Philosopher
Anandavardhana
Overview
Ānandavardhana (c. 820 – 890 CE) was a Kashmiri court poet and literary critic, honored with the title of Rajanak during King Avantivarman's reign. Anandavardhana authored the Dhvanyāloka, or A Light on Suggestion (dhvani), a work articulating the philosophy of "aesthetic suggestion" (dhvani, vyañjanā).
Ānandavardhana is credited with creating the dhvani theory. He wrote that dhvani (meaning sound, or resonance) is the "soul" or "essence" (ātman) of poetry (kavya)." "When the poet writes," said Ānandavardhana, "he creates a resonant field of emotions." To understand the poetry, the reader or hearer must be on the same "wavelength." The method requires sensitivity on the parts of the writer and the reader. The complete Dhvanyāloka together with Abhinavagupta's commentary on it has been translated into English by the Sanskritist Daniel H.H. Ingalls and his collaborators.
Ānandavardhana is mentioned in Kalhana's Rajatarangini. He was noted to not have cited or commented on Daṇḍin's work, instead preferring Bhamaha or Udbhata.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed Anandavardhana
Ideas Anandavardhana discusses
- Ātman (Hinduism)
- Abhinavagupta
- Vedas
- Critic
- Sahitya Akademi
- Adi Shankara
- Aesthetics
- Vedanta
- Exegesis
- Mīmāṃsā
- Harvard Oriental Series
- Sanskrit grammar
- Pāṇini
- Aṣṭādhyāyī
Place in the tradition
Part of Timeline of Eastern philosophers.