16: Definition of Parivṛtti Alaṃkāra

Parivṛtti is a figure of speech where an exchange of two objects occurs in poetical fashion.

Bhāmaha is the first rhetorician to recognize it. He defines the figure as—

viśiṣṭasya yadādānamanyāpohena vastunaḥ/
arthāntaranyāsavatīparivṛttirasau yathā//
  —Kāvyālaṃkāra (of Bhāmaha) 3.41.

—According to Bhāmaha, the exchange of two objects in parivṛtti has to be linked with arthāntaranyāsa.

This is a peculiar theory which has no follower in later Sanskrit Rhetoric. Daṇḍin furnishes the general definition of the figure—

arthānāṃ yo vinimayaḥ parivṛttistu sāsmṛtā/
  —Kāvyādarśa (of Daṇḍin) 2.351.

—Udbhaṭa has given a vivid definition of the figure—

samanyūnaviśiṣṭaistu kasyacit parivartanam/
arthānarthasvabhāvaṃ yatparivṛttirabhāṇi sā//
  —Kāvyālaṃkārasārasaṃgraha (of Udbhaṭā) 5.16.

—Parivṛtti is an exchange between two equal or between two unequal. When the two objects are unequal, the exchange could be between the superior or inferior and vice-versa. Again, the exchange could be an unacceptable one or of an acceptable nature. When the exchange is of unacceptable nature, it could mean absence of desirableness or it could be disadvantageous or harmful. In parivṛtti, the exchange is made between two objects where one is surrendered and the other is accepted. This exchange may be equal in value and importance or the two objects appearing in the exchange can be superior or inferior to each other. Thus three basic kinds of parivṛtti can be figured out. A majority of Sanskrit rhetoricians like Ruyyaka^[1] , Mammaṭa^[2] , Vāgbhaṭa I^[3] , Vidyādhara^[4] , Vidyānātha^[5] , Viśvanātha^[6] , Appaya Dīkṣīta^[7] etc. have more or less admitted these three varieties of the figure.

Vāmana has followed the general observations of his predecessors on the figure parivṛtti in his treatment of the figure.

He defines the figure as—

samavisadṛśābhyāṃ parivartanaṃ parivṛttih/
  —Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti (of Vāmana) 4.3.16.

—The exchange of similar or dissimilar objects is called parivṛtti.

The Kāmadhenu commentator uses the word ‘vinimaya’ for ‘parivartana’^[8] in his explanation which rhetoricians like Ruyyaka, Mammaṭa, Hemacandra, Jayadeva, Vidyānātha, Vidyādhara, Viśvanātha, Appaya Dīkṣīta etc. have used in their definitions. This may be because of the fact that the word ‘parivartana’ in the definition leaves the word parivṛtti unexplained.

Vāmana illustrates two types of parivṛtti which he has advocated with separate verses.

The first example verse which shows the exchange between two similar things is as follows—

ādāya karṇakisalayamiyamasyai caraṇamaruṇamarpayati/
ubhayossadṛśavinimayādanyonyamavañcitaṃ manye//
  —Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti (of Vāmana) 4.3.16. vṛtti.

—She offers the redness of her feet and takes the tender leaves for her ear-ornaments. In this similar exchange I don’t think that any one is deprived.

The parivṛtti here is ‘sama’ and it is endorsed by the Kāmadhenu commentator—

atra caraṇakisalayayoḥ sādṛśyāt sama parivṛttih/
  —Kāmadhenu. Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti (of Vāmana) 4.3.16.

The second type of parivṛtti which features an exchange of dissimilar things is as follows—

vihāya sāhāramahāryaniścayāviloladṛṣṭiḥ praviluptacandanā/
babandha bālāruṇababhru valkalaṃ payodharotsedhaviśīrṇasaṃhatiḥ//^[9]
  —Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti (of Vāmana) 4.3.16. vṛtti.

—She (Pārvatī), of unshakable disposition, having given up her necklace and sandal-paints, wore a bark-garment, tawny like the morning sun, the close union of which with the body was prevented by her elevated breasts.

Here the exchange is between two dissimilar things as the necklace and the bark-garment are different to each other.

The Kāmadhenu commentator terms it as ‘visadṛśa parivṛtti’—

vihāyetyādau hāravalkalayorvaisādṛśyād visadṛśaparivṛttih/
  —Kāmadhenu. Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti (of Vāmana) 4.3.16.

Hemacandra has included paryāya as a subdivision of the figure parivṛtti^[10] . But in paryāya, there is no idea of exchange involved and thus it can be easily distinguished from the figure parivṛtti. Again, some rhetoricians have included ‘vyatyaya’ as a feature of parivṛtti^[11] . But ‘vyatyaya’ means leaving something and taking something in its place (kiñcit tyaktvā kiñcidādānamātram). ‘Vinimaya’, on the other hand, means a kind of exchange which involves two separate persons—one who gives something in exchange for something and the other who receives it in place of another thing^[12] . Therefore, the concept of ‘vyatyaya’ is different from that of ‘vinimaya’ and it cannot be accepted as a feature of parivṛtti. Though it seems that Vāmana has admitted ‘vyatyaya’ as a feature of the figure by citing the example verse “vihāya sāhāram” etc. Bhoja has, however, recognised ‘vyatyaya’ as a subvariety of the figure parivṛtti and thus has tried to hold a balance between two contradicting views^[13] .

It is to be said that parivṛtti does not contain actual commercial transaction or exchange. It is an imaginary description of exchange which has to originate from the imagination of the poet and has to contain a poetical charm.

This feature has been clearly pointed out by Jagannātha—

eṣu dānādānavyavaharaḥ kavikalpita eva, na tu vāstavaḥ/ yatra vāstavastatra nālaṃkāraḥ/
  —Rasa-gaṅgādhara (of Jagannātha) Chapter-II. p-482.

From the different opinions of the Sanskrit rhetoricians we can figure out some of the common features of parivṛtti. They are as follows—

i) Parivṛtti features an imaginary description of an exchange which generates poetic charm.

ii) An actual exchange cannot be regarded as parivṛtti. Parivṛtti must arise from the imagination of the poet.

iii) The exchange involved in parivṛtti can be between two similar things or between two dissimilar things.

iv) In case of dissimilar exchange, one thing has to be superior to the other.

The treatment of the figure parivṛtti by Vāmana echoes the basic idea of the figure and contributes in the development of the figure in Sanskrit Poetics.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

samanyūnādhikānāṃ samādhikanyūnairvinimayaḥ parivṛttiḥ/
  —Alaṃkārasarvasva (of Ruyyaka) p-152.

[2]:

parivṛttirvinimayo yo'rthānāṃ syātsamāsamaiḥ/
  —Kāvya-prakāśa (of Mammaṭa) 10.172.

[3]:

parivartanamarthena sadṛśāsadṛśena vā/
jāyate'rthasya yatrāsau parivṛttirmatāyathā//
  —Vāgbhaṭālaṃkāra (of Vāgbhaṭa I) 4.112.

[4]:

adhikanyūnasamānāṃ nyūnādhikatulyavastubhiryatra/
vinimaya eṣākathitāparivṛttiḥ kovidaistrividhā//
  —Ekāvalī (of Vidyādhara) 8.52.

[5]:

samanyūnādhikānāṃ ca yadāvinimayo bhavet/
sākaṃ samādhikanyūnaiḥ parivṛttirasau matā/
  —Pratāparudrayaśobhūṣaṇa (of Vidyānātha) Chapter-VIII, p-468.

[6]:

parivṛttirvinimayaḥ samanyūnādhikairbhavet/
  —Sāhitya-darpaṇa (of Viśvanātha) 10.80.

[7]:

parivṛttirvinimayo nyūnābhyadhikayormithaḥ/
  —Kuvalayānanda (of Appayyadīkṣīta) 112.

[8]:

samena samānena visadṛśenāsadṛśena vārthena arthasya yatparivartanaṃ vinimayaḥ sāparivṛttiḥ/
  —Kāmadhenu. Kāvyālaṃkārasūtravṛtti (of Vāmana) 4.3.16.

[9]:

The said verse appears in Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhava with a slight modification—

vimucya sāhāramahāryaniścayāvilolayaṣṭi praviluptacandanam/
babandha bālāruṇababhru valkalaṃ payodharotsedhaviśīrṇasaṃhatiḥ//
  —Kumārasambhava. 5.8.

[10]:

paryāyavinimayau parivṛttiḥ/
  — Kāvyānuśāsana (of Hemacandra) 6.22.

[11]:

samenāsamena vāvyatyayaḥ parivṛttiḥ/
  —Kāvyānuśāsana (of Vāgbhaṭā II) Chapter-III. p-40.

[12]:

parakiyāyatkiṃcidvastvādānaviśiṣṭaṃ parasmai svakīyayatkiṃcidvastusamarpaṇaṃ parivṛttiḥ/
  —Rasa-gaṅgādhara (of Jagannātha) Chapter-II. p-481.

[13]:

vyatyayo vastuno yastu yo vāvinimayo mithaḥ/
parivṛttirihoktāsākāvyālaṃkāralakṣaṇe//
sātridhāvyatyayavatītathāvinimayātmikā/
tṛtīyācobhayavatīnirdiṣṭākāvyasūribhiḥ//
  —Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa (of Bhoja) 3.29-30.