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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.

यथ� वा,
कामं सर्वाभीष्�-कन्द� मुकुन्दं या निर्बन्धात� प्राहिणोद् इन्धना� �
आचार्यानी सा करोत� स्� पण्य� पिण्याकार्थं हन्त चिन्तामणीन्द्रम� �

yathā vā,
kāma� sarvābhīṣṭa-kanda� mukunda� ԾԻ prāhiṇod Ի󲹲ⲹ |
ācārnī karoti sma paṇya� piṇkārtha� hanta cintāmaṇīndram ||

—at will; -ṣṭ—o all that is desired; kandam—t root; mukundamMukunda; —w; ԾԻ—p𱹱Բ; ṇo—she sent; Ի󲹲ⲹ—for firewood; ācārnī—t guru’s wife[1]; —s; karoti sma—m; panyam—a purchase; pinyaka—t residue of sesame seeds crushed for oil; arthamǰ; hanta—a; Գٲṇi—o Գٲṇi jewels; indram—t king.

This is another example. [Gārgī speaks:]

Իī貹Ծ Muni’s wife’s perseveringly sending Mukunda, who fulfills all desires at will, to fetch firewood is her purchasing residually crushed sesame at the cost of the best Գ峾ṇi jewel. (ٲ-󲹱)

atra Գ峾ṇinā piṇka� krīṇatīva kṛṣṇenendhanam āharanty ācārṇīty ܱ貹� paryavasiti�.

The verse culminates in this simile: Her acquiring firewood by means of ṛṣṇa is like buying residual sesame with a Գ峾ṇi.

Commentary:

In this regard, ʲṇḍٲ-Ჹ Բٳ propounds a variety of metaphor called vākrtha-ū貹첹 (a metaphor between the meanings of sentences):

ātmano’sya tapo-dānair nirmilī-karaṇa� hi yat |
kṣālana� bhāskarasyeda� rasai� salilotkarai� ||

“Purifying the soul by means of austerity and charity is the washing of the sun with heaps of water from a lake� (Rasa-ṅg󲹰, KM p. 238).

However, the verse can be classed as a Ծ岹ś. According to Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa, in a metaphor the ܱ貹Բ (standard of comparison) must not be far-fetched.[2]

This is Mammaṭa’s other example of Ծ岹ś,

udayati vitatordhva-raśmi-rajjāv ahima-rucau hima-dhāmni ti cāstam |
vahati girir aya� vilambi-ghaṇṭādvaya-parivārita-vāraṇendra-līlām ||

“When the sun, with the ropes of its rays shooting upward, is rising and the moon is setting, this mountain (Raivataka) assumes the resplendence of a regal elephant who has a bell dangling on each side.� (Śśܱ-vadha 4.20)

Mammaṭa elaborates:

atra katham anyasya līlām anyo vahatīti tat-sadṛśīm ity ܱ貹� paryavanam,

“In regard to this verse, how can one thing assume the very resplendence of another thing? Therefore the sense culminates in a simile: The mountain assumed a resplendence that was like the resplendence of the other things� (屹ⲹ-ś verse 436 ṛtپ).

In Daṇḍī’s methodology, however, such a wording literally expresses a simile.

This is his example of his variety of simile called ܳ ܱ貹 (amazing simile):

yadi kiñcid bhavet padma� subhru vibhrānta-locanam |
tat te mukha-śriya� dhattām ity av adbhutopamā ||

“Girl with beautiful brows, if there exists some lotus that catches the eye, it must have assumed the resplendence of your face� (Kāvdarśa 2.24).

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

The letter n in the word ācārnī is not cerebral, by the rule: ācārd aṇatva� ca (ٳپ첹 4.1.49).

[2]:

tvat--nakha-ratnānā� yad alakta-mārjanam, ida� śīṇḍ-lepena pāṇḍurīkaraṇa� vidho�� [ṅk-sarvasva] ity atrāpy eṣaiva. na ceda� vākrtha-ū貹첹m, loka-prasiddhopamānatvopameyatvavayor abhedasyaiva ū貹첹tvāt. ki� ca tatra dṛśyalakṣaṇ�-mūlābheda-pratīti�, iha tu pratīyamānābhedānupapatt tattva-kalpaneti bhedāt (Uddyota on 屹ⲹ-ś verse 435). Բٳ finds fault with the verse (tvat-岹-nakharatnānā� etc.) and calls it vākrtha-ū貹첹 (Rasa-ṅg󲹰, KM pp. 342-343).

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