[Advaita-l] PDF of a Sanskrit booklet 'Kapyaasa-kaumudee'

[V Subrahmanian]

PDF of a Sanskrit booklet 'Kapyaasa-kaumudee'

In the Chandogya Upanishad 1.6.7 is the passage in connection with the
upasana of Brahman with attributes:

तस्य यथा कप्यासं पुण्डरीकमेवमक्षिणी तस्योदिति नाम स एष सर्वेभ्यः पाप्मभ्य
उदित उदेति ह वै सर्वेभ्यः पाप्मभ्यो य एवं वेद ॥ ७ ॥

7.   Sa is the white radiance of the sun, ama is its blue intense
darkness; thus they (the radiance and the darkness) are  designated as
Sama.  Now, the golden person who is seen in the sun, who has a  golden
beard and golden hair, who is golden to the very tips of  his nails-his
eyes are like a lotus flower, red as the rump of a  monkey.  His name is
Ut, for he has risen (udita) above all evil. He, too,  who knows this rises
above all evil.
//His eyes are like a lotus flower, red as the rump of a  monkey.  //
तस्य एवं सर्वतः सुवर्णवर्णस्याप्यक्ष्णोर्विशेषः । कथम् ? तस्य यथा कपेः
मर्कटस्य आसः कप्यासः ; आसेरुपवेशनार्थस्य करणे घञ् ; कपिपृष्ठान्तः
येनोपविशति ; कप्यास इव पुण्डरीकम् अत्यन्ततेजस्वि एवम् देवस्य अक्षिणी ;
उपमितोपमानत्वात् न हीनोपमा ।
For the highlighted sentence about the eyes of the upasya Brahman,
Shankara, in the commentary, has clearly stated that since the
monkey-rump's red color is a simile for the lotus and thereafter the lotus
is a simile for the eyes of Ishwara, it is not a case of heenopamaa, a very
lowly simile.
However, despite this straightforward clarification by Shankara, there has
been a charge against him from the Ramanuja school for having
'misinterpreted' the shruti passage resulting in an act of 'sacrilege'!!.
They have resorted to taking an etymological meaning (yougikaartha) for the
word 'kapyasam' to avoid its natural meaning, in opposition to the
'rUDhyarthya' that Shankaracharya has resorted to.  There is a general
acceptance that between the two, the 'rUDhyartha' is stronger. In the
Valmiki Ramayana there is a comparison of the color of the chandana that
Rama applied to his body to the color of the blood of a pig.
2014007a वराहरुधिराभेण शुचिना च सुगन्धिना

2014007c अनुलिप्तं परार्ध्येन चन्दनेन परंतपम्

Rama was sitting on a richly covered golden couch, well adorned and
anointed with precious, pure, fragrant red sandal  paste the colour of
which appeared like the blood of a hog. With Sita standing by his side
with a fan of yak's tail in her hand Rama, the tormentor of foes,
looked like the Moon united with (the star) Chitra.

Hog meaning:  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hog

us a pig <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pig>,
especially <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/especially>
one that is allowed
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/allow> to grow
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/grow> large
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/large> so that it
can be eaten <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/eaten>

uk a male <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/male>
pig <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pig> with its
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/its> sexual
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sexual> organs
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/organ> removed
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/removed>, kept
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/kept> for its
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/its> meat
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/meat>


The Govindaraja commentary says: वराहरुधिरमतिरक्तवर्णमिति प्रस्तिद्धं
तत्सदृशेन कुंकुममिश्रतया इति भावः | [The blood of a pig is well known
for its excessively red color. (The sandal paste that Rama applied on
His body) was akin to it (in color).]

The Tilaka commentary too does not say anything different.


From the Govindaraja commentary we understand: the chandana is red in
color. The redness is due to the kumkuma mixed to the chandana. The
redness of the kumkuma is akin to the redness of the blood of the
varaha.

In the above context here is a small booklet, by name
'kapyaasa-kaumudee' authored by late Mahamahopadhyaya Polagam Rama
Sastry and published in 1925 in Kerala. The pdf of the book, in
Sanskrit, is available for download here:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/y0c0cockd68e780/Kapyasa_Kaumudi_Rama_Shastri_Ed._Sankara_Subrahmanya_Sastry_1925.pdf/file

The objective of uploading the file is to merely let readers have an idea
of how such issues are handled by scholars.  Reading such works enhances
our understanding of the various disciplines such as vyakarana, alankara,
kavya, nyaya, purva mimamsa, vedanta, etc.
Om Tat Sat
subbu