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...
Text 10.134 [Svabhāvokti]
25. Svabhāvokti
स्वभावोक्तिस् तु डिम्भादेः स्व-क्रिया-रूप-वर्णनम् ॥ १०.१११cd ॥
svabhāvoktis tu ḍimbhādeḥ sva-kriyā-rūpa-varṇanam || 10.111cd ||
svabhāva-uktiḥ—the ornament called svabhāvokti; tu—(used to signify a new beginning); ḍimbha-ādeḥ—of a child and so on; sva—own; kriyā—of the action; rūpa—or of the form (or of the nature[1]); varṇanam—a description.
Svabhāvokti (a description of the nature) is a description of the own action, form, or nature of a child, and so forth.
svayos tad-ekāśrayayoś ceṣṭā-rūpayoḥ rūpaṃ varṇaḥ saṃsthānaṃ ca.
The action and the form are unique to the boy, and so on. “The form” means the color, and the shape.
Commentary:
According to Vidyānātha, the svabhāvokti ornament is simply a beautiful and fitting description of an entity: svabhāvoktir asau cāru yathāvad vastu-varṇanam (Pratāparudrīya 8.128). The description must be a true rendering. Often svabhāvokti assists another ornament.