Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana

by Gaurapada Dāsa | 2015 | 234,703 words

Baladeva Vidyabhusana’s Sahitya-kaumudi covers all aspects of poetical theory except the topic of dramaturgy. All the definitions of poetical concepts are taken from Mammata’s Kavya-prakasha, the most authoritative work on Sanskrit poetical rhetoric. Baladeva Vidyabhushana added the eleventh chapter, where he expounds additional ornaments from Visv...

क्रमेणोदाहरणम्,

krameṇodāharaṇam,

Examples are shown in order (this verse illustrates śleṣa-vakrokti):

rādhe tvaṃ kupitā, tvam eva ku-pitā sraṣṭāsi bhūmer yato
  mātā tvaṃ jagatāṃ, tvam eva jagatāṃ mātā na vijño’paraḥ
|
devi tvaṃ parihāsa-keli-kalahe’nantā tvam evety asau
  smero vallabha-sundarīm avanamañ śauriḥ śriyaṃ vaḥ kriyāt
||

rādhe—O Rādhā; tvam—You; kupitā—are angry; tvam—You; eva—only; ku—of the Earth; pitā—the father; sraṣṭā—the creator; asi—[You] are; bhūmeḥ—of the Earth; yataḥ—because; mātā—the mother; tvam—You [are]; jagatām—of the worlds; tvam—You; eva—only; jagatām—of the worlds; mātā—the knower (from the verbal root ); na—not; vijñaḥ—self-realized person; aparaḥ—another; devi—O goddess; tvam—You; parihāsa—of humor; keli—of games; kalahe—in a quarrel; anantā—are limitless; tvam—You [are]; eva—only; iti—in this way; asau—He; smeraḥ—smiling; vallabha-sundarīm—to the beautiful cowherd girl; avanaman—while bowing; sauriḥKṛṣṇa (“the descendant of Śūra”); śrīyam—the resplendence (or auspiciousness); vaḥ—of all of you; kriyāt—may He make.

Kṛṣṇa: Rādhā, You are angry (kupitā).
Rādhā: Only You are the father of the Earth (ku-pitā), because You are the creator of the Earth.
Kṛṣṇa: Then You are the mother of the worlds (jagatāṃ mātā).
Rādhā: Only You are the knower of the worlds (jagatāṃ mātā):
There is no other self-realized person.

Kṛṣṇa: O Goddess, You continuously go on (anantā) in a contest of humor.
Rādhā: Only You are that (anantā) (one who does not bow).

May smiling Śauri, who bowed to the beautiful cowherd girl, make your life auspicious. (Harihara, Padyāvalī 285)

atra kupiteti sa-bhaṅgeṇa śleṣeṇa mātety abhaṅgena.

In this verse, vakrokti takes place by the sa-bhaṅga-śleṣa in kupitā (angry; father of the Earth) and by the abhaṅga-śleṣa in mātā (mother; knower).

Commentary:

There are two kinds of śleṣa: sa-bhaṅga (the double meaning is achieved by separating the letters in a different way) and abhaṅga (the double meaning occurs without separating the letters in a different way). They are defined later (9.35) because śleṣa does not only occur in a crooked speech. The third double meaning, in “parihāsa-keli-kalahe’nantā,” is another instance of abhaṅgaśleṣa, where anantā is both the feminine of ananta (endless, i.e. She continuously goes on) and the masculine of anantṛ (He does not bow).

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