Bhāravi Who Develops Citrakāvya Manner

Abstract

Bhāravi elaborated his mahākāvya, the Kirātārjunīya, the story of fighting between Kirāta (Lord Śiva) and Arjuna, in the 6th century. He was grouped into the Gauḍī style with verses usually displaying hardsound
patterns as his work is full of harsh consonants and clusters. On the scope of alaṃkāra (figuration), Arthāntaranyāsa gives the feeling of forcefulness and is plentifully used as Upamā and Utprekṣā by him.
Furthermore Ojas (energy), consisting of compact syllabic structures and emotive meanings of Dhvani are revealed all through the story. All features above reinforce Vīra-rasa in the mind of reader. Among the
five mahākāvyas of India, the Kirātārjunīya is a more complete example of Citra than others. Citra is the method of writing known as “pictorial figures” comprising of various kinds of wordplay and also graphic figures or even concrete poetry. The verse or a part verse that was presented with Citra is called the Citra-kāvya. There is a Citra-kāvya in the 15th sarga of the Kirātārjunīya, describing Skanda’s rage towards his warriors and the beginning point of the fighting between Lord Śiva and Arjuna. This article discusses the Citra use of Bhāravi which is either used to support the main rasa of the story or to display his poetic skills.