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

136 VĀSAVADATTĀ the songs¹ of happy² female guardians of the rice; with dead yūthikā-jasmines³; with faded Malabar jasmine-buds; a kinsman to the bandhūka; with beauty born; putting to confusion the bow of Sutrāman⁴; with the ten quarters (of the sky) yellowed by masses⁵ of the pollen of the smiling saffron; [289] (and) with blossoming lotuses⁶;—(then) Kandarpakētu, wandering about, seeing a stone image, and saying with curiosity, frenzy, and the agitation of grief, ‘This is like my beloved,’ touched it with his hand.⁷ Then she, simply being touched,⁸ again⁹ assumed the form of Vāsavadattā, leaving her stony state. Perceiving her, Kandar- pakētu, as if plunged in a sea of nectar, asked her, embracing her long: ‘Dear Vāsavadattā, tell me what this is’! Being addressed, and sighing long and fervently, she began to tell¹⁰: ‘“Having left his kingdom, alone, (and) like a common man,¹¹ my lord of great good fortune hath borne woe beyond word or thought for the sake of ill-fortuned me, the undeserving. [290] Now, very emaciated through fasting and the like, my lord maketh his food roots, fruits, and so forth”—thus thinking, I went a distance of some nalvas to look for fruit, seeing the trees of a grove.¹² And in an instant I perceived the camp of an army with ¹ Srirangam text, ‘by hearing the songs.’ ² Srirangam text omits ‘happy.’ ³ Srirangam text omits ‘with dead . . . beauty born.’ ⁴ Srirangam text, ‘Śatamakha’; in both cases Indra is meant. ⁵ Srirangam text omits ‘masses.’ ⁶ Srirangam text adds ‘a kinsman to the bandhūka.’ ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘Kandarpakētu, wandering about here and there, (and) seeing a stone image, touched it with his hand’; similarly the Srirangam text. For instances of turning into stone in modern Indian folk-tales see Knowles, Folk-tales of Kashmir, 2 ed., pp. 191–196, 401–403 (and literature there cited), London, 1893; Frere, Old Deccan Days, 2 ed., pp. 77–78, London, 1870; Natesa Sastri, Dravidian Nights, p. 85, Madras, 1886; and for a touch restoring to life see Kādambarī, p. 637, Bombay ed., 1890 (tr. Ridding, p. 206, London, 1896). Cf. also Gray, ‘Literary Studies on the Sanskrit Novel,’ in WZKM. 18. 53–54. The fortunes of Vāsavadattā after leaving her home show, it should be noted, a blending of the Bluebeard (violated tabu) and Sleeping Beauty cycles of folk-tales. ⁸ Tel. ed., ‘simply being seen.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘again.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed., ‘Kandarpakētu, embracing her tightly, asked: “Dear Vāsavadattā, what is this”? She replied’; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘like a wanderer.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘“thou being distressed by thirst through fasting and