13: Alaṃkāra-śāstra according to Bhoja (11th century)

Bhoja (c. 11th cen. A.D.) mainly follows the Agnipurāṇa and Daṇḍin in developing the concept of alaṃkāra in poetry. He also incorporates verses and illustrative stanzas from Bhāmaha, Vāmana, Rudraṭa and other predecessors. His greatest work on Sanskrit Poetics, the ‘Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa’, is more or less a huge compilation and Bhoja has not tried to innovate or incorporate new ideas or theories in his work to a great extent. After indulging in a detailed discussion on the guṇas and doṣas present in poetical compositions, Bhoja moves forward in asserting the great importance of alaṃkāras in poetry.

He clearly states that alike a beautiful woman poetry has to be adorned by alaṃkāras to magnify the charm created by the guṇas–

yuvateriva rūpamaṅgaṃ kāvyaṃ svadate śuddhaguṇaṃ tadapyatīva/
vihitapraṇayaṃ nirantarābhiḥ sadalaṃkāravikalpakalpanābhiḥ//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 1.158.

He also elongates that it is essential to insert certain embellishments or alaṃkāras in poetry in order to avoid ‘durbhagatvam’ [durbhagatva] or ugliness or unattractiveness in the eyes of an admirer–

yadi bhavati vacaścyutaṃ guṇebhyo vapuriva yauvanabandhamaṅganāyāḥ/
api janadayitāni durbhagatvaṃ niyatamalaṃkaraṇāni saṃśrayante//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 1.159.

Along with the author of the Agnipurāṇa, Bhoja classifies alaṃkāras into three (3) groups–śabdālaṃkāra, arthālaṃkāra and ubhayālaṃkāra—

śabdārthobhayasaṃjñābhiralaṃkārān kaviśvarāḥ/
bāhyānābhyantarān bāhyābhyantarāṃścānuśāsati//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 2.1.

–His treatment is however much fuller and detailed than the Agnipurāṇa in this subject matter.

Bhoja almost adopts the definition of Agnipurāṇa as regards to the śabdālaṃkāras.

Only some mere verbal changes are visible in Bhoja’s definition of śabdālaṃkāra–

ye vyutpatyādināśabdamalaṃkartumiha kṣamāḥ/
śabdālaṃkārasaṃjñāste jñeyājātyādayo budhaiḥ//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 2.2.

Bhoja defines arthālaṃkāras as those which are capable of creating charm of meaning or sense in a poetical composition–

alamarthamalaṃkartuṃ yadvyutpatyādivartmanā/
jñeyājātyādayaḥ prājñaistearthālaṃkārasaṃjñayā//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 3.1.

Bhoja’s definition of ubhayālaṃkāras is descriptive and quite practical–

śabdebhyo yaḥ padārthebhya upamādiḥ pratīyate/
viśiṣtoarthaḥ kavīnāṃ tāubhayālaṃkriyāḥ priyāḥ//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 4.1.