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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 101 parched grain ¹ roasted in the pan ² of the vast surface ³ of the sky, that was excessively heated by the evening breeze and smoky with the smoke ⁴ of rising dusk. With them the sky shone as if turned to a leper.⁵ Exceed- ingly distressed ⁶ was the pair of cakravākas, filled with a series of ⟨deep ⁷ sighs⟩ and skilled in the joining of «bills in delightful contact» as the diction of a good poet ⁸ is filled with a series of ⟨long ⁹ chapters⟩ and skilled in the joining of «delightful paronomasias and vaktra metres».¹⁰ [185] Separated was the pair of Brahminy ducks, whose feet were variegated by swarms of bees delighted and intoxicated by the honey-drops that adhered from their course through the clusters ¹¹ of lotuses, and who were parted by the incarnate curse ¹² of darkness as if by the noose ¹³ of Death. [186] The pair of Brahminy ducks was parted like the heart of a lotus, distressed by separation from the sun. A swarm of bees was seen moving beside a lotus as if they were the mes- sengers of the husband moon about to come. Under the guise of stars ¹⁴ the quarters of the sky made lamentation with great drops of tears,¹⁵ as if in grief for the departed Lord of Day.¹⁶ Under the guise of its series of new filaments the lotus burned within the heart of its bud like a fire of chaff ¹⁷ at separation from its shining love. ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘parched grain bursted.’ ² Tel. ed., ‘kitchen.’ ³ Srirangam text omits ‘vast surface.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. omits ‘with the smoke.’ ⁵ According to a reading recorded by Śivarāma, ‘with them the sky shone as if spotted.’ ⁶ Srirangam text, ‘then exceedingly distressed.’ ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘very deep.’ ⁸ Tel. ed., ‘good poetry.’ ⁹ Tel. ed., ‘very long.’ ¹⁰ See Weber, Ueber die Metrik der Inder, p. 199, Berlin, 1863; Tel. ed., ‘parono- masias, vaktra metres, and cakras’ (the latter being a carmen figuratum in the form of a disc; cf. Kāvyaprakāśa, tr. Jhā, p. 197, Benares, 1898; Vidagdhamukhamandana, 3. 12–15, ed. Haeberlin in his Kāvyasangraha, pp. 290–291, Calcutta, 1847). ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘clusters.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘being parted as if by the curse.’ ¹³ Yama, the god of death, is believed to draw the souls of the dying from their bodies by means of a noose or cord. ¹⁴ Tel. ed., ‘under the guise of drops of water from the eyes of the stars’; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘with great drops of tears.’ ¹⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the departed beloved of the Lord of Day.’ ¹⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the chaff fire of the flame of grief burned in the heart of the lotus.’