Text 8.2

उपकुर्वन्ति तं सन्तं येऽङ्ग-द्वारेण जातुचित् |
हारादि-वद् अलङ्कारास् तेऽनुप्रासोपमादयः ||8।67||

upakurvanti taṃ santaṃ ye'ṅga-dvāreṇa jātucit |
hārādi-vad alaṅkārās te'nuprāsopamādayaḥ ||8.67||

upakurvanti—they assist; tam—that (the aṅgī, i.e. the main element of poetry, the rasa); santam—existing; ye—which; aṅga-dvāreṇa—by means of their aspect; jātucit—sometimes; hāra-ādi-vat—like a pearl necklace, and so on; alaṅkārāḥ—ornaments; te—they; anuprāsa-upamā-ādayaḥ—beginning from alliteration and simile.

An ornament, such as alliteration and simile, sometimes enhances the first-rate rasa-dhvani, by means of the body of the poetry, like a bodily ornament such as a pearl necklace adorns the soul by adorning the body.

śabdārtha-rūpāṅgātiśaya-dvāreṇa ye mukhyaṃ rasaṃ sambhavinam upakurvanti dehotkarṣa-dvāreṇa dehino’py upakārakā hārādaya iva te’nuprāsopamādayo’laṅkārāḥ.

An ornament assists the main rasa, when there is one, by causing the eminence of the body—the body of poetry consists of the sounds and the literal meanings—like a bodily ornament such as pearl necklace heightens the soul by enhancing the body.

Commentary:

The gist is that a guṇa always enhances the soul (the rasa, the aṅgī), whereas an ornament always enhances the body (aṅga); Mammaṭa adds that sometimes an ornament does not enhance the existing rasa.^[1] Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa reiterates it ahead (8.5).

Govinda Ṭhakkura states that the sounds, as well as the meanings (in the form of vibhāvas and so on), are aspects of the rasa.^[2] Thus in the sūtra, the word aṅga has a dual sense (body; aspect). An ornament of sound indirectly adorns the rasa, by enhancing the corresponding guṇa (9.5), which is an aspect (aṅga) of the rasa. An ornament of meaning, however, adorns the rasa by enhancing either a vibhāva, an anubhāva, or a vyabhicāri-bhāva,^[3] which are aspects of the rasa.

To assist the rasa means to enhance the relishability of the rasa. An ornament assists the rasa by coming in contact (saṃyoga) with the rasa, whereas a guṇa assists the rasa by being an integral part (samavāya) of the rasa^[4] (8.6 vṛtti).

Below, examples of these four categories are shown: (8.3) An ornament of sound assists the rasa, (8.4) An ornament of meaning assists the rasa, (8.5) An ornament of sound does not assist the rasa, and (8.6) An ornament of meaning does not assist the rasa.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

kvacit tu santam api nopakurvanti (Kāvya-prakāśa 8.67).

[2]:

aṅgino rasasyāṅga-bhūtau śabdārthau (Kāvya-pradīpa 8.67).

[3]:

artha-dvāreṇeti, rasādy-abhivyañjaka-vibhāvādy-utkarṣādhāna-dvāreṇety arthaḥ. te hi na jātucit na sarvadā, “kvacit tu santam api nopakurvanti” iti vakṣyamāṇatvāt, saṃyogavṛttyopakurvanty alaṅkārāḥ, na tu guṇa-vat samavāya-vṛttyā (Bāla-cittānurañjinī 8.67). This is based on Kāvya-prakāśa (verse 144 vṛtti ).

[4]:

jātucit na sarvadā, “kvacit tu santam api nopakurvanti” iti vakṣyamāṇatvāt, saṃyogavṛttyopakurvanty alaṅkārāḥ, na tu guṇa-vat samavāya-vṛttyā (Bāla-cittānurañjinī 8.67). This is based on Kāvya-prakāśa (verse 144 vṛtti ).