Text 6.2

क्रमेणोदाहरणम्,

krameṇodāharaṇam,

Examples are shown in order. [This verse illustrates śabda-citra (amazing because of the sounds):]

karṇikāra-kṛta-karṇikā-dyutir varṇikā-pada-niyukta-gairikā |
mecakā manasi me cakāstu te mecakābharaṇa-bhāriṇī tanuḥ ||

karṇikāra—of karṇikāra flowers^[1]; kṛta—made; karṇikā—with ear ornaments; dyutiḥ—[the body,] which has splendor; varṇikā—with a pencil; pada—on the feet; niyukta—are placed; gairikā—[the body,] on which the mineral pigments; mecakā—dark blue^[2]; manasi me—in my heart; cakāstu—may it shine; te—Your; mecaka—of peacocks’ tail feathers^[3]; ābharaṇa—of ornaments; bhāriṇī—which has the weight; tanuḥ—body.

May Your dark blue body shine in My heart. Mineral pigments were applied on Your feet by means of a pencil; You are resplendent with ear ornaments made of karṇikāra flowers; and Your form bears the weight of a peacock feather ornament. (Govinda-virudāvalī 24)

Commentary:

The ornaments of sound are: (1) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of k in the first line, (2) A yamaka (word rhyme) of the sound arṇikā at the beginning of the first and second lines, (3) An alliteration of arṇikā in the first half of the verse, and an alliteration of ikā therein, (4) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of m in the third line, (5) A yamaka (word rhyme) of the sound mecakā at the beginning of the third and fourth lines, and (6) An alliteration (cheka anuprāsa) of bh-r-ṇ in “bharaṇa-bhāriṇī” in the fourth line.

As regards ornaments of meaning, here these two ornaments are secondary: svabhāvokti (a mention of a special characteristic) and parikara (the assistants) (one substantive, tanu, has many adjectival compounds).

Mammaṭa illustrates śabda-citra is as follows:

prathamam aruṇa-cchāyas tāvat tataḥ kanaka-prabhas tad anu virahottāmyat-tanvī-kapola-tala-dyutiḥ |
udayati tato dhvānta-dhvaṃsa-kṣamaḥ kṣaṇadā-mukhe sarasa-bisinī-kanda-ccheda-cchavir mṛga-lāñchanaḥ ||

“At first the moon’s luster is only slightly reddish. Afterward it takes on a golden hue. Subsequently its radiance resembles the complexion of the surface of the cheeks of a slender young woman who intensely feels the pang of separation from her sweetheart. Thereafter, when the apex of night is approaching, the moon, whose brilliance cuts the fresh white bulbous root of a lotus, is able to end the darkness” (Kāvya-prakāśa, verse 139).

The verse features these ornaments of sound: (1) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of t in the first half, (2) An alliteration (cheka anuprāsa) of t-dh in “to dhvānta-dhva” in the third line, (3) An alliteration (cheka anuprāsa) of the conjunct kṣ in “kṣamaḥ kṣa,” (4) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of s in “sarasa-bisinī,” and (5) An alliteration (cheka anuprāsa) of the conjunct cch in “ccheda-ccha,” and (6) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of ch in the fourth line. Alliteration is an ornament proper if it enhances the rasa (10.262).

Govinda Ṭhakkura says the verse also features a simile (the moon resembles the cheeks of such a woman), which is secondary.^[4] Śrīvatsa-lañchana Bhaṭṭācārya says the svabhāvokti ornament and the upamā ornament (simile) are secondary here.^[5] Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa says the notion that the moon has become brilliantly white is the reason it can end the darkness.^[6] That is the kāvya-liṅga ornament (explanatory reason).

Arguably, there is also an implied vyatireka ornament (contrast) (10.104): “The brilliance of the moon cuts the fresh white bulbous root of a lotus.” On one hand, the contrast implies some degree of similarity: “The moon is white like a cross-section of a moist lotus root,”^[7] and on the other the disparity is that the moon’s brilliance belittles the color of a fresh white bulbous root of a lotus.

In addition, the word cheda (it cuts) suggests an implied utprekṣā ornament (fanciful assumption): The moonrays are so powerful when a woman feels the great pang of separation that they as if visibly cut the roots of lotuses. However, this implied sense is out of the scope of third-rate poetry.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The karṇikāra flower is yellow, narrow, and elongated. Itgrows on a particular tree. That tree is common in the area of Vṛndāvana. Sanātana Gosvāmī explains: karṇikāraṃ pīta-varṇam utpalākāraṃ puṣpam, “The karṇikāra is a yellow flower that has the form of a water lily” (Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī 10.21.5).

[2]:

One definition of mecaka is: kṛṣṇe nīlāsita-śyāma-kāla-śyāmala-mecakāḥ, “The words nīla, asita, śyāma, kāla, śyāmala, and mecaka denote the kṛṣṇa color” (Amara-koṣa 1.5.14).

[3]:

The definition is: mecakas tu mayūrasya candrake śyāmale pumān, “Mecaka, a masculine word, means the eye of a peacock’s tail feather. It is also used in the meaning of śyāmala (dark blue; dark)” (Medinī-kośa).

[4]:

atrārthālaṅkara upamā guṇī-bhūtā (Kāvya-pradīpa).

[5]:

krameṇa tat-tad-varṇatā svabhāvoktiḥ. […] arthālaṅkārasyopamāyā nodbhaṭateti bhāvaḥ (Sāra-bodhinī).

[6]:

kando mṛṇālam, tac-cheda-dyutitvena śauklyātiśayaḥ, tena dhvānta-dhvaṃsa-kṣamatā (Uddyota).

[7]:

Dr. Satyavrata Siṅgh explains the compound “sarasa-bisinī-kanda-ccheda-cchaviḥ” as: snigdha-kamalinī-kanda ke khaṇḍa-sadṛśa dhavala. (Siṅgh, Satyavrata (2009) Kāvya-prakāśa, p. 178).