ch8_tripathi_alamkaras

• aṁkāras in the Stotras of Utpaladeva

• dhavallabh Tripathi

• e concept of alaṁkāra in Sanskrit poetics is marked with a
• mprehensive approach to arts. Bharatamuni says that there are two
• pects of creativity in art — svabhāva and alaṁkāra.1 The former
• dicates natural acquisitions and the latter extraordinariness attained
• rough practice and devotion. In a dramatic performance they culminate
• to the renderings of lokadharmī and nāṭyadharmī, and in literature
• to svabhāvokti and vakrokti. The effects created by the process of
• aṁkāra lead to transgressing whatever may be commonplace or trivial.
• etymology the term alaṁkāra (making perfect) stands in agreement with
• is approach. Amarakośa has given four meanings of the term alam-, i.e.
• ūṣaṇa (decoration or embellishment), vāraṇa (negation or elimination),
• ryāpti (sufficiency) and śakti (power).2 They are related to surface
• ructure, deep structure and deeper structures in an art form. They are
• t isolated. The process of beautification (bhūṣaṇa) starts from the
• ter structure and basically relates to the form, but it is always
• nked to the content. This linkage necessitates the activity of
• imination or exclusion (vāraṇa) and both these processes of bhūṣaṇa
• d vāraṇa work together to bring in paryāpti (sufficiency). Thus a
• ece of art attains the state of fulfilment through bhūṣaṇa, vāraṇa and
• ryāpti and in this attainment lies its śakti. The alaṁkāra involves
• is fourfold view of alam, resulting in a holistic view of art. The
• iple process of bhūṣaṇa, vāraṇa and paryāpti, with the fourth element
• śakti embedded as an inherent force, tends to make an artistic
• eation extraordinary and this extraordinary nature of art is alaṁkāra.
• e ācāryas (masters of literary theory) have termed it as alambhāva or
• aṁkāra-bhāva. Abhinavagupta says:

• kottīrṇena rūpeṇa avasthānam iti ayam eva asau alaṁkārabhāvaḥ.

• maining in the state of extraordinariness is essence of alaṁkāra.3

• this completeness, each and every category in an art piece would
• mpete with the other ones in an ascending order for creating
• cellence. It is this ascendance of various components of poetry that
• ntaka terms as parasparaspardhādhiroha4 — a process in which various
• mponents of poetry vie with each other to enhance the charm of poetry
• d to make it reach the peaks of excellence.

• is manifestation of alambhāva or alaṁkāra-bhāva in literature or a
• ece of art encompasses all the three levels of human existence, i.e.
• hibhautika (empirical), ādhidaivika (psychic) and ādhyātmika
• piritual). The creative process under bhūṣaṇa, vāraṇa and paryāpti
• nctions on these three levels respectively. Therefore, alaṁkāra in
• terature and art must unfold a holistic view of life that functions on
• l these three levels, and it would reveal the extraordinary nature as
• scussed above only after completing its functions on all these three
• vels. It is also presumed that the gods are pleased by alaṁkāras.
• hinavagupta, commenting on the very first kārikā of the NŚ, says that
• e use of anuprāsa (alliteration) in the compound pitāmahamaheśvarau
• eaning Brahmā and Śiva) is to please both these gods.5 That means that
• sides devotion, the beauty of expression is also required to be
• essed with anugraha. The concept of alaṁkāra thus tends to make an art
• rm an abode of divine.

• e nature and choice of alaṁkāras in metaphysical poetry or in a stotra
• uld differ from their use in secular literature — śr̥ṅgāra-kāvya or
• ra-kāvya (romantic or heroic poetry). In metaphysical poetry or in a
• otra, use of virodha or virodhābhāsa (contradiction) alaṁkāra may be
• re meaningful than mere employment of alaṁkāras like upamā (simile).
• would seem contradictory in itself that the poetry that tends to
• move all contradictions of life, itself abounds in the use of
• ntradiction. Contradiction becomes effective to describe the Reality
• at cannot be encompassed in the ambit of ordinary language. In such
• ses it culminates into a paradox. This happens in many of the
• aniṣadic sayings. For example:

• rṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate ।

• rṇasya pūrṇam ādaya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate ।।6

• is is full, that is full. Being full, it is enjoined with the full.

• king out full from the full, full itself remains.

• d ejati tan nejati tad dūre tad u antike ।

• d antar asya sarvasya tad u sarvasya bāhyataḥ ।।

• at moves, that moves not. That is far off, That is very near. That is
• thin all this and That is outside all this — Īśa Upaniṣad 5

• rodha as a figure of speech occurs in the statements regarding
• existence of two opposite attributes in one stratum. Mammaṭa has
• umbrated ten varieties of virodha on the basis of permutations and
• mbinations of contradiction between jāti (universal), guṇa (quality),
• iyā (action) and yadr̥cchā (substance).7 These ten varieties encompass
• cosmic view of virodha. Some theoreticians have upheld the view that
• rodha and virodhābhāsa are two different alaṁkāras, with the
• stinction that the contradiction stands unresolved in the former
• ereas it is just apparent in the latter and finally resolved. In fact,
• it virodha or virodhābhāsa, the contradiction in this alaṁkāra is not
• al. In terms of Vedānta, it is a prātibhāsika-sattā.

• metimes the description of transcendental reality requires the
• mbination of śleṣa (pun) or rūpaka (metaphor) with virodha. Such
• mbinations then assume a unique character. The śleṣa or the rūpaka
• st then come as subservient to virodha in such cases. This type of
• mbination, termed as aṅgāṅgī-bhāva by the masters of literary theory,
• uld invest a poem, especially a stotra, with a unique character,
• king it distinct from the other forms of literature.

• stances of such use of virodha alaṁkāra abound in Utpaladeva’s
• otras. He employs this alaṁkāra to bring out the extraordinary nature
• metaphysical experience. For example:

• mā mama bhavadbhaktisudhāpānayuvā ’pi san ।

• kayātrārajorāgat palitair iva dhūsaraḥ ।। — Śivastotrāvalī I.2
• haktivilāsa)

• soul, even being young by drinking the elixir of devotion to the
• rd, appears as if dusty with grey hair, due to the rāga (colour,
• tachment) of the rajas (dust, rajoguṇa) during the course of the
• urney in this world.

• is is an example of virodha alaṁkāra based on contradiction between
• ṇas (qualities). Youth and old age are two opposite guṇas, they are
• own to be present in one entity (the ātman). This makes the poem an
• ample of contradiction. But this contradiction is substantiated by
• eṣa in the word rajorāga — to suit the double context of the lokayātrā
• ourney in this world).

• difference to the Vedāntic view that ātman is nirguṇa (devoid of
• alities), Utpaladeva apparently juxtaposes youth and old age
• multaneously in one substratum, bringing out the sound effect of
• votion to the Lord (bhavad bhakti). The kr̥t-suffix śatr̥ joined to the
• ot as (to be) in the words yuvā ’pi san emphasizes the continuity of
• uth through devotion, whereas the word iva (as if) added in the
• atement on old age suggests that the contradiction is not a part of
• e Reality. Despite the apparent contradiction of youth and old age
• nifesting in ātman simultaneously, Utpaladeva has carefully phrased
• is situation to bring out a resolution. The contradiction is further
• solved due to subtle use of utprekṣā in palitair iva dhūsaraḥ (appears
• if dusty with grey hair). The ātman is neither young nor old, it
• pears like that during the course of the journey in this world.

• eṣa as an alaṁkāra is of two types — śabda-śleṣa (based on word) and
• tha-śleṣa (based on the meaning). Here Utpala has used the former, as
• e double meaning of the word rajorāga can be conveyed only through the
• e of this particular word.

• e ācāryas like Mammaṭa also uphold the view that śabda-śleṣa
• lminates into simile. The rajas or dust gathered due to the journey in
• is world thus becomes comparable to rajoguṇa. This fusion of
• bda-śleṣa and the upamā with virodha here creates deep structures of
• taphysical and philosophical speculations. The very imagery of ātman
• ing continuously invested with youth, and yet appearing as an old
• rson, is suggestive of the fact that the journey in life does afflict
• e sādhaka (devotee) with its tinge of colours, but the grace of the
• rd will continue to be showered on him.

• pala makes skilful use of virodha with other alaṁkāras to bring out
• s philosophy in many other stanzas in Bhaktivilāsa-Stotra. Virodha in
• ch cases stands as aṅgī or main figure of speech whereas alaṁkāras
• sed on similarity or pun come as the aṅgas or subservient to virodha
• substantiate the premises of the poet.

• t us take up another example:

• yanti bhaktipīyūṣarasāsavavaronmadāḥ ।

• vitīyā api sadā tvaddvitīyā api prabho ।।

• Śivastotrāvalī I.5 (Bhaktivilāsa)

• ctorious are they who are intoxicated by bhaktipīyūṣarasāsavavara (the
• st quality essence of the wine of the nectar of devotion). They are
• vitīya (single, unique) and even then they are always tvaddvitīyā
• ccompanied by you).

• ere is a metaphor in bhaktipīyūṣarasāsavavara (the excellent essence
• the wine of the nectar of devotion). The effects of the intoxication
• wine can terminate the discretion and the discriminatory powers of a
• rson. Here the bhaktipīyūṣarasāsavavara leads to the termination of
• ality. The complexity of dualism and non-dualism going together is
• phasized by the use of virodha alaṁkāra. Here too, śabda-śleṣa and
• paka support virodha to project the uniqueness of experiences arising
• t of devotion to the Lord. In the same way, the experience of seeing
• e Lord when there is complete annihilation of all objects of knowledge
• s been brought out in the following stanza:

• tha vedyakṣaye kena na dr̥śyo asy ekakaḥ sthitaḥ ।

• dyavedaikasaṅkṣobhe ’py asi bhaktaiḥ sudarśanaḥ ।। — Śivastotrāvalī
• 8 (Bhaktivilāsa)

• rd, who will not see you as the One standing alone, after the complete
• nihilation of all objects of knowledge? After all the subject and
• ject are merged together, you are to be sighted easily.

• the seer and the seen are merged together, how can the Lord be seen
• sily? This contradiction in the statement cannot be resolved unless
• e stanza is considered to be having a tinge of bhāvika alaṁkāra. The
• ality of a literary discourse leading the connoisseur to a clear
• rception is bhāvika alaṁkāra. The happenings of past and things to
• ppen in future are portrayed so vividly that the reader is able to see
• em. Defining bhāvika alaṁkāra in his Kāvyālaṁkāra, Bhāmaha says:

• āvika is that quality of a literary discourse where things of past and
• ture are perceived as if by eyes. It is caused by variety, sublimity
• d dramatic quality of a narrative as well as by the clarity of words.8

• ṇḍin understands bhāva as the intention of the poet. The theme is
• and, and speech and expressions match it, so that everything becomes
• bservient to the intention of the poet.9 Later authors have viewed
• āvika as unfolding of the vision of past and future leading to
• alization. Ruyyaka says that the past and the future become alive
• fore our eyes through bhāvika — they become perceptible and we stand
• tness to them.10 Appaya Dīkṣita defines it as
• ūtabhavyārthasākṣāddarśanavarṇanam (direct vision and narration of the
• st and the future). Āśādhara Bhaṭṭa in his commentary on Kuvalayānanda
• fines bhāva in bhāvika as sākṣātkāra (vision) — bhāvāya sākṣātkārāya
• abhavati iti bhāvikaṁ. Ruyyaka also says that there are two types of
• rrespondences in poetry — subjective and objective — hr̥daya-saṁvāda
• mpathy) and vastu-saṁvāda (objective visualization). In
• savadalaṁkāra we have hr̥daya-saṁvāda and in svabhāvokti there is
• stu-saṁvāda. But in bhāvika it is neither vastu-saṁvāda nor
• ̥daya-saṁvāda; it is clear perception. The masters of literary theory
• ve used the term sākṣātkāra for the experience of poetry having
• āvika alaṁkāra. The same term is used in Śaivism and Vedānta to define
• e mystic experience. The mystic poems as those of Utpala lead to a
• rception beyond time and space, and thus they illustrate bhāvika
• aṁkāra.

• aṅgati (incongruity or disconnection) is another important alaṁkāra of
• e group of alaṁkāras based on contradiction. It is used for situations
• volving non-applicability of the rules of cause and effect, etc.
• aṅgati is often used to bring a sense of saṅgati (connection).
• bhākaramiśra has enumerated eight types of asaṅgatis enveloping a vast
• ectrum of time and space. They are: (i) the effect manifests
• sewhere, (ii) the effect that should have been at two different places
• nifests at one place; (iii-iv) the effect manifests earlier, or
• nifests with the cause, (v-vi) the effect manifests much later or too
• rly; and (vii-viii) the effect belonging to this world is found in
• other world and vice versa.11

• paladeva explores the disconnections or connections between the causes
• d the effects through asaṅgati alaṁkāra with a view to establish the
• iqueness of metaphysical experiences. The following stanza from his
• otra is a good example of asaṅgati alaṁkāra —

• tram nisargato nātha duḥkhabījaṁ idaṁ manaḥ ।

• adbhaktirasasaṁsiktaṁ niḥśreyasamahāphalam ।। — Śivastotrāvalī I.26
• haktitavilāsa)

• range as it is, O Lord, that my mind — a seed of sorrow by nature —
• s yielded the great fruit of salvation.

• e asaṅgati alaṁkāra here joins hand again with a complex metaphor,
• erein the mind is the earth, sorrow is the seed sown in it, bhakti
• evotion) is the rasa (water, bliss) and niḥśreyasa (salvation) is the
• hāphala (great fruit).

• fact, we do not find singular usages of alaṁkāras in this type of
• etry, as one alaṁkāra would be joined invariably by other members of
• s group or the other group. This becomes necessary due to the
• mplexity and unique character of the experiences that are to be
• lineated in devotional and mystic poetry. Rūpaka assumes a distinct
• aracter, supported by an alaṁkāra like vyatireka. The following stanza
• mbines a number of alaṁkāras to bring out the unparalleled nature of
• rd Śiva:

• śvendhanamahākṣārānulepaśucivarcase ।

• hānalāya bhavate viśvaikahaviṣe namaḥ ।। — Śivastotrāvalī II.2
• arvātmaparibhāvana)

• lutations to you, O Big Fire, consuming the offering of the whole
• iverse, and with your body having become pious by smearing the ashes
• the firewood of this world.

• paka is the main alaṁkāra here, supported by virodha alaṁkāra. The
• taphor of the world as a fuel incorporates the contradiction or
• rodha alaṁkāra, i.e. that the Lord is pious even when he smears his
• dy with the ashes of this fuel. The metaphor of mahānala (great fire)
• also suggestive of vyatireka alaṁkāra, as it implies that Lord Śiva
• ceeds an ordinary fire. Again the metaphor and vyatireka in the second
• ne are supported by another metaphor of viśvaikahaviḥ — that the world
• a haviḥ (oblation) for the great fire that is Śiva. The whole stanza
• also an example of parikara alaṁkāra. Parikara alaṁkāra manifests by
• e appropriate use of adjectives. There are three adjectives used here
• r Lord Śiva — viśvendhanamahākṣārānulepaśucivarcas, mahānala and
• śvaikahaviḥ. All of them suitably bring out the distinct nature of the
• rd. Also as the adjectives so suitably used to describe Lord Śiva are
• l suggestive of his extraordinariness and grandeur, the stanza is also
• aracterized by udātta alaṁkāra. In fact, Utpala’s poetry subtly
• eathes in the mixture of such alaṁkāras like parikara, udātta with
• paka. It is the vision of the divine that leads to the expressions
• ructured with alaṁkāras like virodha, parikara, udātta, rūpaka and
• atireka — with implications of atiśayokti.

• ch specific combinations of alaṁkāras distinguish the poetry of
• stics like Utpala from other types of literary compositions. The
• aṁkāras employed in such poetry present a feast of contradictions that
• variably and unmistakably culminates in the state of bliss. The
• ntradictions then become the vehicles for a journey to travel beyond
• e mundane. A glimpse of the transcendental can be had through the
• ope created by contradictory statements, such as

• hasrasūryakiraṇādhikaśuddhaprakāśavān ।

• i tvaṁ sarvabhuvanavyāpako ’pi na dr̥śyase ।। — Śivastotrāvalī III.19
• raṇayaprasāda)

• ving pure brilliance more than the rays of thousands of suns, you are
• t visible even when you pervade all the cosmos.

• is leads us to distinguish the specific nature of alaṁkāras and the
• pes of alaṁkāras that are used in the stotras of the
• ilosopher-poets, like Utpaladeva.

• e following stanza 14 from Sarvātmaparibhāvana presents a combination
• rūpaka and udātta:

• ṭeṣv eva paribhrāntaiḥ labdhās tās tā vibhūtayaḥ ।

• sya tasmai namas tubhyam agādhaharasindhave ।।

• lutations to thee, O unfathomed sea Lord Śiva, just by loitering upon
• ose banks people get unaccountable prosperities.

• re also udātta is aṅga (subservient) to rūpaka. In all such instances,
• iśayokti forms the base. Ultimately, the saṅkara (commixture) of such
• gures of speech enables the poet to create divine aesthetics. The
• ṁsr̥ṣṭi (fusion) of alaṁkāras like rūpaka, parikara, vyatireka and
• ātta leads to a samplava — a confluence of diverse streams forming
• fathomed sea — which Utpala terms as rāgarasa.

• accidānandajaladhes cyutāḥ saṁvittivipruṣaḥ ।

• āḥ kathaṁ me bhagavan na amr̥tāsvādasundarāḥ ।।

• ayi rāgarase nātha na magnaṁ hr̥dayaṁ prabho ।

• ṣāṁ ahr̥dayā eva te avajñāspadaṁ īdr̥śāḥ ।। — Śivastotrāvalī III.6-7
• raṇayaprasāda)

• e drops of consciousness trickling from the Sea of Bliss that is You —
• ll they not be beautiful to me like nectar? O Lord, heartless are they
• ose hearts have not been submerged in the rāgarasa that You are. They
• e not subjected to the grace from you.

• ferences

• aṁkāra-Ratnākara of Śobhākaramiśra, ed. C.R. Devadhar, Poona: Oriental
• ok Agency, 1942.

• aṁkāra-Sarvasva of Ruyyaka with Sañjīvinī of Śrīvidyācakravartin, ed.
• C. Dwivedi, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

• arakośa – Edited by Hargovind Shastri, Kashi Sanskrit Granthamālā,
• 8, Chowkhambha Sanskrit Series Office, Varanasi, Vikram Saṁvat 2016.

• vanyāloka of Ānandavardhana, ed. K. Krishnamoorthy, Delhi: Motilal
• narsidass, 1982.

• vanyālokalocana (Locana): Dhvanyālokalocana- Kerala Commentaries,
• ls. I-II, ed. C.M. Neelkanthan, Tripunithura: Centre for Heritage
• udies, 2011.

• ādidaśopaniṣadaḥ, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1st edn., 1964, repr.
• 75.

• vyādarśa of Daṇḍin with commentary of Ramachandra Mishra, Varanasi:
• owkhambha Vidya Bhavan, 1958.

• vyālaṁkāra of Bhāmaha, ed. Raman Kumar Sharma, Delhi: Vidya Nidhi
• akashan, 1994.

• vyaprakāśa of Mammaṭa with English translation by Sir Ganganatha Jha,
• lhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan, 1985.

• ṭyaśāstra (NŚ) – of Bharatamuni, ed. Ravishankar Nagar, vols. I-IV,
• lhi: Parimal Publications, 1983-84.

• vastrotrāvalī of Utpaladeva, ed. Sushama Jadu, New Delhi: Rashtriya
• nskrit Sansthan, 2010.

• ddhitrayī of Utpaladeva, ed. Surya Prakash Vyas, Varanasi: Chowkhambha
• nskrit Sansthan, 1988.

• kroktijīvitam of Kuntaka, ed. K. Krishmoorthy, Dharwad: Karnatak
• iversity, 1977.

• ----------------------------------------------------------------------

• NŚ, XXXIII.6.

• alam bhūṣaṇaparyāptiśaktivāraṇavācakam — Amarakośa III.3.252; mā sma
• alaṁ ca vāraṇe — ibid. 3.4.11.

• Locana on Dhvanyāloka (Varanasi edn.), p. 499.

• vakratāvividhaguṇālaṁkārasampadāṁ paraspara-spardhādhirohaḥ —
• kroktijīvitam, p. 10.

• pitāmahamaheśvarau iti kramaḥ chekānuprāsārthaḥ । sālaṁkārasya ca
• kyābhinayatāṁ darśayityuṁ । sālaṅkārasya devatāparitoṣahetutvaṁ ca
• rśayituṁ । — Abhinavabhāratī on Nāṭyaśāstra I.1.

• This verse occurs in the beginning of the fifth chapter of
• ̥hadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Śaṅkarācārya has commented upon it.
• ādidaśopaniṣadaḥ, p. 950.

• KP, X.110-11a: 407-08.

• tad bhāvikam iti prāhuḥ prabandhaviṣayaṁ guṇaṁ ।

• atyakṣa iva dr̥śyante yatrārthāḥ bhūtabhāvinaḥ ।।

• trodāttādbhutārthatvaṁ kathāyāḥ svabhinīyatā ।

• bdānākulatā ca iti tasya hetuṁ pracakṣate ।। — Kāvyālaṁkāra III.53-54

• bhāvaḥ kaver abhiprāyaḥ kāvyeṣv āsiddhisaṁsthitaḥ ।

• rasparopakāritvaṁ sarveṣāṁ vastuparvaṇām ।।

• śeṣaṇānāṁ vyarthānām akriyā sthānavarṇanā ।

• aktir uktikramabalād gabhīrasyāpi vastunaḥ ।।

• āvāyattam idaṁ sarvam iti tad bhāvikaṁ viduḥ ।। — Kāvyādarśa II.364-65

• Alaṁkāra-Sarvasva, sūtra 80, p. 328.

• Alaṁkāra-Ratnākara, sūtra 55, p. 96.