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

120 VĀSAVADATTĀ had been removed by the black fisherman casting his net ¹ of darkness in the great ocean of the sky; [250] when the mendicant expanded lotus grove, wearing vestments of red robes ² (and) bearing a book of a hundred leaves with reed threads of unevenly growing delicate lotus-fibres, seemed to pronounce his laws by the soft and very deep sounds of the bees,³ intoxicated by their heavy draughts in milking the drops of honey; when, like seeds of blackness, the bees were sown by the darkness, as by a hus- bandman, in the white lotuses with their fields of flowers, with their masses of pollen made mud by the juice of their honey, with their petals touched by the clouds under the guise of bees ⁴; [251] when the lotus ⁵ offered to the Lord whose garland is of rays ⁶ a mass of ⁷ incense, as it were, in the semblance of high- stalked white lotuses thronged with swarms ⁸ of bees with their pollen fire; when the moon ⁹ resembled a mortar whose interior had been destroyed by blows of the pestle of rising dawn, shaken by the two palms of his consort Night; when the hosts of stars had vanished like grain scattered in the threshing mortar; when the hosts of stars seemed to have flowers ¹⁰ expanded for the quarters of heaven that were bent like branches, and when the disc of the moon had fallen like fruit because of the monkey of day that, like the ruddy face ¹¹ of dawn, had climbed the tree of heaven; [252] when the cock of day, with the lovely appear- ance of the new crest ¹² of the glittering Aruṇa, had begun to traverse the court of heaven, variegated with the threshed grain ¹ Tel. ed., ‘launching his boat.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘red robes of twilight.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘by the delightful sounds of the bees.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘when, like masses of the seeds of blackness, the bees were sown in the fields of flowers, whose masses of pollen were made mud by the juice of their honey, the folds of whose petals were touched by the clouds.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘lotus hermitess.’ ⁶ The sun. ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘a mass of.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘filled with smoke of swarms.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘disc of the moon.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘an abundance of flowers.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘that, having the ruddy face.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘appearance of the crest of rays.’

of the host ¹ of stars ; when the district of Indra ² seemed to say with a laugh: ‘This Lord of the Twice-Born,³ increased by concourse with me, will fall ⁴ through union with the district of Varuṇa’⁵; when to his rising had climbed the sun,⁶ with his disc red, as it were, with streams of blood from the lordly elephant of darkness slain by the stroke of the paw ⁷ of a ruddy lion ; as if with streams of ruddle laved by the cataracts on the summit ⁸ of the mountain of the dawn ; with the lustre,⁹ so to say, of rubies cloven by the hard hoofs of lofty steeds ¹⁰ ; [253] flowing with blood, one might imagine, dripping from the heads of must elephants slain by the claws of lions ¹¹ ; with the beauty, to all appearance, of the China rose growing on the summit of the peak of the hill of dawn ; seemingly with the delightsome flavour of Him who gives prosperity ¹² to the affairs of the threefold world ; as if with his hand outstretched to seize the white lotuses ¹³ of the stars ; tawny with the saffron colour of a wanton beauty of the east ¹⁴ ; the jewel in the hood of the lordly serpent of the eastern mount ; the golden ¹⁵ bud in the sapphire-tree of heaven ; [254] the golden urn in the rampart ¹⁶ of the city of the sky ; like to a jar of molten iron ; a drop of safflower extract on the fore- head of the east ¹⁷ ; the single flower of the forest ¹⁸ creeper of

¹ Tel. ed. omits ‘of the host.’ ² The east. ³ The moon. ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘is falling.’ ⁵ The west, with a punning allusion to Lakṣmī, the wife of Varuṇa. ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the blessed sun.’ ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘by the fall of the hard claws.’ ⁸ Tel. ed., ‘streams from cataracts of ruddle on the summits.’ ⁹ Srirangam text, ‘dust.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘galloping steeds.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text transpose this after the following clause and make it read, ‘flowing with streams of blood, one might imagine, dripping from the heads of must elephants slain by the claws of lions of the eastern mount.’ ¹² Tel. ed., ‘red, as it were, with colour eager to prosper’; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the forest of the white lotuses.’ ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with rays tawny as saffron ; the golden mirror, as it were, of a wanton beauty of the east.’ ¹⁵ Tel. ed. omits ‘golden.’ ¹⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘an urn full of gold in the eastern door.’ ¹⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘a drop forming a sectarial mark of saffron set on the forehead of a damsel of the east.’ ¹⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘young.’

122 VĀSAVADATTĀ dawn ; like to a thread of cloth, red with Bengal madder, woven with threads of the colour of the dawn ; seeming to be the disc of a golden dinar of the east ; the magic globe, so to say, of the Vidyādhara of day ; even as the foot of a world-elephant, red with the colour of ruddle ; the thief of the darkness of night¹ ; when the young dawn was arising ruddy as a bit of fresh² coral ; like a chowry, dyed with Bengal madder,³ on an elephant of the quarters ; seeming to emit the blood of the battleground ⁴ of the Mahābhārata on the plains of Kuru ; [255] anointed, as it were, with the beauty of the bow of the Lord ⁵ of the Gods among them that split ⁶ the clouds ; simulating the red cloth in the huts ⁷ of Buddhist hermitages ; like to the colour of safflower in the streamers of banners ; the ripening of fruit, so to say, among the jujubes ; beauteous as a mass ⁸ of the saffron of ⁹ the courtyard of the mighty palace of the sky ; like the red entrance-curtain of the actor ¹⁰ Time ; and ¹¹ when the multitude of the rays of him whose rays are heat had suddenly become hot, as if from taking the burning grief of the hearts ¹² of the Brahminy ducks that were tremulous with gentle talk ; from the entrance, so to say, of majesty commingled with flame ¹³ ; from union, in all seeming, with the fire which is ¹⁴ the beauteous jewel of the lord of day ;— ¹ Tel. ed., 'like a ball of madder cloth ; the disc of a golden dinar, as it were, in the girdle of a beauty of the east, fastened with the ruddy threads of twilight ; ‹gathering the stars together› as Kumāra ‹destroyed Tāraka› ; with beautiful ‹lotuses› as the Lote- Born God [Viṣṇu] had beautiful ‹Padmā [Lakṣmī]› ; beloved of ‹Chāyā› as a traveller ‹delights in shade› ; being the ‹sun› as Indra is ‹Gōpati› ; even as the foot of a world- elephant, red with the colour of the ruddle of the eastern mount ; the thief of the darkness of dawn' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ² Tel. ed. omits 'fresh.' ³ Tel. ed., 'like a mass of Bengal madder.' ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'of the battleground.' ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'of the Lord.' ⁶ Tel. ed., 'hid.' The reference is, of course, to the victory of Indra over the cloud- demons. ⁷ Tel. ed., 'branches' ; Srirangam text, 'branches of the trees.' ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'mass of.' ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'in.' ¹⁰ Tel. ed., 'great actor.' ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'and.' ¹² Tel. ed., 'as if from taking the grief from the treasury of the hearts.' ¹³ Tel. ed., 'from the entrance, so to say, of burning splendour.' ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'the fire which is.'

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 123 (then,) unconscious because of the condition of his body, which was empty of food ¹ in consequence of his wakefulness all the night, wearied by roving over many hundred yōjanas,² [256] (and) with every sense benumbed, Kandarpakētu, being seized by slumber which came at that time,³ fell asleep together with Vāsavadattā, who was in the same condition, in a bower of creepers which was delightful with the hum of bees flitting about, infatuated and greedy ⁴ for the perfume of the flowers swayed by the gentle breeze. Thereupon, when the sun had climbed to noon,⁵ displaying the ‹sky› as a merchant displays his ‹cloth›; ‹lighting up every quarter of heaven› as a mighty forest fire ‹kindles all its fuel›,⁶ Kandarpakētu,⁷ perceiving, in some way or other, that the bower of creepers lacked his beloved, and starting up and [257] gazing here and there, now on the bushes,⁸ now between the creepers, now on the tree-tops, now in the hidden wells,⁹ now on the heaps of dry leaves, now on the sky, now on the quarters of heaven and ¹⁰ the spaces between them, made lamentation as he wandered about with his heart ceaselessly burning with the fire of separa- tion ¹¹: ‘O beloved Vāsavadattā! Let me behold thee! [258] Hast thou disappeared in jest ¹²? Thou knowest what pains are suffered by me ¹³ for thy sake! Dear ¹⁴ Makaranda! Behold the ¹⁵ sorry sport of fate with me! What meritorious deed hath not ¹ Tel. ed., ‘which was subject to emptiness of food.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘a road of many hundred yōjanas.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘easy to gain at that time.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘noisy, infatuated, and greedy.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘to the middle of the sky.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘‹purifying every region› as the tree of paradise ‹accomplishes every wish›.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘awakening.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘trees.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘now in the deep wells, now on the tops of the lofty trees.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘and now.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. omits ‘with the fire of separation.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘enough of jesting! Thou hast disappeared’! ¹³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘by me.’ ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘dear friend.’ ¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘this.’

124 VĀSAVADATTĀ been done by me¹? Alas, my destiny of evil fruitage²! Alas, the course of Time, hard to overcome! Alas, the planets' most cruel glance³ askance! Alas, the unjust fruition⁴ of my elders' blessings! Alas, the result of my evil dreams and ill omens! Is there no escaping destiny in any way? [259] Have not the sciences⁵ been sufficiently studied? Have not my teachers been duly honoured? Have not the (sacred) fires been revered? Have the gods on earth⁶ been insulted⁷? Have not the kine been circumambulated? Hath not fearlessness been inspired in refugees'? [260] Thus lamenting in ways manifold,⁸ passing forth from the forest toward the south and going⁹ for a considerable distance¹⁰ along the great ocean's lagoon with¹¹ its new reeds, spikenard, lotuses, niculas, tamarisks,¹² rattan-canes, and medlars¹³; with its borders overgrown with many poonga-oil plants, Bengal quinces, leaf hermitages, and conessi-bark trees¹⁴; with its fair Madagascar potato groves eagerly tasted by the great bees; [261] with swarms of bees clustering on the stems of young varuṇa-trees which covered over the wide-spreading masses of rattan creepers¹⁵; with its trees smeared with liquid showers from ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'what unholy deed hath aforetime been done by me'? ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'alas, the evil fruitage of destiny'! ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'fall.' ⁴ Tel. ed., 'discrepancy.' ⁵ Tel. ed., 'hath not science.' ⁶ The Brāhmans. ⁷ Tel. ed. omits this question. ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add 'desirous of death.' ⁹ The passage 'going... he (then) saw' is compared with Harṣacarita, pp. 262– 264, Bombay ed., 1892 (tr. Thomas, pp. 233–235, London, 1897), and translated by Thomas, 'Subandhu and Bāṇa,' in WZKM. 12. 21–27. ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'a journey of considerable distance.' ¹¹ Tel. ed., 'abounding in.' ¹² Tel. ed. omits 'tamarisks.' ¹³ Srirangam text, 'abounding in new reeds, spikenard, lotuses, niculas, tamarisks, vañjulas, and chir-pines, and with multitudes of poonga-oil plants and Bengal quinces Tel. ed. adds 'poonga-oil plants and Bengal quinces.' ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'with many leaf hermitages variously built and with conessi-bark trees.' ¹⁵ Tel. ed., 'with swarms of bees clustering on the branches of the varuṇa-trees which covered over the wide-spreading masses of mango creepers that were eagerly tasted by female bees.'

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 125 masses of honey from dripping hives, broken open by monkeys ¹ ; [262] dense with palmyra-palms, marsh date-palms, betel-nut palms, kamila-trees, and iron-wood trees ² ; impenetrable with clumps of camphor-trees, Arabian jasmines, screw-pines, mountain ebony, coral-trees, citrons, basil, and rose-apple trees ³ ; [263] with bowers of river reeds filled with the cries of unhampered galli- nules ⁴ ; with twigs of luxuriant ⁵ mangoes inhabited by koels ⁶ with their massed, sharp notes ; with spreading boughs ⁷ pressed by families of cocks in their swaying nests ⁸ ; with rows of globe- amaranth horripilated with hosts of buds ; with its ten quarters anointed with the beauty of the red aśoka twigs ; with masses of dust ⁹ from quantities of the pollen of full-blown iron-wood trees ¹⁰ ; producing delight for mankind by the sweet humming of bees maddened by clusters of flowers tawny with pollen ¹¹ ; horribly ¹² scratching the temples of fearless elephants rubbed by the boughs of the trunks ¹³ of the wingseeds that were darkened with ichor ¹⁴ ; [264] with hollow trunks of conessi-bark trees turned into homes for the silk-cotton trees ¹⁵ which are propagated ¹ Tel. ed., 'with the spray of liquid showers of masses of dripping honey broken by monkeys' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ² Tel. ed., 'with lofty cocoanut-palms, betel-nut palms, palmyra-palms, tamāla- trees, marsh date-palms, kamila-trees, iron-wood trees, nagkassar-trees, and camphor- trees' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ³ Tel. ed., 'impenetrable with bushes of Arabian jasmines, screw-pines, mountain ebony, bowstring-hemp, rose-apple trees, citrons, and basil ; with branches of many jack-trees rubbed together by the wind' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ⁴ Tel. ed., 'with numbers of bowers on the river-banks filled with the cries of gallinules' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'luxuriant.' ⁶ Tel. ed., 'by thronging, eager bees.' ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'with many spreading boughs.' ⁸ Tel. ed. omits 'in their swaying nests.' ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'with its edges made gray.' ¹⁰ Tel. ed., 'pollen of the expanded flowers of iron-wood trees' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹¹ Tel. ed., 'bees glittering from the sinduvāra-trees, tawny with masses of pollen ; with cloves, champaks, mahwa-trees, purging cassias, wingseeds, and kadambas' ; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹² Tel. ed. omits 'horribly.' ¹³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'of the trunks.' ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'scraping the ichor-darkened cheeks.' ¹⁵ Tel. ed., 'with crooked, hollow trunks of silk-cotton trees.'

126 VĀSAVADATTĀ within a few days ; with delightful sounds made by the tremulous, twittering hen-sparrows mating with the cock-sparrows ; famed for clever ¹ chickores renowned for going with ² their mates ; with young hares ³ resting comfortably on the surfaces of very smooth ⁴ mountain rocks ; [265] with hosts of lizards dwelling fearlessly in holes in the roots of the indrāṇīs ; with undismayed antelopes ⁵ ; with the sport of hosts of ⁶ unmolested mungooses ; with opening mango buds surrounded by flocks of sweet koels ; with herds of yaks chewing their cuds in the mango forest ; having for its drum ⁷ the flapping of the ears of herds of elephants, slow with slumber from ⁸ the roar of the waterfalls, sportful and delightsome to hear, on the mountain slopes ; with herds of deer delighted by the notes of the songs ⁹ of kinnarīs close by ¹⁰ ; [266] with the edges of the snouts of young boars shining with the flow of crushed greenish-yellow turmeric ¹¹ ; with multitudes of jālakas humming about masses of coral-bead plants ¹² ; filled with shells of pink insects split open by the tips of the nails of young monkeys that had been angered by their bites ¹³ ; with multitudes of lions illumined with beautiful heavy manes smeared with quantities of blood ¹⁴ from must elephants’ frontal-lobes split open by terrible blows from masses of claws sharp as the tips of the thunderbolt ¹⁵ ; he (then) saw the ocean skilfully imitating, by the ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘clever.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘eager to consort with.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with multitudes of young hares.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘sweet smelling.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘herds of antelopes.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘hosts of.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with the drum-noise of.’ ⁸ Tel. ed., ‘slow from the joy of slumber, (yet) anxious to hear’ ; similarly the Srirangam text. ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘delighting in hearing the song.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘neighbouring.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘delighted with the noise and the flow of turmeric.’ ¹² Tel. ed., ‘with litters of wood hedgehogs in many bowers of coral-bead plants’ ; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹³ Tel. ed., ‘with multitudes of worms in the cavities of trumpet-flower trees split open by slaps from the paws of young monkeys that had been angered by the bites of wood flies’ ; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁴ Tel. ed., ‘ichor.’             ¹⁵ Quoted by Vāmana, Kāvyālaṃkāravṛtti, I. 3. 26.

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

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.’

128 VĀSAVADATTĀ by the circling mountain of the plantain-trees on its bank ¹ ; with the young śaivāla on the sand banks in its waters ² trampled by pairs of mermen alarmed by the terrible swaying, produced by wave and wind, of palmyra-palms, marsh date-palms, and taliera- palms ³ ; with letters on its banks scrawled by the edges of whelks ⁴ that were distressed because their mouths were torn by tips of coral prongs ; with its waters crowded by flocks of birds of Garuḍa's race ; seeming to have the completion of its slow churn- ing still unfinished because of its eddying whirlpools ; epileptic, as it were, because of its foam ⁵ ; [269] filled with the goodly delights of drink, one might fancy, because of the perfume of the medlars on its banks ⁶ ; angry,⁷ so to say, because of its roarings ; appearing to be distressed because of its sighings ⁸ ; seamed with frowns, it might be thought, because of its waves ; resembling an elephant corral because of Rāma's bridge ; the birthplace of <salt> as the womb of Kumbhīnasī was the birthplace of <Lavaṇa> ; <lavish in its duties toward the wide-spread ⁹ rivers that were its spouses> as grammar has <abundant comprehensive feminines, i and u declensions, and gerunds> ¹⁰ ; showing a great <bed> as the retinue of a king shows great <ministers> ; with <hisses> emitted by many <serpents> that had come to its <waters> as an elephant's place of bondage has <trumpetings> emitted by many <elephants> that have come to the <tying-place> ; [270] adorned with <ambhojacāmaras and fish> as the series of Viśvāmitra's sons was ¹ Tel. ed., ‘impenetrable because of the thickets of cardamoms, carambolas, cloves, and citrons swaying in the circuit of the plantain forest’ ; similarly the Srirangam text. ² Tel. ed. omits ‘in its waters’ ; Srirangam text, ‘low-lying, small śaivāla.’ ³ Tel. ed., ‘mermen moving in the forest of taliera-palms, terrible, very tremulous, and howling with wave and wind’ ; similarly the Srirangam text. ⁴ Tel. ed., ‘by the noisy, sharp tips of the whelks’ ; Srirangam text, ‘tips of the . sharp nails of the whelks.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the masses of its white foam.’ ⁶ Tel. ed., ‘possessed of the perfume of drink, one might fancy, because of the perfume of its cardamoms’ ; Srirangam text, ‘because of the perfume of the medlars on its shore.’ ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘noisy.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘exhalations of its serpents.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘wide-spread’ and ‘comprehensive.’ ¹⁰ See Pāṇini, 1. 4. 3 ; 3. 1. 95.

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 129 adorned with ⟨lotuses, chowries, and the Matsyas⟩¹; the refuge of ⟨mountains⟩ as a good man is the refuge of his ⟨family⟩²; charming in that it was the ⟨abode of Viṣṇu⟩ as a noble man is charming because of his ⟨unshaken firmness⟩; with ⟨crocodiles and dolphins ready⟩ as an upright prince ⟨promotes the affairs of good folk⟩; with its ⟨surface overflowed by the Karatōyā⟩ as a wrathful man has his ⟨face covered with water from his hands⟩; [271] sprinkled with the water of the ⟨Candanā⟩ as one separated (from his beloved) is sprinkled with ⟨sandal⟩ water; followed by the ⟨Narmadā⟩ as a voluptuary is followed by ⟨jesters⟩³; though it had ⟨cast forth its venom⟩,⁴ it showed an abundance of «poison», for it ⟨raised aloft a mass of dark blue⟩ and showed an abundance of «water»; though it was very ⟨old⟩, «fair women clung about its neck», for it was very ⟨great⟩ and its «vicinity was filled with Madagascar potatoes»; though it was the place of origin of ⟨the gods⟩, it was «not ruled by the gods», for it was the place of origin of ⟨Surā⟩⁴ and was «ruled by the demons». [272] And he thought: ‘Ah, me! Kindness hath been shown by Fate even though it hath wrought injury, since this ocean hath been brought⁵ within the range of mine eyes! Therefore, abandoning my body here, I shall quench the fire of separation from my love.⁶ Even though desertion of the body⁷ is not permitted one free from disease, yet it must be done.⁸ Doth not every one do deeds which ought to be done or ought not to be done? Thus, what is not done by each one in vain life⁹? [273] As for example¹⁰: ⟨the Lord of the Twice-Born⟩ ravished ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘adorned with ⟨lotuses and beautiful fish⟩ as the series of Viśvamitra’s sons was adorned with ⟨Ambhōja, Cāru, and Matsya⟩.’ ² Tel. ed., ‘with superiority in ⟨mountains⟩ as a good man has superiority in ⟨family⟩.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with ⟨fishes and crabs⟩ as the zodiacal signs have ⟨Pisces and Cancer⟩; adorned with many ⟨pearls⟩ as a voluptuary is adorned with many ⟨courtesans⟩.’ ⁴ Namely, at the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons. ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘hath come.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘therefore I abandon my body here.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘of life.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. adds ‘by us.’ ⁹ Tel. ed., ‘every one doth not do everything he should in vain life. What, indeed, is not done by whom?’; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁰ A similar list of misdeeds of divine and amous personages is given in the Daśa- K

130 VĀSAVADATTĀ his ⟨teacher’s wife⟩¹ and ⟨a most excellent Brāhman⟩ ravished the ⟨wife of his elders⟩. Pururavas was destroyed because of his greed for the wealth of Brāhmans.² Nahuṣa, lusting for another’s spouse, became a great ⟨serpent⟩ and became a great ⟨profligate⟩.³ Yayāti fell, ⟨having wedded⟩ a Brāhman girl,⁴ and ⟨took hold of the hand⟩ of a Brāhman girl.⁴ [274] Sudyumna ⟨became a woman⟩,⁵ so to say, and was ⟨fond of women⟩. The cruelty of Sōmaka’s murder of ⟨Jantu⟩ was notorious⁶ and the cruelty of his murder of ⟨living creatures⟩ was notorious.⁶ Purukutsa was despised.⁷ Kuvalayāśva carried off⁸ ⟨Aśvatara’s daughter⟩ and carried off⁸ ⟨a young she-mule⟩. [275] Nṛga became a lizard.⁹ ⟨Kali⟩ conquered Nala and ⟨strife⟩ conquered Nala.¹⁰ Śaṁvaraṇa became infatuated with the daughter of ⟨Mitra⟩¹¹ and became infatuated with the daughter of ⟨his friend⟩. [276] Daśaratha died through madness for his beloved ⟨Rāma⟩ and through the madness of a beloved ⟨wife⟩. Kārtavīrya perished through his kumāracarita, p. 72, Bombay ed., 1898 (tr. Meyer, p. 209, Leipzig, 1902). This passage of Subandhu is compared with its elaboration in the Harṣacarita, pp. 20 sqq., Jamnu ed., 1879 (tr. Cowell and Thomas, pp. 74–75, London, 1897), and translated by Cartellieri, ‘Subandhu and Bāṇa,’ in WZKM. 1. 126–132 (cf. also 13. 68). For other lists of precedents see Harṣacarita, pp. 199, 221–224, 288, Bombay ed., 1892 (tr. Cowell and Thomas, pp. 169, 192–194, 258, London, 1897); Kādambarī, pp. 166, 339–340, 341, 600, Bombay ed., 1890 (tr. Ridding, pp. 64, 137, 138, 200–201, London, 1896). ¹ The reference is, of course, to the famous rape of Tārā, the wife of Bṛhaspati, by the moon; cf. Harivaṁśa, 25; Viṣṇupurāṇa, 4. 6. ² Cf. Mahābhārata, 1. 75. ³ Tel. ed., ‘lusting for Indra’s spouse, went to serpenthood (or, ‘profligacy’)’; similarly the Srirangam text; cf. Mahābhārata, 5. 11–17. ⁴ Tel. ed., ‘the daughter of a household priest’; cf. Mahābhārata, 1. 78–86. ⁵ See Rāmāyaṇa, 7. 87–90. ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘in the world’; cf. Mahābhārata, 3. 127–128. ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘despised, as it were.’ The legend to which Subandhu here alludes is uncertain, and is perhaps due simply to a popular etymology of Purukutsa as the ‘much despised’ (cf. kutsay, ‘to despise’). Sāyaṇa, however, on Rig-Veda, 4. 42. 8 (cf. also Sieg, Sagenstoffe des Ṛgveda, 1. 97, Stuttgart, 1902; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, 1². 267, London, 1872), mentions an itihāsa, or legend, which states that Purukutsa was once imprisoned, so that his realm had no ruler. His chief wife then prayed to the seven Ṛṣis for a son, whereupon, in answer, she gave birth to Trasadasyu. ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘went to’; cf. Mārkaṇḍēyapurāṇa, 21–22. ⁹ See Mahābhārata, 13. 70; Harivaṁśa, 171. ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘Nala was conquered by Kali (or, ‘by strife’).’ ¹¹ See Mahābhārata, 1. 173–175.

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 131 oppression of ‹a Brāhman for a cow›¹ and through his oppression of ‹cows¹ and Brāhmans›. Yudhiṣṭhira deserted truth in the forefront of battle.² Śāntanu wept in the forest on account of excessive affection.³ Thus no one is immaculate.⁴ Therefore, I, too, will abandon my body.’ [277] So thinking, he approached the water of a broad, sandy bank, the hiding places of whose fish were pierced by the tips of the sharp talons of the ospreys; with the scales of shoals of śakulas and the excrement of otters⁵; with its margin surrounded by rows of carapaces of horrible crabs that had been abandoned by packs of jackals; with its environs whitened⁶ by multitudes of cranes, motionless and intent on devouring shoals of carp that were agitated and wavering because of the exceedingly⁷ unsteady flow of the water; which was very cool, being united with the motion of the wind that was generated by quantities of drops⁸ of water shaken by the sport of schools of extremely active Gangetic porpoises; [278] with its uneven banks seamed by the tips of very young wild⁹ buffaloes’ horns that dropped off daily; tuneful with the sweet songs of flocks of continually restless dhārtarāṣṭra geese; [279] with the soil along its waters crushed by the repose of mermen and bright with the rays of the sun¹⁰; delightful with the humming of bees¹¹ that had settled on hundreds of mighty¹² elephants, whose sloping cheeks were flecked with exceedingly copious ichor; with its circumference filled with multitudes of gems¹³ that had fallen in the dance of ¹ Tel. ed. omits ‘for a cow’ and ‘of cows’; cf. Mahābhārata, 3. 115–116. ² Tel. ed. omits this sentence. ³ See Mahābhārata, 1. 100–101. ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘thus, therefore, no one in the world is immaculate.’ ⁵ Tel. ed., ‘filled with broad fish-scales pierced by the tips of the talons of the ospreys; mottled with the accumulated excrement of otters’; similarly the Srirangam text. ⁶ Tel. ed., ‘much whitened.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘exceedingly.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with its tamālas cooled by contact with quantities of drops.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. omits ‘wild.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed., ‘with the earth on its banks crushed by the repose of mermen, bright with the rays of the sun, and tuneful with the humming of bees and with beautiful flocks of continually restless dhārtarāṣṭra geese’; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘with swarms of bees’; Srirangam text, ‘humming of swarms of bees.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘mighty.’ ¹³ Tel. ed., ‘serpents.’ K 2

132 VĀSAVADATTĀ the mass of the water of the ocean,¹ shaken by the right mobile wind; like ² a strip of slough cast by the serpent of the ocean ³; the mirror, as it were, of earth; the crystal pavement, so to say, of Varuṇa.⁴ Then, having bathed and the like,⁵ he began to descend to the water ⁶ to abandon his body. Thereupon, while the sharks were kindly, the fish free from envy, the bees ⁷ not mean, [280] the tortoises affectionate,⁸ the crocodiles not cruel, the dolphins not terrible, (and) the Gangetic porpoises not murderous, there came a heavenly voice ⁹: 'Noble Kandarpakētu, again, at no long time, shall there be union of thee with thy beloved. Cease, therefore, from thy resolve to die'! Hearing this, he desisted from death,¹⁰ and eager to get food to sustain his body because of his desire of reunion with his beloved, he went along the shore of the mighty ocean.¹¹ Then Kandarpakētu ¹² passed considerable time wandering here and there, living on fruit and the like in the forest. Finally, after the lapse of several months,¹³ came the rainy sea- son, with ⟨conjoined deep rivers⟩ as he who sings to the kākalī has a ⟨continuous low note⟩; [281] with dancing ⟨peacocks⟩ as the eventide has ⟨Śiva⟩ dancing; producing ⟨much pen-reed grass⟩ as ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘in the breakup of the water.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘like.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘a serpent going in the water of the ocean.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘with ⟨rubies⟩ as a lotus-grove has a ⟨red colour⟩; with ⟨branches of coral⟩ as a forest district has ⟨birds and branches of trees⟩; with ⟨mussels⟩ as a coward has ⟨fear⟩; attended by many ⟨pearls⟩ as Viṣṇu is attended by many ⟨emancipated ascetics⟩.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘having performed all the duties of bathing and the like.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘water of the ocean.’ ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘shoals of fish’; the Srirangam text omits the phrase. ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘devoid of longing.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘there came a voice from heaven.’ For other instances of intended suicide thus divinely prevented see Kādambarī, pp. 332–333, 569–570, Bombay ed., 1890 (tr. Ridding, pp. 133, 195, London, 1896). ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘he desisted indeed from undertaking death.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. omits this clause; Srirangam text, ‘then he went to the forest along the shore, eager to get food to sustain his body because of his hope of reunion with his beloved.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘he.’ ¹³ Tel. ed., ‘but finally, after the lapse of several days.’

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 133 Kumāra’s peacock ‹bears Śarajanman›¹; quelling the ‹expanse of dust› as a great² ascetic quells the ‹tide of passion›; with water- giving ‹hail› as an anchorite has a water-giving ‹pot›; showing a wandering of many ‹ships› as the time of doom shows a wandering of many ‹suns›; with ‹cātakas eager³ because of the clouds› as an unmolested forest district has ‹exceedingly curious³ gazelles›; [282] ‹giving joy to the husbandman› as Rēvatī’s tender hand ‹inspired courage in Balarāma›.⁴ The slender lightning shone like the bejewelled⁵ boat of Love in the sky that seemed to be a pleasure pool with a forest of blue lotuses which were the riven clouds⁶; the dancing cord, as it were, of a Caṇḍāla maiden who was the Lakṣmī⁷ of the clouds; [283] even as a garland⁸ for the gate of the palace of the sky; a row of nail marks upon the cloud, in all seeming, given for remembrance by the departing heat of day⁹; the jewelled¹⁰ girdle strand, one might fancy, of a beauty of the sky; the lovely clustering¹¹ blossoms, so to say, of the coral-tree of heaven; like to a begemmed stick¹² for cleaning Rati’s nails; the jewelled shell, it might be termed,¹³ of the God whose banner is of flowers.¹⁴ The cloud¹⁵ seemed to vomit forth, like a crane, what appeared ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with ‹lofty pen-reed grass› as Kumāra’s peacock has ‹Śarajanman mounted upon it›.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘great.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘proud.’ According to the conventions of Sanskrit literature, the cātaka (Cuculus melanoleucus) is supposed to live only on the raindrops which it drinks. ⁴ Tel. ed. adds ‘‹loud-resounding› as the lord of Laṅkā [Rāvaṇa] had ‹Mēghanāda›; ‹dark with clouds› as Vindhya is ‹intensely dark›’; so also the Srirangam text, which adds ‘‹with swollen clouds› as young women have ‹plump breasts›.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘golden and bejewelled.’ ⁶ Tel. ed., ‘dark with a forest of riven blue lotuses’; similarly the Srirangam text. ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘dark Lakṣmī.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘jewelled garland.’ ⁹ Tel. ed., ‘given, in all seeming, upon the breast of his sky spouse by her dark departing lover, the heat of day.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘beauteous.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘clustering.’ ¹² Tel. ed., ‘stone pick.’ ¹³ Tel. ed., ‘the jewelled lance, as it were, even as the pleasure staff’; Srirangam text, ‘the jewelled pleasure staff.’ ¹⁴ Kāma. ¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the mass of clouds.’

134 VĀSAVADATTĀ to be¹ a series of ocean shells that had been drunk down too hastily.² [284] The ‹rainy season›, even the ‹fate of rain›, played,³ as if with chessmen⁴ coloured with lac, with yellow and green frogs⁵ jumping in the black enclosures⁶ of the irrigated fields. The lightning gleamed like a streak of gold rubbed by the goldsmith bank of clouds on a seeming touchstone that was like a mass of lampblack⁷ from the torch of the sun. The screw-pine was beauteous⁸ as a saw of the Flower-Weaponed God to cut¹⁰ the hearts of sundered (lovers). [285] The drops of water were as masses of dust shaken off by the violence of the wind from the cloud-tree that was cut by the saw of the slender quivering lightning.¹¹ The hailstones flashed like pearls¹² from the necklaces of the brides of the several quarters (of the sky); as though they were masses of stars reduced to powder by contact with the cloud grinding-stone that was turned by the violence of the fierce wind¹³; handfuls of grain, so to say, of the setting forth of Him⁹ whose banner is a fish, eager to conquer the threefold world.¹⁴ Straightway at the beginning¹⁵ of autumn, with its wagtails not lame¹⁶; with the course of the herons unhampered¹⁷; [286] with ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'what appeared to be.' ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'drunk in the impulse of excessive thirst.' ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'the dark lover of the clouds played with the lightning.' ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'dice'; cf. Thomas, 'The Indian Game of Chess,' in ZDMG. 52. 271–272; 53. 364–365; Reinaud, Mémoire.... sur l'Inde.... d'après les écrivains arabes, persans et chinois, pp. 131–133, Paris, 1849; al-Bīrūnī, India, tr. Sachau, 1. 183–185, London, 1888. ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'young frogs.' ⁶ Tel. ed., 'gatherings.' ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'on a touchstone of clouds blackened.' ⁸ Tel. ed., 'the rough screw-pine shone'; Srirangam text, 'the screw-pine flower shone.' ⁹ Kāma. ¹⁰ Tel. ed., 'made to cut.' ¹¹ Tel. ed. omits this sentence. ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'masses of pearls.' ¹³ Tel. ed., 'whirling from the violence of the wind like masses of stars reduced to powder by contact with banks of clouds.' ¹⁴ Tel. ed. adds 'the new meadow seemed like an upper garment, marked with liquid lac, for the breast of Lady Earth with her cochineal. The maid-servant Rainy Season being departed after bathing the heroine Earth with water from the jars of the clouds, the maid-servant Autumn came, showing bright raiment'; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'very beginning.' ¹⁶ Tel. ed., 'with its wagtails well.' ¹⁷ Tel. ed. omits this clause.

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 135 boughs ¹ exceedingly noisy with skylarks ; with intensely bright dawn ; with flocks of wandering parrots in the fields of rice ; with flamingoes come as guests ² ; with a sky whose brightness was that of the body of Kaṁsa's foe ³ ; with old clouds like goose- down ⁴ ; with the pleasure of dogs whose heat was intensified ; [287] with shoots of sweet sugar-cane ⁵ ; with lakes possessed of the quintessence of the delightful sound of the herons ; with pools whose banks were dug up by the snouts of boars ; delighted by roots of beautiful ⁶ kasērus ; with startled cātakas ⁷ ; causing joy ⁸ by the sweet sound of flocks of wandering matsyaputrikā birds ; with disdained kadambas ; the foe of conches ; with expanded lotuses ; with clouds at intervals ; [288] with unusually bright stars ; with a beautiful moon ⁹ ; with unusually sweet water in the pools ¹⁰ ; with flocks of motionless cranes swallowing shoals of flashing carp ¹¹ ; with multitudes of silent frogs ; with shrivelled serpents ; with rice ¹² yellow with golden particles ; with screaming ospreys ; with the air delightful with the perfume of fragrant white lotuses ; lovely with white lotuses ¹³ ; charming ¹⁴ in the moonlight ¹⁵ ; with moulting peacocks ¹⁶ ; with murmuring paddy- birds ; with dhārtarāṣṭra geese ¹⁷ ; with herds of deer delighted by ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘boughs of the trees.’ ² Tel. ed., ‘with flamingoes entering fields of rice that had flocks of wandering parrots’ ; Srirangam text, ‘with fields of rice filled with the noise of wandering parrots.’ ³ Namely, blue as Kṛṣṇa. ⁴ Tel. ed., ‘with clouds glittering like flocks of geese.’ ⁵ Tel. ed., ‘with the radiance of the moon intensified ; with shoots of sugar-cane, the joy of lovers’ ; Srirangam text, ‘with the radiance of the moon intensified ; with shoots of sugar-cane crushed by travellers.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘beautiful.’ ⁷ Tel. ed., ‘with startled cātakas on the banks of pools dug up,’ etc. ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘causing joy ..... expanded lotuses.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with a moon that was the adornment of the west.’ ¹⁰ Tel. ed., ‘filled with sweet sap’ ; Srirangam text, ‘with exceedingly sweet water.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘with rows of motionless vultures and cranes swallowing flashing carp’ ; the Srirangam text also omits ‘shoals.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘wheat and rice.’ ¹³ Tel. ed., ‘lovely with white lotuses that were slightly opened by a wind charming with the perfume of fragrant white lotuses’ ; similarly the Srirangam text. ¹⁴ Tel. ed. omits from here to ‘Kandarpakētu.’ ¹⁵ Srirangam text omits this phrase. ¹⁶ Srirangam text, ‘with peacocks whose tail feathers had fallen out.’ ¹⁷ Srirangam text ‘with delighted dhārtarāṣṭra geese.’

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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 137 its abodes of grass huts being hidden in clumps of trees; its general's house being arranged; [291] the (fodder) bags being put down; its tents being begun; the courtesans' quarters being set up; with hundreds of neighs of horses being heard; with hundreds of drum-skins being beaten for the halt; with a place of sweet water being sought; with multitudes of market flags being displayed. [292] 'As I thought: "Is this the host of my father come to search for me, or perchance (the army) of my lord"?, the general of the army ran toward me, being informed of events by a scout.¹ Then in like manner there ran up the Kirāta general, who had gone out to hunt followed by an army.² Immediately I thought: "If I inform my lord, then he, being alone, will be killed by these; [293] but if I do not inform him, then shall I be slain by them." 'Even at the instant of my thought there arose³ a battle of the two armies⁴ as of two vultures eager for one quarry. Then—on the battle's threshing-floor, where the rays of the sun were removed⁵ by the shower-clouds of arrows from the hostile bows⁶; [294] with Vidyādharas wandering about, embracing their opportunities for brave warriors that had been tossed high by pairs of tusks of elephants skilled in deeds of battle⁷; with countless circles of the bards of the gods gathering to witness the the like, I, awakening before thee at the end of sleep, will fetch fruit, roots, and so forth"—so thinking, I went just a nalva [400 cubits] into the forest to seek fruit and the like.' ¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'then, as I suddenly saw the camp of an army hidden in a clump of trees and thought: "Is this my father's host come to fetch me or the host of my noble lord"? a Kirāta general, informed of the news from afar by a scout, ran to me.' ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'then in like manner, hearing this, there ran up another Kirāta general, who had gone out to hunt accompanied by a similar army.' ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'then there arose,' omitting Vāsavadattā's reflexions. ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'armies.' ⁵ Tel. ed., 'hidden.' ⁶ Tel. ed. omits 'from the hostile bows'; Srirangam text omits 'hostile.' ⁷ Tel. ed., 'with female Vidyādharas wandering about, embracing brave warriors that had been cloven by the edges of swords high uplifted by hands skilled in deeds of battle'; similarly the Srirangam text.

138 VĀSAVADATTĀ conflict¹ ; with a welcome appearance caused by headless corpses of bodies occupied by Vētālas ²; greedy for the adornment,³ in a she-fiend's ear, of a mortar filled with the foot of an elephant that had been hacked off by the sword of a soldier ⁴; [295] with laudations in the excessive din that arose ⁵; (and) with timid jackals ⁶—the warriors drew at once the ⟨lives⟩ of their foes and the ⟨strings⟩ of their bows, paying no heed to the bodies as if they were lumps of flesh to be the prey of jackals,⁷ or had been bitten by serpents.⁸ ‘The ⁹ mighty elephants were like ⟨generous⟩ donors that bear not ¹⁰ meeting with «beggars», for they ⟨shed ichor⟩ and bore not ¹⁰ meeting with «arrows»; like fortunate paramours adorned with ⟨passion⟩ and with golden «girdles», for they were adorned with ⟨minium⟩ and had golden «girths» ; like goodly gardens ⟨beauteous with plantain-trees⟩ and «filled with birds», for they were ⟨bright with banners⟩ and were «attended by elephants» ; like nights ¹¹ adorned with garlands of ⟨constellations⟩, for they had garlands of ⟨pearls⟩ ; like days with ⟨blossoming flowers⟩, for they had ⟨lashing trunk-tips⟩.¹² [296] And ¹³ the horses seemed like creatures bereft of sense ¹⁴ ⟨abandoning patience⟩, for they ¹ Tel. ed., ‘with the circle at its doorway formed by the many feet of the bards of the gods that had come to witness the conflict.’ ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit this clause. The Vētālas are a class of malevolent ghosts who animate corpses and haunt cemeteries. They often enter the body of a living man while his spirit is absent, or may even be spirits of the living which prefer to make their dwelling in corpses (cf. Crooke, Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, 2 ed., I. 243–244, Westminster, 1896). ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘with the adornment.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘foot soldier,’ the former adding ‘with folk drawn by curiosity.’ ⁵ Tel. ed., ‘with shouts of praise arising’; Srirangam text, ‘with laudations in the words spoken by folk drawn by curiosity.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘with cowards destroyed; like a conqueror eager for combat.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘she-jackals and jackals.’ ⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘or were wretched fragments of white leprosy.’ ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘there.’ ¹⁰ Srirangam text omits ‘not.’ ¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘multitudes of nights.’ ¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘like autumn days with ⟨blossoming lotuses⟩, for they had ⟨sparkling drops of water⟩.’ ¹³ Tel. ed. omits ‘and.’ ¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘like angry creatures.’

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 139 ⟨left the ground⟩; like oceans adorned with ⟨whirlpools⟩ and with «billows», for they were adorned with ⟨whorls (of hair)⟩ and had «swift gaits»; like pleasure parks with ⟨dhārtarāṣṭra geese⟩, for they included the ⟨mallikākṣa breed⟩; like noble houses charming with very new ⟨furniture⟩, for they were charm- ing with very new ⟨harness⟩¹; like mines that have the ⟨gems of the gods⟩, for they had ⟨curls (on their necks)⟩; like the Lēkhas that have ⟨fortitude together with Indra⟩, for they ⟨sustained most mighty lords⟩.² Long danced the headless corpse as if with joy at the thought: “I am released ³ from the ears that heard detraction of others, from the eyes that beheld the rise of the evil and the fall of the good, and from the head that bowed un- worthily.” ⁴ ‘Then spread the dust ⁵ born of battle, hiding the eye as if smiling; concealing the existence of the ear as if afraid of hearing calumny of another; [297] frenzied, as it were, being tossed by the motion of the wind; a cause of grayness, so to speak, to the Apsarasas; a cause of blindness, it might be termed, to the soldiers; the darkness, in all seeming, of the evening of conflict; fallen and cut off from its ⟨family⟩, as it were, since it was cut off from the ⟨earth⟩; resembling the doctrines of the adherents of the Mīmāṁsā that conceal the ⟨doctrines of the Jains⟩, since it concealed the ⟨sight of the quarters (of heaven) and the sky⟩; like unto a good man clinging to ⟨Viṣṇu’s feet⟩, since it clung to the ⟨zenith⟩.⁶ One assumed an ⟨agonising

¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘like potters’ houses ⟨containing very new pots⟩, for they ⟨bore very new harness⟩.’ ² Tel. ed., ‘like the Lēkhas that ⟨have increase with Indra⟩, for they ⟨included indravṛddha steeds⟩; like drunkards ⟨living in dramshops⟩, for they were ⟨adorned with defences⟩’; so the Srirangam text, except ‘like the Lēkhas that have increase through the ⟨weapons of Indra⟩, for they had increase through ⟨indrāyudha steeds⟩.’ ³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘thank heaven! I am released.’ ⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘and from the mouth that praised the unpraise- worthy.’ ⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘mass of dust.’ ⁶ Tel. ed. substitutes for the last two similes ‘⟨going in the path of the constella- tions⟩ as an evil prince ⟨goes not in the path of a Kṣatriya⟩; with the appearance of thick smoke like a quarrel; hiding ⟨living creatures⟩ as the quality of passion hides ⟨truth⟩; ⟨high-raised⟩ as an ill-bred man is ⟨puffed up⟩; hiding the path of the