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...

यथा वा,

yathā vā,

Here is another example (this is the second variety of ullekha):

ānamrām asita-bhruvor upacitām akṣīṇa-pakṣmāṅkureṣv
  ālolām anurāgiṇor nayanayor ārdrāṃ mṛdau jalpite
|
ātāmrām adharāmṛte mada-kalām amlāna-vaṃśī-svaneṣv
  āśāste mama locanaṃ vraja-vidhor[1] mūrtiṃ jagan-mohinīm
||

ā-namrām—very curved; asita-bhruvoḥ—as regards the two blackish eyebrows; upacitām—enhanced; akṣīṇa—thick; pakṣma—of eyelashes; aṅkureṣu—as regards the sprouts[2]; ālolām—restless; anurāgiṇoḥ—passionate; nayanayoḥ—as regards two eyes; ārdrām—melted; mṛdau—soft; jalpite—as regards speech; ā-tāmrām—very red; adhara-amṛte—as regards the nectar-like lips; mada-kalām—intoxicated; amlāna—unwithered, clear; vaṃśī-svaneṣu—as regards the sounds of the flute; āśāste—longs for; mama—my; locanam—eye (eyes); vraja-vidhoḥ—of Kṛṣṇa (“the moon of Vraja”); mūrtim—the form; jagat—the world; mohinīm—it bewilders.

My eyes long for the form of Kṛṣṇa, the moon of Vraja. His form has a nice crookedness, on the blackish eyebrows; an enhanced perfection, in His beautiful eyelashes; fickleness, in His passionate eyes; softness, in the gentle way of talking; redness, on the nectar-like lips; and rapture, with regard to the steady sounds of the flute. His form enchants the world. (Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta 54) (Bhakri-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.3.37)

Commentary:

The words “My eyes long for Kṛṣṇa’s form” is an instance of the virodha ornament (semblance of a contradiction). On the whole, the verse exemplifies ullekha because Kṛṣṇa’s form is described differently with regard to different objects.

Viśvanātha Kavirāja says Daṇḍī’s hetu-rūpaka ornament (a metaphor with a reason) is a saṅkara of rūpaka and ullekha.[3]

This is Daṇḍī’s example:

gāmbhīryeṇa samudro’pi gauraveṇāsi parvataḥ |
kāmadatvāc ca lokānām asi tvaṃ kalpa-pādapaḥ ||

“You are an ocean by your profundity, a mountain by your gravity, and a wish-fulfilling tree since you fulfil people’s desires” (Kāvyādarśa 2.85).

This is Paṇḍita-rāja Jagannātha’s illustration of the second kind of ullekha,

upari karavāla-dhārākārāḥ krūrā bhujaṅgama-puṅgavāt |
antaḥ drākṣā-dīkṣā-guravo jayanti ke’pi janāḥ ||

“Some persons are supereminent: Outwardly they look like a sword—they can be harsher than the most ferocious snakes—yet inwardly they are gurus who can give ripe grapes initiation in sweetness” (Rasa-gaṅgādhara, KM p. 275).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

vraja-śiśor (Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta) (Bhakri-rasāmṛta-sindhu)

[2]:

The word “sprout” applies to the original reading of the verse, which refers to Bāla Kṛṣṇa.

[3]:

gāmbhīryeṇa samudro’pi gauraveṇāsi parvataḥity-ādau cānekatvollekhe gāmbhīryādiviṣaya-bhedaḥ prayojakaḥ. atra ca rūpaka-yogaḥ (Sāhitya-darpaṇa 10.37).

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