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...

बीभत्सः,

bībhatsaḥ,

This is an example of bībhatsa-rasa (disgust):

ghrāṇodghūrṇaka-pūti-gandha-vikaṭe kīṭākule dehalī-srasta-vyādhita-yūtha-gūtha-ghaṭanā-nirdhūta-netrāyuṣi |
kārā-nāmani hanta māgadha-yamenāmī vayaṃ nārake kṣiptās te smṛtim ākalayya naraka-dhvaṃsinn iha prāṇimaḥ ||

ghrāṇa-udghūrṇaka—which makes the nose unsteady; pūti-gandha—because of a putrid smell; vikaṭe—[in hell,] which is dreadful; kīṭa-ākule—crowded with insects; dehalī—at the threshold of a door; srasta—dropped; vyādhita—diseased; yūtha—of groups [of humans]; gūtha—of the feces; ghaṭanā—by the arrangement; nirdhūta—is removed; netra-āyuṣi—[in hell,] in which the lifespan of the eyes; kārā-nāmani—[in hell,] named prison; hanta—alas; māgadha-yamena—by Yama in the form of the king of Magadha; amī—these ones; vayam—we; nārake—in a multitude of hells; kṣiptāḥ—we were thrown; te—of You; smṛtim—the remembrance; ākalayya—after getting; naraka-dhvaṃsin—O terminator of hell; iha—here (or at this time); prāṇimaḥ—we breathe.

Goodness gracious, O terminator of hell, we, of all people, have been thrown by Yama, in the form of Jarāsandha, in the inferno called prison. It is filled with insects. The span of a glance in it is shortened by the arrangement of the excrement of a diseased flock dropped at the doorway. And it is dreadful because the stink makes the nose whirl. By remembering You, we keep breathing at this time. (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 4.7.11)

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