Handbook of Classical Sanskrit Rhetoric /20

viii
 
A Handbook of Classical Sanskrit Rhetoric
 
needs proficiency in some technical subjects like grammar, rheto-

ric and prosody. Thus it is said that poetry was assigned sometimes to

the care of grammar, sometimes to rhetoric. When we look at the differ-

ent types of poetic compositions of the decadent period of Sanskrit

literature we feel that such varieties of poetry or prose was purely

written for the sake of exhibiting the poet's extra-ordinary skill

either in rhetoric, or grammar or any branch of technical knowl-

edge like philosophy, erotics etc. Sometimes it appears that the

ancient rhetorical tradition is very much important to the poets

who are eager to exhibit their pedantry through the common

rhetorical devices. The scholastic tradition of classical rhetoric

actually started after Kālidāsa though some sort of its root was

inherited by Bhāravi and Māgha from their immediate predeces-

sors. It was a period of transition from the pure and simple to the

ornamental and gorgeous, from natural to superfluous and from

easy to labourious.
 

 
In ancient Indian literary criticism, at least before Ānandvard-
hana, it was partially accepted that poetry was versified rhetoric, and
figure of speech was considered as the essence of poetry or style
was the soul of poetry. Anandvardccording to older rhetoricians poetic fig-
hana
ures, it was partially accepted that poetry was versified rhetoric, and
figure of speech was considered as the essence of poetry or style
was the soul of poetry. According to older rhetoricians poetic fig-
ures, embellishments and diction (ie alamṃkāras, gunṇas and rīti

respectively) are the most important and fundamental characteris-

tic features of poetry. Sometimes there is hardly any difference

between them. It was a dominant idea among the rhetors that any

poetic device rendering special charm of aesthetic beauty in any

way either grammatically, linguistically or artistically should be
considered as alam
considered as alaṃkāra or ornament. Thus alamṃkāra or figure of

speech was the predominant element of rhetoric and the standard

of judgement for many centuries. Any aspect of poetry, whether

linguistic or literary, external or internal, can be termed as
alam
alaṃkāra.
 

 
In Sanskrit poetics, alamṃkāra is one of the fundamental con-

cepts connoting all artistic principles as well as rhetorical embell-

ishments by which any poetic expression (or sśabdārtha-sāhitya ie

combination of word and meaning and their literary value of

poetic diction) becomes beautiful. So the term alamṃkāra may be
 
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