Text 4.76

यथा,

yathā,

This is an example of ubhaya-śakti-bhū dhvani,

aśeṣa-santāpa-haro janur-bhṛtāṃ sadābalā-kāmada-medura-dyutiḥ |
tviṣāṃ cayair mādhava jīvana-prado bhavān bhuvaṃ śyāmayate ghano nabhaḥ ||

aśeṣa—all; santāpa—suffering; haraḥ—You, who take away (or a cloud takes away); januḥ-bhṛtām—of those who have a birth; sadā—always; abalā-kāma-da—who gives lusty desires to women (or balākā-mada—which maddens the cranes); medura—is glossy; dyutiḥ—whose effulgence; tviṣām—of effulgences; cayaiḥ—with heaps; mādhava—O Mādhava; jīvana-pradaḥ—giver of life (or giver of water); bhavān—You; bhuvam—the ground; śyāmayate—You make dark (or a cloud makes dark); ghanaḥ—a cloud; nabhaḥ—the sky.

O Mādhava, You, as well as a cloud, dispel everyone’s suffering. You, as well as a cloud, are sadābalā-kāma-da-medura-dyuti (You have a glossy luster and always make women fall in love) (a cloud has a glossy luster which makes the cranes constantly excited: sadā balākā-mada-medura-dyuti). You, as well as a cloud, are jīvana-prada (You give life) (a cloud gives rain). With Your mass of splendor, You make the ground dark blue; and with its mass of splendor, a cloud makes the sky dark. (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 3.27)

atra balākādi-śabdāḥ sva-parivṛttiṃ na sahante, santāpādi-śabdās tv artha-parivṛttim, ataḥ śabdārtha-śaktyā mādhava-ghanayor upamātra vyaṅgyā.

In this verse, the words such as balākā cannot be changed for a synonym. However, the words such as santāpa (suffering) can tolerate a change of meaning, therefore here the simile (upamā) between Mādhava and a cloud is implied by śabda-śakti and by artha-śakti.

Commentary:

The simile is implied from the paronomasia. It arises from ubhaya-śakti because śabda-śakti and artha-śakti are equally prominent here. The double meaning of the sound sadābalā-kāma-da (sadā balākā-mada) is a śabda-śleṣa ornament (literal double meaning), called śleṣa for short, and so is the word jīvana in jīvana-prada (giver of life; giver of water). However, when a word which has only one meaning equally applies to two nouns and that word can be replaced with a synynom, that is an artha-śleṣa ornament (one literal meaning applies to two things) (9.35; 10.62). In this verse, the instances of artha-śleṣa are: (1) aśeṣa-santāpa-haro janur-bhṛtām (a dispeller of all the suffering of embodied beings), (2) medura-dyutiḥ (one whose luster is glossy), (3) tviṣāṃ cayaiḥ śyāmayate (one that makes something dark on account of a mass of splendor), and (4) prada (giver). Since the śabda-śleṣa is suggestive, its suggestiveness is classed in the category of śabda-śakti, and the suggestiveness of the artha-śleṣa is classed as artha-śakti. Later, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa shows a similar verse to illustrate artha-śleṣa (9.36).

This is Paṇḍita-rāja Jagannātha’s example of dvi-śakti-bhū dhvani,

ramya-hāsā rasollāsā rasikāli-niṣevitā |
sarvāṅga-śobhā-sambhārā padminī kasya na priyā ||

“Who would not be pleased by a padminī? Its open flower is charming (or her laughter is charming). It abounds in nectar (or she is resplendent with śṛṅgāra-rasa). It is frequented by devoted bees (or she has the company of rasika girlfriends). All the limbs have a profuse splendor” (Rasa-gaṅgādhara, KM p. 138).

The verse implies a simile (upamā-dhvani): A padminī heroine is like a lotus. The words in the category of śabda-śakti are: hāsa (expansion; laughter), rasa (nectar; śṛṅgāra-rasa), rasikāli (devoted bees; refined girlfriends), and padminī (a lotus; a particular kind of woman). The other words are in the category of artha-śakti.