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

102 VĀSAVADATTĀ
[187] Forthwith¹ black darkness spread like a mass of colly-
rium from the forest of the sky, reduced to ashes by the rays² of
the sun ; blotting out <the heavens and the sky> as the words of
revelation blot out <the doctrines of the Digambara Jains>³ ; a
molten rājapaṭṭa gem,⁴ as it were ; and as the surge of the ocean.⁵
And⁶ straightway the Lord of Night ascended with the ruddy
disc of his arising ; the ball⁷ of the princess Night ; the ⁸ golden
mirror of Kāma ; like to a cluster of young red coral-flowers on
the eastern mount ; round as drops of saffron on the foreheads
of eastern damsels⁹ ; [188] like a golden earring of the beautiful
sky ; a mass of henna, as it were, dropped from the hands of tiring-
maids of celestial brides ; a golden jar, it would seem, in the
stucco of the heavens ; a golden¹⁰ dish in motion, it might be
termed, for the progress of the God of the Dolphin Banner, set-
ting forth for the conquest¹¹ of the threefold world ; stealing the
beauty of the top of Kāma’s golden quiver ; possessed of the
colour of the China roses that grow on the topmost peak of
the eastern mount ; a dish, as it were, filled with a ball of pellucid
saffron belonging to a wanton of the night ; [189] even as a single¹²
jar-like breast, tawny with saffron, of a fair dame of the east¹³ ;
<occupied by a gazelle> as the milk ocean¹⁴ is <ruled by Viṣṇu> ;
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘then.’
² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘by the forest conflagration of the rays.’
³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘though <Kṛṣṇa>, it concealed the distinctive
characteristics of «Viṣṇu», for it was <black> and concealed the distinctive characteristics
of «all forms».’
⁴ An inferior sort of diamond.
⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘as running streams of cloth of molten silver.’
⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘then.’
⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘like a patchwork garment.’
⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘like the.’
⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘round as sectarial marks of bandhūka-flowers
fastened to the forehead as adornments of eastern damsels.’
¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘auspicious.’
¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘seeking to conquer.’ Tel. ed. omits the two adjectives following ; the
Srirangam text omits the second only, having for the first ‘like the mouth of Kāma’s
golden quiver.’
¹² Tel. ed. omits ‘single.’
¹³ Srirangam text adds ‘a cage, so to say, for the pleasure birds of the female
Vidyādharas that wander in the sky ; the lute-gourd, wrapped in red cloth, one might
fancy, of a pair of kinnaras resting on the summit of the eastern mount.’
¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘Garuḍa.’