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वक्त्रेण ते यदभिभूतमभूत्सरोजं तन्नाभिभूतमिति शब्दमवाप्य नूनम् ।
शब्दच्छलादपनिनीषु जनापवादं नाभेरभूत् तव रमाधिप विश्रुतायाः ॥८३॥
T: Oh Lord Śrī Varadarāja, Consort of Devi Ramā, the lotus lost in the beauty contest to Your face ("Abhibhūta"). But to save its reputation, it resorted to Śabdacchala (hairsplitting arguments) and established its name as "arose from Your navel" or Nābhībhūta.
Explanation: In the Nyāyaśāstra (Sanskrit theory of logic), Śabdacchala has been defined as wilfully bending the meaning of an argument to achieve a more amenable meaning in one's favour. This form of debate can be illustrated thus. If we say, "this man is "Navakambala" or one who owns a new blanket, the opponent can bend its meaning by interpreting "Nava" as nine, and argue, "This man has not even two blankets, how can he be called "Navakambala" "? This is a classic example of "Navakambala".
In Sanskrit, "Abhibhūta" means defeated. So the lotus has been defeated by the Lord's handsome face in beauty. To reclaim its reputation, the lotus arose from the Lord's navel, and earned the sobriquet "Nābhībhūta". Śabdacchala was effective here since Nābhībhūta can also be split as Na+Abhibhūta="not defeated" as well as "born out of the navel". The poet displays much skill in using Śleṣa. This figure of speech is Hetūtprekṣālaṅkāra.
