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 4.41
निर्वेद-स्थायि-भावो'स्ति शान्तो'पि नवमो रसः ॥ ४.३४ab ॥
nirveda-sthāyi-bhāvo'sti śānto'pi navamo rasaḥ || 4.35ab ||
Although its sthāyi-bhāva is nirveda (disgust toward material life), śānta (peacefulness) is the ninth rasa.
Commentary:
Mammaṭa’s opinion stated in this sūtra is partly based on Bharata Muni’s description of nirveda: bāṣpa-paripluta-nayanaḥ punaś ca niḥśvāsana-dīna-mukha-netraḥ, yogīva dhyāna-paro bhavati hi nirvedavān puruṣaḥ, “A person who has nirveda has eyes filled with tears: The face and the eyes are miserable due to heavy breathing. Such a person is like a yogī who is dedicated to meditation” (Nāṭya-śāstra 7.30).
According to the context, the word nirveda has different shades of meaning, such as self-disparagement, self-deprecation, discouragement, and a complete indifference toward material things.
nirvedo viṣaye sthāyī tattva-jñānodbhavaḥ sa cet |
iṣṭāniṣṭa-viyogāpti-kṛtas tu vyabhicāry asau ||“If nirveda arises from knowledge of the Truth, then it is a sthāyi-bhāva, but if it is brought about by not fulfilling one’s desire or by getting what is not wanted, then it is a vyabhicāri-bhāva” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 3.1.51).
In Rūpa Gosvāmī’s system, nirveda is only a vyabhicāri-bhāva, and it applies to dāsya-rati (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 3.2.70), to vātsalya-rati (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 3.4.64), and to śṛṅgāra-rasa (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.4.9-10).