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...

उदाहरणम्,
शैवाल-लक्षण-विलक्षण-लक्ष्म-लक्ष्मीर्
  उद्दण्ड-रश्मि-विश-मण्डल-मण्ड्यमानः ।
मग्नश् चिरं हरि-हरित्-सरसी-रसेभ्यः
  प्रत्युन्ममज्ज शनकैर् अमृतांशु-हंसः ॥

udāharaṇam,
śaivāla-lakṣaṇa-vilakṣaṇa-lakṣma-lakṣmīr
  uddaṇḍa-raśmi-viśa-maṇḍala-maṇḍyamānaḥ
|
magnaś ciraṃ hari-harit-sarasī-rasebhyaḥ
  pratyunmamajja śanakair amṛtāṃśu-haṃsaḥ
||

śaivāla—in the form of algae; lakṣaṇa—a characteristic; vilakṣaṇa—distinct; lakṣma—mark; lakṣmīḥ—the splendor of whose; uddaṇḍa—extraordinary; raśmi—in the form of rays; visa—of lotus stems; maṇḍala—with a multitude; maṇḍyamānaḥ—being adorned; magnaḥ—being immersed; ciram—for a long time; hari—of Indra; harit—in the form of the direction; sarasī—of the lake; rasebhyaḥ—from the waters; pratyunmamajja—emerged; śanakaiḥ—gradually; amṛta-aṃśu—in the form of the moon (“whose rays are nectar”); haṃsaḥ—a swan.

The swan that is the moon was immersed for a long time, and now it gradually emerges from the waters of the lake that is the eastern direction. The moon swan is adorned with the lotus stems of its marvelous rays and looks splendid with the distinct mark of algae. (Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 8.309)

atraika-pada-viṣayau rūpakānuprāsau na tu saṃsṛṣṭi-vat pṛthak-pada-viṣayau. evam anyac ca bodhyam.

In this verse, rūpaka and anuprāsa occur in the same word, unlike in saṃsṛṣṭi, where the substratums of the ornaments are separate. Other instances should be understood in like manner.

Commentary:

The verse features four saṅkaras of rūpaka and anuprāsa, and each one is located in the same compound: (1) śaivāla-lakṣaṇa-vilakṣaṇalakṣma-lakṣmīḥ (it has the splendor of a distinct mark characterized by algae): The rūpaka is śaivāla-lakṣaṇa (a characteristic in the form of algae); the anuprāsa consists in a vṛtti anuprāsa of l, a cheka anuprāsa of lakṣ and another of lakṣm, (2) uddaṇḍa-raśmivisa-maṇḍala-maṇḍyamānaḥ (adorned with a multitude of lotus stems in the form of marvelous rays): The rūpaka is uddaṇḍaraśmi-visa-maṇḍala (lotus stems in the form of marvelous rays); the anuprāsa is a vṛtti anuprāsa of m and a cheka anuprāsa of maṇḍ, (3) hari-harit-sarasī-rasebhyaḥ (from the waters of the lake in the form of the eastern direction): The rūpaka is hari-harit-sarasī (the lake which is the eastern direction); there is a yamaka of hari and a vṛtti anuprāsa of s (this is a saṅkara of one ornament of meaning and two ornaments of sound), and (4) amṛtāṃśu-haṃsaḥ (the moon swan): The rūpaka is the whole word and there is a mādhurya vṛtti anuprāsa (ṃś and ṃs).

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