Text 4.65

(3) [This illustrates a svataḥ-sambhavī alaṅkāra that suggests a vastu-dhvani,]

ध्याता मूर्तिः क्षणम् अप्य् अच्युतस्य श्रेणी नाम्नां गदिता हेलयापि |
संसारे’स्मिन् दुरितं हन्ति पुंसां वातोर्मी पोतम् इवाम्भोधि-मध्ये || (वातोर्मी)

dhyātā mūrtiḥ kṣaṇam apy acyutasya śreṇī nāmnāṃ gaditā helayāpi |
saṃsāre’smin duritaṃ hanti puṃsāṃ vātormī potam ivāmbhodhi-madhye || (vātormī)

dhyātā—meditated upon; mūrtiḥ—the form; kṣaṇam api—even for a moment; acyutasya—of Acyuta; śreṇī—a series (a multitude); nāmnām—of names; gaditā—uttered; helayā api—even with contempt; saṃsāre asmin—in this material world; duritam—the trouble (or a boat, which has badly gone); hanti—it kills; puṃsām—of men; vāta-ūrmī—the wind (“it has waves of air”); potam—[goes^[1] ] to a boat; iva—like; ambhodhi-madhye—in the middle of the ocean.

Acyuta’s form which is meditated upon, even just for a moment, and a series of His names that are uttered, even with contempt, kill (hanti) the troubles (duritam) of men in the material world like the wind goes (hanti) to a boat that has gone astray (duritam) in the middle of the ocean. (Chando-mañjarī)

atropamayā nididhyāsanādi-rūpā bhagavad-bhaktiḥ samūlonmūlana-lakṣaṇaṃ kalmaṣa-nāśaṃ sadyaḥ karotīti vastu.

Here the simile suggests the following idea: “Devotional service to the Lord which is the form of deep meditation, and so on, at once terminates sins by extirpating them to the root.”

Commentary:

In this verse, the svataḥ-sambhavī alaṅkāra is not implied: The simile is literally stated with the word iva (like). The ornament is a śleṣopamā (simile based on a literal double meaning) because the common attribute is nothing but a double meaning on the verb hanti (it kills; it goes). Moreover, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s explanation of the vastu is only a rewording of the clause: “Acyuta’s form and a series of His names kill the troubles of men,”therefore his vastu is not implied: It is only the purport (tātparya). In addition, the simile suggests another simile: “Being in trouble in the material world is like being lost in the middle of an ocean.” The Lord puts wind in our sails.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Here the verb hanti is carried forward and is taken in its sense of gati (to go).