पतत्यस्रे सास्रा भवति पुलके जातपुलकाः
स्मिते भाति स्मेराः सुमलिमणि जाते सुमलिनाः ।
अनासाद्य स्वालीर्मुकुरमभिवीक्ष्य स्ववदनं
सुखं वा दुःखं वा किमपि कथनीयं मृगदृशः ॥
pataty asre sāsrā bhavati pulake jāta-pulakāḥ
smite bhāti smerāḥ sumalimaṇi jāte sumalināḥ |
anāsādya svālīr mukuram abhivīkṣya sva-vadanaṁ
sukhaṁ vā duḥkhaṁ vā kim api kathanīyaṁ mṛga-dṛśaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 3.54)
“O you all of doe-eyes, when your tears fall, they have tears [in their eyes]. When your horripilation occurs, horripilation arises in them. When you have a smile, they have smiles. When your severe dejection occurs, they become severely dejected. [But when] Not having met your own friends, what sort of happiness or sadness there is [expressed on your face] can be said [by you only] after looking at your own face in a mirror.”
Commentary
atra sūpasargeṇa mālinyātiśayo vyajyate, tena ca sakhīnāṁ praṇayādhikyam |
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha-vṛtti)
“Here, an exceedance of dejection is suggested by the prefix su [i.e., ‘severe’] [in the words sumalimaṇi and sumalināḥ]. By that also is a profusion of the sakhīs’ intimate love (praṇaya) [suggested].”
kadācid dholikotsave militānāṁ yūtheśvarīṇāṁ samājaṁ gatā vṛndā bhaṅgyā sakhīnāṁ premotkarṣa khyāpayituṁ kim api prastauti—patatīti | he mṛga-dṛśaḥ | yadā svālyaḥ sammukha-varttanyo na tiṣṭhanti tadaiva darpaṇam ānīya tatra pratibimbitaṁ sva-sva-mukhaṁ dṛṣṭvā mukhe’bhivyaktaṁ sukhaṁ vā duḥkhaṁ vā yuṣmābhir asmākam agre kathanīyam | ālyaś ced agravartinyas tadā darpaṇena kiṁ prayojanam tā eva darpaṇa-sthānīyāḥ | tāsāṁ darpaṇa-sādharmyam āha—patatīti | yuṣmākam aśru-jale patati sati tā api sāsrāḥ evambhūtāḥ svālīr anāsvādya aprāpya ||
(Subodhinī-ṭīkā)
“Once, having gone to a meeting of assembled yūtheśvarīs at a Holikā festival, Vṛndā with wit cleverly praises [sakhīs] to make known the excellence of sakhīs’ prema: patati … [i.e., she speaks this verse]. ‘O you all of doe eyes, when your own friends are not present in front of you, then specifically whether happiness or sadness is expressed on your face can be said by you all before us [only] by bringing a mirror and looking at your own reflected faces. When your friends are present before you, [however,] then what need is there of a mirror? They themselves are equal to mirrors [i.e., they reflect all the emotions on your face, and thus just by looking at their faces you can tell what emotion is expressed on yours].’ She describes their likeness to mirrors: patati … [i.e., she speaks the first half of the verse]. When all of your tears fall, they too have tears [in their eyes]. In this way, not having met (anāsvādya) your own friends … [you cannot say what expression is on your face without a mirror, whereas in the presence of your friends you can know the expression on your own face just by seeing theirs].”