छन्द, अलंकार एवं काव्यशास्त्र - Prosody, Figures of Speech, Poetics
छन्द, अलंकार एवं काव्यशास्त्र
Three short-answer zones: scan a verse (छन्द), name the figure (अलंकार), and answer a definitional question from poetics (रस, गुण, रीति, ध्वनि).
छन्द - the गण system
Each गण is three syllables: य = ⏑––, म = –––, त = –⏑–, र = ––⏑, ज = ⏑–⏑, भ = –⏑⏑, न = ⏑⏑⏑, स = ⏑⏑–. Mnemonic: यमाताराजभानसलगा (ल = laghu, ग = guru).
Common वर्ण-वृत्त:
- अनुष्टुभ् - 8 syllables × 4 padas; 5th laghu, 6th guru.
- इन्द्रवज्रा - त त ज ग ग (11); उपेन्द्रवज्रा - ज त ज ग ग (11).
- वसन्ततिलका - त भ ज ज ग ग (14).
- मालिनी - न न म य य (15).
- शार्दूलविक्रीडित - म स ज स त त ग (19).
अलंकार - decide by the विग्रह, not the mood
- उपमा: comparison marked by इव / यथा / सदृश - मुखं चन्द्र इव.
- रूपक: asserted identity, no comparator - मुखकमलम्.
- उत्प्रेक्षा: imagined identity - मुखं चन्द्रोऽयम् इति मन्ये.
- अनुप्रास: repeated consonants; यमक: same word, different sense; श्लेष: one word, two senses at once.
- अतिशयोक्ति: hyperbole; अपह्नुति: deliberate denial of the obvious.
काव्यशास्त्र essentials
नवरस with स्थायीभाव: रति→शृङ्गार, हास→हास्य, शोक→करुण, क्रोध→रौद्र, उत्साह→वीर, भय→भयानक, जुगुप्सा→बीभत्स, विस्मय→अद्भुत, निर्वेद→शान्त. गुण: प्रसाद, माधुर्य, ओज. रीति: वैदर्भी, गौडी, पाञ्चाली.
Worked example
मुखं चन्द्र इव शोभते → उपमा, because इव marks the comparison and the two terms stay separate. Rewrite it as मुखमेव चन्द्रः and the same idea becomes रूपक: identity is asserted and the comparator disappears. This single test settles most उपमा/रूपक questions.
Traps
- Guessing छन्द from the number of lines; count syllables per pada first.
- Calling every comparison रूपक.
- Confusing यमक (same form, different meaning) with श्लेष (one form, two meanings simultaneously).
- Mismatching रस and स्थायीभाव - शोक belongs to करुण, not to शान्त.