वासवदत्ता (महाकवि सुबन्धु - श्लेष-प्रधान शास्त्रीय गद्यकाव्य सान्वय सटीक)

94 VĀSAVADATTĀ Hearing this, Kandarpakētu, being above all joy ¹ as if plunged in the ocean of ambrosia, rising slowly ² with both his arms out- stretched, embraced Tamālikā. Then, asking her ³ the entire story of Vāsavadattā,—‘What does she do? What does she say? How is she’? and the like—Kandarpakētu set forth, having passed the night there, and likewise the day.⁴ [165] Meanwhile even that Blessed One whose garland is rays had descended to the middle world as if to tell the ⁵ story. Then into the water of the western sea sank the jewel of day, having the form of the disc in the crest of the cock of day; moving slowly, as if because of the grief brought upon multitudes ⁶ of Brahminy ducks ; charming with clusters of the flowers of the coral-tree ⁷; possessed of the loveliness of the frontal lobes of Indra’s elephant, splashed with red lead ⁸; with a circlet like unto an earring of the jewel in the hood of the monstrous Vāsuki, undulating beneath the bond of the mass ⁹ of tangled locks of Śiva, shaken by the impetuous motion of his revel dance; [166] delightful as a mass ¹⁰ of succulent barley to a bulling cow at evening ¹¹; with the beauty of a ruddy ¹² jewelled earring of a courtesan of the west ¹³; formed like the rounded shoulder of the buffalo of day, cloven by the sword of blackness ¹⁴; [167] the Black Ascetic’s begging-bowl, as it were, filled with honey ¹⁵; seeming to be the beauty of the clouds with clusters of unfading ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘deeming himself, as it were, above all joy.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘very slowly.’ ³ Srirangam text, ‘and then, sitting with her, he asked her.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘Kandarpakētu, with her and his friend, set forth from that place, having passed the day exactly there.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘this.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘hearts.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘coral-tree of the western mount.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘coloured with a line of red lead.’ ⁹ Tel. ed., ‘in the hood of monstrous undulating Vāsuki, bound in the diadem of the mass’; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁰ Srirangam text, ‘dish.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘delightful as a moist line of lac to a woman at evening.’ ¹² Tel. ed. omits ‘ruddy.’ ¹³ Srirangam text, ‘earring of Varuṇa’s darling.’ ¹⁴ Is there here a covert allusion to the victory of Kālī (Durgā) over the demon Mahiṣa? ¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the skull, filled with sweet honey, of the Celestial Ascetic.’