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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...

Go directly to: Footnotes.

क्रमेणोदाहरणम्,

ṇo󲹰ṇa,

Examples are shown in order (this illustrates the single paramparita based on paronomasia and the single paramparita not based on paronomasia):

ܲԳīⲹ kuvalaya� Ծīⲹ dānavāmbuja-śṇīm |
vraja-nara-pati-suta bhavato ⲹś�-sudhāṃśu� samullasati ||

ܲԳīⲹ—while causing to open; kuvalayam—t blue nighttime water-lily (or ku-valaya—t circumference of the Earth); Ծīⲹ—while causing to close; Բ—of demons (“the sons of Danu�); ambuja—of lotuses; śṇīm—t multitude; vraja—VᲹ; nara-pati—of the king; suta—O son; 󲹱ٲ�—Ydzܰ; ⲹś�—[in the form] of fame; ܻ-ṃśu�—t moon (“its rays are nectar�); samullasati—is resplendent.

O prince of Vraja, the moon of Your fame is resplendent. It makes the kuvalaya lotus of the Earth open and makes the Dānava lotuses close.

atra ku-valaye bhū-maṇḍale śṣṭ-śabda-vācye kuvalayatvasyāropa� prakṛtasya yaśasa� sudhāṃśutvāropaṇe hetu� dānaveṣu bhinna-śabda-vācyeṣv ambujatvāropaś ca tathā.

Here the superimposition of the paronomastic word kuvalaya in the sense of �night lotus� unto the same word ku-valaya in the sense of “circumference of the Earth� is the cause of superimposing the moon on fame. Fame is the subject of description.

Similarly, the superimposition of a daytime lotus on the Բ is the cause of superimposing the moon on fame. The word Բ is not paronomastic.

Commentary:

In the sentence “The moon of Your fame makes the Dānava lotuses close,� the metaphor “the lotuses which are Բ� justifies the metaphor “the moon of Your fame� because a lotus closes at night. Mammaṭa illustrates a single nonparonomastic paramparita ū貹첹: “O ū, You are the bulbous root of the creeper of the fourteen worlds.�[1] The metaphor “the fourteen worlds are a creeper� substantiates the metaphor “ū� is a root.� Բٳ’s example is: ܲ-ṇa-ܲśԲ-ṛṇ-rucis ٱ-ṛpṇo Ჹṅg�, “Your sword, which has a smooth sheen because it consumes the milk of the confounded enemies� life force, is a snake� (Rasa-ṅg󲹰). Here, superimposing milk unto the life force (life force is milk) is the cause of superimposing a snake unto the sword.[2]

In the paramparita ū貹첹 based on paronomasia, the paronomastic word is actually two words in one: Those two words are a one-word implied metaphor which justifies the main metaphor. In this verse, the word kuvalaya is actually two words: kuvalaya (kuvalaya lotus) and ku-valaya (the Earth, lit. circumference of the Earth). It makes a one-word metaphor: “the kuvalaya lotus of the Earth.� And that metaphor justifies the metaphor “the moon of Your fame� because a kuvalaya lotus opens in moonlight. In paramparita-ū貹첹, the term “paronomastic� (śṣṭ) means the dual sense is implied.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

niravadhi ca nirāśraya� ca yasya sthitam anivartita-kautuka-prapañcam |
prathama iha bhavān sa kūrma-mūrtir jayati caturdaśa-loka-valli-첹Ի岹� || (屹ⲹ-ś, verse 428)

[2]:

atrāpi bhujaṅgāropo dugdhāropa-samarthyatvenābhimata� (Rasa-ṅg󲹰, KM p. 234).

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