187. ABHINAVAGUPTA'S THEORY OF MEANING 209

ABHINAVAGUPTA'S THEORY OF MEANING 209

inadequate. The progress of this science has, therefore, been marked by the discoveries of more and more ways and means of this type of expression. It began with the discovery of some figures of speech. They have the capacity of adding to the conventional image certain attributes, which it lacks, by putting one conventional word in some relation with another, the meaning of which possesses those attri- butes, which that of the former lacks. Let us, for the sake of convenience of exposition, call the one "Main" and the other "accompanying". Thus, only that part of meaning of the accompanying word is joined with that of the "main" which is necessary for the com- pletion of the incomplete image conveyed by the conven- tional meaning of the latter. The two mental images fuse together and so completely represent that aspect of the poetic vision, which the conventional meaning is inadequate to represent. In simile, for instance, what happens is that only some attributes of the standard of comparison e.g. the capacity of the moon to give intense delight etc. figure in the consciousness on hearing the word 'moon'. The appearance of other things is inhibited by the word "like". These attributes fuse with the "face" and thus add to the latter the element that it lacks standing by itself, and make the configuration exactly correspond to the image of the face in the poetic vision. Every discovery of such means marks the progress of poetics. Every poetician of repute has made some such contribution to it. It is thus that the number of figures of speech has increased from four1, of which Bharata talks, to 124, as discussed by Appaya Dīkșita. The discovery of the power of language, which arouses the suggested meaning, is the last contribution to the science. 1. N. S., 206. 27