Figures of Speech (Alaṃkāra)
Definition and method
An alaṃkāra is a deliberate poetic device that ornaments meaning. Identify it by the relation between words, not by a keyword alone. Ask: Is there a comparison? Is one thing directly identified with another? Is there exaggeration? Is there a suggested resemblance?
Common figures
- Upamā: comparison with iva, yathā or sadṛśa. Mukhaṃ candra iva means the face is like the moon.
- Rūpaka: direct identification, with no comparing word. Candramukhī means moon-faced.
- Utprekṣā: imagined as if; the fancy is presented as a possibility.
- Atiśayokti: hyperbolic statement.
- Śleṣa: one word yields two meanings.
- Anuprāsa: repetition of consonants.
- Yamaka: repetition of identical syllable groups.
Worked example
Sā candramukhī is rūpaka, because the face is directly identified with the moon through the compound. Tasyāḥ mukhaṃ candra iva is upamā, because iva marks comparison. The reasoning is simple: the presence of a comparing word signals upamā; direct equation without it signals rūpaka.
Traps
- Calling every simile a rūpaka.
- Ignoring iva inside a compound.
- Naming a figure without quoting the words that create it.
- Confusing śleṣa with an ordinary Malayalam pun.
- Over-naming figures when one clear device is enough.