महापुराण के रामायण खण्ड की बिम्ब-योजना

The article by **Dr. Chhotelal Sharma**, **“Imagery in the Ramayana Section of the Mahāpurāṇa,”** examines the imaginative and stylistic structure of imagery (*bimba-yojanā*) in the **Ramayana portion of Puṣpadanta’s Mahāpurāṇa**. It begins by defining imagery as a vivid sensory and artistic representation of objects, events, emotions, actions, and mental states. The author argues that imagery arises from poetic imagination, linguistic skill, and cultural experience, and serves as a principal vehicle for aesthetic communication and emotional universalization in poetry. The study emphasizes that Puṣpadanta’s imagery is inseparable from figures of speech, poetic suggestion, imagination, and stylistic variation. Through numerous examples from the text, the article demonstrates how the poet constructs elaborate image-clusters using devices such as **upamā (simile), rūpaka (metaphor), utprekṣā (poetic fancy), dṛṣṭānta, pratīpa, pratīvastūpamā, dīpaka, śleṣa, anuprāsa, arthāntaranyāsa, and apahnuti**. These images are employed not merely for ornamentation but to reveal character, emotion, heroism, beauty, grief, anxiety, love, separation, devotion, and moral significance. A major focus of the article is the portrayal of key Ramayana characters through imagery. Puṣpadanta uses extended image-series and symbolic comparisons to depict the physical beauty, inner qualities, emotional states, and heroic stature of protagonists and antagonists. The poet’s descriptions of Rama, Sita, Ravana, and other figures combine psychological insight with visual and emotional richness, often linking human experience with elements of nature, celestial phenomena, animals, forests, rivers, and precious objects. The article highlights imagery associated with major narrative events, including **marriage scenes, separation, longing, battle episodes, Vāli’s death, Sītā’s abduction, sunset descriptions, funeral rites, heroic exploits, and scenes of love and grief**. These episodes are enriched through dynamic visual, symbolic, and emotional images that transform narrative incidents into powerful aesthetic experiences. According to the author, Puṣpadanta’s imagery displays remarkable variety: visual, psychological, symbolic, narrative, emotional, and decorative images frequently overlap. His descriptions unite poetic imagination with dramatic movement, color, sound, and feeling, producing vivid and communicative literary scenes. The imagery often functions through sustained image-sequences rather than isolated comparisons, creating broad artistic structures that support both characterization and narrative progression. The article concludes that Puṣpadanta’s mastery of imagery is exceptional. His poetic technique combines descriptive precision, imaginative power, architectural composition, and sculptural detail. The Ramayana section of the *Mahāpurāṇa* is presented as a significant achievement of Apabhramsha literature, distinguished by its rich, integrated, and highly effective image-structure.

Summary reviewed by a volunteer editor.