodies gray with dust, one among them chosen to occupy the station
of a king, assuming grave miens and voices"). (4) "On the day
when I first learned of my father's journey, I had come back with
two companions from a satisfactory afternoon in the weeds near
Kay's Bell Foundry, shooting a slingshot at the new bells, which
were lying out in the yard and strung up on rafters. Struck with
rocks, they made a beautiful sound, although it seemed to upset
Mr. William Kay, the proprietor. His sign, "Maker of Church,
Steamboat, Tavern and Other Bells", hung over the doorway of his
barnlike shop and had a row of little brass bells swinging beneath,
squat and burnished, but these were hard to hit, and if you missed
them, you were apt to hit one of the men working inside, and this
was what seemed to upset Mr. William Kay most of all. So toward
the end of the afternoon he pranced out with a double barreled
shotgun loaded with pepper and blistered Herbert Swann's seat as
he zigzagged to safety through the high grass" (Robert Lewis Taylor).
(5) Both examples describe children at play. The poetic nature of
this figure constitutes one of the longest standing disputes of the
alamkāraśāstra. In fact, the oldest writer, Bhāmaha, specifically
objects to this figure on the ground that it does not involve vakrôkti
or the figurative turn of phrase essential in any poetry. This point
of view is taken up in more detail much later by Kuntaka (Vakró-
ktijivita 1.11). Dandin, however, followed by most of the other
alamkāra writers, has included svabhävôkti, although in a much
discussed verse (2.363), he seems to distinguish that figure from the
rest of the alamkāras. The poetic basis of the figure is probably
to be sought in the genre called jäti: short verses, extremely condensed
yet full of minute detail, each one attempting to seize the instantane-
ous totality of a certain event, or an individual as wholly characteristic</p>
<pb n="327" />
<p>GLOSSARY
325
of a genus, such as a hawk diving on a scrap of food or a village
woman drawing water from the well (Subhāṣitaratnakoșa, verses
1148-92). Here the charm lies precisely in the completeness of the
description within the limits imposed by the verse, and not on any
figurative usage. Yet that charm is undeniable. Daṇḍin includes
in his definition of the figure not merely that it is descriptive, but that
that description reflects the different aspects' (nānåvastha) of the
thing. Rudraţa, likewise, is far from thinking svabhävôkti mere
description; his criteria specify that the rendering be appropriate
to the time and characteristic of the thing (avasthôcita). Some con-
texts are simply more interesting than others; his description of the
young woman being made love to, though clinically exact, illustrates
this appropriateness of subject, detail, and occasion perfectly.
Dandin gives four examples of svabhāvokti, as the description
emphasizes one of the four metaphysical categories jāti ('type'),
kriya ('act'), guna ('attribute'), or dravya, ('individual'). The
distinction is arbitrary in the sense that any good example of
svabhävôkti will express that perfect blending of type, action,
attribute, and individual which we tend to call "characteristic unity".
But the emphasis may vary from one case to another.
A speculative discussion of the rationale for including this figure
within figurative usage will be found in the Introduction, pp. 42 ff.
kriya, 'verb': (1) a type of svabhāvokti in which the behavior of the
subject is emphasized. (2) D 2.13 (10). (3) kalakvanitagarbhena
kanthenâghūrnitékşaṇaiḥ । pārāvataḥ paribhramya riramsus cumbati
priyām (Dandin: "A pigeon wanders about with eyes rolling and
soft cooings coming from its throat and, desiring its mate, kisses
her"). (4) "Save yow, I herde nevere man so synge / As dide youre
fader in the morwenynge. / Certes, it was of herte, al that he song. /
And for to make his voys the moore strong, / He wolde so peyne
hym that with bothe his yen / He moste wynke, so loude he wolde
cryen, / And stonden on his tiptoon therwithal, / And strecche forth
his nekke long and smal" (Geoffrey Chaucer). (5) See jāti, guna,
dravya.
guna, 'attribute, adjective': (1) a type of svabhāvokti in which the contex-
tual or descriptive attributes of the subject are emphasized. (2)
D 2.13 (11). (3) badhnann añgeșu romāñcam kurvan manasi nirvṛtim ।
netre câmîlayann eşa priyāsparśaḥ pravartate (Daṇḍin: "The touch
of the beloved provokes a tingling in the limbs, happy release in
the mind, a closing of the eyes"). (4) "The open hills were airy and</p>
<pb n="328" />
<p>326
GLOSSARY
clear, and the remote atmosphere appeared, as it often appears on a
fine winter day, in distinct planes of illumination independently
toned, the rays which lit the nearer tracts of landscape streaming
visibly across those further off; a stratum of ensaffroned light was
imposed on a stratum of deep blue, and behind these lay still remoter
scenes wrapped in frigid grey" (Thomas Hardy). (5) Guņa svabhāvôkti
is to be distinguished from jäti svabhāvokti, where the constitutive
or generic aspects of the subject are emphasized.
jāti, 'genus': (1) a type of svabhāvôkti in which the generic aspects of
the subject are emphasized. (2) D 2.13 (9). (3) tuņdair ātāmrakuţilaiḥ
pakşair haritakomalaiḥ । trivarṇarājibhiḥ kanthair ete mañjugiraḥ
śukāḥ (Dandin: "With beaks bent and reddish, with wings yellow
and soft and throats bearing three-colored stripes, the parrots call
softly"). (4) "She was an egregious fowl. She was huge and gaunt,
with great yellow beak, and she stood straight and alert in the
manner of responsible people. There was something wrong with
the tail. It slanted far to one side, one feather in it twice as long
as the rest. Feathers on her breast there were none. These had been
worn entirely off by her habit of sitting upon potatoes and other
rough objects ... Her legs were blue, long, and remarkably stout"
(Owen Wister). (5) See kriyā, guṇa, dravya.
dravya, 'material': (1) a type of svabhävôkti in which a typical individual
is characterized. (2) D 2.13 (12). (3) kaṇthekālaḥ karasthena
kapálenêndusekharaḥ । jatabhiḥ snigdhatāmrabhir ávir āsīd vṛṣadhva-
jaḥ (Dandin: "Śiva comes into view atop his bull, with dark blue
neck, a skull in his hand, the moon on his brow, and matted locks,
reddish and greasy"). (4) "And on her legs she painted buskins
wore, / Basted with bands of gold on every side, / And mails between,
and laced close afore: / Upon her thigh her scimitar was tied, / With
an embroidered belt of mickle pride; / And on her shoulder hung
her shield, bedecked / Upon the boss with stones, that shined wide, /
As the fair moon in her most full aspect, / That to the moon it mote
be like in each respect" (Edmund Spenser; of Radigund). (5) This
type of svabhāvôkti is doubtless designed to cover that large category
of exceptional individuals whose attributes in Indian story have
become standardized. The stotra literature abounds in such descrip-
tive verses of gods and godlings. Presumably the description of
ordinary individuals would fall into the category jāti svabhāvokti.</p>
<pb n="329" />
<p>GLOSSARY
327
svarūpa
svarūpa, 'nature': (1) probably the same as svabhāvôkti. (2) AP 344.3-4.
(5) The figure is divided into sämsiddhika (nija) and naimittika
(ägantuka). It is the first arthålamkāra of the Agni Purāņa.
hetu
betu, 'cause': (1) a figure in which an effect is described along with its
cause. (2) D 2.235-59, AP 344.29, R 7.82 (83); refuted by B 2.86,
M 186. (3) aviralakamalavikāsaḥ sakalālimadaś ca kokilânandaḥ ।
ramyo'yam eti samprati lokôtkaṇṭhākaraḥ kālaḥ (Rudrata; descrip-
tion of the springtime and its several effects: "The delightful season
progresses; men fall in love, nightingales rejoice, drunken bees
hover about the unbroken spread of lotus blooms"). (4) "Beneath
this slab / John Brown is stowed. / He watched the ads / And not the
road" (Ogden Nash). (5) This is the most controversial alamkāra.
It would seem to be nothing but literal description, like the figure
svabhāvokti, and it has been rejected by Bhāmaha and Mammaţa
for that reason, for they feel that an alamkāra must repose upon some
figurative usage (Mammața does in effect resuscitate the figure hetu
as kavyalinga, q.v.). But, as usual, such objections miss the point:
those authors who accept hetu are far from thinking it mere literalism,
judging by the examples which they give. All involve some striking,
though not necessarily deformed or unnatural (cf. vyāghāta, asamgati,
etc.) instance of the cause-effect relation. Though the cause of John
Brown's death is given literally, it touches upon other issues which
strike a responsive chord in the reader's mind, and he is pleased.
It would be said by Anandavardhana that in this instance, the figure
hetu was nothing but a means to the expression of a dhvani (sugges-
tion) regarding the ubiquity of billboards, etc. In such considerations
may be said to reside the alamkārata of the figure hetu. Dandin gives
an extensive inventory of examples based, oddly enough, on the
philosophical analysis of cause: it is a cause either of knowledge
(jñāpaka) or of work (käraka); it may increase (upabrhana) or
diminish (nivṛtti); the cause may be non-existent (abhāva), simulated
(präpya), immediate (tatsahaja), or mediate (dūrakārya). Within the
figure, the cause may be appropriate (yukta) or inappropriate (ayukta)
to its effect. This last amounts to a mixed metaphor.
abhāva, 'non-existence': (1) a type of hetu in which a certain cause is
absent, and the effect is the appropriate contrary. (2) D 2.246
(247-52). (3) gataḥ kāmakathônmãdo galito yauvanajvaraḥ/kşato mohaś</p>
<pb n="330" />
<p>328
GLOSSARY
cyutā tṛṣṇa kṛtam punyâśrame manaḥ (Daṇḍin: "Gone is the fascina-
tion of the tales of love, slipped away the fever of youth; error is
ended, desire lost; my mind is fixed on the holy retreat"). (4) "**And
yet you incessantly stand on your head- / Do you think, at your
age, it is right?" / "In my youth', Father William replied to his son, /
'I feared it might injure the brain; / But, now that I'm perfectly
sure I have none, / Why, I do it again and again"" (Lewis Carroll).
(5) Dandin, with careful scholarship, illustrates the four kinds of
non-existence which are recognized by the logicians: prāgabhāva
(non-existence preceding becoming), pradhvamsâbhāva (non-existence
following cessation), anyonyâbhāva (difference), and atyantābhāva
(unqualified non-existence). Both the examples given are of pradham-
sâbhāva.
ayukta, 'inappropriate': (1) a type of hetu wherein the cause is expressed
figuratively and in such a way that, beyond the figure, the cause is
improperly related to the effect. (2) D 2.253 (258). (3) rājñām
hastâravindāni kuḍmalīkurute kutaḥ । deva tvaccaraṇadvandvarāga-
balâtapaḥ sprśan (Dandin; lotuses do not normally close during
the day, but the hand-lotuses of the court do, in the presence of the
Sun-King; "King, why do the hand-lotuses of your court close when
they have been touched by the red suns of your lac-anointed feet?").
(4) "To Daisies, not to shut so soon: /.../ Stay but till my Julia
close / Her life-begetting eye, / And let the whole world then dispose /
Itself to live or die" (Robert Herrick; the "inappropriateness" is
only in the poet's wish that the "sun" of Julia's eye should cause the
daisies to bloom into the night). (5) See yukta. In these two cases,
the figurative expression, in the sense of a non-natural representation,
does not attach to the cause itself, but only to the terms which serve
as cause and effect. In this, they are different from such figures as
vyāghāta, asamgati, etc., where the nature of the relation of cause to
effect is expressed differently. The "inappropriateness" of ayukta
consists in the wrong effect being said of that cause, and it is excused
by both cause and effect serving as objects of comparison to other
terms, onto which the relation of cause-effect is thereby transferred.
These terms, as subjects of comparison, can support the non-
literalness or inappropriateness inherent in the basic expression.
upabrhana, 'augmentation': (1) a type of hetu wherein the modality of
the cause is increase or augmentation. (2) D 2.237 (236). (3) ayam
andolitapraudhacandanadrumapallavaḥ । utpädayati sarvasya pritim
malayamārutaḥ (Dandin; "produces" pleasure: "The southern wind</p>
<pb n="331" />
<p>GLOSSARY
329
brings pleasant change to all, swaying the buds of the bursting
sandal trees"). (4) "Here lies the body of Mary Ann Lowder, / She
burst while drinking a seidlitz powder" (Anon.). (5) Cf. nivṛtti
(diminution); these are the two types of nirvṛtya 'transformation"),
which is, in turn, a sub-variety of käraka hetu (see hetu).
kāraka, 'productive': (1) a type of hetu wherein the effect described has
the form of a work or thing. (2) D 2.235. (3) See under upabrhana,
nivṛtti, vikārya, or prapya. (4) "There was a young belle of old
Natchez / Whose garments were always in patchez. / When comment
arose / On the state of her clothes, / She drawled, 'When Ah itchez,
Ah scratchez"" (Ogden Nash). (5) The two principal subspecies
of hetu are this and jñāpaka, wherein the effect is knowledge; for
example: "The Grizzley Bear is huge and wild / He has devoured
the infant child. / The infant child is not aware / He has been eaten
by the bear" (A. E. Housman). Aristotle's two orders are meant.
kāryânantaraja, '(cause) produced after the effect': (1) a type of hetu
in which the order of cause and effect is reversed. (2) D 2.253 (257).
(3) paścăt paryasya kiraṇān udirnam candramandalam prāg eva
hariņākṣīņām udīrṇo rāgasāgaraḥ (Dandin; first came woman's
passion, then the moon: "Last arose the moon's full orb, scattering
its rays, but first of all, the passion-ocean of young women, doe
eyed"). (4) "For the leaf came / Alone and shining in the empty
room; / After a while the twig shot downward from it; / And from
the twig a bough; and then the trunk, / Massive and coarse; and
last the one black root. / The black root cracked the walls
(Conrad Aiken). (5) This is the third term in the trilogy dūrakārya
(effect produced long after cause), tatsahaja (produced simultane-
ously), kāryānantaraja (effect produced before the cause). Compare
pūrva, which is the same as kāryânantaraja except that the end of
the inversion need not be exaggeration of a quality. In Aiken's
example, the exaggeration is used simply to assert an introspective
mood.
**
jñāpaka, 'causing to know': (1) a type of hetu in which the effect has the
form of an idea or of information learned. (2) D 2.235 (244-45).
(3) gato stam arko bhátindur yānti väsaya pakşinaḥ । itidam api
sādhv eva kālâvasthānivedane (Dandin: "The sun has set, the moon
smiles down, the birds have gone to rest; this is enough to tell the
time of day"). (4) "Roy's club was sedate. In the ante-chamber
were only an ancient porter and a page; and I had a sudden and
melancholy feeling that the members were all attending the funeral</p>
<pb n="332" />
<p>330
GLOSSARY
of the head waiter" (Somerset Maugham). (5) See kāraka hetu.
dūrakārya, "whose effect is at a distance': (1) a type of hetu in which the
cause (or condition) is materially separated from its effect; wherein
the two terms imply different levels of reality or differ as to sub-
stratum. (2) D 2.253 (255). (3) tvadapâñgâhvayam jaitram ananga-
stram yad añgane / muktam tad anyatas tena so'py aham manasi
kşataḥ (Dandin; the lady shoots her glances elsewhere, and my heart
is wounded: "O woman, the well-aimed arrow of Love-that goes
by the name of your sidelong glance-was shot elsewhere, but I,
here, am struck in the heart!"). (4) "I sent thee late a rosy wreath, /
Not so much honouring thee / As giving it a hope that there /
It could not wither'd be; / But thou thereon didst only breathe, /
And sent'st it back to me; / Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, /
Not of itself but thee!" (Ben Jonson). (5) See käryânantaraja;
dūrakārya is evidently the same as asamgati alamkāra and virodha II,
but a nuance deserves to be noted. If the "cause acts at a distance",
then "I blow my breath', said the old man, and the stream stands
still...'. 'I breathe', said the young man, 'and flowers spring up
over the plain'" would serve as an example. But it lacks the "ap-
pearance of contradiction" which Vämana deems essential.
nirvartya, 'to be accomplished': (1) a type of karaka hetu in which a
transformation of quantity or intensity is reflected. (2) D 2.240.
(3) (4) See the two subtypes, upabṛhaṇa and nivṛtti. (5) Nirvartya
is listinguished from vikārya hetu, where a qualitative transforma-
tion is intended.
nivṛtti, 'cessation': (1) a type of hetu wherein the modality of the cause is
diminution or cessation. (2) D 2.237 (238). (3) candanâranyam
ādhūya spṛṣṭvā malayanirjharan / pathikānām abhāvāya pavano'yam
upasthitaḥ (Dandin: "The wind out of the south, touching springs
and sandal forests in the southern mountains, is destined to relieve
the weary wanderer"). (4) "The world is too much with us; late and
soon, / Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers" (William
Wordsworth). (5) See upabrhana; both are types of nirvartya hetu.
prapya, 'acquirable': (1) a type of käraka hetu in which the cause and
effect are simulated. (2) D 2.240 (243). (3) mānayogyām karomiti
priyasthānasthitām sakhīm / bālā bhrubhañgajihmâkşi paśyati sphuri-
tâdharā (Daṇḍin: "I shall pretend I am angry", she said to her friend
who stood before her in the place of the lover, and her brows arched,
her eyes narrowed, her lovely lips trembled"). (4) "This was one of
their old games, this elaborate envisaging of situation and outcome</p>
<pb n="333" />
<p>331
'I should say, "Mr. Kitson, I think it better to be direct with
you'." "Good', said Humphrey, 'And next ...?" "Then he will say,
"Excellent. Go ahead, Mrs. Pelham, go ahead." I shall take my
time: I shall give him a long look, then say... "Why did you do
this thing, Mr. Kitson?"'" (Pamela Hansford Johnson). (5) This is
a kāraka hetu in which no transformation at all takes place, that is,
in which simulation takes the place of action. Cf. nirvartya and
vikārya.
GLOSSARY
yukta, 'appropriate': (1) a type of hetu in which a cause is represented in
figurative terms, but in such a way that, within the figure, the cause
is appropriate to its effect. (2) D 2.253 (259). (3) pāṇipadmāni
bhūpänām samkocayitum iśate । tvatpädanakhacandrāṇām arciṣaḥ
kundanirmalāḥ (Daṇḍin; here the [foot]-moon of the king closes the
[hand]-lotuses of the retainers: in fact, the moon does cause this
type of lotus to close; it blooms only during the day: "The jasmine-
white rays from the ten moons of your toenails, O King, make
the hand-lotuses of your courtiers to close"). (4) "Suddenly, as if
the movement of his hand had released it, the load of her cumulated
impressions of him tilted up, and down poured in a ponderous
avalanche all she felt about him" (Virginia Woolf; outside the figure,
the hand does, in fact, actuate the mechanism of dump trucks, etc.).
(5) The contrasting term is ayukta, where the relation of cause and
effect is, in literal terms, impossible. Cf. yukta and ayukta rūpaka,
to which the present terms are but the addition of a causal relation.
vikārya, 'to be transformed': (1) a type of kāraka hetu wherein the modality
of the cause is alteration of quality. (2) D 2.240 (242). (3) utpravālāny
araṇyāni vāpyaḥ samphullapankajāḥ । candraḥ purnaś ca kāmena
pānthadṛṣṭer vişam kṛtam (Daṇḍin; the traveller is separated from
his lover: "The forests are sending forth new shoots, the tanks are
full of lotuses, the moon is full; but love turns all this to poison in
the eyes of the traveller"). (4) "All good Englishmen go to Oxford
or Cambridge and they all write and publish books before their
graduation, / And I often wondered how they did it until I realized
that they have to do it because their genteel accents are so developed
that they can no longer understand each other's spoken words so
the written word is their only means of intercommunication" (Ogden
Nash; the written word replaces the spoken word). (5) See hetu;
vikārya is distinguished from nirvartya, where the modality is aug-
mentation or diminution (change of quantity). Here the effect
reflects a change of nature (quality as opposed to quantity).</p>
<pb n="334" />
<p>332
sahaja, 'congenital': (1) a type of hetu in which the cause and effect
appear simultaneously. (2) D 2.253 (256). (3) avir bhavati nārīņām
vayaḥ paryastasaisavam । saháiva vividhaiḥ pumsām angajónmāda-
vibhramaiḥ (Daṇḍin: "Maidenhood appears in girls, their childhood
passed, and with it, in young men, the several passionate confusions
of love"). (4) "All in green went my love riding / on a great horse of
gold into the silver dawn. / four lean hounds crouched low and
smiling / my heart fell dead before" (e. e. cummings). (5) Sahaja
forms the middle term in the triad dūrakarya ... kāryānantaraja.
In all three, the cause and the effect are vyadhikarana, different as to
substratum. The cause operates figuratively or through mental
processes; hence Daṇḍin has included the three terms in jñāpaka
hetu. They do not necessarily imply deformations of the relation of
cause-effect, although other writers would say so (cf. notably the
figure asamgati).
GLOSSARY</p>
<pb n="335" />
<p>APPENDIX
Figures Defined for the First Time in the Encyclopedic
Writers after Mammata
The number in parentheses refers to the serial order of the figure in the
Kuvalayānanda of Appayyadīkşita, from which we take the examples.
atyukti (96): the representation of great nobility, compassion, etc.
(variation on udatta); as: "by your gifts, King, beggars become
horns of plenty!"
anuguņa (78): a second quality augments or sets off the first (a variety
of tadguna, the modality is association rather than imposition); as:
"the blue lotuses appear a deeper blue in the presence of her sidelong
glances".
anujñā (71): an affected desire for a defect, setting off a quality (a virodha
in which the contraries are specified as guṇa and doșa; the example
is also an āšiş); as: "may our sufferings be prolonged, that we may
praise Hari the more fervently".
anupalabdhi (115): a poetic application of the mîmāņsaka pramāṇa
'abhāva" (cf. pratyakşa (108)); as: "your delicate waist, clearly
unable to support the weight of your full breasts, is deemed not
to exist by all observers".
arthāpatti (59, 114): the mīmāmsaka pramāṇa 'a fortiori" (cf. pratyakşa
(108)), the only one generally considered a figure before Appayya,
and undoubtedly the analogical source for the others; as: "the moon
himself has been conquered by your face; what hope is there for the
lotuses?"
alpa (42): the support exceeds the supported in minuteness (inversion of
adhika); as: "the jeweled finger ring on your hand seems more like a
rosary".
avajña (70); the description of an absent quality or defect by means of</p>
<pb n="336" />
<p>334
APPENDIX
one present (a variety of ulläsa (69); apparently a vinokti determined
as guna or doșa); as: "let the lotuses close; what harm will there be
for the moon?" (ex.: doşa).
unmilita (81): a milita followed by the distinction reborn; as: "the Gods,
seeing the Himalaya hidden behind your accumulation of glory,
O King, gave it new life as ice" (i.e., indistinguishable in whiteness,
the mountain is again made distinct as cold).
upamāna (110): the mīmāņsaka pramāṇa 'comparison' (this one accepted
also by other schools): in exemplification indeed difficult to distin-
guish from the ordinary upamā. Here the encyclopaedic spirit may
be seen to have come full circle, with all sense lost for what in fact
was being catalogued.
ullăsa (69): description of a quality or defect by means of an associated
one (cf. avajñā (70); a sahokti determined as guna or dosa); as:
"the Ganges, as it were, desires to be purified by your bath".
ullekha (7): the description of one thing as many, in many contexts
(in effect, a mālā rūpaka; in intent, perhaps a samuccaya); as:
"he is indeed a Cupid with women, a wishing-tree to his suitors,
death to his enemies".
aitihya (117): the quasi-pramāṇa 'tradition' (allowed as authoritative in
mīmāmsā and other systems when it does not conflict with Veda);
as: "in the words of this old song, 'Joy accompanies the man living
even for a hundred years"".
güdhokti (87): veiled reference in the presence of the person really
referred to (a possible specialization of several figures: paryayokta
personalized; or samäsokti with presence of implicit term specified;
or leśa (1), again limited to persons. The figure, as defined, resembles
the anyokti of Rudraţa); as: "bull, leave this strange field! Here
comes the gamekeeper" (reference is to the lover of an adulteress).
nirukti (97): one word pun on a name; resembles tattva śleşa; as: "by
your actions [inflaming the separated lover] you [Moon] are rightly
called "doşākara" ['mine of defects, nightmaker"]". Following
atyukti, this figure would seem to have some relation to it, such as
"ironic description of great iniquity" or the like; but none is apparent
in the definition.
parikarāñkura (25): accumulation of epithets distinguishing not the
subject (cf. parikara) but the object of the reference; as: "giver
of the four goals of men, the God is four armed" (his four arms
relate not to himself, but to what he does).
pariņāma (6): a property of the subject of comparison is transferred to</p>
<pb n="337" />
<p>APPENDIX
335
the object of comparison; in effect, a vikriyā upamā; as: "she of the
intoxicated glance was looked at by the calm eyes of lotuses".
pūrvarūpa (76): a tadguna followed by reappropriation of the lost
quality; as: "though blue in reflection of Siva's neck, you regain
whiteness from your own glory" (addressed to Pārvati).
pratyakṣa (108): the mīmāņsaka pramāṇa 'perception' (Appayya appends
to the Candraloka of Jayadeva 17 figures, 10 of which are poetic
applications of pramāṇas 'modes of true apprehension' or quasi-
pramāṇas such as aitihya, "tradition', admitted in the mīmāmsā. This
innovation probably dates from Bhojarājā; as: "the five senses
attain perfection [in the presence of this liquor, reflecting the
beauteous faces of young women, smelling of fresh sahakära blooms,
sweet tasting, surrounded with buzzing bees, and cool".
prastutāūkura (28): a relevant subject illuminates another relevant subject
(instead of an apparently irrelevant subject; a variety of aprastuta-
prašamsā); as: "you have the malati flower, bee! What do you want
with the ketaki, full of thorns?" This seems but a repeated aprastu-
taprašamsă, as the aprastuta-the girl he is wooing in the pleasure
garden-is still obliquely referred to.
praharşana (67): the attainment without effort of a desired goal (id.,
samadhi); as: "even as he thought of her, came a messenger suggest-
ing rendez-vous".
bhāvodaya, etc. (105-107): the dramatic moments of augmenting, diminish-
ing, and muting an emotion. A late reaction showing an attempt to
figurize the rasa theory. Cf. Ohv. 2.3.
mithyādhyavasiti (65): an arthäntaranyasa in which an impossible
proposition is justified by another impossible proposition (cf.
nidaršanā (II)); as: "he who would gain the fidelity of a prostitute
does indeed wear the celestial lotus".
ratnāvali (74): the use of several descriptive epithets, each suggesting a
different object of comparison (in effect, a mala samāsokti); as:
"O King, you are of clever mien [four-faced], the master of good
fortune [husband of Lakşmi], knowledgeable [omniscient]" (refer-
ences are to Brahmā, Vişņu, and Rudra).
lalita (66): the description of a similar situation (id. anyokti); as: "now
that the water has flowed away, she seeks to build a dam" (she
seeks to restrain a lover already bound to another).
vikalpa (54): a virodha determined as a choice; as: "bend, O Kings, either
your heads or your bows!"
vikasvara (62): an arthäntaranyāsa in which the justification is stated as a</p>
<pb n="338" />
<p>336
APPENDIX
simile; as: "he is unconquerable, for the great are as difficult to
tame as the sea".
vicitra (40): the cause, though having a contrary attribute, yet produces
the desired effect (cf. vişama (III); as: "the pious bow down in
order to obtain exaltation from on high".
vidhi (99): pleonasm; the establishment of what is already established;
as: "on hearing the fifth tone [a particularly sweet one], the kokila
bird becomes truly a kokila bird!" Ironic contrary of mimāmsā
usage?
vivṛtokti (88): a gūdhokti (87) which the poet clarifies in other terms.
vişādana (68): the attainment of a goal contradicting that desired (inverse
of praharṣaṇa (67)); as: "as he was about to light the flame, the wind
blew it out".
śabdapramāņa (111): one of three figures representing the mimamsaka
pramāṇa *verbal authority' (cf. smṛti (112), śruti (113)). It seems
only a cover term for the latter two figures, q.v.
śruti (113): the mīmāņsaka pramāṇa 'verbal authority' (viz. śruti as
opposed to smrti); as: "you are truly called "Varada' ['giver of
boons']".
sambhava (116): the quasi-pramāṇa 'possibility'; as: "some day I will
find a congenial soul, for the world is wide and time is endless!"
smrti (112): the mimamsaka pramāṇa 'verbal authority' (viz. smrti as
opposed to śruti); as: "you are forced to do evil. Yet these deeds
are not done, for Manu has said 'all things done from force are
indeed not done"".</p>
<pb n="339" />
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1
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<pb n="342" />
<p>Entries in capitals are major figures; the others are subfigures. Figures
followed by appear only in the Appendix.
akşara yamaka, 225
angângi samsrsti, 308
acintyanimitta višeşôkti, 273
ATADGUŅA, 97
ATISAYA, 97
atiśaya upamā, 147
ATISAYOKTI, 97
ATYUKTI*, 333
adbhuta upamā, 148
adhyavasāna atiśayökti, 98
adhyāropa aprastutapraśamsā, 112
ADHIKA (1), 102
ADHIKA (II), 102
ananyatva atiśayôkti, 99
ananvaya upamā, 148
aniyama upamā, 148
aniscaya samdeha, 313
anuktanimitta višeşôkti, 273
ANUGUŅA*, 333
anugrahyânugrähaka samsrsti, 309
ANUJÑA*, 333
ANUPALABDHI*, 333
ANUPRĀSA, 102
ANUMĀNA, 108
anulomaviloma citra, 178
anta dipaka, 194
anta yamaka, 225
INDEX
antadika yamaka, 225
ANYOKTI, 108
ANYONYA, 109
anyonya upamā, 148
APAHNUTI (I), 109
APAHNUTI (II), 109
APAHNUTI (III), 110
apūrva samāsôkti, 318
aprastāvabhāj tulyayogitä, 192
APRASTUTAPRAŠAMSĀ (I), 111
APRASTUTAPRAŠAMSĀ (II), 116
APRASTUTAPRAŠAMSĀ (III), 116
aprakaraṇika tulyayogitā, 192
abhäva hetu, 327
abhinnakriyā śleşa, 295
abhinnapada ślcşa, 295
ABHIVYAKTI, 117
abhūta upamā, 149
ambuja citra, 178
ayukta rūpaka, 243
ayukta hetu, 328
ayuktakāri arthäntaranyāsa, 118
ARTHA, 117
artha citra, 178
artha vyatireka, 277
artha śleşa, 295
ARTHANTARANYĀSA, 118
ARTHĀPATTI*, 333
arthâvrtti ävṛtti, 128
ardhaparivṛtti yamaka, 226
ardhabhrama citra, 178
ALPA*, 333
AVAJÑĀ*, 333
AVAYAVA, 122
avayava (I) rūpaka, 244
avayava (II) rūpaka, 244
avayavi rūpaka, 244
AVASARA, 122
aviruddhakriyā śleşa, 296
avirodhin śleşa, 297
avivaksita drsţânta, 200</p>
<pb n="343" />
<p>AVIŠEŞA, 123
avyaktâmša samsrsti, 309
avyapeta yamaka, 226
aślişta rūpaka, 244
ASAMGATI, 123
asat nidarśanā, 202
asamasta rūpaka, 245
asamāsa rūpaka, 245
ASAMBHAVA, 123
asambhava upamā, 149
asambhävita upamā, 149
asādhāraṇa upamā, 150
AHETU, 124
ahetu vyatireka, 277
äkşipta vyatireka, 277
ĀKŞEPA, 124
ākṣepa rūpaka, 245
äkşepa vyatireka, 277
ākṣepa śleşa, 297
ācāra upamā, 150
ācikhyāsā upamā, 150
ādi dīpaka, 195
ādi yamaka, 226
adimadhya yamaka, 226
ädyanta yamaka, 226
adhikya atiśayôkti, 99
ādhikya vyatireka, 278
ämredita yamaka, 227
arthi apahnuti, 110
ärthi upamā, 151
avali yamaka, 227
avrti yamaka, 227
AVRTTI, 128
AŚIŞ, 129
āhārya rūpaka, 246
ukta ākṣepa, 125
uktanimitta višeşôkti, 273
UKTI, 129
UTTARA (I), 130
UTTARA (II), 130
utpādya upamā, 151
UTPREKŞĀ (I), 131
UTPREKŞĀ (II), 133
UTPREKŞĂ (III), 134
UTPREKŞĀ (IV), 135
UTPREKŞĀ (V), 136
UTPREKŞĀ (VI), 137
UTPREKŞĀVAYAVA, 138
utprekşita upamă, 152
UDĀTTA, 139
UNMILITA*, 334
INDEX
upanāgarika anuprāsa, 103
upabrhana hetu, 328
UPAMĀ, 140
upamā rūpaka, 246
upamā śleșa, 297
UPAMĀNA*, 334
upamāna dharmadyotakalupta upamā,
152
upamānalupta upamā, 152
UPAMĀRUPAKA (1), 170
UPAMĀRŪPAKA (II), 171
UPAMĀSAMUCCAYA, 171
upameyadyotakalupta upamā, 153
upameyadharmadyotakalupta upamā,
153
UPAMEYOPAMĀ, 171
ubhaya upamā, 153
ubhaya rūpaka, 247
ubhaya vyatireka, 278
ubhayacchanna prahelikā, 210
UBHAYANYASA, 171
ubhayāvṛtti ävṛtti, 128
ULLÅSA*, 334
ULLEKHA*, 334
ŪRJASVI, 171
eka vyatireka, 278
ekacchanna prahelikā, 211
ekadeśavivarti rūpaka, 248
ekadesin upamā, 153
ekabahu upamā, 154
ekaśabdábhidhāna samsrsti, 310
ekânga rūpaka, 248
ekântarapāda yamaka, 228
ekārtha dipaka, 195
EKĀVALĪ, 172
AITIHYA*, 334
AUCITYA, 172
AUPAMYA, 173
341
kalpapprabhṛti upamā, 154
kalpita upamā, 154
kāku vakrôkti, 261
kāñci yamaka, 228
KANTI, 173
kāraka dipaka, 195
kāraka hetu, 329
kärakagūdha citra, 179
KĀRANAMĀLĀ, 173
kāraṇāntara vibhāvanā, 264
kārya aprastutapraśamsā, 112</p>
<pb n="344" />
<p>342
kāryakäraṇapaurvâparyaviparyaya
atiśayokti, 100
käryânantaraja hetu, 329
KĀVYADRṢṬĀNTA, 174
KAVYALINGA, 174
KAVYAHETU, 175
kimcitsadrsi upamā, 155
komala anuprāsa, 103
KRAMA, 175
kriyā dipaka, 196
kriyā virodha, 266
kriyā višeşôkti, 271
kriyā śleşa, 297
kriyā svabhāvokti, 325
kriyāgūdha citra, 179
krīdā citra, 179
khadga citra, 180
gajapadapātha citra, 180
gamana upamā, 155
gamyamāna vyatireka, 279
garbha yamaka, 228
guņa dipaka, 196
guņa virodha, 266
guņa višeşôkti, 271
guna śleşa, 298
guņa svabhāvokti, 325
gunakriya virodha, 267
gupta citra, 181
GUMPHANA, 175
GÜDHOKTI*, 334
gomūtrika citra, 181
grāmya anuprāsa, 103
cakra citra, 181
cakraka yamaka, 228
cakraväla yamaka, 229
cakrabjaka citra, 182
catu upamā, 155
caturvyavasita yamaka, 229
CITRA, 175
cyuta citra, 182
cyutadatta citra, 182
CHÃYA, 190
cheka anuprāsa, 103
CHEKĀNUPRĀSA, 190
JĀTI, 190
jāti dīpaka, 197
jāti virodha, 267
jāti višeşôkti, 271
INDEX
jāti vyatireka, 279
jāti svabhāvokti, 326
jñāpaka hetu, 329
pamul upamā, 155
TATTVA, 190
tattvākhyāna(I) upamā, 156
tattvåkhyāna (II) upamā, 156
tattvåpahnava rūpaka, 249
TADGUNA, 191
taddhita upamā, 156
tadvācisamkṣepa upamā, 156
turagapada citra, 182
tulya aprastutaprašamsă, 113
tulyayoga upamā, 156
TULYAYOGITĀ, 191
tulyâkāraviseşaņa samāsôkti, 318
danda citra, 183
datta citra, 183
DIPAKA, 193
DUŞKARA, 199
duşkara citra, 183
duşkara yamaka, 229
dūrakārya hetu, 330
DRȘȚÂNTA, 199
drstânta vyatireka, 279
dyotakalupta upamā, 157
dravya dipaka, 197
dravya virodha, 267
dravya višeşôkti, 272
dravya svabhāvokti, 326
dhanu citra, 184
dharma upamā, 157
dharmadyotakalupta upamā, 157
dharmalupta, 158
dharmopamänalupta, 158
nānātva atiśayôkti, 100
naman śleşa, 298
nāmântarita prahelikā, 212
NIDARŠANĀ (1), 201
NIDARŠANĀ (II), 202
nindā (I) upamā, 158
nindā (II) upamā, 158
nindä tulyayogitā, 192
nibhṛta prahelikā, 212
nimitta aprastutapraśamsā, 113.
nimittadrsti višeşôkti, 273
nimittadrsti vyatireka, 280
nimittādrsti višeşôkti, 274</p>
<pb n="345" />
<p>nimittådrsti vyatireka, 280
niyama upamāä, 159
niyama citra, 184
niyamavat ślesa, 298
niyamakşeparūpa śleşa, 299
niravayava rüpaka, 249
NIRUKTI*, 334
nirnaya atiśayokti, 100
nirnaya upamā, 159
nirvartya hetu, 330
nivṛtti hetu, 330
niscaya upamā, 159
niścayagarbha samdeha, 314
niscayânta samdeha, 314
nyūna parivṛtti, 204
pankti yamaka, 229
pada ślesa, 299
padârthavṛtti upamā, 159
padâvṛtti ävṛtti, 129
padma citra, 184
paramparita rūpaka, 249
paraspara upamă, 159
PARIKARA, 203
PARIKARĀÑKURA*, 334
PARIŅĀMA*, 334
PARIVRTTI, 203
parivṛtti yamaka, 229
PARISAMKHYA, 205
pariharikā prahelikā, 212
parusa anuprāsa, 104
parusa prahelikā, 213
PARYAYA (1), 205
PARYAYA (II), 205
PARYAYOKTA, 205
pādamadhya yamaka, 230
padayor... yamaka, 230
pādasamudgaka yamaka, 230
pādādi (I) yamaka, 231
pādādi (II) yamaka, 231
pădânuprāsa anuprāsa, 104
pädänta (I) yamaka, 231
pädänta (II) yamaka, 231
pādābhyāsa yamaka, 231
pādaikadeśaja yamaka, 231
PIHITA, 206
puccha yamaka, 232
PUNARUKTĀBHĀSA, 207
pūrņa upamā, 159
PŪRVA (I), 207
PURVA (II), 208
PÜRVARÛPA*, 335
prakalpita prabelikā, 213
INDEX
prakrti śleşa, 300
pratiloma yamaka, 232
pratilomânuloma citra, 185
prativastu upamā, 160
PRATIVASTÚPAMĀ, 208
pratişedha upamā, 160
PRATĪPA, 208
pratiyamāna vyatireka, 280
PRATYAKŞA*, 335
PRATYANIKA, 209
pratyaya upamā, 160
pratyaya ślesa, 300
pramuşita prahelikā, 214
prašamsā upamā, 160
PRAŠASTI, 209
PRAŚNA, 210
praśna citra, 185
prasiddha ākṣepa, 126
prastāvabhāj tulyayogitā, 192
PRASTUTĀÑKURA*, 335
PRAHARŞANA*, 335
PRAHELIKĀ, 210
prahelikā yamaka, 232
prākaranika tulyayogitā, 193
präpya hetu, 330
PREYAS (I), 217
PREYAS (II), 218
praudha anuprāsa, 104
bandha citra, 186
bahu upamā, 161
bahveka upamā, 161
binducyuta citra, 186
bhanga yamaka, 232
bhadra anuprāsa, 104
bhavisyat ākṣepa, 126
BHAVA (1), 218
BHAVA (II), 219
BHAVIKA, 220
BHAVODAYA", 335
bhāṣā ślesa, 301
bhinnapada śleşa, 302
bhinnäbhinnavišeşaņa samāsökti, 319
bhedabhāj rūpaka, 251
bhedamätra vyatireka, 281
bhedânukti samdeha, 314
bbedôkti samdeha, 314
BHRĀNTIMAT, 220
343
MATA, 221
madhura anuprāsa, 105
madhya dipaka, 197</p>
<pb n="346" />
<p>344
madhya yamaka, 233
madhyânta yamaka, 233
mahāyamaka (I) yamaka, 233
mahāyamaka (II) yamaka, 233
matracyuta citra, 186
mālā (I) upamā, 161
mālā (II) upamā, 161
mālā dīpaka, 198
mālā nidaršanā, 203
mālā dīpaka, 198
mālā nidarśana, 203
mālā (I) yamaka, 233
mālā (II) yamaka, 233
mālā rūpaka, 251
mālā vyatireka, 281
MITHYADHYAVASITI*, 335
MILITA, 221
mukha yamaka, 234
MUDRĀ, 222
muraja citra, 187
musala citra, 187
moha upamā, 162
YATHĀSAMKHYA, 222
yathêvasabha upamā, 162
YAMAKA, 223
YAVADARTHATĀ, 238
yukta rūpaka, 251
yukta hetu, 331
yuktâtman arthântaranyāsa, 119
yuktayukta arthântaranyāsa, 119
YUKTI, 238
yugmaka yamaka, 234
RATNĀVALI*, 335
rathapada citra, 187
rašanā upamā, 162
rašanā rūpaka, 252
RASAVAT, 239
RUPAKA, 239
rūpaka rūpaka, 252
rūpaka śleşa, 302
LALITA*, 335
lalita anuprāsa, 105
läţa anuprāsa, 105
LAŢĂNUPRĀSA, 259
linga śleşa, 302
lupta upamā, 163
LESA (1), 259
LESA (II), 260
LESA (III), 260
INDEX
vamsa yamaka, 234
vaktra yamaka, 234
VAKRA, 260
VAKROKTI (I), 260
VAKROKTI (II), 262
vakşyamāna ākṣepa, 126
vacana śleşa, 302
vañicita prahelikā, 214
vati upamā, 163
varna śleşa, 303
varņånuprāsa anuprāsa, 106
varnâvṛtti anuprāsa, 106
vartamāna ākṣepa, 127
vastu upamā, 164
VĀKOVĀKYA, 263
vākya upamā, 164
väkyârthavṛtti upamā, 164
vådilopa upamā, 165
VĀSTAVA, 263
VIKALPA*, 335
vikalpa citra, 188
VIKASVARA*, 335
vikārya hetu, 331
vikrānta yamaka, 235
vikriyā upamā, 165
VICITRA*, 336
VIDARŠANĀ, 263
VIDHI*, 336
VINOKTI, 264
viparīta arthantaranyāsa, 119
viparīta upamā, 165
viparyaya (1) arthântaranyāsa, 119
viparyaya (II) arthântaranyāsa, 120
viparyāsa upamā, 165
vibhakti śleşa, 304
VIBHĀVANĀ, 264
viruddha ākṣepa, 127
viruddha rūpaka, 253
viruddhakarman śleşa, 304
viruddhartha dipaka, 198
VIRODHA (I), 265
VIRODHA (II), 268
VIRODHA (III), 268
virodha upamā, 165
virodhavat arthântaranyäsa, 120
VIRODHABHASA, 268
virodhin śleşa, 305
vivaksita drstânta, 200
VIVRTOKTI*, 336
visişta parivṛtti, 204
VIŠEŞA (1), 269
VISEȘA (II), 269
VIŠESA (III), 270</p>
<pb n="347" />
<p>viseșa aprastutaprašamsā, 113
višeşaņa rūpaka, 253
višeşastha arthântaranyāsa, 121
visvavyāpin arthântaranyäsa, 121
VIŠEŞOKTI (1), 270
VIŠEŞOKTI (II), 272
VIŠEŞOKTI (III), 274
VIŞAMA (I), 275
VIŞAMA (II), 275
VIŞAMA (III), 275
VIŞAMA (IV), 275
vişama rūpaka, 253
vişaya apahnuti, 110
VIŞÂDANA*, 336
vṛtta ākṣepa, 128
vṛtti anuprāsa, 107
vaidharmya arthäntaranyäsa, 121
vaidharmya dṛṣṭânta, 200
vyaktâmša samsrsti, 310
VYATIREKA (I), 276
VYATIREKA (II), 284
vyatireka upamā, 166
vyatireka rüpaka, 254
vyatireka śleşa, 305
vyapeta yamaka, 235
vyapetâvyapeta yamaka, 235
vyasta yamaka, 235
vyasta rūpaka, 254
vyasta vystireka, 282
vyutkränta prahelikā, 215
VYAGHATA (I), 285
VYAGHATA (II), 285
VYĀJA, 285
VYĀJASTUTI, 286
VYÄJOKTI, 286
vyährtärtha citra, 188
śakti citra, 188
SABDA, 286
Sabda vyatireka, 282
śabda śleşa, 305
Sabdacitra citra, 188
SABDAPRAMĀŅA*, 336
SABDĀRTHA, 287
śabdârthavarti samsrsti, 311
śabdôpādāna vyatireka, 282
SAYYA, 288
śara citra, 188
śābdi apahnuti, 111
śikhā yamaka, 235
śuddha rūpaka, 254
śūla citra, 188
ŚRUTI*, 336
INDEX
śrauti upamā, 166
ŚLIŞTA, 288
ślişta dipaka, 198
ślişta rūpaka, 255
ŚLEŞA, 288
śleşa aprastutaprašamsă, 114
śleșa, upamā, 166
śleşa vakrôkti, 262
śleşa vyatireka, 282
śleşâviddha arthântaranyäsa, 121
ślokâbhyasa yamaka, 236
SAMSAYA (1), 306
SAMSAYA (II), 306
samsaya atiśayokti, 101
samsaya upamā, 166
SAMSRȘTI, 307
sakala rūpaka, 255
SAMKARA, 312
samkara samsrsti, 311
SAMKIRNA, 312
samkīrṇa prahelikā, 215
samkirņa rūpaka, 255
samkīrṇa samsrsti, 311
SAMKŞEPA, 312
samkşepa upamā, 167
samkhyäta prahelikā, 215
sat nidarśana, 202
sadrśa vyatireka, 283
sadrśapada upamā, 167
sadršī upamā, 167
samdamśa yamaka, 236
samdasta (I) yamaka, 236
samdaşta (II) yamaka, 236
samdaştaka yamaka, 237
SAMDEHA, 312
samdeha samsrsti, 311
SAMA, 315
sama parivṛtti, 204
samakakşatā samsrsti, 311
samasta yamaka, 237
samasta rūpaka, 256
samasta vyatireka, 283
samastapāda (I) yamaka, 237
samastapāda (II) yamaka, 237
samastapädaja yamaka, 237
samastavastuvişaya rūpaka, 257
samastavişaya upamā, 167
samastavyasta rūpaka, 258
samasyā citra, 189
samāgata prahelikā, 216
samadhāna rūpaka, 258
SAMADHI, 315
samāna upamā, 168
345</p>
<pb n="348" />
<p>346
samānarūpa prahelikā, 216
samānaśabda prahelikā, 216
samāsa (I) upamā, 168
samāsa (II) upamā, 168
samāsa rūpaka, 259
SAMĀSOKTI, 316
samāsökti aprastutaprašamsā, 114
SAMĀHITA (1), 319
SAMĀHITA (II), 320
SAMUCCAYA, 320
samuccaya upamā, 169
samuccaya yamaka, 237
samudga yamaka, 238
SAMBHAVA*, 336
sambhavâsambhava atiśayôkti, 101
sampbhāvyamānårtha atiśayokti, 101
sammüdha prabelikā, 217
sarvatobhadra citra, 189
saviseşaña rūpaka, 259
sahaja hetu, 332
sahetu vyatireka, 283
SAHOKTI, 320
sahôkti śleşa, 306
SĀDRŠYA, 321
sādṛśyamātra aprastutaprašaṁsā, 115
sādharmya arthäntaranyāsa, 122
sādharmya drstânta, 201
SĀMĀNYA, 321
sāmānya aprastutaprašamsā, 115
INDEX
sämänyabhāva upamā, 169
SĀMYA (I), 322
SĀMYA (II), 322
sāmyatadvācisamkṣepa upamā, 169
sāmyavācakasamkşepa upamā, 169
samyopameyatadvācisamkṣepa upamā,
169
SĀRA, 322
såvayava rūpaka, 259
SÜKŞMA (I), 323
SÜKŞMA (II), 323
stuti upamā, 169
stuti tulyayogitā, 193
spastapracchannârtha citra, 189
SMARANA, 323
SMRTI*, 336
SVABHĀVOKTI, 324
SVARUPA, 327
svarūpa apahnuti, 111
svābhāvika vibhāvanā, 265
hala citra, 189
HETU, 327
hetu upamā, 170
hetu rūpaka, 259
hetu višeşôkti, 272
betu vyatireka, 283
hetu śleşa, 306</p>
</body>
</text>
</TEI>