Text 7.60

(6) (7) (8) [This verse illustrates nyūna-pada (missing word), adhika-pada (superfluous word), and kathita-pada (repeated word):]

कमल-मुखि विचित्रस्यावधिः को'पि दृष्टस् तरणि-दुहितृ-तीरोपान्तम् अद्य प्रयान्त्या |
नव-जलधर-धामा श्यामलो’यं किशोरः कलयति जल-केलिं मत्त-मातङ्ग-केलिः ||

kamala-mukhi vicitrasyāvadhiḥ ko'pi dṛṣṭas taraṇi-duhitṛ-tīropāntam adya prayāntyā |
nava-jaladhara-dhāmā śyāmalo’yaṃ kiśoraḥ kalayati jala-keliṃ matta-mātaṅga-keliḥ ||

kamala-mukhi—O lotus-faced girl; vicitrasya—of amazingness; avadhiḥ—the limit; kaḥ api—some particular (some indescribable); dṛṣṭaḥ—was seen; taraṇi-duhitṛ—of the Yamunā (“the daughter of the sun”); tīra—of the bank; upāntam—to the edge; adya—today; prayāntyā—[by me,] who was journeying; nava—new; jala-dhara—[is like the luster] of a cloud (“it bears water”); dhāmā—He whose luster; śyāmalaḥ—dark blue; ayam—this; kiśoraḥ—adolescent; kalayati—makes; jala-kelim—water games; matta-mātaṅga-keliḥ—He whose pastimes are like those of a mad elephant.

O lotus-faced girl, today while going to the bank of the Yamunā, the ultimate limit of amazingness was seen. It was He, the dark blue teenager whose luster resembles the sheen of a new raincloud. He, whose games resemble those of a mad elephant, was engaged in water games. (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 10.83)

atra pūrvārdhe mayeti padaṃ nyūnam. tṛītīye pāde śyāmala ity adhikam. caturthe kelir iti kathitaṃ ca.

The fault of nyūna-pada (missing word) is in the first half of the verse: The word mayā (by me) is missing (“was seen” by me “while I was going”).^[1]

The fault of adhika-pada (superfluous word) is in the third line: The word śyāmala (dark blue) is superfluous (because the idea that He is dark blue is already expressed with nava-jaladhara, new raincloud).

The fault of kathita-pada (repeated word) is in the fourth line: The word keli (game) is repeated.

Commentary:

The above example of adhika-pada (superfluous word) only illustrates punar-ukta (redundancy), a fault related to the meaning (artha-doṣa) (7.88). In this regard Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa folllows Kavikarṇapūra. According to Mammaṭa and Viśvanātha Kavirāja, however, adhika-pada consists of a superfluous word. Mammaṭa’s example is: sphaṭikākṛti-nirmalaḥ, “pure like the form of crystal” (Kāvya-prakāśa verse 221). The word ākṛti (form) is superfluous. It should have been said sphaṭikā-nirmalaḥ, “pure like crystal.” Viśvanātha Kavirāja gives this example: pallavākṛti-raktoṣṭhī, “she whose lips are red and are the form of a blossom” (Sāhitya-darpaṇa 7.8): According to him, the word ākṛti (form) is superfluous^[2] because that meaning is already included in the analysis of a compound as a metaphor. Arguably, it is not faulty because the writer clearly expressed a metaphor, otherwise the compound could be interpreted as a simile (she has red blossom-like lips).

The fault called kathita-pada (repeated word) is a repetition of a word. Still, Viśvanātha Kavirāja uses the word punar-ukta (redundancy) both for the repetition of a word and for the repetition of a meaning.

Kathita-pada is not only a repetition in the same line. Mammaṭa’s example is that the word līlā in the first line of a verse is repeated in the fourth (Kāvya-prakāśa, verse 223). However, the repetition of a word is not faulty under special circumstances (7.76).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The word mayā (by me) needs to be supplied to the participle prayāntyā (while going).

[2]:

atrākṛti-padam adhikam (Sāhitya-darpaṇa 7.8).