Padya (Poetry): Rasa-Bhava, Alankara, Kavi-Parichay and Central Idea
Padya tests the prescribed poems on four axes: central idea (केन्द्रीय भाव), rasa and bhava, alankara, and kavi-parichay, plus explanation (भाव-स्पष्टीकरण) of a quoted line. Marks are lost most often not because candidates do not know the poem, but because they name a category without justifying it.
Rasa and its sthayi bhava
- श्रृंगार – रति; वीर – उत्साह; करुण – शोक; हास्य – हास; रौद्र – क्रोध; भयानक – भय; बीभत्स – जुगुप्सा; अद्भुत – विस्मय; शांत – शम.
Always give the rasa and its sthayi bhava, then quote the line that arouses it. Vatsalya and karuna are frequently confused: vatsalya is parental affection, karuna is grief or pity aroused in the reader.
Alankara decision tree
Check for a वाचक word first - सा, समान, जैसा, तुल्य, इव. If it is present, the figure is उपमा. If the identification is asserted without any such word, it is रूपक. मानो, जनु, मनु signal उत्प्रेक्षा. Repeated consonants give अनुप्रास; the same word with different senses gives यमक; one word carrying two meanings gives श्लेष; human feelings attributed to nature give मानवीकरण.
Kavi-parichay
Four facts only: name, period (आदिकाल / भक्तिकाल / रीतिकाल / आधुनिककाल), main works or style, and one characteristic theme. Do not pad with biography.
Worked example
Illustrative line: "चंचल नदी हँसती चली." Reasoning: हँसना is a human action transferred to a river, and there is no वाचक word anywhere in the line - so the figure is मानवीकरण, not उपमा. Had the line read "नदी बच्चों जैसी हँसती चली," the presence of जैसी would have made it उपमा.
Traps
- Naming two alankaras when the line supports one clearly.
- Giving rasa with no sthayi bhava and no quoted support.
- Explaining a line as a paraphrase instead of stating its भाव.