Paper : 109 Assignment
"Vakrokti Siddhant"
Name - Hina Parmar
Batch - M.A. Sem 2 (2022-2024)
Enrollment no - 40692064202221
Roll no - 10
Subject code - 22402
Paper no - 109
Paper - Literary Theory & Criticism and Indian Aesthetics
Email address - hinaparmar612@gmail.com
Submitted to - Smt.S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.B.U.
Date of submission - 31 march, 2023
This blog is written as an assignment on paper no - 109 Literary Theory & Criticism and Indian Aesthetics. This assignment is assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir H.O.D of English Department M.K.B.U. In this particular blog I am going to discuss "Vakrokti Siddhant".
Introduction
Bhamaha said about Vakrokti that-
"वाचा वक्रार्थ शब्दोत्ति अलंकाराय कल्पते"
Vakrokti is a kind of device used by the poets of every age and country, which can be simply defined as deviant language. By deviant language it means that it is not a straight and simple expression. In other words, it means that poetic language deviates from the common language or expression. In other ways we can also understand this by saying that the poets do not express their feelings and sensibilities in a straightforward manner because if they express the meanings in such a manner, then the poetic message will become flat and the readers will find no interest in such poetry.
MEANING OF VAKROKTI
The term ‘Vakrokti’ is made of two components –
‘vakra’ - which means ‘crooked, oblique, or unique’
‘Ukti’ - which means ‘expression’ or ‘speech’.
This is how the literal meaning of vakrokti is ‘crooked’ or ‘indirect speech’. If we look at its wider sense, it means striking expression. Some scholars trace the theory of vakrokti to Atharvaveda and Agnipurana in which it has been used in the sense of crookedness.
Banabhatta, who is the great Sanskrit writer, he is considered to be one of the earliest writers to use this term. He seems to have used it as a lexical figure of speech - “Vakroktinipunen akhyayikakhyan parichaya chaturen.” According to Bhamaha, vakrokti comprises obliquity of both word and meaning.
To added more different Sanskrit scholars analyzed vakrokti in their own ways and gave their own interpretations like-
Raghavan who is Sanskrit scholar defines vakrokti as a “striking, deviating expression”
According to Kuppuswami Sastri, “it may be understood as deviation in expression from the commonplace.”
This theory developed in the works of various Sanskrit scholars like Bhamaha, Dandin, Vamana, Kuntaka, Bhoja, Rudrata and Mammata, and the first theoretician to give a prominent place to vakrokti in literary discourse is Bhamaha. In his treatise Kavyalamkara, he mentions vakrokti in various contexts. To him, vakrokti is the distinguishing feature of poetic language.
vakrokti was not unknown to Indian acaryas. Acaryas have dealt with vakrokti in different ways according to their own view of language in literature and philosophical leaning. Bharata has mentioned vakrokti only in passing. Bhamaha considers vakrokti as atishayokti. Dandin understands vakrokti as distinct from svabhavokti and treats it like an umbrella term for all alamkaras.
Kuntaka was a person who imparted a new dimension to vakrokti and propounded an elaborate theory of vakrokti calling it "jivita" or life force of poetry raising it from a mere verbal poetic figure to the essence of poetry.
KUNTAKA’S VAKROKTIJĪVITA
"उभावेतावलंकार्यौ त्यों: पुनरलंकृति:।
वक्रोक्तिरेव वैदग्ध्यभंगी- भणितिरूच्यते।।"'
Kuntak gives elaborate meanings of Vakrokti in front of Bhamaha and Dandi. He said Vakrokti is a magical element which beautifies poetry.
Here kuntaka also believes that Vakrokti is-
शब्दार्थो सहितौ वक्र कवि व्यापार
शालिनी
बन्धे व्यवस्थितौ, काव्यं तद्विलाप कारिणी
Kuntaka is important figure in this theory. He lived between 950 - 1050 AD. His Vakroktijivitam is a landmark work in Indian poetics. Kuntaka related vakrokti to the poet’s creative process, observing that vakrokti is an expression made possible by vidagdha which means skilled style and elegance of the poet. Abhinavagupta, a near contemporary of Kuntaka, considered vakrokti as a generic feature of all figures of speech. Although vakrokti literally means crooked or indirect speech, it has much wider connotations.
In a way Vakrokti became the prime aesthetic principle in the hands of Kuntaka, who treated it with rare depth and extensiveness. In fact, he clearly states that his objective in writing a treatise on poetics is-
“to establish the idea of strikingness which causes extraordinary charm in poetry.”
For Kuntaka, Vakrokti is synonymous with the principles of beauty underlying all kinds of poetic language. According to Kuntaka, vakrokti is the life and breath of poetry and it is the soul of poetry: “vakrokti kavyajivitam”. The beautiful and the miraculous in poetry are born due to vakrokti.
CLASSIFICATION OF VAKROKTI
Kuntaka classified vakrokti into six categories. His classification may broadly be divided into:
Grammatical
Non-grammatical
The grammatical variety of vakrokti is concerned with the inner structure of language It includes:
Varna-vinyasa vakrata (Phonetic obliquity)
Pada-purvardha vakrata (Lexical obliquity)
Pada-parardha vakrata (Grammatical obliquity)
Vakya-vakrata (Sentential obliquity)
The non-grammatical variety of vakrokti includes extra linguistic features such as context and composition. Kuntaka divided this non-grammatical variety into-
v. Prakarana-vakrata (Episodic obliquity)
Prabandha-vakrata (Compositional obliquity)
વર્ણાનુ સૌંદર્ય જેમાં વ્યક્ત થયું હોય તે વર્ણવિન્યાસ વક્રતા
- દાખલા તરીકે
~ બોટાદકરની - ઉર્મિલા
~ વિનોદ જોશીની સૈરન્ધી
~ કાંત નું અતિજ્ઞાન
આખી રચના પોતે જ કાંઈક સૂચવતી હોય એમાંથી જે કોઈ સૂચવાતું હોય તે પ્રબંધ વક્રતા
દાખલા તરીકે રામાયણ અસત્ય પર સત્યની વિજય.
It is six fold Vakrata that distinguishes poetry from other types of discourses and therefore is considered to be the essence of poetic language.
Varna–Vinyasa Vakrata (Phonetic Obliquity)
Kuntaka suggests many kinds of varna-vinyasa vakrata. In the first kind of arrangement, there is a free and irregular repetition of similar or identical varnas (phonemes) at regular intervals and it enhances the beauty of the poetic expression. Kuntaka further divides it into three sub-varieties:
(i) repetition of one varna
( ii) repetition of two varnas and
(iii) repetition of more than two varnas.
Pada-Purvardha Vakrata (lexical obliquity)
Ancient theorists recognize it as anuprasa or alliteration. Consider the following example from the poem “The
Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins-
I caught this morning morning’s minion, kingdom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn
You can observe how the repetitions of "m" and "d" sounds provide a kind of unique charm to the above example.
Kuntaka says that when the words of common usage are employed so as to include an attribution of associate meaning other than the primary ones, it is known as pada-purvardha vakrata.
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.
Here the repetition of “falling down”, without any punctuation-mark is suggestive of the continuous fall of the London-bridge. You can also take the example of the famous “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats.
According to Kuntaka, there are several sub-varieties of lexical obliquity-
Rudhi-Vaicitrya vakrata (Obliquity of usage) - When the conventional denotation of a word gives an improbable or exaggerated meaning, it is rudhi-vaicitrya-vakrata.
Paryaya–Vakrata (Obliquity of Synonym) - synonyms are the words conveying a similar meaning. This does not mean that any synonym can be used in place of the other. Each word has different implications and associations, it has its own character – its own beauty.
Upcara–Vakrata (Obliquity of transference) - Here a word is used in its secondary sense to refer to an object with which it has no direct associations. According to Kuntaka, - “When the stated and the implied, though apparently far-removed from each other, have a common attribute, howsoever slight which may be and lends itself to hyperbolic treatment, imparting charm and delight in kavya, it is upcara-vakrata.”
Visesana–Vakrata (Obliquity of Adjectives) - According to Kuntaka, the oblique use of adjectives heightens the beauty of a verb or case and contributes to the evocative and imaginative powers of the poetic expression.
Sanvrti-Vakrata (Obliquity of Concealment) - When the subject of description is concealed by the use of pronoun in order to achieve excellence
of expression, we have sanvrti-vakrata.
Sanvrti-Vakrata (Obliquity of Concealment) - When the subject of description is concealed by the use of pronouns in order to achieve excellence of expression, we have sanvrti-vakrata.
Linga-Vaicitrya Vakrata (Obliquity of Gender) - It occurs in poetry when a gender is employed in such a way as to enhance the beauty of expression.
Kriya–Vaicitrya-Vakrata (Obliquity of Action) - The artistic use of root verbs which are capable of producing a unique beauty is regarded as kriya-vaicitrya-vakrata.
Pada-Parardha Vakrata (Grammatical Obliquity)
When strikingly appears in the terminal part of the word, it is called pada-parardha-vakrata or pratyaya-vakrata. It consists in a specific or peculiar use of tense, case, number, voice, person, particle and indeclinables. Thus, this kind also has many varieties.
Kala-Vaicitrya-Vakrata (Obliquity of Tense) - It consists in the employment of significant tenses appropriate to the subject of description.
Karaka-Vakrata (Obliquity of Case) - According to Kuntaka, when an ordinary case is employed in kavya by the writer as the main case or vice versa, or the cases are transported, we have karaka-vakrata.
Sankhya Vakrata (Obliquity of Number) -It functions on the basis of the oblique transposition of numbers. This singular number is changed into a plural number and vice-versa.
Purusa Vakrata (Obliquity of Person)-
According to Kuntaka, the appropriate use of this obliquity is possible only in epic poetry but at the same time its strikingness is discernible in other forms of kavya.
Upgraha-Vakrata (Obliquity of Voice) -
It works upon the two voices of the verb – Active and Passive.
Pratyaya-Vakrata (Obliquity of Particle or Affix) - Apart from the usual affix, when a new affix is superadded for the purpose of poetic beauty, it is called pratyaya-vakrata.
Pada-Vakrata (Obliquity of Prefix) - in pada-vakrata, Kuntaka analyzes the beauty of nipata (indeclinables) and upsarga (prefix). These are underivable words and do not have any grammatical bond with the words.
Vakya Vakrata (Sentential obliquity)
In the context of the Vakya-Vakrata, Kuntaka analyzes the vastu (content) of the poetic creation and calls it vastu-vakrata or the beauty of the content. The vastu of a composition is twofold: sahaja (natural) and aharya (imposed). Kuntaka divides vastu-vakrata into two varieties:
Sahaja-vakrata and
Aharya vakrata.
Sahaja-Vakrata (Natural Obliquity) When the vastu has its own innate charm and is presented without heavy embellishments in a simple style, it is sahaja-vakrata. According to Kuntaka-
“when the subject-matter is described in
a way conducive to beauty by virtue of its own infinite natural charm and by means of exclusively artistic expressions, we may take it as an instance of creative beauty relating to content.”
You may find this kind of vakrata quite paradoxical. On the one hand, Kuntaka considers the beauty of the vastu to be a creation of the gifted poet and, on the other; he says that the charm lies in the content itself.
Aharya Vakrata (Imposed Obliquity) -
It consists in the creation of original poetic subjects and its beauty combines both the inborn genius as well as the acquired skills of the poet. The subject-matter is not only an imaginative matter – the poets do not create out of non-existent things in the words, but they imagine a divine beauty in the things that merely exist. Thus the poets invest the ordinary things with a unique excellence with the help of their genius and skill. Kuntaka further says that this type of vastu-vakrata cannot be anything other than figures of speech.
PRAKARANA VAKRATA (EPISODIC OBLIQUITY)
This kind of obliquity deals with the oblique use of prakarana (episode). It includes all integrating strategies in poetry. When the poet devices episodes or incidents in such a way that they contribute to the total effect of poetry, we have Prakarana vakrata. Basically it is reflected into the systematic unfolding of the plot, the ingenuity of the plot and the synthesis of all parts into a harmonious whole.
PRABANDHA-VAKRATA (COMPOSITIONAL OBLIQUITY)
This kind of vakrata involves the peculiarity of the whole composition. It comprises “adaptation of a story from a known source with additions resulting in new creative dimensions, a new emotional significance and erasure of unwanted episodes and plausible development of composition.” This kind of vakrata depends on the creative capacity and uniqueness of a poet. It has many varieties.
Conclusion
To conclude, vakrokti was widely taken for discussion by many scholars like Bhamaha, Dandin, Vamana, Rudrata etc. It was Kuntaka who elevated it to the status of an “all pervading '' poetic concept.
Kuntaka’s Vakroktijīvita is considered to be the masterpiece of vakrokti theory. His concept of vakrokti was discussed in detail with a special focus on the meaning of vakrokti and its classification into six major and numerous minor types. Kuntaka has developed a very elaborate system of classifying vakrokti.
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