Vakrokti

 Vakrokti

Introduction

Indian poems are based on Sanskrit poetry. Sanskrit poetry developed in all directions , like " Ramayana " and " Mahabharata ". Ramayana is written by "valmiki" as the first poem in Sanskrit.Ramayana is not only hard work of valmiki but also composition of many different things. This way Mahabharata , Slokas , Parvas , Vedas , Upnishadas are also very important in literature. 

In Indian Poetic Bharatmuni , Panini , Kalidas ,Kuntaka , Bhamaha and many other great poets who wrote about the history and about the culture of India. In the sense of poetry means both type of meanings - to be read , to be heard and drama which is to be seen. They all have different names in western poetic

About Author

Kuntaka was an 11th century poetician who has brilliantly anticipated many concepts used in the 20th century criticism.

His theory of Vakrokti is a comprehensive one. It means figurativeness and obliquity of expression. It is a manifestation of the basic obliquity of the poet’s creative process.

Meaning

Vakrokti :- Vakra + Ukti

   Vakra :- Crooked indirect or unique.

   Ukti :- Poetic expression or speech

6 parts of Vakrokti

According to Kuntaka, vakrokti or figurativeness manifests at 6 levels of expression in poetry:

Phonetic,

Lexical,

Grammatical,

Sentential,

Contextual, and

Compositional.

There is a surprising similarity between Kuntaka’s vakrokti and the concept of style as ‘deviation from the norm’ seen in modern stylistics. However it is equally important that while stylistics is concerned with phonological, grammatical and lexical aspects of the language, Kuntaka takes into account larger units of discourse also, such as context and composition itself taken as a whole. This enables him to view the entire gamut of the poetic creation from the point of view of artistic efficacy.

Phonetic figurativeness (Varnavinyasa Vakrata)

encompasses alliteration, rhyme, and all other subtle effects of sound in poetry. Kuntaka recognises onomatopoeic effects. 

Example

• Shakespeare’s ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’.

Lexical figurativeness (padapurvardha Vakrata)

The whole statement is depended on first letter includes stylistic choice in vocabulary, metaphor, power of adjectives and veiled expressions. For example, carefully concealing a Mahapataka—

Example

• “Is he despatche’d”
• તમે મારા દેવાના દિધેલ છો.
• We will proceed no further in this business’
• 
  

Grammatical figurativeness ( pratyaya vakrata)

The whole statement is depended on a letter after any of the letters involves the deft use of suffixes, especially those indicating numbers, person, and case forms. It also includes delineation of inanimate objects as animate and personification of objects—instead of saying ‘tense’—

Example

• ‘make my seated heart knock at my ribs’.

• ગઢને હોકરોતો કાંગરા ય દેશે, ગઢમાં હોંકારો કોણ દેશે  
• Glamis hath murder’d sleep; and therefore Cawdor 
• Shall sleep no more-Macbeth shall sleep no more

Sentential Figurativeness (Vakyavakrata)

it is the permeating presence that enters all other elements. The effect is akin to a painter’s stroke that shines out distinctively from the beauty of the material used. Most of the figures of speech are instances of it.A miraculous or enchanting description of an object  

                            

Example 

•         ‘Out, out, brief candle
•         Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player
•        That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
•        And then is heard no more….”
• मेरे पास माँ है ।

Kuntaka’s theory does not stop with the analysis of sentence as is done in stylistic studies, since techniques like contextual and compositional figurativeness analyse larger segments of the discourse than the sentence.

Contextual figurativeness (Prakarana vakrata)

 One linear meaning of a whole text or any literary art. 

Example 

• Hamlet: To be or not to be 
• Ramayana: Victory of Truth 

Compositional figurativeness ( Prabandha vakrata). 

This includes adaptation of a story from a well-known source with new twists added to it, with a new emotional significance, deletion of unnecessary episodes, the development of even minor incidents into events of far reaching consequences and strikinglness. Kuntaka regards a literary composition as an allegory which conveys some profound moral message and this moral content is also regarded as a compositional figurativeness.

Example

• The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
• Hamlet by Shakespeare
• સૈરન્ધ્રી by Vinod Joshi
• ઉર્મિલા by Umashankar Joshi
• અતિજ્ઞાન by Kant

Conclusion

Kuntaka looks upon the literary piece as a whole from an essentially artistic angle, where the creativity of the poet is at play in fashioning out an artifact. This perspective should suit any work of art, especially literary masterpieces of all-time greats. However, an exploration of a work of art from Kuntaka’s perspective necessitates an understanding of the literary norm, from which the poet effects creative deviation. The literary norm, unlike in modern stylistics encompasses extra-linguistic features like context and composition. Both linguistic and extra linguistic aspects of art are encompassed in a comprehensive aesthetic theory with creativeness as its aesthetic mark.