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

were eager to consort with the [43] ⟨surasundarīs⟩; since it
shone on a sea of conflict ¹ whose shores were covered with
quantities of pearls fallen from must elephants’ frontal lobes
which were shattered by sharp arrows, with flying ⟨darts⟩, with
hundreds of ⟨fleshless, white-umbrellaed armies⟩ whose manifold
charms were spread through the ⟨red⟩ waters, with ² ⟨convulsing
corpses⟩, and terrible because of the fierce pride of ⟨warriors⟩
eager to consort with the ⟨Apsarasas⟩.
[44] Then, once upon a time, when the night was finished ;
when the Lotus-Lord of shell-like beauty was sinking with his
spouse, the Night, into the western ³ sea ; while he was white, as
it were, with the curds which constitute a morsel of food for
(Buddhist) ascetics at their mealtime, and was like a mass of
Yamunā’s foam by night, and resembled a fragment of stone ⁴
for the polishing of Mēnakā’s nails, and had the shade of the
soma-plant in the centre of his body, and resembled the silvern
earring ⁵ of a head laid softly down on the pillow of the western
mount, and seemed to be the goblet of Lady Night containing
a remnant of wine ; [45] when the bees had their feet caught in
the pollen of the white lotuses which had been converted into
cold ⁶ paste by the dew ; when by their soft chatter the mainas
revealed women at their rendezvous ; when the huts of the
ascetics awoke intent on study ; when the streets resounded with
poetic tales chanted by mendicants in the vibhāsa mode ⁷ ; [46]
when the lamps seemed unable, because of their exceeding thin-
ness,⁸ to bear the blackness of night ⁹ which they had entirely

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¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘in the forefront of battle, as on a sea terrible with
the roaring noise of soldiers marching in eagerness to consort with the Apsarasas’—
apparently with no attempt to pun.
² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘undulating with.’
³ The distinctly conventional character of Subandhu's romance is well illustrated by
his making the moon set in the west because the sun does.
⁴ Tel. ed., ‘crystalline stone’; Srirangam text, ‘fragment of white stone for the
polishing.’
⁵ Tel. ed., ‘the circle of the silvern earring of night, with her head softly resting,’
etc.; similarly the Srirangam text.
⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘cold, icy water.’
⁷ Tel. ed., ‘hāsa mode.’ ⁸ Or, ‘emptiness.’
⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘mass of nocturnal blackness.’