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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 113
aloes'! 'Karpūrikā, whiten¹ the burden of thy breasts with
camphor-dust'! 'Mātaṅgikā, have the begging² of the young
elephants borne in mind'! 'Śaśilēkhā, draw a digit of the moon³
on thy broad forehead'! 'Kētakikā, note the longing of the
bower of screw-pine'! [232] 'Śakunikā, give food to the pet
birds'! 'Madanamañjarī, festoon the plantain house as a bower
for meeting'⁴! 'Śṛṅgāramañjarī, prepare the arrangements⁵
of love'! 'Sañjīvikā,⁶ give a sprig of pepper to the pair of
chickores'! 'Pallavikā, make the artificial grove of screw-pine
blossom with camphor-powder'! 'Sahakāramañjarī, produce
the perfume of the mango by the breeze of thy fan'⁷! 'Mada-
nalēkhā, write a love-line of the wind of Malaya'! [233]
'Mṛṇālikā,⁸ give a blade of lotus-fibre to the young flamingoes'!
'Vilāsavatī, make the young peacock sport'! 'Tamālikā, per-
fume the palace court⁹ with sandal water'! 'Kāñcanikā, scatter
liquid musk in the gold pavilion'! 'Pravālikā, sprinkle the
grove of young¹⁰ shoots with saffron'!
Entering¹¹ with these thoughts among others: 'Oh, the exceed-
ing beauty of the mansions! Oh, the wanton blissfulness of love!
This pavilion, for instance, made of elephants' tusks, whose beauty
is the beauty of the spotless teeth of Mālava's daughters, with
wide interstices for the (amorous) sport of their (proper) seasons¹²!
[234] This pet parrot confined in a cage of bars made of golden
rods'!, he (Kandarpakētu) saw Vāsavadattā brilliant with a pair
¹ Tel. ed., 'dust.' ² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'washing.'
³ A digit of the moon is ⅟₁₆ part of it. The purpose of drawing this emblem,
according to the Sanskrit commentator Śivarāma, was to frighten Love away, the
moon being described by Subandhu himself (see above, p. 103) as the pyre of Kāma.
⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'Madanamañjarī, anklet it to the arbour of creepers!
Kadalikā, open the plantain house'!
⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'arrangement.'
⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'Sañjīvanikā.'
⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'efface the drops of sweat by the wind of thy fan with
its mango perfume'!
⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'Makarikā, adorned by Kāma.'
⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'have the court of the palace covered.'
¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit 'young.'
¹¹ Tel. ed. omits these meditations of Kandarpakētu; Srirangam text omits the
exclamation concerning the pavilion, prefacing the whole with 'and he thought.'
¹² See Schmidt, Beiträge zur indischen Erotik, pp. 403–429, Leipzig, 1902.
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