Adhyaya 344

Verse 1

इत्य् आग्नेये महापुराणे अलङ्कारे अर्थालङ्कारनिरूपणं नाम त्रिचत्वारिंशदधिकत्रिशततमो ऽध्यायः अथ चतुश् चत्वारिंशदधिकत्रिशततमो ऽध्यायः शब्दार्थालङ्काराः अग्निर् उवाच शब्दार्थयोरलङ्कारो द्वावलङ्कुरुते समं एकत्र निहितो हारः स्तनं ग्रीवामिव स्त्रियाः

Thus ends, in the Agni Mahāpurāṇa, the three-hundred-and-forty-third chapter entitled “Exposition of Ornaments of Meaning.” Now begins the three-hundred-and-forty-fourth chapter: “Ornaments of Word-and-Meaning.” Agni said: “The ornament pertaining to both word and meaning adorns the two equally. Just as a single necklace, placed in one spot, beautifies both the breasts and the neck of a woman.”

Verse 2

प्रशस्तिः कान्तिरौचित्यं संक्षेपो यावदर्थता अभिव्यक्तिरिति व्यक्तं षड्भेदास्तस्य जाग्रति

Praise-worthy excellence, charm (kānti), propriety (aucitya), brevity, completeness of sense (saying only as much as the meaning requires), and clear manifestation (lucid expression)—thus it is stated that its six divisions are to be kept actively present in composition.

Verse 3

प्रशस्तिः परवन्मर्मद्रवीकरणकर्मणः वाचो युक्तिर्द्विधा सा च प्रेमोक्तिस्तुतिभेदतः

Praśasti (eulogy) is a mode of speech whose function is, as it were, to melt the other person’s inner core. That rhetorical mode is of two kinds, distinguished as premokti (affectionate address) and stuti (formal praise).

Verse 4

प्रेमोक्तिस्तुतिपर्यायौ प्रियोक्तिगुणकीर्तने कान्तिः सर्वमनोरुच्यवाच्यवात्तकसङ्गतिः

‘Premokti’ and ‘stuti’ are synonymous terms; ‘priyokti’ is speech that praises virtues. ‘Kānti’ is that which delights every mind—an apt harmony between what can be expressed and what is conveyed in discourse.

Verse 5

यथा वस्तु तथा रीतिर्यथा वृत्तिस् तथा रसः ऊर्जस्विमृदुसन्दर्भादौचित्यमुपजायते

As the subject-matter is, so should be the poetic style (rīti); as the mode of expression (vṛtti) is, so should be the aesthetic flavor (rasa). From a composition that is at once vigorous and gentle, propriety (aucitya) arises.

Verse 6

संक्षेपो वाचकैर् अल्पैर् वहोरर्थस्य संग्रहः अन्यूनाधिकता शब्दवस्तुनोर्यावदर्थता

Conciseness (saṃkṣepa) is the compression of a large meaning by means of few expressive words; it is the condition in which word and intended matter are neither deficient nor excessive—i.e., they match the meaning exactly (yāvad-arthatā).

Verse 7

प्रकटत्वमभिव्यक्तिः श्रुतिराक्षेप इत्य् अपि तस्या भेदौ श्रुतिस्तत्र शब्दं स्वार्थसमर्पणम्

Manifestness (prakaṭatva) is called ‘abhivyakti’ (explicit manifestation). Its two divisions are also termed ‘śruti’ and ‘ākṣepa’. There, ‘śruti’ is the word’s direct conveying of its own primary meaning.

Verse 8

भवेन्नैमित्तिकी पारिभाषिकी द्विविधैव सा सङ्केतः परिभाषेति ततः स्यात् पारिभाषिकी

That technical definition is of only two kinds: contextual (naimittikī) and technical/terminological (pāribhāṣikī). A ‘saṅketa’ is a convention, while a ‘paribhāṣā’ is a technical definition; therefore it is termed ‘pāribhāṣikī’, belonging to technical terminology.

Verse 9

मुख्यौपचारिकी चेति सा च सा च द्विधा द्विधा स्वाभिधेयस्खलद्वृत्तिरमुख्यार्थस्य वाचकः

Word-meaning power (śabda-śakti) is said to be of two kinds: primary (mukhya) and figurative/secondary (upacārikī). Each of these is again of two subtypes. When a word’s operation slips from its own denotative sense, that functional mode becomes the expresser of a non-primary meaning.

Verse 10

यया शब्दो निमित्तेन केनचित्सौपचारिकी सा च लाक्षणिकी गौणी लक्षणागुणयोगतः

That function by which a word, on account of some particular ground or motivating factor (nimitta), is employed figuratively is called lakṣaṇā, secondary signification. It is also termed gauṇī, since it operates through the relation between the indicated sense (lakṣaṇā) and an associated quality (guṇa).

Verse 11

अभिधेयाविनाभूता प्रतीतिर् लक्षणोच्यते अभिधेयेन सम्बन्धात्सामीप्यात्समवायतः

That cognition which is inseparably connected with the primary denotation (abhidheya) is called lakṣaṇā, the secondary or indicated meaning. It arises due to relation with the denoted sense—through connection (sambandha), proximity (sāmīpya), or inherence (samavāya).

Verse 12

वैपरीत्यात्क्रियायोगाल्लक्षणा पञ्चधा मता गौणीगुणानामानन्त्यादनन्ता तद्विवक्षया

Because the primary meaning is obstructed by contradiction (vaiparītya) and by connection with an intended action (kriyā-yoga), lakṣaṇā (secondary signification) is held to be fivefold. Yet, since figurative (gauṇī) qualities are limitless, it becomes limitless according to the speaker’s intended purport.

Verse 13

अन्यधर्मस्ततो ऽन्यत्र लोकसीमानुरोधिना सम्यगाधीयते यत्र स समाधिरिह स्मृतः

When, elsewhere, a different rule of dharma is correctly adopted in conformity with the people’s boundaries—custom and accepted limits—that is here remembered as samādhi, a settled legal determination.

Verse 14

श्रूतेरलभ्यमानो ऽर्थो यस्माद्भाति सचेतनः स आक्षेपो धनिः स्याच्च ध्वनिना व्यज्यते यतः

That meaning which is not directly obtainable from the heard words, yet becomes manifest to an intelligent (sensitive) reader, is called ā-kṣepa; it is termed dhani (a form of dhvani), because it is revealed through suggestion (dhvani/vyañjanā).

Verse 15

शब्देनार्थेन यत्रार्थः कृत्वा स्वयमुपार्जनम् प्रतिषेध इवेष्टस्य यो विशेषो ऽभिधित्सया

Where a meaning is conveyed by a word through its expressed sense, producing in the listener an independently grasped intended meaning, there the intended sense is apprehended as though by a “prohibition” of the desired literal meaning; that particular distinction arises from the speaker’s intention to denote a specific sense.

Verse 16

तमाक्षेपं व्रुवन्त्यत्र स्तुतं स्तोत्रमिदं पुनः अधिकारादपेतस्य वस्तुनो ऽन्यस्य या स्तुतिः

Here they call this figure ā-kṣepa (rhetorical insinuation/objection). Again, it is termed a stotra (hymn of praise): that praise which is directed toward something other than the proper subject—toward an object that has fallen outside the relevant scope (adhikāra).

Verse 17

यत्रोक्तं गम्यते नार्थस्तत्समानविशेषणं सा समासोकितिरुदिता सङ्क्षेपार्थतया बुधैः

Where the intended meaning is not apprehended from what is explicitly stated, but is understood through an expression having the same general sense with a qualifying specification, the learned declare this to be samāsokti, because it conveys the meaning in a condensed form.

Verse 18

अपह्नुतिरपह्नुत्य किञ्चिदन्यार्थसूचनम् पर्यायोक्तं यदन्येन प्रकारेनाभिधीयते एषामेकंतमस्येव समाख्या ध्वनिरित्यतः

Apahnuti (concealment/feigned denial) is that in which, by means of denial, something else is indirectly suggested. Paryāyokta is that which is expressed in another manner (an alternative mode of statement). Therefore, the designation “dhvani” applies to at least one among these, since they function through suggestion.