IKS Assignment, Dabhi Anita
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Ānandavardhana’s Dhvani Theory:
📖 Introduction
The Dhvani Theory is one of the most important contributions to Sanskrit literary criticism. It was propounded by Ānandavardhana (9th century CE) in his famous work "Dhvanyāloka". The term Dhvani literally means "resonance" or "suggestion." In literary theory, it refers to the power of suggestion in poetry that goes beyond the literal (śabda) and the direct meaning (artha) of words.
🔑 Key Idea of Dhvani
According to Ānandavardhana:
- The true essence of poetry (kāvya) lies not merely in denotation (abhidhā) or secondary meaning (lakṣaṇā) but in the suggested meaning (vyaṅgya artha).
- This suggestion or dhvani creates deeper emotions, moods, and beauty in poetry, which cannot be conveyed by literal meaning alone.
🌀 Types of Meaning in Poetry
Ānandavardhana explains three levels of meaning:
- Abhidha (Denotative meaning) – The direct dictionary meaning of a word.
- Example: "Lotus" = a flower.
- Lakṣaṇā (Indicative meaning) – When the primary meaning does not fit, words indicate a related sense.
- Example: "The village stands on the Ganga" (means on the bank of Ganga).
- Vyañjanā (Suggestive meaning) – The implied, deeper meaning, which is not directly spoken but suggested.
- Example: "The lotus closed at sunset" can suggest sadness, separation, or decline.
🌸 Dhvani – The Soul of Poetry
- Ānandavardhana holds that Dhvani (suggestion) is the soul (ātman) of poetry.
- A poem without suggestion is lifeless, even if it is ornamented with figures of speech.
- Through suggestion, poetry conveys rasa (aesthetic emotion), which is its ultimate goal.
🧩 Types of Dhvani
Ānandavardhana classifies Dhvani into three types:
-
Vastu-dhvani (suggestion of an idea)
- When a meaning beyond the literal is suggested.
- Example: "He is a lion in battle" – suggests bravery, not an actual lion.
-
Alaṅkāra-dhvani (suggestion of a figure of speech)
- When the suggested meaning creates an implied poetic figure (like simile, metaphor).
-
Rasa-dhvani (suggestion of aesthetic emotion)
- The most important kind.
- When the words evoke rasa (emotion/mood) such as love, heroism, compassion, etc.
- Example: In Kālidāsa’s poetry, nature often suggests the lovers’ moods indirectly.
🌺 Importance of Dhvani Theory
- Shifted focus from ornamentation (alaṅkāra) to rasa and suggestion.
- Gave Indian poetics a unified aesthetic principle: the essence of poetry is the evocation of rasa through dhvani.
- Laid foundation for later critics like Abhinavagupta, who elaborated further in his commentary.
Kuntaka’s Vakrokti Theory
📖 Introduction
- Vakrokti theory was propounded by the Sanskrit critic Kuntaka (10th century CE) in his work “Vakroktijīvita”.
- The term Vakrokti comes from:
- Vakra = crooked, deviated, indirect.
- Ukti = speech, expression.
- So, Vakrokti means “oblique expression” or “deviation from the ordinary mode of speech.”
Kuntaka believed that what makes poetry unique and beautiful is its oblique, artistic expression, not the plain, straightforward statement.
🌸 Central Idea of Vakrokti
- Poetry is essentially vakrokti (oblique expression).
- Ordinary language gives only information, but poetry transforms it through a special, striking mode of expression.
- Vakrokti is not just about figures of speech (alaṅkāra), but about creative deviation at every level of poetic composition.
- Thus, Vakrokti = poetic beauty.
🌀 Levels of Vakrokti
Kuntaka explains Vakrokti as working at six levels of language:
-
Varṇa-vinyāsa-vakratā (Phonetic level)
- Beauty in the arrangement of sounds and letters.
- Example: Alliteration, rhyme, musical sound patterns.
-
Pada-pūrvārddha-vakratā (Word level)
- Beauty in choice of unusual, suggestive, or refined words.
-
Pada-parārddha-vakratā (Meaning of word level)
- Using words in unexpected or fresh senses (double meaning, pun).
-
Vākya-vakratā (Sentence level)
- Special arrangement of words and syntax creating striking expressions.
-
Prakaraṇa-vakratā (Sectional level)
- Unique structuring of episodes or incidents in a story/poem.
-
Prabandha-vakratā (Whole composition level)
- The overall artistic design, unity, and originality of the work.
✨ Example (Simple)
- Ordinary expression: “The girl is beautiful.”
- Vakrokti expression: “Her face outshines the moon in its brightness.”
- Here, the deviation (vakra) adds charm, imagery, and aesthetic pleasure.
🌺 Importance of Vakrokti Theory
- First theory to emphasize creativity at every level of poetry, from sound to structure.
- Broader than Alaṅkāra and Dhvani theories—because Vakrokti includes all poetic devices as forms of oblique expression.
- Declares that the soul of poetry is vakrokti (obliqueness), just as Ānandavardhana said it is dhvani.
