लौकिकानां हि साधूनाम् अर्थं वागनुवर्तते ।
ऋषीणां पुनराद्यानां वाचम् अर्थोऽनुधावति ॥
laukikānāṁ hi sādhūnām arthaṁ vāg anuvartate |
ṛṣīṇāṁ punar ādyānāṁ vācam artho’nudhāvati ||
(Uttara-rāma-carita of Bhavabhūti; Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“The speech of ordinary adepts [i.e., kavis] follows the object [they describe], whereas the object runs after the speech of the original ṛṣis.”
Commentary
Ordinary poets and experts describe the nature of objects they perceive, whereas the speech of ṛṣis itself manifests the objects perceived by everyone else throughout the universe, that is, the universe manifests from the eternal words of the ṛṣis in the Vedas and specific events within time manifest when willed and spoken by the ṛṣis, as in the instances of them granting boons.