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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Text 10.26
यथ�,
ⲹٳ,
kaṭākṣair iva nīlābjair mukheneva sudhāṃśunā |
kāśair hāsair ivāyātā śarat kṛṣṇasya dṛk-patham ||
With blue lotuses like sidelong glances, the moon like a face, and grasses like laughter, autumn has come on the path of ṛṣṇa’s eyes.
atra nīlābjādīnā� kaṭākṣādi-sādṛśya� vācyam. śaradas taruṇ�-sādṛśya� tu gamyam eva. eva�-vidha-bahu-vaicitrya-sambhavād ukta-bhedāntarbhāvāc ca naitā� sūtra-kṛtā lakṣitā�.
In this example, the similarity between blue lotuses and so on and sidelong glances and so on is expressed, whereas the similarity between autumn and a young woman is implied.
These varieties of similes were not defined by the writer of ūٰ because many such amazing kinds are possible and because they are included in the aforementioned varieties.
Commentary:
Kavikarṇapūra, who usually follows Mammaṭa’s methodology to the letter, counts DZ貹 and ԴDZ貹 as ornaments proper.
In poetic theory, the notion of eka-ś-vivartin (existing in one place) was first used as a subcategory of the ū貹첹 ornament (metaphor) (10.48).[1] ʲṇḍٲ-Ჹ Բٳ says many subvarieties of similes can be invented, especially by adapting all eight varieties of metaphors to the concept of simile.[2]
This is his example of samasta-vastu-ṣaⲹ-屹ⲹ (complete overall simile) (no simile is implied) (sāvayava = ṅg):
kamalati vadana� yasyām alayanty alakā mṛṇālato bāhū śaivālati romāvalir adbhuta-sarasīva sā bālā
“On her, the face acts like a lotus, the head hair acts like bees, the arms act like long plants, and the row of hair on the belly acts like an offshoot of moss: That young woman is like an amazing pond� (Rasa-ṅg, KM p. 182).
This is Բٳ’s example of kevala-śܻ-貹貹 (one pair of similes not based on paronomasia where one simile is the cause of the other):
rājā yudhiṣṭhiro nāmnā sarva-dharma-samāśraya� |
drumāṇām iva lokānā� madhu-māsa ivābhavat ||�King ۳ܻṣṭ upheld all the moral codes. He was like the spring season for people who are like trees� (Rasa-ṅg, KM p. 184).
The verse illustrates a paramparitā ܱ貹 because the two similes “He was like the spring season� and “people are like trees� require one another.
The following illustrates -ū貹-śܻ-貹貹 (a series of similes not based on paronomasia where one simile is the cause of the other):
mṛgatā� harayan madhye vṛkṣatā� ca patīrayan |
ṛkṣatā� sarva-bhūtānā� tvam indavasi bhū-tale ||“In the midst of those who act like deer, you act like a lion. In the midst of those who act like trees, you act like a sandalwood tree.
And in the midst of people on Earth who act like stars, you act like the moon� (Rasa-ṅg, KM p. 184).
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
samasta-vastu-ṣaⲹm eka-ś-vivarti ca |
dvidhā ū貹첹m uddiṣṭam etat tac cocyate ⲹٳ || (峾ṅk 2.22)
[2]:
iyam api ū貹첹-vat kevala-niravayavā, -ū貹-niravayavā, samasta-vastu-ṣaⲹsāvayavā, eka-ś-vivarti-屹ⲹ, kevala-śliṣṭa-貹貹, -ū貹-śliṣṭa-貹貹, kevala-śܻ-貹貹, -ū貹-śܻ-貹貹 cety aṣṭadhā (Rasa-ṅg, KM pp. 181-182).