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It explains Ānandvardhan’s view of words having layered meaning: literal (Abhidhā), secondary (Lakshanā), and suggestive/tertiary (Vyanjanā). It outlines the structure of Kāvya’s body and soul, discusses how suggestion arises through denotation, and describes how language resonates to produce new meanings. The unit also frames interpretation of literature, including a Dhvani reading of Animal Farm.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/dhvani-objectives-meaning-of-poetic-suggestion-and-dhvani-theory/300217/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/dhvani-objectives-meaning-of-poetic-suggestion-and-dhvani-theory/300217.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Ivy","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-22","2026-09-18",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does Dhvani mean in the context of Indian Poetics?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Dhvani refers to poetic suggestion: a semantic power that allows language to evoke meaning beyond direct statement.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What are the three levels of meaning in Ānandvardhan’s theory?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The three levels are Abhidhā (literal/denotative), Lakshanā (secondary/connotative/metaphorical), and Vyanjanā (suggestive/tertiary).",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does suggested meaning arise according to Dhvani theory?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Suggested meaning cannot be communicated directly; it becomes manifest through primary (denotative) meaning, while contexts, emotions, and other expressive factors shape the resonance.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},300217,1790072435,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},549758252649,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/8000253669c5317157?_k=1778319167496531819","Dhvani  \nObjectives  \nIn this unit, we shall understand:  \n􀁸 The meaning of the term „Dhvani‟ (poetic suggestion) in the context of Indian Poetics  \n􀁸 The threefold potency of words of rendering meaning given by Ānandvardhan  \n􀁸 Characteristics and classification of Dhvani  \n􀁸 How George Orwell‟s Animal Farm can be read from a Dhvani perspective  \nBy the end of this unit, you will be able to understand:  \n􀁸 How good literature has the capacity to suggest rather than state the meaning  \n􀁸 Different characteristics and types of suggestion  \n􀁸 The types ofkāvya based on suggestion  \nIntroduction  \nWhile Rasa is an affective theory, Dhvani is a semantic theory. Ānandvardhan was a 9th century Kashmiri scholar, who, in his monumental work Dhvanyāloka, propounded the Dhvani theory. According to the Harvard professor Daniel Ingalls,“The Dhvanyāloka revolutionized Sanskrit literary theory by proposing that the main goal of good poetry is the evocation of a mood or “flavor” (rasa) and that this process can be explained only by recognizing a semantic power beyond denotation and metaphor, namely, the power of suggestion.” Later, Abhinavgupta, another 10th century Kashmiri scholar, wrote Dhvanyālokalocanā, a commentary on Dhvanyāloka.  \nĀnandvardhan divided literature (Kāvya) into Kāvyaśarīra (body) and Kavyātmā (soul) . Kāvyaśarīra consists of Shabda (Word) and Artha (Meaning) . Alamkāras are also the external―body, while Kavyātmā (soul of literature) is Dhvani (Suggested Meaning) .  \nŚabdārtha śariram Tāvat Vākyam, Kāvyasyātmā dhvanih‖(Dhvanyāloka) In the Vedas, the goddess Vāgdevi (the goddess of speech) proclaims that she resides in thesea. This utterance suggests that Vāk (language) has its domain of meaning as vast as the sea.  \nIn other words, it means that the resonating power of language can always manifest to the reader or listener, if one is capable of hearing that. Metaphorically, it means that language reveals only some of its potentiality of creating meanings to a reader.  \nWrites Prof. Kapil Kapoor: “If we are able to explain how indirect meanings arise systematically, we are able to play that all potential meaning are inherent in the text -all that the reader does is to exploit the system of verbal symbolism to construct a particular meaning…Dhvani is a theory ofmeaning, of symbolism...”  \nThree Levels of Meaning  \nWith respect to word meanings, Indian linguistic tradition had referred to two types of meaning – Primary Meaning (Abhidhā) and Secondary Meaning (Lakshanā) . Both these are related to individual „word meaning‟. Ānandvardhan does not reject them, but he goes further: “He accepts all these, but in addition, he postulates a third potency of language which he calls „the capacity to suggest a meaning other than its literal meaning‟. This suggestive power of language is called Vyanjanā.”(Kunjunni Raja)  \nAccording to Ānandvardhana, there are three levels of meaning:  \ni. Abhidhā – the Literal / lexical / denotative meaning  \nii. Laksanā – the Secondary / Connotative / Metaphorical meaning. Cannot exist independent of the text.  \niii. Vyanjanā – the suggestive meaning / Tertiary / Socio-cultural meaning -“Pratiyamāna‖  \nThe meaning that we understand as soon as the word is uttered is its primary meaning or abhidhā. The level of Laksanā relates to the metaphorical meaning of a word. It is that meaning which is different from the primary sense but also related to it in some way. Thus, laksanā is the secondary level of meaning. According to the dhvani theorists, there is one more sense which a word conveys. This sense is called vyangyārtha (the suggested sense) . Vyanjanā, thus is the tertiary meaning of a word.  \nFor Ānandvardhan,  \n“यत्र अर्थ: शब्दो वा तम् अर्थम् उपसर्थनीकृत स्वार्ोव्यङ्क्त: काव्यवशेष: स ध्ववन: इवत  \nसूरवि: कवर्त: l”(Dhvanyaloka 1/13)  \n(That kind of poetry, where the words surrender their conventional meaning (vāchyārtha)  \nto the suggested meaning (pratiyamana), is designated by the learned as Dhvani.","cbCaiqyzeFgLJUUp","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqyzeFgLJUUp","pdf",805097,"English","# Objectives\n# Introduction\n# Three Levels of Meaning\n## Abhidhā, Lakshanā and Vyanjanā\n# Sphota – The Root of Dhvani Theory","[{\"question\":\"What does Dhvani mean in the context of Indian Poetics?\",\"answer\":\"Dhvani refers to poetic suggestion: a semantic power that allows language to evoke meaning beyond direct statement.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the three levels of meaning in Ānandvardhan’s theory?\",\"answer\":\"The three levels are Abhidhā (literal/denotative), Lakshanā (secondary/connotative/metaphorical), and Vyanjanā (suggestive/tertiary).\"},{\"question\":\"How does suggested meaning arise according to Dhvani theory?\",\"answer\":\"Suggested meaning cannot be communicated directly; it becomes manifest through primary (denotative) meaning, while contexts, emotions, and other expressive factors shape the resonance.\"}]","Dhvani - Objectives - Meaning of Poetic Suggestion and Dhvani Theory | PDF",1789773505,12]