Handbook of Classical Sanskrit Rhetoric /29

Introduction
 
ics and poets tried to pay special attention to alamics and poets tried to pay special attention to alaṃkāras and in suc-

cessive stages of development famous treatises on rhetoric contin-

ued to refine and modify upon the old figures. Thus the standard

number of about 42/43 figures (as treated by Daṇḍin and

Bhaāmaha whose works display a fullfledged development of this

discipline) reached up to the height of more than 100. But at the

same time eminent rhetoricians like Mammatṭa, Udbhata and
ṭa and
Visśvanaātha are found to be reluctant to accept many new figurs
<error>figurs</error><fix>figures</fix>
either by rejecting many of them or by including many uncommon

ones under the standard figures. Among all these scrutineers of
alam
alaṃkāras Udbhaṭa and Rudrațṭa are very logical and systematic in

their treatment. It has been categorically stated by some critics that

figurative expression is the basic feature of the language of poetry,

and if we categorize each and every device of poet's expression
through a particular figure then alam
through a particular figure then alaṃkāras would be innumerable.
 

 
Dandṇḍin, one of the earliest rhetors of Sanskriit poetics, says
that alam
that alaṃkāras cannot be counted since they have been gradually

increasing day by day and it is impossible to count them in details.
A
Ānandvardhana also remarks that there are thousands of figures

which are the topics of discussion by the past and the present

scholars. Mahimabhaṭṭa also says that figures of speech are count-

less but a good poet successfully employs only a few.
 

 
Number of alamṃkāras defined and illustrated in standard

Sanskrit texts are given below:
 

Bharata: 4 (upamā, rūpaka, dīpaka and yamaka) Viṣṇudharmot-

tara: 18, Dandṇḍin : 42, Bhāmaha: 39 + 4 (Daṇḍin's hetu, sūkṣma and

leśa rejected), Bhaṭṭi : 30-31, Udbhaṭa: 41, Vāmana: 31, Rudraţṭā :

68, Bhoja : 31 old figures and 28 new, Mammațăṭā : 67, Ruyyaka : 79,

Visśvanātha: 84, Appayya : 82 and Jagannaātha: 71, Jayadeva: 100,

Kuvalayānanda : 115.
 
x
 
Our surprise is almost embarrassing when we are givii
 
Our surprise is almost embarrassing when we are given the
en the
total number of figures by Viśveśvara Pandit in his Alamṃkāra-kaus-

tubha:
 
Digitized by
 
citra alam
citra alaṃkāras: 1806
 
sabda alam
śabda alaṃkāras: 5421 (with main division), 104907 (with sub-

divisions)
 
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Original from
 
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN