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

124 VĀSAVADATTĀ
been done by me¹? Alas, my destiny of evil fruitage²! Alas,
the course of Time, hard to overcome! Alas, the planets' most
cruel glance³ askance! Alas, the unjust fruition⁴ of my elders'
blessings! Alas, the result of my evil dreams and ill omens! Is
there no escaping destiny in any way? [259] Have not the
sciences⁵ been sufficiently studied? Have not my teachers been
duly honoured? Have not the (sacred) fires been revered?
Have the gods on earth⁶ been insulted⁷? Have not the kine
been circumambulated? Hath not fearlessness been inspired in
refugees'?
[260] Thus lamenting in ways manifold,⁸ passing forth from
the forest toward the south and going⁹ for a considerable
distance¹⁰ along the great ocean's lagoon with¹¹ its new reeds,
spikenard, lotuses, niculas, tamarisks,¹² rattan-canes, and medlars¹³;
with its borders overgrown with many poonga-oil plants, Bengal
quinces, leaf hermitages, and conessi-bark trees¹⁴; with its fair
Madagascar potato groves eagerly tasted by the great bees;
[261] with swarms of bees clustering on the stems of young
varuṇa-trees which covered over the wide-spreading masses of
rattan creepers¹⁵; with its trees smeared with liquid showers from
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'what unholy deed hath aforetime been done by me'?
² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'alas, the evil fruitage of destiny'!
³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'fall.' ⁴ Tel. ed., 'discrepancy.'
⁵ Tel. ed., 'hath not science.' ⁶ The Brāhmans.
⁷ Tel. ed. omits this question.
⁸ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add 'desirous of death.'
⁹ The passage 'going... he (then) saw' is compared with Harṣacarita, pp. 262–
264, Bombay ed., 1892 (tr. Thomas, pp. 233–235, London, 1897), and translated by
Thomas, 'Subandhu and Bāṇa,' in WZKM. 12. 21–27.
¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'a journey of considerable distance.'
¹¹ Tel. ed., 'abounding in.'
¹² Tel. ed. omits 'tamarisks.'
¹³ Srirangam text, 'abounding in new reeds, spikenard, lotuses, niculas, tamarisks,
vañjulas, and chir-pines, and with multitudes of poonga-oil plants and Bengal quinces
Tel. ed. adds 'poonga-oil plants and Bengal quinces.'
¹⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'with many leaf hermitages variously built and with
conessi-bark trees.'
¹⁵ Tel. ed., 'with swarms of bees clustering on the branches of the varuṇa-trees
which covered over the wide-spreading masses of mango creepers that were eagerly
tasted by female bees.'