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

flowers ; like unto a cluster ¹ from the ushoka-tree of heaven ; the
golden mirror, so to say, of a wanton of the west ² ; with the
aspect of a branch of a coral-tree shaken by the motion of the
tossing waves.
And ³ gradually, [168] when the trees had their tops melodious
with the soft notes of multitudes of sparrows, free from quarrels
with each other ⁴ and desirous of their nests after having rolled
in the dust and flown up again ; when the crows were eager for
home ; when the inner apartments ⁵ gave forth the fragrance of
the incense of aloes burning constantly ; when the old men were
angered at interruptions ⁶ from the confused murmur of young
folks eager to hear the poetic ⁷ tales begun by the sages seated on
the banks of the Taṭinī, adorned with millet-grass ; when the
children longed for slumber, soothed with very light hands by old
women ⁸ who told them stories ⁹ with tongues tremulous in the
lullaby ; [169] when the courtesans had assumed the insignia of
passion ; when the sages had entered upon their evening devo-
tions, disgusted at hearing manifold obscene words ¹⁰ from harlots
possessed by their paramours ¹¹ ; when the forest regions had the
surfaces of the very soft sites of cow-stalls occupied by herds of
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘clusters of flowers.’
² Tel. ed. adds ‘‹going toward the west› and ‹red› as Bhadra was ‹addicted to
brandy› and was ‹amorous› ; abandoning ‹its rays› and ‹cloudy› as a foolish man
abandons ‹his wealth› and is ‹dejected› ; with red ‹rays› as a Buddhist mendicant has
red ‹garments› ; possessed of ‹understanding› as the sun was possessed of ‹Saṃjñā›’ ;
so also the Srirangam text, except ‘mighty Bhadra’ for ‘Bhadra’ and ‘poor man’ for
‘foolish man.’
³ Tel. ed., ‘then’ ; Srirangam text, ‘and then.’ This entire sentence is translated
and compared with Harṣacarita, Jamnu ed., 1879, pp. 30, 2-36, 4 (tr. Cowell and
Thomas, pp. 67-68, London, 1897), by Cartellieri, ‘Subandhu and Bāṇa,’ in WZKM.
I. 118-124.
⁴ Tel. ed. omits ‘with each other.’
⁵ Tel. ed., ‘interstices in the lattices of the inner apartments.’
⁶ Tel. ed., ‘filled with anger at the sound of’ ; Srirangam text, ‘desirous of the
cessation of the sound of.’
⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘poetic.’
⁸ Tel. ed., ‘when the children, longing for slumber, were attended by old women
who were pleased at being patted by very light hands’ ; similarly the Srirangam text.
⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘many stories.’
¹⁰ Srirangam text, ‘had their ears disgusted by hundreds of obscene words.’
¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘when fair women were disgusted . . . ; when the sages had entered
upon their evening devotions.’