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

45 [2] Victorious is divine Sarasvatī, Who aideth bards of keen and nimble wit To see the world, as 'twere a jujube-fruit, Lying within the hollow of their hands. Victorious, too, is Hari, resting now, The while he smileth on the shepherd lads Whose upraised arms bend ¹ 'neath the awful weight Of their vast burden; yet cry unto him: ‘Ah, weary art thou, let the mountain be; We will sustain it, Kṛṣṇa, lord of all’! [3] May he ² whose waist is girded keep you safe, Yea, he whose serried furrows brightly shine; E'en while the zone he hath too tightly drawn Doth work distraction by its beauteousness.³ [4] Victorious is the god ⁴ whose crescent gleams Like to a silvern pearl by Umā set ⁵ Upon his brow, when from his blazing eye She gathereth the black collyrium. How blessèd are those souls beneficent Who work the weal of others, for to them The moon that openeth the lotus-buds Doth give a twofold meed of radiance ⁶! [5] The wise say sooth: ‘More loathsome than a snake Is he whose soul is filled with wickedness’: The serpent ⟨hateth the ichneumon tribe⟩, But leaves his brethren safe; while knavish folk With venomed tongues ⟨destroy their nearest kin⟩.⁷ ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘arms bent in vain.’ ² Kṛṣṇa. ³ Tel. ed. interchanges this stanza with the one following. ⁴ Śiva. ⁵ Srirangam text, against the metre, adds ‘upon his head. ⁶ Translated in Böhtlingk, Indische Sprüche, 2 ed., No. 4552, St. Petersburg, 1870–1873. ⁷ Böhtlingk, op. cit. No. 6214. The stanza is still popular in Mithila (see Grierson,