Alamkaras mentioned by Vamana
by Pratim Bhattacharya | 2016 | 65,462 words
This page relates ‘Alamkara-shastra according to Vidyadhara (13th century)’ of the study on Alamkaras (‘figure of speech’) mentioned by Vamana in his Kavyalankara-sutra Vritti, a treatise dealing with the ancient Indian science of Rhetoric and Poetic elements. Vamana flourished in the 8th century and defined thirty-one varieties of Alamkara (lit. “anything which beautifies a Kavya or poetic composition”)
18: Alaṃkāra-śāstra according to Vidyādhara (13th century)
Vidyādhara, who belongs between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century, has composed a work on Sanskrit Poetics known as ‘Ekāvalī’. It is composed in ‘kārikā-vṛtti’ style and is divided in eight (08) ‘unmeṣas’ or chapters. The last two ‘unmeṣas’ treat the figures of speech, śabdālaṃkāras and arthālaṃkāras respectively. The arrangement of the subject matters of ‘Ekāvalī’ is largely based upon Mammaṭā’s ‘Kāvyaprakaśa’ and the classification and treatment of figures mostly follow Ruyyaka’s ‘Alaṃkārasarvasva’. Though being a strong advocate of the ‘dhvani-theory’[1] , Vidyādhara has treated the figures of speech in details.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
dhvanipradhānaṃ kāvyaṃ tu kāntāsaṃmitamīritam/
śabdārthau guṇatāṃ nītvāvyañjanapravaṇaṃ yataḥ//
— Ekāvalī (of Vidyādhara) 1.6.