Text 7.51

(10) (13) [This shows examples of sandeha (a doubt) and neyārtha (the meaning can only be guessed) in parts of words:]

अयं भक्त-चरो वाक्य-बाणैर् अपि सुदुर्जयः |
तद् एनम् उदयं वाञ्छन् भज राजन् प्रतिक्षणम् ||

ayaṃ bhakta-caro vākya-bāṇair^[1] api sudurjayaḥ |
tad enam udayaṃ vāñchan bhaja rājan pratikṣaṇam ||

Even the gods would have difficulty defeating this bhakta-cara. Therefore, O king, you, who desire prosperity, should serve him at all times.

atra kiṃ pūrvaṃ bhaktaḥ, uta bhakteṣu caratīti sandehaḥ. vākya-śabdena gīḥ-śabdo lakṣyate. tena neyārthaḥ padāṃśaḥ. gīrvāṇa-śabdena pūrvam uttaraṃ ca padaṃ parivṛttiṃ na sahate. payodhy-ādāv uttara-padam eva, vaḍavāgny-ādau tu pūrva-padam eveti bodhyam. aprayukta-neyārthayor asamarthāntaḥ-pāte’pi vibhāga-pradarśanaṃ spaṣṭārtham. śabdānāṃ sarvathāprayoge ’samarthatvam. virala-prayoge nihatārthatvam anekārtha-viṣayam. apratītatvaṃ tv ekārthasyāpi śabdasya sārvatrika-prayoga-virahaḥ.

In this verse, a doubt arises: Does bhakta-cara mean “a previous devotee” or “one who goes among devotees”?^[2]

The word vākya-vāṇa involves the fault called neyārtha (the meaning can only be guessed) in a part of a word because vākya-vāṇa stands for gīr-vāṇa (god). The topic is to be understood as follows. As regards gīr-vāṇa, neither the first word nor the second word can tolerate being changed for a synonym without losing the sense. In payo-dhi (ocean) and the like, only the second word cannot tolerate being changed (jala-dhi is a synonym; nevertheless payo-nidhi is seen). However, in vaḍavāgni (the fire at the bottom of the sea) and so on, only the first word cannot tolerate being changed (vaḍavānala is a synonym).

Although the categories called aprayukta (not in usage) and neyārtha (the meaning can only be guessed) fall within asamartha (unable to be meaningful), those subdivisions are shown for the sake of clarity. When a word cannot be used, that is asamartha. When the usage is not frequent, that is nihatārtha (obstructed meaning), where the thing has more than one meaning. However, apratīta (not understood) (such as vijñāna-maya) occurs when a word is not used in all circumstances even though it has only one meaning.

Commentary:

As regards the last paragraph, Mammaṭa only says: yadyapy asamarthasyaivāprayuktādayaḥ kecana bhedāḥ, tathāpy anyair ālaṅkārikair vibhāgena pradarśitā iti bheda-pradarśanenodāhartavyā iti ca vibhajyoktāḥ, “Although some varieties, such as aprayukta (not in usage), are included in asamartha (unable to be meaningful), they were exemplified by previous poetical rhetoricians, therefore here they have been separately illustrated” (Kāvya-prakāśa verse 206 vṛtti).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

vākya-vāṇair (Rashtriya Saṃskṛt Saṃsthān edition). In Sanskrit, the letters b and v are interchangeable.

[2]:

In the first option, cara is the taddhita suffix cara[ṭ] (Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.3.53). In the second possibility, cara is made from the verbal root car gatau (to go).