Text 9.36

यथा,

yathā,

This illustrates artha-śleṣa (one literal meaning applies twice):

vilola-samphulla-kadamba-mālaḥ samullasan-mañjula-barhi-barhaḥ |
aśeṣa-santāpa-haro janānāṃ kṛṣṇaś ca meghaś ca samujjihīte ||

vilola—moving to and fro; samphulla—fully expanded; kadamba—of kadamba flowers; mālaḥ—whose garland (or the clouds, because of which there is a multitude); samullasat—brilliant (or appear); mañjula—lovely; barhi-barhaḥ—who has a peacock feather (or the clouds, because of which the tail feathers of peacocks); aśeṣa—unlimited; santāpa—affliction; haraḥ—takes away; janānām—of people; kṛṣṇaḥ—Kṛṣṇa; ca—and; meghaḥ—a cloud; ca—and; samujjihīte—arises.

Kṛṣṇa, as well as a cloud, soothes the pain of living entities upon making an appearance. Kṛṣṇa, as well as a cloud, is vilola-samphulla-kadamba-māla (He has a garland of blown kadamba flowers that swings to and fro) (a cloud causes kadamba flowers to grow and to move with the wind). Kṛṣṇa, as well as a cloud, is samullasan-mañjula-barhi-barha (He has a brilliant and lovely peacock feather) (a cloud causes the peacocks’ lovely tail feathers to be resplendent). (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 7.74)

atra kadambādi-śabda-parivṛttāv api na śleṣatva-hāniḥ.

In this verse, the śleṣa would not be lost even by using a synonym of kadamba, and so on.

Commentary:

Artha-śleṣa (one literal meaning applies to two things) is also expounded in the next chapter (10.62) as an ornament of meaning. In the example there, artha-śleṣa is not combined with śabda-śleṣa. That makes the difference with the above. The instances of pure artha-śleṣa in this verse are as follows: (1) aśeṣa-santāpa-haraḥ janānām (one that soothes the pain of living entities), and (2) samujjihīte (appears). Each of those applies to both Kṛṣṇa and a cloud. The words could be replaced by synonyms without altering the double application, provided each replacement fits in the meter.

In the two compounds in the first half of the verse, artha-śleṣa is combined with śabda-śleṣa. In a compound, artha-śleṣa occurs when the compound applies to two entities and when at least one word could be replaced with a synonym. In the compound vilola-samphulla-kadamba-mālaḥ, the words vilola (moving to and fro), samphulla (fuly expanded), and kadamba (kadamba flowers)^[1] could be replaced with synonyms. However, the word mālā (garland; multitude) cannot be changed because it is a śabda-śleṣa (specifically a prakṛti-śleṣa). The whole compound is an abhaṅga pada-śleṣa because the case endings, hidden in the compound, are different: The two meanings of vilola-samphulla-kadamba-mālaḥ are: (A) vilolā samphullānāṃ kadambānāṃ mālā yasya saḥ, “He has a garland of blown kadamba flowers that swings to and fro,” and (B) vilolānāṃ samphullānāṃ kadambānāṃ mālā yasmāt saḥ, “[a cloud,] because of which there is a multitude of blown kadamba flowers that swing to and fro” (in the sense that a cloud gives them life by providing rain).

In the compound samullasan-mañjula-barhi-barhaḥ, each word could be replaced with a synonym. This one too is an is an abhaṅga pada-śleṣa. The two meanings of samullasan-mañjula-barhi-barhaḥ are: (A) samullasad mañjulaṃ barhi-barhaṃ yasya saḥ, “He has a brilliant and lovely peacock feather,” and (B) samullasanti mañjulāni barhi-barhāṇi yasmāt saḥ, “[a cloud,] because of which peacock tail feathers are lovely and resplendent” (when a rain cloud arrives, peacocks put up their tails and dance).

Thus here a simile (upamā) between Kṛṣṇa and a cloud is implied by śabda-śakti and by artha-śakti (4.76). Artha-śleṣa was illustrated in some other examples (Commentary 6.3, etc.). In verse 9.34, for instance, each one of the following words is an artha-śleṣa, because each word has only one literal meaning that applies to two entities (Kṛṣṇa and the moon), both of which are directly mentioned: nibhṛta (replete), śrīmān (beautiful), dīvyat (shining, i.e. resplendent), and vijayatetarām (is glorious to a high degree).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The definition is: nīpa-priyaka-kadambās tu haripriyaḥ, “The words nīpa, priyaka, kadamba, and haripriya are synonymous” (Amara-koṣa 2.4.42). In the verse, the word kadamba could even be replaced with the name of some other suitable flower.