Text 11.16

[This is another instance of kāraka-gupti,]

पूति-पङ्क-मयेऽत्यर्थं कासारे दुःखिता अमी |
दुर्वारा मानसं हंसा गमिष्यन्ति घनागमे ||

pūti-paṅka-maye'tyarthaṃ kāsāre duḥkhitā amī |
durvārā mānasaṃ haṃsā gamiṣyanti ghanāgame ||

pūti—which have a foul smel; paṅka—with mud; maye—imbued; atyartham—intensely; kāsāre—in a pond; duḥkhitāḥ—troubled; amī—those ones; durvārāḥ—they are repelled with difficulty (or dur-vārā—because of bad water); mānasam—to Mānasa Sarovara; haṃsāḥ—swans; gamiṣyanti—will go; ghana—of clouds; āgame—on the arrival.

The swans are very unhappy since the mud in the lakes has a foul smell. On account of the bad water (durvārā), they will go to Mānasa Lake when the clouds arrive.

atra durvāreti karaṇam. evam anyā ca sampradānādi-guptiḥ sudhībhir ūhanīyā.

In this example, the word durvārā is in the third case. Other kinds, such as sampradāna-gupti (concealment of a word in the dative case), can be inferred by learned persons.

Commentary:

Here the charm lies in the fact that usually the word durvāra means “difficult to repel,” so that at a cursory look the word durvārāḥ seems to be construed in “durvārā mānasam,” in the sense that the swans are difficult to repel.

An example of sampradāna-gupti is: pārvatī somāya rocate, “Pārvatī pleases Śiva.” Here the word Soma, a well-known name of the moon god, means sa-uma (he who is with Umā).

An example of apādāna-gupti (concealment of a word in the fifth case) is: ahaṃ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṃ pravartate, “I am the source of everything. Everything emanates from Me” (Bhagavadgītā 10.8). Although at a cursory look mattaḥ could be connected with aham (I), so that the sense is “I am intoxicated,” here the word mattaḥ only means “from me”. This example does not conform to Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s definition of gupti because there is no concealment in a phonetic combination where a well-known word is apparent (11.11). However, the example fits in Agni Purāṇa’s definition of gupti, where an illusory phonetic combination is not mentioned as a requirement.^[1]

This half verse by Rudraṭa illustrates a kriyā-gupti (concealment of a verb) with an adhikaraṇa-gupti (concealment of a word in a seventh case ending): vāri śiśiraṃ ramaṇyo rati-khedād apuruṣasyeva, “Owing to the fatigue of lovemaking, the beautiful women drank cold water only at dawn” (Kāvyālaṅkāra 5.30). Here the sound apuruṣasyeva, which seems to mean apuruṣasya iva, “as if of someone who is not a man,” is separated as: apur (they drank) uṣasy (at dawn) eva (only).

This is Daṇḍī’s example of his prahelikā called samāgatā,

na mayā go-rasābhijñaṃ cetaḥ kasmāt prakupyasi |
asthāna-ruditair ebhir alam ālohitekṣaṇe ||

“O girl with red eyes, enough of these inappropriate tears. Why are you angry at Me? My mind is not knowledgeable about the relishment of committing an offense (na mayā go-rasābhijñam = na may āgo-rasābhijñam) (may āgaḥ = me āgaḥ)” (Kāvyādarśa 3.108).

At a cursory look, the verse means: na mayā go-rasābhijñaṃ cetaḥ [kṛtam], “I did not make My mind intent on milk,” but this interpretation cannot be construed because the word kṛtam is missing. The verse is gupti because of the illusory phonetic combination and because of the apparent usage of a well-known word: go-rasa (milk). However, the verse is neither a kriyā-gupti nor a kāraka-gupti because only the word me, which means mama (my), is used: This usage of the genitive case is not a kāraka (a meaning of a case ending connected to an action). Daṇḍī defines his prahelikā called samāgatā as a hidden meaning (gūḍhārtha) owing to the phonetic combination.^[2] Rudraṭa used Daṇḍī’s term gūḍha, whereas Viśvanātha Kavirāja preferred the term gupti.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

yasmin gupte’pi vākyāṅge bhāvyartho’pāramārthikaḥ |
tad-aṅga-vihitākāṅkṣas tad guptaṃ gūḍham apy adaḥ || (Agni Purāṇa 342.23)

[2]:

āhuḥ samāgatāṃ nāma gūḍhārtho pada-sandhinā (Kāvyādarśa 3.98).