Thinking Activity on Indian poetics

Hello readers, in this blog I'm going to discuss about Indian poetics and it's six branches. Well known poet Dr. Vinod Joshi sir took lectures on this Indian poetics. Every year he come to department, but this year due to #corona pandemic they took lectures in online mode (hybrid mode). It's very interesting to learn in online mode with some advantages and some disadvantages. After all lectures  head of our english department Dr. Dilip Barad sir gave us an activity on Indian poetics. Here we have to write about what we understand rather than the information. So let's talk about this. There are some glimpse of our hybrid class,





Poetics is one of the three main branches of knowledge including grammar and philosophy in which Indian scholarship has presented valuable and relevant findings during ancient and medieval periods. Indian Poetics especially classical Sanskrit poetics holds an old and rich tradition starting from Bharta‟s Natyashatra and extended up to Panditraja Jagan Natha‟s Rasgangadhara. It continued about thousands of years, presenting various logical, philosophical, linguistic and semantic approaches to study the literary texts.



As a result, a number of great works have been produced in the concerned field and six main schools of Sanskrit poetics namely Rasa School, Alamkara School, Dhvani School, Riti School, Vakrokti School and Auchitya School came into existence. 


1. Rasa Sampraday 


Rajshekhar said that the founder of Rasa Sampraday was Nandikeshwar. But there is no Grantha found of him. The first scientific philosophy of interest is found in Bharata's Natyashastra


The principle of rasa is the most ancient and eternal principle in Indian poetry.  Natyaras were founded by Adya Kavyacharya and Natyacharya Bharatmuni.  Since then no principal has been able to disregard Rasa Shastra and Rasa Vichar. Rasa resides in one form or another.  Other theories are often formed with interest at the center.  Bharat's successors Acharya Bhatt, Lolat, Shankuk, Bhattanayak and Abhinav Gupta wrote commentaries and commentaries on Bharat's Rasa Sutra.  As a result, various opinions arose. Phonological principles like Anandvardhan also called the rasa sound excellent and discussed it in the context of Rasa's poetry.  Alankar shastris like Bhamah, Dandi, Rudrat etc. also accepted rasa through rasa  Attire.  The qualities of a formalist dwarf are also rasasadhaka.  The ironic Kuntak also shows the way to the doctrine.  Abhinav Gupta's Rasavichar is the pinnacle of Indian poetry. 


Rasa is also considered to be the "soul of the poet" in the metaphor of "poet" in Indian poetry.  Vishvanatha gave a very interesting definition of poetry, 


वाक्यं रसात्मकं काव्यम् ।

-Vishvanatha


The composer of "Natyashastra" Bharat said that, There is no meaning in drama without rasa.  Rasa is the central element of the play.  Rasa should be concluded in the emotional mood of the play. 


न हि रसाद्रते कश्र्विदार्थ प्रवर्तते ।

रसस्यते आस्वाधते इति रसः ।


Bharat has also discussed the eight Rasa, its abidiing emotions, the deity of Rasas, the sattvic emotion, etc.  Bharat has counted eight rasas of the play.  Which is as follows 


  1. શૃંગાર

  2. વીર

  3. હાસ્ય

  4. રૌદ્ર

  5. કરુણ

  6. અદ્ભૂત

  7. બીભત્સ

  8. ભયાનક


કાવ્ય દ્વારા પ્રાપ્ત એવો રસ એક આનંદ છે. આ "કાવ્યારસ કે કાવ્યાનંદ" કાવ્યનો આ સૌંદર્યાનંદ છે. 

  • પ્લેટો કાવ્યાનંદને ઇન્દ્રિયજન્ય આનંદ માને છે.

  • એરિસ્ટોટલ સૂક્ષ્મ આનંદ માને છે.

  • કોચે એને સ્વયં સ્ફુરનાત્મ અભિવ્યક્તિનો આનંદ કહે છે.

  • બ્રેડલે તેને અનિરવચનીય વિશિષ્ટ આનંદ કહે છે.

  • રિચાર્જ તેને સામાન્ય ઇન્દ્રિય અનુભૂતિ નહિ પરંતુ ભાવિત ઇન્દ્રિય અનુભૂતિ માને છે.

There are only eight Rasa according to Bharat. Bhaktiras are added later.  Some editors of Rasa also consider Vatsal Rasa from Vatsalya. So in that way other poetic elements have found a place in Indian literature.  Which Bhamah, Dandi, Rudrat, Vaman, Aanandavardhan,  Mammat, Mintak, Agnipuran, Mahinbhatt, Vishvanath and Rajshekhar etc. all have accepted this. 



2.Alankara Sampraday 


The metaphorical theory is also an important principle in Indian literature.  The metaphorical cult lasted for ages and the field of metaphor has been very plowed.  Acharya Bhamah, the preacher of the Alankar sect, is celebrated.  The word metaphor is explained in two ways, 


  1. अलहिक्रयेते अनेन ईति अलंङकारः । (એટલે કે જેનાથી અલંકૃત કરવામાં આવે છે તે અલંકાર.)


  1. अलंङकरोति ईति अलंङकारः । (અર્થાત અલંકૃત કરે તે અલંકાર છે.)


Bhamah has named his book "Kavyalankar".  And metaphors etc. have shown the utmost importance of metaphors in poetry.  Just as the beautiful face of a beautiful woman is not adorned without ornaments, like that poetry is not adorned without ornaments. 


"It's device of language"


Dandi has considered the attire to be the adornment of poetry.  He considers metaphors etc. as ordinary metaphors.  Vaman considered  Alankar as a poetic beauty.  The metaphor itself is poetic.  It is not just a tool but a self-fulfillment.  So he says that, 


काव्यं ग्राह्यं अलंकारात्,

सौन्दर्य अलंकारः ।


અર્થાત અલંકારોથી જ કાવ્યને ગ્રહણ કરવું જોઈએ. કાવ્યની સુંદરતા જ અલંકાર છે. 


Rudrat is also well known Metaphoric. He has a good collection of metaphors.  Panini and Yask also comment on the analogy.  So it can be assumed that there would have been a classical review of metaphor even at that time. 


In the Alankar sect, there is a wide range of Acharyas from Bhamaha to Dandi, Rudrat, Rupyak, Bhoj, Pratiharenduraj, Jaydev etc. There is two types of Alankara,


  1. શબ્દાલંકાર

  2. અર્થાલંકાર


According to rhetoricians, rhetoric is the lifeblood and everything of poetry.  But metaphor is not the soul of poetry nor is it inevitable in poetry.  Rhetoric only becomes useful in expressing the beauty of poetry.  The metaphor makes the expression interesting and accurate. Thus metaphor is a useful essential and benevolent element in poetry. 


3.Riti Sampraday


The Riti theory of Indian literary philosophers is as important as ancient style science.  The promoter of the Riti sect is the Vamana.  In his treatise entitled "કાવ્યાલંકારસુત્રવૃત્તિ" he defines ritual as follows, 


रीतिरात्मा काव्यस्य ।

("રીતિ એ કાવ્ય નો આત્મા છે")


विशिष्टा पादरचना रीतिः ।

("વિશિષ્ટ પદરચના એટલે રીતિ")


विशेषो गुणात्मा ।

("વિશેષ એ ગુણાત્મા છે")


Thus Vamana considers Riti and Guna to be as intertwined as nature and man.  So along with the method the principle of marks is also discussed.  This Riti is called modern style. 


Riti Vichar may have come from Kavyacharya and Natyacharya Bharatmuni because he has talked about Vrutti and Guna.  Bhamah and Dandi have also contemplated before the Vamana.  They offer two ways to Riti: 


  1. વૈદર્ભ

  2. ગૌડ


Vamana added પાંચાલી. After Vamana Udbhatt, Rudrat, Aanandavardhan, Kuntak, Bhoj, Mammat, Vishvanath, Jagannath and Hemchandracharya etc gave their oral opinions about Riti. Vaman established the "Riti" based on all these ritualistic views and his own original thinking and gave place to the soul of his poetry. 


  • ભામહ રીતિ માટે "કાવ્ય"

  • દંડી રીતિ માટે  "માર્ગ"

  • ઉદ્દભટ્ટ રીતિ માટે "વૃત્તિ"

  • ભોજ રીતિ માટે "પંથ

  • આનંદવર્ધન રીતિ માટે "સંઘટના"

એવા જુદા જુદા શબ્દો વાપરે છે.


In this way the Riti is the way of poetry. According to Vamana Riti means,


रियते गम्यते अनेन इति रीतिः ।


(એટલે કે જેનાથી જવાય છે ગમન થાય તેને રીતિ કહે છે)


રીતિ એટલે રસ્તો, માર્ગ, વાટ કે પંથ. In modern terminology Riti means,


"Way of expression"


Vamana is called Riti as a qualified position formation.  A phrase without marks is not that way.  Vamana has not imagined the difference between Guna and Riti, hence Riti Sampradaya is also known as 'Guna Sampradaya'. Vamana has differentiated the style from the region so it is considered different from the poetic style. Because the style is based on poets. There is three main root of Riti,


  • Quality (ગુણ)  

  • Interests (રસ)

  • Temperament of poet (કવિ સ્વભાવ)


"Style iz the man"

-Dandi


4. Dhvani Sampraday 


Composer of this school is Aanandvardhana. Dhvani  theory is very important in Indian literature. Anandvardhan established the reputation of sound as the soul of poetry by refuting sound contradictions in his book of poetry called "Dhvanyalok".  Forms and distinctions are explained in detail and the types of poetry based on Dhvani are illustrated.  According to him the true authority of the poetic place is the Dhvani theory. 


काव्यास्यात्मां ध्वनिरीति ।

-Aanandvardhan


The principles of Alankara, Riti and Guna were not the principles of the inner self of poetry.  It was not realization, but principles of expression.  Dhvani's behavior is based on the fourth consonant of the word.  Phonology reveals the consonant or sound of poetry.  It thus reveals the essence of the poem, so it is the core of the poem.  Dhvani means perceptible meaning. There are three type of power of word,




The Dhvani doctrine is not explicitly indicated in grammar.  But Dhvani is alluded to in some satirical metaphors.  The word sound is used in five senses in poetry,


  1. વ્યંજક શબ્દ

  2. વ્યંજક અર્થ

  3. વ્યંજના શક્તિ

  4. વ્યંગ્યાર્થ

  5. વ્યંગ્યાર્થ પ્રધાન ધ્વનિકાવ્ય


Showing the form of Dhvani, Anandvardhan says that in poetry, a special meaning which is different from the meaning of reading is called Dhvani.  Dhvani is the special meaning that is derived from the abandoned meaning of poetry.  Anandvardhan considers Dhvani to be the chief.  It provides three types of Dhvani,


  1. વસ્તુ ધ્વનિ

  2. અલંકાર ધ્વનિ

  3. રસ ધ્વનિ

In all of them he consider Rasa Dhvani as best. There are three type of Dhvani according to the location of the sound. 


  1. ઉત્તમ કાવ્ય

  2. મધ્યમ કાવ્ય

  3. અવર કાવ્ય 


The specialty of Dhvani is that it has become an alternative to Rasa.  He also gave importance to create Rasa in the form of Rasa Dhvani and included it in himself.  This way …


ध्वनि आत्मा काव्यस्य ।


Is became the motto. This way Dhvani is the best poetic element. 


5. Vakrokti Sampraday 


This is also an important branch of Indian literature. Kuntak is believed to be the originator of the Vakrokti (irony) theory.  Irony was practiced in both broad and narrow sense.  It is his special achievement that Kuntak accepted the broad form of Vakrokti and called it the "living of poetry" (કાવ્ય નું જીવીત) and developed the theory of Vakrokti.  He has called Vakrokti the soul of poetry and has given a book called "Vakroktijivitam". 


વક્રોક્તિ એટલે વક્ર ઉક્તિ. Distinctive and miraculously distinctive utterance from ordinary vibration.  Kuntak has subtly illustrated the various differences of curvature (વક્રતા).  Acharya Dandi divides the whole oratory into two parts. 


  1. સ્વભાવોક્તિ

  2. વક્રોક્તિ

Kuntak gave its definition 

वक्रोक्तिरेव वैदग्धभङगिभणिति ।

વક્રોક્તિ એટલે વિદગ્ધજનની ભંગી ભણીતી સંસ્કારી રસિક માણસની વક્રતાયુક્ત વાણી-છટા. There is six types of Vakrokti,


  1. વર્ણવિન્યાસ વક્રતા

  2. પદ પૂર્વાર્ધ વક્રતા

  3. પ્રત્યય વક્રતા

  4. વાક્ય વક્રતા

  5. પ્રકરણ વક્રતા

  6. પ્રબંધ વક્રતા

Kuntak also tries to incorporate Dhvani into Vakrokti.  Its influence was such that the phonological principles of the past were compelled to consider the types of Dhvani as Vakrokti. Thus irony (Vakrokti) is the predominant principle of genre science.  Kuntak rightly said that, 


विचित्रैव अभिधा वक्रोक्तिरित्युच्यते ।


એટલે કે વિચિત્ર પ્રકારની અભિધા એ વક્રોક્તિ કહેવાય છે.


6. Auchitya Sampraday 


The Auchitya (justification) principle of Indian literary philosophy is known as the Auchitya (justification) sect or theory of Acharya Kshemendra.  The idea of ​​justification comes from Bharata's Natyashastra.  For example, in a play, costume, speed, text, acting, etc. should be consistent and similar to each other, then Rasanispati can take place. 


Acharya Vamana, speaking of merits and demerits in "Kavyalankar", states that justification is a virtue and impropriety is a fault.  Righteousness makes even the bad thing good and beautiful.  For example,


  • કાજળ કાળું છે, પણ સુંદરીના નયનમાં આંજવાથી રૂપ બની જાય છે.

The scripture that Kshemendra establishes on the Auchitya (Justification) discussion is in "Auchitya Vichar Charcha".  It formally and emotionally represents the principle of Auchitya (Justification). 


उचितं प्राहुराचाप्राहुराचार्याः सद्रुशं किल यस्य तत् ।

उचितस्य च यो भावस्तदौचित्यं प्रचक्षते ।।

અર્થાત જે જેના જેવું અનુરૂપ હોય તેને આચાર્યો ઉચિત કહે છે. ઉચિત હોવાનો ભાવ તે જ ઔચિત્ય છે. 


There are 28 parts in the poem. Where justification is inevitable. Kshemendra divides these elements into four sections. 


  1. ભાષા શૈલીનું ઔચિત્ય

  2. રચનવિધાનનું ઔચિત્ય

  3. વિષયનું ઔચિત્ય

  4. કલ્પનાનું ઔચિત્ય

The famous scientist Hires also gives six types of Auchitya. In them,


  • વિષય

  • ચારિત્ર

  • અભિનય

  • ઘટના

  • શૈલી

  • છંદ


Are included. Ancient philosophers used "Sense of Proprietary" for Auchitya. Auchitya is not the soul of poetry, but it's a compulsory quality of poetry. So that's why it's touched with the exteriority form of poetry. In the sense, ઔચિત્ય એટલે સર્વાંગસુંદરતા. 


To wind up we can say that different sects of poetry are obtained.  In which some make the inner beauty of poetry the best, some emphasize the outer beauty.  In this way care is taken that there is no fault in the poem.  Emphasis is placed on certain parts of poetry or certain perspectives on poetry.  As a result 6 schools of poetry emerged. 


Here i'm attaching the videos of the lectures of Dr. Vinod Joshi sir on indian poetics.










Thank you...


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