2023-02-15 09:58:53 by ambuda-bot
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Introduction
ics and poets tried to pay special attention to alamkāras 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
Bhamaha 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 Mammata, Udbhata and
Visvanatha are found to be reluctant to accept many new figurs
either by rejecting many of them or by including many uncommon
ones under the standard figures. Among all these scrutineers of
alamkāras Udbhaṭa and Rudrața 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 alamkāras would be innumerable.
Dandin, one of the earliest rhetors of Sanskriit poetics, says
that alamkāras cannot be counted since they have been gradually
increasing day by day and it is impossible to count them in details.
Anandvardhana 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 alamkāras defined and illustrated in standard
Sanskrit texts are given below:
Bharata: 4 (upamā, rūpaka, dīpaka and yamaka) Viṣṇudharmot-
tara: 18, Dandin : 42, Bhāmaha: 39 + 4 (Daṇḍin's hetu, sūkṣma and
leśa rejected), Bhaṭṭi : 30-31, Udbhaṭa: 41, Vāmana: 31, Rudraţā :
68, Bhoja : 31 old figures and 28 new, Mammață : 67, Ruyyaka : 79,
Visvanātha: 84, Appayya : 82 and Jagannatha: 71, Jayadeva: 100,
Kuvalayānanda : 115.
xvii
Our surprise is almost embarrassing when we are given the
total number of figures by Viśveśvara Pandit in his Alamkāra-kaus-
tubha:
Digitized by
citra alamkāras: 1806
sabda alamkāras: 5421 (with main division), 104907 (with sub-
divisions)
Google
Original from
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ics and poets tried to pay special attention to alamkāras 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
Bhamaha 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 Mammata, Udbhata and
Visvanatha are found to be reluctant to accept many new figurs
either by rejecting many of them or by including many uncommon
ones under the standard figures. Among all these scrutineers of
alamkāras Udbhaṭa and Rudrața 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 alamkāras would be innumerable.
Dandin, one of the earliest rhetors of Sanskriit poetics, says
that alamkāras cannot be counted since they have been gradually
increasing day by day and it is impossible to count them in details.
Anandvardhana 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 alamkāras defined and illustrated in standard
Sanskrit texts are given below:
Bharata: 4 (upamā, rūpaka, dīpaka and yamaka) Viṣṇudharmot-
tara: 18, Dandin : 42, Bhāmaha: 39 + 4 (Daṇḍin's hetu, sūkṣma and
leśa rejected), Bhaṭṭi : 30-31, Udbhaṭa: 41, Vāmana: 31, Rudraţā :
68, Bhoja : 31 old figures and 28 new, Mammață : 67, Ruyyaka : 79,
Visvanātha: 84, Appayya : 82 and Jagannatha: 71, Jayadeva: 100,
Kuvalayānanda : 115.
xvii
Our surprise is almost embarrassing when we are given the
total number of figures by Viśveśvara Pandit in his Alamkāra-kaus-
tubha:
Digitized by
citra alamkāras: 1806
sabda alamkāras: 5421 (with main division), 104907 (with sub-
divisions)
Original from
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN