Utpreksha, Utprekṣā: 14 definitions
Introduction:
Utpreksha means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
The Sanskrit term Utprekṣā can be transliterated into English as Utpreksa or Utpreksha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Source: Shodhganga: Mankhaka a sanskrit literary genius (natya)Utprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा, “poetical fancy”) refers to a type of Alaṃkāra (figure of speech).—Utprekṣā is the imagining of an object under the character of another. It is twofold—Vācyā (expressed) and Pratīyamānā (implied). The expressed Utprekṣā occurs when particles like iva etc. are employed and the Pratīyamānā, when they are not employed. The figure Utprekṣā, according to Bāṇabhaṭṭa was admired mostly among the southerns, however, poet Maṅkhaka from Kashmir, a place situated at the extreme north, also uses this alaṃkāra in abundance. Therefore, the use of a particular figure of speech depends entirely upon the imaginative capability of a poet, and hence, it cannot be restricted to a particular place.
![Natyashastra book cover](https://www.wisdomlib.org/uploads/a/Natya-Shastra-tall.jpg)
Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (shastra) of performing arts, (natya—theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing Dramatic plays (nataka), construction and performance of Theater, and Poetic works (kavya).
Kavyashastra (science of poetry)
Source: Shodhganga: The Kavyavilasa of Ciranjiva Bhattacarya (kavyashastra)Utprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा) refers to one of the 93 alaṃkāras (“figures of speech”) mentioned by Cirañjīva Bhaṭṭācārya (fl. 17th century) in his Kāvyavilāsa and is listed as one of the 89 arthālaṃkāras (figure of speech determined by the sense, as opposed to sound).—The figure utprekṣā has been admitted by Ālaṃkārikas like Viśvanātha (S. D. X/58), Jagannātha (R.G. II), Vāmana (V.3.9) etc. So utprekṣā has been admitted by most of the Ālamkārikas.
Cirañjīva has defined utprekṣā as—“kiñcitsambhāvyate yatra tatrotprekṣāṃ pracakṣate”.—“When an actual thing is imagined to be identical with another, the figure of speech is called utprekṣā”.
Example of the utprekṣā-alaṃkāra:—
prāyo’nīkabhareṇa bhugnaśiraso’pyāśīviṣādhīśituḥ procchvāsānilaghūrṇitā vasumatī vyomedamārohati |
kiṃ vā yodhaparamparāsamuditakrodhānalādutthito dhūmo’yaṃ karikarṇatālapavanoddhūto viyadgāhate ||“Whether the earth rotated by the breathing air of the serpent (śeṣaḥ) lying down with its head bent by the burden of the army is about to ascend the sky or is it the smoke arising from the fire in the form of warth of the series of warriors and blown by the fan-like ears of the elephants spreads in the sky”.
Notes: In this verse the dust of earth raised by the breathing air of the śeṣa serpent ascending towards the sky is imagined (fancied) by gods as smoke aroused from the fire of anger of the series of warriors and blown by the fanlike ears of the elephants.
Source: Shodhganga: Bhismacaritam a critical studyUtprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा) refers to “poetic fancy” and represents one of the various Alaṅkāras (‘figures of speech’) classified as Artha (‘sense’), as employed in the Bhīṣmacarita (Bhishma Charitra) which is a mahākāvya (‘epic poem’) written by Hari Narayan Dikshit.—A beautiful application of ‘utprekṣā’ is found in VI.38 of Bhīṣmacarita, where the poet has shown a world of his own poetic-fancy and imagery by describing the females of the city who are eager to see the arrival of prince Devavrata as celestial ladies of the heaven. This example is full of inexhaustible and high soaring imagination and matchless command over language. The other examples of ‘utprekṣā’ are IV.30, IV.31, VI.5, VI.37, VIII.15, IX.39, XIV.40, XV.7, XV.21, etc.
![Kavyashastra book cover](https://www.wisdomlib.org/uploads/a/Natya-Shastra-tall.jpg)
Kavyashastra (काव्यशास्त्र, kāvyaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian tradition of poetry (kavya). Canonical literature (shastra) of the includes encyclopedic manuals dealing with prosody, rhetoric and various other guidelines serving to teach the poet how to compose literature.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryutprēkṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा).—f S A figure in rhetoric,--comparison or illustration. 2 A simile, illustration, parable. v ghē.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishutprēkṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा).—f A simile; comparison.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryUtprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा).—
1) Conjecture, guess.
2) Disregarding, carelessness, indifference.
3) (In Rhet.) A figure of speech, 'Poetical fancy', which consists in supposing उपमेय (upameya) and उपमान (upamāna) as similar to each other in some respects and in indicating, expressly or by implication, a probability of their identity based on such similarity; it is the imagining of one object under the character of another; संभावनमथोत्प्रेक्षा प्रकृतस्य परेण यत् (saṃbhāvanamathotprekṣā prakṛtasya pareṇa yat) K. P.1; e. g. लिम्पतीव तमोऽङ्गानि वर्षतीवाञ्जनं नभः (limpatīva tamo'ṅgāni varṣatīvāñjanaṃ nabhaḥ) Mṛcchakaṭika 1.34; स्थितः पृथिव्या इव मानदण्डः (sthitaḥ pṛthivyā iva mānadaṇḍaḥ) Kumārasambhava 1.1. It is usually expressed by इव (iva), or by words like मन्ये, शङ्के, ध्रुवम्, प्रायः, नूनम् (manye, śaṅke, dhruvam, prāyaḥ, nūnam) &c. (see Kāv.2.234); cf. S. D.686-692 and R. G. under उत्प्रेक्षा (utprekṣā) also.
4) A parable.
5) An ironical comparison.
-avayavaḥ A kind of simile
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryUtprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा).—f.
(-kṣā) 1. Indifference, carelessness. 2. Ironical comparison. 3. Comparison in general, poetical or rhetorical. E. ut and pra prefixed to īkṣ to see, aṅ and ṭāp affs.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryUtprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा).—[feminine] disregard, indifference; also = [preceding] ([rhetorie]).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Utprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा):—[=ut-prekṣā] [from ut-prekṣ] f. the act of overlooking or disregarding
2) [v.s. ...] carelessness, indifference, [Veṇīs.]
3) [v.s. ...] observing, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] (in rhetoric) comparison in general, simile, illustration, metaphor
5) [v.s. ...] a parable
6) [v.s. ...] an ironical comparison, [Sāhitya-darpaṇa; Vāmana’s Kāvyālaṃkāravṛtti; Kāvyaprakāśa]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryUtprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा):—[utpre+kṣā] (kṣā) 1. f. Indifference; comparison; irony.
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Utprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Uppekkhā, Uvehā.
[Sanskrit to German]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Nepali dictionary
Source: unoes: Nepali-English DictionaryUtprekṣā (उत्प्रेक्षा):—n. 1. comparison; illustration; simile; 2. simile; metaphor; 3. conceit; fancy;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Utprekshadhvani, Utprekshaka, Utprekshakshepa, Utprekshamanjari, Utprekshana, Utprekshane, Utprekshanem, Utprekshaniya, Utprekshavallabha, Utprekshavayava.
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Full-text (+1): Utprekshavallabha, Phalotpreksha, Hetutpreksha, Utprekshadhvani, Utprekshamanjari, Gudotpreksha, Utprekshavayava, Utprekshakshepa, Sapahnava, Uppekkha, Guptotpreksha, Uveha, Misha, Utpeksh, Arthalankara, Antatas, Chala, Iva, Vacyalankara, Alamkara.
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Search found 48 books and stories containing Utpreksha, Ut-prekṣā, Ut-preksa, Ut-preksha, Utprekṣā, Utpreksa, Utprēkṣā; (plurals include: Utprekshas, prekṣās, preksas, prekshas, Utprekṣās, Utpreksas, Utprēkṣās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana (by Gaurapada Dāsa)
Text 10.31 [Utprekṣā] < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]
Text 10.33 < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]
Text 10.34 < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]
Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala (study) (by Shri N. M. Kansara)
6.2. Alankaras (5): Utpreksa (poetic fancy) < [Chapter 15 - The Tilakamanjari as a Prose Poetic work]
6.2. Alankaras (4): Upama (simile) < [Chapter 15 - The Tilakamanjari as a Prose Poetic work]
7. Kavya-doshas (Poetic blemishes) < [Chapter 15 - The Tilakamanjari as a Prose Poetic work]
The backdrop of the Srikanthacarita and the Mankhakosa (by Dhrubajit Sarma)
Part 5b - Alaṃkāra (2): Utprekṣā or poetical fancy < [Chapter III - Literary Assessment Of The Śrīkaṇṭhacarita]
Part 5g - Alaṃkāra (7): Upamā or simile < [Chapter III - Literary Assessment Of The Śrīkaṇṭhacarita]
Part 8 - Impact of previous poets upon Maṅkhaka < [Chapter III - Literary Assessment Of The Śrīkaṇṭhacarita]
Sanskrit dramas by Kerala authors (Study) (by S. Subramania Iyer)
5. Literary estimate of the Kamalinikalahamsa < [Chapter 12: Kamalinikalahamsa (Kamalini-Kalahamsa)]
5. Literary Estimate of the Ratnaketudaya < [Chapter 10: Ratnaketudaya (Study)]
5. Literary estimate of the Balamartandavijaya < [Chapter 13: Balamartandavijaya (Balamartanda-Vijaya)]
Abhijnana Sakuntalam (with translation and notes) (by Bidhubhusan Goswami)
Appendix B - Of the Figures of Speech
Chapter 6 - Shashtha-anka (sastho'nkah) < [Abhijnana Sakuntalam, text and notes]
Chapter 5 - Pancama-anka (pancamo'nkah) < [Abhijnana Sakuntalam, text and notes]
Annadatri-carita (study) (by Sarannya V.)
6. Poetic Beauty (b): Alankaras (Aesthetics) < [Chapter 3 - An Introduction to Annadatri-carita]