Poetry (Padya): Prescribed Magahi Poems, Poets, Rasa, Alankar and Explanation
What the Padya section tests
Questions cover poet-parichay, central bhav, rasa, alankar, chhanda and vyakhya of prescribed poems. Magahi poetry leans on lok-geet forms - sohar (birth songs), samdaun, jhumar, kajari, chaita, holi, jatsar and birha - so the examiner often expects you to name the form as well as the rasa.
Rasa, decided by sthayi bhava
Rasa arises from sthayi bhava plus vibhav, anubhav and vyabhichari bhava. The nine rasas are shringar (with sanyog and viyog varieties), hasya, karuna, raudra, veer, bhayanak, bibhatsa, adbhut and shant. Vatsalya is a bhava, not one of the nine - so a sohar on a newborn's birth is best described as vatsalya bhava with shringar or karuna rasa, never as "vatsalya rasa". A birha of separation is viyog shringar when lovers are parted, but plain karuna when the grief is general.
Alankar, sorted by type
- Shabdalankar: anupras (consonant repetition), yamak (same word, different sense), shlesh (double meaning), punarukti.
- Arthalankar: upma (needs a saman-vachak word such as jiyan, nai, saman), rupak (direct identification), utpreksha (imagined likeness), atishayokti (hyperbole), drishtant, sandeh.
Worked example
Line for practice: "Tohar mukh chand jiyan chamke." Because "jiyan" is a saman-vachak word, this is upma. Strip it to "Tohar mukh chand chhe" and the comparison becomes identification - rupak. Add an imagined scene, "manu mukh se chand lar rahal ho", and it turns utpreksha. The reasoning, not the label, earns the mark.
Chhanda
The matra-vritta family is what you need most: doha 13+11 with yati after 13, soratha 11+13, chaupai 16+16, rola 24+24. Mark laghu (1) and guru (2) aloud, because geet lines follow the tune and silent counting misfires.
Traps
Calling every comparison upma; picking rasa from the topic instead of the sthayi bhava; confusing anupras with yamak; miscounting matras by reading the line silently.