Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c83.55

v2.c83.55

Thus the suggested sense, or the unexpressed has three different aspects; it may either be (1) a matter or an idea (*vastu-dhvani*), (2) a poetic figure (*alaṃkāra-dhvani*), or (3) a mood or feeling (*rasa-dhvani*). The first occurs when a distinct subject or thought (a matter of fact) is suggested; the second, where the suggested sense constitutes something imaginative (not a matter of fact) which, if expressed in so many words, would assume the form of a poetic figure; and the last, where a mood or feeling, which is directly inexpressible but which can be suggested, is the principal element. The dhvani-theory, therefore, comprehends three kinds of poetry which deal with the communcation of a fact (or a thought), or of an imaginative, or an emotional mood. Abhinavagupta points out²⁷ that this doctrine is not expressly taught in the kārikās, but is clear from Ānandavardhana’s treatment in his vṛtti²⁸.