Text 5.14

(7) [This is an example of kāku-ākṣipta (implied by a modulation of the voice):]

कुलीनाः किल कुर्वन्तु दुर्यशो मम कर्मठाः |
रामं दूर्वा-दल-श्यामं कामं नैव भजाम्य् अहम् ||

kulīnāḥ kila kurvantu duryaśo mama karmaṭhāḥ |
rāmaṃ dūrvā-dala-śyāmaṃ kāmaṃ naiva bhajāmy aham ||

kulīnāḥ—high-class Brāhmaṇas; kila—indeed; kurvantu—they make; duryaśaḥ—infamy; mama—my; karmaṭhāḥ—who are eagerly engaged in rites; rāmam—Rāma; dūrvā-dala—like blades of dūrvā grass; śyāmam—green³³⁹; kāmam—at will; na eva—never; bhajāmi aham—I worship.

I do not worship Rāma, who is green like blades of dūrvā grass (?). The high-class Brāhmaṇas, those eagerly engaged in rites, make me infamous.

atra na bhajāmīti niṣedho vācyas tena sahaiva bhajāmīti vyaṅgyaḥ pratibhāti. nañ-dyotyātra kākuḥ.

The literal meaning is “I do not worship Rāma.” The implied sense, which is apparent along with it, is: “I worship Rāma.” Here the kāku (the modulation of the tone of voice) is hinted at with the word na (not).

Commentary:

This category is the same as kāku-vaiśiṣṭya (the specialty of a modulation of the voice) (3.3). Most often, the particularity of this kind of second-rate implied sense is that it arises from a modulation on the negative particle (na), so that the literal meaning turns out as a rhetorical question: “I do not worship Rāma, who is green like blades of dūrvā grass?” The implied sense is: “Indeed I worship Rāma.”