224. ABHINAVAGUPTA'S THEORY OF MEANING 249

ABHINAVAGUPTA'S THEORY OF MEANING 249

The following illustration will make the point clear :-

"Upodha rāgeņa vilolatārakam Tathā grhītam śaśinā niśāmukham Yathā Samastam timirāmśukam tayā Puropi rāgād galitam na Lakșitam."

Here most of the words have got double meaning as the following table will show :-- Upodharāgeņa. (i) Ruddy (ii) Loving. Vilolatārakam. (i) With twinkling stars. (ii) With tremulous eyes. Grhitam. (i) Illumined. (ii) Caught to kiss. Niśāmukham. (i) The commencement of night. (ii) Red-lotus-like face. Samastam. (i) Mixed. (ii) The whole. Timirāmśukam (i) Light and darkness. (ii) Thin dark garment. Purah. (i) In the East. (ii) In the front. Rāgāt. (i) After the twilight. (ii) Because of love. Galitam. (ii) Ended or subdued. (ii) Dropped. It is a description of the rise of full moon in all her glory in a clear evening. Ordinarily the approach of night is marked by two distinct stages. (i) twilight and (ii) dusk. But the beauty of the lines, under discussion, consists in their presentation of a poetic vision that just when the evening was ruddy with the rays of the sun below the horizon and a few stars had just begun twinkling, the moon arose so clear in all her brightness that the darker 32