Text 4.98

तत्र त्रि-रूपः सङ्करो यथा,

tatra tri-rūpaḥ saṅkaro yathā,

This illustrates the three varieties of saṅkara,

padminy ahaṃ kumudinī kila saiva satyaṃ satyaṃ bhavāṃś ca madhusūdana eva mattaḥ |
vāmena tām asukhayan niśi dakṣiṇena prātaḥ prabodhayati mām api locanena ||

padminī—a daytime lotus (or the best type of nāyikā); aham—I; kumudinī—a nighttime lotus; kila—indeed; sā—she; eva—only; satyam—truly; satyam—truly; bhavān—You; ca—and; madhusūdanaḥ—a bee; eva—only; mattaḥ—maddened; vāmena—with the left; tām asukhayat—You made her happy^[1]; niśi—at night; dakṣiṇena—with the right; prātaḥ—in the morning; prabodhayati mām—You wake me up; api—even; locanena—with the eye.

I really am a padminī, she verily is a kumudinī, and You truly are a maddened madhusūdana. You made her happy at night with Your left eye, and You wake me up in the morning with Your right eye. (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 3.66)

atra padminy-ādi-śabdārthayoḥ śabdārtha-śaktyudbhavānudhvaneḥ saṅkara-trayam. tathā hi, mayi tavānurāgo mahān, yan māṃ dakṣiṇenodāreṇa locanena darśanena prātar prabodhayasi. tasyā na tathā, yad vāmenānudāreṇa darśanena niśi tām asukhayaḥ. atra hetv-alaṅkāro vyaṅgyaḥ, yad ahaṃ padminī sā tu kumudinī, padminy-apekṣayā kumudinī nikṛṣṭeti. athavāhaṃ nāmnaiva padminī, na tu vastutaḥ, katham anyathā mayi te virāgaḥ. sā tu nāmnaiva kumudinī, na tu vastutaḥ iti satyam, katham anyathā tasyāṃ te’nurāga iti saṃśayaḥ.

atha padminy ahaṃ kumudinī saiveti rūpakeṇa tad-dhetūpanyāsadvārā prātar māṃ prabodhayasi niśi tām asukhaya iti hetv-alaṅkāro vyaṅgyaḥ. bhavān madhusūdana eveti bhṛṅgasya tavobhayatra rāga-sāmyān na doṣaḥ, kintu mamaiva saḥ, yad ahaṃ padminī prātar eva saha bhṛṅgena padminyāḥ sandarśanam iti madhusūdana-pada-dyotyena vastunā punar api rūpakaṃ dhvanitam ity anayor mitho’nugrāhyānugrāhakatā.

evaṃ madhusūdana eva bhavān mattaḥ svatas tṛptas tava kutrāpi nāpekṣeti svabhāvoktyā tava dakṣiṇaṃ netraṃ sūryātmakaṃ yena padminīṃ māṃ prabodhayasi, vāmaṃ tu candrātmakaṃ yena kumudinīṃ tām asukhaya ity ekasminn eva vyañjake madhusūdana-śabde vyañjanānupraveśaś ceti tri-rūpaḥ saṅkaraḥ. atha dakṣiṇena saralena darśanena māṃ prabodhayasi tena te mayi nānurāgaḥ, vāmena kuṭilena tām asukhayas tena tasyām eva sa iti vastunā svabhāvato madhusūdano bhṛṅgo’jñas tatrāpi matta iti svabhāvoktis tādṛśasya tava vivekābhāvād avidagdhas tvam iti svabhāvākhyānākṣepayoḥ saṃsṛṣṭiś ca. evaṃ pada-vākya-vyaṅgyair garva-dhairya-dainya-glāni-nirvedāvahitthādi-bhāvaiś ca sā.

In this verse, three saṅkaras occur: The first one arises by the śabda-śakti of padminī and so on; the second one arises by the artha-śakti of padminī and so on; and the third one is a subsequent dhvani that emerges from both śabda-śakti and artha-śakti.

The explanation is this. The first saṅkara is a saṃśaya (the doubt: Is this dhvani occurring or is that dhvani occurring?). The first possible dhvani is understood as follows: “You have much love for me, because in the morning You wake me up by straightforwardly (dakṣiṇena = udāreṇa)^[2] looking (locanena = darśanena) at me, whereas Your love for her is not like that because You give her pleasure at night by crookedly (vāmena = anudāreṇa) looking at her.” In that way, the kāvya-liṅga ornament (explanatory reason), the first possible dhvani, is implied: “because I am a padminī, but she is a kumudinī insofar as a kumudinī is inferior to a padminī.” The second possible dhvani is: “I am a padminī in name only, not truly, otherwise why are You dispassionate toward me? And she is a kumudinī in name only, not truly, otherwise why do You love her so much?”^[3]

The second saṅkara (anugrāhya anugrāhakatā) is as follows. The double metaphor in the verse, “I am a padminī and she is a kumudinī,” suggests the kāvya-liṅga ornament (explanatory reason): “[because] You wake me up in the morning, and You make her happy at night.” Over and above that, the metaphor is suggested by the following vastu (idea), which is hinted at by the word madhusūdana in bhavān madhusūdana eva (You are just a bee): “Your having an equal love for both of us is not faulty, since You’re a bee. Rather the fault is mine, because I am a padminī in the sense that a lotus is seen with a bee in the morning.” These two follow the scheme of “facilitated and facilitator” in that way.^[4]

The third saṅkara (eka-vyañjaka anupraveśa) (two dhvanis in one word) signifies the subsequent entrance of Suggestiveness in the same suggestive word: madhusūdana (bee; Madhusūdana). At first, the svabhāvokti ornament (a description of the nature) occurs: “You, Madhusūdana, are self-satisfied (mattaḥ = svatas tṛptaḥ^[5] ): You do not require anything.” The svabhāvokti ornament suggests the following: “Your right eye is of the nature of the sun, by means of which You wake up the daytime lotus that I am, and Your left eye is of the nature of the moon, by means of which You delighted the nighttime lotus that she is.”^[6]

Three saṅkaras take place in that way. In addition, there is a saṃsṛṣṭi in the verse. At first, this idea is apparent: “You make me up with a straightforward (dakṣiṇena = saralena) glance, therefore You do not feel passionate toward me, whereas You make her happy with a crooked (vāmena = kuṭilena) glance, consequently You feel passionate toward her.” This vastu suggests the following svabhāvokti ornament: “By nature You are a bee, thus You are ignorant, and moreover You are mad (mattaḥ).” Additionally, this rebuke is implied: “Since You, whose nature is such, have no proper discrimination, You are not clever.” In this way there is a saṃsṛṣṭi of svabhāvokti and ākṣepa.^[7]

Moreover, another saṃsṛṣṭi takes place with vyabhicāri-bhāvas, such as: garva (overweening pride), dhairya (steadfastness of the heart), dainya (meekness), glāni (witheredness of body), nirveda (self-disparagement), and avahitthā (concealment), which are implied from single words and from the overall sense.

Commentary:

This illustrates a saṃśaya āspadatā saṅkara (a mix of dhvanis is in the scope of a doubt) is: “O Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā is slightly upset. Go console Her” (adapted from Kāvya-prakāśa, verse 111). Does it mean: “Go console her and take pleasure with her” or “Actually there is no need to console Her. Just take pleasure with Her”?^[8]

This is an example of an anugrāhya anugrāhakatā saṅkara (mutually facilitated dhvanis):

yadyapy ābhāti saṃsāre śrī-kṛṣṇa-daivam eva yat |
rāmāvatāra-dīptes tad yathārtham anubhūyate ||

³²⁴ Here ākṣepa (rebuke) is the aforesaid implied idea (vastu-dhvani). Or else it is an implied ākṣepa ornament (hinting by negating): By stating that He is mad, she negates that He is clever, and that hints at the uselessness of talking further on this topic (10.111).

³²⁵ atrānunayaḥ kim upabhoga-lakṣaṇe’rthāntare saṃkramitaḥ kim anuraṇananyāyenopabhege eva vyaṅgye vyañjakaḥ iti sandehaḥ. (Kāvya-prakāśa, verse 111 vṛtti)

“Although Kṛṣṇa’s divinity shines in the material world, His divinity is perceived as it really is because of the effulgence of Rāma’s Descent.”

In this verse, the two implied similes (upamā-dhvani)—Kṛṣṇa is like the moon and Rāma is like the sun—are mutually facilitated. They are implied by the specialty of the renown (prasiddhi-vaiśiṣṭya) that Kṛṣṇa is part of Soma’s lineage and Rāma is part of Sūrya’s dynasty and also by the specialty of the literal meanings (vācya-vaiśiṣṭya).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

A verb connected with the pronoun bhavān (honorific you) is conjugated in the third person (prathama-puruṣa).

[2]:

The definition is: dakṣiṇe saralodārau, “Dakṣiṇa, sarala (simple, straightforward, candid) and udāra (respectful) are synonymous” (Amara-koṣa 3.1.8).

[3]:

According to Kāma-śāstras such as Rati-mañjarī, heroines are divided in four categories, in decreasing order of importance: (1) padminī (lotuslike),(2) citriṇī (amazing), also called hariṇī (like a doe),(3) śaṅkhinī (with a conch, i.e. her neck has three lines),and (4) hastinī or kariṇī (she-elephant). The above explanation arises from the śabda-śakti of the word padminī for that reason and because of the paronomasia on dakṣiṇa (straightforwardly)and vāma (crookedly). As regards the first possible dhvani, the gist is that a kumudinī heroineis not even on the list. As regards the second possible dhvani, reverse logic is applied.

[4]:

The double metaphor gives rise to the kāvya-liṅga ornament, and that metaphor is implied by the vastu which is the form of kāvya-liṅga (that He is a bee is a reason for the double metaphor). This saṅkara arises from artha-śakti because here padminī means “daytime lotus,” kumudinī means “nighttime lotus,” and madhusūdana means “bee.” Her fault is that she called Him “maddened” (mattaḥ). She says the fault is hers because it does not make sense to call Him maddened, since here padminī only means “daytime lotus” and kumudinī means “nighttime lotus,” and since a bee goes to lotuses. In truth, Kavikarṇapūra’s reasoning is off because both the double metaphor and the two kāvya-liṅgas are clearly apparent in the verse, thus they are not implied. A proper example is shown ahead.

[5]:

In this interpretation, matta is the past passive participle of the verbal root mad tṛpti-yoge (10A) (to please), taken in an intransitive sense, whereas in the meaning of ‘maddened’ the verbal root is mad[ī] harṣe (4P) (to be joyful, intoxicated, maddened).

[6]:

This kind of saṅkara consists in two dhvanis in the same word: madhusūdana. The first dhvani is the meaning of bee. In this interpretation it is not a literal double meaning (śleṣa) because Kavikarṇapūra’s explanation of mattaḥ as svataḥ tṛptaḥ (self-satisfied) restricts the meaning of madhusūdana to the meaning of Lord Madhusūdana and especially because a bee does not have such eyes: In both cases, the restrictive factor is aucitī (congruity) (2.36). After this implied meaninghas arisen: “His right eye is of the nature of the sun and His left eye is of the nature of the moon,” a subsequent implied sense (anudhvani) emerges from them and reenters the word madhusūdana. According to Viśvanātha Cakravartī, that implied sense is the notion that only Madhusūdana is like that (not any other lover) (this is actually an implied atiśayokti of the second variety): madhusūdanaḥ parameśavara eva bhavān, ataḥ parameśvarasyaiva dakṣiṇa-netrasya sūryatvaṃ vāma-netrasya candratvaṃ nānyeṣām iti (Subodhinī 3.66). Moreover, Kavikarṇapūra said the current saṅkara arises by śabdārtha-śakti. In this interpretation, the word madhusūdana forms the śabda-śakti aspect in the sentence, whereas the words locana (eye), dakṣiṇa (right), and vāma (left) are the artha-śakti since they could be replaced with synonyms without affecting the implied meanings.

[7]:

Here ākṣepa (rebuke) is the aforesaid implied idea (vastu-dhvani). Or else it is an implied ākṣepa ornament (hinting by negating): By stating that He is mad, she negates that He is clever, and that hints at the uselessness of talking further on this topic (10.111).

[8]:

atrānunayaḥ kim upabhoga-lakṣaṇe’rthāntare saṃkramitaḥ kim anuraṇananyāyenopabhege eva vyaṅgye vyañjakaḥ iti sandehaḥ. (Kāvya-prakāśa, verse 111 vṛtti)