Text 6.4

किञ्च शब्दार्थयोर् व्यङ्ग्यस्य च प्राधान्येन चारुतायां परमोत्तमम् इदं काव्यम् इति स्वारस्यम्. यथा,

kiñca śabdārthayor vyaṅgyasya ca prādhānyena cārutāyāṃ paramottamam idaṃ kāvyam iti svārasyam. yathā,

Furthermore, this is self-evident: When the beauty of the sounds, the beauty of the meanings, and the beauty of an implied sense are important factors of astonishment, that is superexcellent poetry (paramottama-kāvya). For example:

pada-dyuti-vinirdhuta-smara-parārdha-rūpoddhatir dṛg-añcala-kalā-naṭī-paṭimabhir mano-mohinī |
sphuran-nava-ghanākṛtiḥ parama-divya-līlā-nidhiḥ kriyāt tava jagat-trayī-yuvati-bhāgya-siddhir mudam ||

pada-dyuti—by means of the splendor of one foot; vinirdhuta—is dispelled; smara—of Cupids; para-ardha—of one hundred quadrillions (“the other half”); rūpa—of the beauty; uddhatiḥ—[the form, by the agency of whom] the overweening pride; dṛk-añcala—of the corners of the eyes; kalā—in the form of the skills; naṭī—of actresses; paṭimabhiḥ—by the acuteness (the plural is used in the sense of high regard); manaḥ-mohinī—[the form,] bewilders the mind [of young ladies]; sphuraṭ—glistening; nava-ghana-ākṛtiḥ—the form like a new cloud; parama—topmost; divya-līlā—of divine pastimes; nidhiḥ—[the form,] which is the storehouse; kriyāt—may it make; tava—Your; jagat-trayī—of the triad of worlds; yuvati—of young ladies; bhāgya—of the good fortune; siddhiḥ—[the form,] which is the perfection (the result); mudam—joy.

[Paurṇamāsī speaks to Rādhā:]

He has a form that simulates a glistening new raincloud. With the splendor of the feet, His form dispels Cupid’s pride of beauty a million times over. With the acuteness of the actresses that are the skills of the corners of His eyes, His form, the ocean of the topmost divine pastimes, enchants the mind. Let His form, the ultimate result of the good fortune of the young women of the three worlds, render You elated. (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 1.5)

atra tridhāpi cārutā prādhānyenānubhūyate.

Here each one of the three—the beauty of the sounds, the beauty of the meanings, and the beauty of an implied sense—is perceived as important.

Commentary:

Kavikarṇapūra invented paramottama-kāvya (most excellent poetry). He calls it uttamottama-kāvya (superexcellent poetry). It is one step higher than first-rate poetry. He explains:

dhvaner dhvany-antarodgāre tad eva hy uttamottamam |
śabdārthayoś ca vaicitrye dve yātaḥ pūrva-pūrvatām ||

“Poetry is superexcellent when one implied sense gives rise to another, or when a first-rate implied sense occurs and both the sounds and the meanings create a feeling of wonder. Similarly, when both the sounds and the meanings create a feeling of wonder, second-rate poetry becomes first-rate poetry, and third-rate poetry becomes second-rate poetry” (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 1.15).

In conformity with Mammaṭa’s methodology, Jīva Gosvāmī says the the verse is uttama-kāvya (excellent poetry, i.e. first-rate poetry).^[1]

In Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s example, the ornaments of sound are: (1) An alliteration (śruti anuprāsa) of d and dh in the first line, (2) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of the letter r in the first line, (3) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of m in the second line, (4) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of n in the third line, and (5) An alliteration (vṛtti anuprāsa) of t in the fourth line.

The ornaments of meaning are: (1) The parikara ornament (the assistants) (10.176): The substantive ghanākṛti (cloud-like form) has many adjectival compounds, (2) The svabhāvokti ornament occurs throughout the verse, which takes the form of the old-school atiśayokti ornament (statement of superexcellence): “His form dispels Cupid’s pride” and in “His form is the ultimate result of the good fortune of all young women,” (3) The sandeha-saṅkara ornament (“Is this ornament occurring or is that ornament occurring?”) (10.252): Is the compound nava-ghanākṛti a simile “His body is like a rain cloud” or a metaphor “His body is a rain cloud”?, (4) The rūpaka ornament (metaphor): Actresses are the form of skills, (5) The kāvya-liṅga ornament (explanatory reason) (10.150): The reason He is the ultimate result of the good fortune of all young women is that His form dispels Cupid’s pride, (6) The samuccaya ornament (conjunction) (10.161): Although only one adjective expresses the reason He would make Her happy, many other such reasons are added (10.161), and (7) The virodha ornament (semblance of a contradiction): His form is an ocean of pastimes (līlā-nidhi). In Sanskrit it is not a metaphor because the standard of comparison is not well-known.^[2] However, the compound līlā-nidhi (an ocean of pastimes) itself is a dead metaphor.

The implied meanings are: (1) A vastu-dhvani (implied idea): He is a hero of the dhīra-lalita variety (clever and fun-loving), (2) Another vastu-dhvani (implied idea): “He rains rasa,” implied from ghanākṛti (cloud-like form), (3) Another vastu-dhvani (implied idea): “He is personified śṛṅgāra-rasa,”^[3] (4) An implied rūpaka ornament (metaphor): The corners of His eyes are the form of a stage [for the actresses in the form of skills],^[4] (5) Another vastu-dhvani (implied idea): “His beauty is unsurpassed,” derived from the idea: “His form dispels Cupid’s pride,”^[5] (6) An implied arthāpatti ornament (presumption) (11.35): If He dispels Cupid’s pride of beauty a million times over with the splendor of His feet, then what can be said about the beauty of His other limbs?, and (7) An implied virodha ornament (contradiction) (10.127): Although He is a cloud (ghana) He is an ocean (nidhi).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

pada-dyutīty-ādi-viśeṣāṇāṃ śrī-kṛṣṇa eva viśeṣatvena bodhyate. tatraiva teṣāṃ viśeṣaṇānāṃ parāvasthāyāḥ paryavasānāt, “ayam udayati mudrā-bhañjanaḥ padminīnām” ity-ādi-vat, asya hi uttama-kāvyatvam (Locana-rocanī 1.5).

[2]:

“Metaphor consists in the representation of the subject of description, which (subject) is not concealed, as identified with another (a well-known standard).” (Kane, P.V. (1995), The Sāhitya-darpaṇa, p. 114)

[3]:

Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments: nava-ghanākṛtir ity anena śyāma-varṇatvaṃ mahā-rasavarṣitvaṃ sva-preyasī-rūpa-saudāmanī-ghaṭābhirañjitatvaṃ śyāmatvād rasa-rūpatvāc ca mūrta-śṛṅgāra-rasa-rūpatvaṃ ca dhvanitam (Ānanda-candrikā 1.5).

[4]:

dṛśor añcalam eva raṅga-sthalaṃ tatra sūcyamānāḥ śṛṅgāropayoginyaḥ kalā eva naṭyas tāsāṃ paṭimānaḥ kathyamāna-śṛṅgāropakaraṇa-sakala-vastu-jātābhinava-prāvīṇyāni nṛtya-cāturyāṇi ca taiḥ (Ānanda-candrikā 1.5).

[5]:

The commentator Viṣṇudāsa explains: teṣām uddhatir auddhatyaṃ garvo yayā. anena ruci-ratnam atulya-rūpa-mādhuryaṃ ca sūcitam (Svātma-pramodinī 1.5).