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INDIAN AESTHETIC TERMINOLOGY: AN INTEGRAL ANALYSIS
K. Krishna Moorthy
In Sanskrit there are several synonyms of 'beauty''Saundarya', 'Caruta','ramanīyatā', 'Saubhagya', 'sobhā', 'lāvaṇya', 'kanti', 'vicchitti', and so forth. But the most frequently ado pted keyterm of aesthetics is alankara. That is why Alankarasastra should be translated as the science of beauty. Its widest meaning is adequately stressed by Vamana who aphoristically states "Saundaryam alankāraḥ". Since 'alankara' can also mean a 'means of beauty' it can denote poetic and artistic devices also.
The first accredited philosopher to note that beauty (śobhā) in poetry is not due to mechanical aspects like grammatical accuracy, but to the natural beauty of the thing described is Kumārila Bhaṭṭa. He states categorically in his Tantravarttika (Benares Edn., p. 205) that good poetry could be composed even in languages without any grammar; and in Sanskrit too, he feels that grammar, far from adding to its beauty (śobha) has contributed to its worst defect namely, cacaphony (kaṣṭasabda).
Again, it is Sabara, the celebrated predecessor of Kumārila and author of Pūrvamīmāmsā-sūtrabhāṣya that quotes an example from secular poetry and shows how its concern is exaggerated praise (arthavāda) through the medium of lakṣaṇā or indirect use of language. The verse cited is a lovely svabhavokti of black swans singing and moving gaily amidst dark lilies, as if danseuses dressed in black silk:
nilotpalavanesvadya carantaḥ carusaṁśrvāḥ nilakauśeyasamvitaḥ pranṛtyantiva kādamḥāḥ.
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(Ibid. I. 1.24)
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