Vakrokti as a Theory : Criticism & Indian aesthetic
1. Presented By :- Aditi Vala
MA Sem :- 02
Batch :- 2020-2022
Roll no. :- 01
Enrollment No. :- 3069206420200018
Paper No. :- 109 ( Literary Theory & Criticism & Indian
Aesthetic )
Topic :- Vakrokti as a Theory : Language of Literature
Email id :- valaaditi203@gmail.com
Submitted to :- S.B.Gardi Department Of English, MKBU.
3. : THEORY OF VAKROKTI :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kuntaka, the author of the Vakroktijivitam, was the founder of this school .
Kuntaka was a Kashmiri Sanskrit poetician and literary theorist.
The origin of Vakrokti could be found in Bhamaha’s “Kavyalankara” and Dandin’s
“Kavyadarshan”.
In this theory, Kuntaka wants to convey that a certain Strikingness of expression is
essence of poetry.
Kuntaka believes that the beautiful and miraculous in the poetry is the consequence of
Vakrokti.
4. According to Kuntaka:-
“Vakrokti is the source of beauty in Kavya which is quite opposite to the description of
a thing as it is”.
According to Bhamaha :-
“Vakrokti as a mode of expression because it is the fundamental principle of figurative
expression”.
Dandin defines,
Vamana considered,
Rudrata calls,
“Vakrokti as a poetic figure accept svabhavokti”.
“Vakrokti as a special poetic figure based on lakshana”.
“Vakrokti is a particular figures of speech”.
5. : Kuntaka’s Concept of Vakrokti:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vakrokti is a mode of expression in poetry, which underlies and forms of all
poetic figures. Therefore, Dandin uses the term Vakrokti as a almost co-
extensive with the generic term “Alamkara”.
Vakrokti is a felt of skill going beyond the theory of Anandvardhan’s “Dhvani”
because Kuntaka feels that poetic meaning had not been properly classified in
the Dhvani theory.
According to Kuntaka, definition of poetry is- “Whatever appeals to a man of
test are good poetry and whatever not is not poetry”. Vakrokti for Kuntaka is a
synonym for the principle of beauty underlying all kinds of poetic language.
6. : Classification of Vakrokti :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kuntaka development of idea about
simple and different way of performance.
Vakrokti :- Vakra + Ukti
Vakra :- Crooked indirect or unique.
Ukti :- Poetic expression or speech
Vaichitrya Kavivyapar
Source of
Vakrokti
7. : Vakrokti manifests at six levels:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Phonetic Level (Varnavinyasa Vakrata)
The Lexical Level (Padapurvardha Vakrata)
The Grammatical Level (Pratyaya Vakrata)
The Sentential Level (Vakyavakrata)
The Contextual Level (Prakaranavakrata/ Arthavakrata)
The Compositional Level (Prabandha vakrata)
8. : Chapterisation :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter – 1 It is the introductory part and provides the definition of
vakrokti.
Chapter -2 It deals with three varieties of vakrokti. The Phonetic,
Lexical and Grammatical.
Chaptet -3 It deals with Sentential Obliquity.
Chapter -4 It deals with Contextual (Episodic) and Compositional
Obliquity.
9. What is the place of marga and guna in Vakrokti ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three margas, styles :
1. Sukumara (elegant)
2. Vichitra (brilliant)
3. Madhyama (the mixed or intermediate)
Six gunas (qualities) are identified in literary style :
1. Auchitya (propriety).
2. Prasada (perspicuity)
3. Lavanya (grace)
4. Abhijatya (classicality)
5. Saubhagya (splendour)
6. Madhurya (sweetness)
10. Kuntaka gives importance to the Sabda and Artha, at the same time he insist
on the presence of Vakrokti in poetry.
Vakrokti is called as ‘kavivyaparavakratva’ or ‘Vakrakavivyapara’. It is
also regonised as the alamkriti, i.e., embellishment of sabda and
artha, the physical constituents of a kavya.
• In this theory, Kuntaka wants to convey that a certain strikingness
of expression is essence of poetry.
• Kuntaka believes that the beautiful and miraculous in the poetry is
the consequence of Vakrokti.
According to Kuntaka- “Vakrokti is the source of beauty in Kavya
which is quite opposite to the description of a thing as it is”.
According to Bhamaha- “Vakrokti as a mode of expression because it is
the fundamental principle of figurative expression”.
“Vakrokti consist of peculiar term given to any
expression due to the skill of the poet”
11. : Conclusion :
~~~~~~~~
According to Kuntaka, Vakrokti alone does not make
poetry. It must delight the mind of the reader who is
responsive to the true beauty of poetry.
Thus the test of Vakrokti is the contribution to
Chamatkara, the aesthetic enjoyment experienced from
composition.
12. : Reference :
~~~~~~~~~
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331698884_Kuntaka’s_theory
_of_vakrokti_The_language_of_literature.
Pāṇḍuraṅga Vāmana Kāṇe (1971), History of Sanskrit poetics (4 ed.),
Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 225
Pathak, R. S. “”THE INDIAN THEORY OF VAKROKTI IN RELATION
TO THE STYLISTIC CONCEPT OF DEVIANCE.” Annals of the
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vol. 63, no. ¼, 1982, pp. 195-
211. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41692973.
