Vṛtti (Bearing) and Diction

All the four types of Vṛttis as recognized by Bharata are popular among the playwrights. But they pertain to the import or the sense of the passage put up in the mouth of a charater in the drama and have nothing to do with the structure of its composition. For Vṛttis pertaining to sense differ from Vṛttis belonging to the structure. In the Dhavanyāloka, Ānandavardhana calls the Vṛttis of the latter type as the Upanāgarikā and others.^[1] The point of distinction that her draws between the two sets of Vṛttis is this: The Vṛttis like Kaiśikī and others are dependent upon sense to be conveyed, while Upanāgarikā and others depend on the structure of composition. In other words, the former are Vācyasraya wheras the latter are Vācakasraya.^[2] The two are no doubt interdependent inasmuch as the structure and the sense depend upon each other. Mammaṭa Bhaṭṭa thinks Upanāgarika and other Vṛttis of its type as species of Śabdalaṅkāras or figures of structure.^[3]

In fact, they appear more akin to the Rītis than the alaṅkaras for the reason that their connotation shows them to be in the nature of diction.

(i) Upanāgarika (Urban) Vṛtti consists of the structure of composition which contains a set of sweet syllables like nasal and soft consonants.^[4]

(ii) Paruṣā (Harsh) Vṛtti belongs to that structure which is composed of hard consonants mostly of the lingual class and sibilants and combination of letters with the captious repha.^[5]

(iii) Komala (Soft) Vṛtti pertains to the medium type of structure which has a suitable combination of both types of syllables or is composed of such syllables as are deemed neither sweet nor particularly harsh. Udbhaṭa has chosen to name it as the Grāmaya Vṛtti and enjoins a greater frequency of the dental semi-vowel in such a type of structure.^[6]

It may be noted that since the diction always follows the bearing, Upanāgarika and Kaiśikī go hand in hand; Paruṣā and Ārabhatī likewise go together, and Sāttvatī and Bhāratī agree with Komala. All the same, the are not identical with Rītis, since these three Vṛtti s are the modes of expression of thought. They deal more with the tone of the character which varies according as his mood changes. So, they differ from Rītis which are types of composition and belong to the form of language used by a particular character at a particular occasion.

Besides these two meanings, Vṛtti is used by the canonists in three other senses, viz.,

(i) Vṛtti is the name of the verbal force (śabda-śakti) like Abdhidhā, Lakṣaṇā and others, the first two of which are called Mukhya and Gauni respectively^[7];

(ii) Vṛtti is one of the types of the Anuprāśa alaṅkāra^[8]; and

(iii) Vṛtti is synonymous with grammatical formatives as well, like Samāsa^[9], and Taddhita. An inquiry into them is at any rate, not pertinent here.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Dhvanyāloka of Ānandavardhana III-33.

[2]:

Ibid. p. 182, 4.

[3]:

K. Pr. IX-80.

[4]:

Ibid. P. 5. LI. 14, 16.

[5]:

K. A. p. 5.

[6]:

Ibid. p. 6 middle

[7]:

Details of Sabda-sakti are dealt with by the author in his edition of the Vṛtti -vartika.

[8]:

Vide-Author’s “Alankara-Kaumudi” on Sanskrit Figures of Speech.

[9]:

For details Vide Author’s “A Brieg Note on Sanskrit Compounds.”