Text 2.10

वाचकस्योपाधिम् आह,

vācakasyopādhim āha,

He states the characteristic of a literally expressive word:

sa mukhyo’rthas tatra mukhyo vyāpāro’syābhidhocyate ||2.8cd||

saḥ—that [assigned meaning]; mukhyaḥ—main; arthaḥ—meaning; tatra—in that [meaning^[1] ]; mukhyaḥ—primary; vyāpāraḥ—rhetorical function; asya—of this [word]; abhidhā—abhidhā; ucyate—is called.

The assigned meaning is the main meaning. In that regard, the main rhetorical function of a word is called abhidhā (Denotation).

sa sākṣāt saṅketito jāty-ādir mukhyo’rthas tatrāsya śabdasya mukhyo vyāpāro vṛttir abhidhocyate. idam atra bodhyam, vācakaḥ śabdas tridhā, yaugiko rūḍho yoga-rūḍhaś ceti. yatrāvayavārtha eva budhyate sa yaugikaḥ, yathā pācakāditeyādiḥ. yatrāvayavaśakti-nairapekṣyeṇa samudāya-śakti-mātreṇa bodhaḥ sa rūḍhaḥ, yathā go-maṇḍapādiḥ. iha gamana-maṇḍa-pāna-kartṛtva-rūpaṃ yogārthaṃ vinaiva vyakti-viśeṣa-gṛha-viśeṣayor avagamaḥ. yatra tv avayava-śakti-viṣaye samudāya-śaktir apy asti sa yoga-rūḍhaḥ, yathā paṅkaja-vakṣojādiḥ. paṅkaja-śabdo hy avayava-śaktyā paṅka-jani-kartṛ-rūpam arthaṃ bodhayati, samudāya-śaktyā tu padmatvena rūpeṇa padmam iti yogārtha-sattve’pi vyakti-viśeṣabodhanād yoga-rūḍha evāsāv iti.

“The directly assigned meaning, such as a category (saḥ = sākṣāt saṅketito jāti-ādiḥ), is the primary meaning. In that regard, the main function (mukhyo vyāpāraḥ = mukhyā vṛttiḥ) of a word (asya = śabdasya) is called abhidhā.”

In this context, the following should be kept in mind. There are three kinds of literally expressive words (vācaka): yaugika (its meaning is etymological), rūḍha (its meaning is conventional), and yoga-rūḍha (its meaning is both etymological and conventional).

That in which only the meanings of the constituent parts are understood is a yaugika word. Examples are pācaka (cook) and  āditeya (Aditi’s son).

That in which the meaning is understood merely by the sum total of the force, without any regard for the force of the parts, is a rūḍha word. Examples are go (cow, bull) and maṇḍapa (pavilion). In this kind of word, there is an understanding of a particular individual thing and of a particular habitation respectively, without the etymological meanings of moving (go ≈ gamanam) and of being a drinker of liquor (maṇḍa-pa).

A yoga-rūḍha word is that in which the sum total of the force takes place even in the scope of the force of the parts. Examples are paṅkaja (lotus; born from mud) and vakṣoja (breast; originated from the chest). By the force of the parts, the word paṅkaja makes  one understand the meaning of “taking birth from mud,” yet by the sum total of the force it makes one understand a lotus (since in the dictionaries paṅkaja means lotus). The word paṅkaja is yoga-rūḍha because, although the etymological sense takes place (a lotus originates from mud), there is the understanding of a particular individual thing.

Commentary:

There is a well-known rule: yogād rūḍhir balīyasī, “The conventional meaning is stronger than the etymological meaning.”^[2] The dissertation on yaugika words and so on is taken from Alaṅkāra-kaustubha.

A rūḍha word is a lākṣaṇika word that has become vācaka (literally expressive) owing to the profuseness of the usage.^[3] As an example, Ānandavardhana gives the word lāvaṇya (glistening beauty),^[4] which literally means saltness. The meaning of saltness is yaugika. Abhinavagupta gives these examples: ānulomya (conformity) (lit. in the same way as the natural direction of the hair), prātikūlya (contrariety) (lit. flowing off the bank), and sabrahmacārin (in accompaniment) (lit. fellow student) (Locana 1.16).

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

asya śabdasya tatrārthe yo’bhidhā-rūpo vyāpāraḥ sa mukhyo yata ucyata ity arthaḥ (Kāvya-pradīpa 2.8).

[2]:

rūḍhir yogam apaharatīti nyāyena (Jīva Gosvāmī’s Durgama-saṅgamanī 1.1.21); rūḍhir yogam apaharatīti nyāyāt. evam uktaṃ bhaṭṭaiḥ, “labdhātmikā satī rūḍhir bhaved yogāpahāriṇī, kalpanīyā tu labhate nātmānaṃ yoga-bādhataḥ” [Nyāya-pradīpa] iti (Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s Sāraṅga-raṅgadā 1.1.13).

[3]:

yad āha “nirūḍhā lakṣaṇāḥ kāścit sāmarthyād abhidhāna-vat” [by Kumārila Bhaṭṭa] [cited by Mukula in Abhidhā-vṛtti-mātṛkā 7] iti (Locana 1.16).

[4]:

rūḍhā ye viṣaye’nyatra śabdāḥ sva-viṣayād api |
lāvaṇyādyāḥ prayuktās te na bhavanti padaṃ dhvaneḥ || (Dhvanyāloka 1.16)

Other Kavyashastra Concepts:

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Other concepts within the broader category of Hinduism context and sources.

Abhidha, Mandapa, Conventional meaning, Etymological meaning.