Rasarnavasudhakara 2.337.p2

2.337.p2

atra varṇanīyatayā uttama-rāvaṇaṃ prati devendrasya (bhītatva-varṇanāt) madhyamatvaṃ (eveti tasya uttamatvaṃ katham iti) nāśaṅkanīyam | yataḥ prakṛtir eva kāraṇaṃ puṃsām uttamatve | na tu varṇanā | varṇanāyāḥ kāraṇatve priyeṇa tasyānaparādha-bādhitāḥ (māghe 1.61) ity ādibhiḥ augryādi-bhāva-kathanam (varṇanīyatayā) uttamasya rāvaṇasya nocitaṃ syāt | tasmād uttama-prakṛter api devendrasya lokātirikta-vara-prabhāva-bhīṣaṇād rāvaṇād bhayam upapadyate |

Here, it should not be suspected: ‘How can Indra have superior status, since he is described as being a middling character because of the description of his fear toward Rāvaṇa, who is being described as superior?’ For natural character alone is the cause of people's superior status, not a [poet's] description. If description were the cause, then stating emotions such as fierceness toward Rāvaṇa, who is superior as the object of description, by lines like “afflicted without fault by that darling…” (Śiśupālavadha 1.61) would be inappropriate. Therefore, fear on the part of Indra, even though he is of superior character, is logically justified toward Rāvaṇa because of his being terrifying through the power of a superhuman boon.