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

A SANSKRIT ROMANCE 61
balance for the jewels of her teeth ¹; [61] the bridge betwixt the
oceans of her eyes ²; a wall, as it were, between two elephants
mad with youthful passion. (She was) adorned with delicate
brows which were clusters of bees about her blue-lotus eyes ³;
portals ⁴ of her face that formed the abode of Love; the shores ⁵
of Passion's sea; wantoning in youthful dancing. She possessed,
as it were, the loveliness of the sky in the rainy season [62] with
‹clouds› swelling with beauty, for her ‹breasts› swelled with
beauty.⁶
Like one ⁷ who has gained the cry of Victory she stood on
the tip of a trembling ‹balance›,⁸ for she had trembling ‹anklets›;
she was like Suyōdhana's valour while his eyes rested on ‹Karṇa›,
for her eyes extended to her ‹ears›; she seemed to have the
sportiveness of the Dwarf ⁹ in exhibiting his ‹destruction of Bali›,¹⁰
for she revealed her ‹furrowed folds›; she was like the station of
the sun in Scorpio ‹after traversing Virgo and Libra›, for she
‹transcended comparison with other damsels›; [63] she rejoiced
in ‹unblemished beauty› as Uṣā rejoiced at the sight of ‹Anirud-
dha› ¹¹; she had the ‹beauty of lovely eyes› as Śacī ‹delighted
in gazing on Indra's pleasure groves›; she had, as it were, the
sportful dancing of Śiva with his ‹quivering serpent›, for she had
beautiful ‹eyes and ears›; she had lofty dark ‹nipples› as a forest ¹²
has lofty dark ‹bread-fruit trees›; [64] she was adorned with a
¹ Compare the Euphuistic passage in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels, 5. 2 : 'You
that tell your mistress, her beauty is all composed of theft; her hair stole from Apollo's
goldy-locks; her white and red, lilies and roses stolen out of paradise; her eyes two
stars, plucked from the sky; her nose the gnomon of Love's dial, that tells you how
the clock of your heart goes; and for her other parts, as you cannot reckon them, they
are so many; so you cannot recount them, they are so manifest.'
² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'the bridge, as it were, betwixt the ambrosial oceans
of her eyes.'
³ The bees being extremely fond of the lotus.
⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'garlands of the portals.'
⁵ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'currents.'
⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, '‹clouds swelling with rain›' and '‹breasts shining
with pearl necklaces›.' ⁷ Tel. ed., 'like a king.'
⁸ This seems to be introduced merely for the sake of the pun on tulākoṭi.
⁹ Viṣṇu. ¹⁰ Cf. Rāmāyaṇa, 1. 29; Bhāgavatapurāṇa, 8. 21–23.
¹¹ Cf. Harivaṁśa, 173–186; Kathāsaritsāgara, 6. 31.
¹² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, 'the Vindhya forest.'