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Wordplay

Classical Sanskrit literature can abound in puns (slesa). Such parono- masia, or wordplay, is raised to a high art; rarely is it a cliche. Multiple meanings merge (slisyanti) into a single word or phrase. Most common are pairs of meanings, but as many as ten separate meanings are attested. To mark the parallel senses in the English, as well as the punning original in the Sanskrit, we use a slanted font (different from italic) and a triple colon (⋮) to separate the alternatives. E.g.

It is right that poets should fall silent upon hearing the Kadamba- ri, for the sacred law rules that recitation must be suspended when the sound of an arrow ⋮ the poetry of Bana is heard.

(Someshvara·deva’s “Moonlight of Glory” 1.15)