Bhāratī-vṛtti (eloquent bearing)

Bhāratī essentially differs from the previous ones; for they deal with the procedural aspect of hero’s activities whereas it deals mainly with declamation and takes into account only the mode of speech. It is called Bhāratī or the eloquent bearing after the actors who are in generic sense called Bharatas.

Bhāratī has four sub-division:

1. Prarocanā,
2. Vīthī,
3. Prahasana and
4. Āmukha.^[1]

It may, however, be noted here that what is meant by Vīthī as a subdivision of the Bhāratī Vṛtti is different from its namesake, which is one of the species of the rūpakas. The only common feature is its thirteen elements, and this similarity has created a lot of misgiving in the minds of several scholars and canonists even of the standard of Bhojarāja.^[2] Thirteen sub-division, in fact, seen to belong to Vīthī, the member of Bhāratī-Vṛtti, which are also found in the Vīthī type of rūpaka for the simple reason that they are common to all classes of shows.^[3]

The first sub-division of the Bhāratī-vṛtti, viz. Prarocanā has two meanings: one, laudation which purports to give an attractive account of the drama under enactment and its author, and is used by the Establisher in the Introduction of the play; the other is more comprehensive inasmuch as it is said to denote some well-known fact in a striking manner.^[4] In the latter sense, Prarocanā becomes fit to be used in a play even beyond Induction.

Apart from the four Vṛttis, Udbhaṭa believes in a fifth Vṛtti which he calls as the Artha-vṛtti, whereas the Rasarṇava-sudhākara and the Bhāvaprakāśa record still another type of Vṛtti which is mixed or Miśra. It is said to contain the characteristics of all the Vṛtti s or at least of Vṛtti s more than one. But any such recognition of the fifth Vṛtti is not supported by the dictum of Bharata. Similar is the position of the view of Bhojadeva who maintains six Vṛtti s adding the Madhyama Kaiśikī and the Madhyama Ārabhaṭī to the list.^[5]

All the four types of Vṛttis as recognized by Bharata are popular among the playwrights. But they pertain to the import or the sense of the passage put up in the mouth of a charater in the drama and have nothing to do with the structure of its composition. For Vṛttis pertaining to sense differ from Vṛttis belonging to the structure. In the Dhavanyāloka, Ānandavardhana calls the Vṛttis of the latter type as the Upanāgarikā and others.^[6] The point of distinction that her draws between the two sets of Vṛttis is this: The Vṛttis like Kaiśikī and others are dependent upon sense to be conveyed, while Upanāgarikā and others depend on the structure of composition. In other words, the former are Vācyasraya wheras the latter are Vācakasraya.^[7] The two are no doubt interdependent inasmuch as the structure and the sense depend upon each other. Mammaṭa Bhaṭṭa thinks Upanāgarika and other Vṛtti s of its type as species of Sabdalaṅkāras or figures of structure.^[8] In fact, they appear more akin to the Ritis than the alankaras for the reason that their connotation shows them to be in the nature of diction.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

For full details vide Chapter II p. 31 supra.

[2]:

Vide Sr. Pr. Chap. XII., Sāhityadarpaṇa Chap. VI.

[3]:

For detailed discussion vide Chap. II supra.

[4]:

“Prasiddhartha-pradarsini Prarocana.” Nāṭaka-lakṣaṇa-Ratnakośa 1073.

[5]:

S. K. A. II-38. For details about Bhojadeva’s position in this regard, Ref. Dr.Raghavan’s Srngaraprakasa and his article on Vṛtti s–JOR/Madras. Vol. VII.

[6]:

Dhvanyāloka of Ānandavardhana III-33.

[7]:

Ibid. p. 182, 4.

[8]:

K. Pr. IX-80.