Rasa and Alaṅkāra in a Student's Annotation of a Padya
During a practice examination on prescribed padyalu, 28 Class 10 students annotate a four-line padya. In line 2 the speaker says his beloved's face shines 'చంద్రుని వలె'; in line 4 he says the moon itself hid its face in shame. The question asks for the predominant rasa and one alaṅkāra with justification. Eleven students write శృంగార, eight write కరుణ, five write వీర, and four leave rasa blank. On alaṅkāra, one group writes ఉపమ because of the explicit comparison; another writes రూపక because the face and moon are mentioned together. The teacher has the scripts, the prescribed textbook, and 25 minutes of revision time. The students can list the names of rasas and alaṅkāras but cannot connect a label to a textual cue. The model answer must reward the primary device without ignoring a genuine secondary device.
1. Which alaṅkāra should be treated as primary, and how should the student record the secondary device without losing the main mark?
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The primary device is ఉపమ, because the verse supplies an explicit comparator: 'చంద్రుని వలె'. Identify the three parts: upameya = the beloved's face, upamana = the moon, vachaka = 'వలె'. A రూపక would require the two to be identified without a comparator, for example 'ముఖమే చంద్రుడు'. Mentioning face and moon together is not enough for రూపక; the grammar of the comparison decides.
The 'moon hid its face in shame' line is a genuine secondary device, closer to ఉత్ప్రేక్ష (or అతిశయోక్తి, depending on how the textbook classifies the imagined action). If the question asks for one alaṅkāra, the student should lead with ఉపమ and, only if space allows, add: 'చంద్రుడు సిగ్గుపడెను అనే ఊహ ఉత్ప్రేక్షకు దగ్గరగా ఉంది.' Do not let the secondary device displace the primary label. In marking, award the main mark for ఉపమ plus upameya/upamana; treat the secondary as a bonus phrase, not as a substitute.
2. Why are కరుణ and వీర inappropriate, and what evidence supports శృంగార?
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Rasa is decided by the dominant sthāyibhāva, not by a single sad word or by the presence of a moon. శృంగార has rati (attraction/admiration) as its sthāyibhāva; the verse lingers on the beloved's face, compares it to the moon, and makes the moon itself submit. That is an aesthetic celebration of beauty, so శృంగార is supported.
కరుణ requires sorrow or compassion as the dominant mood: loss, suffering, or helplessness. The moon's 'shame' is a hyperbolic compliment, not a tragedy; it does not make the speaker or the moon an object of compassion. వీర requires heroism, courage, or battle energy; there is no action, challenge, or heroic resolve here. The eight కరుణ answers probably seized on 'hid its face' as sadness, and the five వీర answers probably guessed from the moon imagery. Both are label-first guesses. Teach students to state the sthāyibhāva in one sentence before naming the rasa.
3. How would you give feedback to the four students who left rasa blank, without simply dictating the answer?
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A blank usually means the student cannot choose between two labels, not that the student knows nothing. Ask each student to complete two stems: 'ఈ పద్యంలో ప్రధానంగా ఉన్న భావం ______' and 'అందుకు రుజువు ______'. If the student writes 'అందం/ఆకర్షణ' and cites the face-moon comparison, the rasa is శృంగార even if the student cannot yet recall the technical term. Supply the term after the evidence.
Then give a two-column table: 'భావం' and 'రసం'. In the first column put the student's own words; in the second put the Sanskrit label. This separates felt meaning from terminology and prevents blank answers. For the eight కరుణ answers, use the same table to show that their evidence ('moon hid its face') belongs to compliment, not sorrow. The class sees that the label is the last step, not the first.