Text 10.31 [Utprekṣā]

4. Utprekṣā

सम्भावनम् अथोत्प्रेक्षा प्रकृतस्य समेन यत् ॥ १०.९२ab ॥

sambhāvanam athotprekṣā prakṛtasya samena yat || 10.92ab ||

sambhāvanam—imagining; atha—(used to express a new beginning); utprekṣā—the ornament called utprekṣā; prakṛtasya—the contextual entity (the upameya); samena—as a similar one (the upamāna); yat—which.

Fancifully comparing the contextual entity to a similar entity is an utprekṣā (fanciful imagination).

samenopamānena tad-ātmaneti yāvat. sambhāvanaṃ sandehaḥ, utkaṭa-koṭikaḥ sandeha ity arthaḥ. sā ca svarūpa-hetu-phala-gatā tridhā. tāsūkta-viṣayānukta-viṣayā ceti svarūpotprekṣā dvedhā, hetu-phalotprekṣe tu siddha-viṣayāsiddha-viṣayā ceti dve pratyekaṃ dvi-vidhe. tad evam utprekṣā ṣoḍhā.

The similar entity is the standard of comparison (upamāna). This means it somewhat has the nature of a standard of comparison. The term sambhāvana (fanciful imagination) means an assumption; in other words, one possibility, the fanciful assumption itself, is immensely prominent.^[1]

There are three basic kinds of utprekṣās, (1) svarūpa utprekṣā (fancifully imagining the nature), (2) hetu utprekṣā (fancifully imagining a cause), and (3) phala utprekṣā (fancifully imagining a result). Each one has two subvarieties. In a svarūpa utprekṣā, the upameya is either mentioned or not mentioned. In a hetu utprekṣā and in a phala utprekṣā, the upameya either takes place or does not take place. Thus utprekṣā has six varieties.

Commentary:

The concepts of prakṛta (prastuta) (subject of description) and aprakṛta (aprastuta) (noncontextual entity) are central in the methodology of many ornaments because they denote the upameya and the upamāna respectively and because they variously create a distinction between a literal sense and an implied sense.

In the elaboration, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa incorporates theory from Sāhitya-darpaṇa.^[2] The three broad varieties and their subvarieties were invented by Ruyyaka and were propounded by Viśvanātha Kavirāja as well. They listed many more subvarieties. Paṇḍita-rāja Jagannātha exemplifies all of them, but in the end he says only three kinds of literal utprekṣās are worth noting: svarūpa, hetu, and phala.^[3]

The term utprekṣā literally means utkataṃ prakṛṣṭam īkṣā, “seeing in an excessive (ut = utkaṭa) and eminent way (pra = prakṛṣṭa).”

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The other possibility is simply the actual matter of fact (10.43). Here Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa follows Viśvanātha Kavirāja’s principle of differentiation between the utprekṣā ornament and the sandeha ornament (in the sandeha ornament, there is a perception that both possibilities are equally prominent): sandehe tu sama-kakṣatayā koṭi-dvayasya pratītiḥ. iha tūtkaṭā sambhāvyabhūtaika-koṭiḥ (Sāhitya-darpaṇa 10.45).

[2]:

ukty-anuktyoḥ prastutasya pratyekaṃ tā api dvidhā || (Sāhitya-darpaṇa 10.45)

[3]:

iha jāty-ādayo hi bhedāḥ prācām anurodhād udāhṛtāḥ. vastutas tu naiṣāṃ camatkāre vailakṣaṇyam astīty anudāhāryataiva. camatkāra-vailakṣaṇyaṃ punar hetu-phalasvarūpātmakānāṃ trayāṇāṃ prakārāṇām eveti (Rasa-gaṅgādhara, KM p. 295).