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...
Text 10.217
[Here each next thing is negated as a characteristic of the preceeding thing:]
प्रीतिर् न सा प्रैति न या परं जनुर्
न तज् जनुर् यन् न महा-कुलोद्भवम् ।
महा-कुलं तच् च न यन् न वैष्णवं
न वैष्णवः सो’पि न यो व्रज-प्रियः ॥
prītir na sā praiti na yā paraṃ janur
na taj janur yan na mahā-kulodbhavam |
mahā-kulaṃ tac ca na yan na vaiṣṇavaṃ
na vaiṣṇavaḥ so’pi na yo vraja-priyaḥ ||
prītiḥ—love; na—not; sā—that; praiti na—does not encompass; yā—which; param—another; januḥ—birth[1]; na—not; tat—that; januḥ—birth; yat—which; na—not; mahā-kula—in a great family; udbhavam—birth; mahā-kulam—a great family; tat—that; ca—and; na—not; yat—which; na—not; vaiṣṇavam—devoted to Viṣṇu (or devoted to Vaiṣṇavas); na—not; vaiṣṇavaḥ—a Vaiṣṇava; saḥ—he; api—even; na—not; yaḥ—who; vraja-priyaḥ—for whom Vraja is dear.
Love that does not attain another birth is not love. A birth that does not occur in a great family is not a birth. A great family that is not devoted to Viṣṇu is not a great family. A Vaiṣṇava for whom Vraja is not dear is not a Vaiṣṇava. (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 8.271)
Commentary:
This is Mammaṭa’s example:
na taj jalaṃ yan na sucāru-paṅkajaṃ
na paṅkajaṃ tat yad alīna-ṣaṭpadam |
na ṣaṭpado’sau kala-guñjito na yo
na guñjitaṃ tan na jahāra yan manaḥ ||“A pond without a lovely lotus is not a pond. A lotus without a bee inside is not a lotus. A bee that does not sweetly hum is not a bee. And a humming sound that does not charm the heart is not a humming sound” (Bhaṭṭi-kāvya 2.19) (Kāvya-prakāśa verse 549).