Click on the image to open:
तौल्यं वदन्तु कवयस्तरुपल्लवानां मुग्धास्त्वदीयचरणेन मुकुन्द किं तैः ।
तान्येव तत्तदधरोष्ठमिषात्तदानीं कम्पं भजन्ति कथयन्ति किलात्मनैच्यम् ॥४१॥
T: Oh, Mukunda, i.e. Lord Śrī Varadarāja, some ignorant poets may attempt to compare tender shoots of creepers to Your feet. So what!? Those very tender shoots, knowing well how they are not worthy of being compared to Your feet, become the lips of people and constantly quiver, pretty much disclosing how they are quite inferior to Your feet in their tenderness or beauty!
Explanation: It is quite common for poets to compare tender and delicate feet to the tender shoots of creepers. The reason is the similar redness and softness. Therefore, some foolhardy poets do make that comparison, but the poet here rejects the simile. Those very tender shoots know the fact that they cannot be equated to the Lord's feet! We can sense this when we see those shoots take the shape of people's lips. The lips quiver during speech, a sure sign of expressing their inferiority and unworthiness for this comparison! The usage by the poet of the expression अधरोष्ठमिषात् Adharoṣṭhamiṣāt is a figure of speech called व्याज्यापह्नुति Vyājyāpahnuti.
