Text 10.204

क्रमेणोदाहरणम्,

krameṇodāharaṇam,

Examples are shown in order. (1) [This illustrates a connection between two things which is as if incongruous owing to a huge disparity:]

kva vajra-sāra-sarvāṅgau mallau śailendra-sannibhau |
kva cātisukumārāṅgau kiśorau nāpta-yauvanau ||

kva—where?; vajra—of a thunderbolt; sāra—have the power; sarva-aṅgau—all of whose limbs; mallau—two wrestlers; śaila-indra—with the king of mountains; sannibhau—they have a resemblance; kva—where?; ca—and; atisukumāra—are very soft; aṅgau—whose limbs; kiśorau—two boys; na—not; āpta—were completed; yauvanau—They by whom the teenage years.

What about those two wrestlers? They look like mountains: All their limbs have the power of a thunderbolt. And what about those two youths? Their limbs are very soft. They are still teenagers.

Commentary:

This literary formula is used in nidarśanā as well (10.67). The difference is that in nidarśanā a similarity is implied. The above verse can also be classed as an implied vyatireka (contrast), but in Mammaṭa’s methodology there is no overlap because the contrast does not involve entities of the same form, so that the relation of upameya and upamāna cannot be established. This is his example:

śirīṣād api mṛdv-aṅgī kveyam āyata-locanā |
ayaṃ kva ca kukūlāgni-karkaśo madanānalaḥ ||

“Where on one side is this wide-eyed woman whose body is even softer than a śirīṣa flower? And where on the other is this fire of love, harsh like a chaff conflagration?” (Kāvya-prakāśa, verse 537).

How can such a woman tolerate the pang of separation? This is Jagannātha’s example:

kva śuktayaḥ kva vā muktāḥ kva paṅkaḥ kva ca paṅkajam |
kva mṛgāḥ kva ca kastūrī dhig vidhātur vidagdhatām ||

“What are oysters and what are pearls? What is mud and what is a lotus? What is a deer and what is musk? Fie on the creator’s cleverness” (Rasa-gaṅgādhara, KM p. 448).