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...

एष शृङ्गारो वारणादि-योगे प्रकृष्यति। यद् उक्तं मुनिना,

eṣa śṛṅgāro vāraṇādi-yoge prakṛṣyati. yad uktaṃ muninā,

Śṛṅgāra-rasa becomes very eminent when there is a connection with a prohibition and the like. That was stated by Bharata Muni:

bahu vāryate yataḥ khalu yatra pracchanna-kāmukatvaṃ ca |
yā ca mitho durlabhatā sā paramā manmathasya ratiḥ ||

The highest delight related to Cupid takes place when it is highly forbidden; when the lovers must conceal their love; and when the lovers can meet with great difficulty. (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 1.20) (Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha 177) (Prīti-sandarbha 279)

Commentary:

Rūpa Gosvāmī and Jīva Gosvāmī say the text is from Bharata Muni, but it is not found verbatim in Nāṭya-śāstra, nor is it quoted in any form in Kāvya-prakāśa. It is a summary of this text: dākṣiṇyāt tu samudbhūtaḥ kāmo rati-karo bhavet || bahu-mānena devīnāṃ vallabhānāṃ bhayena ca | pracchanna-kāmitaṃ rājñā kāryaṃ parijanaṃ prati || yadyapy asti narendrāṇāṃ kāma-tantram anekadhā | pracchanna-kāmitaṃ yat tu tad vai rati-karaṃ bhavet || yad vāmābhiniveśitvaṃ yataś ca vinivāryate | durlabhatvaṃ ca yan nāryāḥ sā kāmasya parā ratiḥ || (Nāṭya-śāstra 22.204-207). Further, in pūrva-rāga, prohibition is an inherent characteristic.

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