Devadatta (Metaphor)
Bhagavata explains, “Comely in appearance, fair in colour, unrivalled in intelligence, Devadatta is the only son of the Revered Brahmin Vidyasagara. Having felled the mightiest pundits of the kingdom in debates on logic and love, having blinded the greatest poets of the world with his poetry and wit, Devadatta is as it were the apple of every eye in Dharmapura” (73-74). The metaphor of Devadatta as the "apple of every eye," which means he is highly esteemed (the idiom derived from "aperture," or pupil), is one that lets the reader/audience see that the residents in Dharmapura adulate Devadatta unconditionally due to his appealing attributes and intelligence. They consider him a source of pride for the entire city; his respect from the city dwellers is outstanding and unconditional.
Lives and Roads (Metaphor)
Bhagavata explains, “So the roads diverged. Kapila went into the forest and disappeared. He never saw Dharmapura again. In fact he never felt the wind of any city again. As for Devadatta and Padmini, they returned to Dharmapura and plunged into the joys of married life" (111). The metaphorical, poetic "roads" indicate the different courses which the lives of the two friends take. They aren't real roads per se, but two diverging lives—one with Padmini, one without; one in the city, one in the woods.
Padmini (Simile)
Devadatta is besotted with Padmini, and describes her beauty with a simile of light: she is "as stars before the moon, as the glow-worms before a torch" (83). She is the moon, so bright she dims the stars; she is a flaming torch, so bright she mutes the glow-worms. These similes show Devadatta' poetic tendencies and his esteem for Padmini.
Kapila (Metaphor)
Kapila is so overcome by Padmini's beauty and wit and sharp tongue that he moans, "I'm finished—decimated—powdered to dust—powdered into tiny specks of flour" (89). These metaphors of Kapila being ground down like flour or crushed into dust reveal how impressed and gobsmacked he is by this woman before him. He cannot muster any wit or repartee or command to deal with her, only weakly asking for her mother.
Padmini (Simile)
As with the above metaphor, Kapila is keenly aware of how witty and piquant and sassy Padmini is. He wonders if she is actually too much for the poetic Devadatta, thinking, "But this one is as fast as lightning—and as sharp" (90). Devadatta is a scholar, a poet, a rich man—perhaps the sensual and clever Padmini will overwhelm him, Kapila wonders—and she does.
