Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana
by Gaurapada Dāsa | 2015 | 234,703 words
Baladeva Vidyabhusana’s Sahitya-kaumudi covers all aspects of poetical theory except the topic of dramaturgy. All the definitions of poetical concepts are taken from Mammata’s Kavya-prakasha, the most authoritative work on Sanskrit poetical rhetoric. Baladeva Vidyabhushana added the eleventh chapter, where he expounds additional ornaments from Visv...
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Text 2.11
लाक्षणिक-निरूपनाय तद�-उपाधिम� आह,
ṣaṇi첹-nirūpanāya tad-upādhim āha,
To describe an indirectly expressive word (ṣaṇi첹), he states its characteristics:
ܰٳ- tad-yoge ūḍhto’tha Ჹ |
anyo’rtho ṣyٱ yat ṣaṇDZ辱� ||2.9||
mukhya-artha—of the main meaning; —when there is a blockage; tad-yoge—when there is a connection with that [main meaning]; ūḍhٲ�—because of a convention; atha—o[1]; Ჹ—because of a purpose; Բⲹ�—aԴdzٳ; ٳ�—mԾԲ; ṣyٱ—is indicated; yat—by means of which; —t; ṣaṇ�—is figurative usage; DZ辱—which is superimposed (it is not inherent); —an action (operation) (a rhetorical function, i.e. a power[2]).
When the main meaning is incompatible, ṣaṇ� (Indication, or figurative usage) is the function by means of which another meaning is indicated when there is a connection with the main meaning either by convention or because of a purpose. ṣaṇ� is an operation that is superimposed unto a word.
�첹ṅg� hasikaḥ� ity-ādau ś-viśeṣādi-rūpārthānā� hady-asambhavāt, “ṅgyā� ṣa� prativasati� ity-ādau pravāhādi-rūpārthānā� ghoṣādhāratvādy-asambhavāc ca ܰٳ-bādhāyām ādhārādheya-bhāvādau mīpyādau ca sambandhe rūḍhe� prayojanāc ca hetor mukhyenāmukhyo’nyo ’rtho ⲹ ṣyٱ ṣaṇ� 峾 ṛtپr artha-niṣṭhāpy 辱 śabde.
tatra ūḍh� prasiddhas tām anusṛtya tat-ṃyܰٲ-puruṣādir anyo’rtha� pūrvatra ṣyٱ, paratra tu ṅg-gata-śaitya-pāvanatvādes taṭādau pratipādana� ᲹԲ� tad uddiśya taṭādir anyo’rtha�, ceya� Ჹ-ٳ.
�ܲԳ� praviśanti� ity-ādāv aᲹ-ٳ, kunta-dhāri-sahitapraveśāt. “chattriṇo gacchanti� iti chattri-padasyaika-rthavāhitve ṣaṇ�, tattvena rūpeṇa chattri-tad-anyayor bodhāt. “kākebhyo dadhi rakṣyatām� ity atra 첹-padasya dadhy-upaghātakeṣu ṣaṇ�, tena tan-mātrasya bodhanāt. “so’ya� 𱹲岹ٳٲ�� ity-ādau jahad-aᲹ-ٳ. atra tat-kālaitat-kālayos tyāgāj Ჹ-ٳ, 辱ṇḍ-mātrasyātyāgād aᲹ-ٳ ca. eva� “ratho gacchati� ity-ādau ca iyam eva 岵-ṣaṇoⲹٱ.
In “The ṅg is audacious,� the meaning that a particular region (south of Orissa) is audacious is impossible. In “The cowherd settlement is located on the Ganges,� the meaning that a current is the foundation of a cowherd settlement is impossible. When the main meaning is blocked in that way, and when there is a connection�either because of a convention or because of a purpose�like the relation of �container and contained� (a country and its citizens) or like proximity (the Ganges and its shore), and so on, that by means of which (yat = ⲹ) another meaning, which is not the main one, is indicated by the main meaning is the operation, i.e. the rhetorical function ( = ṛtپ), called ṣaṇ�. Although ṣaṇ� is based on the meaning, ṣaṇ� is superimposed unto a word (辱 = śabde 辱) (it is not inherent).
Of the two, ūḍh is defined as a conventional meaning. In conformity with that, in “The ṅg is audacious� the other meaning is a man who is related to that place (the ṅg means the man from ṅg). However, in “The cowherd settlement is located on the Ganges,� the other sense is the shore, by pointing out the purpose, which consists in propounding the notions that coolness and purity, which relate to the Ganges, are on the shore, and so on.[3]
In both examples, the figurative usage is Ჹ-ٳ (the literal meaning is obliterated).
In an example like “The spears enter,� the figurative usage is aᲹ-ٳ (the meaning of ‘spears� is not obliterated), because the spears enter along with those who hold them.
In the sentence: “Those who have umbrellas are going,� the figurative usage, which occurs when the word chattrin conveys one meaningful element (a person who has an umbrella), takes place from understanding, as the true nature of the statement, both those who have an umbrella and those who do not (this is aᲹ-ٳ).
In the example, “The yogurt should be safeguarded from crows,� the word crow indirectly refers to those who can spoil the yogurt, thus Indication occurs since the word crow makes one understand all those who can spoil the yogurt (this kind of aᲹ-ٳ is also called upaṣaṇ�, a partial indication).
In an example such as: so’ya� 𱹲岹ٳٲ� (that Devadatta is this one), the figurative usage is jahad-aᲹ-ٳ. The figurative usage is Ჹ-ٳ since the meanings of ‘that former time� and ‘this present time� cease, and it is aᲹ-ٳ because there is no relinquishment of the notion of the solid mass that he is. Similarly, an example like “The chariot is moving� is jahad-aᲹ-ٳ. This particular one (jahad-aᲹ-ٳ ṣaṇ�) is called 岵-ṣaṇ� (partial figurative usage).
Commentary:
In Sanskrit poetics, three conditions must be met for Indication to take place: (1) ܰٳ-, the main meaning is incompatible, (2) tad-yoga (or tat-sambandha), the indirect meaning has a connection with the main meaning, and (3) ūḍh-prayojanānyataratvam, either it is a conventional usage or it is purposeful. Here Mammaṭa writes: ᲹԲ� hi vyañjana-gamyam eva, “The purpose is only understood through the rhetorical function called ⲹñᲹԲ (also named ⲹñᲹ) (Suggestiveness)� (屹ⲹ-ś 2.13). ĀԲԻ岹Բ said that in poetry, figurative usage should be purposeful.[4] Moreover, Abhinavagupta indicates that a conventional meaning does not always have a connection with the main meaning.[5] This was shown in some examples of ūḍh words (2.10).
Mammaṭa does not mention the example so’ya� 𱹲岹ٳٲ�, “This one is that Devadatta.� The idea therein is as follows: As a stylish manner of speaking, “that Devadatta of the old days� is contrasted with “this Devadatta seen right now,� as if Devadatta were two different persons. The topic is conventional figurative usage because there is no implied sense. ī ҴDz峾ī gives �so’ya� 𱹲岹ٳٲ�� as an example of jahad-aᲹ-ٳ ṣaṇ� (-ṃv徱ī 11.47 of Tattva-sandarbha). Rāmānuja does not accept that it is figurative usage: iti cen naitad evam. so’ya� devadatta ity atrāpi ṣaṇ�-gandho na vidyate, virodhābhāvāt. ekasya ūٲ-ٲԲ--dvaya-sambandho na viruddha�, “There is no scent of figurative usage in so’ya� 𱹲岹ٳٲ� because there is no incompatibility. The connection of the same one with two actions, one of the past and one of the present, is not contradictory� (ձٳ-ṅg 25): In this interpretation, the expression so’ya� 𱹲岹ٳٲ� is best rendered as: “This is the same Devadatta.�
The example “The chariot moves�, taken from ṅk첹ܲٳܲ, is aᲹ-ٳ like “The spears enter� since the chariot indicates the horses that pull it, but Kavikarṇapūra writes: ratho gacchatīty atra jahad-aᲹ-ٳ, svākarṣaka-gamanena śⲹ-sambandhāt sva-kartṛka-gamanābhāvād aṃśato Ჹ-ٳ gamanāṃśenāᲹ-ٳ, “In the sentence “The chariot moves�, the figurative usage is jahad-aᲹ-ٳ. It is partially Ჹ-ٳ (i.e. the chariot indicates the horse that pulls it) because a chariot cannot possibly move by itself and because there is a connection with the literal meaning due to the movement of the puller of the chariot, and it is partially aᲹ-ٳ on account of the movement (the sense of “it moves� is unchanged)� (ṅk첹ܲٳܲ 2.17). Alternatively, the expression “The chariot moves� is a common expression, called a dead metaphor in English: In other words, the figurative usage is so common that it has become literal.[6] Another example is “The sun has set� (Commentary 2.33).
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Here the word atha is used in the sense of vikalpa (alternative), by the definition: athātho saṃśaye syātām adhikāre ca maṅgale, vikalpānantara-śԲ-kārtsny-samuccaye, �Atha and atho are used in the senses of ṃśaⲹ (doubt), (topic), ṅg (auspiciousness), vikalpa (possibility), anantaram (afterward), śԲ (question), ٲԲⲹ (entirety), (beginning), and samuccaya (conjunction, ‘and�)� (ѱ徱ī-ś).
[2]:
[3]:
“The purpose� means “the implied sense�. Here the implied sense is that there is much coolness and purity in that cowherd settlement. վśٳ Ჹ expounds: ṅg-taṭe ṣa iti pratipādanālabhyasya śītatva-pāvanatvātiśayasya bodhana-ū貹� prayojanam, “The purpose is in the form of making one understand the profuseness of coolness and purity. The idea of such an intensity is not achieved by the wording: “The cowherd settlement is located on the shore of the Ganges”� (ٲⲹ-岹貹ṇa 2.5).
[4]:
tatra hi cārutvātiśaya-viśiṣṭārtha-śna-lakṣaṇe prayojane kartavye (ٳԲǰ첹 1.17). Moreover, ĀԲԻ岹Բ writes: ṇa-ṛtپr hi vyañjakatva-śūnyāpi dṛśyate, “Sometimes it is seen that ṇa-ṛtپ is devoid of suggestiveness� (ٳԲǰ첹 3.33). The poetical theorists before the time of Mammaṭa used the term ṇa-ṛtپ, a synonym of gauṇ�-ṛtپ, instead of ṣaṇ�-ṛtپ.
[5]:
[6]:
“A dead metaphor is a figure of speech which has lost its original imagery of its meaning owing to extensive, repetitive popular usage. Because dead metaphors have a conventional meaning that differs from the original, they can be understood without knowing their earlier connotation.� (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_metaphor) (retrieved 12-9-2014)