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 10.175
यथ� वा,
यत्र पतत्य् अबलाना� दृष्टिर् नियताः पतन्ति तत्र शराः �
तच� चा�-रोपि�-शर� धावत्य� आसां पुरः स्मर� मन्य� �
yathā vā,
yatra pataty abalānā� dṛṣṭir Ծⲹ�[1] patanti tatra ś� |
tac 貹-ropita-śaro dhāvaty āsā� ܰ� smaro manye ||
yatra—w; patati첹; 峾—o women; ṛṣṭi�—t glance; Ծⲹ�—iԱ; patanti첹; tatra—tre; ś�—t arrows [of Cupid]; tat—trefore; 貹—on the bow; ropita—are fixed; ś�—[Cupid,] whose arrows; 屹پܲԲ; 峾—o these women; ܰ�—in front; �—Cܱ辱; manye—I think.
Sharp arrows fall wherever the glances of women fall, therefore I think that Cupid is running in front of women, with arrows on his bow. (ٲⲹ-岹貹ṇa 10.63)
jñāpako hetur ԳܳԲsya viṣaya�, niṣpādakas tu 屹ⲹ-ṅgsya, ܳٱṣāyām aniścitā pratīti�, iha tu niściteti bheda�.
In ԳܳԲ, the reason is a ñ貹첹-hetu (subtly informative cause, as in “Where there is smoke there is fire�) whereas in 屹ⲹ-ṅg the reason is a Ծṣp岹첹-ٳ (effective cause: It engenders something) (ٲⲹ-岹貹ṇa 10.62). Further, the difference between ܳٱṣ� and ԳܳԲ is that in ԳܳԲ, the assumption is doubtless.
Commentary:
The word manye (I think) is a term that was said to be expressive of ܳٱṣ� (fanciful assumption), but the verse is only in the scope of ԳܳԲ because the idea is not that “It’s as if Cupid is running in front of them with arrows on his bow,� since it was stated that sharp arrows fall wherever the glances of women fall. The ascertainment is certain, poetically speaking.
In the verse, the ⲹ is mentioned after the Բ. The 貹ṣa (item under discussion) is women, the ⲹ (the idea to be proved) is that Cupid is running in front of them with arrows on his bow, and the Բ (the logical reason) is that sharp arrows fall wherever the glances of women fall.[2] It is a universal rule that arrows are shot from a bow. The difference between 屹ⲹ-ṅg and ԳܳԲ is that in 屹ⲹ-ṅg the explanatory reason is not a universal rule and a word such as “because� or “therefore� is not used.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Ծś� (ٲⲹ-岹貹ṇa): This reading is taken in the translation.