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Riti
The mode of expression or the style of a literary composition and is
synonymous with the term marga (way or path). The concept of riti as an element of a
literary composition dates back to Bharata’s Natyasastra where he discuses it under
the rubric of vrttis. Bharata identifies four vrttis namely, kaisiki, bharati, sattavati and
arabhatti and is of the opinion that the kaisiki vrtti should be employed in the srngara
and hasya rasas, the sattavati in vira, raudra and adbhuta, the arabhatti in bhayanaka,
vibhatsa and raudra and the bharati in karuna and adbhuta rasas.
Bhamaha does not include riti or marga in his discussion of poetic composition
but distinguishes between vaidarbha and gauda as two kinds of poetry.
It was Dandin who deals with the concept of poetic style in an elaborate
manner for the first time in his monumental Kavyadarsa. Dandin does not use the term
riti and instead prefers the term marga to refer to the style of a poetic composition. He
classifies the various modes of composition broadly into vaidarbhi and gaudiya on the
basis of the presence of gunas (excellences). The vaidarbhi marga, according to Dandin
is superior because it possesses in a harmonious relationship all the ten gunas that has
already been enumerated by him in the first chapter. The gaudiya on the other hand is
marked by the absence of these gunas except arthavyakti, udarata and samadhi.
Although Dandin’s treatment of poetic style is quite elaborate compared to
earlier theorists he does not consider the marga as an independent element because he
considers the basis of the margas, the gunas, to be mere embellishments. He thus fails
to distinguish between alamkaras and gunas, a distinction which Vamana constantly
emphasizes to form the basis of his riti doctrine.
The credit of making riti an independent theoretical category can be attributed
to Vamana for whom riti is the ‘soul’ of poetry. At the outset of his Kavyalamkarasutra
(9th century A.D.) he defines riti as visista padaracana (arrangement of marked inflected
constructions). He goes on to differentiate between gunas and alamkaras, classifies
gunas into sabda guna and artha guna and on the basis of the presence or absence of
gunas classifies riti into vaidarbhi, gaudiya and pancali. Like Dandin, he accords the
highest status to the vaidarbhi riti as it possesses all the excellences but also associates
the gunas, ojas and kanti with the gaudiya riti and madhurya and sukumarata with the
pancali riti. Thus while the gaudiya is marked by the grand, the glorious and the
imposing the pancali is characterized by sweetness and softness. Vamana’s chief
contribution to Sanskrit Poetics lies in his elevating the concept of riti to the status of
an independent school. His elaborate treatment and classification of gunas definitely
marks a major advance on the Alamkara School which subsumed literary excellences
under the rubric of embellishments.
The theory of riti suffered a setback after Vamana and its general doctrines
were criticized by the proponents of the Dhvani School. Anandavardhana, the most
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important figure associated with this school, did not admit riti as an important
element of poetry but accepted another factor namely, samghatana. He classifies
samghatana into asamasa, madhyama samasa and dirgha samasa on the basis the presence
or absence of compounds. But the dhvani theorists accepted this concept in so far as it
contributed to the evocation of rasa-dhvani. But those theorists who neither adhered to
the Riti or the Dhvani School paid considerable attention to Vamana’s principles and
accepted them with major modifications. Rudrata, for instance, adds another riti to
Vamana’s classification namely the latiya but makes the basis of his classification the
presence or absence of compound words. The Agnipurana similarly accepts the four
ritis of Rudrata but the basis of classification is not only the length or shortness of
sentences but also the qualities of softness and the prominence of metaphors. Bhoja in
his Srngaraprakasa adds two more ritis, magadhi and avantika and considers the former
an intermediary style between pancali and vaidarbhi and the latter a khanda riti or
defective style.
Kuntaka does not accept the classification as enumerated by Dandin and
Vamana. He does not consider regional variations to be the basis of classification of
literary modes of expression. Instead he identifies three margas – sukumara, vicitra and
madhyama - on the basis of what he terms kavisvabhava or the power, nature and the
practice of the poet. The sukumara marga, according to Kuntaka, is marked by natural
grace and charm, the vicitra by decorativeness and the madhyama by a combination of
elements of both the styles.
Mammata does not admit riti as a separate element in poetic compositions. He
discusses the concept of riti under the rubric of vrtti. Mammata gives the name of
three vrttis - upanagarika, parusa and komala or gramya – and says that these were
referred to as vaidarbhi, gaudiya and pancali by earlier theorists. The upanagarika is
characterized by letters suggestive of the madhurya guna, the parusa by that of ojas and
the komala by letters other than the above. But Mammata makes it clear that mere
arrangements of the letters can never impart poetic charm until and unless they help
in the manifestation of rasa. Similarly, Viswanatha points out that riti is just pada
samghatana, the formal arrangements of words and letters that help in the
manifestation of rasa and can thus never claim to be the ‘soul’ of poetry.
Vamana’s theory of riti lost relevance because it conceived poetic compositions
only from the formal point of view without referring to its inner nature. But it
improves upon the doctrines of the Alamkara school in giving primacy to the gunas
over the alamkaras as defining features of poetic compositions. The theory of riti,
despite its limitations, has been a major contribution to the study of literary
compositions. This theory of language has close affinities with modern day stylistic
studies of literature.

Categories of riti identified by different theorists

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Theorist categories Basis
Dandin vaidarbhi and gaudiya presence of gunas
Vamana vaidarbhi, gaudiya and pancali presence of gunas
Anandavardhana asamasa, madhyamasamasa, use of compounds
dirghasmasa
Kuntaka sukumara, vicitra, madhyama power, nature, practice of
poets
Rudrata vaidarbhi, gaudiya, pancali, latiya use of compounds
Bhoja vaidarbhi, gaudiya, pancali, latiya compounds, gunas,
magadhi, avantika alamkaras
Mammata upanagarika, parusa, komala arrangement of letters,
compounds, mode of
composition
Vishwanatha vaidarbhi, gaudiya, pancali, latiya arrangement of letters,
presence of compounds

(1061 Words)
Entry written by Gourhari Behera