Text 8.15

क्रम-कौटिल्यानुल्बणत्वोपपत्ति-योग-रूपा घटना श्लेषः. स च वैचित्र्य-मात्रत्वान् न गुणः. यथा,

krama-kauṭilyānulbaṇatvopapatti-yoga-rūpā ghaṭanā śleṣaḥ. sa ca vaicitrya-mātratvān na guṇaḥ. yathā,

As an artha-guṇa, śleṣa (coalescence of ideas) is a construction which is the form of a mix of krama (sequence), kauṭilya (cunningness), anulbaṇatvam (nonexcessiveness, absence of extravagance), and upapatti (likelihood). Actually, śleṣa is not a guṇa because śleṣa is only a kind of literary expression. This is an example:

supte prekṣya pṛthak puraḥ priyatame tatrārpayan puṣpajaṃ
  līlāyā nayanāñcale kila rajaś cakre prabodhodyamam |
kṛṣṇaḥ śītala-tāla-vṛnta-racanopāyena paśyāgratas
  tārāyāḥ praṇayād iva praṇayate nidrābhivṛddhi-kramam ||

supte—who were sleeping; prekṣya—after observing; pṛthak—separately; puraḥ—in front; priyatame—the two girlfriends; tatra—there (having arrived at their side^[1]); arpayan—while placing; puṣpa-jam—[pollen,] originating from flowers; līlāyāḥ—of Līlā; nayana—of the eye; añcale—on the corner; kila—indeed; rajaḥ—pollen; cakre—did; prabodha—to wake up; udyamam—the endeavor; kṛṣṇaḥ—Kṛṣṇa; śītala—cool; tāla-vṛnta—of fanning (“a palm leaf”); racanā—a mode; upāyena—by means of; paśya—just see; agrataḥ—ahead; tārāyāḥ—of Tārā; praṇayāt—out of affection; iva—as if; praṇayate—is eminently effecting; nidrā—of the sleep; abhivṛddhi—for the increase; kramam—the procedure.

[Vṛndā speaks to Nandimukhī:]

Look ahead: Upon seeing His two girlfriends sleeping separately, Kṛṣṇa approached them. He endeavored to wake up Līlā by placing flower pollen at the edge of her eyes. Now, as if out of love, by a cooling manner of fanning He is implementing a procedure to increase Tārā’s sleep. (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 5.64)

atra prekṣyādi-rūpā kriyā-paramparā kramaḥ, vidagdha-ceṣṭitaṃ kauṭilyam, anulbaṇatvam aprasiddha-varṇanāvirahaḥ, upapattir upapādaka-yuktiḥ, eṣāṃ yogaḥ sammelanam. asya śleṣasya na guṇatvam asādhāraṇa-rasopakāra-virahāt, guṇa-nirvāha-vyagreṇa svādānupalambhāc ca.

In this verse, the sequence (krama) is the series of actions, beginning from seeing. The cunningness (kauṭilya) is the clever gestures. The nonexcessiveness (anulbaṇatvam) is the absence of a description of unheard-of things or events. The likelihood (upapatti) is the suitability of the procedures. There is a mix of all these.

Artha-guṇa śleṣa is not a guṇa because it does not assist a rasa in an uncommon way and because relishment is not achieved by busying oneself with completing the requirements of a guṇa.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Viṣṇudāsa explains tatra as: tayoḥ pārśvam āsādya (Svātma-pramodinī).