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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 87
'Meanwhile, being informed by Vāsavadattā's maids of honour
of her intention [not to wed],¹ Śr̥ṅgāraśēkhara brought together,
for his daughter's self-choice,² an assembly of the kings³ that
possess the entire earth. Then Vāsavadattā⁴ ascended a dais
noisy⁵ with the loud murmur of swarms of bees drunken with
the fragrance of the perfume⁶ of burning aloes; [141] that was
whitened by the radiance of the lustre of most vehement laughter⁷;
that was thronged with a multitude of suitors skilled in many
stories of ridicule of their rivals; [142] that was thronged with
swarms of bees from the pleasure groves of the city, attracted
by the fragrance of the burning incense⁸; that made the air
re-echo with <delightful music> as Arjuna's battle made the
air re-echo with <Nandighōṣa>.⁹
'And there stood¹⁰ princes: some <conquered courtesans> as
Kalāṅkura <had the adornments of his city conquered by the bird>¹¹; [143] others were <blind, swart, and without teachers> as
the Pāṇḍavas were <associated with Kr̥ṣṇa, Drāupadī, and their
teachers>; others had <hopes of joy>¹² exceeding¹³ full blown as
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'his daughter's intention.'
² On the 'self-choice' (svayaṁvara) of a husband, a special privilege of the warrior
caste, see Schmidt, op. cit. pp. 649-654; Jolly, Recht und Sitte, pp. 50-51, Strassburg,
1896; Post, Grundriss der ethnologischen Jurisprudenz, I. 18-19, Oldenburg, 1894-
1895; Schiefner, Tibetan Tales, tr. Ralston, pp. 282-284, London, 1906; Budhasvāmin,
Bṛhatkathāślōkasaṁgraha, 5. 80-93; 20. 93-121 (ed. Lacôte, Paris, 1908); and, in
modern folk-tales, Knowles, Folk-Tales of Kashmir, 2 ed., p. 494, London, 1893; Steel
and Temple, Wide-Awake Stories, p. 430 (references to further literature), Bombay,
1884; Natesa Sastri, Dravidian Nights, pp. 29-31, 61-67, 143, Madras, 1886;
Swynnerton, Indian Nights' Entertainment, pp. 160-161, 171, 289, London, 1892.
The svayaṁvara also forms one of the main motifs of the entire Kādambarī.
³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'princes.'
⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'the exquisitely hipped Vāsavadattā.'
⁵ Tel. ed., 'whose atmosphere resounded.' ⁶ Tel. ed., 'perfume of the smoke.'
⁷ Tel. ed., 'perfumed by the fragrance of the abundance of most vehement laughter.'
⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'fragrance of the burning perfume materials of
bdellium and the like.'
⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add 'with gifts of <parched grain> as a monarch's
audience-hall has gifts of <kings>; beautified with a <canopy> as a hermit's abode is
beautified with <sacrifices>; adorned with <flowers> as Indra's heaven is adorned with
<gods>.' ¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'there, for an instant, stood.'
¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'some <knew courtesans> as Kalāṅkura <seized the adornments of the city>.' The bird in question is Garuḍa.
¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'of joy.'
¹³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'exceeding.'