Text 8.23

योग आद्य-तृतीयाभ्याम् अन्त्ययो रेण तुल्ययोः ।
टादिः श-सौ वृत्ति-दैर्घ्यं गुम्फ उद्धत ओजसि ॥ ८.७५ ॥

yoga ādya-tṛtīyābhyām antyayo reṇa tulyayoḥ |
ṭādiḥ śa-sau^[1] vṛtti-dairghyaṃ gumpha uddhata ojasi ||8.75||

yogaḥ—the combination; ādya-tṛtīyābhyām—with the first and the third; antyayoḥ—of the last two (the second and the fourth); reṇa—with the letter r; tulyayoḥ—of two that are similar; ṭa-ādiḥ—the group that begins with the letter ṭ; śa-sau—the letters ś and s (see the Commentary); vṛtti—of a compound; dairghyam—lengthness; gumphaḥ—the putting together (the racanā); uddhataḥ—is haughty; ojasi—in ojas (vigor).

The construction of ojas is as follows: The first phoneme combined with the second, the third phoneme combined with the fourth, any combination of a consonant with the letter r, a combination of two similar consonants, the phonemes of the ṭa group, as well as ś, ṣ, long compounds, and formidable phonetic combinations.

varga-prathama-tṛtīyābhyām antyayos tad-dvitīya-caturthayoḥ krameṇa yogaḥ. yathā, “kakkhaṭī acchā utthānaṃ kakup-phaṇaṃ rug-ghāsaḥ ujjhitaḥ tad-dhaviḥ ab-bhāraḥ.” repheṇa yogaḥ. sa cādha upary ubhayatra vā yasya kasyāpi. yathā, “vakraḥ arkaḥ durgrahaḥ.” tulyayor yogas tena tasyaiva. yathā, “vāk-kāryaḥ, sac-cit, saṅghaṭṭaḥ, mattaḥ” ity ādi. ṭādir gaṇaṣ ṭa-ṭha-ḍa-ḍha-rūpaḥ śa-sau ceti varṇāḥ dīrgha-samāso vikaṭa-saṅghaṭanā^[2] caujasi.

Examples of the first phoneme combined with the second and of the third phoneme combined with the fourth are: kakkhaṭī (the name of a particular female monkey) (kkh), acchā (towards) (cch), utthānam (raise) (tth), kakup-phaṇam (the serpent’s hood in the sky) (pph), rug-ghāsa (laughing with pleasure) (ggh), ujjhita (abandoned) (jjh), tad-dhavi (the oblation of that) (ddh), and ab-bhāra (the weight of water) (bbh).

There is a combination with the letter r. This means there is a combination of any consonant whether after r, before r, or both before and after r. For example: vakra (crooked) (kr), arka (sun) (rk), and durgraha (obstinacy) (rgr).

There is a combination of one consonant with itself. For example: vāk-kārya (the effect of speech), sac-cit (existing consciousness), saṅghaṭṭa (clash), matta (mad; intoxicated), and so on.

The group in which the first is ṭ (ṭādiḥ = tādiḥ gaṇaḥ) is the form of ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, and ḍh.

There is also ś, and ṣ. This completes the list of phonemes. There is a long compound, and the phonetic construction is formidable (haughty, intense, harsh).

Commentary:

A long compound is expressive of ojas by reverse logic, since uncompounded words are easy to understand and thus evoke sweetness. A long compound adds force like a military march adds momentum. Still, the poetical rhetoricians’ addition of the style of compounding to the construction of the guṇas was completely arbitrary. Ānandavardhana said that long compounds also suitably occur in śṛṅgāra-rasa, and single words are also appropriate in raudra-rasa and so on.^[3] Govinda Ṭhakkura says that, in a play, long compounds are not used, even in raudra-rasa, because the usage of single words produces smoothness (an ease of understanding).^[4]

Barring typographical mistakes in the text, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa says the letter s is suggestive of ojas. However, in the corresponding texts in Kāvya-prakāśa, Sāhitya-darpaṇa, and Alaṅkāra-kaustubha, the letter ṣ is seen instead. The letter s is considered a soft phoneme. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa gave it prominence in his example of mādhurya-guṇa (8.22). The adjustment was made in the above translation.

The hard phonemes are: kkh, ggh, cch, jjh, ṭṭh, ḍḍh, tth, ddh, pph, bbh, kk, gg, ṅṅ, cc, jj, ññ, ṭṭ, ḍḍ, ṇṇ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇṭ, ṇṭh, ṇḍ, ṇḍh, tt, dd, nn, pp, bb, ś, ṣ, kṣ, śś, ṣṣ, ss, any conjunct where a consonant is conjoined with r whether before or after, and so on. Paṇḍita-rāja Jagannātha say the profuse usage of the visarga (ḥ) is part of the construction of ojas.^[5]

In the elaboration, the compound sac-cid (real consciousness) is one of many examples of a typical phonetic combination of ojas, because the hard phoneme cc was created as a result of the phonetic combination of sat and cid.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

śa-ṣau (Kāvya-prakāśa 8.75): This reading is used in the translation.

[2]:

saṅghaṭṭanā (Kāvya-mālā edition).

[3]:

mādhurya-prasādau rasa-bhāvatad-ābhāsa-viṣayāv eveti viṣaya-niyamo vyavasthitaḥ, saṅghaṭanāyās tu sa vighaṭate. tathā hi śṛṅgāre’pi dīrgha-samāsā dṛśyate raudrādiṣv asamāsā ceti. tatra śṛṅgāre dīrgha-samāsā yathā “mandāra-kusuma-reṇu-piñjaritālakā” iti. yathā vā, “anavarata-nayana-jala-lava-nipatana-parimuṣita-patra-lekhaṃ te, kara-tala-niṣaṇṇam abale vadanam idaṃ kaṃ na tāpayati” ity-ādau. tathā raudrādiṣv apy asamāsā dṛśyate. (Dhvanyāloka 3.6)

[4]:

ṇātakādāv abhineye tu raudre’pi na dīrgha-samāsādayaḥ, vicchedenābhinaya-saukumāryāt (Kāvya-pradīpa on Kāvya-prakāśa verse 351).

[5]:

naikaṭyena dvitīya-caturtha-varga-varṇa-ṭavarga-jihvāmūlīyopadhmānīya-visarga-sakārabahulair varṇair ghaṭito jhay-rephānyatara-ghaṭita-saṃyoga-para-hrasvaiś ca naikaṭyena prayuktair āliṅgito dīrgha-vṛtty-ātmā gumpha ojasaḥ (Rasa-gaṅgādhara, KM pp. 64-65). The jhay pratyāhāra is any mute consonant. Jagannātha illustrates the profuse usage of visarga and of its optional replacements: visarga-prācuryaṃ yathā, “sānurāgās sānukampāś caturāś śīla-śītalaḥ, haranti hṛdayaṃ hanta kāntāyās svānta-vṛttayaḥ.” atra śa-kāra-dvaya-saṃyogāntaṃ pūrvārdhaṃ mādhuryānanuguṇam (Rasa-gaṅgādhara, KM p. 70).