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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 101
parched grain ¹ roasted in the pan ² of the vast surface ³ of the
sky, that was excessively heated by the evening breeze and
smoky with the smoke ⁴ of rising dusk.
With them the sky shone as if turned to a leper.⁵ Exceed-
ingly distressed ⁶ was the pair of cakravākas, filled with a series
of ⟨deep ⁷ sighs⟩ and skilled in the joining of «bills in delightful
contact» as the diction of a good poet ⁸ is filled with a series
of ⟨long ⁹ chapters⟩ and skilled in the joining of «delightful
paronomasias and vaktra metres».¹⁰ [185] Separated was the
pair of Brahminy ducks, whose feet were variegated by swarms of
bees delighted and intoxicated by the honey-drops that adhered
from their course through the clusters ¹¹ of lotuses, and who were
parted by the incarnate curse ¹² of darkness as if by the noose ¹³ of
Death. [186] The pair of Brahminy ducks was parted like the
heart of a lotus, distressed by separation from the sun. A swarm
of bees was seen moving beside a lotus as if they were the mes-
sengers of the husband moon about to come. Under the guise of
stars ¹⁴ the quarters of the sky made lamentation with great drops
of tears,¹⁵ as if in grief for the departed Lord of Day.¹⁶ Under the
guise of its series of new filaments the lotus burned within the
heart of its bud like a fire of chaff ¹⁷ at separation from its shining
love.
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘parched grain bursted.’
² Tel. ed., ‘kitchen.’ ³ Srirangam text omits ‘vast surface.’
⁴ Tel. ed. omits ‘with the smoke.’
⁵ According to a reading recorded by Śivarāma, ‘with them the sky shone as if
spotted.’ ⁶ Srirangam text, ‘then exceedingly distressed.’
⁷ Tel. ed., ‘very deep.’ ⁸ Tel. ed., ‘good poetry.’ ⁹ Tel. ed., ‘very long.’
¹⁰ See Weber, Ueber die Metrik der Inder, p. 199, Berlin, 1863; Tel. ed., ‘parono-
masias, vaktra metres, and cakras’ (the latter being a carmen figuratum in the form of
a disc; cf. Kāvyaprakāśa, tr. Jhā, p. 197, Benares, 1898; Vidagdhamukhamandana,
3. 12–15, ed. Haeberlin in his Kāvyasangraha, pp. 290–291, Calcutta, 1847).
¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘clusters.’
¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘being parted as if by the curse.’
¹³ Yama, the god of death, is believed to draw the souls of the dying from their
bodies by means of a noose or cord.
¹⁴ Tel. ed., ‘under the guise of drops of water from the eyes of the stars’; similarly
the Srirangam text.
¹⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘with great drops of tears.’
¹⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the departed beloved of the Lord of Day.’
¹⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘the chaff fire of the flame of grief burned in the
heart of the lotus.’