DHVANI or “Suggestive Poetry”--Indian Aesthetics

 DHVANI or “Suggestive Poetry”--Indian Aesthetics

The kind of poetry where the conventional meaning is secondary or the conventional meaning of the words becomes secondary and the implied meaning becomes more important is called DHVANI or “Suggestive Poetry’.

· Explicit meaning is not very important in suggestive poetry.

· Simile and alliteration make the explicit meaning or sound important and cannot be called suggestive poetry.

· Suggestion is conditioned by only the relation between the suggested and the person or thing that suggests. It is never found in the beauty of the expressed and the expression.

Some people may argue that suggestion can be brought under    such figures of speech as Condensed Metaphor, Paraleipsis, Metonymy, Periphrasis, Fancied Denial, Ellipsis, implying a simile, and merging of figures, since we have a clear perception of the implicit meaning in these. It is in order to refute such as argument that the words, ‘renders itself or its meaning secondary’ etc have been included in the text.

 The idea is that when in a work of poetry an explicit meaning renders itself secondary or when a word renders its own denotative meaning secondary and each of these suggests another sense, we call it suggestive poetry. How can this suggestion be brought under the said figures? Suggestion is possible only when the suggested element is exclusively important. This is not so in condensed Metaphor and the like.

Anandavardhana gives an example for condensed metaphor:-

The twilight (heroine’s face) with twinkling stars (shining pupils) was illumined (Kissed) by the moon (the hero) glowing red (overcome by emotion) so suddenly (with such love) that the entire mass of darkness (black garment) disappearing in the east (slipping even in front) due to illuminations (love) was not at all noticed

Here it is the explicit meaning alone appears prominent and the suggested sense is only secondary to it. The main subjects of description are the night and the moon. And the behaviour of a heroine and that of a hero are attributed to them.

Anandavardhana gives an example for paraleipsis¹               

^{The twilight is full of love (red colour),}

^{And the day chases her face to face;}

^{But, oh, look at the decree of fate}

^{The twain do never meet!}

^{Though a suggested idea is understood here, charm is felt to exist only in the expressed. Hence that alone should be taken to be primarily intended.}

^{In Ellipsis, metonymy, periphrasis, fancied denial, implying a simile and merging of figures, the suggested idea is not primarily important. The expressed element alone is primary therein} and that the suggested element is secondary to it.

The following verses sum up the position:-

Wherever we find the implied meaning unimportant and merely ancillary to the expressed, we should clearly conclude that such instances contain only figures like the condensed Metaphor.

In places where we have just a glimmer of the implied, or where the implied is just a handmaid to the expressed, or where its primary importance is not clearly discernible there is no suggestive poetry.

           

It is thus established that suggestion cannot be subsumed under other heads.

Another reason why it cannot be so subsumed is the statement that it is only the full limbed species of poetry which gets the designation of DHVANI or suggestive poetry”. It will be explained hereafter that the limbs (of poetry) are figures, qualities, and varieties of diction unheard of. When considered collectively, it will be but a part of the whole and never identical with the whole. Even if identity were possible in some instances, suggestive poetry cannot be looked upon as conditioned by its limbs mentioned, since its sphere is very extensive.

            Broadly considered, Dhvani is two-fold (1) with unintended literal import and (2) with intended but further extending literal import. The following is an example of the first kind:

            Three persons will gather

            Flowers of gold from the earth

            The bold, the learned

            And he who knows how to serve.

The following illustrates the second

            On which mountain and for how long

            Did this one perform penance?

            And what might be its name?

            For, the young parrot pecks

            The fruit so red as your lips.

            Suggestion does not bear identity with indication because there is difference in nature between the two.

            Suggestion which has been explained above does not bear identity with logical implication since the two have different natures. Suggestion is the uni-directional communication of a sense other than the expressed where the implied sense will be exclusively important. But indication is merely metaphorical application.

            The fact is that indication is grounded on the primary force of words. How can it ever be a definition of suggestion whose sole support is suggestivity? Hence suggestion is one thing and indication is another.

            If one were to say that the definition of suggestion has already been propounded by others, it would only substantiate our own position.

            Even if it be true that the definition of suggestion has already been propounded by earlier writers, it would only mean a substantiation of our own position. For our position is that suggestion exists: and in case it has been established already, we should consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate inasmuch as our object has already been realised without any labour at all on our part.

            Even those, who assert that the nature of suggestion is within the experience of only the perceptive critics and that it is inexpressible, betray only their lack of discernment. We have already propounded the general definition of suggestion, and definitions of its several varieties will be set forth hereafter. If in spite of all these, it should be thought of as “inexpressible”, then this would be true of everything in the world. If, on the other hand, they are only giving expression to the all-surpassing nature of suggestion by means of this exaggeration, then they also might be regarded as but stating the truth itself.

1.      Paraleipsis=the device of giving emphasis by professing to say little or nothing of a subject, as “in not to mention their unpaid debts of several millions”. 

2.      Periphrasis = (technical) the use of an indirect way of speaking or writing

DHVANI  THEORY           (continuation)

The  basic assumption of Anandavardhana is that though the meaning complex of literature appears to be an integrated whole, closer scrutiny shows that it has two aspects, one the expressed and the other the suggested one. While the expressed meaning is understood by all, the suggested meaning can be grasped only by people of refined sensibility. While mere grammar and lexis may suffice to understand the expressed meaning, this is not the case with the suggested meaning, which is explored imaginatively by a discerning reader who is not fully satisfied with the expressed content of literature alone. The expressed meaning is nothing but the proverbial tip of the iceberg, and those who believe that it is the be-all and end-all of literature miss its soul.

Anandavardhana maintains that the suggested sense, manifested in poetry by means of the peculiar suggestive power existing in the sound and sense of the poetic language, may be either be an idea, figure or an emotion (Rasa). Among these three, Rasa occupies the pivotal position since all the elements of poetry, including even the suggested idea and figure finally resolve into the ultimate significance. Accordingly, Rasa is reckoned as the soul of poetry, which is the fountain-spring of all poetic outpourings. 

¯ DHVANI is basically classified into two:-

¯ A vivaksita vacya:- this is characterised by metaphorical transference. The literal sense is not at all intended ad the metaphorical sense shines out, enriched by numerous suggested ideas.

¯ Vivasitanyaparavacya:- the literal meaning is not cancelled, but modified by the suggested sense, and most types of emotive suggestion are comprised herein.

Based on the importance enjoyed by the suggested meaning,  Anandavardhana proposes a novel hierarchy for poetry.

1.      Dhvani proper—the suggested element is the most prominent in poetry.

2.      Gunibhutavyangya—the suggested element is subordinated to the expressed meaning, as in the case of ostentatious figures of speech, or in poems wherein the poet is unduly obsessed with the surface features of expression to the detriment of its suggested content.

3.      citrakavya—this is poetry which does not have any suggestive charm at all, with no emotive significance worth mentioning is designated pictorial poetry.

µ Anandavardhana points out that the technique of suggestion is a great rejuvenator of literature which tends to become stale and stereotyped with the passage of time.

µ  Even worn-out ideas become attractive in the garb of suggestive language.

µ  The emotive expressions can make miracles, just as the spring season can magically transform a familiar tree.

µ It is the suggestive art which is the real touchstone of a poetic genius, and a person becomes a great poet only when he has mastered the art of suggestion.

Anandavardhana points out that it is the very nature of things that they become charming when indirectly communicated, without employing direct expressions. This is a matter of common experience to people attending learned assemblies where ideas are obliquely stated than directly expressed. The Dhvani theory does not explain why an idea suggested becomes more charming that when it is directly expressed. The involvement of the reader in imaginatively exploring the meaning seems to be the reason for this. It is evident that the doctrine of Dhvani can be meaningful only with the recognition of the necessity of the sensitive reader, who has the imaginative skill to explore the meanings left unexpressed.

The twin concepts of connotation and denotation mean more or less the same as suggestion and direct statement. Denotation stands for the primary meaning of a word, as is specified by a dictionary. The range of meaning evoked or implied by it is called its connotation.  Thus while the word ‘home’ denotes the place where one lives, its connotations are privacy, intimacy and coziness. Many instances of Dhvani cited by Anandavardhana under the variety of ‘Padaprakasa’ can be regarded as cases of connotation. Thus the Meghasandesa  passage,  “I am Rama. I can understand everything”. The word ‘Rama’ connotes the innumerable calamities undergone by the hero.

The relation between Dhvani and metaphorical expression.

The relation is an intricate one. Both Anandavardhana and Abhinavagupta painstakingly differentiate between the two. The gist of their demarcation principle is this: the avivaksitavacya type of dhvani is characterised by the presence of metaphorical expression. But the charm in such expressions is caused by the suggestion of several ideas which are to be distinguished from both the literal and secondary senses. Metaphorical expressions like ‘the lotus opens its eyes’ have three levels of meaning—the literal sense, the secondary sense, and the suggested sense. The literal sense means ‘the lotus blossoms’. The secondary sense makes us remember that the statement ‘opens its eyes’ does not mean the normal opening of the eyes by a living creature. Applied in the case of the flower, it is only metaphorical as the flower has no eyes. The suggested sense reminds us of the vividness and liveliness of the lotus, which one experiences through the expression. Anandavardhana believes that it is the suggested sense that electrifies the expression and in the absence of it, the metaphorical expression becomes a ‘dead metaphor’.

The Dhvani theory looks at a literary work as an organic whole.

 Great works of art (Mahabharata) achieve some cohesion because of the ultimate suggestion of some emotion. All the segments of the  literary work are oriented towards this. In short, the structure and design of a literary work becomes intelligible only when we are able to transcend the expressed sense and grasp what is left unexpressed, in a nutshell, the art of suggestion serves as a key to unravel the dreamy evocativeness achieved by poetry.

S. Sree Kumar