Introduction to Indian Poetics
Introduction
Indian poetry started to develop with the contribution of the exponents and grammarians like Bharata, Bhamaha, Mamata, Anandvardhan, Dadin, Vamana, Udbhata, Rudrata, Ksemendra, etc. we find no written record of Indian poetics in early history so Bharata is largely considered to the father of Indian Poetics. Bharat’s Natya Shastra is to be the oldest existing work of Indian poetics. It consists of thirty-seven chapters and deals with all the aesthetics and technicalities of dance, drama, and dramaturgy. Apart from drama and dramatic theory, the importance of Bharata in the history of Sanskrit poetry lies in the rasa theory of poetics.
We also find a myth connected to Natya shastra; It’s a myth about the ‘Natyashashtra’ that the God Indra has requested to Lord Brahma to create something which is delightful to eyes and pleasing to ears. Brahma took the element of the song from ‘Samaveda’, ‘the tandava’ from God Shiva, and ‘Lasya’ from Goddess Parvati. And he compiled the ‘Natyashashtra’.
Now further let us discuss the origin of Indian poetics and will discuss two theories that are Alankara and Vakrokti.
Sanskrit Poetics
Sanskrit poetics had been evolved with different schools of thought and
those schools are as follows:
Alamkara (poetic figures) school
Rasa (aesthetic pleasure) school
Riti (style) school
Guna (attribute) school
Dhvani (suggestion) school
Vakrokti (obliquity) school
Anumana (inference) school
Aucitya (propriety) school
Tamil Poetics
Tamil poetics is Tholkappiyar.Tamil Poetics besides Sanskrit, another major field of Indian poetics is Tamil. It is also an ancient and contemporary school of Indian poetics as Sanskrit.
• Major theorist of Tamil poetics is Tholkappiyar.
• He was a linguist and grammarian also.
• His book Tholkappiyam deals with diction and syntax mainly.
This book is actually concerned with the descriptive linguistics of Tamil. Though his work deals with grammar and other parts of linguistics, the major reference was poetry. Therefore, words, meaning, and syntax in poetry are anałysed with keen interest.
Persian Poetics
The Persian language in India has a very rich history of literature. Entire medieval India has observed Persian as an influential literary culture and many modern Indian languages have adapted or translated texts from Persian.
Therefore, the history of Persian literature in India is not only the history of Persian alone but a comparative history of influence study also. Different literary genres and themes are adapted from Persian and Arabic Literature. Besides this Amir Khusru, a rare genius is one among the very famous poets who have lived in popular culture. But Khusru is not only a poet; he is a chronicler, musician, composer, author, and poet all in one mind. His idea of literary history is also a model for writing a history of literature. Like Badaoni he also proposed historiography of Indian literary history and Indian history also. Albadaoni's Twarikh and Amir Khusru's Nuh Sipihr are the texts which contain the theoretical thinking of these two great minds.
Modern Interpretations- Tagore, Aurobindo, Coomaraswamy, Mardhekar, Krishna Rayan, Suresh Joshi, Krishnamurti, Hiriyanna, Bhalchandra Nemade, Ramanujan, Bimal Krishna Matilal, Patankar, Spivak, Sudhir Kakar, and Aijaj Ahmed are such scholars. Aesthetics of Modernism-Rabindranath Tagore; Satya sheel and Sundara-Rabindranath Tagore
Indian Aesthetics
What is Abhinay?
Abhinay means when you act.
The character who is playing the role can only evoke the feeling of Rasa in the audience.
Rasa Siddhant Is based on 4 Abhinay.
Angika ( voluntary Non - Verbal Expression).
Angika or Gestures are performed by the actors voluntarily.
Sattvika ( Involuntary Non - verbal action / Expression.
Vachika ( Tone, pitch ).
Aharya ( Costume and stage action).
Alamkara Theory
Bhamaha, author of kavyalankara ( known as the father of Alamkara school in Sanskrit poetics).
It is a figure of speech.
- According to Bhamaha, Alamkara ( Figures of speech ) are given the highest place than
grammatical and logical correctness.
- Alamkara divided into two kinds
1) Shabdalankar.
2) Arthalankaras.
Shabdalankar - its Function was to make the sound Aspect of the compositions
agreeable to the ear.
- Arthalankaras - To produce an appealing turn of speech.
Types of alankara
1.Simile ( Upama) - comparison b/w two ideas . For Ex:- As, Like.
- Simile is used in the oldest form of Vedic writings.
Ex. Her smile is as bright as the sun
2. Rupaka ( Metaphor ) – It is another way of expressing the simile.
• Metaphor directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas.
3. Deepika Alamkara
Deepika is a word that indicates gender, Action, quality, and subject but is understood
Differently in different places. Based on the principle of similarity.
-For Example:- your Face and the moon rejoice at night. It is impossible for an inanimate
object like the moon to rejoice, the action of rejoicing being possible only to a rational
Being.
4. Hetu Alamkara ( Cause) It is an ornamental sound.
5. Paryayokta Alamkara - it means to speak in a roundabout way.
• Keeth defines " An utterance in which something is expressed indirectly.
• Falls in two major categories:-
1) Circumlocutory - a phrase that circles around a specific idea with multiple words rather
than directly evoking it with fewer and apter words.
2) synonymic – which is used by poets instead of the proper name For Ex- Bhuteshu ( Shiva).
6. Virodha – It is the same as Antithesis.
Giving a comparison in which the terms are in opposition.
For Ex:- your face and the lotus are similar.
7. Vyaj Stuti ( Irony) - A person utters words or sentences that contain an idea contrary to what he means.
Vyaja means Feigned, stuti means - praise
It means Feigned praise or Irony.
8. Siesa ( Pun) - Greeks call it paronomasia .
- It is a Greek word that means to suggest in one word something more than the user.
- Pun consists of the use of words of more than one meaning.
9. Atishayokti - Greek Rhetoricians like Longinus and Demetrius call this hyperbole.
In Hindi, it means an expression that lies in excess.
- It represents things in excess.
Bhamaha describes it as something that surpasses the ordinary.
It means to convey the most pleasing flattery.
10. Anupras Alankar
It is called alliteration.
- It consists of the harmonic repetition of the same sound in a verse or in a series of verse by means of the same letters.
• Using Different types of Alamkara results in the beauty of poetry. Actual beauty lies in the correct use of Different parts of speech.
Correct usage of the figures of speech.
Using words in the correct places we derive pleasure in that work.
Good poetry rests on word and meaning ( Two Factors).
Poetic Figures of speech are going to decorate your poetry and focus on meaning.
The function of poetry is to inculcate moral values.
Good poetry results in proficiency in the values of life.
- Bhamaha, considers Epic. poetry is the best of all Genres in form and style.
- Characters are lofty.
He appears in Book " Kavya Alamkara " in the 9th century.
Vakrokti Theory ( Oblique Speech)
This theory was developed by Kuntaka. The text in which he developed this theory was Vakrokti Jivika. Vakroti means a roundabout way of Expressing, not a straightforward or indirect way. When you say a thing in a very different manner. Saying a word in an indirect manner.
Poetry is marked by a roundabout turn of Expression. How you can present the same idea in very different Manners. According to S.K De, It is a kind of heightened expression. Kuntaka defined it as the vital essence of poetry. It is important for poetic Expression. According to him inadequate expression and Expressions devoid of ideals are of no use. He calls a beautiful expression without a beautiful idea dead.
Vakroti means a certain striking or charming mode of Expression. To Kuntaka, vakrokti is the only embellishment possible to the word and its meaning, and all poetic figures are different manifestations of Vakroti.
Kuntaka Classifies Vakrokti into 6 Levels of Expression in poetry.
1) Phonetic Figurativeness – Skillful
Employment of Syllables or consonants with a to effect sound of the poem.
2) Lexical Figurativeness - It includes Stylistic Choice in vocabulary, Metaphor, adjectives veiled expressions ( Hidden Expression)
3) Grammatical Figurativeness – It Includes delineation of inanimate objects as animate and personification of objects.
4) Sentential Figurativeness - The poetry, the poetic material, and the poet bear a close resemblance to the painting, the painting material, and the painter respectively.
5) Contextual / Episodic Figurativeness – It depends upon the Context, and which topic / Subject is talked about.
6) Compositional Figurativeness – This Includes adaptation of a story From a well-known source with new twists added to it, with a new Emotional significance, deletion of unnecessary episodes, and the development of even minor incidents into events of Far-reaching consequences.
Thus, Over the period different theoreticians, grammarians, and scholars of Indian poetry developed and contributed different methods and concepts to early Indian literature. the mentioned schools of poetry and stalwart theoretician like Bharat, Anand Vardhan, Abhinav Gupta, etc contributed immensely in order to solving the logical and philosophical, and linguistic problems in Literature. Indian ave undoubtedly remained the guidelines for further progress in flourishing literature in a prolific way.
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