Agni Purana — Sahitya-shastra, Shloka 2
Arthālaṅkāras (Ornaments of Meaning): Definitions, Taxonomy, and the Centrality of Upamā
अर्थालङ्काररहिता विधवेव सरस्वती स्वरूपमथ सादृश्यमुत्प्रेक्षातिशयावपि
arthālaṅkārarahitā vidhaveva sarasvatī svarūpamatha sādṛśyamutprekṣātiśayāvapi
La parole (Sarasvatī), dépourvue d’ornements du sens (arthālaṅkāra), est telle une veuve. On décrit maintenant sa nature propre (svarūpa), ainsi que la ressemblance (sādṛśya), la fiction poétique (utprekṣā) et l’hyperbole (atiśaya) également.
Lord Agni (in instruction to Vasiṣṭha, within the Agni Purana’s didactic frame)
Primary Rasa: Karuna
Secondary Rasa: Shanta
Sandhi Resolution Notes: विधवेव→विधवा इव; स्वरूपमथ→स्वरूपम् अथ; सादृश्यमुत्प्रेक्षा→सादृश्यम् उत्प्रेक्षा; उत्प्रेक्षातिशयावपि→उत्प्रेक्षा अतिशयौ अपि (द्विवचन)
FAQs
It imparts kāvya-vidyā (poetics): a technical point that meaning-based ornaments (arthālaṅkāras) are essential for eloquent expression, and it introduces key figures—sādṛśya (resemblance), utprekṣā (poetic fancy), and atiśaya (hyperbole)—as topics for definition.
By treating Alaṅkāra-śāstra alongside other disciplines, the Agni Purana functions as a compendium: it preserves formal categories of Sanskrit rhetoric (arthālaṅkāras and specific figures), showing that literary theory is part of its broader knowledge-system, not merely mythic narration.
The verse frames refined speech as a form of cultivated dharma: honoring Sarasvatī through disciplined, well-adorned expression supports right learning and transmission of sacred and ethical knowledge, which is traditionally linked with puṇya (merit) through truthful and skillful teaching.