Text 10.253

यथा,
नयनानन्द-दायीन्दोर् बिम्बम् एतत् प्रसीदति ।
अधुनापि निरुद्धाशम् अविशीर्णम् इदं तमः ॥

yathā,
nayanānanda-dāyīndor bimbam etat prasīdati |
adhunāpi niruddhāśam aviśīrṇam idaṃ tamaḥ ||

nayana—to the eyes; ānanda—bliss; dāyi—[the orb,] which gives; indoḥ—of the moon; bimbam—orb; etat—this; prasīdati—is serene (pleased or clear); adhunā—now; api—even; niruddha—are blocked (obscured); āśam—by which the directions; aviśīrṇam—unbroken; idam—this; tamaḥ—darkness.

This orb of the moon is serene. It gives pleasure to the eyes. Even now, this darkness, which obscures the directions, has not been dispelled. (Kāvya-prakāśa verse 574)

atra kiṃ smaroddīpakaḥ kālaś cakāstīti bhaṅgy-antareṇokteḥ paryāyoktam, kiṃ vā tan-mukhasyendutayādhyavasāyād atiśayoktiḥ, athavaitad iti mukhaṃ nirdiśya tasminn indutvāropaṇād rūpakam, kiṃ vā pradoṣa-samaye viśeṣaṇamāhātmyān mukhasyāvagatau samāsoktiḥ, uta mukha-prasādaprastāvād aprastuta-praśaṃseti bahunāṃ saṃśayād ayam aparaḥ saṅkaraḥ.

Aniścaya-saṅkara occurs here because it is uncertain which ornament among many possibilities is taking place: (1) It could be paryāyokta (circumlocution) because of mentioning this in a roundabout way: “Night, which incites love, is resplendent,” (2) The verse could be an atiśayokti (introsusception), because of an introsusception of the face as a moon (this lunar orb = this face), (3) It could be a rūpaka (metaphor) because the pronoun etat (this) could refer to her face, and there would be a superimposition of the moon (this orb of the moon = this, the orb of the moon = this face is the orb of the moon), (4) It could be samāsokti (concise statement) if we understand the face from the greatness of the modifiers, (5) It could be aprastuta-praśaṃsā (indirect expression) on the occasion of the serenity of the face. (Through the description of the moon, which is not the subject of description, her face is understood and is taken as the subject of description; this is the samāsokti variety of aprastuta-praśaṃsā.)

Commentary:

Other examples of aniścaya-saṅkara were seen in this verse (5.7):

vṛndāvanam atipuṇyaṃ yasmin kusuma-smitaiḥ phalorojaiḥ |
pallava-kulādharair api sukhayati kṛṣṇaṃ latā-pāliḥ ||

“Vṛndāvana is sublime. The creepers therein make Kṛṣṇa happy with their flowers in the form of smiles, with their buds in the form of breasts, and with their blossoms in the form of lips” (Govindalīlāmṛta 17.45).

The three compounds can be analyzed either as metaphors, as shown above, or as similes: kusuma-smitaiḥ (with smile-like flowers), phalorojaiḥ (with breast-like buds), and pallava-kulādharaiḥ (with lip-like blossoms). The interpretation of metaphors facilitates the aprastuta-praśaṃsā ornament.