History of Sanskrit Poetics c6.86

c6.86

10 The alaṅkāra school. The word alaṅkāra³ has had a chequered career. The inscription of Rudradāman cited above shows that in the 2nd centnry A. D. literary गद्य and पद्य were required to be अलङ्कृत. In the नाट्यशास्त्र (chap. 17. 1-5) there is an enumeration of 36 लक्षणs (in two recensions) with which the kāvya to be employed in nāṭya was to be endowed. These lakṣaṇas gradually faded out and some of them like हेतु and लेश were accepted as figures of speech by certain old ālaṅkārikas like Daṇḍin. The definition of the very first lakṣaṇa called भूषण or विभूषण is ‘अलङ्कारैर्गुणैश्चैव बद्धभिः समलङ्कृतम् । भूषणैरिव चित्रैस्तैर्भूषणमिति स्मृतम् ॥ (नाट्यशास्त्र 17. 6, G. O. S. vol. II p. 350). This shows that the lakṣaṇa भूषण included both अलङ्कारs and गुणs. The Nāṭyaśāstra 17. 43 (=K. M. ed. 16. 43 and G.O.S. 16. 40 vol. II.) p. 321 speaks of उपमा, रूपक, दीपक and यमक as four अलङ्कारs of नाटक. Vāmana uses the word alaṅkāra in two senses when he says ‘काव्यं ग्राह्यमलङ्कारात् । सौन्दर्यमलंकारः ।’ काव्या. सू. I. 1. 1-2. Here अलङ्कार means ‘a thing of beauty.’¹ He also explains that alaṅkāra applies to figures of speech because they beautify kāvya. Similarly, Daṇḍin appears to use the word alaṅkāra in a wide sense also as shown below.