द्वितीय राजतरङ्गिणी (जोनराज - कल्हणोत्तर मध्यकालीन कश्मीर का प्रामाणिक इतिहास)

THIRD SERIES.
BOOK I.
I bow to Shiva who is the sole lord of the three
worlds, and who has attained eternal godhood and free-
dom from endless pain. May Shiva, one half of whom
is female, give us faith in the unity of godhood. Witness-
ing one half of Shiva's person united with one half of
Pārvvati's, the moon also cut off one half of his body
and united himself with night, sable as the locks of
Pārvvati.
The court-poets of celebrity who make their composi-
tion elegant by the proper arrangement of words, and who
distinguish milk from water, [i. e. good from bad], are
entitled to respect. In this world, which is without a
master, and covered by the darkness of uncertainty, what
is it that can make the things of the past known except
the works of poets which are like lamps? Kings were
perishing in this world, but the poet Jonarāja enabled
them to live in their fame to the end of time. Fate how-
ever removed the poet Jonarāja from the world, as if in
anger. The learned Jonarāja became merged in Shiva
[i.e. died] in the year 35, while writing the Rājatarangiṇī,
I am pupil of this Jonarāja, my name is Shrīvara Paṇḍita,
and I have undertaken to finish the remainder of the