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 4.81
यद् उक्तम्,
एकावयव-संस्थेन भूषणेन कामिनी |
पद-द्योत्येन सु-कवेर् ध्वनिना भाति भारती ||
yad uktam,
ekāvayava-saṃsthena bhūṣaṇena kāminī |
pada-dyotyena su-kaver dhvaninā bhāti bhāratī ||
It is said: A good poet’s composition with a first-rate implied sense hinted at with one word shines like a beautiful woman who has an ornament only on one limb. (adapted from Kāvya-prakāśa 4.42)
Commentary:
When a dhvani is said to arise from a word, that word is not the only suggestive element. Viśvanātha Kavirāja explains: ayam āśayaḥ, ekam eva padaṃ tathā vyaṅgyaṃ bodhayati, padāntarāṇāṃ tu sahakārimātrateti, “The gist of pada-gata dhvani is this: Only one word makes one understand the implied sense. The other words, however, are merely assistants” (Kāvya-prakāśa-darpaṇa 4.42).