Text 7.7

उभयार्थम् अप्य् अप्रसिद्धेऽर्थे प्रयुक्तं निहतार्थम्,

ubhayārtham apy aprasiddhe'rthe prayuktaṃ nihatārtham,

(5) The fault named nihatārtha (obstructed meaning) occurs when a word which has a dual meaning is used in the sense that is not well-known. For instance:

yamunā-śambaraṃ jambū-śyāmalaṃ tava pādayoḥ | lākṣā-śoṇitayor lagnaṃ devi nīlāruṇāyate ||

O goddess, the Yamunā water—dark like a jambū fruit—that adheres to Your feet, which are red because of lac, looks like a blue and reddish substance.

atra śambara-śabdo daitya-viśeṣe, śoṇita-śabdas tu rudhire prasiddhatvād ambuni śoṇita-varṇe ca nihatārthaḥ.

In this example, since it is well-known that the word śambara refers to a particular demon and that the word śonita means blood, the sense of śambara as water and the sense of śonita as red are obstructed.

Commentary:

The difference between aprayukta and nihatārtha is that in the former there is no dual sense. Moreover, in the region of Vṛndāvana, jambū fruits are available in the summer. The flesh of a jambū fruit is purple. It is best eaten with a dash of salt. The seed is edible. In Hindi it is called jāmbhav, so called because it comes from the rose-apple tree, called jāmun in Hindi. A jambū fruit has the shape of a thumb.