6. Bharata’s view of the concept of Lakshana

Now, coming to Bharata's own idea of Laksana,-he says after treating of the metres- hiqarang adam: qzfadgyonfaar: 1 sattrimsallaksananvitah | kavyabandhastu kartavyah In the end he says ' etani va kavyavibhusanani ' and 'kavye a. Again he says: prayojyani '. ebhirarthakriyapeksaih karya kavyam tu laksanaih | as all the above mentioned Bharata meant it to be on a From these we are sure that Bharata meant Laksana as Abhinava and Tauta took it, to be a feature of Kavya in general and not of drama only writers on dramaturgy took it. par with Alankara and Guna as a feature of Kavya in general.' The second idea that we cannot miss in Bharata is that Laksanas, though different from Alankaras, are themselves also another species of beautifying factors. In this capacity they are called 'Vibhusana'. i proktani vai bhusanasammitani | ganfa ai hufayqonfa | ' ' gimufa a yqqrafHanfa | ' etani va • Though, while defining the Laksanas individually, Bharata occasionally uses the expression Natakasraya'. See the definitions of Prapti alone in the Anustubh list, and of Akhyana, Prapti and Upapatti in the Upajati list.

Bharata does not illustrate the 36 Laksanas, as he does the Alankaras. Nor does he make any attempt to differentiate them from Alamkaras. He gives only three Arthalamkaras, Upama, Rupaka and Dipaka. He indicates 5 sub-classes of Upama. Bhatta Tauta has taken that the manifoldness of Alankara is achieved by combining Alankaras with the Laksanas. For instance, he says that the Upama called i got by combining the Alamkara Upama with the Laksana called gunanuvada ; that atisayoktyalankara is got by combining upama and the Laksana called atisaya Such ingenuity is all Tauta's own. Bharata does not indicate this. He simply says that he has pointed out five kinds of Upama and that the intelligent must take other varieties from Kavya and Loka. upamaya budhairete bheda jneyassamasatah | sesa ye laksanairnoktah te grahyah kavyalokatah || Nor in his definition of does Bharata indicate anything like what Tauta has said. Bharata really does not propose to himself the task of distinguishing the concept of Laksana from Alamkara. From what we see in the chapter, i.e. the 17 th, in his time, the concept of Laksana had much development, while that of Alamkara was in its infancy. The fecundity of the latter that produced in course of time a breed of more than a hundred Alamkaras is not seen in Bharata. But many of these later Alankaras have their counterpart in Laksa- nas. The Lakanas had developed separately as adorning features, independently of Alankaras, and in themselves they constitute a double personality. When we critically examine the 36 Laksanas, they fall into two classes. One class of them looks. like Alankara, being mere turns of expression. As a matter of

fact, we have actually Laksanas with the names of some of the later Alankaras themselves. For example, samsayah For example, samsayah ( sandehah ), drstantah, nidarsanam niruktam, atisayah, visesanam, arthapattih and lesah . There is also. It is another matter that the definitions of these are not exactly the same as in later Alamkara works. Besides, the two Laksanas udaharanam and sarupyam involve Aupamya and Sadrsya. Aksarasanghata and Sobha involve Slesa. The definition of tulyatarka contains the mention of rupaka and upama as part of that Laksana. In their definitions, vicara and involve Sandeha and Ullekha. The definition of prapti makes it the kavyalingalankara . drstvavayavan kamscidbhavo yatranumiyate | praptim tamapi janiyalaksanam natakasrayam || The Laksana called abhipraya contains sadrsyaparikalpanam . ' The Laksana called is quite different from the Alankara of that name. Lesalankara is thus defined by Bhoja- dosasya yo gunibhavo dosibhavo gunasya yah | sa lesah syattato nanya vyajastutirapipyate || The Laksanas called Gunatipata and Garhana (Karya in the Upajati list) correspond to this Vyajastuti. They are thus defined : 1 gunabhidhanairvividhairviparitarthayojitaih gunatipato madhuro nisthurarthom bhavedatha || Protsahana, Gunanuvada and Hetu of the Upajati recension involve Aupamya.

42 some concepts of ALANKARA SASTRA yatra samkirtayan dosam gunamarthena yojayet | gunatipatad dosadva garhanam nama tadbhavet || The Laksana called is said to be a clever speech suggesting through the mention of a similar thing-' sadrsartha - vinispannah '. The Laksana padoccaya involves the Alankara samuccaya . The Laksana called becomes fg in Bhoja, Saradatanaya and Visvanatha. As Bharata has described it, it is only svabhavo- ktyalankara . The Laksana called is an element which has been associated with many varieties of Alankaras like malarupaka etc. The Candraloka actually mentions Mala as an element helping many Alankaras. mala parampara caisam bhuyasamanukulake | V. 121. We can see the value of Bhatta Tauta's suggestion in such cases. The Laksana called has in its definition the word 'anyapadesa ' and is actually the anyapadesa of later literature, i.e. anyokti . hrdayartha (yastha )sya vakyasya gudharthasya vibhavakam | anyapadesaih kathanam manoratha iti smrtah || prasiddhi looks like udattalankara and priyam vacanam is nothing but preyo'lankara or. Thus, Laksanas of one class are clearly Alankaras or approximations to Alankaras or light shades of Alankaras to be mixed with many a major Alankara. Abhinava realises this when he describes Laksanas as uktivaicitryarupa and alankaranugrahaka . This class of Laksanas is really a supplementary list to the three Alankaras of Bharata. The seeds of many of the later Alankaras are available among these

Laksanas. Leaving aside the late stage represented by the Candraloka in which Laksanas like mithyadhyavasaya, yukti and have become Alankaras, we can take that, very early, some of the Laksanas passed into the fold of Alankara. Bhatta Tauta's view may suggest this historical fact. We have other clear evidences on this point. :, a Laksana of the Upajati list, is an Alankara in Bhatti and we can see it in its transition from Laksana to Alankara. Bhamaha mentions indifferently that it is an Alamkara according to some (III. 55). Similarly, a Laksana in both the lists of Bharata, can be seen in its stage of transition into Alankara in Bhamaha and Dandin. Bhamaha refuses to accept it as Alankara since it is devoid of -Vakrokti (II. 86). Some pre-Bhamaha writer must have made it an Alankara. Bhamaha points out that only definite and remarkable turns of expression must be named Alamkara. But soon, since it was the palmy days of Alankaras when many things entered its fold, we find Dandin asserting that hetu is a great Alankara, uttamabhusana . asih is an Alankara, firmly established, in Dandin. But poor Hetu had a chequered career '. The name Natyalamkara might have also helped some of the Laksanas to become Alankaras. The evolution of Alankaras from three in Bharata to what we have in Bhamaha is an interesting study but the gap is all darkness. We feel that in that stage of the history of Alankara, the concept of Laksana and the merging of most of it in Alamkara is a big chapter. But we must be clear as regards this point: in the first class of Laksanas which are mere turns of expressions there are various grades. While some are plainly Alankaras, others 1 See Udbhata, Rudrata and Mammata; also the Alankara chapter in my Ph. D. Thesis on Bhoja's Srngara Prakasa.

have an element of Alankara in them, the expression as a whole being more than Alankara. • > , The other set of Laksanas shows a different character. They are not 'uktivaicitryarupa ' upadistam, bhramsah, anunayah, daksinyam, E, god, &: etc., belong to this class. The Upajati list contains mostly Laksanas of this class, A akrandanam, akhyanam, pratisedhah, ksama, pascattapanam anuvrttih, anu- nitih paridevanam etc. Most of these are Bhavas or actions resulting from certain Bhavas. These would give support to the view which takes the Laksanas as minor Sandhyangakas. But this view cannot hold good regarding the other class of Alankara-like Laksanas. Bharata himself seems to be conscious of this double personality of his Laksanas when he says at the end of the section on Alankaras ebhirarthakriyapeksaih karya kavyam tu laksanaih | Some Laksanas are. These are turns of expression, those of the first class, related closely to Alankara. Others are. These are related to Bhavas and form the second class. Thus the two main lines of thought in the 6 given in the Abhinava bharati hold good as regards these two aspects of Laksanas. There will be much Klesa if one tries to make all Laksanas look like turns of expression and factors of natural grace, or to make all Laksanas. look like sandhyangaka or itivrttakhandalaka . The Dasarupaka realised these points and included part of them in Alamkaras and part in Bhavas. arthakriyayuktaih 'Abhinava has the reading':', and takes it as emphasising the principle of Rasa-aucitya in the use of these Laksanas: arthakriyayam rasacarvanarya yuktam yogo yesam etc. p. 408.