Agni Purana — Sahitya-shastra, Shloka 21
Explanation of Abhinaya and Related Topics (अभिनयादिनिरूपणम्) — Agni Purana, Chapter 341
तत्रान्योक्तेरनुकृतिश्छाया सापि चत्रुव्विधा लोकच्छेकार्भकोक्तीनामेकोक्तेरनुकारतः
tatrānyokteranukṛtiśchāyā sāpi catruvvidhā lokacchekārbhakoktīnāmekokteranukārataḥ
ဤအကြောင်းအရာတွင် chāyā (အရိပ်) ဟူသည် အခြားသူ၏ ဆိုချက်ကို တုပပြန်ခြင်း (anukṛti) ဖြစ်ပြီး၊ တစ်ကြိမ်တည်းသော အဆိုကို တုပခြင်းမှ ပေါ်လာသဖြင့် လေးမျိုးရှိသည်—သာမန်လူ၊ လိမ္မာထက်မြက်သူ၊ ကလေးတို့၏ စကားများတွင် တွေ့ရသကဲ့သို့။
Lord Agni (in discourse to Sage Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Alamkara","secondary_vidya":"Samanya","practical_application":"Compose or detect chāyā by controlled imitation of another’s utterance; practice four registers (common, witty, childlike, etc.) to create stylistic ‘shadow’.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Definition","entry_title":"Chāyā as Anukṛti (Imitative Shadow) and its Fourfold Register","lookup_keywords":["chāyā alaṅkāra","anukṛti","anyokti","lokokti","bālokoṭi"],"quick_summary":"Chāyā is defined as an imitation of another’s expression, producing a ‘shadow’ of the original. It is analyzed as fourfold via imitation of a single utterance across different speech-registers (folk, clever, childlike, etc.)."}
Alamkara Type: Chāyā (śabdālaṅkāra)
Concept: Pramāṇa of style through anukaraṇa (modeled speech) and bheda (subtypes)
Application: In pedagogy, assign students a source utterance and require four chāyā-variants to train control over diction and tone.
Khanda Section: Sahitya-shastra (Kavya/Alankara: Poetics and figures of speech)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: hasya
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A poet demonstrates how one original line is echoed in four styles: folk proverb, clever quip, child’s phrasing, and a refined variant—shown as four parallel manuscript lines casting a ‘shadow’.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, poet-teacher with four disciples representing different registers (villager, court wit, child, refined student), each holding a palm-leaf with a variant line, stylized shadows behind the text panels","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, central poet with gold halo, four small inset panels around showing the four chāyā variants written on manuscripts, ornate gold borders, saturated colors","mysore_prompt":"Mysore style, instructional layout: one ‘original utterance’ at top, four neatly labeled derivative lines below (lokokti/chekokti/bālokoṭi etc.), teacher pointing with stylus, clarity and symmetry","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, literary workshop with a master dictating and scribes writing four versions of a line on separate sheets, subtle humor in expressions, fine calligraphy and margins"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":"Kalyani","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: तत्र+अन्योक्तेः→तत्रान्योक्तेः; अन्योक्तेः+अनुकृतिः→अन्योक्तेरनुकृतिः; अनुकृतिः+छाया→अनुकृतिश्छाया; सा+अपि→सापि; ‘चत्रुव्विधा’ पाठे ‘चतुर्विधा’ ग्रहणम्; उक्तीनाम्+एकोक्तेः→उक्तीनामेकोक्तेः
Related Themes: Agni Purana 341.19-341.23 (śabdālaṅkāra section: chāyā and its subtypes)
FAQs
It imparts kavya-śāstra knowledge: the definition of chāyā (shadow/echo-style expression) as anukṛti—imitation of another’s wording—and notes its fourfold classification based on how a single utterance is imitated (including folk, witty, and childlike modes of speech).
Beyond theology and ritual, the Agni Purana codifies technical literary theory (alaṅkāra-śāstra). This verse functions like a handbook definition, showing the text’s encyclopedic reach into Sanskrit poetics and rhetoric.
Indirectly, it supports dharmic cultivation through refined speech and learning: mastering correct literary categories is part of śāstra-jñāna (disciplined knowledge), traditionally valued as a purifying, merit-supporting pursuit when aligned with truth and right conduct.