Text 10.111 [Ākṣepa]

19. Ākṣepa

निषेधो वक्तुम् इष्टस्य यो विशेषाभिधित्सया ॥ १०.१०६cd ॥
वक्ष्यमाणोक्त-विषयः स आक्षेपो द्विधा मतः ॥ ।१०.१०७ab ॥

niṣedho vaktum iṣṭasya yo viśeṣābhidhitsayā || 10.106cd ||
vakṣyamāṇokta-viṣayaḥ sa ākṣepo dvidhā mataḥ || |10.107ab ||

niṣedhaḥ—the negation (an apparent negation); vaktum—to be said; iṣṭasya—of what is desired; yaḥ—which [negation]; viśeṣa—a special [sense] (implied sense); abhidhitsayā—out of a desire to express; vakṣyamāṇa—is what was about to be said; ukta—or is what was said (or is being said); viṣayaḥ—its scope; saḥ—that; ākṣepaḥ—the ornament called ākṣepa; dvidhā—twofold; mataḥ—is considered.

When, for the purpose of conveying some special implied sense, there is a suppression of something intended to be said, that is ākṣepa (hinting by negating) (paralipsis). It has two varieties: Either what is about to be said is suppressed or what was said is suppressed.

Commentary:

Mammaṭa says that in ākṣepa the special sense intended to be expressed is an implied sense that is either very well-known or impossible to be said.^[1] The ākṣepa ornament is yet another ornament which inherently includes a second-rate implied sense. Often the implied sense falls in the category called agūḍha (not subtle) (5.2). Here the term ākṣepa is used in the sense of “implying”, yet often the other meaning of ākṣepa (rebuke) is also meant to be conveyed.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

vivakṣitasya prākaraṇikatvād anupasarjanī-kāryasya, aśakya-vaktavyatvam atiprasiddhatvaṃ vā viśeṣaṃ vaktuṃ niṣedho niṣedha iva yaḥ sa vakṣyamāṇa-viṣaya ukta-viṣayaś ceti dvidhā, ākṣepaḥ (Kāvya-prakāśa 10.106-107).