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Chapter III Sabdavșttis; recognised in the works of earlier
Alamkārikas such as Bhāmaha, Dandin, Vāmana, Udbhasa and Rudraţa. (i.e.
Ānandavardhana's pūrvācāryas.)
Systematic treatment of the topic of śabdavrittis such as abhidhā, laksaņā and vyañjanā by attempting their definitions and carving out their scope and distinguishing one from the other etc., has to wait, to the best of our knowledge, till the arrival of Mammața. Of course Anandavardhana, in his attempt to establish vyañjanā as an independent vịtti tries to lay down the 'visayabheda' and 'svarūpabheda' of vyañjanā when compared to abhidhā and laksanā, and he does initiate a systematic treatment of this topic, but by the time Mammata arrived it was taken as one of the basic problems concerning literary criticism. Mammața not only devotes two full chapters in defining and distinguishing these sabda-vrttis and also laying down their divisions and sub-divisions, he has also written a separate treatise named 'sabda-vyāpāra-paricaya' (or vicāra) devoted exclusively to this topic. This shows how important and relevant was the topic of sen sanskrit literary critics. Independent works such as "Vyaktiveka' of Mahimā for rejecting Anandavardhana's vyañjanā, Abhidhāvstta-mātřikā of Mukula, Vrittidīpikā of Krsna Bhatta, Vịtti-Vārtika of Appayya, on the subject of sabda-Vịttis followed in due course but after Mammata almost all writers on poetics beginning with Hemacandra, made it almost customary to discuss this very important topic along with 'dhvani' and such other relevant topics.
But all this follows Anandavardhana. For his predecessors i.e. for Bhāmaha, Dandin, Vāmana, Udbhata and Rudrata, the great names whose words have come down to us, this topic of sabdavrttis never commanded enough attention from them
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