Samskrita Bharati - anyat

anyat - Jokes, Puzzles and Games

adhamakaavya refers to literary compositions that exercise a complex combination of a variety of literary skills. While these are not considered to be of great aesthetics, they are a definite measure of the composer's mastery of various aspects of the language, and highlight the malleability of the language.

For example, varNachitra is a style where there are restrictions on the use of consonants. There are shlokaas (generally 2 line compositions, set to a meter) that use all the consonants. There are others that use just 2 or 3 consonants. And yet others that use just one consonant! Remember that every akShara has to be accounted for with respect to meaning, grammatical construction and relevance.

kaHkhagaughaa~NachichChaujaa jhaa~nj~no.aTauThiiDaDaNDhaNaH|

tathodadhiin papharbaabhiirmayo.arilvaashiShaaM sahaH|

कःखगौघाङचिच्छौजा झाञ्ज्ञोऽटौठीडडण्ढणः।
तथोदधीन् पफर्बाभीर्मयोऽरिल्वाशिषां सहः।

(Bhoja's sarasvatii kaNThaabharaNam)

na nonanunno nunneno naanaa naanaananaa nanu|

nunno.anunno nanunneno naanenaa nunnanunnanut||
न नॊननुन्नॊ नुन्नॆनॊ नाना नानानना ननु।
नुन्नॊऽनुन्नॊ ननुन्नॆनॊ नानॆना नुन्ननुन्ननुत॥

(Bharavi's kiraataarjuniiyam)

Lookout for further discussions on these in the blog sections. This is but a brief glimpse into a vast ocean.

The Seattle kEndraa of Samskrita Bharati has put together (and generously shared) a slide show of excerpts from the book "The Wonder that is Sanskrit". Click here to download the power point presentation.