Literature

169. Bakabandhana-nyāya

Capturing the crane. Someone asked the strategy to capture a crane. The strategist suggests the following: “Keep a lump of butter on the crane’s head. The butter would melt due to the sun, flowing over the eyes, making its eyes useless. Then it would stay in the same place immobile. Then one can easily catch it!”
How would you place the lump of butter on its head without catching it?
This nyāya illustrates the futility of such convoluted and stupid schemes.

157. Piśācanāṃ piśācabhāṣayaivottaraṃ deyam

To make the piśācas understand, we should converse in their own language (piśācabhāṣā). They wouldn’t understand Kannada or Sanskrit! “For the wicked, punishment is the ultimate cure, there is no use in trying to pacify them” Other nyāyas like ‘yakṣānurūpo baliḥ’ or ‘śaṭhaṃ prati śāṭhyam’ also have similar import.

विशेषणात्येतानि कर्तृकर्मादिकारकसापेक्षमपि विवेक्तुं शक्यन्ते। यद्यपि षट्स्वपि कारकेषु विवेचनस्य साध्यतास्ति, तथापि प्रयोगबाहुल्यात् कर्तृकर्मगतानि विशेषणानि प्रामुख्यं भजन्ते। क्वचित् करणाधिकरणगतान्यपि विशेषणानि दृश्यन्ते। सम्प्रदानापादानकारकगतानि विशेषणानि प्रायो न सन्तीत्येव वक्तव्यम्। अतः कर्तृकर्मकरणाधिकरणसम्बद्धान्येव विशेषणान्यत्र सनिदर्शनं प्रस्तूयन्ते॥

147. Paṅkaprakṣālana-nyāya

Paṅka means marshy waters, prakṣālana means to cleanse. Why would one put their hands in the marsh and then cleanse it? It is better to not touch it at all.   There is a verse in Pañcatantra:-

धर्मार्थं यस्य वित्तेहा वरं तस्य निरीहता ।
प्रक्षालनाद्धि पङ्कस्य दूरादस्पर्शनं वरम् ॥

इह जगति कालिदासस्य प्रतिष्ठा बहुविधा जागर्ति। तत्काव्यरचनाचातुरीमनुलक्ष्य तमुपमाकविं रसेश्वरं वैदर्भगिरामावासं च सहेतुकं समामनन्ति सङ्ख्यावन्तः। सकलमिदं स्वागतार्हमेव। परमत्र कटाक्षितान् गुणानतिरिच्य काचिदन्या विच्छित्तिश्चकास्ति कविकुलगुरोः काव्यनिर्मितौ, या तदीयं विशेषणवैशिष्ट्यमनुधावति॥

After Kālidāsa, Bhāravi is perhaps the only poet who steered the ship of Sanskrit narrative poetry along a new route. Successive poets merely followed his lead. Known for investing words with profound meaning, Bhāravi has given some remarkable insights into poetics in his work, Kirātārjunīyam. Unsurprisingly, these insights mainly relate to the clarity and gravitas of poetic content. Let us examine this in some detail.

Yudhiṣṭhira allays Bhīma’s excitement and appreciates his eloquence^[1]:

138. Na hi svato'satī śaktiḥ kartumanyena śakyate

It is impossible to impart some power which we don’t have in the first place. Milk has the inherent capacity of turning into curds. It is evident. The sour buttermilk is the base. If the milk didn’t have that inherent capability in the first place then it would have been impossible to turn it into curds. You can’t turn water or air into curds.

ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳ ಪೌರಾಣಿಕ ಪರ್ಯಾವರಣವನ್ನು ಪುಷ್ಟಿಗೊಳಿಸುವಂತೆ ಅನೇಕ ಪ್ರಸಂಗಗಳು ರೂಪಿತವಾಗಿವೆ. ರುದ್ರಸಾಕ್ಷಾತ್ಕಾರ, ಆಪೋದೇವಿಯರ ದರ್ಶನ, ತ್ರಿಶಂಕುವಿನ ದಿವ್ಯದೇಹನಿರ್ಮಾಣ (‘ಮಹಾಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ’), ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಹತ್ಯೆಯ ಪಾಪವನ್ನು ವೃಕ್ಷ, ಸ್ತ್ರೀ, ನದಿ ಮತ್ತು ಭೂಮಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚುವುದು ಹಾಗೂ ವೃತ್ರಾಸುರನು ಪಂಚಭೂತಗಳನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು (‘ಮಹಾಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯ’), ಆದಿತ್ಯನು ಕುದುರೆಯ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾಜ್ಞವಲ್ಕ್ಯನಿಗೆ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು, ಪಂಚಭೂತಗಳ ಸಾಕ್ಷಾತ್ಕಾರ, ಕುಲಪತಿ ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನರಿಗೆ ಶ್ರುತಿಭಗವತಿ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಕ್ಷಳಾಗುವುದು (‘ಮಹಾದರ್ಶನ’) ಮುಂತಾದ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶಗಳು ಕಲ್ಪಿತವಾದರೂ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ನಡೆದಿದ್ದಿರಬೇಕೆಂದು ಓದುಗರಿಗೆ ತೋರುವ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಅಧಿಕೃತವಾಗಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡಿವೆ. ಇವುಗಳ ಸಾಂಕೇತಿಕ ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯವೂ ಹಿರಿದು.

130. Na hi bhikṣuko bhikṣukāntaraṃ yācitumarhati satyanyasminnabhikṣuke

When there is someone who isn’t a beggar in the vicinity one beggar shouldn’t beg from another beggar! When there are wealthy and charitable patrons the beggar should ask from them. What use is asking another beggar who lives on other people’s mercy?
The import is, A dependent should relate himself to someone who is independent rather than to another dependent who is in a similar situation.

123. Naṭasāmājika-nyāya