Alamkaras mentioned by Vamana
by Pratim Bhattacharya | 2016 | 65,462 words
This page relates ‘Alamkara-shastra according to Vidyanatha (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”)
21: Alaṃkāra-śāstra according to Vidyānātha (13th Century)
Vidyānātha is the author of a treatise on Sanskrit Poetics named ‘Pratāparudrayaśobhūṣaṇa’. He has been placed between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. Probably his real name was Agastya Paṇḍita and Vidyānātha was his title. The title of his work bears the name of Vidyānātha’s patron king Pratāparudra of Ekaśila. All the illustrative verses praise the said king.
Pratāparudrayaśobhūṣaṇa is composed in kārika-vṛtti style and it consists of nine (09) prakaraṇas or chapters. Vidyānātha considers alaṃkāras as essential features of poetry[1] . The last two chapters are devoted to the detailed discussion of alaṃkāras.
Vidyānātha states that the word and sense are the body of poetry, suggested sense is its soul and the alaṃkāras like upamā etc are its ornaments—
śabdārthau mūrtirākhyātau jīvitaṃ vyaṅgyavaibhavam/
hārādivadalaṃkārastatra syurupamādayaḥ//
—Pratāparudrayaśobhūṣaṇa (of Vidyānātha) 2.2. p-42.
—He has pointed out that the figures of speech are the causes of charm or beauty in poetry. These alaṃkāras rest upon the word and sense to create their charming effect—
alaṃkriyate'neneti cārutvaheturalaṃkāraḥ / ...śabdārthāśrayāstvalaṃkārāḥ /
—Pratāparudrayaśobhūṣaṇa (of Vidyānātha) Chapter-VII, pp-336-337.
Vidyānātha has classified alaṃkāras in three groups—śabdālaṃkāra, arthālaṃkāra and miśrālaṃkāra. As far as the definitions and characteristics of the alaṃkāras are concerned Vidyānātha basically follows his predecessors Mammaṭa and Ruyyaka.