3. The Alankara or the Poetic Embellishments

It is admitted on all hands that the alamkarasastra attained in India the position of a science in very early times. from general considerations, since in our view the alankara-sastra was inspired by Grammar School of thought we expect it to have evolved slightly later than the middle of the 2nd century B. C., in the age of Patanjalib7. The rhetoricians regarded alamkara as means of additional charm to the poetry. A poetic composition has its two aspects, a. words which constitute its outer figure and b. the connotations of those words i.e. meanings. Both of these should be well arranged and ornamented in a composition of high poetic value. Thus the alankara can be of two types. a. Decorating the words: sabdalankara (Embelishment in words) 58 b. Decorating the sense: arthalamkara (Embelishment in Sense) Those which decorate the words, entirely depend upon the words for their existence, for they seize to survive as soon as a word is replaced byt another. On the other hand, the alamkara based on meaning, continue to exist even with the change of letters and words. Almost all the arthalamkara and sabdalankara have been used in the most masterly way in the Gitagovinda When we take a stanza or a narration or a line from Jayadeva's work we can find either a sabdalankara or an arthalankara suitably arranged to the context. The following sabdalankara are well arranged in the Gitagovinda 57. Macdonell, A.A., A History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 521 58. Trikha, Rajkumari, Alazkaras in the works of Banabhatta, p.1 55

a. Anuprasa: Etymologically the word anuprasa means utterance of the sounds. The Roman rhetoricians named it alliteration 59. Visvanatha Kaviraja has distinguished it into five varieties 60. Out of them three varieties are seen in the Gitagovinda b. Chekanuprasa: When a group of consonants is repeated once in the same order, it is called chekanuprasa. The following points of Gitagovinda present this category. padmavaticaranacaranacakravartti| Gitagovinda 1.2. vihitavahitracaritramakhedam / ibid., 1.5 dharanidharanakinacakragaristhel ibid. 1.6 snapayasipayasisamitabhavatapam/ ibid. 1.10 vasantevasantikusumasukumarairavayavaihl ibid. 1.26 madhukaranikarakaramvitakokilakujitakunjakutire libid. 1.27 The third song of canto one is the best example of this alliteration where the spring is described. The description of the rasa dance is also an example of the repetition of the letters, 61 c. Vrttyanuprasa: It is that where a group of consonants is repeated only once, or more than once, may be in reverse order or even when one consonant is repeated once or more than once. 02 The system that the poet adopts in Gitagovinda is to rhyme perfectly the first halfof a verse with the second by means of 62 59. Mishra, Svarupama, Treatment of alankara in the Gitagovindam, M.Phil Dissertation of Utkal Univeristy, Dept. of Sanskrit, 1989, p.46 60. Singh, Satyabrata, Ed. Sahityadarpanam, X.3, p.667 610. Sri Gitagovindam, 1.43, p.75 62. Singh, Satyavrata, Ed. Sahityadarpanam, p.668 56

vrttyanuprasa. Whatever the verse or song, it will be seen that the pattern is always the same. It is not possible to quote all these examples. A few lines are quoted here for the relish of the connoisseurs. meghairmeduramambaram vanabhuvam syamastamaladrumaih 199.1.1 vagdevata carita citritacitrasadma | bid. 1.2 lalitalavamgalata . . kutire | bid. 1. 27 candanacarcitanilakalalevara .. .sali | bid, 1.38 candrakacarumayura . .vesam | bid. 2.3 nindaticandana .. adhiram |/bic, 4.2 ratisukhasare .... .vesam | bid, 5.8 tvadadharamadhura . vantam | Ibid, 6.2 vadasi yadi ..... gharam |/bid. 10.2 etc. d. Antyanuprasa :It is the greatest contribution of Jayadeva to the lyric poetry. Visvanatha has established this figure that has been used by Jayadeva defining it in a skilful manner by giving it a new form of Yamaka.64 Etimologically the word antyanuprasa means recurrence in 'ending' of the metrical foot. It consists in contriving the endings of lines in the same way in a period or stanza 65. The importance of this figure increases, when it uses not only in the end of the stanza but also in the every half of the verse, which is favourable to the song. No other 63. Mishra, Svarupama, Treatment of Alankaara in the Gitagovindam, p.50 64. Mishra, Alka, Ed. Mahakavi Jayadeva, p.86 65. Singh, Satyavrata, Ed. Sahityadarpanam, p. 670 57

poet is comparable to Jayadeva, how he is alert in using this antyanuprasa scientifically 66 e. Yamaka: Yamaka is the repetition of a group of consonants, along with the vowels in the same order, but the repeated words give different meanings 67. This is used in more than one place of Gitagovinda kstriyarudhiramaye .. .. .. tapam! Jayadeva, Gitagovinda 1.10 duralokastoka vyathayatil Ibid., 11.20 vyatham! Ibid. VII.21 anilatarala .. Ilbid., XI.5 virahapandu.. f. Slesa. According to Visvanatha, slesa is that where more than one meanings are revealed by the words 68. The word slis means union. That is to say union of several meanings in one word. Jayadeva does not often use slesa but wherever this figure occurs the meaning is quite significant. Some of the charming illustrations are: munijanamanasahamsal Jayadeva, Gitagovinda 1.18 Here the word manasa has two meanings on account of its association with the word hamsa (swan): manas (mind) or the lake of cultural pilgrimage 69. In the description of the beauty of Radha, the poet plays with the meaning of the word Madalasa, Indu, Manorama, Rambha, Kalavati and Citralekha. All of these words signify the celestial damsels as well as specialities of the different 66. Misra, Svarupama, Treatment of Alankara in the Gitagovindam, p.60 67. Singh, Satyabrata, Sahityadarpanam, p.672 68. Ibid, p.672 69. Misra, Svarupama, Treatment of Alankara in Gitagovindam, p. 63 58

70 parts of the limb. In another verse a good number flowers are said to be available in the glorious person (physical body) of Radha. ' bandhukahutibandhavo'yamadharah snigdhomadhukacchavi- gande candi ! cakasti nilanalina srimocanam locanam || nasanveti tilaprasunapadavim kundabhadanti ! priye ! prayastvanmukhasevaya vijayate visvam sa puspayudhah | | G 9.10.1.4(v) The word Rohini implies to the wife of moon as well as the probable second wife of the poet 71. The word rasa signifies the two meanings i.e., medicine to cure fever and erotic sentiment 72. g. Treatment of Arthalamkaras Jayadeva has used seventeen types of arthalamkaras or the number may increase personally. Due to the limitation of scope and to avoid repetition | just give the name and place of those Alamkaras used in the Gitagovinda Upama Gitagovinda , 1.7 Ibid., 11.3, 11.4, 3.5, 4.5, 14, 5.12 Rupaka Ibid., 1.18, 1.19, 6.24 Utpreksa Ibid. 1.25, 1.47, 4.2., 4.3, 4 8.5, 10,11.32,33 Kavyalimga Ibid., 11.19,3.1.,3.2 Visesokti Ibid, 11.10,3.14, 9.10 70. Sri Gitagovindam, X.6, p 325 71. Kinduvilva-samudra-saribhava-rohiniramanea/Jayadeva, Gitagovinda 3.7 72. etavatyatanujvare varatanujivenna kim te rasat- svarvaidyapratima prasidasi yadityakto'nyathanantakah | | Gitagovinda 4.19 59

Vyatireka Ibid, 1.3, 6.2 Dipaka Ibid, 4.8, 19,10.6,11.8 Arthantaranyasa Ibid., 7.49.12.10 Samuccaya Ibid., 12.20 Anumana Ibid., 8.7 Bhrantimana Ibid., 3.2 Virodhabhasa Ibid., 7.21 Sahokti Ibid., 5.17 Sandeha Ibid., 7.11 Vibhavana Ibid., 1.32, 4.21, 4.22 Samsrsti Samkara Ibid., 1.1, 1.5, 1.12, 1.35, 2.3, 3.13, 11.22 Ibid., 11.11 2.1.4