{"id":86,"date":"2013-07-13T01:25:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=86"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:25:47","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:25:47","slug":"38-skeleton-notes-on-the-kumara-sambavam-vol-03-the-harmony-of-virtue-volume-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/03-the-harmony-of-virtue-volume-03\/38-skeleton-notes-on-the-kumara-sambavam-vol-03-the-harmony-of-virtue-volume-03","title":{"rendered":"-38_Skeleton Notes on the Kumara Sambavam.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nSKELETON NOTES<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\nON THE KUMARASAMBHAVAM<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nCANTO
\n<\/span>Five<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n1. Thus by Pinaka’s wielder burning the mind-born before
\nher eyes, baffled of her soul’s desire, the Mountain’s daughter
\nblamed her own beauty in her heart; for loveliness has then only
\nfruit when it gives happiness in the beloved.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nतया <\/font>
\nmay go either with <\/font>
\nदहता <\/font>
\nor <\/font><\/p>\n

भग्नमनोरथा <\/font>
\nbut
\nit has more point with the latter.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nसमक्षम्
\n: <\/font>The Avachuri takes singularly <\/font>
\nजया-विजयाप्रत्यक्षम् <\/font>
\ni.e.,
\nbefore Jaya and Vijaya, her friends. The point would then be
\nthat the humiliation of her beauty was rendered still more
\npoignant by occurring before witnesses. In this case, however,
\nthe obscurity caused by the omission of the names would be
\nthe grossest of rhetorical faults. <\/font>समक्षम्<\/font> by itself can mean nothing
\nbut "before her (Parvati’s) very eyes", <\/font>
\nअक्षणोः समीपम्<\/font>, as Mallinath
\nrightly renders it.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nनिनिन्द
\n: <\/font>found fault with, censured as defective.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nहि <\/font>
\n: S. takes this as the emphatic <\/font>
\nहि (निश्चितम्). <\/font>
\nIt is more appropriate and natural to take it in the usual sense
\nof for<\/i>, giving
\nthe reason or justification (Mallinath) for her finding fault with
\nher own beauty.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nप्रियेषु <\/font>
\n: loc. of object <\/font>
\n(विषये)
\n<\/font>, "with regard to those loved".<\/font><\/p>\n

\nसौभाग्य <\/font>
\n: The "felicity" of women consists in the love and
\nwelfare of those they love. Here only the first element is intended; so here <\/font>
\nप्रियवाल्लभ्यम् <\/font>
\n= the affection of the beloved.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n2. By asceticisms she wished, embracing mind-centred me-<\/font><\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 308<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nditation, to make her beauty bear its fruit of love; for how else
\nshould these two be one, such love and such a husband.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nअवन्ध्यरूपताम् <\/font>
\n: literally the "unsterile beautiness of herself".
\nNotice the extraordinary terseness which Kalidasa has imparted
\nto his style by utilising every element of pithiness the Sanskrit
\nlanguage possesses.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nसमाधिम् <\/font>: the bringing <\/font>
\n(धा) <\/font>
\ntogether <\/font>
\n(सम्) <\/font>
\n  and centring on <\/font>
\n(आ) <\/font>
\n a single subject of all the faculties; used technically of the stage
\nof <\/font>ध्यान <\/font>
\n, meditation, in which the mind with all the senses gathered
\ninto it is centred on God within itself and insensible to outside
\nimpressions.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nतपोभि: <\/font>
\n: to translate this word "penances", as is frequently
\ndone, is altogether improper. The idea of "self-imposed or
\npriest-imposed penalty for sin" which the English word contains
\ndoes not enter even in the slightest degree into the idea of <\/font>
\nतप: <\/font>
\n <\/i>which implies no more than a fierce and strong effort of all the
\nhuman powers towards any given end. According to Hindu ideas
\nthis could only be done to its best effect by conquering the body
\nfor the mind; hence the word finally came to be confined to the
\nsense of ascetic practices having this object. See Introduction
\nfor the history and philosophy of this word.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nवा <\/font>
\n: "or", answering an implied objection;
\n"she had to do this, or (if you say she had not) how else could she succeed?" <\/font>
\nवा <\/font>
\n in this use comes to mean "for" in its argumentative, not in its
\ncausative or explanatory sense.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nअवाप्यते <\/font>
\n: the present in its potential sense.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nअन्यथा <\/font>
\n: otherwise, i.e., by any less strenuous means. Cf.
\nManu quoted by Mallinath:<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nतथाविधं प्रेम <\/font>
\n: anticipating the result of the <\/font>
\nतप:.<\/font> The love of
\nSiva for Uma was so great that he made himself "one body with
\nhis beloved", one half male, the other half female. See Introduction for the Haragauri image.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nताद्श: <\/font>
\n: Mallinath glosses: i.e., "Mrityunjaya death-conquering (an epithet of Siva). For the two things desired of women
\nare that their husbands should love them and that they should<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 309<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nnot die before them." This may have been Kalidasa’s drift, but
\nit is surely more natural to take <\/font>ताद्श: <\/font>
\n of Siva’s qualities and
\ngreatness generally; "such a lord as the Almighty Lord of the
\nUniverse", <\/font>ताद्श: जगदीश:<\/font> (Kv<\/b>.).<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n3. But hearing of her daughter soul-compelled towards
\nthe Mountain-Lord, towards asceticism endeavouring, said Mena
\nto her, embracing her to her bosom, forbidding from that great
\neremite.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nC. gives this verse as <\/font>
\nक्षेपक , <\/font><\/p>\n

it could certainly be omitted
\nwithout loss to the sense but not without great loss to the
\nemotional beauty of the passage. Is there any other authority for
\nsupposing this to be an interpolation?<\/font><\/p>\n

\nकृतोद्यमां : उद्यम: <\/font>
\nhere in the sense of <\/font>
\nउद्योग:,  <\/font>
\npreparatory action
\nor efforts. Apte takes <\/font>उद्यम:<\/font> in the sense of "exertion or perseverance"; the commentator, <\/b> X,<\/b> of "fixed resolve", the sense
\nin which Apte takes it in the.. \u00b9 Sloka. The word really means
\n"active steps", "active efforts".<\/font><\/p>\n

\nमुनिव्रतात् <\/font>
\n : a vow practicable only to a saint.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\nWhose mind is not shaken in sorrows, who has banished
\nthe craving for delights, who has passed beyond joy and terror,
\nfear and wrath, whose thought is calm and firm, he is called a
\nsaint.                                                             <\/font><\/p>\n

(Gita 2.<\/i> 56)<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n4. There are Gods desired that dwell in homes. Oh my
\nchild, how alien is austerity from this body of thine; the delicate
\nShirisha flower may bear the foot-fall of the bee, but not of the
\nwinged bird.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font>See sloka 5 of this canto.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 310<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nमनीषिता: <\/font>
\n:<\/b> formed from <\/font>
\nमनीषा<\/font>, desire <\/font>
\n(मन: + इष + आ) <\/font>
\nby the
\napplication of the passive suffix <\/font>इत
\n= <\/font>desired, <\/font>
\nअभीष्टा:, अभिलषिता:, <\/font>
\nI do not understand on what principle of grammar the Avachuri followed by Deshpande takes this form as
\n<\/font>मनोऽभिलष्दात्र्य: <\/font>
\n"desired" taking the sense of "able" or "thought able to fulfil
\ndesire". This is but one more instance of the blamable slovenliness of this commentary. Adopting this untenable rendering
\nthese commentators further suppose that the gods in the house
\nare to be worshipped by Parvati for the purpose of gaining Siva as her husband,
\nbut it is difficult to see how other gods could give her the Supreme, and in any
\ncase <\/font>मनीषिता<\/font> can only mean
\n"desired" which renders this version impossible. But desired
\nby whom? If by Parvati, we must suppose Mena to imagine
\nher daughter aiming simply at making a good match in the
\ncelestial world. The sense will then be "Thou desirest a God in
\nmarriage; well, there are gods in our home whom thou canst
\nwin by easy adoration, while Siva must be wooed by harsh
\nasceticism in the woods." Or it may signify "desired generally,
\ndesired by others", when it will have the force of desirable. I
\nprefer therefore this latter interpretation.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThis is supported by the later <\/font>
\nइयं
\nमहेन्द्रप्रभृतीनधिश्रयश्चतुर्दिगीशानवमन्य मानिनी <\/font>
\nand Siva Purana.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nगृहेषु <\/font>
\n: The plural may here be used in the sense of a great
\nmansion. The old Aryan house seems to have many storeys,
\neach storey consisting of several flats, and in the palaces of
\nprinces and great nobles it was composed of several wings
\nand even several piles of buildings. The female apartments
\nspecially formed a piece apart. Cf. the Siva Purana where Mena
\nsays<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\nWherefore goest thou forth to practise austerities; gods are
\nthere in my house and wondrous holinesses, and are there none
\nin thy father’s mansion?<\/font><\/p>\n

\nA similar rendering is also favoured by another passage of
\nthe same Purana:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 311<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\nIt is perhaps a reminiscence of these lines that induces the
\nAvachuri and Deshpande to render "worships the gods in the house to gain Siva
\nfor husband"; but this is incompatible with <\/font>
\nमनीषिता:<\/font> If Siva Purana then were Kalidasa’s authority, we
\nshould have no choice as to our interpretation, but I have tried to
\nshow that the Siva Purana and not Kalidasa was the borrower.
\nIt is possible therefore that the former may in borrowing have
\nmisinterpreted <\/font>गृहेषु<\/font> and that the word has a strictly plural sense.
\n"There are gods desired that dwell in homes", i.e., not like the
\nundesirable and homeless Siva, who must be sought by austerity
\nin wild woods and desolate mountains. The only objection to
\nthis rendering which certainly gives the best and most poetic
\nsense, is that the contrast with Siva is implied, and not expressed, while <\/font>
\nतप:<\/font> immediately following seems to be opposed to
\nhousehold worship. But Mena under the circumstances would
\nnot venture openly to dispraise Siva; implied dispraise therefore
\nis what we should naturally expect. Such suppression of the
\nimplied contrast one term expressed and the other left to be
\ngathered is not in itself unpoetic and might be expected in a
\nwork written under the strong influence of the elliptical and suggestive style of the Mahabharata.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe reading <\/font>
\nगृहेऽपि <\/font>
\nwould of course leave no doubt; it
\nconfines us to our first rendering.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nक्व क्व <\/font>
\n: Again the characteristic Sanskrit idiom implying
\n<\/font>महदन्तरम्<\/font>, "a far cry". It is a far cry from your tender body to the
\nharshness of ascetic austerities. Notice again the fine precision,
\nthe nettet\u00e9<\/i> of Kalidasa’s style; there are no epithets with <\/font>
\nतप:<\/font> and
\n<\/font>वपु:<\/font>, these being sufficiently implied in the contrasting <\/font>
\nक्व क्व<\/font> and
\nin the simile that follows.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nशिरीषपुष्पम :  <\/font>
\nCf. the Padma Purana:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n\u2014a fine Vyasian couplet.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n"Harsh is this austerity of thy choosing; thy body again
\nis tender as a Shirish flower; yet iron-firm is thy resolve, O Parvati, a hard thing truly this seemeth." Who is here the<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 312<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nborrower, if loan there has been ?<\/font><\/p>\n

\nपेलवं <\/font>
\n: the other readings <\/font>
\nकोमलं <\/font>
\nand<\/font> पेशलं <\/font>
\nare less commendable
\nand not supported by Mallinath.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nपुन: <\/font>
\n : on the other hand, however.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n5. Thus though she urged her, yet could not Mena rein in
\nher daughter’s fixed purpose from action; for who can turn back
\n(resist) a mind steadfastly resolved on the object of its desire,
\nor a downward moving stream ?<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nध्रुवेच्छाम् <\/font>
\n: the reading <\/font>
\nव्रतेच्छाम् <\/font>
\nis weak and <\/font>
\nश्रुतेच्छाम् <\/font>
\nabsolutely
\nwithout force. Neither is noticed by Mallinath. The point of
\ncourse is the unspeakable fixity other resolve and not its object.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nनियन्तुमुद्यमात् <\/font>
\n: the delicate etymological assonance is a fine
\nsurvival of one of Kalidasa’s favourite rhetorical artifices.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nउद्यमात् <\/font>
\n: this word is variously taken in various
\ncontexts. S. here renders by <\/font>उत्साह <\/font>
\n, Apte by "fixed resolve" <\/b> and Deshpande
\nby "undertaking", whereas Mallinath consistently renders by <\/font>
\nउद्योग<\/font>.<\/font><\/i> It is as well therefore to fix its exact meaning. The root<\/font> 
\nयम् <\/font>
\nmeaning "to put a strain on" with
\n<\/font>उद् <\/font>
\n"up" in an intensive,
\nimplies the strain put on the faculties in preparing for or making
\na great effort. It means therefore "active effort" or "endeavour"
\nor else "active preparation". In this latter sense Apte quotes
\n<\/font>गन्तुमुद्यमो विहित: = <\/font>
\npreparations to go were taken order for. In Sloka 3 the dative <\/font>
\nतपसे <\/font>
\nhaving the same force as an infinitive leads
\nus to prefer this meaning; "effort towards austerity" has no
\nmeaning in the context. I think in this Sloka, it has as Mallinath
\nperceived, the same sense. Uma is still in the stage of preparation, and is not yet even ready to ask her father’s consent.
\nEffort or endeavour would therefore be obviously out of place.
\nNow these are the only two ascertained senses of <\/font>
\nउद्यम <\/font>
\n. The sense of <\/font>
\nउत्साह <\/font>
\nor undertaking cannot be established and is not recognised by Apte. That of "perseverance", "fixed resolve" given to
\nit by A. in Sloka 3 and by Apte here seems to me equally without<\/font><\/p>\n

 \n<\/p>\n

\n                                \n\t<\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n Page <\/font>
\n\u2013 313<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nauthority; I believe there is no passage in which
\n<\/font>उद्यम<\/font> occurs
\nwhere it cannot be rendered by "effort", "labour" or "preparation". Here moreover Mr. Apte is obviously wrong, for the
\nsense of "fixed resolve" has already been given by <\/font>
\nध्रुवेच्छाम् <\/font>
\n and Kalidasa is never tautologous,
\nnever expresses the same thing twice over in a line. Perhaps he intends us to
\ntake his next quotation, from the Panchatantra, in this sense <\/font>
\nउद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथै: <\/font>
\n. But the opposite to <\/font>
\nमनोरथा: <\/font>
\n, desires, is obviously
\nnot "perseverance" but "effort". "It is by active effort and
\nnot by mere desires that accomplishment is reached." For a
\nmore detailed discussion of this subject see Excursus.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nपयश्च निम्नाभिमुखम् <\/font>
\n: Water which has set its face towards descent.
\n<\/font>पय: <\/font>
\nthe general is here obviously used for <\/font>
\nप्रवाह <\/font>
\nthe particular.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nप्रतीपयेत् <\/font>
\n: the commentaries take in the sense of
\n"turn back", most definitely expressed by S. <\/font>
\nपश्चात् प्रचालयेत्<\/font>. Mallinath recognising
\nthat <\/font>प्रतीपयेत् <\/font>
\nprimarily means <\/font>
\nप्रतिकूलयेत् <\/font>
\n"oppose", gives that sense
\nand deduces from it <\/font>प्रतिनिवर्तयेत <\/font>
\n. Apte also quotes this passage to
\nestablish this sense of <\/font>प्रतीपय<\/font>. This of course is taking <\/font>
\nप्रतीपय = प्रतीपं कृ, प्रतीप <\/font>
\nbeing "reverse, inverted", e.g. in
\n<\/font>अम्भसामोघसंरोध: प्रतीपगमनादिव (अनुमीयते) <\/font>
\n, Canto 2. 25. But <\/font>
\nप्रतीप<\/font> also and primarily means "adverse, hostile", so <\/font>प्रतीपयति,
\nप्रतीप:  भवति <\/font>, "be hostile to, oppose". It
\nmight possibly be taken in this sense here without Mallinath’s
\ndeduction of "turn back"; the general nature of the proposition
\njustifying the more general sense.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n6. Once she, the clear-minded, by the mouth
\nof her personal friend begged of her father not ignorant of her longing,
\nthat she might dwell in the forests there to practise austerity and
\nmeditation until she saw fruit of her desire.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nकदाचित्… मनस्विनी <\/font>
\n: Once, at a certain time. <\/font>
\nकस्मिँश्चित् काले गते सति<\/font>
\nsays V. It certainly means that; but that is not the precise shade
\nof expression used by Kalidasa. <\/font>
\nकदाचित्<\/font> means "at a certain time", and its full force
\nis brought out by <\/font>मनस्विनी<\/font>. The commentators<\/font><\/p>\n

\n                                     \n\t<\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n Page <\/font>
\n\u2013 314<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nare all astray in their rendering of this word, even Mallinath
\nrendering <\/font><\/p>\n

स्थिरचिता <\/font>
\nwhile Avachuri and C. give <\/font>
\nमानिनी <\/font><\/p>\n

and<\/font>
\nसाभिमाना<\/font>, meaning proud, ambitious
\nwhich is ludicrously wrong, <\/font>
\nमनीषी <\/font>
\ncan mean nothing but wise, intellectual, a thinker. The wisdom
\nof Parvati lay in her choice of a time, hence Kalidasa’s use of
\n<\/font>कदाचित्<\/font>  which at first seems awkward and vague, but in relation
\nto <\/font>मनस्विनी<\/font> takes force and body. The wisdom is further specified
\nby <\/font>
\nमनोरथज्ञ: <\/font>
\n. The commentators take this as meaning "knowing
\nof her desire to marry Hara", but this was very old news to
\nHimalaya and there would be no point in recording his knowledge here; V.’s explanation "for he who does not know the
\ndesire, does not give his consent", is inexpressibly feeble. <\/font>
\nमनोरथ<\/font> means here not her desire for Siva but her desire to practise
\nausterity as a means of winning Siva. Parvati wisely waited till
\nthe news of this intention had travelled to her father and he
\nhad time to get accustomed to it and think it over. If she had
\nhastily sprung it on him his tenderness for her might have led
\nhim to join Mena in forbidding the step, which would have been
\nfatal to her plans.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nआसन्नसखी <\/font>
\n: The Avachuri absurdly says <\/font>
\nतटस्थ<\/font>, a mediating
\nfriend. Mallinath is obviously right <\/font> आप्तसखी<\/font>, a friend who is
\nalways near one, i.e., a personal or intimate friend. Cf. <\/font>
\nआसन्नपरिचारिका्.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nमुखेन :  <\/font>
\nMallinath takes <\/font>
\nउपाय <\/font>
\n"by means of her friend" and
\nquotes Amara.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nतप:समाथये<\/font>
\n: Mallinath says <\/font>
\nतपोनियमार्थ<\/font>, and the commentators generally follow him. Apte also takes
\n<\/font>समाधि = <\/font>penance (meaning,
\nof course, austerity), religious obligation (?), devotion to penance. I fail to see why we should foist this sense on <\/font>
\nसमाधि.<\/font> There
\nis none of the passages quoted by Apte in support of it which
\ncannot be as well or better translated by concentration. Here
\nwe may take as a Dwandwa-compound "austerity and concentration" or even better in accordance with Sloka 2
\n<\/font>तपोभि: समाधये<\/font>,
\n"concentration to be gained by austerities". See Excursus.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nअयाचत : <\/font>
\nonly<\/font> आत्मने <\/font>
\nātmane<\/i>, having the middle sense "to ask
\nfor oneself". Notice the skilful use of compounds in this verse
\ngetting its full value out of this element of the language without
\noverdoing it like Bhavabhuti and other late writers.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 315<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n7. Then by her graver parent permitted, for pleased was he
\nat passion so worthy of her, she went to the peacock-haunted
\npeaks of the white mother famed afterwards among the people
\nby her name.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nअभिनिवेश <\/font>
\nis anything that takes possession of the mind or the
\nnature, "passion", "engrossing resolve". The first seems to me
\nmore appropriate here.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nशिखण्डिमत् : <\/font>
\n V. considers this merely an ornamental epithet
\nexpressing the beauty of the hill; but ornamental epithets find
\nlittle place in the Kumarasambhava. Mallinath explains "not full of wild beasts
\nof prey", which is forced and difficult to reconcile with <\/font>
\nविरोधि-सत्वोज्झित-पूर्वमत्सरम् <\/font>
\nin Sloka 17. The Avachuri is characteristically inane; it says "peacocks are without attachment (<\/font>सङग
\n= <\/font>attachment to worldly objects), the sight of attachment
\nbreaks Samadhi". I have reared peacocks myself and I can assure
\nthe reader that they have as much attachment as any other
\ncreature. I believe that this is a very beautiful and delicate allusion to the destined fruit of Uma’s journey and consummation
\nof the poem, the birth of the Kumara, Skanda being always
\nassociated with the peacock. Kalidasa thus skilfully introduces
\na beautifying epithet without allowing it to be otiose.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n8. In her irremovable resolve she put off the necklace
\nwhose restless string had rubbed off the sandal smeared and
\nfastened on the bark tawny-red like the young dawn though ever
\nher high swelling breasts rent (broke) its firm compactness.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nविलोलयष्टि <\/font>
\netc. : The meaning conveyed is that the
\nmovements of the necklace had already rubbed off the sandal paste from her
\nbreasts which otherwise she would have had to refuse herself as being a piece of
\nluxury incompatible with <\/font>तप:.<\/font> Some of the commentators take <\/font>
\nयष्टि <\/font>
\nas meaning "her slender figure"; "the necklace<\/font><\/p>\n

\n                       \n\t<\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n Page <\/font>
\n\u2013 316<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwhich owing to the restlessness of her slender body had rubbed
\noff the sandal-paste". But to take <\/font>
\nविलोलयष्टि = यष्टिविलोलता (चञचलाङगतया) <\/font>
\nis very awkward and in any case it is extremely doubtful
\nwhether <\/font>यष्टि<\/font> by itself could mean <\/font>
\nअङगयष्टि:. <\/font>
\nI should therefore
\nreject this rendering which as far as significance goes one might
\nperhaps prefer. If we take <\/font>यष्टि<\/font> in this sense, it is better to adopt
\nthe reading <\/font>अहार्यनिश्चया विलोलयष्टि<\/font>, understand not <\/font>
\nविलोलयष्टि <\/font>
\nwith J.
\nfor that would be merely an ornamental epithet, but <\/font>
\nअविलोलयष्टि: <\/font>
\n"She put off her necklace having rubbed off the sandal-paste,
\nand her slender body forgot its swaying", i.e., the amorous beauty
\nof motion attributed by the Kalidasian poets to beautiful women.
\n<\/font>प्रविलुप्तचन्दनम् <\/font>
\nwill be in this rendering an adverbial (…………… )\u00b9 compound. The reading however has little authority.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nबालारूणबभ्रु : <\/font>
\nMallinath curiously translates <\/font>
\nअरूण <\/font>by <\/font>
\nअर्क, <\/font>
\nsun;<\/font><\/p>\n

but <\/font>
\nअरूण <\/font>
\n means "dawn" and not "sun"; moreover, the young
\nsun is not tawny-red unless seen through mist.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nपयोधर: <\/font>
\nlit<\/i>. "whose compactness is rent by the loftiness of
\nher breasts". The Avachuri is even more amazingly foolish
\nthan usual on this line. It construes <\/font>
\nअहार्यनिश्चया by आहारं त्यक्त्वा <\/font>
\n"abandoning food", a rendering which makes one suspect the
\nsanity of the commentator and <\/font>
\nपयोधरोत्सेधविशीर्णसंहति <\/font>by <\/font>
\nमेधोदयेन विस्तारित: समवायो यस्य,   <\/font>
\n"the close composition of which is spread out by
\nthe rising of the clouds"; perhaps an unequalled instance of
\nperverted scholastic ingenuity, though Mallinath’s interpretation
\nof the Dingnagian stanza of the Meghaduta runs it close. It is needless to say
\nthat <\/font>उत्सेथ <\/font>
\n and <\/font>
\nविशीर्ण<\/font> will not bear the strained meanings put on them and that even if they could, Kalidasa’s fine taste
\nin the choice of words would never have employed such out of
\nthe way expressions. He would have said plainly <\/font>
\nउदय<\/font> and
\n<\/font>विस्तीर्ण <\/font>
\n. The sense arrived at by these unnecessary violences is the
\nmost prosaic, pointless and inept possible.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n9. Even as her face was sweet with its fair adorned tresses,<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font>The parenthesis left blank in MS.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 317<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nso was it even with the ascetic’s tangled crown; not set with
\nlines of bees alone the lotus has splendour but also coated with
\nmoss.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nप्रसिध्धै: :  <\/font>
\nX strangely takes "famous". The meaning
\nof course is "dressed and adorned" as opposed to the neglected <\/font>
\nजटा. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font>प्रसिध्धौ
\nख्यातभूषितौ <\/font><\/p>\n

(Amara). <\/font>
\nप्रसिध्ध <\/font><\/p>\n

means "famous" or "adorned".<\/font><\/p>\n

\nषट्पदश्रेणिभिरेव: एव<\/font>
\n= alone, in its limiting sense. Note the implied comparison, favourite form in Sanskrit classic poetry.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n10. The triple plaited girdle of rough grass she wore \u2014 for
\nher vow she wore it though every moment it caused discomfort,
\nnow first tied on reddened the seat of her zone.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nकृतरोमविक्रियाम् : <\/font><\/p>\n

 the turning of the hair on the body is used by
\nthe concrete Sanskrit for the sense of discomfort caused by the
\ncontact of anything rough and uncomfortable. The same symptom also denotes in other circumstances great sensuous delight.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nव्रताय, <\/font><\/p>\n

here <\/font>
\nव्रतार्थम्<\/font>
\n: with a view to her vow, for the sake of
\nher vow.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nअकारि<\/font> : the passive aorist; notice the tendency
\nof later Sanskrit towards passive constructions in past time, prevalent in prose
\n(see the Panchatantra passim) and breaking its way occasionally
\ninto poetry. The ripe and mature style of the Kumarasambhava
\nspecially shows this tendency to approximate to prose construction. So also <\/font>
\nकृतोअक्षसूत्रप्रणयी तया कर:.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n                 तत्पूर्वनिबध्धया<\/font> : For <\/font>
\nपूर्व<\/font> in the sense of <\/font>
\nप्रथमम् <\/font>
\ncf…<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n11. <\/b> Her hand ceased from her lip from which the colouring
\nwas effaced and the ball all reddened with her breasts’ vermillion,
\nand its fingers wounded with the plucking of Kusha grass, she
\nmade it a lover of the rosary.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n                      \n\t<\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n Page <\/font>
\n\u2013 318<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nनिवर्तित<\/font>:
\n: Deshpande singularly supposes that this
\nmay mean formerly, i.e., always kept away from. Such a rendering if possible
\nwould be wholly out of place and meaningless. The difficulty as regards the
\nfirst line is avoided by supposing it meant that her lip was naturally too red
\nto need artificial colouring or that her maidens did the colouring for her. This is most
\njejune and artificial, nor has such a detail the slightest appropriateness in the context. As regards the ball, it is explained that
\nher hand was too tender to play with it! This is not only jejune,
\nit is laughable. Kalidasa would never have perpetrated such an
\nabsurd conceit even if there were no other objections; the absence of a word
\nindicating past time would dispose of the rendering; for <\/font>
\nनिवर्तित<\/font> is the causal of <\/font>
\nवृत् <\/font>
\nwith<\/font> नि. <\/font>
\n Now the simple <\/font>
\nनिवृत:  <\/font>
\nmeans "cessation from
\n<\/font>प्रवृति<\/font> i.e., from any habit of mind, practice
\nor course of action", "Turning away from something it had been
\nturned to". <\/font>निवर्तित<\/font> therefore obviously means "caused to cease
\nfrom, turned from". It cannot possibly have the sense of "never
\nbusied with"; but means "ceasing to be busy with". Kalidasa
\nis speaking in these stanzas of Uma putting off all her former
\ngirlish habits for those appropriate to asceticism; to suppose
\nthat he brings in matter foreign to the idea in hand is to
\nsuppose that he is not Kalidasa. And to interpret "she never
\nused to colour her lips or play at ball and she now plucked
\nKusha grass and counted a rosary" introduces such foreign
\nmatter, substitutes non-sequence for sequence and ruins the
\nbalanced Kalidasian structure of these stanzas. Such commentary falls well under Mallinath’s vigorous censure that the
\nmuse of Kalidasa swoons to death under the weight of bad
\ncommentaries.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe poet’s meaning is plain. Her hand no longer as before
\nwas employed in colouring her lip, she had put that away from
\nher; neither did it play with the ball all reddened with the vermilion of her breasts; for both the vermilion was banished from
\nher breasts and the ball from her hand; it was only used now to
\npluck Kusha grass and count the rosary.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nस्तनाङगरागात् <\/font>
\n: resolve the compound <\/font>
\nस्तन + अङगरागात्<\/font>, the body-colour of the breast. For the toilet of women in Kalidasa’s time,
\nsee Appendix.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>
\n\u2013 319<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nअक्षसूत्र <\/font>
\n: String of beads, rosary. The use of the rosary, to
\nthis day a Hindu practice with devotees and pious women, is
\nthus more than two thousand years old. The use of the rosary
\namong the Roman Catholics is an unmistakable sign of Hindu
\ninfluence, as with the Hindus it has a distinct meaning, with
\nthe Christians none. See Excursus.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n12. She who would be tormented by the flowers shaken by
\nher own hair, by her tumbling on some costliest couch, now
\nlay with her fair soft arm for pillow reclining (sunk) on the bare
\naltar-ground.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nपुष्पैरपि : <\/font>
\nlike the lady of the fairy tale who was discovered
\nto be a princess and no maid-servant when she could not sleep
\nall night for the pain of a single flower which had been surreptitiously introduced into her bed.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nबाहुलतोपधायिनी
\n: <\/font>
\n the appropriateness of the creeper-like arm
\nrests in the rounded softness and supple willowy grace of the
\narm. It is the Indian creeper and not the English, be it remembered, that is intended. There is therefore no idea of slenderness.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nउपधायिनी
\n:  <\/font>
\nthis is the verbal adjective (cf. <\/font>
\nदायिनी<\/font>) from
\n<\/font>धा<\/font> and
\n<\/font>उप <\/font>
\n in the sense of "lay upon", so "lie upon" <\/font>
\nउप्धाय वामभुजशायिनी <\/font>
\n D.
\nK. III, lay pillowed on her left arm. For the full form compare <\/font>
\nवामहस्तोपहितवदना <\/font>
\n(quoted by Apte) and numerous other instances.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nनिषेदुषी <\/font>
\n: S. strangely construes "slept sitting on the bare
\nground". <\/b> It is obvious that she could not at the same time sleep
\nsitting and sleep with her arm as her pillow; if we are to render
\n<\/font>निषेदुषी =<\/font> <\/font>
\nउपविष्टा <\/font>
\nwe must follow Mallinath "slept pillowed on
\nher arm and sat on the bare ground"; but this is not justified by
\nthe Sanskrit; the word being a participle and not as it then should
\nbe, a finite tense like <\/font>अशेत<\/font> with or without <\/font>
\nच.<\/font> Moreover the idea of
\nsitting is foreign to the contrast between her former bed and her
\npresent, and therefore would not be introduced by Kalidasa. We
\nmust take <\/font>निषद् <\/font>
\n in its primary sense of "sink down", "recline";<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n                              \n\t<\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n Page <\/font>
\n\u2013 320<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nit implies "entire recumbence", and is opposed to
\n<\/font>परिवर्तन <\/font>in the
\nfirst line. "She who was formerly restless on softest couches,
\nnow lay restfully on the hard bare ground."<\/font><\/p>\n

\nस्थण्डिले… केवले <\/font>
\n: <\/font>
\nकेवले <\/font>
\nmeans "without any covering", not merely
\nof grass as some have it but of either grass or any sheet or coverlet. The <\/font>
\nस्थण्डिल <\/font>
\nis the
\n<\/font>वेदिका<\/font>, a level and bare platform of earth used
\nas sacred ground for sacrifice.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nएव <\/font>
\n: emphatic.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n13. She while busied her vow seemed to lay by as a deposit,
\nfor after resuming her duet (of graces) in a duet (of forms) in
\nthe slender creepers her amorous movements and her wantoning
\nglance in the hinds.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nपुनर्ग्रहीतुम्<\/font> :  notice the strict supine use which is the proper
\nfunction of the infinitive in Sanskrit. It has of course the dative
\nforce == <\/font>पुनर्ग्रहणाय.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nद्वयेऽपि द्वयम्<\/font>
\n: the pair in the pair. <\/font>
\nअपि <\/font>
\n is here little more than
\nemphatic.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nनिक्षेप<\/font>
\n: a deposit on trust.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n                             <\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n Page <\/font>
\n\u2013 321<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SKELETON NOTES ON THE KUMARASAMBHAVAM   CANTO Five   1. Thus by Pinaka’s wielder burning the mind-born before her eyes, baffled of her soul’s desire,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-the-harmony-of-virtue-volume-03","wpcat-4-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}