Aḷaṅkāra-śāstra pariciti by Bhābagrāhī Miśra and Śāntilatā Miśra. Kaṭaka : Phreṇḍas pabliśarsa, 1965. From the University of Chicago Library.

ଅଲଂକାର ଶାସ୍ତ୍ର ପରିଚିତି Alankara Sastra Pariciti, by Bhabagrahi Mishra and Shantilata Mishra.

Alankara shastra apparently means “the science of the figure of speech”, or the art of poetics and rhetoric (Alankara means “ornament”, Shastra means “rules”). This Odia book explains the ways in which ancient Sanskrit literature has been broken down and studied, recognizing devices like simile, hyperbole, and metaphor, and eventually leading to eight different schools of criticism. (None of which I know anything about!)

But what I do know: the repetition of this swirl pattern, in the ଅ and on the sides is quite fun, isn’t it?