Elements of Poetry in the Mahābhārata

Book excerpt: This book represents the first attempt of its kind to present a detailed, systematic analysis of the upamana dharmas (Tertia comparationis) of the various objects of comparison found in the Mahabharata. An attempt is made here to present a detailed account of what we may call poetic expressions of the corpus. It is not a rhetorical discussion of the soul of the poetry of the Mahabharata. It rather aims at enumerating the symbolic, alliterative, paronomastic, or repetitive linguistic features that beautify the body of the Mahabharata. Chapter 1 deals with the similes (upama) of the corpus; the arrangement of the sections is based on the fields from which the objects of comparison (upamana) are collected. Chapters 2 throught 8 deal with the metaphors. Chapter 9 presents some specimens of popular idioms found in the corpus, arranged again according to the fields from which they are collected. Chapter 10 is the compilation of the passages representing typical figures of sound (sabdalamkaras). To complete the study, Chapter 11 analyzes passages representing the techniques of oral poetry.