The Mangala Verse of the Nyayasiddhanta-muktavali
Summary
The article examines the Mangala verse of the Nyayasiddhanta-muktavali, focusing on a dispute between Ramarudra Bhattacarya and Mahadeva Bhatta regarding a poetic blemish called samdptapunardtta. The verse in question addresses Lord Siva as the one who makes the moon his crest-jewel and Vasuki his armlet, and as an expert in the Tandava dance. Ramarudra argues that the verse is faulty because the term lilatandavapandita, an adjective, is added after the sentence is completed, constituting the defect. Mahadeva Bhatta, author of the commentary Dmakari, disagrees, asserting that lilatandavapandita is itself a visesya (substantive) and not an adjective. He further argues that the clause provides the logical reason for Siva's adornments, making the sentence incomplete without it. The author uses this debate to illustrate the interdisciplinary nature of Sanskrit sastras, where Alamkarasastra develops the concept of poetic blemish based on Nyayasastra principles, and a Nyaya expert applies that logic to analyze poetry. The article explains that samdptapunardtta arises when a speaker adds a qualification after the subject-predicate relationship is fully understood, which is an after-thought. It references the Naiyayikas' three conditions for a sentence: dkanksa (expectancy), yogyata (compatibility), and samdhi (proximity). The defect arises from the second type of dkanksa, utthapyakdnksa (occasioned by after-thought). An example from Mammata's work is provided to show a sentence where the last clause is an after-thought. The article concludes that logical completion is necessary in poetry, and the Mangala verse is free from the defect because the final clause fulfills the expectancy by explaining the reason for Siva's decorations.
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Conclusion
This analysis demonstrates the profound interdisciplinary nature of Sanskrit śāstras, revealing how Alamkāraśāstra developed its concept of poetic blemish through the principles of Nyāyaśāstra, subsequently utilized by a Nyāya expert. The central debate between Rāmarudra and Mahādeva Bhaṭṭa over the *samdptapunardatta* blemish in Visvanātha’s *Nyāyasiddhāntamuktāvalī* illustrates that the flaw is rooted in logical completion rather than mere grammatical structure. Rāmarudra’s rigid application of Nyāya logic to identify a fault is effectively countered by Mahādeva’s cogent argument that the concluding clause "līlātaṇḍavapandita" is not an after-thought but a necessary logical explanation for the Lord’s adornments. This resolution underscores that a verse is only defective if an addition creates unnecessary expectancy; when it fulfills a logical necessity, as here, the blemish is avoided, highlighting the seamless integration of logical theory into literary criticism.