Text 4.66

(4) [This verse shows a svataḥ-sambhavī alaṅkāra that gives rise to an alaṅkāra-dhvani,]

रङ्गे बाहु-विरुग्नाद् दन्तीन्द्रान् मद-लेखा |
लग्नाभून् मुर-शत्रौ कस्तूरी-रस-चर्चा || (मद-लेखा)

raṅge bāhu-virugnād^[1] dantīndrān mada-lekhā |
lagnābhūn mura-śatrau kastūrī-rasa-carcā || (mada-lekhā)

raṅge—on stage (or on the battlefield); bāhu-virugnāt—[a king of elephants,] who is broken at the trunk; danti-indrāt—from the king of elephants; mada-lekhā—the line of rut juice [that exudes from the temples of an elephant]; lagnā—fixed; abhūt—became; mura-śatrau—on Kṛṣṇa (“Mura’s enemy”); kastūrī-rasa—which is the juice of musk (musk paste); carcā—the ointment.

On the stage of the Rāsa dance, the ointment of musk juice on Kṛṣṇa adhered. It turned out as a line of rut fluid from a king elephant whose trunk is gone. (Chando-mañjarī)

atra rūpakeṇotprekṣā. eṣu caturṣu svataḥ-sambhavī vyañjakaḥ.

In this example, the utprekṣā ornament (fanciful imagination) is implied by the rūpaka ornament (metaphor).

In those four examples, the meaning that is naturally possible (svataḥ-sambhavī) is suggestive.

Commentary:

The metaphor is: The ointment of musk juice was a line of rut fluid. In the mating season, rut fluid emanates from the temples of an elephant. The implied utprekṣā ornament (fanciful imagination) is: Kṛṣṇa was like a king elephant whose trunk is gone. The comparison is fanciful, therefore it is called an utprekṣā (10.31).

Gaṅgādāsa is the author of this verse as well. Once again the name of the meter is in the verse, which illustrates that meter. Chando-mañjarī is an authoritative treatise on meters. Most likely, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa was very familiar with it since he wrote a commentary on Rādhā-Dāmodara Gosvāmī’s book on meters called Chandaḥ-kaustubha.

Gaṅgādāsa was a savant and an outstanding poet. The examples in his Chando-mañjarī are taken from his other works: Acyuta-carita, Kaṃsāri-śataka and Dineśa-śataka.^[2] In the introduction to his publication of Chando-mañjarī, Dr. Brahmānanda Tripāṭhī says Gaṅgādāsa was a scholar from Orissa who lived some time between 1300 and 1500 CE.^[3] There is no proof that he was the Gaṅgādāsa who was Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teacher.

Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura says Mahāprabhu’s teacher, Gaṅgādāsa, was the best teacher of Navadvīpa:

navadvīpe āche adhyāpaka-śiromaṇi gaṅgādāsa-paṇḍita ye-hena sāndīpani (Caitanya-bhāgavata 1.8.26).

However, he says Mahāprabhu’s teacher was the son of Caturbhuja Pandit:

caturbhuja-paṇḍita-nandana gaṅgādāsa (Caitanya-bhāgavata 3.5.745),

Whereas the invocatory verse in Chando-mañjarī reads:

devaṃ praṇamya gopālaṃ vaidya-gopāla-dāsa-jaḥ |
santosā-tanayaś chando gaṅgā-dāsas tanoty adaḥ ||

“Bowing to Lord Gopāla, Gaṅgādāsa, the son of Vaidya-gopāla-dāsa and Santoṣā, makes this meter” (Chando-mañjarī).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

raṅge bāhu-virugṇād (Chando-mañjarī).

[2]:

Gaṅgādāsa mentions his works in the concluding verse of Chando-mañjarī: sargaiḥ ṣoḍaśabhiḥ samujjvala-padair navyārtha-bhavyāśayair, yenākāri tad acyutasya caritaṃ kāvyaṃ kavi-prīti-dam |
kaṃsāreḥ śatakaṃ dineśa-śataka-dvandvaṃ ca tasyās tv asau, gaṅgā-dāsa-kaveḥ śrutau kutukināṃ sac-chandasāṃ mañjarī ||

[3]:

gaṅgādāsa—inkī racanā chando-mañjarī atyanta-loka-priya hai. jis prakāra viśvanātha kī kṛti sāhitya-darpaṇa atyadhika priya huī usī prakāra dūsre uḍiyā vidvān kī yah loka-priya kṛti “chando-mañjarī” hai. iske maṅgalācaraṇa padya se jñāta hotā hai ki inke mātā-pitā kā nāma vaidya-gopāla-dāsa tathā santoṣī-devī thā. ye uttama kavi the. iske atirikta inkī ye kṛtiyāṅ haiṅ—1. acyuta-carita, 2. kaṃsāri-śataka, 3. dineśa-śataka. inkā samaya anumānataḥ 1300 i. se 1500 i. ke bīc svīkāra kiyā gayā hai. is grantha me chaḥ stabaka hai. (Chando-mañjarī of Gaṅgādās, Introduction, p. 10).