In Hinduism

Kavyashastra (science of poetry)

Source: Shodhganga: The Kavyavilasa of Ciranjiva Bhattacarya (kavyashastra)

Pūrvarūpatā (पूर्वरूपता) or Pūrvarūpa refers to one of the 93 alaṃkāras (“figures of speech”) mentioned by Cirañjīva Bhaṭṭācārya (fl. 17th century) in his Kāvyavilāsa and is listed as one of the 89 arthālaṃkāras (figure of speech determined by the sense, as opposed to sound).—The figure pūrvarūpatā has been introduced first by Jayadeva in his Candrāloka. According to Jayadeva when the former beauty of a thing is restored again, it is the figure pūrvarūpatā. Appayyadīkṣita (Kuv. P. 286) is at one with Jayadeva in defining this figure of speech but he has mentioned the name pūrvarūpa instead of pūrvarūpatā.

Cirañjīva defines pūrvarūpatā as follows—“rūpaṃ cedanyathābhūtaṃ tathā syātpūrvarūpatā”.—According to Cirañjīva when the former nature and beauty of one thing which are now lost, are restored back to its previous stage it is the figure pūrvarūpatā.

Example of the pūrvarūpatā-alaṃkāra:—

upetya tretāto nijacaraṇahānikramamataḥ samantāddharmo’bhūdbalavati kalāvekacaraṇaḥ |
purastādadyaivaṃ jayini jayasiṃhakṣitipatau babhūvuścatvāraḥ punarabhinavāstasya caraṇāḥ ||

“Having lost own feet gradually beginning from the second cycle of time (tretā), religion became single footed. In every sphere when the fourth cycle of time (kali) was in full force. From now with the appearance of the victorious king Jayasiṃha the feet of religion have again become four with new ones”.

Notes: In this verse it has been said that religion which is four footed in the first era i.e. satya has lost its feet one by one i.e. first foot in the second cycle (tretā), second foot in the third cycle (dvāpara) and the third foot in the forth cycle kali. Thus religion has become one footed. But during the reign of the victorious king Jayasiṃha virtue prevails everywhere and religion has restored its former nature and three feet. So this is an example of pūrvarūpatā alaṃkāra.

context information

Kavyashastra (काव्यशास्त्र, kāvyaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian tradition of poetry (kavya). Canonical literature (shastra) of the includes encyclopedic manuals dealing with prosody, rhetoric and various other guidelines serving to teach the poet how to compose literature.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Pūrvarūpatā (पूर्वरूपता):—[=pūrva-rūpa-tā] [from pūrva-rūpa > pūrva] f.

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Purva, Rupata, Purvarupa, Ta.

Full-text: Purvarupa.

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