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

140 VĀSAVADATTĀ posture⟩ as Rāma ⟨bound Rāvaṇa⟩¹; another ² clove ⟨hell⟩ as Kṛṣṇa ³ clove ⟨Naraka⟩; a third had ⟨hearing, speech, and sight⟩ destroyed as the textbook of the Buddhists ⟨rejects tradition, precept, and doctrine⟩; a fourth was ⟨surrounded with corpses⟩ as a heretical mendicant is ⟨wrapped with matting⟩⁴; a fifth, fearing ⟨utter defeat⟩, plunged into the water ⁵ as Suyōdhana, fearing the ⟨breaking of his thigh⟩, plunged into the water⁵; a sixth breathed for a long time on a couch of ⟨pen-reed grass⟩ as Bhīṣma ⁶ breathed for a long time on a couch of ⟨arrows⟩; [298] a seventh ⟨lost his strength⟩ as Karṇa, terrified in every limb,⁷ ⟨released his spear⟩.⁸ Then, with its banners destroyed, its standards tumbling, its fallen bows and chowries injured, and its swords slipping, the army met destruction.⁹ 'Straightway,¹⁰ when the ascetic whose hermitage that was had come with flowers and the like, and had learned of the event, I was cursed by him with the words: "My hermitage hath been broken down because of thee; therefore become stone "¹¹! [299] And gradually, perceiving poor me suffering much distress, he ¹² ⟨constellations⟩ as an evil man hides the path of the ⟨good⟩'; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit this clause. ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'and straightway one.' ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'Nārāyaṇa'; for the allusion cf. Harivaṁśa, 120. ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'a fourth had his body ⟨surrounded with corpses⟩ as a heretical mendicant has his body ⟨wrapped with matting⟩; a fifth, ⟨drunken⟩, fell like ⟨Surāpa⟩ (Srirangam text, 'the Brāhman Surāpa').' The details of the legend of Surāpa are as yet unknown. ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'water of a pool.' ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'dying Bhīṣma.' ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'with his limbs terrified.' ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add 'another slew ⟨them that caused shouting⟩ as Raghu's scion [Rāma] slew ⟨Rāvaṇa⟩.' ⁹ Tel. ed., 'then, with impotent banners, with tumbling standards, and with the daggers of the soldiers of the armies bent, both entire armies mutually proceeded to slaughter'; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'and then.' ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'had learned of the event through his yōga sight, being angered that "this my hermitage hath been broken down because of thee [Vāsa- vadattā]," I was cursed with the words: "Become a stone image"!' The folk-tale motif is that of the Bluebeard cycle of punishment in consequence of a violation of tabu (see MacCulloch, Childhood of Fiction, pp. 306-324, London, 1905). ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'then gradually, out of kindness,—"for this unhappy