This is a thread to show the incredible flexibility of our देवभाषा।
Let us look at an example from one of the greatest poets, Bhasa who literally plays with the language..generating multiple meanings on the fly
Pancharatram is a Mahabharata based play by Bhasa involving Pandavas & Kauravas
The first stanza goes thus
द्रोणः पृथिव्यर्जुनभीमदूतो
यः कर्णधारः शकुनीस्वरस्य
दुर्योधनो भीष्मयुधिष्ठिरः स
पायाद् विराडुत्तरगौऽभिमन्युः।
For those who find it difficult to read Samskritam with Sandhi, the terms in the invocatory verse are
द्रोण – पृथिवी – अर्जुन – भीम – दूत – य – कर्ण – धार – शकुनी – ईश्वर – दुर्योधन – भीष्म – युधिष्ठिर – स – पायाद् – विराड् – उत्तरग – अभिमन्यु
The नान्दी or the invocatory verse apparently says this
However, at first read, the verse seems to just list out the names of a bunch of dramatis personae! In fact no less than 12 of them!
Drona-Krishna-Arjuna-Bhima-Virata-Karna-Shakuni-Duryodhana-Bhishma-Yudhishtir-Abhimanyu-Virata’s Son-Virata’s cows
How is it possible to generate multiple meanings with the same words and phrases?
How is the poet able to do this?
Lets take a look at a master’s amazing ability to convey multiple meanings in संस्कृतम्!
Poets typically give a hint of what’s to come in the introductory verse.
This is termed ‘mudra’ – सूच्यार्थसूचनं मुद्रा प्रकृतार्थपरै पदैः।
Here Bhasa goes all out with शब्दश्लेषः (puns) in the mudra to generate multiple layers of meanings.
The poet Bhasa creates an appropriate invocation while also signaling the names of various characters who are going to come in his play!
He does his magic while making sure ‘meaning’ is appropriate & also fully in a meter – Vasantatilaka!
Talk about skills
Lets break it up
द्रोण- also means black. द्रोणकाकः। Hence कृष्णः
अर्जुनभीमदूतः – messenger to Arjuna & Bhima
कर्ण- also means rudder/helm कर्णधार- one who controls
शकुनी- also means a bird शकुनीश्वर – king of birds (Garuda)
दुर्योधन – means a warrior difficult to vanquish. Hence Krishna
भीष्मयुधिष्ठिर are used as adjectives for Krishna here
भीष्म – terrible when offended
युधिष्ठिर – one who is steady in fighting
विराज् – to shine विविधं राजभानत्वाद् विराट्
उत्तरगः – doing the best thing / going to the best
अभिमन्यु – who goes towards a sacrifice
So the full meaning of the invocation is
So the master poet has used शब्दश्लेषः to not only convey a wonderful invocation, but also listed out the multiple character names in his work!
The source material: Pancharatra edited by Shivaram Paranjape
Samskritam is a wonderful language If you can’t access it to enjoy the vast riches, then you are missing something भोः।
पठतु संस्कृतम्। जयतु भारतम्।
प्वालसंस्कृतभाण्डारम्। PvaalSamskritam 