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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...

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नन� भगवत� पर-देवतात्वात� तद�-रतिः सर्वत्� भावः स्यात्. मैवम�, तस्माद� एव तस्य भावक-चित्तानुसारित्वात्. यद� आह स्वयम् एव “य� यथ� मा� प्रपद्यन्त� तांस� तथैव भजाम्य� अहम्� इत�, अत एव रसात्मकत्व� तस्य श्रूयत� “रसो वै सः� इत�.

nanu bhagavata� para-𱹲tvāt tad-rati� sarvatra 屹� syāt. maivam, tasmād eva tasya 屹ka-cittānusāritvāt. yad āha svayam eva “ye yathā mā� prapadyante tāṃs tathaiva bhajāmy aham� iti, ata eva rasātmakatva� tasya śrūyate “raso vai saḥ� iti.

Someone might think, “Since the Lord is the topmost 𱹲, in every instance affection (rati) for Him is (and not rasa).� That is wrong since, precisely because He is God, He follows the heart of someone who has the . He Himself said it: ye yathā mā� prapadyante tāṃs tathaiva bhajāmy aham, “I serve them in the same way they take shelter of Me� (󲹲-ī 4.11). Therefore it is heard from the scriptures that He consists of rasa (sheer relishment): raso vai sa�, “He is rasa� (ղٳپīⲹ 貹Ծṣa 2.7).

Commentary:

The text is entirely by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. According to him, deva-viṣayā rati can become rasa. His statement is valid so long as it involves Bharata Muni’s definition of rasa (4.8). However, Mammaṭa’s system is different: Any kind of rati, except the ٳī of śṛṅ, is always called .

Govinda Ṭhܰ explains Mammaṭa’s methodology:

tathā cārtha�, ratir iti sthāyi-bhāvopalakṣaṇam, devādi-viṣayety apy aprāpta-rasāvasthopalakṣaṇam. tena 徱-ṣa sarvā kāntādi-viṣayāpy apuṣṭā ratir hāsādayaś cāprāpta-rasāvasthā� prādhānyena vyañjito ⲹ󾱳ī ca 屹 ity avadhātavyam,

“The term rati is indicative of sthāyi-屹. The word 徱-ṣa (whose object is the Lord, etc.) is indicative of the fact that it does not reach the state of rasa. Consequently, the following is to be understood. The word denotes either: (1) a 徱-ṣa rati (affection for the Lord, and so on, 4.47) (bhakti, etc.), (2) a kāntādi-viṣayā rati (affection between lovers) (ū貹 ҴDz峾ī calls this madhura-rati) which is not enhanced to the level of rasa (śṛṅ-rasa), (3) a sthāyi-屹, such as , which has not reached the level of rasa, or (4) a vyabhicāri-屹 which is implied in terms of being prominent� (屹ⲹ-ī貹 4.35-36).

In the thirteenth century, Vopadeva classed bhakti as a type of rasa proper (ѳܰ-phala). ū貹 ҴDz峾ī expounded upon that. Sanskrit poetics became perfect in this way, because in Mammaṭa’s system, any rasa in the scope of bhakti would have to be classed as the rasavat ornament and so on (5.3). For instance, ʲṇḍٲᲹ Բٳ criticized Mammaṭa’s example of adbhuta-rasa (Commentary 4.36) by stating that bhakti is predominant therein, consequently the adbhuta-rasa is second-rate.[1]

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Բٳ comments: tatreda� vaktavyam—pratīyatā� nāmātra ⲹ� parantv asau kathaṅkāra� dhvani-ⲹ貹ś-ٳ�? پⲹ--ܰṣa-śṣa-viṣayāyā� pradhānī-bhūtāyā� stot�-gata-bhakte� prakarṣakatvenāsya guṇ�-bhūtatvāt. […] ittha� casya rasālaṅkāratvam ucitam (鲹-ṅg󲹰, KM pp. 42-43).

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