Poetry (पद्य): Comprehension, Rasa and Alaṃkāra, Recitation Recall
Poetry (पद्य) tests three things at once: comprehension of prescribed verses (अन्वय, meaning, speaker, context), recognition of rasa and alaṃkāra, and recall exact enough for recitation-based items - completing a line, naming the speaker, or identifying the metre (अनुष्टुभ् is the commonest).
Reading a verse
- Split sandhi at word boundaries.
- Rearrange into prose order (अन्वय); the verb usually comes last.
- Find the subject, object and the verb's person and number.
- Only then paraphrase.
Alaṃkāra recognition
- उपमा has four parts: उपमेय, उपमान, साधारणधर्म, and a वाचक word such as इव, यथा, वत्, सदृश.
- रूपक asserts identity with no वाचक word - मुखचन्द्रः.
- अनुप्रास repeats consonants; यमक repeats a syllable with a different sense.
- उत्प्रेक्षा works through supposition - मन्ये, इव-implied "as if".
Rasa
Nine rasas - शृङ्गार, हास्य, करुण, रौद्र, वीर, भयानक, बीभत्स, अद्भुत, शान्त - judged by the dominant स्थायिभाव: grief and separation → करुण (शोक); courage in battle → वीर (उत्साह); disgust → बीभत्स; calm detachment → शान्त.
Worked example
मुखं चन्द्र इव शोभते। Reasoning: उपमेय = मुखम्, उपमान = चन्द्रः, साधारणधर्म = शोभा, वाचक = इव. Because इव is present, the figure is उपमा. If the line read मुखचन्द्रः शोभते, the वाचक would be absent and identity asserted, giving रूपक.
Traps
- Labelling every comparison उपमा when no वाचक word exists.
- Quoting a recalled line without its sandhi-joined form; the paper expects the exact pada.
- Confusing करुण with शान्त, or वीर with रौद्र.
- Naming an alaṃkāra without identifying its parts.