Alamkaras mentioned by Vamana
by Pratim Bhattacharya | 2016 | 65,462 words
This page relates ‘Vamana’s scheme of Alamkaras’ 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”)
1: Vāmana’s scheme of Alaṃkāras
Vāmana has mentioned thirty-one (31) different poetic figures in the fourth chapter (adhikaraṇa) of his Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti. The chapter is subsequently titled ‘ālaṃkārika’ and it is solely devoted to the definitions and illustrations of poetic figures. The thirty -one poetic figures mentioned by Vāmana can be divided into two popular categories, i.e. ‘śabdālaṃkāras’ or the poetic figures which create poetic beauty through words and ‘arthālaṃkāras’ or the poetic figures who generate poetic beauty through their meanings.
Out of these thirty-one poetic figures two are ‘śabdālaṃkāras’ and the other twenty-nine are ‘arthālaṃkāras’. They can be serially put forth in their order of treatment as—
Śabdālaṃkāras:
Arthālaṃkāras:
- Upamā,
- Prativastūpamā,
- Samāsokti,
- Aprastutapraśaṃsā,
- Apahnuti,
- Rūpaka,
- Śleṣa,
- Vakrokti,
- Utprekṣā,
- Atiśayokti,
- Sandeha,
- Virodha,
- Vibhāvana,
- Ananvaya,
- Upameyopamā,
- Parivṛtti,
- Krama,
- Dīpaka,
- Nidarśanā,
- Arthāntaranyāsa,
- Vyatireka,
- Viśeṣokti,
- Vyājastuti,
- Vyājokti,
- Tulyayogitā,
- Ākṣepa,
- Sahokti,
- Samāhita,
- Saṃsṛṣṭi.