Alamkaras mentioned by Vamana
by Pratim Bhattacharya | 2016 | 65,462 words
This page relates ‘The Kavyalamkarasutra-vritti: A hand-book of Sanskrit Poetics� 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: The Kāvyālaṃkārasūtra-vṛtti: A hand-book of Sanskrit Poetics
ṃkśٰ in Sanskrit literature deals with the external and internal elements of the �kavikarmas� or poet’s creation. It is closely related to the Western conception of Rhetoric and Aesthetics.
A systematic treatment of the rhetorical issues of Sanskrit literature is not available in the age of Vedic literature. Though we can trace the word �ܱ貹� in the Ṛk岹 and in the ṇa and earlier 貹Ծṣa岹 but they were used from the point of view of the general notion of similitude. The ṭu and the Nirukta books throw light upon the frequent usage of simile in the Vedic literature. But these instances do not indicate to the presence of a systematic treatise on rhetoric in Vedic times.
The first systematic treatment on Sanskrit Rhetoric can be found in the Nātyaśāstra of Bharata. The discipline of Sanskrit Rhetoric was successively nourished and nurtured by the doctrines of rhetoricians like 峾, ٲṇḍ, 峾Բ, ṭa, ܻṭa, Ruyyaka and so on.
Sanskrit rhetoric is broadly divided into two categories according to their direction of treatment and presentation of central subject-matter. These categories are�
(a) Dramaturgy (ṭyśٰ) or works based on the structure, origin and development of Sanskrit dramas.
(b) Poetics (屹ⲹśٰ) or works based on the structure, origin and development of Sanskrit poetry.
The 屹ṃkūٰṛtپ of 峾Բ can be promptly categorised as a treatise on Sanskrit Poetics or 屹ⲹśٰ. It deals with the various aspects of a �屹ⲹ� such as the necessity of poetry, the soul of poetry, the constituents of poetry, the idea of īپ, ṃk, ṣa, ṇa etc and their broad divisions. It also throws light upon some of the practical methods of composing good poetry. Thus the work of 峾Բ can be regarded as a hand-book of Sanskrit Poetics in a wider sense.