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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 109
[216] Then¹ he, whose power was that of Śiva’s joy, saw the
mansion of Vāsavadattā surrounded ² by an encircling wall;
with its cloud-touching crest built in a quarter of the capital;
white with stucco ; with bits of gold,³ pearls, emeralds, and rubies
inserted one after the other like a host of deities staying to see
Vāsavadattā ⁴; [217] adorned with banners that seemed to mock
the beauty of the ocean ⁵ of the sky as if with clusters of the
flowers of the cloud-tree disporting in the wind ; adorned with
very numerous ⁶ streams flowing through courts with slabs of
golden stone, (these streams) bearing the savour of water per-
fumed with ⁷ camphor, saffron, cardamom, and cloves, and with
palace doves sleeping ⁸ comfortably perched on slabs of crystal
from shores unknown ⁹; [218] with waters full of the blossoms of
the trees near the crumbling banks ¹⁰; with seats ¹¹ bedewed by
masses of spray moving at the striking of ¹² the firm buttocks of
wanton ¹³ damsels incessantly plunging and emerging; with flamin-
goes whose noise would imply that they had settled near the
sand bank formed by the stream of camphor ¹⁴; [219] revealing
the Brahminy ducks' sudden dread of darkness because of the
groves of expanded blue lotuses ¹⁴ ; <containing goodly waters> as
young women <have goodly breasts>; bathing the <lips of the
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘then, having entered.’ Cartellieri, ‘Subandhu and
Bāṇa’ in WZKM. I. 132, compares with this Candrāpīḍa’s first meeting with Kādambarī
(Kādambarī, pp. 182 sqq., Bombay ed., 1890 (tr. Ridding, pp. 143 sqq., London, 1896)).
² Tel. ed. omits down to ‘adorned with banners.’
³ Srirangam text, ‘seeming to have gold.’
⁴ Tel. ed., ‘the mansion of Vāsavadattā.’
⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘city.’
⁶ Tel. ed. omits ‘very numerous’; Srirangam text, ‘numerous.’
⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘bearing the perfume of.’
⁸ Tel. ed., ‘white doves of the palace born and sleeping’; Srirangam text, ‘curious
white doves of the palace sleeping.’
⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘slabs of crystal near the banks.’
¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘trees on the crumbling banks.’
¹¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘seats on the banks.’
¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘upheaved by striking against.’
¹³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘wanton.’
¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘that they had perched on the sand bank of the stream
of camphor.’
¹⁵ Tel. ed., ‘revealing the terror of ducks and cakravākas at the darkness because of
the expanded blue lotuses.’