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...
Text 9.41 [snake diagram]
सर्प-बन्धः,
sarpa-bandhaḥ,
This is an example of the snake diagram:
rāse sāraṅga-saṅghācita-nava-nalina-prāya-vakṣa-stha-dāmā
barhālaṅkāra-hāra sphurad-amala-mahā-rāga-citre jayāya |
gopālo dāsa-vīthī-lalita-hita-rava-sphāra-hāsa sthirātmā
navyo’jasraṃ kṣaṇopāśrita-vitata-balo vīkṣya raṅgaṃ babhāse ||
rāse—in the rāsa dance; sāraṅ-ga—of bees (“they go to the essence”); saṅgha—by a multitude; ācita—is covered (pervaded); nava-nalina—fresh lotuses; prāya—is mostly; vaksaḥ-stha—and is located on the chest; dāmā—whose garland; barha—which is a peacock feather; alaṅkāra—and an ornament; hāraḥ—He who has a necklace; sphurat—shining (resplendent); amala—pure; mahā-rāga—because of great love; citre—[in the rāsa dance,] which is amazing; jayāya—for the sake of supereminence; gopālaḥ—Gopāla; dāsa-vīthī—of a multitude of devotees; lalita—charming; hita—and agreeable; rava—when there are sounds; sphāra—is extensive; hāsaḥ—He whose laughter (smile); sthira-ātmā—His mind is firm; navyaḥ—young; ajasram—perpetually; kṣaṇa—in a moment (or in the festival[1]); upāśrita—is relied upon; vitata—expanded; balaḥ—He whose power; vīkṣya—after seeing; raṅgam—the arena; babhāse—He shone (in the diagram, the phoneme ba is the phoneme va; the letters b and v are interchangeable).
Observing the arena in the Rāsa dance, which was astonishing on account of pure, resplendent great love, Gopāla, whose expanded power is relied upon in that festival, shone. The garland on His chest mostly consisted of fresh lotuses swarmed by bees. He had a pearl necklace and a peacock feather ornament. He is forever young. His smile is broad when devotees make agreeable and charming sounds for supereminence. He has a big heart. (Citra-kavitvāni 6, Stavamālā)
The Snake
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
In his commentary on Stavamālā, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa glosses kṣaṇa as rāsotsave (in the rāsa festival). The definitionis: kṣaṇa uddharṣo maha uddhava utsavaḥ, “The words kṣaṇa, uddharṣa, maha, uddhava, and utsava [are synonymous and mean festival]” (Amara-koṣa 1.7.38).