Indian Poetics

 Thinking Activity: Indian Poetics 

Hello Readers! This blog is response to the Thinking Activity assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MKBU. In this blog I am going to discuss about Indian Poetics in which we study about the various schools like Rasa, Dhavani, Auchitya, Vakrokti, Riti and Alankara. We also got a chance to learn Indian Poetics from a recognised Indian Poet, Prof. Dr. Vinod Joshi sir. It is organised in our department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar.

The Indian Poetics:-

Indian Poetics refers to the literary theory and tradition of poetry in Indian literature. It encompasses various forms of poetry, such as kavya, which is the traditional form of poetry in Indian literature, and modern forms of poetry such as ghazals. Indian Poetics also includes the study of literary devices and techniques used in Indian poetry, such as metaphors, simile, and allusion, as well as the study of Indian poetry. The Natyashashtra, written by the ancient Indian Bharata Muni,  is one of the most important texts on Indian Poetics and is considered to be the foundation of Indian drama. Indian poetry started to develop with the contribution of the exponents and grammarians like Bharata, Bhamaha, Mamata, Anandvardhan, Dadin, Vamana, Udbhata, Ksemendra etc. In Indian Poetics we find six schools of theory. These are as below:

• The Rasa ( aesthetic pleasure ) Theory 
• The Dhvani (suggestion) Theory 
• The Vakrokti (Obliquity) Theory 
• The Riti (Style) Theory 
• The Auchitya (Propriety) Theory 
• The Alankara (Poetic figure) Theory 

Rasa Theory:-

Rasa is produced from a combination of Determinants ( vibhav ), Consequents ( anubhava ) and Transitory ( vyabhicaribhava ). Rasa Theory originated by Bharata Muni in the sixth chapter of Natyashashtra. He gives 'Rasa Sutra'. Rasa's literary meaning is essence or taste. It refers to the emotional flavors crafted into the work by the writer and enjoyed by a 'sensitive spectator' or one can connect to the work with emotion, without dryness. Rasa is felt by various Bhavas. Vibhav, Anubhav, Vyabhicharibhava when all these three elements combine, Rasa is can be developed. 

Vibhav means something that causes the rise of an emotion. So Vibhava is a cause of determinant of an emotion. It is હેતુ, કારણ or નિમિત્ત. It is the objective condition producing the emotion like a set of objects, a situation, or a chain of events that would cause certain emotion. The primary purpose of Vibhava is to create the awareness of the emotion that the author intends to. Vibhavas are of two types: one is alamban Vibhava and the other is uddipan Vibhava. Alamban Vibhava means the person or person with reference to whom the emotion is manifested. Uddipan Vibhava means the external circumstances that help in enhancing the emotion. Uddipan Vibhava it is an external stimulus.

Anubhava means the expressions. Gestures, smile and glances whatever we feel it would be anubhava. The gestures are expressive of what is going on the heart and mind of the two persons here. 

Vyabhichari are transient emotion which are not primary emotion but reinforce the primary emotion. For instance, a woman eagerly waiting for her husband may feel anger for his being late, may feel anxious thinking that something might have happened to him, may feel happy at the thought of endearing words he would say upon arrival. She may be feeling these entire emotions but reinforce the primary emotion which is srngar here.

Rasa Theory is a concept from Indian aesthetics that describes the emotional responses ( rasas ) that a person experiences while viewing a work of art. According to this theory, there are nine primary rasas that can be experienced:

श्रृंगारकरुणवीररौद्रहास्यभयानका ।

बिभत्साद्भुतशांत नवनाटयेरसास्मृता।।

              - भरत: नाट्यशास्त्र ( छंद अनुष्टुप)

  Rasa                                 Bhava 

Shringar - श्रृंगार                   Romance, love 

 Hasyam - हास्य                    Laughter, comedy

 Rudram - रौद्र                      Fury 

Karunyam - करुण               Compassion

Bibhatsam - बीभत्स             Disgust, aversion

Bhayanakam - भयानक       Horror, terror

Viram - वीर                           Heroism

Adbhutam - अदभूत             Wonder 

Shantam - शांतम                   Peace 

The theory of rasa is attributed to Bharat, a sage-priest who may have lived sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE. It was developed by the rhetorician and philosopher Abhinavagupta , who applied it to all varieties of theatre and poetry. The principal human feelings, according to Bharata, are delight, laughter, heroism, and astonishment, all of which may be recast in contemplative form as the various rasas: erotic, comic, pathetic, furious, heroic, terrible, odious, marvelous, and quietistic. These rasas comprise the components of aesthetic experience. The power to taste rasa is a reward for merit in some privious existence.

Dhavani Theory:

A simple meaning of dhavani is voice which helps us to complete a word.  Acharya Anandvardhana propagated a Dhvani Theory. Dhavani adorms Poetry and beauty adorms women. ધ્વનિ એટલે પ્રતીયમાન અર્થ. Getting new meaning through the same words is Dhavni - apparent meanings. That is a soul of poetry. The communication of proper meaning through words requires a proper arrangements of sounds. Language basically can be written or spoken which has words as their foundation. Sanskrit critic has described three types of words:

Abhidha - literal meaning of the word

Lakshana - characteristically meaning of the word

Vyanjana - poetic & Metaphysical meaning of the word

The three types of meaning in fact are the three functions of a word, it denotes (abhidha) , it indicates (laksana), and it suggests (vyanjana). For example, the sentence 'the ball is in your court' means, in vachyarth, that the ball is in the court of the person addressed. But in laksana it means that it's your responsibility to take the next step or to make a decision. We know that the speaker is not talking about the ball or the tennis court but about the responsibility. It is the vyanjana that makes poetry. The literal meaning has it's important but it just like the outer body of the kavya. The soul of the kavya is the suggested meaning, vyanjana. We take an example from a Gujarati poem:

હજો હાથ કરતાલ ને ચિત્ત ચાનક 

તળેટી સમીપે હજો ક્યાંક થાનક. 

Here, we know the literal meaning of the words used in these lines. This line refer to Narsimh Mehta and Girnar Mountain and Narsimh Mehta's devotional poetry. This multiplicity of meaning suggested by the words કરતાલ, થાનક and તળેટી makes this simple looking lines great poerty. 

So we can say that we create many meaning through one word. In this way, the third word vyanjana reaches the soul and gives the suggested meaning of the word. It is also called 'dhvani'. Dhavani is considered to be the soul of the body, it gives life to poetry. Dhvani theory is a theory of meaning and symbolism which leads to the poetry of suggestion being accepted as the highest kind of poerty. 

Vakrokti theory:

The word Vakrokti consists of two components - vakra and ukti. The first component means crooked, indirect or unique and the second means poetic expression or speech. Vakrokti is vakra which is something like a curve. Beauty has no pointed curve? Vakrokti is ironic. Vakrokti can be divided in six categories:

વર્ણવિન્યાસ - the phonetic level,

પદપૂવર્ધ - the lexical level

પદપરાધ - the grammatical level 

વાક્યવક્તા - the sentential level

પ્રકરણ - the contextual level and 

પ્રબંધ - the compositional level 

Alankar theory :

Alankar means ornaments. It adors and gives beauty to poetry. Acharya Bhamah was the first to define Poetry and for the first time presented the interpretation of 39 metaphors while accepting the main elements of poetry, metaphor. Bhamaha categories Alankara into two groups:

શબ્દાલાંકર and 

અર્થલાંકર 

Language is ornamental, and ornamental language is applied to language. Alankar is not natural. E.g. : Her face is like the moon'. This sentence contains Alankar. Alankar mixes in language, like a homogeneous mixture.

Riti theory:

Riti means style. Kavyalankasutra is the poetic work of Acharya Vamana. In this work he talk about riti. For Vamana, that formless, indeterminate essence of kavya is Riti. Vamana said; just as every body has Atma, so does every kavya has its Riti. The explanation offered by Vamana meant that the verbal structure having certain Gunas is the body of kavya, while its essence is, Riti. Riti, a very high position by designing Riti as the soul of kavya -  रीतिरात्मा काव्यास्य; विशिष्टापदरचना रीति।

Auchitya theory :

Kshemendra in Kavikanthabharana introduces to Auchitya school. It means justification, propriety, decency 

He said Auchitya is the very life of kavya that is endowed with Rasa. The most essential elements of Rasa, he said, is Auchitya. The test of Auchitya is the harmony between the expressed sounds and the suggested Rasa. And, he described Auchitya as that laudable virtue which embalms the poerty with delight. According to Kshemendra, "when one thing befits another or matches perfectly, it is said to be appropriate, Auchitya."

Conclusion:- 

Thus, Bharata's Natyashashtra is believed to be the earliest extant work of Indian Poetics. This exhaustive work on Indian Poetics continues to be the store house of ideas for later scholars and thinkers. So primary concern of Indian Poetics seems to be the use of language in literature and the function of literature. It is a rich tradition that has an all encompassing influence on all fine arts like dance, music, architecture, painting etc in addition to literature. So it is aesthetics in this sense.