This document summarizes Kuntaka's theory of vakrokti, or oblique expression in poetry. It discusses Kuntaka as a Kashmiri Sanskrit poet and theorist who lived around 950-1050 CE. According to Kuntaka, vakrokti manifests at six levels of poetic expression: phonetic, lexical, grammatical, sentential, contextual, and compositional. Each level involves different types of figurative language and deviations from normal speech patterns to create striking poetic effects. The document provides examples to illustrate each of the six levels of vakrokti.

1. THEORY OF VAKROKTI
Prepared by Avni Dave

2. • Name : Dave Avni J.
• Roll no : 03
• Enrollment no : 2069108420190011
• Class : M.A. sem 2
• Year : 2018-19
• Submitted to : S.B. Gardi Department Of English ,Maharaja
krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

3. ABOUT POET: KUNTAKA
• Kuntaka sanskrit - Kuntaka was a kashmiri sanskrit
poetician and literary theorist who is remembered for his
work vakroktijivitam in which he postulates the vakrokti
siddhanta or theory of oblique expression.
• He lived roughly 950-1050.
• He was a rough contemporary of rajshekhra
and dhananjaya.

4. • “kuntaka” is known as the originator of the vakrokti
school. He worked on his “vakriktijivitam”
• Vakrokti is the most misunderstood and
misinterpretation one.It means striking ness in word and
meaning of vakrokti is :-
vakrokti :- vakra + ukti
Vakra :- crooked indirect or unique.
Ukti :- poetic expression or speech.

5. KUNTAKA’S CONCEPT OF VAKROKTI
• Vakrokti is a mode of expression in poetry, which
underlines and forms of all poetic figures. Therefore,
Dandin uses the term vakrokti asa almost co-extensive
with the generic term “Alankara”.
• 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.

6. • According to kuntaka, vakrokti or figurativeness manifests at 6 levels of expression in
poetry;
• Phonetic
• Lexical
• Grammatical
• Sentential
• Contexual,and
• Compositional.
• There is a surprising similarity between kuntaka’s vakrokti and the
concept of style as ‘deviation from the norm’ seen in modern stylistics.
However it is equally important that while stylisics is concerned with
phonological,grammatical and lexical aspects of the languge, kuntaka
takes into account larger unit of discourse also,such as context and
composition itself taken as a whole.

7. phonetic figurativeness
• Phonetic figurativeness (varnavinyasa
vakrata) –encompasses alliteration, rhyme
and all other subtle effect of sound in poetry.
Kuntaka recoginses onomatopoeic effects.
Shakespeare’s ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’.

8. LEXICAL FIGURATIVENESS
• Lexical figurativeness (padapurvardha vakrata)-
includes stylistic choice in
vocabulary,metaphor,power of adjective and veiled
expressions.For examples, carefully concealimg a
Mahapataka- “is he despathced“

9. Grammatical figurativeness
• Grammatical figurativeness (pratayaya vakrata)-
involves the deft use of suffixes, especially those
indicating numbers, person, case forms. It also
includes delineation of inanimate objects as
animate and personification of objects-instead of
saying ‘tense-’make my seated heart knock at my
ribs’

10. Sentential figurativeness
• Sentential figurativeness (vakyavakrata)-it is the
permeating presence that enters all other element.the
effect is akin to a painter’s stroke that shines out
distinictvely from the beutyof the material used.most of
the fugures of speech are instances of it.
‘out ,out brief candle Life is but a welking
shadow, a poor players
that struta and frets
his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no.

11. Contextual figurativeness
• Contextual figurativeness (prakarana vakrata)
comprises all those factors which contribute to the
strikingness of the context.The equivocation in the
prediction of withces,culminating in the
materialisation of the birnamwood coming to
dunsinane,the emergence of madcuff,untimely
ripp’d from his mother’s womb to kill macbeth ,the
sleep walking scene are examples of contextual
figurativeness.