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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 127 mass of its exceedingly active waves,¹ the God ² that hath the short axe upraised by his staff-like arm ³ in his revel dance ; [267] with its edges charming because of lines of foam that seemed to be the emblems of Ocean’s ⁴ victory ; that resembled delight- ful ⁵ clusters of sloughs of the family of Śēṣa ⁶ ; masses of atoms, as it were, of the remnants of the moon ⁷ ; streams of cosmetic, in all seeming, for the sport of Lakṣmī ; like to bits of the sandal paste of the sea nymphs ⁸ ; a second heaven, so to speak, come down to earth under the guise of a sea ; tempting the birds, as with pearls, by masses of drops of rising spray ⁹ ; with its bays filled with mountains of many winged creatures ¹⁰ that had come to seek security ; dug by hundreds ¹¹ of the sons of Sagara ¹² ; with uprooted coral-trees ¹³ ; a mine of beautiful gems and jewels ; filled with hosts of ¹⁴ monkeys and dolphins ; [268] with multi- tudes of crocodiles roving about in their desire for mouthfuls of shoals of śakulas ¹⁵ ; filled with restless timingilas ¹⁶ ; with thickets of carambolas, cloves, and citrons swaying in the tide (and) rocked

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¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘on account of its shore being lashed by an abundance of exceedingly active water.’ ² Śiva. ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘many staff-like arms.’ ⁴ Srirangam text, ‘Varuṇa’s.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘delightful.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘like consorts of ambrosia ; sisters uterine, so to say, of light.’ ⁷ Srirangam text, ‘disc of the moon’ ; Tel. ed., ‘a series of atoms, as it were, of the disc of the moon.’ The date of the composition of the Vāsavadattā forbids us to see in the mention of the moon (śaśāṅka) a reference to the Gauḍa king Śaśāṅka against whom Harṣa made war (Harṣacarita, tr. Cowell and Thomas, pp. x, 275, London, 1896 ; Ettinghausen, Harṣa Vardhana, empereur et poète de l’Inde septentrionale, pp. 10, 38, 42, Paris, 1906 ; cf. also above, Introduction, p. 10). ⁸ Tel. ed., ‘seeming to hold a mirror.’ ⁹ Tel. ed., ‘like to bits of the unguent of camphor streams on the bosoms of the sea-nymphs.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘a second heaven, so to speak, come down to earth ; tempting the birds, as with pearls, by masses of spray rising from the pellucid water.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the host.’ ¹² Cf. Mahābhārata, 3. 106–109. ¹³ Tel. ed., ‘with coral-trees beautified by the mouths of mussels’ ; Srirangam text, ‘with a mass of water going to the submarine fire ; with the coral-tree won by Indra.’ ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘hosts of.’ ¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘flocks of birds.’ ¹⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘filled with motionless whales and timingilas.’