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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 49 save the ‹king›) ; there were ‹fire-tests and balance-tests› only in the case of different sorts of gold (for there were no ‹ordeals by fire or balance›¹) ; only jewels were ‹pierced by needles› (for there was no ‹disturbance by suggestive movements›) ; only in child-bearing ² was there rending with ‹griping pains› (for there was no rending by ‹impalement›) ; [21] ‹Duḥśāsana was known› only in the Bhārata ³ (for there was no ‹glimpse of evil instruc- tion›) ; the ‹sun's rays opened leaves› ⁴ only in the case of lotuses (for there was no ‹sawing asunder› ⁵). Though the Great Boar was intent on upholding the ‹earth›, yet he (Cintāmaṇi) clove ‹mountains›. Rāghava entered the forest with ‹Sītā› leaving his native land (but Cintāmaṇi entered the forest having his ‹native land›). Bharata had affection for Rāma, yet made ‹Rāma depart› from his kingdom (but Cintā- maṇi made ‹peace› in his kingdom). [22] When Nala was united to Damayantī it was a ‹marriage of one already wedded› (but Cintāmaṇi ‹regained his territory›). Pṛthu ‹levelled the earth by banishing the mountains› ⁶ (but Cintāmaṇi ‹covered the earth by sending forth his offspring› ⁷). There was, therefore, no reason to mention former kings.⁸ He, moreover, was another sort of monarch and had humbled all the princes on earth. Thus he was a mountain with a visible exaltation of ‹peak›, which never ceased to delight the «Gan- ¹ In the ordeal by balance the accused was twice weighed. If he was lighter at the second weighing than at the first, he was acquitted ; but if heavier, he was condemned. In the fire-ordeal the defendant was required to carry a heated metal pot a certain distance, and was adjudged innocent if his hands, which might be bound with leaves as a partial protection, remained unburned (see Jolly, Recht und Sitte, p. 145, Strassburg, 1896). ² Tel. ed., ‘in new (i.e. ‘first’) child-bearings of young women’; Srirangam text, ‘in child-bearings.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘in the Mahābhārata.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the opening of leaves of lotuses by the rays of the sun was the very utmost decree.’ ⁵ Cf. the Iranian legend of the sawing asunder of Yima by Spityura (Yašt, 19. 46). ⁶ Cf. Mahābhārata, 7. 69. ⁷ This rendering seems justified by the context and by the paronomasiac meanings of the words employed, although the commentary does not allude to the applicability of the passage to Cintāmaṇi. ⁸ Tel. ed. adds ‘but rather (there was occasion) of blame (of them).’ E