Bhāmaha

Bhamaha (, ) () was a Sanskrit poetician believed to be contemporaneous with Daṇḍin. He is noted for writing a work called the ''Kavyalankara'' (, ) ("The ornaments of poetry"). For centuries, he was known only by reputation, until manuscripts of the ''Kāvyālaṃkāra'' came to the attention of scholars in the early 1900s.

Biography

Bhamaha was apparently from Kashmir.

Little is known of Bhāmaha's life: the last verse of the ''Kāvyālaṃkāra'' says his father was called Rakrilagomin, but little more is known:

Later Kashmiri writers often treat Bhāmaha as the founding father of Sanskrit poetics and, by the same token, make him stand for everything that is old school, a trend that must have begun with Udbhaṭa (c. 800) and his vast commentary on Bhāmaha’s work. This Kashmiri connection has led many to assume that Bhāmaha, too, hailed from the northern vale. But if this is the case, then, unlike many of his followers, whose patrons, positions, and, in some cases, salaries are referred to by Kalhaṇa, Bhāmaha does not receive any mention in the famous chronicle of Kashmir’s courts, the Rājataraṅgiṇī (River of Kings).Yigal Bronner, 'A Question of Priority: Revisiting the Bhamaha-Daṇḍin Debate', ''The Journal of Indian Philosophy'', 40 (2012), 67–118 (p. 79). DOI 10.1007/s10781-011-9128-x

Bhāmaha is rather seldom mentioned as a poet by later commentators, but seems to have had a significant reputation as a grammarian, being cited by the eighth-century Śāntarakṣita. The Bhāmaha who composed the ''Kāvyālaṃkāra'' might also be the same person as the one who composed a commentary on Vararuchi's Prākṛtaprakāáa, a Prakrit grammar, and a few other works have also been tentatively attributed to him.

The ''Kāvyālaṃkāra'' has, however, been widely recognised as similar to and in many ways in disagreement with the ''Kāvyādarśa'' by Daṇḍin. Although modern scholars have debated which scholar was borrowing from which, or who was responding to whom, recent work suggests that Bhāmaha was the earlier scholar, and that Daṇḍin was responding to him. This would place Bhāmaha no later than the early 600s.

''Kāvyālaṃkāra''

Bhamaha's Kāvyālaṃkāra is divided into six ''pariccheda''s (chapters). It comprises 398 verses, including two verses at the end of the sixth chapter, which briefly describe the number of verses on each of the five topics. In the first verse, Bhamaha calls his work the Kavyalankara.

The first chapter comprises 69 verses. After the invocation of Sarva, it defines '' kavya'' and describes the qualifications of a good poet. It also narrates various genres and styles of poems, which include ''Vaidarbhi'' (from Vidarbha) and ''Gaudi'' (from Gauda).

In the beginning of the second chapter, three ''guna''s of poems, namely ''prasada'', ''madhurya'' and ''ojah'' are discussed.

It is followed by the discussion about the ''alankara''s (figures of speech), which continues till the end of the third chapter.

The fourth chapter discusses the eleven types of ''dosha''s (blemishes) of ''kavya'' and defines the first ten of these ''dosha''s with illustrations.

The fifth chapter discusses the eleventh ''dosha'' and its causes. It is based on the Nyaya-Vaisheshika epistemology. The sixth chapter emphasizes the necessity of grammatical accuracy and some practical hints to poets are also provided.

Editions

* ''Kāvyālaṅkāra of Bhāmaha''. Ed. Batuk Nāth Śarmā and Baldev Upādhyāya. Kāśī Sanskrit Series 61, 1928. Reprinted, Varanasi: Chaukhambha Sanskrit Sansthan, 1981.
*''Kāvyālaṅkāra of Bhāmaha: Edited with English Translation and Notes''. P.V. Naganatha Sastry. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.

Commentaries

The only known pre-modern commentary on ''Kavyalankara'' is the 'learned and important' ''Bhamahavivarana'' or ''Bhamahavritti'' by Udbhaṭa. However, only a few fragments of this survive. Gnoli, R. (1962). Udbhaṭ’s commentary on the ‘‘Kāvyālaṃkāra’’ of Bhāmaha. Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente.

External links

Transliterated text of Bhamaha's Kavyalankara
at GRETIL

Sanskrit text of Bhamaha's Kavyalankara
prepared by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan

References

{{reflist

Sanskrit poets
Sanskrit poetry
7th-century Indian poets
7th-century Indian scholars
7th-century Indian non-fiction writers
7th-century Indian people
7th-century Indian writers
Indian male writers