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MALIK MUHAMMAD 1415]
"PADMAVATI.
BY A. G. SHIRREFF, 1.C.S.
PRINTED AT THE INLAND PRINTING WORKS PUBLISHED BY THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGALI,
—_—,
CALCUTTA
1944
FOREWORD
The contribution of the Asiatic Society of Bengal to the study of Sanskrit and Pali, Arabic and Persian, in fact of the major classical languages of India, is well known. But it is generally not remembered or, sufficiently ap- preciated that the members of the Society from its very inception have been making pioneer studies in some branches of the living languages of India. Bengah, Hindi, Maithili etc., attracted the attention of eminent scholars like Rev. Carey, Rev. Long, Dr. Hoernle and others, as we find from that admirable work, A Com- parative Grammar of the Gaudian Language (1880). Mr. Etherington’s Hindi Grammar was already in the field and it provoked Mr. (Later Sir) George Grierson B.C.S., to write his Introduction to the Matthtl: Language pub- lished as an Extra Number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1881-82). In 1896, Mr. Grierson began publishing the Padmavatt of Malik Muhammad Jaisi, in collaboration with MM. Pandit Sudhakar Dvivedi. We quote below a few significant sentences from Mr. Grierson’s Introduction;
“The value of the Padmavati consists chiefly in ita age. Malik Muhammad is we believe, the oldest vernacular poet of Hindustan of whom we have any uncontested remains....The preservation of the Padmavati is due mainly to the happy accident of Mahk Muhammad's religious reputation. Although profoundly affected by the teaching of Kabir and familiarly acquainted with प्राप्ता lore, and with the Hindu yoga philosophy he was from the first revered as a saint by his Muhammadan co-religionists...... His work is a valuable witness to the actual condition of the vernacular language of Northern India in the 16th century. It is so far as it goes, and with the exception of a few lines in Albernni’s Indta the only trustworthy witness which we have.”
In 1911 the fasciculus VI was published carrying the Text, Commentary and critical Notes up-to Cantos I-XXV (vvii 1-286), but Pandit Dyivedi was no more. Mr. Grierson
ii
wrote feelingly: ‘‘With much sorrow I have to record the lamented death of my old friend and colleague MM. Pandit Dvivedi, the Joint Editor of this poem........ Until arrangements can be made by the Asiatic Society of Bengal for another scholar to carry on his task, the publication of this edition of the Padmfvat1 is necessarily “suspended.”
The idea of completing Sir George Grierson’s trans- lation of the Padmavati, occurred to Mr. A. G. Shirreff, L.C.S., in 1938. He obtained Sir George Grierson’s permission to carry on the work and finished the bulk of the translation in 1940, 1.e., exactly in the year of the tetracentenary of the composition of the poem by Malik Muhammad Jaisi under the patronage of Sher Shah. Mr. Shirreff has carefully consulted all the important texts of the poem published so far and has also fully utilised the opinions and criticisms of scholars, European as well as Indian, who have made ,Padmavati their favourite study. But the remarkable feature in his English rendering of this magnificent poem is that he had some special advantages for the study of the poem which was composed in and about the village of Jais in the Sultanpur district, Faizabad division. Knowing as he does so thoroughly the dialect of that area Mr. Shirreff could explain many obscure passages of the poem which appears to us to-day as a metrical encyclopaedia of Hindu- Islamic lore of medieval India. The myths and legends, as well-as the peculiar idioms and metrical devices of the Hindu and Islamic poets, have been woven into a homo- geneous and harmoneous composition of inestimable value. What ‘Alberuni achieved in prose in the middle of the eleventh century while surveying Hindu philosophy and sciences, was achieved with rare originality and thoroughness by Malik Muhammad JJaisi in his metrical epic on the life of the Rajput heroine, Padmavati. As a worthy disciple of Kavir, he 5111068, to us to-day as a real pioneer in the path of Hindu-Islamic cultural rap- proachement which found its culmination in the reign of Emperor Akbar, the four hundredth anniversary of whose. birth has recently been celebrated. Nanak, Kava,
abs
9
Tulsidas and Jaisi thus inaugurated a new era of cultural collaboration which may serve as an example to later generations. Jaisi received a lasting tribute, which he fully deserved from a brother poet of Bengal, Alawal, who prepared his Bengali verson of Padmavait while working at the Court of Arakan in 1659
Mr. Shirreff has placed all lovers of medieval Indian literature under special obligation by offering his Padmavati to the public through our Bibliotheca Indica series. His English rendering has definitely caught the inspiration of the master poet and in offering our thanks to him, we congratulate him at the same time on his signal success.
Roya, Asratio Soormrry 07 Benear KALIDAS NAG, Calcutta General Secretary. September, 1944. |
CONTENTS
PAGE
PORTRAIT OF 14157 - - ~ FRONTISPIECE INTRODUCTION - - - - - x BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - ~ Xi—Xii THE JAISI MEMORIAL ~ - = FACING PAGE I CANTO I THE PREFACE - ~ ~ = I 2 SIMHALA - - - ~ ` ~ 27
3 THE BIRTH OF PADMAVATI - - ~ 37
4 THER MANASARODAKA TAKE - ~ ~ 43
5 THE PARROT - - - - - " 49
6 THE BIRTH OF RATANSEN - - - 53
7 THE MERCHANT ~ - ~ - 54
8 NAGMATI AND THE PARROT - ~ - 59
Q THE KING AND THE PARROT - - - 65
IO LOVE’S INVENTORY - - - ~ 70
II LOVE - - - - - - 83
I2 THE YOGI - - - - ~ 87
713 THE KING'S TALK WITH GAJAPATI_ - ~ 05
4 THE SHIPS~ - ~ - - - 98
I5 THE SEVEN SEAS - ~ = ~ 7100
10 SINGHALA-DVIPA ~ - - 4 105
` ग THE VISIT TO THE णाश. - - - 108
18 PADMAVATI’S PASSION ~ - ~ 100
IQ PADMAVATI'S MEETING WITH THE PARROT - 115
20 ‘THE SPRING - - - - . ~ 118
ZI KING RATANSEN'S SELF-IMMOLATION ~ 126
22 PARVATI AND MAHESH - - - 730
23 THE KING'S ASSAULT ON THE 50215853 - 135
24 KING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER - 147
25 THE IMPALEMENT OF RATANSEN ~ ~ 158
26 ‘THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI " 170
27 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND-RAYANSEN* 79
28 RATANSEN’S COMPANIONS - ~ - 200
CANTO 29 ‘THE SLX SEASONS - 30 NAGMATI'S SEVERANCE
उ NAGMATI
32 RATANSEN’S LEAVE-TAKING 33 THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 34 LAKSHMI AND THE OCEAN 35 THE ARRIVAL AT CHITAUR 36 THE CONTENTION BETWEEN NAGMATI
"ऽ MESSAGE -
AND PADMAVATI - 37 RATANSEN'S OFFSPRING 38 THE BANISHMENT OF RAGHAVA-CHETAN 39 HOW RAGHAVA-CHETAN WENT TO DELHI 40 DESCRIPTION OF THE KINDS OF WOMEN 4I THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI'S BEAUTY 42 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT 43 THE BATTLE -
44 THE FRIENDLY MEETING BETWEEN
KING AND THE EMPEROR
45 THE EMPEROR'S BANQUET
THE
46 THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS OF CHITAUR - -
47 THE IMPRISONMENT OF RATANSEN 48 THE LAMENTATION OF PADMAVATI
AND NAGMATI - 49 DEVAPAL’S WOMAN-MESSENGER
50 THE EMPEROR'S WOMAN-MESSENGER 5I HOW PADMAVATI SPOKE WITH GORA
AND BADAL - -
52 HOW GORA AND BADAI, WENT FORTH TO WAR
53 HOW GORA AND BADAL FOUGHT
54 THE DELIVERANCE FROM CAPTIVITY. MEETING WITH PADMAVATI
THE
55 THE BATTLE BETWEEN RATANSEN AND
DEVAPAL,
56 THE DEATH OF KING RATANSEN 57 THE SATI OF PADMAVATI AND NAGMATT
- ENVOY
INDEX » «00 we य ee
@ न @ @ क # # क कछ छ @ # ॐ @ न
1
INTRODUCTION
THE PRESENT WORK
It was in the hot weather of 1938 that I decided to attempt the task of completing Sir George Grierson’s translation of the Padmavati of Malik Mohammad Jaisi. As Commissioner of Fyzabad I had at that time special advantages for the study of the poem. ‘Ramnagar, in the Amethi Estate, where the poet spent the latter part of his life, is in the Sultanpur district of the Fyzabad Division, and Jais itself is within three miles of its border. Jaisi’s language is the dialect still spoken on the spot and his imagery is taken from the scenery and life of the countryside. In spite of the lapse of four hundred years there has been no great change in the language or in the way of life of the people, or in their surroundings, and the poet’s name and fame still live in local tradition.
I obtained Sir George Grierson’s permission to carty on his work. He wrote “It was nice to get your letter and to learn that you have been taken captive by Malik Mubammad’s Padmavati. Like you, I think that it 18 a great pity that the poem is not more widely known in England. You ask about my translation in the Bibliotheca Indica. Alas, I am ashamed to say that I never finished it. When my fellow-worker and old friend Pandit Sudha- kar Dvivedi died, I had no heart to go on with the work, and, to my shame, I let it drop, and have never had courage to take it up again. Of course, I should be much pleased if you completed it, subject to the approval of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal.”
It was not possible to begin the work of translation until I went on leave in 1940, though several readings of the poem preceded this ; in particular, in the cold weather of 1939, I had great assistance in studying the Padmavati with Pandit Ram Naresh Tripathi. He is himself a resident of Suitanpur and his unrivalled knowledge of country life was of great value for the understanding of
ij
the poem. My translation was drafted during leave in England and on the long voyage out 1ound the Cape. In revising it and my notes after my return to India I have received great help from several scholars, of whom I must specially mention Pt. Kanta Nath Pande of the Harish Chandra Intermediate College, Bemares. He has kindly gone through the whole translation and the notes, and has contributed extremely useful suggestions and criticisms.
GRIERSON’S WORK
I was not able during my leave in England to consult Sir George Grierson about the work; his state of health prevented this. It was on my return to India that I learnt of his death in his ninetieth year. I was surprised and rather disappointed to find no mention of his work on Jaisi in the only obituary notice which I have seen. It seems to me that this work is the most characteristic of all his great achievements. In it he has shown his finest powers of scholarship and literary expression to forward what was the main purpose of his life-work, the inter- pretation of the East to the West. For this he probably did more than any other British schalar since Sir William Jones. I think that by this piece of work, perhaps more than any other, Grierson would wish his own name to be remembered, and I think it is fitting that the completion of the work showld be in the nature of a memorial to him. I personally owe him a deep debt of gratitude for the help and advice which he gave me cnroughout my service from the time of my first starting for India, when he spoke to me with enthusiasm of the delight of losing oneself in the fairy land of Hindi poetry. The phrase has often returned to my mind when reading ‘the Padmavatt.
SHUKLA’S EDITION
In giving its approval the Society asked that the Benares edition of the work should be used, as the most complete edition available, This is the edition published
- it
by the Nagari-Pracharini Sabha and edited by’ Pt. | Ram Chandra Shukla. I have used the second (1935 } edition So far as the present translation is a reprint of. Grierson’s dewn to 10 (10) 6, the text of course is Grierson’s and Sudhakar’s, but I have shown all important variants of Shukla’s text in my notes. For the rest I have, used Shukla as the basis, drawing attention in my notes fo variants in Grierson and Sudhakar,—whose critical work extended to 25(23),—and other sources. Pt. Ram Chandra Shukla also died at the beginning of 1941, and it has been a matter of personal regret to me that I was not able to consult-him about my difficulties. I have abbre- viated my own notes by references to his introduction, which is a valuable piece of work and essential for the study of Jaisi; even where I have been inclined to differ from his opinions, I have always considered them deserv- ing of respect
It must be admitted that Shukla failed to appreciate the value of the pioneer work done by Grierson and Sudhakar. There may be some justification for his criticism of their orthography ; their text was primarily based on manuscripts in the Persian character, and its Hindi spelling is theoretical rather than in accordance with that of the earliest known Hindi and Kaithi specimens. And there is considerable force in his fling at Sudhakar’s etymologies in the Introduction to his first edition, page 3-5, where he quotes the saying that no one went to Sudhakar for an explanation and came away disappointed. But he has not sufficiently realised the high literary quality of the translation, or the value of the collaboration between Grierson and Sudhakar for the understanding of the general style and feeling of the poem. Still less does he seem to realise the unique excellence of their critical study of the manuscripts. This study was an essential ground work for the proper under- standing of Jaisi’s aims and outlook. I have frequently had occasion to draw attention in my notes to instances in which the adoption of one reading or another may make all the difference in our appreciation of Jaisi’s standpoint
THER TEXT " "
Besides Grierson and Sudhakar’s edition प्प mentions three other printed editions, Pt. Ram Jasan Misra’s, that of the Newal Kishore Pres§, Lucknow, and an Urdu edition published in Cawnpore, all of which“he found worthless. He also mentions that he has relied in places on a Kaithi manuscript, and also on a form of conjecture. The latter consists in transliterating a doubtful word from Nagari into Persian script, and then seeing in what other ways it can be read. It is a pity that Shukla has not shown in his notes the authorities for his readings. Where these differ from Grierson and Sudhakar in the first 25 cantos I have generally found the latter preferable. For the remainder of the work I have had to depend mainly on Shukla’s text. Many years ago the late Lala Sita Ram told me that in his opinion the best edition of the Padmavatj was that of Lala Bhagwan Din, published by the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad, in 1924. It was only after my translation was ready for the press that I succeeded in obtaining a copy of this by the kindness of Mr. Prithvi Nath Kulshreshtha. This also is incom- plete, extending only to 29(10) and also does not mention the authority for its readings, which on the whole are claser to Grierson and Sudhakar than toShukla, thoughit has a number of spurious stanzas. In some instances I have preferred Bhagwan Din’s reading to either of these autho- rities and have mentioned the fact in my notes. The Punjab University edition ends with the 25th canto, for the obvious reason that it is merely a copy of Grierson and Sudhakar’s text. The Hindi Sabdsagar (the Nagari Pracharini Sabha’s great Hindi Dictionary) contains frequent quotations from the Padmavati, from which I have adopted a number of variant readings. I have also compared a late eighteenth century Kaithi manuscript, lent me by Sir Richard Burn, which supplied one very interesting variant’. There is a great deal still to be done
the critical study of the manuscripts. A heading
SED ot te a Re Ee त न कअत
(a) See note {प} to 23(5)4
न्य कसन्ति
Vv
‘ronjectural enjendations: in the Index call attention to seime stiggestions offered. for the consideration of scholars.
THE SCRIPT
One point on which textual study turns is the quéstion whether the Padmavati was originally written in Persian or Kaithi characters. Grierson’s view that it was written in the Persian character was generally accepted till recent years, but Shukla, following certain arguments put for- ward by Pandit Chandra Bali Pande, has declared for Kaithi or Nagari. The substance of these arguments is that Jaisi had already used Kaithi script in writing the Akharawat. But the fact that the Akharawat is an acrostic based on the Kaithi alphabet does not necessarily show that it was written in that character ; what it proves is Jaisi’s intense interest in all things Hindu. Nor it can be accepted as proved that the Akharawat was written after the Padmavati. The reference to Kabir in stanza 43 15 no indication that Kabir was still living, while in stanza 45 Jaisi refers to his own tale of love, thereby indicating that he has already written the Padmavati. Local legend places the Akharawat later, as it 1s said to have been written on some special occasion for the Raja of Amethi, Jaisi’s first introduction to whom came through the recitation of a couplet* from the Padmavati by a disciple.
I have discussed in the notes certain passages in which variant readings are obviously due ‘to the fact that the corresponding words in Persian character could be read in more than one way’. These instances do not prove conclusively that Jaisi used the Persian script, although the last of them shows that he must have been imitating. an original in which that script was used. But there is conclusive proof, in my opinion, in the 8th stanza of the 8th canto, which depends for its point on a series of piins on the words ‘ras’ and ‘ris’; it is only in tnpomted Persian that these puns could have presented themselves. It would also be natural for Jaisi, when writing 4 poptler poein itt the spoken form ef the language with which he
Se yey ere,
(a) 30(14)8,9. (b) 1(1)2 note (a), 1(24)1 note (kk), 40(2)1 note (a)
71
wis familiar, to use the alphabet which must have been the basis of his education, Jais being a centre of Muslim learning.
JAISI’S HOME
Some scholars are of opinion that Jaisi was not born in Jais as his name would imply. The opinion is based on the expression in 7 (23) 1 ‘The city Jayas is a holy spot : there came the poet, and told his lay.’ But Jaisi is speaking allegorically : he ‘came’ to Jais just as Bunyan ‘lighted on a certain place’ (which was Bedford) or as Dante ‘found himself in a dark wood’ (which was Florence) In the Akhiri Kalam (10)r he is more definite,—' Jayas nagar mor asthanu.’ The poet’s house is still shown in the centre of the town, though thére is some difference of opinion as to whether it is the three storied house which belonged till recent years to the descendants of his brother or the single storied house* next door which is deserted and almost in ruins. Incidentally, I doubt if Grierson’s translation of the second verse of the stanza quoted above can be accepted,—'There humbly waited he upon Hindu scholars’.’ {815 was not a centre of Sanskrit learning, and I imagine that Jaisi is using the word ‘Pandit’ here to mean ‘maulvi’, just as elsewhere he uses ‘Kailas’ for the Muslim paradise as well as for the Hindu heaven, or puran’ for the Quran as well as for the Puranas. The tomb of Shaikh Kamal, one of Jaisi’s spiritual ancestors on the outskirts of Jais, is locally known as Pandit Kama)’s tomb. In 1(12)4 Usman is called Pandit.
JAISI’S WORKS
Jaisi tells us, in the Akhiri Kalam (4)1, that he was born in an earthquake in the year 900 Hijri, (correspond- ing to 1494 A.D.) and that he made his debut as a poet after his 30th year. The Akhiri Kalam mentions the ruling monarch,—as.is required of a poem in Masnavi form,—as Babar Shah (1526-1530). The Padmavati was
(a) This can be seen in the background in the photograph of the Jaisi Memorial. (b) See 1(23), note 61 “ero nt oe ष
vii
written while the poet was still living in Jais: the proem dates’ it as begun in the Hijri year 947, corresponding to 1540 A.D., and gives the name of the reigning monarch as Sher Shah*. In the last stanza the poet describes him- self as a very old man, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. He was still able, however, to write the Akharawat, which there is no definite means of dating. Shukla’s edition gives all the three poems, which are all that are extant, though tradition credits Jaisi with a number of others of which only the titles remain.
BIOGRAPHICAL
The only other definite biographical information which we find in Jaisi’s poems is the fact that he had lost the sight of one eye and the hearing of one ear’. This was no doubt due to the attack of small pox which, tradition says, frightfully disfigured his face. Hence the story of his rebuke to a Raja or Sultan who jeered at him as he entered his darbar: ‘Is it me you are laughing at, or the Potter who made me?’ It might appear from his own reference to his disfigurement that it was this which made him adopt the life of a religious ascetic, but tradition attributes it to the accidental death of his sons. Des- cendants of his daughters are said to be still भ g in 1215. The latter part of his life was spent in seclusion in the jungle of Ramnagar near Amethi, to which place he had moved, either at the invitation of the Raja, or by the direction of his spiritual preceptor. The Raja was childiess, but a son was bornto him by virtue of the prayers of the poet, who was venerated as a saint and a miracle worker. The move to Amethi (less than 20 miles) was possibly the longest journey of Jaisi’s life. His geographical knowledge 18 extensive but vague, and based no doubt on traveller’s tales. What he really knew was the Oudh country-side in the neighbourhood of Jais and Amethi.” The date of his death is not known: some accounts make him live to a fabulous age. His tomb is a
1(24)1 note (kk). (d) 1(13)1. 1(21)1 note (85), 31(9) note ह. ite uniee cae (d) 1(19)1. (a) 1(21)1 note (55), 31(9) g
Vill +
simple one in a decent state of repair: its custodian told me the story (to be found in Shukla, p. 10) of how the poet’s death was due to his habit of assuming the form of a tiger when he said his evening prayers and being. shot unwittingly by one of the Raja’s retainers. Sufis and VYogis, in popular belief, have supernatural powers of this nature. The belief, of course, has little connection with the Sufi mysticism which pervades Jaisi’s poem, and between which and the mysticism of Yoga he makes no distinction. Actually, though he was perhaps not aware of the fact, they had a common origin in the meeting of Eastern and Western thought.
THE POET OF LOVE
Too much weight may however be given to the Sufi elements in Jaisi’s work. He is a poet first and foremost, whose object it is to tell a tale of love. Idoubt very much whether he had any definite allegory present to his mind throughout: the key which he gives in the first stanza of the Envoy does not by any means fit the lock. He tells his story in the form ofan allegorical Sufi masnavi much as his hero disguises himself in the trap- pings of a Yogi when he undertakes the pilgrimage of love.
And what a story it is! Half fairy tale and half historical romance and all a kaleidoscopic mixture of whatever the poet found of charm and beauty in the world around him and in the traditions and culture of two civilisations, told in verse the lilt of which Tulsi Das was glad to imitate.
THE SUFI SCHOOL
Most recent historians of Hindi literature have treated Jaisi as one of a school of Sufi poets who wrote narra- tive poems in Awadhi verse. In particular, mention is made of the Mrigavati of Kutban and of the Madhumalati of Manjhan as having preceded Jaisi’s work and having been imitated by him, Jaisi is supposed to have referred to these and other similar poems in the 17th stanza of the
¥ 1x
23rd canto’. A manuscript of the Mrigavati was described in the report of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha’s search for Hindi mss. in 7000, and one or two mes. of the Madhu- malati have also been noted upon. But none of these manuseripts is now forthcoming, and until they are redis- covered and critically edited I think it would be most unsafe to base canclusions as to Jaisi's originality on what we have been told about them. There has been an awful warning in the case of the ‘Gora Badal ki Bat’. The search report for 1901 describe. a manuscript of this early 17th century work in the Asiatic Soctety’s Library asin prose and verse, and gave a sample of the 77086. The historians of literature followed one another in quot- ing this as Hindi prose of the 17th century. It was only after 30 years that a persistent inquirer examined the actual manuscript and found that the prose part was a translation made for the British resident at Indore about 1830. So we find that the earliest specimen of Hindi literary prose has been antedated by these same historians by at least two centuries, and come back to the previous correct, if rather humdrum doctrine, that such prose started with Lallu ji Lal’s Prem Sagar.
THE PROPHET OF UNITY
At any rate, it can be safely said that the imitative part of Jaisi’s work is the least important. He imitated, no doubt, what was most attractive to contemporary taste, and much of the resulting fine writing in his poem has little appeal to us. But beneath all this there is his real passion for beauty and his real interest 1n and love for his fellow men and everything that concerns them. His broad tolerance and understanding made him, above all, a prophet of unity. If we could meet him now in the Elysian fields, and could ask him whether he had approached his theme from the Muslim or the Hindu standpoint, he would, I imagine, answer with a smile that
(a) See note (Il) to 23(17) b) See the Essay by Narottam Das Swamiin Nagri Pracharini Patrika vol, 14, pt. 4 39
x
he did not know, and that he had never seen any differ- euce between them.
The gazetteer of Sultanpur records the fact that the district has always been singularly free from communal strife, and it would not be far-fetched to see in this the living influence of the poet. Shukla mentions, as a matter of personal experience, that those Muslims tn whose homes a manuscript of the Padmavati is treasured are notably friendly and unprejudiced.
I have already mentfoned the great assistance I have received fram Pandit Kanta Nath Pande and from Pt. Ram Naresh Tripathi. My thanks are also due to many other helpers. Rai Bahadur Pt. Kamalakar Dube (Pt. Sudhakar Dvivedi’s son, and President of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha) has helped me with the translation of an obscure astrological passage in canto 32. Pandit Raj Mangal Nath Tripathi of the Colvin Taluqdar’s College, Lucknow, has given me advice in several difficulties. Mahant Digvijai Nath of Gorakhpur has explained to me the trappings of the Gorakhnathi Yogis. I have had help with the identification of game-birds from Thakur Chhattrapal Singh, of birds generally from Kunwar Suresh Singh of Kalakankar, and of musical instruments from Dr. Arnold Bake. I am grateful to professor A. Qavi Fani and to the Indian Press, Allahabad, for permission to reproduce the (perhaps contemporary) portrait of the poet, and to Mr. M. S. Randhawa for the photogragh of the Jaisi Memorial. My special gratitude is due to B. Gur Dayal of the Land Records Office who has devoted very many hours of his spare time to preparing my manus- cript for the press and has shown great intelligence and skill] in doing it.
Dated | A. G. SHIRREFF, I-I-1942. LUCKNOW.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEXTS
Grierson and Sudhakar :
The Padumévati of Malik Muhammad Jaisi edited, with a commentary, translation and critical notes by G. A. Grierson, C,I.E.,......and einen a a Sudhakeara Dvivedi...... Vol. 1 Cantos I-XXYV (vv. 1-286).
(Bibliotheca Indica New Series nes. 877, 920, 951, 1024, 1172 and 1273. Calcutta 1911).
Shukla : Jayasi Granthawali, arthat Padmawat, Akharawa} aur Akhiri Kalam ed. Ram Chandra Shukla. Published for the Kashi Nagari Pracharini Sabha by the Indian Press, Allahabad. 2nd edition 1935.
Bhagwan Din: Padmawat pirvarddh, 1 se 33 weh khahd tak, ed. Lala Bhagwan Din. Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad 1925. (A good text, except that it ia incomplete and also contains some spurious matter).
Surya Kanta Shastri:
The Padmavati of Malik Muhammad Jaisi, with an etymological word-index by Vidyabhaskara, Vedantaratna, Vyakaranatirtha Surya Kanta Shastri, M.A., M.O.L.
Vol. I cantos 1-XXV.
(Punjab University Oriental Publication No. 25). 1934.
A showy but useless production. Tho text is a copy of Grieraon and Sudhakar. I have only found one variant, not for the better. Even the spelling is copied from Grierson, and represents hia theories and not any ms. authority. The index, with its copious references to Indo-European languages, is of no value for the study of Jaisi’s dialect.
Sankshipt Padmavatl : Edited by Lala Sham Sundar Das and Satya Jivan Varma, Indian
Press, Allahabad 1936. Abridgement is effected by breaking up and rearranging the stanzas
thus marring the poetical effect.
Akharawat : Edited ay Mahamahopadhyaya Sudhakar Dvivedi (Nagari Pracharini Granthamala Series No. 9). Benares I904.
BOOKS OF REFERENCE
Grierson, Sir G. A. Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindostan. Calcutta 1889.
Kil
Hughes. Dictionary of Islam. W. H. Allen. 1885.
Hindi Sabdsigar—Published by the Nagari Pracharini Sabha. 1912-1921. The Introductory volume contains a history of Hindi Literature (Hindi Sahitya Ka Vika as) by Pt, Ram Chandra Shukla.
Sankshipt Sabdsagar. Ed. Ram Chandra Varma, Indian Press, Allehe- bad, 1933. (I have found this abridgement of the large dictionary कः useful as it abounds in references to the Padmavati).
7. E. Keay. History of Hindi Literature. Oxford University Press, 1920.
Shyam Sundar Das. Hindi Bhasha aur Sahitya. Indian Press, Allahabad, 1932.
Ayodhya Singh Upadhyay (Hari Audh). Hindi Bhasha aur uske Sahitya Ka Vikas. Bhagaipur.
Anand Kumar. Hindi Kavita Ka Vikas. Hindi Mandir, Allahabad, 1940
8. Kalbe Mustafa Jaisi. Malik Muhammad Jaisi. Anjuman Taraqgi Urdu-i-Hind, Hyderabad.
Historical :
Sir पर. M. Elliott’s History of India as told by its own historians. Ed. Dowson. Vol. III. London. Trubner. 1871. Contains Abstracts Amir Khusru’s Tarikh-i-Alel and Ashika,
Professor Muhammad Habib. The oe aigns of ‘Al&‘u’d-Din Khilji, being Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s KhazS’inul एणा translated with notes and a historical introduction by 8. Krishnaswami Aiyanger, Taraporewala, Bombay, 1931.
Tod’s Rajasthan—The Annals of Mewar. For the History of the sack of Chitaur by Alauddin.
Kipling. From Sea to Sea. The sack of Chitaur--Inspired by Tod.
Folklore etc :
Crooke, W. An Introduction to the Popular Religion and Yolklore of Northern India. Government Press, Allahabad, 1894.
Crooke, W. Tribes and Castes of the N. W. Provinces, Government Press, Calcutta, 1896.
Briggs. G. W. Gorakhnath and the Kanphati Yogis. Y. M. C. A. Publishing House, Calcutta, 1938. Sufism and Yoga:
Dr. Yusuf Husain. L’Inde mystique au Moyen Age, Maisonneuve, Paris, 1929.
Dr. M. Horten. Indische Stromungen in der Islamischen Mystik, Heidelberg, 1927.
Tara Chand. The Influence of Islam on Indian Culture. Indian Press, Allahabad, 1936.
PAMPHLETS AND ARTICLES
R. 8. Lala Sita Ram, Malik Muhammad Jaisi. Allahabad University Studies, Vol. vi Pt. 19390, । oa न Das. ‘Manijhan krit Madhuméfglat}.’ Hindustani, Allahabed, , p. 207, Pitambardatt Bayathwal. ‘Padmivati ki कहता aur Jayasi ka adhy&t- gl ra Nagari Pracharini Sabha'’s Dvivedi Abhinandan Granth . p. 396. a Nagari Pracharini Patrike, Vol. 48 Pt. 3. p. 279. Jagan Lal Gupte ‘Hemmir-Mahukivya.” Vol. 13. Pt. 4 p. 387. Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojhe. ‘Kavi Jatmal Rachit Gora Bada! ki Bat.’ Vol. 13 Pt. 4 p. 491.
ane
xii
Chandrabali Pande, ‘Padmivat ki ae i tatha rachn&-kal.’ Vol. 14 Pt. 4. p. 383. Chandrabali Pande, ‘Jayasi ka Jivan Vrt. Vol. 14 pt. 4 2. 428. Narottam Das Swami ‘Ja$mal Ki Gork Badal K1 Bat. Vol. ta 4 p. 473. Ganesh Prasad Dvivedi, ‘Hindi meh Premg&th& aur Malik Mubammad Jaye asi, Vol. 17 pt. 1 p. 61, Chandrabali Pande ‘Safiyoh ki asths taths
an. New issue Vol. 19 pt. 3. $. 255. Chandrabali Pande, ‘Manjhan-Kpt‘ Madhumalgti.’ New issue. Year 45. pt. 1 p. 43. Ale Muhammad Mehar wayasi, “Malik Muhammad Jayasi Ka jivancharit.’ 1926 p. 316 Satyajivan Varma, ‘Akhyfnak K&vya’.
NOTE
Refertnces to the Padmavati are by canto, stanza (in brackets) and verse, counting each half chaupai and edth half doha as one verse. References to the Akhara- wat and the Akhiri Kalam are by stanza (in brackets) and verse. The numbers of camtos and stanzas are as in Shukla’s edition.
Grierson’s notes are marked by numbers: mine by letters or by square brackets.
In the translation, explanatory additions are marked by square brackets. Round brackets are ordinarily used for parentheses which are part of the text. Alternative renderings of puns are divided by a sloping line.
I have followed Shukla’s text for the spelling of proper names except in a few cases where another spelling is familiar in English. But I have followed Grierson’s spelling of Jaisi. Jais is the official spelling of the town’s name, though the local pronunciation approximates to Jayas, which is what Jaisi wrote. I have used Padmavati for both the poem and the heroine: Shukla has Padma- vat for the former, Grierson Padumavati for both.
I have generally used ch for च, chh for % and 5 for हा instead of Grierson’s c, ch and €.
JAIS] MEMORIAL
1. THE PREFACE
I bear in mind that one and only primal Maker, who gave life and made the world. First made He manifest the Light, then made He (for the Light) the mighty moun- tain Kailasa't. He made the fire, the air, the water, and the dust, and, from them, made He forms? of varied hue. He made the Earth, and:Heaven, and Hell: and He made incarnations in many persons®. He made the mundane egg* with its seven continents’. He made
(1) By ‘light,’ the poet refers to Mah&d&va, who dwells in Kail&isa. Indian Musalméns frequently consider Adam, the first man, as the same as 2187808 ९8, The fact that the poet expressly says that Kailasa was made ‘ for’ the Light, shows that he cannot be referring to light, the first of created things. In the svstem of the Nainak-panthis, to which Kabir, from whom Malik Mahammad borrowed much, originally belonged, the Supreme Being is, in its essence, joti or light, which, though diffused into all creatures, remains distinct fron. them. The Human Soul is also this light, a scinttlla animae divinae, which has emanated a absolute, and is itself immortal. See Trumpp, Adi Granth, pp. ci. and ff.
(a) Gr. reads Ktnhes: tehi parbat kabilyat. Shukla's reading prtéi for parbat is preferable: ‘for love of him He made Kailas (paradise)’. Jott (the light) in the first half verse would then mean Muhammad. in 1 (11)2 also creation takes place for the love of Muhammad, who is the light, and there is the aame idea in Akhirl Kalim (7) 1-3. ˆ" The Mevlevis say that before the world was created, a world of the spirit existed in which the soul of Mahomed was present in the form of light’’ (Morton : In the steps of St. Paul ए. 171). The connection between these Mevlevis (the dancing dervishes) and Sufism and Yoga offers an interesting field for research.
The variant reading is of importance (i) textually. Pris and parbat would have the same form age in unpointed Persian script. This illustrates the difficulties arising from Jaisi’s use of the Persian script, see note(s) to 8(8)1. (ii) critically. If Jaisi wrote prt he was approaching his subject more from the Muslim than from the Hindu point 6f view: if he wrote parbat, the reverse world be the case.
(2) An पप्र gloss translates ur2ha by nagsh, design, stamp, drawing. I have noted it also in asa mUratea k? dat ur2ht, and in bhat urtha puhkupa saba namy. In the second the Urdii translation gives Z7hir ki and in the latter, the whole line is translated 710 yih ma’lum hota tha ki rang barang phil har gtem ke hain. The word 18 still used in Oudh aad 21187 by women, in the 86096 of racany. It is derived from the Skr. ulekia
(3) Apparently, incarnations in many castes. Alluding to the doctrine that incarnations have occurred in all religions in many parts of the world. Or it may, as the comm. suggests, only refer to the various avatirs of Visnn. [Grier- a references to ‘comm.’ are to the Sudh&kar-Candrikaé of Pandit Sudh&kar
ivedi].
व ६.९, the universe, alluding to the well known tradition detailed in
nu. (5) The seven horizonta] divisions of the world, mz., Jambu, Plakea or GOmé@daka, Qalmala,a, Kraunca, Qaka, and Pugkary,
2 THE PREFACE ; 1: 1-3
the universe with its fourteen ° worlds. He made the sun for the day, and the moon for the night ; He made the ~asterisms and the systems of the stars. He made coolness, sunshine and shade; He made the clouds and lightning [ that abideth ] in them.
All things are so made by Him, that naught is worthy to be compared with Him. First take I His name, and then in deep thought do I begin‘ my story.
2. He made the seven" shoreless oceans, and He made the mountains of Meru and Kukhanda’. ‘Rivers made He and streams and springs; crocodiles and fish made He of many kinds. He made the oyster shell, and the pearl which filleth it; He made many flawless gems. Forests made He and roots’’ ; tall trees made He, palmyras and date palms. He made the wild animals’? which dwell in the forest; He made the fowl which fly whither they will. He made colours, white and black; He made sleep, and hunger, and rest. He made the betel- leaf and flowers, and the pleasures of taste; many medi- cines made He and many sicknesses.
He made them in less than the twinkling of an eye; all made He in a single instant. He fixed the Heavens in space without a pillar, and without a prop.
3°. He made man, and gave him dominion; He made grain for his food. He made the king who taketh
(4) There are seven worlds (1ठ 8) above, vz., Bhur-léka, Bhuvar-l., Svar-l., Mehar-]., Janar-l., Tapar-l., and Satya-l. or Brahma-l., and seven below, viz., A-tala, Vi-tala, Su-tala, Rasd-tala, Talai-tala, Maha-tala, and Patala. According to Musalmfins, there are seven regions above (these are heavens), and seven below (earths). [Cp. AkhiM Kalam (7)4.]
(7) Two Urdt glosses translate augahi by 500८४ ^, a meaning for which I can find no other authority. It means literally to plunge into water, hence to be immersed in anything, to have the mind fully occupied.
(8) These encircle the seven continents (dvipas) mentioned in 1.5. [Cp. Akhirl Kal&m (7)3.] Their names are, Lavana (or Ksdra), Iksu, Suré (or Madya), Ghyta, Dadhi, Dugdhs, Jala. The author, in the description of the seven seas, later on, gives a different enumeration, v7z., Khara, Khira, Dadhi, Jala, Suri, Udadhi. Kilakila [४४८ 13 (2) 4 note (c)].
(9) Mé@ru ia the well-known mountain. It representa the northern hemis- here or pole, and is the abode of the Gods. Kukhanda is Kum6ru, the southern emisphere or pole, the region of the daityas or demons. The poet has mixed
this up with Kiskindha, also to the south of Oudh, and has confounded the two names.
(10) Jari 18 a root used for medicine, and mri 18 a root used for food,
(11) &7 १02 is any animal used for food.
(b) Shukla transpeses stanzas 3 and 4.
1: 3-$ THE PREFACE 3
pleasure in his kingdom; He made elephants and horses for his array. He made for him many delights; some made He lords, and others slaves’.. Wealth made He from which cometh pride; He made longings which none can satisfy. He made life which all men ever desire; He made death, from which none can escape. Happiness mede He and myriads of joys; sorrow made He, and care and doubt’? ; Some made He poor and others rich; He made prosperity and very deep adversity.
Some made He weak, and others strong. From ashes made He all, and again turned He all to ashes.
4. He made agallochum, musk, and the scented khas grass; He made the camphors,—bhimaseni'*® and cena™. He made the snake in whose mouth dwelleth poison ; He made the snake-charm which carrieth off the bite. He made the water of Life, which giveth eternal life to him who getteth it ; He made the poison, which 15 death to him who eateth it. He made the sugarcane filled with sweet juice; He made the acrid creeper with its manifold fruit. He made the honey which the bee stores in its home ; He made the humble bee, the birds and winged creatures. He made the fox, the rat and the ant; He made many creatures which dig the earth and dwell therein. He made demons, goblins and ghosts; He made ghouls and Devas and Daityas.
He made eighteen thousand creations of varied kinds**. For ali did He make meet provision, and thus gave food to all.
5. He indeed is a master of wealth, to whom belongeth the universe; to all He giveth continually, yet His store- house minisheth not. To every creature in the world,
(c) Shukla omits this verse Kinhesi teht kuhan bahut birasu: kinhess kot thakur koi det. (A printer's error).
(12) Two Urdt glosses translate danda by gham grief, but the dictionary
त of the word is enmity (dwandwa). Here it means opposition of ideas, ००५४.
(13) The Bhimastna-karpura of Sanskrit.
(14) The Cina-karpura of Sanskrit.
(16) There is no such enumeration of created beings in the works of Musalman doctors, bat, in poetry, both Persian and Hindust&nl, phrases like hizhda hazar ’alm, the eighteen thousand created beings, are of frequent occurrence :—more especially in the 01888 of works called maulud, which cele. brate the Prophet’s birth. The expression merely means an enormous quantity, like our ‘thousand and one.’
4 THE PREFACE 1: 56
aye, from the elephant even unto the ant, doth He day and night give its share of nourishment. His eye is upon all: none is forgotten, neither foe nor friend; nor bird nor grass-hopper, mor aught whether manifest or hidden is forgotten. He deviseth dainty food of many kinds. All doth He feed thereof, yet eateth not Himself. His meat and His drink is this—that to all He giveth nourish- ment and life. All have hope in Him at every breath, nor ‘hath He ever [turned] the hope of any to despair‘.
Aeon after aeon doth He give, yet never minisheth [His store]. Yea, so doth He this with both hands that whatever hath been given in this world, hath all been given by Him.
6. Let me tell of Him as that great primal king, whose rule is glorious from the beginning to the end of things*. Ever all-bounteous doth He rule, and whom He willeth, rule to him He giveth. He maketh umbrellaless him who hath the umbrella of royalty; and He giveth its shade unto him who is without it; no other is there who is equal unto Him. The people all look as He upturneth the mountains and maketh the ant [ that crawleth from beneath them ] equal unto the elephant. Adamant He maketh like unto straw and scatteretb it, and again He maketh straw like adamant, and giveth it honour. For one created He food, and enjoyment and all happiness ; another stiiketh He with beggary and a home of poverty. No one understandeth what He hath done, for He doeth that which is beyond the power of mind and thought’.
All else is non-existent’’. He alone is ever the same, whose wondrous creations are such as these. He createth one and destroyeth him, and, if He will, He formeth him again.
(d) QOrierson has Sabahi 78 i7 kurt har sansa, Shuklas reading Sabai Ns-har {7 7 nam does not give good sense. Sudhakar explains the second half verse ‘He is not disappointed by plating hore in any.’
(e) Grierson has 7dt-hu ant. Shukla’s कदां na ané would mean ‘His reign is glorious and has no beginning nor end.’
(f) Shukla transposes the last two verses, and for bhikh bhavan dukh (beggary and & home 01 poverty) reads bahut bhukh dukh (much hunger and distress
(16) Urdt gloss fant, transient.
4: 7-8 THE PREFACE 8
7. Invisible, formless and untellable is that Creator ; He is one with?’ all, and all are one in Him. Whether manifest or hidden, He is all pervading; but only the righteous recognize Him, and not the sinful. He hath no son nor father nor mother, no family hath He, and no rela-. tions. He hath begotten none, nor is He begotten of any ; but all created beings proceed from Him. 41 things, as many 85 exist, He made; nor was He made by any one. He was at the beginning, and He is now; He alone re- maineth existent and no one else: All else that are, are mad and blind; for after but two or four days they do their work and die.
Whate’er He willed that He did, He doeth that He willeth to do. No one is there to prevent Him, and, by his mere will, He gave life to all.
8. In this manner know ye Him, and meditate upon Him, for so is the tale written in the holy book’*. The Lord hath no life, and yet He liveth; He hath no hands, and yet He maketh all things. He hath no tongue, yet He telleth everything; He hath no bodily form, yet that which He shaketh, is shaken*. Ears hath He not, yet heareth He all things; Heart hath He not, yet The Wise One discriminateth all things. He hath no eyes, yet all things doth He see; How can anyone discern as He doth?” No one hath a form like unto His; nor, like Him, is any on€ so incomparable. He hath no abiding place, yet He is not without an abiding place [for He is omnipresent |. He hath no form nor mark, yet His name is The Pure.
He is not indiscrete, nor 1s He discrete, yet so doth He dwell [ within the universe ], and fill it [ with Himself |.
(17) The (rdt gloss translates barata by nazdik ‘‘near,’’ but I know of no authority for this meaning. Barat&é n.eans bata hua, twisted as a rope is twisted, hence involved in, closely connected with. Compare Bihari Sat’sal, 59, dtths
baraia badhi ajani, twisting their (mutual) glances into a rope, they bind it from balcony to balcony.
_. (18) Urdt gloss for puryya, the Qur'an. This is quite possible. It will be seen that Malik Muhammad frequently uses Hindu words as Musalmin techuical terms, e.g., chela, 1(2/))4.
(g) Grierson reads jo dolau so dola. Shukla’s reading Sab thahar dola meaus ‘moves everywhere °
| a Sudhakar explains, perhaps better, ‘How can such a being be ०९8. cri :
(1) Grierson’s reading Ohi ae 18 preferable to Shukla’s oht aan.
6 THE PREFACE 1: 810
To those who can see, He is near, but He is far from the foolish blind.
9. The simple-minded knoweth not the secret of the other pticeless jewels which He hath given. He hath given us a tongue, and the pleasures of taste; He hath given us teeth, which brighten’’ a smile. Eyes hath He given us, to see the world; ears hath He given us with which to hear language. He hath given the throat in which dwelleth our speech; He hath given us fingers and noble arms. Graceful feet hath He given us with which we walk : that man knoweth the secret of all these blessings who hath none. Yea, it is the old who know the secret of youth ; when they find not their young days though they [go bent forward] seeking them’. The great man knowetb not the secret of poverty; but the poor man knoweth it, to whom poverty is come.
It is the sick man who knoweth the secret of the body, while the healthy man liveth careless; but the secrets of all are known to the Lord, who abideth ever in every body.
10. Very immeasurable are the makinys of the Maker ; no teller can tell them. If[ all the writers of |the Universe took the seven heavens’” for paper, and filled the seas?’ of the earth with ink; if they took as many branches as
(19) Lit., are fit for.
Gj There is the same clever metaphor, rather more elaborated, in 49 (3)8, 9. Shukla rightly praises it in his introduction (p. 222); but it is not original. Burton (Terminal essay to the Book of the Thovsand Nights and One Night) mentions as a stock comparison that of ‘Age, which, crabbed and crooked, bends groundwards vainly seeking in the dust his lost juvenility’.
(20) The seven Heavens, see note to i, 5.
(21) The seven seas of Hindu tradition, see ii, 1. The general idea of this verse 18 taken from the Kahf or Cave Stirah of the Qur'an. Verse 109 runs ‘Say, “were the sea ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would surely fail before the words of my Lord fail: aye, though we brought as munch ink again.” ’[The parallel from the Qur’én is close, but there is a closer parallel in Sanskrit literature, to which Pt. Kanta Nath Pande has drawn my attention ;
Asitagirisamam syat kajjalam sindhupatre, Surataruvaraéakhé lekhani. patram 07४१ : Likhati yadi grhitva Sarada sarvak&lam, Tadapi tava gunanam [58 param na yati.
(Pushpadanta’s Siva Mahimna Stotra). There is a similar passage also in the Akhirl Kalam (6) 2,3.]
(k) Grierson reads dhartt amt samud. Shukla’s dhartt samud duhwn (both earth and sea) is better.
4: IO-It THE PREFACE 7
cover?’ all the forests in the world, and all the hairs and down [ of animals |, and-all the feathers of birds; if they took the motes of dust and sait where’er they found them, and all the drops in the clouds and all the stars of heaven ; and turned them all to pens and wrote, still then they could not write the shoreless ocean of his wondrous works. So hath He manifested all His skill, that even now not one drop of that ocean hath decreased. Think thou of this, and let not pride be in thy heart; for mad is he, who, in his heart, nourisheth pride.
Very full of holiness is the Lord. What He willeth. for Him that! quickly is. So full of holiness can He make a man that that man, himself, performeth countless holy actions. |
II. Thus made He one man without a blemish, named Muhammad, glorious as the full moon. It was his radiancy that God first produced, and then for love of him He created the universe. He kindled that light and gave it to the world. The world became clear, and recognized its [true] way. If that bright man had not been, the dark path would not have been visible; The deity [Muhammad] wrote the second place [in heaven | for those who learned his creed’*, For those who have not taken [ refuge in | his name throughout his life, God hath prepared a place in hell. God made him His messenger to the world, and whoever hath taken his name passes safely across both worlds”.
God will ask of each his virtues and his vices, [ when | there will be the | great | casting up of accounts. But he
i a cg pS ~> > जण -- ५
(22) Bana-dhakha, is equivalent to bana ke dhakhant-umle, (branches) which cover tbe forest. The subject of all these objects 18 sans¥rv in the fifth line. [It is simpler to translate ‘dhak jungle.’ Jaisi living in the dhak jungle that surrounds Amethi, thinks of all forests in terms of what is familiar to him. This is what Pt. Anand Sarup Tripathi. himself a resident of Sultanpur district, suggests in his Hindi Sahitya ka Vikas].
(1) Grierson reads chwhai ao hot tehs beg. Shbukla'’s reading Chhas sanvaraus beg would mean ‘if He will, he can settle things speedily’.
(29) WLit., teaching. The (त gloss gives kalama the Musalm&n creed. {Perhaps we should translate ‘God gave him the next place (to Himself), and those who learned hie creel were justified’. The next verse appears also in the Akhir! Kalim(7) 7.)
1 (24) The shaloka and paraloka of ४४९ प्र1०488. This world and the world come.
8 THE PREFACE 1: 11-12
[ Muhammad | will humbly bend before him, and will effect the salvation of the world. | 12. Muhammad had four friends, who [ followed him ] in his place, andthe four™ had spotless names in both worlds*’. Abu Bakr Siddig, the Wise, who frst truthfully (sidq ) brought the faith | into the world ]. Then ’Umar, who adorned the title [ of Caliph ]; justice came to the world when he adopted the faith, Then ’Usman, the learned and wise one, who wrote the Quran, as he heard its verses. Fourth came ‘Ali, the mighty lion; when he attacked, both heaven and hell quaked". All four had one mind, and one word, one path and one fellowship®
(m) Grierson reads chahun ka duhun pag; Shukla’s reading jinhahin dinh jag would mean ‘to whom he gave in the world.’
(25) Abt Bakr ibn Ab! Quhaifa was Muhammad’s dearest friend and father-in-law, and one of his first converts. He enjoyed immense influence with his fellow citizens of Mecca, and earned by his probity the appellation of ‘as-siddly,’ ‘The True’. He accompanied Muhammad in the Flight, and on his death (632 A.D.) he became the first Caliph. He died 634 A.D.
’Umar ibn Al-kbattab was converted in the 6th year of the call (615 A.D.). His conversion carried with it 80 much weight that the Musalmian traditions relate it with miraculons attendant details. Abt Bakr by his eloquence and address, and "Umar by his vigour and promtitude, supplied the want of the practical element in Muhammad’s character. 'Umar get the example of public (instead of private) prayer, which was followed by other Muslims. He was the leading spirit of the Emigrants (muhdjira) who had left Mecca at the time of the Flight, and settled in Medina. He procured the nomination of Abi Bakr to be first Caliph, and, as a matter of course, succeeded him as second Caliph in 634. He was murdered at Medina in 644.
"Usman ibn ’Affan was one of Muhammad’s first converts, and married his daughter. He was elected third Caliph on the death of ' (7082. The Qur’in was compiled in its present form in his reign. He was killed at the age of eighty-two in 655, in the rebellion which arose in consequence of the move- ment, the ultimate aim of which was the deposition of ’Ugmian in favour of “ALL.
"Allibn Abti Talib was Mubammad’s cousin, and one of bis first converts. He followed him to Medina three days after the Flight. He succeeded "Usman as fourth Caliph in 655, and was murdered in 660 A.D.
The first compilation of the Qur’én was undertaken by Zaid ibn Sabit, who was appointed to the work by the Caliph Abi Bakr at the instigation of ‘Umar. Z&id had been an amanuensis of Muhammad. This reduction had no canonical authority, and discrepancies in the text soon appeared. Accordingly, ’Ugm&n confided to Zaid and three other Quraishites the preparation of an edi- tion which was to be canonical for all Muslims. Thia text is the one which is now extant.
(ए) Grierson reads Charhat to kanpat sarag paitrtd. Shukla’s reading South na kot rah juhiru would mean ‘no warrior could face him.’ (Not 0 good).
(0) Grierson reads bata (word) and saaghata (fellowship). Shukla 76908 त रक (nature) and sazdhann (aim). (Not 8० good).
1; 12-13 THE PREFACE 9
Each preached’ the same true word, which became autho- ritative, and read in both worlds.
The very Quran?° which God?’ sent down [ to this world |, that holy book they read; and they who have lost their way in coming | into the world |, when they hear it, find the path.
13. Sher Shah is Sultan of Delhi, who warmeth the whole world’® even as the sun. His kingdom and throne beseem him well; low on the earth have all kings laid their brows before him. By caste a पा and with his sword a hero; wise is he and full of all skilfulness. In the nine regions the sun ( or all heroes ) hath set ( or have bent low ) before 1111711", and the seven continents of the world have all bowed before him. All his kingdom he won with the might of his sword’, as did Alexander, the Zu-l-qarnain”’.
(p) Grierson reads sun#vahin, which is better than Shukla’s sun vai (the word which they heard was true).
(26) Here again we have purana used for the Musalman sacred book. [And Usman. as its compiler, is called a pandit in v. 4.]
(27) Here vidhi, a Hindu technical term.
(28) Lit., the four quarters. The use of khanda is uncommon, but it is the only meaning which [ can suggest here. An प्प प्च gloss gives (707 tara}.
॥ (29) Here, and in the following stanzas there 18 a series of puns on the word stra, which 18 not only the name of the Afghan tribe to which Shér Shih belonged, but also means a hero, and the sun.
(30) Lit. ‘In the nine regions there was a bending of stira,’ where, again, there 18 a pun on the word siira, ‘hero’ or ‘sun.’ According to the most ancient Hindu Geographers, India was shaped like an eight-petalled lotus. These eight petals, together with the central division, formed the nine khandas or regions, viz., ६0९8 18 (central), Kalinga (S8.E.), Avanti (S.) Anarta (S.W.), Sindhu- Sauvira (W), Harahaura (N.W.). Madra (N), Kanuinda (N.E). The Puranas give a different list of names, tz., Indra (E), Kaséru (N), Tamraparna, (3), Gabhastimat, Kumarika (Central), Naga, Saumya, Varuna (W.), Gandharva. see Cunningham’s Ancient Geography of India, pp. 5 and 66. The Comm. gives Bharata-varga, Kinnara-varsa, Hari-varga, Kuru-varga, Hiranmaya- varsa, Ramyaka-varga, Bhadricva-varga, K&tumalaka-varga. and IJlivrta; ef. Vienu- Purana, li, 2.
(q) Grierson reads str-navath navo khand bhat: Shukla’s reading Sur navie navakhand vat means ‘he made the heroes of the 9 regions bow’.
(r) Grierson reads kharag var (=bal). Shukla reads kharag kari (with sword in hand.)
(31) Zti-l-qarnain, means ‘The Master of Two Horns.’ Musalman _ tra- dition varies about this name. According to some, the Zi-l-qarnain was not Alexander the Great, but a saint, who lived at the time of Khwaja Khizr. and who was 80 called from his having two curls hanging, one from each side of 118 forehead, or because he reached both sides of the world, or because he was noble by descent from both 018 parents, or because he went through both the light and dark parts of the worl 9. or because he died when struck on one 8146 of the forehead, and then was restored to life, and again died on being struck on the other side of the forehead, and again came to life,
10 THE PREFACE 1; 13
On his hand is Solomon’s ring’’, and, with it, he gave gifts to the world with full hand. Majestic is he, and a mighty lord of the earth; like a pillar he supporteth the earth and maintaineth the whole universe.
Muhammed blessed him and said, Reign thou from age 10 age. Thou art the Emperor of the World. The world is
a beggar at thy door.
Beale’s Oriental Biographical Dictionary (Ed. Keene), says ‘Master of Two Horns, a title of Alexander the Great, probably based on coins rep resenting him in the character of Ammon.’ Alexander’s coins show his head adorned with two ram’s horns. They were widely current in the East, and the Muham- madang probably gave him that name aftor his coins.
The Musalman idea of Alexander the Great ig based upon legends con- tained in the Qur'’-anu and its commentarics. Thus, Burton, Arabian Nights, night cccelxiv, savs, ‘Iskandar (६.९. Alexander) was originally called Marzban (Lord of the Marches) son of Marzabah, and, though descended from Yunin, son of Japhet, the eponymus of the Greeks, was born obscure, the son of an old woman. According to the Persians he was the son of the elder Darah (Darius Codomannus of the Kayanian or second dynasty), by a daughter of Philip of Macedon; and was brought up by his grandfather. When Abraham and Isaac rebuilt the Ka’abah they foregathered with him, and Allah sent him forth against the four quarters of the earth to convert men to the faith of the ¥riend or to cut their throats; thus he became one of the four world-conquerors with Nimrod, Solomon, and Bakht al-Nasr (Nabuchodonosor); and he lived down to generations of men. His Wazir was Arista (the Greek Aristotle), and he carried a couple of flags, white and black, which made day and night for him and facilitated his conquests.” The Comm. gives a well-known legend about the title given to him in the text. Alexander concealed the fact of his having horns from the public, and it was known only to his barber One day, owing to sickness, this barber sent his son Babban Hajjim as his deputy. After the hair-dressing was finished Alexander warned Babban, that if he told any one about the horns he would lose hig head, The secret burnt within the wretched man 80 that he was like to burat, till he relicved his feelings by whis. pering it to an old Jack-tree. The Jack-tree, unable to tell the secret, withered and died, und a carpenter bought it and made two fiddles and a drum out of the wood. These were bought for a concert at the palace, but when people tried to play them before Alexander, all that one fiddle could be got to say was sng, strg, sing, (horn, horn, horn), al! that the other Ain, kin, kin (who told? who told? who told’), and all that the drum, Babban Hajjim, Babban Ha- }jim, Babban Hajjam. The secret was thus divulged. Compare the story of Midas. Another well-known legend (reverred to in the Padumawati) is that he made friends with Khwaja Khizr, the Green Prophet, (see note 52) and was guided by him to Zalmat, the Lund of Darkness {called the Kajjali-ban by Hindus), where exists the Fountain of Life. He was, however, unable to drink of this Eternal Spring, and returned disappointed. His unsuccessful quest for the Water of Life has formed the basis of many stock poetical similes.
(32) This 18 the famous ring with which Solomon ‘was wont to imprison Jinns, Marlds and Satans in cucurbites of copper, and to stop them with lead and seal them’. It was made of stamped stone and iron, copper and lead. According to others it consisted of fonr jewels, presented by as many angels, representing the Winda, the Birds, Earth (including sea), and Spirits, and the Gems were inscribed with as many sentenes : (1) To Allah belong Majesty and Might; (2) All created things praise the Lord: (3) Heaven and Earth are Allah's slaves; and (4) There is no God but the God, and Muhammad is his messenger. This ring gave Solomon power over all supernat-.ral beings, and
1: 14 THE PREFACE II
14. I tell of the heroism of this king, Lord of the world, the weight of whose array is greater than the world can bear. ‘When his army full of horsemen’ advanceth, covering the earth, mountains crash and fly away in powder, night cometh from the clouds of dust which eclipse the sun, so that man and bird alike goeth home to bed. The land taketh flight, and goeth up into the firmament ; earth-dust covereth each continent,-yea the world, the whole creation and the universe’’. The Heavens tremble, and Indra quaketh in fear; the snake-god Vasuki fleeth and hideth himself in the lowest Hell**. Meru ‘sinketh 06106 endowed him with unending wealth,—in fact the whole secret of his power lay in it. Solomon conquered the King of Sidon and married his dau- hter Jizidih. She so incessantly mourned for her father, that Solomon com- manded the Jinns to make an image of him to console her, and to this she and her maids used to pay divine honours. To punish lim for encouraging this idolatry, a Jinn named Sakhr one day obtained possession of the ring which Solomon had entrusted to bis concubine Aminah, while he had gone out for a necessary purpose. Dring bis absence the Jinn transformed himself to Solo- mon’s likeness, and came in and took it from her. Solomon also was changed in form and was not recognized by his subjects, and wandered forlorn about the world for forty १४९३ ithe time during which the image had been worshipped in bis house), while the Jina reigned in his stead. At the end of that period the demon flew away, and flung tho ring into the sea, where it was swallowed by & fish, which was afterwards canght aud brought to Solomon who by this means recovered his kingdom and power. Solomon then imprisoned Sakbr in one of bis cucurbites, and cast him into the lake of Tiberias where he still 1168. This recovery of a ring by ineans of a fish is common to many legends. Compare those of Polycrates of Samos and of Gakuntala.
This Sakbr was the Jinn who brought Solomon the throne of Bilkis, the queen of Sheba. She was a worshipper of the sun, and Solomon converted her to the worship of the true God, by this, and by his wisdom in answering her hard questions. He played one trick on her which is well-known all over the Kast. He heard that she had legs hairy like a goat, but could not ascertain the truth. So he made her walk over glass underneath which was water with fishes swimming in 1t. Believing that she bad to wade through deep water, ahe tucked up her petticoats, and revealed to Solomon that the report was true. Solomon begat a son upon her, who the Abyssinians say was Menelek, the founder of their royal race, She was not a very estimable character before her conversion. Sa’labi, in his History of the Prophets, gives an entertaining account of her wrong doings, She introduced the worship of the sun into her dominion, and when she was married to her first husband against her will, she treacherously slew bim on her wedding night. It required a mighty man like Solomon to tame 80 independent a young person. Much of this note is taken from Burton’s Arabian Nights, and from Palmer’s translation of the Qur’an.
(8) Grierson reads hay may sen (army full of horsemen): Shukla reads hay gay sen (horses, elephants and infantry) which is better. (33) The root mand has two meanings, either ‘to adorn’ (mandana) 07 ‘to crush,” (10870902). The passage here is corrupt in all MSS., and the reading -is very doubtful. (Shukla’s reading seems correct except that mrt and mahda should be separate, and the translation wil] be: Dust flies up from the ground and fills the atmosphere; earth and the universe are broken to pieces. There 18 & similar e in 25 (17) 3}.
(34) Bae ste (6) above.
12 THE PREFACE 1: 14-15
down, the oceans dry up, the forests break and are mingled with the dust. [ When his army marcheth to a halting place ]' some of his advance-guard may receive a share of water and of grass for their horses, but for none of his rear- guard is there even sufficient mud. |
Citadels which have never bowed to anyone, when he advanceth all become dust,-when the Lord of the World, Sher Shah, the Sun of the Universe attacketh them.
15. I tell of his justice*’, how it is upon the earth. Not even to a crawling ant doth anyone dare to give pain. Naushirwan*® was called ‘The Just’, but even he was not equal to the justice of Sher Shah. He did justice like unto ‘Umar’, for the shout of praise to him was heard over the whole world. No one dareth even to touch a nose-ring lying fallen on the ground, | much less to pick it up and appropriate it |. On the very highways domen cast about gold [yet no one snatcheth it]. The cow” and the tiger walk together on the same road, and both drink water together at the same landing-ford. He straineth milk and water [mixed together] in his court, and separateth the one from the other. He marcheth with piety, justice and sincerity, and the weak and the mighty he keepeth on even terms.
The whole earth blesseth him’, folding its hands
(t) Grierson reads agtlahi krhu pani khar bania: pachhilahz kahu. Shukla’s reading agilahin kahan pani lea एक नैत pachhilahin kahan is better (water is taken and distributed to the advance-guard; but for the rear-guard ee ). ‘There 18 the same idea in 42 (22)5.
(35) This reference to Sh&r Shah’s justice (‘adal) may have a compli- mentary reference to his son ‘Adal. See J.A.S.B., Pt. 1, 1890, p. 167. {The next half verse may be ‘Noone, while walking, hurts an ant’).
(36) The celebrated king of Persia, surnamed ‘Adil, or the Just. He ascended the throne in 531 A.D He was the Chosroes oftheGreeks. Muhammad (B. 571) used to boast of his good fortune in being born when so just a king reigned. He died in 579 A.D. [Though he was himself a strict Zoroastrian, his impartiality is, in a way, responsible for the origins of Sufism and possibly also for its contacts with Yoga. It was to his court that the last neo-Platonist teachers went after Justinian had closed the schools of Athens,and he also invited Indian scholars to Persia and arranged for translations of Sanskrit works].
7 (37) The second Caliph in succession to Muhammad. See note (25) above.
(38) G6ru is properly any domesticated herbivorous animal, [Shukla reads gat for gort; this is more idiomatic].
(v) Grierson’s reading puhumi sabai astsat is better than Shukla’s 502 271404४४ stsahin nai (all the earth bowing its head).
1: 15-17 THE PREFACE 13
continually, and crying, May that head’ endure immortal as long as there is water in the Ganges and the Jamuna.
16. Again, how can I describe his comeliness, for all the world desireth the beauty of his countenance. His comeliness surpasseth in brightness even the full moon which God created. Sin abandoneth those who reverently gaze upon hin, and the whole world maketh obeisance and blesseth him. As when the sun blazeth over the world, so, before him, all things hide their comeliness [in shame]. Thus did the Sun”*’ become a spotless man, with ten times more*” beauty than the sun itself. No one can look upon him face to face, and if anyone see him, he remaineth with bent head. Huis comeliness increaseth by a quarter, day by day, the Creator formed his beauty above the world.
Comely is he with a jewelled [tiara] on his brow, and the moon waneth as he waxeth; while the earth, craving to see him, standeth and humbly offereth its praises.
17. Again God hath made him so greatly generous, that none in the world hath ever given gifts like unto him. Bali* and Vikramaditya’’ were famed for their gene- rosity, and Hatim ‘Tae*’ 2116 Karna‘! were described
th (w) Shukla’s reading nah (lord) is preferable to Grierson’s mth ead).
(39) Here again the word siira is introduced with a threefold meaning, hero, sun and proper name.
(40) Agari means ‘excellent,’
(41) The well-known Daitya, who gave Visnu his famous three and a half paces of ground.
(42) ‘Clarum et venerabile nomen.’ The well-known king of Avanti, many legends of whose generosity are given in the Sitnhasana Battisi.
(43) Familiar to readers of the Baigh-o-Bahir (story of the second Dar- w6sh). His liberality continued after his death. His tomb was surrounded by stone images of girls, which each night used to burst out into lamentations for so good a man. King Zt-l-karé’a camping near there one night, hearing the wailing, asked the reason, and was told it was the tomb of Hatim Tad. He then cried out in jest, ‘O Hatim Tat, we are thy guests, and hungry.’ Shortly afterwards one of his camels became violently ill and (as they say in Ireland) to prevent its dying, they killed it, and then, to make the best of a bad job, had a good feast on its flesh. Next day, while they were on the march, they were met by Hatim’s son bringing a she-camel. He explained that his father had appeared to him on the preceding night, and said ‘Ziti-l-kara’a sought hospitality from me last night, and I had nothing to give him; so perforce I killed his camel, and do thou now give him one in exchange for the one I took.’ History does not relate how the son appreciated his father’s vicarious hospitality, but he certainly did accept the responsibility.
(44) The famous Hero of the Mahabharata. The son of Kunti by Stirya. He was famous for hia generosity. Yudhisthira once asked Kyyna, who was the most generous member of his family. To his mortification Krgna replied
14 THE PREFACE 1: 17-18
as lavish; but none of them equalleth Sher Shah, for the very ocean and even Mount Meru, are ever minishing [as they give up their jewels and gold]*. The kettle-drum of his generosity soundeth at his court, and the fame thereof hath gone even across the ocean. The world touched this Sun**, and became of gold compact, so that poverty fled and went beyond the borders of his kingdoin. He who but once approacheth him and asketh, for all his life is free from hunger and from nakedness. Even that [King of old] who performed ten horse-sacrifices*®,—even he’ gave not holy gifts like him.
So generous hath Sultan Sher Shah been born upon the world, that none hath e’er been like him, or will be, nor doth anyone give such gifts.
18. Saiyed Ashraf [Jahangir]*‘ was an elect saint, ind he it was who threw light upon my path. He 111 the iamp of love within my heart; the light burned up, and my heart became pure. My way had been dark and
‘Karna.’ The following is an example. A poor Brahman woman had a child born to her, and her husband went to Yudhisthira and begged for some wood to make a fire to warm her. yobs igthira ordered his steward to supply the fuel, but on the latter reporting that there was none just then available, he told the Brahman to go awaj, and to come again in an hour or two, when he could be suppled. The Brahman went on to Karma and made a similar request. It happened that, here too, the supply of fire-wood was temporarily deficient, and the steward asked Karna to tell the man to come again in av hour or two (as Yudhisthira had done). ‘Fool,’ replied Karna, ‘shall 1 leave the poor woman to die of cold, while you are searching for fuel? Break up my beds till the Brabman has enough wood for to-day, and tell him to come to-morrow for more.’ ‘This,’ said Krgna to Yudhisthira, ‘is the difference between you and Karna. Had you no beds to break up?’ The above legend 1s sung by Vyasas at the passage in Mahi-bharata where Karna divested himself of the ear-rings and armour (with which he had been born), and gave them to Indra, (See Mahi-bharata, Adi-parvan, Adhyiya 67, clOkas 141-143).
(x) Grierson reads Sumud Suméru ghutahin niti dot. Shukla’s read- ing S.S. bhandari dot (ocean and Sumeru are his twvo treasurers) is better.
(45) Again the triple pun on the word stra. Shér Shah is compared to a philosopher’s stone which changed all that touched it into gold.
(46) ‘Lhis is a reference to Brahma, who completed ten Acvamédh sac- rifices at Benares. The site of the Sacrifice is the well-known Daogigva-médha ghit in that city.
($) Grierson’s reading Sou na dinAy is better than Shukla’s Saunk na dinha (did not contest).
(47) Saiyad Ashraf was one of the founders of tbe line of spiritual preceptors, whose representative in the first half of the 16th century (Muhiu- d-din) taught the poet. For full particulars see note (64) to mianza 20. {See also Akhiri Kalam (9) 1, 2. There is a dargah of Saiyed Makhdum Ashraf Jahangir in Jais—See Frontispiece—His tomb is at Kichhaucha in Fyzabad district].
1: 18-20 THE PREFACE 15
~
invisible?, and lo! it became bright and I understood. He cast my sins into the salt ocean, and making me as his disciple took me into the boat of virtue. He grasped my rudder. firmly**, and I reached the landing place on the far bank. If aman hath such a steersman*’, he graspeth bim and bringeth to the other side“. He is a protector, and one who succoureth in time of trouble, and, where [the water] is fathomless, there giveth he his hand”.
His family title was Jahangir (Chisti), pure like the moon. He was the Holy Master of the World, and I am the slave of his house
19. In his house was a spotless jewel, Haji Shaikh by name, fulfilled with good fortune~. In his house were two bright lights, whom God created to show the wav. Shaikh Mubarak”? glorious as a full moon, and Shaikh Kamal spotiessin the world. Both were steadfast, unmoveable like pole-stars, exalted even above Meru and Kukhanda’” God gave them beauty and glory, and made them pullars of the world. On these two pillars supported He the earth, and under their weight the universe remained frm. Who- ever saw them and reverently touched their feet, his sins were lost and his body became pure.
O Muhammad, there is the road secure, where a saintly teacher beareth company. O my soul, when he hath a boat and a rower, a man quickly gaineth the other side.
20. Muhiu-d-din was my preceptor, my steersman, and I served him. € crosseth speedily who heth him upon the ferry. Before him was Shaikh Burhan, who
~ ee 99
(2) Grierson’s reading asvjha@ is better than Shukla’s jo swjh7
(48) {1118 18 & difficult passage. Kariaé is the same as kadi, an iron ring, or a beam, hence a rudder. Either meaning will do here. Other MSS., and printed editions have unha mora kara budata kai gaha, he grasped my hand as 1 was sinking. Podhi kai means ‘firmly’.
(49) Kanahaira or kanadhara is the Sanskrit karnadhara.
(aa) Grierson reads iv kahan gahi lei tarat parr.
Shukla turat beg: so pavai parm (quickly and speedily he reaches the other side), not so well
(bb) Grierson reads jahan augnh dehi tahan hatht. Shukla’s bah avagah dinh tehi h. (where a man is being swept away in the flood, he gives his hand) is better
(cc) Grierson reads subh7tgat bharw. Shukla reads sabai gun bhara (filled with all virtues).
(dd) Shukla has a wrong reading Muhammad for Mubarak.
(50) See note (9) above.
(ee) Shukla has a wrong reading mohi for jeht.
16 THE PREFACE 1: 20
brought him on the path and gave him knowledge. His spiritual guide was the good Alhadad, who in the world was light and beauteous in the faith. He was a disciple of Saiyad Muhammad and even perfected men enjoyed his fellowship’’. To him did Daniyal point out the path,— Daniyal, who consorted with Hazrat Khwaja Khizr’?. The Hazrat Khwaja was pleased with him, and brought him fas a disciple} to Saiyad Raji [Hamid Shah}. From him [Muhiu-d-din} did I win all my [good} deeds. My tongue was loosened®’, and, a poet, [I learned to] tell my 1216५...
(51) Lit. sported in his company, [or ‘and sported in the company of perfected men.’|
(52) Khwaja Khizrthe Green Prophet, is a well-known figure in Muham- madan legends. He has been identified by some with Elijahand by others with St. George. He is said to be still living, and sometimes aids travellers who have lost their way. As stated in note (31), he conducted Alexander the Great to the Land of Darkness, when the latter was searching for the Water of Life. He usually appears on horseback, dressed in green (hence his name). In Indis he is looked upon as a saint not only by Musalmins but also by Hindus. Lal Bagi Mihtars pay him divine reverence. Their first pir is Jesus, the Lord of the Wand, their second Khwaja Khizr, the Master of the Water-cup, their third Muhammad, the Great Interceder, and their fourth Lal Bég, the man of the Wildflowing Tresses (see Greeven, Knights of the Broom, 45). Temple's Legends of the Punjab are full of references to him. He is in India more espe- cially a water-god, or the god of the Flood. Under his special protection is the well at Safidam in the Jind state, which contains the Water of Life. Musalman traditions make him out to have been a true believer in the Islim of his day and to have been Wazir of Kai Qubad (6th century B.C.), the founder of the second or Kayanian dynasty of the kings of Persia, and ninth in ascent before the Darius, who was conquered by Alexander. In the text, all that 18 meant 18 that Khwaja Khizr appeared to Diiniyal, and performed his customary office of guide, [Khwaja Khizr is also known to Gorakhnath Yogi tradition as Darya- nath, the founder of a sect of that name, whose chief seat 18 at Uderolal in Sindh. See Briggs, Gorakhnath, p. 65 and Yusuf Hussain: 1171046 mystique au moyen age p. 15].
(53) Lit. uncovered.
(ff) Grierson reads Ohi sauh main pat jab karnt : ughart [फ़ katha kabi barnt. Shukla reads Ohi sevat main pat karnt: ughart jibh, prem kabi barn (In his service I won my good deeds: my tongue was loosened and, a poet, I told of love).
(54) The following account of Malik Muhammad’s spiritual ancestors is taken partly from what the poet himself tellg us, and partly from the Urdt gloss and other sources.
He belonged to the Cishtiya Nizamiya, that is to say he belonged to the spiritual descent which took its name from the celebrated Nizimu-d-dio Auliya, the teacher of Amir Kbusré, who died about 1325 A.D His disciple was Siraju- d-din, whose disciple was Shaikh “Aliu-l-haq. Alau-l-haqq’s son and disciple was Shaikh Nur Qutb ‘Alam, the date of whose death is usually given aa 1444 A.D. Chronologists, however, vary as to this: some say A.H. 808, ४.९., A.D. 1405, others A.H. 813, ४.९., A.D. 1410, others A.H. 818, 4.¢e,, A.D. 1415, others A.H. 848, ५.९., A.D. 1444, and others again A.H. 851, १.९, A.D. 1447. Mr. Beveridge in J.A.8.B. Ixiv, Pt. 1, 207, considera A.H. 818, A.D. 1415, ag the
1: 20-21 THE PREFACE 17
He was my master and I his disciple, evermore do I bow before him as his slave. Through him did I obtain a sight of the Creator.
21. Muhammad was skilful, though he had but one
a a gg Pg Pc
The full genealogical table is as follows :— | Nizimu-d-din (d,1325 A.D.)
oo Shaikh ` 418 ०-1-84. |
| aa)!” Shaikh Nur Qutb ’Alam of Pandua, Saiyad Ashraf Jahangir
(son of preceding) vide 1(18)1. Shaikh Hashamu-d-din of Manikpur. Shaikh Haji
Saiyad Rajl (ड्यत् Shah. ity ia ea
| Shaikh Mubarak Shaikh Kamal Shaikh Daniyal (d. 1486 A.D.). ` ` haikh Kam
Saiyad Muhammad. Shaikh Athadad. Shaikh ए णाह). Saiyad Muhia-d-din (vide xx, 1).
Malik Muhammad (1540 A.D.)
From this it follows that the poet was not an actual disciple of Saiyad Ashraf Jahangir, as might be assumed from xviii, 1 and ff. Malik Muhammad merely refers to him and praises him as his spiritual ancestor. A tradition makes him the poet’s mantraguru, while Muhlu-d-din was his vidya-guru, i.e., the one initiated him, and the other taught him, which agrees with Malik Muhammad’s own language. Shaikh Daniysl, the fifth in the line before the poet, appears to have claimed to have had for 9 friend Khwaja Khizr, who introduced him to his preceptor, Saiyad Raji Hamid Shah, Shaikh Burhan, Malik Muhammad's spiritual grandfather resided at K4&l’pi in Bunddl-khand, and is said to have died at 100 years of age in A. H. 970, or A.D. 1562-63. See Rep. Arch. Sur. Ind. xxi, 131. | As the prophet Muhammad (see xii, 1) had four friends, so also had the poet Malik Muhammad. He tells us their names were Malik Yiisuf, Salar Khadim, Miya Salén3 and Shaikb Bands. Concerning these, see-Grierson’s introduction, and 1(22) 1 and ff.
The Urdt gloss concludes (we insert dates and other particulars in paren- theses) ‘Those who consider that Hazrat ‘Abdu-l-Qadir Jilani (b. 1078, d. 1166, God's mercy be upon him) is descended from Saiyad Muhita-d-din, and that Saiyad Rajt Qattal (d. 1403) is descended from Saiyad Raji, are far from being in the right. It is clear that the line of Qadariyds is descended from Hazrat "Abdu-l-Qadir Jilan}. His preceptor was Hazrat Abt Saiyad’,
प
18 THE PREFACE 1: 24
eye”’’, and every poet who heard him was entranced. Even as God created the moon for the universe, so He put a dark spot upon her, while He made her bright. With that one eye the poet saw the whole world’’, shining bright like Venus brilliant among the other stars’'’. Until there come black spots upon a mango-fruit, it hath no fragrant scent. God made the water of the ocean salt, but nevertheless He made it immeasurably boundless. Mount Meru was des- troyed by the trident, and then it became a mountain of 2०1०४, and reached to heaven. Till black firestains defile the crucible (the ore] 1emaineth unsmelted, and becometh not pure gold.
The poet hath but one eye, but it is [bright] as a mirror, and that mirror’s nature is pure. | Though he is uncomely | all that are beautiful clasp his feet, and with desire look upon his face.
———— — ~_eo — --- ~ --- -*~ [यि ee ~~ ~~~)
38184 Raja Qattal was full brother of Hazrat Saiyad Jalaju-d-din of Bukhara (who was known as Makhdiim Jahaniyain Jahan (Gasht Shaikh Jalal), and was his disciple. He was a Suharwardiyad by sect.
‘Another disciple of Hazrat Nizimu-d-din (the founder of Malik Muham- mad’s line) was Shaikh Rukun-d-din Abt-l-fath Ma’asir (11. 1310), who was also disciple of his own father Shaikh Sadru-d-din (Arif, ५. 1309). This last was disciple of his father Shaikh Bahau-d-din Zikariya (ध. 1266) of Mul’tan, who was disciple of Shaikh Shahabu-d-din (Suharwardiyaé, d. 1234), who tra- velled from city to city as missionary (peace be upon him).’
Makhdim Jahaniyaén was a disciple of Rukun-d-din above-mentioned. The Suharwardiyas form a branch of the followers of the stifi sect, and are named from Suharward, a town near Bagdad, the birth placc of the founder Shahabu-d-din above mentioned.
(55) According to tradition this was the result of an attack of small-
x, which not only destroyed the sight of one eye, but dreadfully disfigured
Fis features. It is said that some Raja once saw him, and loudly scoffed at his ugly face, not knowing who he was. Thereupon the poet said, ‘scoffest thou at me, or at the Potter who fashioned me’ Struck by his reply, the Raa repented, and became his disciple. The poet still, however, thanks God for all His mercies, and points out that every great and good thing in Nature has some detraction. [ Cp. 31 (9) note (£) |.
(56) That is to sav other folk with two eyes can see but a short way, but the poct’s single eye ‘in a fine frenzy rolling. carn glance from heav’n to earth and earth to heav’n.’
(57) Qukra, the regent of the planet Venus, had but one eye. He lost it this way, He was guru of the demon Bali, who gave Visnu, in his dwarf- incarnation, the famous three and a half steps of ground. QGukra, to prevent the success of Vignu’s stratagem, came and hid in a water-vessel. When, at the time of making the formal gift, water refused to flow from the vessel, Vignu, under pretence of clearing out the spout with a stick, pierced Qukra’s right eye.
(58) According to tradition, mountains had once wings, and used to fly about. When they alighted after flight, they used to crush people under their weight, so Indra cut off their wings with his thunderbolts. The first to suffer amputation was Suméru. It was a mountain of gold (Vignu-purana,
1: 22-23 THE PREFACE 16
22. The Poet Muhammad had four friends, and by gaining their triendship he raised himself to equality with them. One was Malik Yusuf, the learned and wise, who first of all knew the secret meaning of words. The next was Salar Khadim, the discreet, whose arms were ever raised either in [wielding] the sword or in [distributing] gifts. The third was Miyan Salone, a lion amidst unsurpassed™ heroes, a fighter with the sword in the battle field. ‘The fourth was Shaikh Bade, famed as a sage. Yea, even sages thoughtthemselves honoured by performing hiscommands””: All four were learned in the fourteen®” branches of knowledge, and God himself created their association [with the poet]. Let a tree but dwell near a sandal-grove, and let but the odour of the sandal permeate it, and, lo, it becometh sandal-wood itself.
Muhammad, when he had found these four friends, became of one soul with them. When he hath accom- plished their companionship in this world, how can they ‘be separated in the next:
23. The city Jayas is a holy spot: there came the poet and told his lay. There humbly waited he upon Hindu scholars, and prayed’’ them to correct and mend the broken [metre] and arrangement fof his song]. I am a follower of poets”’’, and I go forward saying my say, and beating the drum with the drum-stick to proclaim it’. 11, 2), The poet has substituted Giva’s trident (trigtla) for Indra’s thunderbolt. (vajra), This confusion between Giva and Indra 1s constant throughout the poem.
(gg) Shukla’s reading bartyart (mighty) is better than Grierson’s 27 1 ‰ ,
(59) Adésa also means the initiation of a cdlé, or disciple, by a guru, or spiritual preceptor.
(60) ‘fhe 4 Védas, the 6 V@édanvas, the Purinas, the Mimamnsa, the Nyaya, and Dharma.
(61) Bhaja or bhaja, is equivalent to bhraja, ६,९., prakadcita kif, ‘made manifest’; hence ‘presented’ (a petition),
- (Pandilan :~—in the Envoy (1) it is probable that the pandits whom Jaisi consults about the allegory of his poem are Muslim maulvis. Here also it 18 possible that pandtt has the same meaning, though here he is more concerned with the style than with the matter of the poem. cp. 1(12)4, wherc Usman is called a pandit|.
(hh) Grierson reads sab kalntanh : Shukla reads panditan.
(62) Dag& is a drum-stick. The poet means that he is impelled to publish his lay by beat of drum, so to speak, ६.९,, as loudly as possible, in order that other poets and learned men may hear it, and correct his mistukes. A simpler rendering is obtained by amending the text to kichu kahi calata bola det daga, ‘saying my say, I progress, setting down the feet of language,’ in
46 THE PREFACE 1: 23-24
My heart is a treastire-house, and it holdeth a store of precious stones. I made my tongue the key of my palate and opened it. I spake words,—jewels, and rubies ; sweet, filled with the wine of love, and priceless. He who is wounded by the words of love®’,—-What is hunger or sleep or shade to him''? He changeth his appearance, and be- cometh a hermit, like a jewel covered and hidden in the dust.
O Muhammad, the body which love hath, hath neither blood nor flesh”. Whoever seeth the face of such a man laugheth, but when the lover heareth the laughter tears come [into his eyes|°*.
24. It was the year 947°“ [of the Hijra°’,| when the poet began to tell this tale in words. Of Ceylon and Queen Padmavati, whom Ratna-sena brought to Citaur castle ; of Alau-d-din, the Sultan of Delhi, and how Raghava- caitanaya told him of her. How the Emperor heard, and besieged the castle, and how there arose the war between the Hindus and the Musalmans’. From beginning to end, just as the story runs, so wrote he it in the language of the
wa | —_ --- —-— न+ ee me ee ~ st =—
which language is metaphorically compared to a foot, or step (daga)). [Or ‘placing my feet in the footsteps of the poets.’ ]
(63) Here we have the first instance of the poet’s use of the word biraha. He uses it to mean love, especially unhappy love. In countless places it cannot possibly have the usual meaning of ‘separation from a beloved one.’ कते कि is translated in the Urdi Gloss by dhart ‘full of’. We can find no authority for this,
(ii) Grierson reads kahwn tehi bhukh nind kahaa chhayr. Shukla reads, not so well, 4.1.6. kahan teht 2५८४7, (what is hunger and what is delusion to him ?)
(jj) Grierson reads kayt jo pem kat na ieht rakat na mansu. Shukla reads kabi jau birah bha na tan rakat na maneu (he who was the poet of love, in his body was neither blood nor flesh).
(64) ‘The worldly imagine the distraught lover to be mad, and laugh at him. He, on the other hand, knowing that no jewel is so precious as the love which he has conceived weeps at their madness.
(kk) Shukla’s reading, satt7te t.e., 927 or 1520 A.D. would not suit the date {1640 A.D.) of Sher Shih’s accession (st. 13), but see his Introduction p. 7, where he defends satiate on the strength of an early Bengali translation, and suggests that 20 years elapsed between the beginning and the completion of the poem. The same view is taken by Pt. Chandrabali Pande (in Nagari Prac&rini Patrik& Vol. 13 p. 491) who is anxious to prove that sati7ts is not a misreading of Urdu saiftalts, his argument being that Jaisi wrote in Kaithi. His argument is not convincing.
(98) 1640 A.D.
(11) “Turukanh’. Turk is used elsewhere as equivalent to Muslim, ९.५.) by Kabir, but I am inclined to think that Jaisi, writing in the reign of an Afghan King, would have used the word literally. He would have had little
1: 24 9:1 SIMHALA at
people, andtolditinverse. The poet, the 87095, andthe lotus
full of nectar, are near to what is far and far from what is
near. That which is near is yet far, lke the flower and
the thorn [50 near and yet so different], and that which. is far is near, like sugar and the ants [who dwell so far from
it, yet find it out|. -
So the € cometh from the [distant] forest, and findeth the odour of the lotus-nectar, while the frog ne’er findeth the odour, though he dwelleth [in the pond] close to [the flower].
2. SIMHALA
I. Now sing I the tale of Simhala-dvipa’, and tell of the Perfect Woman’. My description® is like an excel- lent mirror, in which each forni is seen as it really is. Happy is that land where the women are lights*®, and where God created that [famous! Padmini [Padmavati]. All people tell of seven lands, but none is fit to compare with Simhala. The Diya-land* (or land of lamps) is not so bright as it.
India had been marked by extreme religious intolerance.
(66) Kab: is one who makes poems, bisa {ङ्क ५८४) is one who recites them.
{67) 2.e., &@ prophet has no bonour in his own country. The author meaus that he is aware that his own country-folk, and his own people (the Musalmans) will not care for his poem, for it 1s in a Hindi dialect and not in Urdii; but. on the other hand men of distant lands and of other religions (the Hindiis) will be attracted by it as the bee is attracted by the distant lotus. There is a tradition that Malik Muhammad commenced the composition of the poem in his own village, where it was not thought much of. One of his dis- ciples wandered to Jayas and began to sing there the particular canto (Nag- mati's song of the twelve months) which he had been taught. The Raja of Jaya was so pleased with what he heard, especially with the dbha commencing kawata 10 bigasata manasara, binu jala gaeu sukhai, that he invited Malik Muhammad to his city, and encouraged him to complete the work. [Not Javas but Amethi].
CANTO 2.
(1) Ceylon. The word dvtpa means both island and contiment.
(2) A Padmini is one of the four classes of women and is supremely the best. The Singhalese women are all supposed to be Padminis, omne ignotum pro mtrifico
(a) Grierson reads barnak (description): Shukla, nirmal (staimless).
(3) Here there is a pun on the word (dipa-dvipa), a continent or island, and dipaka, a light.
(4) The poet now proceeds to compare Sirnhala, not with the seven con- tinents of tradition, referred to in line 4, and catalogued in note (5) to 1 (1) 7, but with half-a-dozen imaginary continents named after parts of the human body. Dtya-dipa, the'land of lights, means the land of fair women’s eyes. Serana-dipa (gravana-dipa) means the land of their ears. Jambti-dipa, Rose- apple-land, is the land of their raven hair, to which the black rose-apple is
22 SiMHALA” | 9: 1-2
The land of Saran’ cannot bear comparison -with it. I say that Jambu-land® is nowhere like it, and that Lanka- land cannot even fill [the excellence of] its reflection. The and of Kumbhasthala' fled to the forest [before it], but the land of Mahusthala® had destroyed mankind [and how therefore can I compare it with Simhaladvipa)].
In the whole universe, in the world’ are seven lands, but none of them is excellent beside the land of Simhala.
2. Gandharva-sena was a fragrant” prince, He was its king, and that was his dominion. I have heard of King Ravana in Lanka’’; greater even than his was his majesty. Fifty-six times ten millions formed his battle- atray, and over all were princes and commanders of forts. Sixteen thousand horses were in his stalls, black-eared and gallant steeds''. Seven thousand Singhalese elephants had he, each like the mighty Airavata’’ of Kailasa’’. He is called the crown of lords of steeds, and with his goad he causeth to bow low the elephants of lords of elephants. Over lords of men I call him a second Indra, and in the world I also call him the India’‘ of the lords of earth.
———s a 1 1 ee a
oiten compared, Lanka-dtpa, is the land of waists. Kumbha-sthala, jar land, is the land of their rounded breasts; another reading is gabhu-sthala (garbha-sthala) the land of wombs; and finally mahn-sthala (madhu-sthala), is the land of secret parts. Under this highly figurative language the poet signifies that the women of Simhala surpassed all these imaginary lands, each in 1ts own pecu- har excellence.
(5) The poet does not seen to be aware that Sarana-dipa (Saran-dtp, Serendib) 18 actually Ceylon itself. Here, as pointed out above, the words also mean ‘ear-land.
(6) Hindfistan, or bosom-land.
(7) Or perhaps Gabhasthala, one of the nine divisions of Bhirata-varga (India): here used as equivalent to garbha-sthala, the land of wombs, The forest whither the bosoms fled is, of course, the necklaces, bndices, &c., under which they lay concealed.
(8) Or Méwasthila.
(b) Grierson reads pirithumtn (earth); Shukla’s parathmain may mean either ‘lands’ or ‘first’,
(9) There 16 here an alliteration between Gandharva, and Gandha, scent. Some of the MSS. have Séni for Sdna throughout the poem. This would lead one to restore the word to the Sanskrit Sainya, or Gyéna (A hawk, used like Sitnha) were there not a strong tradition in favour of Séna.
(10) The identification of Lanka with Ceylon is a very modern idea, é.g.. Var&ha-mihira, Brhat-samhitaé, xiv, 11, 15, mentions Lanka and Sinhala as different countries. ;
(11) Qyama-karna, black-eared, is a technical name for a horse. It 18 the kind used in sacrifices. JZ ukhwra means ‘horse’.
(12) The name of Indra’s elephant.
(13) Qiva’s heaven. Here taken for Indra’s heaven, Indra-puri.
(14) Here Indra is referred to in two aspects. First he is the mighty king
ॐ: 2-4 SIMHALA 23
So universal'” a monarch was he, that all the earth feared him. All men came and bowed their heads before him, no one dared to emulate him.
3. When a man approacheth this land, ‘tis as though he approacheth 2118528 [the mount of heaven]. Dense mango-groves lie on every side, rising from the.earth to the very sky. Each tall tree exhaleth the odours of motmnt Malaya’’, and the shade covereth the world as though it were the night. The shade 15 pleasant with its Malaya- breeze; e’en in the fiery month of Jyestha’' ‘tis cool amidst it. It is as though night cometh from that shade, and as though from it cometh the greenness of the sky'*(‘). When the way-farer cometh thither, suffering from the heat, he forgetteth his trouble in his blissful rest, and whoso hath found this perfect shade, returneth ne'er again to bear the sun-rays.
So many and so dense are these groves, that I cannot tell their end. The whole six seasons of the year’’ do they flower and fruit, as though it were always spring.
4. The pleasant thick mango groves bear fruit, and the more fruit they bear, the more [humbly] do the trees bow their heads. On the main branches and trunks’ of the jack trees, the jack fruit ripen, and fair appeareth the barhal?’ to him who looketh. The khirni’’ ripeneth, sweet as molasses, and the black wild plum’’, like black
of the lower gods, and hence supreme over lords of men: and secondly he is the storm-god giving refreshing showers to the earth, and hence an object of worship to everyone who lives by cultivation.
(15) Cakkawai=Cakravarti.
(16) The Western Ghauts (दक), famous for their growth of sandal trees.
(17) The hottest month in the year, May-June, with its pitiless burning blue-grey sky.
(18) This is an example of the rhetorical figure utpr2ksa or Poetical Fancy, with the word expressing comparison omitted. The poet fancifully states that this shade is so dark, that from it is produced all night, while the green shade of the sky is its reflection.
(८) Perhaps however the simile is like the ‘green night’ of Marvell's Bermudan orange-groves. Shukla (Introduction p. 105) finds in the descrip- tion of these groves an allegory of the soul’s approach to God.
(19) Hindtts divide the year into six seasons of two months each.
(20) The jack fruit grows only on the stems and main branches of the trees, not on the younger shoats.
(21) Artocarpus lakoocha, Roxb., a sweet-acid fruit, yellowieh red and nearly round,
(22) Mimusops hexandra, Roxb.
(23) Eugenia jambolana, 1.
24 SIMHALA 2: 4-5
bees famong its leaves]. Cocoanuts ripen and ripeneth the khurhur?‘; they ripen as though the orchards were in Indra’s heaven. From the mahua’® doth such sweetness exude, that honey is its flavour, and flowers its scent; and in these princes’ gardens are other fruits, good to eat whose names I know not. They all appear with nectar-like branches, and he who once tasteth them remaineth ever longing for more.
Areca’°(") and nutmeg, all fruits, are produced there luxuriantly. On every side are thick groves of tamarinds, of palmyras, and of date-palms.
5. There dwell the birds, singing in many tongues, and sporting joyfully as they look upon these nectar- branches. At dawn the honey-suckers are fragrant’, and the turtle-dove cries out ‘’tis thou and only thou’?’. The emerald-parroquets' sportively rejoice, and the rock- pigeons cry kurkury, and fly about. The hawk-cuckoo’® crieth for its beloved, and the skulking warbler shouteth 7711 207". Kuh kuhit ever crieth the cuckoo, while the king-crow’’ speaketh in many tongues. ‘Tyre, tyre’ crieth the milkmaid-bird’’, while the green pigeon”! plain- tively telleth its tale of woe. The peacock’s cry kin kun
(24) Ficus cunia, Ham. [Grierson correcta this in note (17) to 5(6)3].
(25) Baassia latifolia, Roxb.
(26) Gua and sup&ri are varieties of the areca or betel nut.
(d) Shukla has lavang (clove) for Grierson’s gu7. (€) Shukla’s reading dolahtn (are calling) gives better sense than Grier- son’s basahin.
(27) Its cry is 2८ -! (£ -#१, ‘one alone, only thou’,
(1) Shukla’s note explains as S773 (myna). This is what we have in the similar passage in 35(12)3, but there the word is sar.
(28) The Paptha or Hawk-cuckoo, (Hierococcyx varius, Vahl) is not a sparrow-hawk as the dictionaries say. Its cry is piu pru, ‘beloved, beloved’, The ordinary native tradition is that it says pt kahwn ‘where is my beloved’. It is the ‘Brainfever bird’ of Anglo-Indians.
(¢) Shukla has 7th (with its tongue) for Grierson’s दन.
(29) The Bhyngaka or Rachet-tailed Drongo (Dissemurus paradiseus, 1..), 18 not a sparrow-hawk, as the dictionaries say. It is a sort of king-crow, it is an excellent talking-bird.
(30) The maharl 18 said to be a bird like the mahdkh& (cuculus costancua, Roxb.), but smaller. Jt’s cry is daht, dahi, ‘tyre, tyre,’ and hence it is alao known 9.8 gwaAlini or ahirini z.e., milkmaid.
(31) The cry of the haril or green pigeon (crocopus phoenicopternus, Latham) is Aw hart gat, ‘alas I have lost.’. It hves in the various fig trees of India. It is said never to rest on the ae When it descends to drink, it sucks up water, from a short distance aloft, through a straw. When it dies, it "च to the ground with ite fect in the air, rather than allow them to touch earth.
‰ 5-6 Stott ara a4
soundeth sweet to the ear, and loudly caw the crows.
Filling the orchards, sitteth every bird that hath aname, and each praiseth the Creator in his own tongue.
6. At every step one cometh upon a well or reservoir®’, adorned with seats and steps. Many are the springs scattered about, one named after every holy place of pil- grimage. Around them are built convents and temples, where devotees sit in austerity and mutter prayer. Here ate great saints, Sannyasins’’, devotees of Rama, and
(32) A bawari is & large masonry well with steps leading down to the water.
` (33) Many of the secta mentioned in this list are described in Wilson’s Religious Sects of the Hindts. Sudha&kar’s Commentary also gives a full account of them. भ् is (W.p. 32) consider themselves dead to the world and go through 8 funeral ceremony in their life time. They tay aside the brah. manical cord and carry a staff (dand&) which they never lay upon the ground, and which they consider as a witness of all their actions. They are hence also called Dandine (W.143,191). Rama-yatins are Vaignava mendicants, who worship Rama, like the Vairigins of AyGdhvi. Masa-visins, are those who abide for & month in one place, and then wander on. Ma@hécvaras are mendi- cants who cover themselves with ashes, and adopt the traditional appearance of Qiva, whom they worship. Jangamas (W.219) are ever on the move, They usually worship Vira-bhadra, who destroyed Dakga’s famous sacrifice. This legend is a favourite subject of sculpture at Elephanta and Ellora. As re sla Yatins seo W. 317. They are Jains who have taken orders, Devi 18 the object of worship of the wma, or left-hand क ८4३, and Sati of the dakaina or right hand ones. See W. 240, 254, 250. A Brahmac#rin is 8 religious student, living under the supervision of his spiritual preceptor (W. 237). Digambara are naked vagrants, such as Paramahamias, Nagas and the like. Some Vaig- nava sects call themselves ४ 8170 08783, but wear white clothes. Jainas are divided into Digambars (naked) and © १६४00878 (white-dressed (W. p. 276). Santas are merely religious people generally. Siddhas are Y6gins who have arrived at supreme perfection (adepts). They have eight supernatural powers (siddhi), viz., anima, the power of becoming infinitely amall, mahima, that of becoming infinitely great, laghim&, of becoming infinitely light, garima, of becoming infinitely heavy, pripti of reaching infinitely far, prikimya, of obtaining at once whatever 18 desired, Igatva, of infinite sovereignty, vacitva, of infinite power of subjection. Ydgins are Qaiva mendicants claiming spiritual descent from Goérakga-nitha. They claim the power of acquiring, even in life, entire command over elementary matter by means of certain ascetic practices (W. 205). An adept Yogin (or Jdgi) is a Siddha above described. Readers of the poem will have much to do with Ydgins, for king Ratna-sdna and his follow- ers me such. A Viydgin is @ pessimist, soured by unhappy love. Viydga, lit., dis-union, in this poem is specially used to mean the condition of a lover who is separated from his beloved. Sévaras (the word is a cape a of the Sanakrit Gabara) go about in troops, with matted hair, and red-ochre-coloured garments. They call themselves 0. To mark their triumph over sensual desires, they affix an iron ring and chain to the male organ, which they also mutilate. 1800 (236) calls them Kar& Lingins. They extort money by
tended miracles, such as wringing Ganges-water out of their dry matted
r. XKh@warag are & sub-variety of the S8wara’s. They carry skulls. One of their tricks is to turn spirituous liquor into milk, and then to drink it. Another is to rub the palms of their apparently empty hands together, till they bring forth Wheat, Gram, and the like, The name is a fanciful one,
4
6 Steer AA 9:68
Masavasins": Mahecvaras, Jangamas, Yatins, worship- pers of the left-hand and of the right-hand Devi. There are Brahmacarins, and there are Digambaras to whom it seemeth good to go naked. There are Santas, Siddhas, Yogins, and Pessimists seated on the path of hopelessness.
Sevaras, and the like, Vana-prasthas, Siddhi-sadhakas, Avadhutas are all seated there, mortifying their earthly frames.
7. What can be compared to the water of the Manasar- odaka lake, full as the sea and as fathomless? Its water clear as spotless pearls, like ambrosia scented with camphor. From the isle of Lanka have they brought the lapis lazuli**, and with it built the landing stages. On each side have been made winding steps on which the folk ascend and descend on all sides. The lotuses bloom there beauteously scarlet, with their clusters of thousands upon thousands of petals**. The swans overturn the shells, from which pearls fall out, which they pick up and sport as they do so. Beautiful swim these golden birds**®, looking as it were statues cast in gold’.
Above around lie the banks, with ambrosial fruit on every tree. He who hath but once seen the fairness of these lakes, loseth for aye both thirst and hunger.
8. The maidens come to draw the water, each in form
derived from Séwara. A Vana-prastha is a Brihbmana of the third order whohas retired from domestic life to the forest. A Stddht-sudhaka ia the same as a Siddha. An Avadhttu is a man who has shaken off restraint. Thus Ramg- nanda called his Vaignava disciples Avadhtita, because thay had shaken off the ties of caste and personal distinction. So Qaiva mendicants, such as Para- mahathsas who go about naked are Avadhfitas. Each of these aacetica is represented as mortifying his bhttitman or body considered as composed of groaser elements, into which it must ultimately be dissolved. The five groaser elementsere earth, water, fire,air and ether. Hence pahcatva, or the condition of being five, is used to mean death. By mortifying these elements, the soul acquires ultimate release from the round of transmigration.
(४) Shukla reads visors (faithful), but Jayasi more often uses the word in the opposite sense. See note (e) to 7(7)3.
(84) The 188 lazuli is the stone of Lanik&. It 18 popularly supposed to be the conglomerate ashes of that city after it was burnt by Rama, the gold nia in it being the relics of the ornaments which were burnt at the same
6
(36) The excellence of a lotus depends on the number of its petals.
(36) The Golden Swan.
(i) Shukla gives Grierson’s reading in a footnote : his own text means ‘They dug down to the nethermost hell and drew water out from thence: the qcean of milk poured forth in. flood’.
and figure a Padmini®’. Their limbs are odorous of the lotus (Padma), and the black bees hover round them as they come. Waisted like lionesses, and with eyes like lotuses®®, swan-like in their motions, sweet-voiced as the cuckoo. In numbers they come, row upon row, charming the eye with varied gaits. Over their moon-faces shine their golden 1278" °, as, in joy and sport, they come and go. Struck, as it were by a dagger, by her coquettish eyes, is he on whom the glance of one of them is fallen. The black cloud of her hair falleth from her head to her feet, from behind which flasheth the lightning of her teeth.
Like images of the God of Love*® are these nymphs*? of matchless charm’. If these water-maidens are so beaute- ous, how lovely must be their queen !
9. To tell of the lakes and lakelets is more than I can do. So broad are they that vision cannot cross them. How many“ are the lilies that bloom there, like stars risen in the sky. The clouds come down to them, drink their water and ascend, while within the fish [carried up into the air] gleam like lightning. Happily with each other swim the feathered fowl upon the surface, white are they and yellow, and red of varied hue. There sport the ruddy goose and his mate, whose lot it is to wake the night apart,.and meet by day**. There joyfully sporteth the Indian crane, [remembering that, not like the ruddy goose] he liveth and dieth in the company fof his spouse]*’. There are the lotus, the gold crane, the stork, and the ledi, and countless fishes piercing the waves.
(37) The best of the four classes of women. The Padmsnt, Curigt, Qan- khint, and Hastint. In a later portion of the poem Raéghava-caitanya describes them to ’Alfiu-d-din (Canto 40). ° | ८
(38) Saratga is like Mark Twain’s zug. It may mean almost anything. Here it means a lotus or a deer.
(39) The sun is often compared to a golden jar.
(40) Maina =Madana= Kama-déva.
(41) Achari—apsaras. [See 3 (6) 8 note 24 and €].
(1) Shukle gives Grierson’s reading in a footnote: his own text means ‘They came in matchless beauty with golden pitchers on their heads.’
(k) Grierson has kets : Shukla seé (white).
(42) The fable about the cak'w& and cakal is one of the commonplaces of Indian poetry.
(43) The legend 18 that a pair of these birds cannot bear to be separated.
If-ons dies, the other dies also. (1) Grierson reads kewa son dhetk bag (क : rahe aptrs min jal bhedt. Shukla’s reading is better Bolahit son dhek bag ledi: rahi abol min jal-bhedt
28 SIMBALA 3:3.9-2%
There, in those lakes, lie priceless jewels, shining, e’en by day, like lamps; and he who diveth therein, findeth the pearl-oyster
70. On every side are ambrosial gardens, filled with perfect” fruit, and carefully watched. There are the fresh coloured‘* lime and the pretty orange-citron, the almond, and figs of various kinds. Elephant lemons and citrons are ever ripe, and the glowing oranges are fullof juice. Raisins*® and apples with fresh leaves, pomegranates and vines delight the sight. Pleasant appeareth the Indian goose- berry, and the clusters of plantains are humbly bent [by their excessive weight]. There fruit the mulberry, the averrhoa, and the red currant, the corinda, the jujube and the cironji-nut*®. There is the sorrel", and the date, and other edible fruits both sweet and sour.
They lead the water from the wells through irriga- tion channels with many a ५810410), and with the pulleys of the Persian wheel, water they the black currants,
. 1. Again all around are flower-gardens, with trees imbued with sandal-odour. There bloometh the ghana- valli*®, with its many blossoms, the fragrant screw- pine, the fragrant yellow-flowered campaka‘*’, and the Indian and Arabian jasmines®’. Beauteous are the basils, the kudums*!, and the kuja-roses®?, and scented are the Abelias, which only king Gandharva offered at the
(The geese and storks and teal are vocal: the fish that cleave the water are voicelese),
(m) Grierson reads apwur (filled with): Shukla anwp (excellent).
(44) Or perhaps nau-raftga may be for narangt orange. [This is what Shukla gen rw 17
(45) The poet does not seem to be aware that raisins are dried grapes.
(46) Buchanania latifolia, Roxb. Its kernels are eaten like almonds,
(n) Grierson reads saakh-darau: Shukla sangtar7 (sweet lime).
(47) See Bihar Peasant Life, §91
(o) I venture to think that Grierson waa misled by the fact that khand (ordinarily =sugar) may mean ‘watering channel’. The meaning appears to be “They water (the garden) with sweet sherbet, putting much sugar into the ९1181. But there may be a pun on Khand
(48) The dictionaries give Ghana-vallt ag a synonym of Amrta-sava The latter they say is ‘a certain plant’. Dr. G. King suggests that it is probably the Tinospora cordifolia, Miers. Its blossoms are small in 8126, but numerous, as the poet says
(49) Michelia champaca, L
(50) Jasminum pubescens, Willd. (kunda), and the jasminum sambac, Ait. (ca
(51) Anthocephalus cadamba, Miq
(52) -& दक is a kind of rose, Roza Brunoniana, Lind,
2: 11-13 SIMHALA ‘gy
time of worship’. The rose-chestnut, the marigold, the jasmine and the weeping-nyctanthes are in these gardens. The oleaster and the dog-rose bloom, the rupamanjari*’, and the clove-scented aganosma’*. There do men plant bunches*® of the Spanish and of the Indian jasmine, and the flowers of the roseapple lend their charm, The maulasiri®® creeper and the citron, all these bloom in varied hues.
Blessed and fortunate is the man whose head is crowned with these flowers. Fragrant do they ever remain, like spring and its (fragrant] festival.
12, When a man seeth Simhala’s city, and how it is inhabited, he crieth ‘Blessed is the king whose kingdom is so fair’, High are the gates, high are the palaces, high as Kailasa®’ the abode of Indra. In every house each one, great or small, is happy, each one appeareth with a smiling face. They build their sitting platforms with sandal, and plaster them with aloes, meda®® and saffron. Each pavilion hath its pillars of sandal, and therein sitteth, reclining, a lord with his councillors. Fair is the sight, as a council of the gods, as though a man gazed on the city of Indra. All the councillors are experienced, wise, and learned, and all the words they utter are in the Sanskrit tongue.
Fairies build the roads’, so that the city is bright as the heaven of Civa, and in every house are fair Padminis, whose beauty enchanteth the vision.
13. Again I saw the markets of the city, all stocked’ with the prosperity of the nine treasures’®. The golden ( 7) Shukla places ए, 6 before vv. 4, 5. (53) Not identified.
(54) Aganosma caryophyliata, Don. (55) Bakwc means a bundle or a bunch, and bakucanha is ita obl.
(66) Mimuso रः i, L. (57) Again, biva’s eaven is confused with Indra’s. (58) A root like ginger. (१) Griersun reads Ahak panth sarhvarai; Ahak is a kind of Gandharva. Shukla reads As kas mandir samvare ( In thia way they built the houses). (r) Grierson’s reading pat# is better than Shukla’s bain (4 road), (59) The nine mystic treasures of Kuvéra, the God of wealth. T ney are named Padma, Mahipsadma, Qankha, Makara, Kacchapa, Mukunda, anda, Nila and Kharba. It is not at all clear what they are. (4 are posaibly auriferous ores, See, however, Wijson’s translation of the Magha-dite, note to ₹, 534,
40 | SIMHAT.A 2: 13-14
markets are plastered with saffron, where sit the great merchants of the isle of Simhala. They cast the silver and hammer out the ornaments, and carve out images in count- less shapes. Gold and silver lie abundantly scattered about, and the house-doors are hung with glistening cur- tains’. Jewels and gems*’, rubies and pearls, set in the doors, give forth a fine sheen, and the shops are filled with camphor, scented khas grass, musk, sandal and wood of aloes. What gain would any market be to him who bought not here ?
Some there are who buy, and some who sell. Some come there and make a profit, some come there and lose their capital.
14. Again the mart of beauty®’ is a prosperous place, where sit the painted courtezans,—their lips red - with the betel leaf, and their forms hidden ‘neath safflower- coloured veils, From their ears hang jewel-studded ear- rings; with lute in hand they entrance the very deer. Who heareth their songs becometh enchanted, nor can he move his feet. Their brows are bows, their eyes are skilful archers, and, sharpening them on the whetstones of their glances, they discharge their arrows. On their cheeks swing pendent curls as they smile, and men’s lives take they with each side look that they throw. The twin bosoms ‘neath the bodice are two dice which they cast as it were upon the game-board®’('), as each, in her [wanton] nature, letteth her bosom-cloth slip aside. Many a gambler hath lost the game with them, and, wringing his 118०५००, hath gone away with broken heart.
Magic use they to captivate the heait, so long as the
(s) Grierson reads patwan (curtains); Shukla reads pofahia (they dis-
temper). (80) Padartha, 8 gem, usually means, in this poem, 4 ruby (1411), but
here it is evidently used in its genera] sense.
(61) The Courtezans’ quarter.
(62) ae r or sira is a game very like backgammon. Asin that game, a man by itaelf is a blot, and can be taken up by the opponent. When two men of the same plaver come together on the same place, it is called juga, i.¢., the blot is covered, and the move is a decidedly winning one. The game is played with dice as in backgammon.
(t) The shri are the round playing picces, not the rectangular dice (कन्दे) ep. 27 (23) I note (2),
(69) When a gambler is bankrupt it is etiquette for him to wring his hands to show that they are empty.
$: 14-48 6५. et
purse-knot" in the’ swain’s waistband is not untied. When once it is untied’, beggared doth he wander forth and take the road, for no more do they recognize him or allow him to resort unto them.
15. There sit the flower-girls with flowers and their neatly arranged rows of betel unsurpassed. The perfume sellers sit with their goods, tying plenteous camphor and catechu.°* Here, are learned men reading holy books, and telling the people of the path of virtue. There, are others reciting stories, and elsewhere men dance and leap. “Here, buffoons bring their sights,” and there, puppet- showmen make their dolls to dance. Here, is the sweet sound of singing, and there, actors and magicians show their skill. Here some practise the lore of thags, and there [other villains} drug men, and drive them mad.
Agile thieves, knaves, robbers and pick-pockets all are there and dance their dance; and only the pockets* of those escape, who are Wide awake, and look ahead in this bazar.
16. And then a man approacheth Simhala’s fort; how can I describe what seemeth to reach to the sky? Below, it reacheth down to’ Vasuki’s®® back; above, it gazeth upon Indra’s heaven. Surrounded is it by a deep and zigzag moat, so deep that no one dareth to peep [over its edge] or his limbs will tremble. Impassable, deeper than one can see, its very sight causeth fear. Who falleth therein, down down to the seven Hells will he go. Nine crooked gate-ways hath the fort, and nine stories. Who climbeth the nine will approach {the limit of] the mundane egg.°© The golden bastions are studded with glass’,
(a) Grieraon reads gantht=ganth (knot); Shukla, gath (cash).
(v) For satth nathi see note (1) to 7(1) 9. A better translation here would be ‘when he is squeezed dry’.
(64) Khirauri are pills of catechu wrapped up with other spices in betel leaf for chewing.
(w) Grierson reads chharhajn pekhan awa: Shukla reads chirhaate pakkht lawa (fowlers bring birds).
(x) Asin 2 (14) 8 Grierson reads gaaths : Shukla reads gath (cash).
($) Grierson reads kurum vaeuki (the tortoise and V.) Shukla reads karinh vmeuki (the elephants and V.).
(65) King of the serpents. He lives in hell.
(68) The universe, sha like an म
(४) Grierson readsjare = sisa i Sh reads jare nag e303 (are studded with gems and glass).
4b SIMEALA : 16-18
and look like lightning filled with stars. That castle seemeth taller than that of Lanka and wearieth the sight and soul that gazeth on it.
The heart cannot contain it. The sight cannot grasp it. It standeth upright like Mount Sumeru. How far can I describe its height ? How far shall I tell of its cir- cumference ?
17. The sun and moon [cannot go over it but] make a circuit round it, or else the steeds and their chariots would be broken into dust®’. The nine gate-ways are fortified with adamant, and a thousand thousand foot ' soldiers sit at each. Five captains of the guard**® go round their watch, and the gate-ways tremble at the tramp- ling of their feet. At each gateway of the fort is a molten image of a lion, filling the hearts of kings with fear. With great ingenuity were these lions cast, in attitude as if roaring and about to leap upon thy head. With lolling tongue they lash their tails. \Elephants are filled with terror at them, lest they should fall upon them with a roar. A staircase fashioned of gold and lapis-lazuli leadeth up into the castle, which shineth above, up to the very sky. ,
The nine stories have nine portals, each with its ada- mantine gates. Four days’ journey“ is it to the top, to him who climbeth’” honestly [without gainsay].
18. Above the nine portals is the tenth doorway”,
(67) In the preceding stanza, the poet has compared the fort with Suméru, the central mountain peak round which the heavenly bodies revolve. He now carries the simile further.
(68) In the esoteric meaning of the poem, this city means the human body. The nine gates are the nine openings of the body, the mouth, the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, and the excretory organs. The five guardians are the five vital airs, the [व 7८, the air expired upwards, apana, that expired down- wards, samani, that which circulates round the navel and is essential for digestion, vy#na, that which is diffused through the hody, and udana, that which rises up the throat and passes into the head. The adamantine gates ma bones, the warriors are the downy hairs of the body, and the King is
© soul.
(aa) Shukla explains as either the four 807 qualities (shari’at, tariqat, १००११९४ and marafat)—Introduction p. 82—or as the four stages (muqimat) of the Safi way (tariga)—Introduction p. 186.
(bb) Grierson reads charhai jo par : Shukla reads ularas par, wich much the same meaning. ॥
(cc) The tenth 1 , in Yogic doctrine, 18 the brahmarandhra (hole in the head) the final goal of the Kundalini Yoga, situated above the end of the Sushumng, See Briggs : Gorakhnath p. 316.
ॐ: 18-16 | SIMETALA 33
at which ring the hours of the royal water-clock®’. There sit the watchers and count the hours, watch by watch, each in his own turn. As the clock filleth he striketh the gong and ‘the hour, the hour’, it calleth forth. As the blow falleth, it warneth the whole world. ‘Ye earthen vessels’, it crieth, ‘why sleep ye void of care? Ye are but soft clay, still mounted on the Potter's wheel. Still whirl ye round“ [in the circle of existence] nor can ye remain steadfast. As the clock is fulfilled, your life diminisheth. Tell me, why sleepest thou secure, O wayfarer ? Yea, watch by watch, the chimes ring forth, yet your hearts are careless, and no soul awakeneth’™.
Saith Muhammad, Life is but the filling of water, as in a clock or in a Persian-wheel. The hour cometh, and life’ is filled. Then it is poured forth, and all man’s days are gone.
1g. In the fort are two rivers, the Nira and the Khira, each endless in its flow like unto [the store of] Draupadi’’. Also there is a spring which is built of crushed pearls, whose water is nectar, and whose mud is camphor. Only the king drinketh its waters, which give him continual youth so long as he liveth. By it 1s a golden tree, like unto the wishing tree in Indra’s palace’*. Deep down to hell, go its roots, and up to heaven go its branches. So life-giving a tree, who can reach it? Who can taste it? Its leaves are like the moon, and its flowers like the stars, so that by it is the whole city illumined. Some by aus- terities obtain its fruit, and eating it in old age obtain renewed youth. specific gravity, with a hole of a fixed size in its bottom. It is set floating in & larger vessel, gradually fills, and sinks after the lapse of a ghagi or ¢ = four minutes. A gong is then struck. On the expiry of each prahara (of eight ghar!) a chime (gajara) is rung.
(dd) Grierson’s reading phirai 18 better than Shukla’s rahas.
(ee) Grierson reads ¢» nisoga jagu na ect. Shukla reads htym bajar,
man jg na sot} {your hearts sre adamant: no one awakens from sleep).
(¢) Grierson reads jiin: Shukla jyon (in such manner),
(70) From their names we may assume that one flowed with water and the other with milk, According to the Mababhireta (Vana-p. 312-14) Dran- तभ the wife of the five Pandavas was a model housewife. No matter how
© she cooked, it was always exactly enough so satisfy her five husbands, and it was impossible to empty her store room. As soon as she had eaten her
meal, after her husbands, the store room was found empty for the time being. (71) Again Indra’s heaven, Amaravati, ia confused with Civa’s.
5
44 ०१५९५ $: 2-48
' “ Kings have made themselves beggars when they heard
of ita ambrosial delights. For he who hath obtained it becometh immortal, nor suffereth pain or disease.
20. Above the fort dwell only captains of castles, captains of horses, captains of elephants, captains of land, captains of men. All their palaces are decked out with gold, and each is as a king in his own house. Handsome, wealthy, and fortunate, their very portals are overlaid with philosophers’ stones. Ever enjoying happiness and magnificence’* no one ever knoweth what is sorrow of care in his life. In every palace is there the game of caupar, and there the princes sit and play upon the boards. They throw the dice, and fine is the game, each without an equal in his sword and in his generosity. Bards sing of. glorious deeds, and receive as their gift elephants and horses of Simhala.
In every palace is a garden, odorous of perfumes and of sandal. There night and day is it spring, through all the six seasons and thiough all the twelve months.
27. Again went I forward and saw the royal gateway ; [so great a crowd surroundeth it that] a man might wander round and round and not find the door. At the gate are tied elephants of Simhala, standing upright like unto liv- ing mountains. Some of them are white or yellow of bay ; others sorrel or black as smoke. Of every hue are they, like clouds in the sky, and there they sit® like pillars of that sky. My tale is of Simhali elephants of Simhala, each one mightier than the other. Mountains and hills can they thrust aside; trees do they root up, and shake, and thrust into their mouths. Must ones, wild with fury, bellow in their bonds, and night and day their drivers sit upon their shoulders. 4
The eaith cannot bear their weight; as they put down their feet it trembleth. The shell of the mundane tortoise cracketh, the hood of the serpent of eternity is split’®, as these elephants proceed.
22. Again, there are fastened horses at the king’s
व Pa te oR eS Nee (72) Bhdga means pleasures of the senses, vilasa external magnificence. (हट) Grierson’s translation suggests a reading basjh for 2891. His text and Shukia’s give the meaning ‘they support the heaven on their backs
(73) It is on these that the universe is supported.
B:22-25 SIMHALA 3
gate, but how can I tefl the glory of their colours? The paces of the iron-grey, the dun, are famous in the world. The bay with black points’, the jet'®, and the dark- brown’®, do I tell of. I tell of the sorrel, the dark bay’, the liver chestnut of many kinds, the strawberry roan, the white, and the yellow-maned’® in rows. Spirited horses were they, fiery, and graceful; eagerly curveting, they rear without urging’. Swifter than thought, shake they their reins, and snort and raise their heads to heaven. As they hear their riders’ voices they run upon the sea. Their feet sink not, and acioss they go. Stand still they cannot ; in rage champ they their bits; they lash their tails, and throw up their heads.
Such appear the horses, like the charioteers of thought. In the twinkle of an eye do they arrive where their rider would have them go'’.
23. I saw the royal-council seated there, and like Indra’s council did ‘it seem. Blessed is the king who hath such a council, which is glorious like unto a blooming garden®’. There sit the princes with diadems on their heads*’, each with an army whose drums loudly sound. Comely is each with jewels shining on his brow, as he sitteth on the throne with sunshade o’er his head. ‘Tis as though the lotuses of a lake have flowered, so entrancing 15 that council. It is filled with fragrant odours of betel, of
camphor, of meda°? and of musk. Throned on high
(74) The hansul is a bay (kumet) with black feet.
(75) The bhawar or mushkt is black.
(76) The क is descmbed as of the colour of the ripe fruit of the pal- myra palm.
(77) The kurang is the same as the nila kum2t,
(78) The bul#h (Skr. voll&ha) is a horse with light yellow mane and tail.
(bh) Grierson reads farapahin tarahth nanrchi binu hanke. Shukla reads (not so well) saarharahin pauri {त} binu तकर 2८ (they roam at the gate in races without being driven). *
(79) The names of these various kinds of horses has presented some difficulty. We have consulted many kind friends, more experienced in the veterinary lore of England and India than we are. Yor the ourious in such matters, we may refer to the Sanskrit book on Veterinary Surgery, the Acva- vaidvaka of Jayaditya, quoted in Sudhakar’s Commentary.
(80) The poet alludes to the brilliant effect of the many-ooloured gar- ments of the courtiers.
(81) That is to say they did not venture to remove their head-dreases in the presence of Gandharva-sina. They were great, but he was greater.
(82) Meda comes from the Népal (मह्य, It-is a well known fragrant medicament—a root of cooling properties,
36 | SIMHALA ` 2: 23-25
in the midst sitteth king Gandharvasena.
His sunshade reacheth to the sky; and as he giveth forth heat like the sun, the lotuses of his council all do bloom at the might of his countenance.
24. The king’s palace is mighty as. Kailasa®’, of gold throughout from floor to roof. Seven stories high is it, only such a king could build it. The bricks are dia- monds, and the mortar camphor; adorned with precious stones is it built up‘to heaven. Each painted design that is there designed, is marked out with jewels of each kind of colour". Varied are the carving and the sculptures arranged! in rows. Rubies shine along the pillars which, e’en by day, blaze like luminants. The very sun, moon and stars hide themselves before the glory of the palace.
As we have heard tales of the seven heavens, so were atranged the seven stories, each separately, one above the other
25. I would tell of the women’s quarter of the palace like Kailasa’* filled with nymphs. Sixteen thousand queens, all Padminis, are there, each more beauteous than the other. Very lovely are they and very tender, living on betel and on flowers. Above them all is Queen Campa- vati, the chief queen of exquisite loveliness. She sitteth upon her throne in all her grace, reverenced by all the queens. Ever varying in her moods and brilliant is she”, in her first prime®’, without a rival. Chosen from all lands was 5116", amongst them all a perfect sun’*®.
(89) Qiva’s heaven. Here probably, as usual, confused with 1007818.
(३३) Grierson reads (bha nls bhaati nag lageu weht. Shukla reads lag ubehe and explains ubehe as ‘selected’. {11) Grierson reads hot कक : Shukla (better) kori (carved) (kk) Shukla's hyphens are not needed (84) Again, it is Indra’s heaven, not Civa’s which 18 filled with houris (li) Grierson’s reading nau rang su-rang mah sot ia better than Shukla’s naurang suranzgam sot (85) Acoording to Hindu rhetoricians heroines are of three kinds, the mugdhyy or the Artless, the madhya or the Adolescent, and the prawdha or te ei the Mature, iad in form, and experienced in all the arts of love vati was a praud (mm) Grierson has sakal dip mahan chuni chunt ant [of those whom] (he chose and brought from all lands), Shukla reads sakal dip mahaa jett rant (of all the queens who were in the whole island) (86) The 12 kinds refer to the twelve digits (kal7) of the sun. She was the sun in all ite twelve digits, #.¢., complete
8; 25-—-8:2 | THE BIRTH ॐ
Maidens with all the thirty-two*’ points of excel- lence are there, and amongst them all is she matchless. Every one in Simhala telleth the tale of her beauty.
3. THE BIRTH OF PADMAVATI
I. He who created Campavati’s perfect form, now desireth to make Padmavati incarnate within her. A tale of fairness is there shortly to be, for who can wipe ott what is written in the book of fate? Simhala was called the isle (dpa) of Simhala, because such a light (कद) shone there. The light’ was first created in the heavens, and next took form as a jewel, the head of the father’. Then entered it the mother’s body, and in her womb re- ceived honour®. As the months of pregnancy were ful- filled day by day did she become more manifest in her mother’s heart. As a candle shaded behind a thin cloth, so in her heat did the hidden glory mantfest itself.
The people [in their joy] adorned their palaces with gold, and plastered them o’er with sandal; as the light- (dipa)-like jewel of Civa’s world was being born in the isle (dipa) of Simhala.
2. Ten months were fulfilled, and the hour came,— the maiden Padmavati became incarnate. She was as it were drawn from the rays of the sun, for they lost their glory as she increased. Though it was night, it became as clear as day; yea, the whole [world], like unto mount Kailasa‘ was rendered luminous. Such beauty of form was manifested, that the full moon itself grew lean and waned. She waned and waned until she became but the new moon, and, for two days, in shame hid she herself
(87) The thirty-two points of a woman will be found described in the commentary [Sudb&kar’s commentary at p. 77]. Some of them will not bear translation into English. ॥
Canto 3.
(1) It must be remembered that in the esoteric interpretation of the poem Padm&vati represents wisdom.
(2) According to Indian tradition the brain is the ultimate seat of pro- creative power.
(ॐ) 4.¢., was appropriately nourished.
(4) Civa's heaven, Probably, as ueual in the poem, Indra’s heaven, Amar&vatl, ia meant.
38 THE BIRTH 8: 24
behind the earth. Then, when she again rose, she was but the humbly bent moon of the second day, 30° God (in his mercy] made her pure and holy to console her’. The odour of lotuses (padma) [was exhaled from the new-born ) child, and] pervaded the earth, and bees and butterflies came round her on every side
Such beauty had the maiden, that no other could be compared with her. Happy is the land where so fair a form is born.
3. The sixth’ night came with its happy sixth night service, and with joy and dancing did it pass. When dawn appeared, came the pandits, who drew out their holy books’ and interpreted her birth. ‘At the most propitious hour hath she been born. A moon hath risen which hath illumined the whole sky. The moon [in the sky| hath Tisen upon the world in the sign of the Virgin, and hence her name must be called Padmavati®. The sun’ hath, as it were, met the philosopher’s stone’, and from its trays hath been born a diamond more giorious than they, and worthy of the diamond hath been born a still more
perfect spotless jewel (vatna)'". She hath been born in
(5) There sre no markings visible on the moon when it is two days old It is hence considered pure, and is worshipped when in that condition. For the same reason, the moon on Mahadéva’s head is always represented as two days old. The full moon, on the contrary, is covered with marks, and is not 80 much worshipped as being impure. Compare note 9 on next page, Note that the poet treata the word saat, moon, as feminine, contrary to Hindt custom.
(6) See 81087 Peasant Life, 1406. It is believed that, on the sixth night after birth, Brahm& writes on the child’s forehead its future fate. Hence, on this night, astrologers are called to prepare the infant’s horoscope. The occasion is one of much rejoicing, and the greatest care is taken that no demon or ghost should approach the mother or child, and that nothing unlucky should happen. It 18 said that on the sixth night Yacidda held Kygna crookedly to her breast, and that, in consequence, Krsna squinted all his life
(7) A Sanskrit MS. is usually kept wrapped up in a cloth. Hence the expression ‘drew out’
(8) According to Hindt astrologers each nakgatra, or lunar asterism, has certain syllables allotted to it. The sign of the Virgin includes a portion of the asterism of Uttara-phalguni, the whole of the asterism Hast, and half of the asteriam Citr&, of which the syllables, in order are ‡0, pa, 71, pf, 93, ma,
pd. Padméavati must have been born in the third carana of Uttara- aa unl, १.६., when 3 8106488, 20 kalais of the sign of the Virgin had been passed the moon, and hence her name had to commence with Pa
(9) The sun is Gandbarva-Stna, her father; the philosopher's stone, Campévati, her mother; and the diamond, Padmfvatl. herself
(a) Grierson reads str paras saur bhacu gurira. Shukla reads stir prasan aas ०8.04 phirtya (the sun praises her as he revolves)
(10) The Jewel (rains) is of course, Ratna-séna, who was to woo and win Padma&vati
$: 33 | tit pimith Ag
Simhala-dvipa, and will go to death’s abode from Jambu- dvipa’’.
Een as when Rama was born in Ayodhya, with the thirty-two” lucky marks; as Ravana was fascinated when he saw Rama; so all when they see her will be fasci- nated, as the moth is by a candle.
4. The astrologer had written’ the proper horoscope, and having blessed her returned home; and when the damsel was five’? years old, they taught her to sit, as a pupil, and to read the Puranas. Thus Padmavati became wise and learned, and the kings of all the world” heard of it. ‘A girl is in the king’s house at Simhala, very beautiful hath God made her incarnate. In the first place is she a Padmini, and, in the second, a Pandit. We wonder meet for what mate hath God created her thus. He in whose house fate hath written that Lakshmi** will be there, will get this learned fair one.’ So suitors came from the seven continents, and bent before [the king], but they obtained no favourable answer, and went home one by one.
The King saith in his pride, ‘I am Indra and my king- dom is Civa’s'” heaven. Who is my equal’*? With whom shall I discuss marriage relations ?’
5. The Princess became twelve years of age, and when the King heard that she was full grown and fitted for a
(11) Jambit-dvipa here means India. (b) The thirty-two lucky marks of a man are given in Sudhédkar’s ose p. 77, at the end of the note on the thirty-two poimts of a woman, | (८) Grierson reads AAi janam patri so likht. Shukla reads kahenhs 2.2, jo ८४४. (They declared the horoscope which they had written). (12) According to the Jyautiga-phalita, a child should commence the alphabet at the commencement of its fifth year. (13) Literally ‘of the four quarters’. (14) Lakgmi is, of course, the goddess of Good Fortune. (15) Again the confusion between Indra and Civa. (16) According to the proverb bibah, bair, aur prtit, seaman meh soh’tn i, marriage, enmity, and love, are only proper with an च 2887018 18 for bar&khi, the vara-parikgd, or testing of the bridegroom, When a marriage ig arranged, a sum of money is given to the bridegroom, and then he is bound to carry out the agreement. ‘This ceremony has various names, such as barékhl, 1 , Sagal, or chék&, and is equivalent to a betrothal. (17) #. ९., a safe place, fit for a zanina, to which men could not ap a This is important in the later portion of the story. when she is wooed by Ratna- s8n2.
mate, he gave her for a dwelling his seven-storied palace’’, and for her fellows did he give her maidens with whom she might sport in her happiness. All of them were young virgins, nor had any e’er lain with a man, They were like waterlilies blooming by the lotus.
Padmavati also had a parrot, a great Pandit’®, Hiramani by name. God had given the bird such glory, that his eyes were like precious stones, and his face as it were rubies and pearls. Golden was the colour of this beauteous parrot. Yea, he was, as it were, gold that had been melted with borax’’.
Together ever remained they. Together 1ead they the holy books and the Vedas. When .Brahma heard their reading so did it pierce his heart, that he himself nodded approval.
6. The child Padmavati was now of full age, and [God] had made her young limbs [straight 25 | glistening standards?*), The scented odour of her limbs per- vaded the universe, and the greedy bees came round her on all sides. The sandal breeze of Malaya invaded her dark serpentine locks’*, and on her forehead sat the new-moon?? two days old. Her brows were bows from which she aimed the arrows [of her coquettish glances] ; her eyes were like those of the large-eyed antelope, lost, and gazing {for its mates]. Her nose was like unto a parrot’s, and her face bloomed like the lotus; the whole universe was charmed as it gazed upon her form. Her lips were rubies, her teeth were diamonds, and her heart
(18) The expression Pandit should be noted, The parrot, we shall see subsequently, was a Brahmana.
(19) Borax is the usual flux for gold, and its use is said to improve the colour of the metal.
(20) Here there are puns. The word bart means either a young girl, ora garden. Kart means properly a young shoot, and can be metaphorically तवक to mean limbs. ४ The verse may, hence, be also translated, ‘Padmavati like a garden, was now full grown, and God had made its young 80008 straight, etc.’ In the next verses the metaphor is carried on. The garden is apa ied with bees (lovers), and snakes (her raven tresses), and 80 on.
(d) Grierson’s reading is Dhuj dhavart sab kart sarhemrt. Shukla reads १०८४४ racks vidhi sab kala samvart (God, in fashioning her, had decked her with charms
). | (21) Mount Malaya is celebrated for two things, its sandal trees, and its akes, (22) An emblem of purity. See note (5) to 3(2)4.
$; 6-7 rae BintH qt
rejoiced ‘neath her golden breast-oranges. Her waist
the lion’s and her gait that of the elephant: gods and men alike laid their heads in the dust when they saw 11672".
No such was eer seen upon the earth. The Apsarases [first learned to] gaze with unwinking eyes [through gaz- ing at her]***. For her did Yogins, Vatins, and Sannya- sins undergo austerities.”°
{7. One day the princess Padmavati said to Hiramani the parrot; “Hear, O Hiramani, and give unto me advice. Day by day cometh the God of Love and tortureth me. My father doth not push on the matter [of my marriage], and out of fear my mother cannot address him on the subject. From every land come suitors, but on none will my father cast his eye*®. My youth hath become [irre- sistible] as the Ganges, and in every limb doth the bodiless Cupid?’ wound me.’ Then replied Hiramani,—‘What is written by fate cannot be wiped out. Give me the order, and I will go forth and wander over all lands, and seek for a king worthy to be thy spouse.
‘Until I return to thee, keep in restraint thy heart
(23) They reco त her as an incarnate deity. In the esoteric meaning of the poem she 18 Wisdom.
(24) The Apsarases are the nymphs of Indra’s heaven. scape Dh to tradition they are unable to close their eyes. This is the way they grow. € poet puts forward the conceit, that they acquired this habit from staring at Padm&vati, The passage, literally translated, is The Apsarases kept thetwr eyes tn the ether (akaca), t.c., they kept staring down from heaven, through the ether intervening, to see Padmivati.
(6) Grierson’s reading is jag kot disi/s na त च्छ achhart nayan aks. Shukla reads jag koi duhi na avai aAchhahin natn aks [None like her] comes to sight on earth: the eyes turn to heaven [to look for her like}.
Jaial generally uses the form achAart though he uses apchhar in 20(12)2 and apchhars for the rhyme in 22(3)3. He probably did not know of the (Sanskrit) Apsaras with her unwinking eyes. He would have known the ee apeara or achAart (fairy) and identified her with the Houri of Paradise.
umaon folklore the Acharis are the daughters of Ravan king of Lanka, who offered them to Siva, the presiding deity of the Himalayas. According to another legend the Acharis met the god Krishna and became his Gopis and still dance with him. (Oakley and Gairola: Himalayan Folklore p. we
(25) Similarly, it is the poet’s conceit that the holy men mentioned really pened all their austerities, not to obtain salvation but, to obtain a view of
admkvatl’s countenance. Regarding Ydgins, Yatins, and Sannydsins, see note (33) to 2(6). (26) ॥ ९. Bet ia of : &nkhi ig इह, to fall in love with, is a common idiom. (27) Kandarpa, the Indian Cupid, was destroyed by Oe hes for endea- vouring to excite his passion. Civa turned his terrible third eye upon him, and burnt him to ashes. Ever since Cupid has had no bodily form,
6
42 mie Bret $:- 96
and thy thoughts’. There was there some wicked who heard the parrot, and, who after consideration, went and told the king?®.}
8. ‘The king heard that [Padmavati’s] countenance had become changed, because that the cunning parrot had given her knowledge [of good and evil]. He gave his royal command to kill the bird ‘for he is talking of the sun [ie., a husband] where the moon [Padmavati] has risen. The parrot’s enemies were the barber and the torch-beaier?®, and when they heard the order, they ran upon him as if they were a cat; but the princess hid him so that the cat could not find him. “My father’s command,’ [she cried], ‘is upon my head [and binding], but go ye and tell him my supplication with folded hands. No bird is a reasoning creature. He knoweth but how to eat and how to fly. That which a parrot reciteth is but what he hath been taught. How much sense hath 2 creature whose soul hath no eyes 7
‘If he see rubies and pearls, his soul knoweth them not. He fancieth that they are but pomegranates and grapes, and so doth he fill his beak with them’.
0. So they returned to the king with this reply, and the parrot did humbly address Padmavati, eating fear within his heart. ‘Princess, mayst thou live happily for ages, but give unto me leave to betake myself to a forest home. When once the beauty of a pearl hath been fouled, how can its water®® e’er again be pure? No safety is there for that servant, whom his master in his heart®? is determined to kill. How can even the name of birds exist in the house where the death-cat danceth? In thy rule have I seen great happiness, so much that it could not be written if I were asked to recount it. Whate’er my heart
(28) This set of verses is almost certainly an interpolation, and has been added to explain what follows. Some sort of explanation is लनम ४
but the interpolation is clumsy enough. The language is not Malik M 18 and the presence of the wicked malo in the zanfina portion of the palace is not
(१) Better ‘when the king heard, his countenance was changed.”
(29) The traditional enemies of every Brahmana ; as he does not require their services as match-makers before his marriage. N&Q एड might possibly be translated ‘a damsel of the barber caste.
(30) 2715 = 76, the water of a jewel | (31) Aniaz=antapkaraa.
82: 049: I MANASARODAKA 43
desired, I ate, and I depart lamenting that I have not served.thee [more] : “He tkilleth luckless ones, who feareth not his own faults. What sport can the plantain have, that dwelleth nearthe [thorny] jujube’ 2
“` 20, The princess then said in sorrow, ‘If my life go, how can my body survive? Hiramani, thou art the dove ` ग my life, nor have I ever found thee wanting in thy service I fain would not sift parting into thy service’’; may I ever keep thee in the cage of my heart. I am human, and thou art my darling bird. Our love for each other is a pure one, and who then, can dare kill thee ?* What [a mean] love is that which fadeth in the body*®*. That alone is love which departeth with one’s life. Take thou the burden of my love and there will be no sorrow in thy heart, whether on the path of (that) love there be good or there be evil. How can that mountain-load of love upon thy shoulder be des- troyed, for 1t is bound unto my life?’
The parrot would not stay, for it still feared in its soul that soon that death would come; ‘for’, thought he, ‘if @ man’s steersman be his enemy, he will some time sink the ship.’
4. THE MANASARODAKA LAKE
I. One day, on the full moon festival, Padmavati went to bathe in the Manasarodaka lake. She called all her fellows, and, like a garden went they all’. Some were campakas’, and some companions were Indian jasmines*
(32) If the plantain sportively flung ita leaves about, they would be torn by the jujube’s thorns
(33) <A difficult sentence. If not corrupt, to be translated as above. An akh& is a sieve, henoe &khni means to 8 Pedmavatl means that she wishes to avoid sifting the bad flour of separation into, and ng 8 it with the good flour of long and faithful service, Akhns may be derived yin, and may mean fo speak, The line would then mean sf thou destrest to abandon thy service, I say thee na
(g) Compare Gilbert’s Love that will aye endure, Love that is ever pure, That ia the love that’s true love, That ta the love that's sure,
(34) 4. ९., while the body yet lives
Canto 4.
(1) Compare the list of flowers in 2(11) (2) Mishelia cham Linn. (8) Jasminum pubescens, Wild,
At MANASARODAKA Mbt Teg
others sweet fragrant screw-pines‘, or citrons’, or honey- plants®, Some were sweet basils’, or red rose-apples,’ and others posies’ of smiling abelias*’. Some ‘were. sweet maulasiris'', glorious .with blossom. Others were the Spanish’? or the Indian jasmines** or dog-rases’*. Same were oleasters'®, and some were safflowers’*. Others were weeping-nyctanthes!’ flowers, and others rose-chestnuts’*. Some wete kuja-roses’*®, marigolds’? and the Arabian jasmine. Others were kadambas?’, and sweet honey-plants*’,
They all went along with the Aganosma™, and the Iotuses and the water-lilies** bloomed. And the fragrance of their joy-[giving] nectar’ penetrated the hearts of Gandharva-sena’s servants [who guarded them].
2. Sporting went they forth to the Manasarodaka lake, and stood uponits bank. As they looked at it frolicked they”, and cried to Padmavati, ‘My Princess, consider in thine heart, but a few days more have we to wait in our fathers’ homes. If thou must sport, sport thou to-day, for thou can’st but sport while thou art a maiden in thy father’s kingdom. On the morrow must we all depart to
(4) K®@taki or Kedri, Pandanus odoratissimus. (6) Citrus medica, Linn. (6) Hoya lanceolata, Wall. (7) Ocimum basilicum L. (8) a die enia jambos, Linn. na is obl. plur. of bakuc#, a bundle ; cf. 2 (11) 6 note (55). (10) Abelia triflora, Br. (11) Mimusops elengi, Linn. (12) Jasminum grandiforum, L. (13) Jasminum auriculatum, Vahl. (14) Rosa glandulifera, Roxb. (15) Kloeagnas conferta, Roxb. (16) Croous sativus, Linn. (17) Ae ctanthes arbor tristis, Linn. {18} Mesua ferrea, L. (19) Ross brunoniana, Lindl, (20) Calendula officinalis, L. (21) Jasminum sambac, Ait. (22) Anthocephalus cadamba, Miq. Sf mee ek छरा ) anosma caryop प ta, n. The clove-scented oama or Malati, which here represents Padmévati. (26) ५.९.» the companions, (26) Or ointments. sedan Grierson reads parimalamod : Shukla reads parmadamod (joy and gladness). (b) Grierson reads rahasahta ket}: Shukla reads Aateain pbulett they laughed sportively).
#< 2% MANASARQDAKA 45
eur husbands’ dwellings,—then where will we be, and where the bank of this fair lake? Where will be our liberty of going and coming at our own sweet will, and where shell we meet together and sport? The husband’s mother and sister’ will kill us with their [jealous] speeches, and his stern father will not let us slip out of doors.
I know that my Love will be beloved and over all‘ but what can he do against them? Keep he us in bliss or in sorrow, still we must live with him
3. Frolicking do they meet, and mount the swing, and happily do the artless damsels rock themselves therein ‘Swing away while thou art in thy parent’s house: for, once married, our Lord will no longer let us swing. He will [jealously] guard us in our father-in-law’s house, [and put us] where we shall not e’en be able to wish for® our parents’ homes. Where will then be this sunshine, and where this shade? We shall ever remain indoors, and without our young friends. Some day he will consider and ask questions [of us] and blame us [for to-day’s sport] : what answer, what release’, shall we obtain ? How often will our mothers-in-law and our sisters-in-law contract their brows, and we shall remain shrivelled up, with both hands humbly joined ? Where again shall we come to frolic thus? In our husbands’ houses shali we have sorrow to bear till our deaths.
‘How seldom shall we return to our parents’ homes. How seldom will there be this sport in our husbands’ houses. Each of us will be herself to herself, as a bird fallen into a fowler’s basket.’
. 4. To the shore of the lake came the Padmini; and she untied her head-knot,and let her hair fallo’er her face.?™* "Twas as though black serpents concealed and inhaled” her
(c) Shukla’s nadan is a misprint for nanad. (d) Grierson reads sab @par: Shukla (not so well) sir wpar (upon my
(2) Shukla explains (better) get news of : chah may mean either news or wish. (f) Grierson reads kit mokhu: Shukla reads tahat mokhu (by what answer sball we obtain release in that case ?)
(27) When a woman bathes, she undoes her hair and leta it fall over her face, as she cleans it (her hair)
) Grierson reads mutA (व इ : Shukla reads mukizt (anfastened) ) Grierson reads arghant : Shukla reads chahus p7az (on all four sides)
46 MANABARODAKA 2:45
moonface and the Princess’s' sandal-fragrant limbs, ‘Twas as it were a black cloud which descended and o’érshadewed the world, or like the demon of eclipse coming to. the moan for refuge. It was as though the sun were obscured ‘by day, and the moon had taken the stars and appeared by night?®, The very partridge’’ turned his eyes upon her face in error, for he thought that it was the moon shining through a fleece of clouds. Her teeth were the summer lightning, and her voice the cuckoo, her brows were the rainbow shining in the sky. Her eyes, two khanjan birds, sported in the air, and bees imbibed the nectar of her orange-breasts
The lake was troubled at her beauty, and his heart © surged up [crying], ‘May I but attain to touch her feet and with this pretext he advanced [upon the shore} his waves.
5. The damsels laid their bodices and veils upon the bank, and entered into the lake. Like jasmines, they reached the water, sporting and playing the play of love*! Their black”? hair floated on the water like poisonous snakes, which bore lotuses in their mouths, and met the waves*®. Up rose they like tender shoots on pomegranates or vines**. Yea, it was as if the very branches of love uplifted them- selves’. They were, as it were, tendrils prepared by the new spring, and become manifest, full of nectar. The lake could not contain the whole universe, for the moon had entered it with all the stars to bathe. Blessed was the lake in which Luna and the stars had risen ; now, who will look at mere lotuses and lilies ?
(i) Grierson reads #दृ 79 : Shukla reads basa (scent)
(28) The night is her black hair; the moon her face; and the stars her companions
(29) Fabled to be enamoured of the moon and always gazing at it
(30) Motacilla alba, a kind of wagtail, whose quick motion is often compared to the glances of a damsel’s eye.
(31) $.e th € sportive actions by which Love conquers the world.
(32) Kartla may mean either black, or may be equivalent to kara, the
shoot of a bamboo. Either meaning will suit. The snakes are poisonous, oo they carry death to the heart of man, not by biting, but by their mere ook.
(33) The lotus are, of course, the maidens’ faces
(84) The Pomegranates and Vines are the maidens, the Shoots are their ornaments
(2) Shukla transposes verses 4 and 5.
$3.54 MANASARODAKA = - ` x
‘The very Ruddy goose®* in solitude crieth out, “Where can I find my love? By night there is a mdon in the sky, and, by day, another in the water’. | भ
' 6. They began to sport in the flood; the very swan in shame sat vanquished in grace upon the banks. Then, for their game, set they Padmavati to one side, {and cried}, ‘Be thou, O moon, the umpire between the stars”®.’ They agreed upon a bet, and commenced their sport. Who- ever lost should give her necklace as the stake.*’ Dark with dark, and fair with fair, each of the maidens took her fellow. ‘Understand ye the game and play together, that thy necklace may not go into another’s hand. When shall we play to-day’s sport again. When the sport is over, where will any of us sport?’ ‘Happy’ [saith Muhammad] is that game which is played with love. {As the proverb saith] ‘‘Mastery and happiness (are rare companions]°*”’.
Muhammad saith, ‘If the ocean“ of love please thee, sport thou in it, [but so sport thou that], even as when flowers and oil are mixed, there may become a scented unguent.’
7. One of the damsels knew not the game’”’ and became distraught because her jewelled necklace*’ was lost. She helplessly grasped a lotus stalk crying, “To whom shall I lament my condition? Why came I here with these to sport, that I have lost a necklace from my hand*’ 2? When I return home, all will ask me what hath happened,
(35) Which is separated from its mate at night. See 2(9)6 noté 42.
(36) Tariyana, here, is a pun, It means both ‘stars’ and ‘divers.’
(37) The game they played 38 atill common. Two women agree to play it, and one throws some smalj object into the water. They then both dive for it. If the original owner gets it, the match is a drawn one; if the other gets it, she keeps it. Then the other throws, and so on.. Sometimes a third person throws an article into the water, and two dive for it. If neither gets it, the article सः of course poe ता
(38) ५.९, in playing a game, love is an ingredient, the winner alone is happy and the loser is unhappy. नि
(४) ७68०) reads bars parem kat (the water of love) : Shukla’s reading 5778 pem kat is better (where the stake is love, play as you please).
(89) She forgot to warn her partner that she was about to throw the a": 80 (भ latter could not find it.
( e stanza is full of puns on the double meaning of hire, a necklace, and rier a [and ४४18 defeat].
ere we have a rare occurrence of a post-position precéding, instead of following ita noun, sai hatha, for hatha eat. Compate 8 (4) 9 note (13). But Shukla for sai Auth reads lei hatha (I shall depart empty handed), `
s
48 | MANASARODAKA 4:75
and with what answer shall I manage to gain entrance to my house ?’ Her shell-like eyes filled with tears, which fell as though they were a shower of pearls. Her friends cried ‘O simple ०111844, where was there ever water without air commingled with it‘*? Why dost thou weep so at losing thy necklace ? Search for what is lost until thou find it’.
They all began to search, diving and diving together. Some came tp with pearls in their hands, and’ some with only cockle-shells.
8. “Said the lake, ‘What I have desired, that have I found. A philosopher’s stone hath touched me down to €“. My waters have become clear with the touch of their feet, and, seeing their beauty, have I too, become beautiful. My body hath become fragrant with the odour of a sandal breeze. It hath become cool and its fever is extinguished. I know not what breeze hath brought this fragrance, my condition hath become pure and my sins have disappeared.’ Immediately he gave up the necklace ; and, as the damsels took it, the moon-face smiled*®. The lilies bloomed at beholding the digit of the moon, and a glory shone where’er it was seen. Hach received the image fin its heart] which it had longed for, and the moon-faces all appeared reflected in them as in a murror.
As the lotuses saw her eyes, their bodies in the water became pure like them. When the swans‘’ saw her smile [their forms became pure white], and when the jewels and diamonds saw her teeth, they became all bright and glo- rious**,
(42) ५.९. one who hath > voice sweet as that of a Cuckoo (प्प).
(43) ४.९. one can always remain longer under water than one would maar’? The MS. la inserts two stanzas here, which serve as an introduction to this one. According to them Padmfivatj laments the loss of the necklace, and her friends to comfort her call upon the lake (called only here samufhda. ocean) to give it up. The stanzas are evident interpolations.
(45) Down to its inmost depths. A philosopher’s stone converte every- thing it touches to its own substance : hence, the pure bodies of the girls had
converted the lake to purity. (46) In stanza 6 Padm4&vati is named the moon, and the companions the
(47) A pun on the word +€, swan, and Aas’nZ#, to amile. (48) The poet makes each peculiar virtue of the lotuses, the swans, and the aes in the lake, due only to some virtue of Padm&vati, and borrowed
र 2 THR PARROT 49 5. THE PARROT
I. While dear Padmavati sported thus, the parrot descried a cat within the palace’. Said he to himself, ‘Let me haste away while I have still feathers on my body ;’ so with his bare life he fled till he saw trees of the forest’. He fied with his bare life to the forest tract, where the birds met him, and showed him great honour’. They ali brought and laid [ food | before the branch [on which he sat]; for, so long as [God] prepareth food for man, it never faileth**. He ate the food and his soul was pleased, and all the sorrow which had been his he forgot. O God, great is thy protecting power, Thou who givest food to every living creature. Even the insect amongst the stones Thou hast not forgotten; and where Thou hast remem- brance, there Thou givest food.
The sorrow of separation lasteth but so long as the belly is not filled. Then is it all forgotten and becometh but a memory: yea [the meetings of former years] are become like a meeting in a dream’.
2. The house-keeper came to Padmavati [at the lake], and told her that a cat had entered into the house. ‘The parrot which would give answers when asked hath flown away, and the empty cage no longer speaketh.’ When the Princess heard this her soul did dry up’. ‘Twas
Canto ए.
(1) Here one or two printed editions insert a long account of the reason for the parrot’s flight. He sees a maidservant stealing Padmévati’s flowers, and remonstrates with her. The maidservant in a fury, plucks him, thrusts him into a pot, and throws him down a well, from which he escapes by the aid of a friendly fig tree. The whole is written by a bad imitator of the real author, and is plainly not original.
(2) “peal the meaning of bana-qdhakha, see 1{10) 3 note (22).
(3) wi प} usually attack end kill tame ones; but, such was Hira- mani’s virtue that they came forward to receive him and showed him honour.
(4) +%.e., wherever & man may go will he find that God has placed food ready for him there.
(a) Grierson reads Ans dhare agai eab eakha : bhuguli na वः ५४४ lakhs rabha. Shukla reads ani dhare agai phari amkhn : bhuguti bheat 12४८ lahi bidhs rakha (They brought fruit bearing branches and {५ thein [ before him ], presents of food so far as God had provided them therewith).
(४) Grierson reads janu sapne bhai bhent. Shukla reads jab eampati bhat bhest (when there is good fortune, there is meeting again).
(0) Grierson reads svkh jiu gaeu, Shukla made sabhin sukh gaew (her happiness departed utterly).
q
50 THE PARROT 8: 2-3
as though night fell, and the day had set. An eclipse had seized the effulgence of the moon, and the sky became filled with stars°’—her tears. "T'was as though the dyke of the lake had burst [with a spring tide], and the waters had begun to flow away. The lotuses sank beneath the flood, and the hovering bees fled away*. The star-tears fell and dropped, as though, deserting heaven, they rose from the lake which now they filled*. Her necklace of pearls broke and its pearls were scattered’. They fell and repaired the flood breaches in the banks of the lake’.
‘Whither hath this parrot* flown? Seek, friends, for 1ts abode. Is it on earth or in the heaven, for the wind itself cannot overtake it °’
3. Her fellows stood all around, comforting her and saying, “Thy parrot is gone. How can we now find him’? So long as he was in the cage, so long was he thy slave, and did serve thee continually. But now he is released from his bonds, and how will he again come back unto his prison? He ate the flying-fruit’® on the day that he became a bird, and found wings to his body. He hath left the cage to her to whom it did belong, and is gone, and each hath got his own. T'was a cage with ten doors’’', and how could he escape the cat ? How many such hath this earth not swallowed up ? So strong-bellied is it, that it never looseth them again.
(5) A lunar eclipse can only occur at full moon, when the stars are not visible till rendered so by the darkness of the eclipse.
त (6) ६.९. her lotus face was drowned in tears, and her bee-like eyes were en.
(१) Grierson reads bhar: : Shukla reads mahan (in).
(e) Grierson reads chhthuri (scattered) : Shukla reads (not 80 well) chthur (from her hair).
(7) The poet first says that her tears caused the lake to overflow and burst its banks. Then, to explain how the neighbouring city was not washed away, he adds that the pearls of her necklace fell and filed up the breaches.
(8) Tho ta in suaty¥ is a diminutive of endearment.
(9) There is a double meaning throughout this stanza. The parrot is taken to represent the human soul; the cage, the body ; and the cat, death.
(10) The Udana-phara is a fruit which confers the power of flight. It 18 eaten by every bird.
(11) Areference to the ‘nine doors’ or orifices of the human body, through which breath is expired at the moment of death. The poet counts ten counting, instead of the mouth, the two orifices of the throat divided by the auvula. The ordinary list is the mouth (1), the two ears (3), the two eyes (5), the two nostrils (7), the organs of excretion and generation (9). The friends now suggest that the Parrot is dead. ;
(f) I think it is better to take the tenth door to mean the Yogio brah- marandhra. cf. note (cc) to 2(18)1,
) 5; 3-4 THE PARROT 5१
‘Where there is nor night nor day’’, where there is nor air nor water, in that'forest doth thy dear parrot dwell. Who can bring him back to thee °’
4. The parrot passed ten days there in happiness, when one day came a fowler hidden behind a screen of leaves. Step by step he came, weighing heavy on the earth, and when the birds saw it their hearts became filled with fear. ‘See’, cried they, ‘this wonderful, this ill-omened sight. A tree walketh along towards us. All our lives have we lived in this forest, nor ever have we seen atree to walk. If to-day a tree doth walk, it bodeth no good. Come, let us flee, and leave this forest’. So all the birds flew away, and sought for another forest, only the learned parrot mistook [the portent] in the weariness of his soul. He gazeth upon the branches round him, and fancied them his kingdom. He sat there secure while the fowler approached.
The 217 * had five forks, each smeared with birdlime. These became entangled in his body and his feathers'*. How did he escape without being killed 2
5. Captured thus was the parrot in the midst of his delight, and the fowler broke his feathers and thrust him in his basket. Thereupon many birds became distressed’, lamenting among themselves. ‘How can grapes produce such poison seeds, by which hath come his death, and his crushed frame and wings? Had he not had a desire for food, why should the bird-catcher have entered [the forest] with his lime, and hidden himself. By this poison-food hath Hira-mani’s wisdom been deceived, and death hath come with his [limed] stick in hand. This false illusion of the world hath led us astray, and hath broken our wings, even as our body began to swell [with egoism]". This heart is hard that dieth not at once when struck; and, intent on seeing food, seeth not the net*”’
er , ~~ _ — Ae ee
(12) The abode of the soul after death
(13) See Bihar Peasant Life, 381, where the whole process is described
(14) Literally, his body filled with feathers
(£) Ishould prefer to translate ‘In that basket many birds were chattering
(h) Grierson reads chirai pankh ८85 tan phula. Shukla reads jych pankhi tareas tan phiila (as we are 01708, so has our body swelled [ with pride]
(16) All this is Védantik philosoph
(i) Grierson reads jar=jal. Shukla reads kal (death)
+
<2 THE 24८२0 Bs 594
"Rating thus this poison-food, we have lost our wisdom ; but thou, O Parrot, wast a pandit, how didst thou became entangled? ?’
6. The parrot said, I also thus went astray. The cradle of my pride, in which I swung, broke down. I took upmy dwelling in a plantain forest, and there fell into com- panionship with jujubes [or enemfes]’’. My food, eaten happily in the home of my tribe’’*, became poison when the fowler approached. Why did the tree of pleasure bear such fruit, so that from behind it as a screen he hath caught birds? Secure I sat behind the screen, and knew it not till the gin struck my heart’. Happy and secure men count their wealth and deeds, and have no care that in front of them is death. So also I was led away by that pride, and forgot Him from whom I had received these things.
“When” there is no anxiety in eating, then only is eating pleasant. Now that the noose is on my neck, what good is there in weeping ?’
7. On hearing his reply they wiped away their tears, and said “Who fixed wings on things with teeble wisdom such as birds? Brilliant is not the wisdom of birds, or how could a cat seize a learned parrot ? Why doth the partridge thrust forth its tongue in the forest, and why doth it utter the call which placeth the noose upon its neck’*. On the day on which our feathers first grew and our name of “bird!” was invented, on that day also was born the hunter to take our lives. Greed with covetousness hath become our dis- ease*”, We see the food but see not the hunter. Because of
° (j) Grierson reads phanda. Shukla reads bajhw. The meaning is the same.
(16) Here there is a series of elaborate puns. Satr} means an enemy, and also the jujube tree, which is covered with thorns.
(17) Kuramra is for kulaluya. Pharahurt is the same as pharuhurt in 2(4)4 and means trees which bear 87081} fruit. The translation khurhur is a alip of the pen, based on a reading since discovered to be incorrect.
(k) 1 should prefer to translate kurwar ‘pecking’. (The fruit diet which इ happily pecked at).
(1) Shulle places v. 5 after v.7.
(m) Grierson’s reading jab is better than Shukla’s jrw.
(18) Fowlers track the partridge by its loud evening and morning cry. ef. 9(6) 9 note (19).
(19) Literally, feathered one.
(20) Here there 18 the play upon the word biadha, a hunter, and biadhi, disease
§:.9—#: 1 THE BIRTH OF RATNA-SENA 83
our lust he spread the bait : because of our pride he desired to slay us. Because we were secure he came stealthily. What fault was the hunter’s? Ours was the sin.
‘Why shouldst thou do that sin, in the doing of which thou givest thy life? Now there is naught to be said, and, O king of birds, silence is the best.’
6. THE BIRTH OF RATNA-SENA
1. Citra-sena' was King of Citra-pura (Citaur), who built a fortress and a castle, decorated as a picture.’ In his line was born the illustrious Ratna-sena. Blessed was the mother that gave birth to such a boy. Pandits calculated according to the lore of body-marks and looked upon him. They gazed on his beauty and found his special stellar con- junction®. Said they, ‘In Ratna-sena*®, have many gems taken bodily form’. Brilliant is his form as a jewel. On his head gleameth* the precious stone [of good fortune]. A thing glorious as a gem‘ is written as his mate®. Glorious will they be, as the sun and moon together. As the bee is distraught apart from the jasmine, so will he be for her, and become an ascetic. To Simhala will he go, and there obtain her, and having become successful in his quest’, to Citaur will he bring her.
‘E’en as Bhoja® enjoyed delights; e’en as Vikrama’,
Canto VI.
(1} Some Mas. have 8८111. See p. 15, note 2.
(2) Citaura is a corruption of nd Sa the picture—fort. We shall henceforth use the more familiar name of Citaur.
(a) Grierson 76848 lagan: Shukla lakhan (marks).
(3) Ratna means jewel. (b) Grierson reads bahu nag autary : Shukla yah kul-ntrmara (he of pure
(c) Grierson reads ९०7 : Shukla par# (lies, is situated).
(d) Grierson’s padik (ruby) is better than Shukla’s padum (lotus).
(4) Throughout the poem, the comparisons of Ratna to a diamond, and of Padmivati to a ruby are of frequent occurrence.
(5) Or perfected in spiritual knowledge. There is a double meaning
(6) Bhdja was the celebrated king of Dhara in Malwa, in whose reign (about the 10th or 11th Century A.D.) the civilization of India 16 traditionally said to have reached its culminating point. ;
(e) Grierson reads correctly Bho} } bhog : Shukla Mog (a misprint) bhoj.
(7) Vikrama or Vikramiaditya,—see page 9, note 2, The well-known sambat-era is referred to him. It is considered the height of glory to be the founder of an era, and such eras are temporarily founded at the nt day. For instance qn era is used by some peop lo dating from the Poet Hariecandrs of Benares, who died the other day. (It is called the Harigcandra-sam bat),
here
54 THE MERCHANT 6: i—4: £
founded an era, so will he.’ Thus having tested Ratna, the jewel, like jewel-testers, did they write down all his marks.
7. THE MERCHANT
71. A certain merchant of Citaur went to Simhala to trade, and there was a very poor Brahmana who went thither with him when he set forth. From some one did he borrow money in the hope that perchance by going thither he might increase it. The way was hard, and much toil did he pass through, and finally he crossed the ocean and arrived at the Isle. He gazed at the markets, so yast that he could not see the other side, and of every thing was there much and of nothing little. But very high is the trading there. The wealthy man getteth what he wanteth, but the wealthless can only gaze in wonder. Things were sold there by myriads and by millions ; to things worth thousands did not any one bend himself.
All [his companioris] bought and returned to their home. What would the Brahmana get there, for very small was the money in his poke.’
2. [He lamented, saying], “Dried up do I stand. Why did I come? I have got no merchandize and naught has remained to me but regret. I cate here to market, expecting a profit, and by walking on that road. I have lost even my capital. Why have I learned the lesson of dying? I am come to die, for death was written in my fate. While I had still power to move, I made a foolish bargain. I see no profit, but only the loss of my capital. Did I sow parched grain’ in a former life, that I am come and have eaten even the savings of my house? The merchant with whom I did my business,—if he wait at my door for payment of my
Canto VII,
(1) Gath: is the knot in a man’s waist band in which he carries his money. The word literally means sugarcane. Sathi-natht, means crushed sugarcane, whenceall the juice has been expressed. It is hence used to mean ‘squeezed out’,
hence ‘without wealth’. From this idiom e&thi has come to mean ‘wealth’.
[ Vide 2 (14) 9, note (४)].
(2) He refers to his karma, or (good) actions in 8 former birth. These he compares to seed which he then sowed, and of which he should now be enjoying the fruit. He now says, he must have sown parched seed (f.e., have done something to nullify his karma), which has produced no fruit.
५ |
T: 2-4 THE MERCHANT 55
debt, what am I to give him ? How am I to enter my house empty 2 What answer am I to give him if he ask me?
‘My companions are gone. My fair fame [will be] des- troyed*.: Between us are oceans and mountains. Hopeless of hope do I return. O God, give thou unto me subsistence’.
3. Just then the fowler came up with the parrot, all golden in its colour and matchless in its beauty. He offered it for sale in the market. where the’ price of jewels and rubies was settled. But who would buy the parrot, the fly of a Madara tree*, which was looking intently to see where it was to go? The Brahmana came up and asked himself, ‘Is this parrot possessed of wisdom, or wisdomless and empty °’ Said he, ‘Tell me, thou mountain-born, if wisdom be with thee and conceal it not within thy heart. Thou and I are both Brahmanas*, and everyone asketh another his caste. If thou art a pandit, then recite thou the Veda; for without asking is no essential attribute discovered.
‘I am a Brahmana and a learned man. Tell me thine own wisdom. For if a man recite before him who is well taught, the gain is two-fold.’
4. The parrot replied, ‘Sir, I once had wisdom, when I was a bird escaped from the cage. Now what wisdom doth thy disciple’ possess, forhe is a prisoner, thrustinto a basket and brought for sale. Learned men are not brought to market. But I wish to be sold, and therefore is all my learning forgotten. ‘IT'wo paths’ see I in this market: along which of them will God’drive me? Weeping blood my countenance hath become red, and my body pallid. What tale can I tell? Red and black upon my throat are two collar-like marks. They are as it were nooses, and I fear
(a) Grierson reads sat bichal# : Shukla satg bickhuraz, not so good, as it merely repeats what goes before (my companions have left me).
(3) According to 7(1)7, prices ruled high.
(4) The Madara or Arka (Asclepias gigantea) is a plant used as medicine. It is of little account, except that its flowers are offered to the mad God Maha- ०९१४, This in fact is one reason for its light estimation. A bright कक fly settles on it, which, of course, is of still lesa value, and to it the bright green aati 18 compared, The parrot is anxiously looking to see what its fate is to be.
(56) The Parrot is the Brihmana of the bird tribe. (9) Shukla’s comma after datd spoils the sense. (6) One to the east, the other to the west,
56 | THE MERCHANT T 46
for my life exceedingly’. Now have I recognized these nooses on my throat and neck. Let us see what these nooses are about to do.
‘Much have I read and studied, and that fear 15 _ still before me. I see the whole world dark. All my knowledge have I lost, and I sit bewildered.’
5. When the Brahmana heard these words he entreated the fowler. ‘Be merciful and slay not birds. O cruel oné, why dost thou take another’s life ? Hast thou not fear of the guilt of murder? Thou sayest that birds are food for men’, but he is cruel who eateth other’s flesh. Weeping dost thou come into this world, and with weeping dost thou depart ; yet, natheless, dost thou sleep in enjoyment and happiness. Thou knowest that thine own body will suffer destruction, still nourishest thou thy flesh with the flesh of others. If there were not men so greedy of others’ flesh, why then would fowlers capture birds? So the fowler who continually captureth birds, selleth them, nor desireth them in his own heart.’
The Brahmana bought the parrot, when he heard its knowledge of the Vedas and Holy books. Then joined he his fellow travellers and started for Citaur.
6. In the meantime King Citra-sena had gone to Civa’s {2780156 ] and Ratna-sena had become monarch of Citaur : and behold there came a report to him : ‘O King, merchants are come from Simhala. There are pearl oysters filled with elephant-pearls, and many goods of Simhala’s isle. A Brahmana hath brought a parrot, all golden in its colour, and of matchless beauty. Red and black upon its neck are two [lines like] necklets, and its wings and shoulders’ are all inscribed with scarlet. Its two eyes glow like rubies, ruby-
(7) Male parrots, when full-grown, have two ring-like marks, one red
and the other black, round their neck. These are often compared to nooses. Compare 9(2)6, and 9(6)9.
(c) Grierson reads pankhi-khaduk (bird-eaters) manava (mankind) : Shukla pankhi ka dos 1 (what fault does a bird show? ) Bhagwan Din punctuates, Lakes pankhs ‘tain byadh manava.’ (The bird said, “You, 0 fowler, are & human being)”. A speech by the parrot is wanted, to explain the end of the stanza,
(१) Grierson reads Siva ककि :; This might be a corruption of the Sanskrit sivasa yujyam ( ee: gathered to Siva t.e., death). Shukla reads sar रकतं (had received funeral rites, lit., had adorned hia pyre).
(8) Paths or pattha is the joint of the wings with the body.
T: OF THE MERCHANT 5
coloured is its beak, and its speech is nectar-like. On its forehead is the castemark, and on its shoulder a Brahmana’s thread. ‘Tis 2 poet like unto Vyasa, and ‘tis learned like unto Saha-deva’.
‘What words it speaketh have meaning ; and those who hear it wag their heads in admiration. So priceless a parrot should be in the King’s palace’.
7. Forth went the King’s command, and they sent men running, who quickly brought the Brahmana and the parrot. The Brahmana gave his blessing and began his supplication : ‘Never would I separate myself from this parrot, which is like my soul; but this belly is a devourer of the universe’, before which bow, yea, all ascetics and devotees. If a man hath no coverlet or bed, he can lay him- self upon the ground with his arm beneath his neck. A man’s eyes may refuse to see, and then he is but blind. His mouth may refuse to utter words, and then he is but dumb. His ears may cease to hear, and then he is but deaf: but this belly never loseth its peculiar function. Many and many a time is it continually at fault, and must go begging from door to 0007179, or else it is not satisfied.
‘This is that which calleth me here, and which bringeth me hunger and thirst. If there were no enemy such as this, what unsatisfied desire of aught would any have’ ?
(9) Vyisa was the celebrated com i. or arranger of the Mah&-bharata. Saha-ddva was one of the five Pandava brothera, heroes of the Mahia- bh&rata, and was celebrated for his learning. [The half verse is repeated in 38(1)2}. - (e) I should prefer to translate bisytst, as elsewhere, ‘untrustworthy’. The word should really have the contrary meaning but Jaisi was not a Sanakrit
r.
(10) The word bara has many meanings, owing to many Sanskrit words having phonetically developed into it. The following story illustrates this.
89780882, the celebrated blind poet and singer, once sung the following verse in Akbar’s court.
Jasud& bara bara yaha bhakhai Hai kou 111 hamard Braja men calata Gopalahi rikhai.
The Emperor asked the meaning of the words bara bara. Some said it meant ‘repeatedly’ (Skr. v7#ram-varam) ; othera that it meant ‘at every door’ (dv%rash-dvAramh); others ‘to all children’ (b4lam-balam); others ‘to all the girls’ (6alam-balam) ; others ‘stopping continually’ (varja varja kara); others ‘may I be sacrificed’ (balasy# 12 (2 kara); others ‘lighting lamp after lamp’ (d§paka bara bara kara); others ‘with water water’ (Skr. wri vari), i.c., weeping; others ‘day by day’; others ‘raving’ (varvara). At length the Emperor asked the poet, and he explained that the verse meant ‘every hair’ (Skr. bala bala) of
508 cries out, ‘is there any friend in Vraja, who will take care of GBp&la (the infant Krsna) as he crawls about’.
(f) Grierson reads Kehu पण kas Ws. Shukla reads Kehu na kehu kai we
(no one would have any use for anyone else).
58 THE MERCHANT 7; 8-9
8. The parrot gave a blessing, promising mighty pomp, mighty prowess, and an unbroken rule. ‘Full of fortune hath God created thee. Where there is good fortune, there beauty standeth reverently in attendance’*. Some men come to a man in the hope fof obtaining a favour], while he who is without hope sitteth silent on his seat. Others without being asked say their say ; and when they speak, their say, as clay, is worthless. When a man is learned and educated, and knoweth the mind-secrets of the Vedas, then, when he is spoken to, he replieth like unto Saha-deva’’® ५. No learned man praiseth himself, but if he is brought for sale, he desireth to speak ; for so long as his. virtues are not made manifest, so long no one knoweth the secret concerning them.
(Therefore say I] ‘I ama pandit learned in the four Vedas. Hira-mani is my name. With Padmavati did I sport”, and there used I to serve her’.
g. Ratna-sena recognized Hira-mani as a learned bird, and bought him from the Brahmana for a hundred thou- sand rupees. So the Brahmana gave his blessing and departed, and the parrot was brought into the royal palace. How can I describe this parrot’s speech ? Blessed be he that first dubbed him Hira-mani (or the diamond-jewel). When- ever he spake, he looked towards the King, and his words were like the pearls ofthe necklace which has the hearer’s heart for its thread. All that he spake was rubies and coral, otherwise he remained silent like one that is dumb. [He would tell tales of love, and], as it were, strike [his hearers] dead, and then would he revive them with words of nectar. He became a spiritual guide, and the whole world became his disciples. He used to tell the tale'* of the sun and moon, and with the story of passion did he ravish all hearts.
(11) ०.९. Thou art not only fortunate but beautitul.
(12) See 7 (6) 7 note 9.
(g) Perhaps this should be ‘Sahadeo, though he was learned etc., only replied when he was questioned’.
(h) Grierson reads Padmavatt sauh math ranvaurz: Shukla (better) Padmmvatt saunh meravaun (I will bring you to a meeting with Padm&vatl, and I will serve you there).
(13) <A side reference to Ratna and Padmavati. The tale of the sun and moon seems to mean that he gave lectures in astronomical physica, He wed to combine instruction with amusement,
1: 9--8: 2 NAGAMATI AND THE PARROT 59
Alf who heard him wagged their heads [in admiration], and the King’s love for him became unfathomable. [They would cry]: ‘So wise a parrot is there not aught other. Whom will he drive distracted** ?
8. NAGAMATI AND THE PARROT
1. When five or ten days had passed, the king departed somewhither to hunt. Nagamati, his beauteous queen, was the chief of his harem. She adorned herself, and took a mirror in her hand; and, as she looked at the reflection, she became filled with vanity. Smiling went the Lady to the Parrot, and offered to him a touchstone of polish’ *. ‘Parrot’, she said, ‘Thou art worthy and the beloved of my Lord. In the whole world is there any so fair as I? Test thou the colour fof my beauty]. How fair is this gold, and how fair is thine Isle of Simhala ? How fair to look upon are the beauties there? Am I the more fair to see, or is the Padumani (Padmavati) ?
‘Parrot, if thou tell me not the truth,—I adjure’ thee by the King. Is there any on this earth so fair as I?”
2. When he thought of the beauty of Padmavati, the parrot laughed and looked the queen in the face. Replied he, ‘In the lake to which the swan cometh not, there the paddy bird in the water is called a swan. God so perfectly did make this world, that every creature excelleth® another [in some beauty]. Vanity becometh no one’s soul. The very moon waneth and is devoured by Rahu*. Who can call a woman fair or unfair? Fair alone is she, who is beloved of her lord. Why askest thou me concerning the
५ (14) १.९. some day, he will drive some one to distraction with his tales of love. Canto VIN.
(1) Bo literally. It means that she called upon the parrot to apply the touchstone of beauty to her. Opanz is polish, and aupana-wart means that which gives polish, or which shows the true polish of the gold which is being tested. There is a pun in the words so nart, ‘the lady’. They may also be tran- slated as son7trin ‘the goldsmith’s wife’, who owns the gold to be tested.
(a) Shukla wrongly transposes verses 4 and 5.
(2) Ana equals the Skr. काति.
(3) Agara=agrya, excelling.
(4) We are unable to trace any legend of the vanity of the moon being the cause of ita waning or of its eclipse. Rahn is the demon of eclipao who swallows the moon on that occasion, see 9(5)7 note (16).
60 NAGAMATI AND THE PARROT 8; 2-4
worhen of Simhala, for the dark night cannot be compared with the day. Their bodies are fragrant as flowers. Why should I describe their feet’, to whichevery head[is bowed]?
‘Compounded are they of gold and fragrant essence. Filled are they with beauty and good fortune ?’ When the queen heard this she was enraged, as if salt had been thrown upon her heart’.
3. [Cried she], ‘If this parrot remain in the palace, he. may sometime tell this unto the King. If the King hear he will become enamoured. He will desert his kingdom and become an ascetic. By storing poison it becometh not grapes’. See that this chanticleer of love’ give not forth his note’. She called her quick-running* maid-servant, and no longer able to restrain® her anger in her heart, gave unto her the parrot. ‘See this parrot. He is an evil-worker. He doth not even belong to her who cherished him*. With his mouth he sayeth one thing, and in his belly dwelleth another; and for this fault hath he been sold in half a score of markets. Keep not a bird that speaketh such evil things. Take him and kill him where no one can see thee.
‘This is the day-time, that I ever dreaded. In the night, have I hid my sun’. He desireth to give [the sun] to the lotus, and to be to me a peacock’®”.
4. The maiden went off with the parrot to kill him, but, while she considered, wisdom came into her heart. “The parrot,’ quoth she, ‘giveth ease unto my lord. He whom the master loveth should not be killed. Heis a pandit with
(5) The humblest part of their body. Hz pede Herculem.
(6) Her heart was like a blazing fire, which crackled ominously when salt was thrown upon it.
(b) Grierson reads bikh rakhenh nahin hot anrgtrt. Shukla reads ए rakhiya nahin, hoi anktira (do not keep poison, it is sure to sprout).
(€) Grierson reads birah : Shukla 600 (at dawn).
(7) The cock-crow of love will awaken the king, and warn him to search for the day of Padmévati, now that the night of Nagmatt! is past. ॐ
(१) Grierson reads dhamint: Shukla damint (lightning,—as & name for the maid-servant).
(९6) Grierson reads na sambhart : Shukla क्का (grievous).
(8) ६.६. He deserted his late mistress.
(9) Né&gamati was black but comely, Padmf&vati fair as the day. Na&ga- mati has kept her beloved (her sun) devoted to the night (herself). Now he will leave the night, and seek the day.
(10) The peacock eats anakes. Na&gamati refers to her name, in which niga means enake. The lotus is Padmivati.
8: 4-8 NAGAMATT AND THE PARROT $%
his passions all subdued’, and blame lieth at the door [not of such, but at the door] of him who looketh not before him. She who understandeth not a woman’s actions, falleth into error and afterwards lamenteth. Nagamati hath but the wisdom of a serpent'’, and no parrot ever hath become a peacock. What hope can there be in the arm’ of a woman that obeyeth not her Lord? Perhaps when the King return- eth at nightfall, the bird will be sought for, and then will the horse’s disease fall upon the monkey’s head’.
‘Two things, murder and sin, cannot be kept hidden, even though a man try to hide them. In the end they
cause destruction, themselves bearing the witness’”’.
5. So the maiden made up her mind and put the parrot [in a place of safety]; and at even, when the King returned, he sought for him. The queen replied in angry tones, ‘A cat hath carried off thy parrot. I asked him about the Padmini of Simhala, and he replied ‘What art thou, O Nagini? She is like the day and thou art as the dark might. Where spring is ever blooming, who [careth for] a garden of the thorny {8111214 °? What is thy husband but the king of the night? Doth an owl know the nature of the day time?’ So, what is that bird but a pawn in a fort’’', whose little tongue’ speaketh such mighty words ? Whene’er he speaketh,
(f) Grierson reads khandst pai raga: Shukla reads (better) khaddi bairAgt (in whose asceticism there has been a breach—for which reason he has been reborn as a parrot).
(11) Again La bem on the name, see note (10), A serpent cannot dis- tinguish between good and evil, and bites every one (good and bad) indifferently.
(¢) Grierson reads baah@7: Shukla (better) wht (that woman).
{12) +.¢., The punishment due to the queen will fall on me. According to tradition, if you wish to keep your horses well, keep a monkey in the stable. It is believed that all diseases, to which horees are lable, leave them and fly to the monkey.
(13) Here again the postposition (sat) precedes the noun (72४) to which it belongs. Cf. 4 (7) 3 note 41. ति (14) Capparis aphylla, Roxb., a thorny leafless plant which grows in the
esert.
(1) Grierson reads ahaa basaat karl ko bart: Shukla reads kaha basant karW ka bart (where is spring, and where is a garden of thorn bushes? 1.e., there is no comparison between you.)
(15) Go}t, which I have translated pawn, is a wooden or stone back- gammon piece, or such like. In a great castle, such a petty thing 18 ofnoaccount.
(i) Grierson reads kots ahaa ०५६ : Shukla (not so well ) kd} musA kate (his mouth [full of] powdered poison).
(j) Griergon reads kah: Shukla mukh (the amall tongue in his mouth [speaks] mighty words.)
62 NAGAMATI AND THE PARROT 8: 56
he distifleth blood*. Whether he eat or be without food’, his face is red?*.
‘Set not a parrot on thine head, even though it be exceed- ing fair. Why shouldst thou wear a golden earring, if it tear thine ear 11?
6. The king heard these words and became desolate, as Vikrama’’ lamented in his heart. ‘That Hira-mani was my scholar-parrot, from whose mouth distilled nectar when he spake. A scholar whose sorrows have been sub- dued”, of blameless life. A scholar from whom fell no guile.
A scholar whose tongue and mouth were pure. A scholar
(k) Grierson reads ruhir (blood) : Shukla jahar (poison)—not 80 well.
(1) Grierson reads bhojan binu bhojan : Shukla reads as hatiyar lie mukh rata (his face is red because it wields such weapons)—but haty#r means murderer in the next stanza.
(16) Alluding to the red colour of the parrot’s face. His face is ever red, whether you feed him or not. A red face implies anger. Hence he is angry even when you treat him kindly and feed him.
a (17) This 18 8 well-known proverb, phaja pare waha sona, jehi 52 191९ na.
(18) Regarding Vikrama, See 1 (17) 2 note (42) and 6 (1) 8 note (7). The story of Vikrama and the Parrot is as follows.—He had a parrot named, like the parrot of the text, Hiré-mani, who one day obtained leave to take a holiday in the forest, promising to bring back an amara-phala, or fruit of the Tree of Life. the eating of which prevented old-age and death. The leave was granted, and after a time, the parrot returned from his travels with an amara-phala in his beak, which he presented to his master and mistress. The king gave it to his gardener, with instructions to plant it and grow १ fruit-bearing tree from it. This the gardener did, and in time it sprouted, and began to bear fruit. The king gave orders that as soon as a fruit ripened and fell from the tree, it was to be given to his queen. It happened that, at length, one night, a ripened fruit did fall, and that, attracted by its scent, a poisonous snake approached it and licked it all over. The fruit thus became poisoned, and lost its own property. In the morning the gardener picked it up and presented it to Her Majesty. As it was a new kind of fruit, she first fed a dog experimentally with it. Thereupon, the dog, there and then, fell down dead. The queen, enraged with the parrot for bringing so poisonous a fruit into the house, had the bird killed at once, and told the king what had occurred. Some time after, the old wife of the gardener had a quarrel with him, and determined to commit suicide. As the easiest way of doing this, she decided to eat a fruit of the terrible poison tree, the seed of which had been brought by the parrot. She went and ate one, and immediately became young and beautiful. Her old husband went out searching for her, and at length found her under the tree, and, to his amazement, entirely changed in appearance. She told him what she had done, and what the consequences had been, so he took another fruit himself, and equally imme- diately, became young and handsome. Afterwards, when he oe ht the customary morning basket of fruit to the ing: , the latter noticed his g looks, and asked and was told the reason, Then the king knew that his parrot Hira- mani had, after all been faithful, and that he had been unjustly put to death by the queen, Thereupon, he lamented so much that the phrase, ““Lamenta- tions like those of Vikrama’’ has become a proverb.
० Grierson reads dukA-khandit: Shukla tumA khandit (you have des- troyed).
8: 6-7 NAGAMATI AND THE PARROT 63
who ne'er said a foolish” word. A scholar, who gave me wisdom and who led me on The Way. ‘Tis the way of evil that stich a scholar loveth not. A scholar wise hath a lovely'’ countenance. It is a murderer whose countenance seemeth red as blood. Either, Nagamati, bring thou me back the life of my body, or else go thou, and with the parrot immolate thyself.’
(Saith Muhammad), ‘Think not that, by committing sin, there will be a reign of bliss within thy palace. When once a husband’s command hath been broken, then who hath aught result but misery 2
4. Bea lady as glorious as the moon, natheless is she eclipsed by her beloved’s wrath. She could not carry out perfect happiness [by consoling her Lord], for when she failed in her devotion misery alone was born. So great’ a fault had she committed that her Beloved was wroth, so that though she call him her own, ‘twas false. Wuth such vanity let no one err: she, alone 18 the greatly beloved one who feareth her husband. The queen approached her maid, her hope in the silk of the cotton tree of the parrot’”®. In the midst of the [molten] gold of my love hath fallen lead. The gold is scattered, and will no more combine. Yea, naught but the dark mark of the lead 15 visible. Where is there a goldsmith that I may go to him, to apply a flux and unite the gold together’’.
‘Trusting in my beloved’s affection, I showed vanity in my heart. Through his anger have I obtained but des- pite® ; for I, O clever maid’, have made my beloved wroth.’
(n) Grierson reads nibudht: Shukla birgdht (contrary, unfriendly). (19) शकि means both red and beautiful hence the allusion.
(0) Htansé in stanza 9 38 translated ‘co amali’, and this is the ordinary meaning. I should prefer to translate here by ‘committing 80 small 9 fault she has enraged her husband: whoever claims to posses the Beloved is lying’.
(20) +.e., she was hopeless. The simal or silk cotton tree 18 the proverbial re Ace of disappointed hope. It is beautiful to look upon, but ite fruit is only :
(p) Grierson reads sua bhum (cotton-wool) senvari kai ase. Shukla reads suv? muy (the parrot died [of hunger] when it put its trust in the silk- cotton tree).
(21) A pun on the word ऽति, which means both the flux borax, and wedded ha (व
(१) ६ ukla explains (perbaps better) ‘I was careless about his anger.’
(7) Grierson reads nagart : Shukla’s nagur with nath is better, Nagar ig a suitable expression for a hero of romance.
Ga NAGAMATI AND THE PARROT $ 89
8. 33I‘nen answered wrathfully the maiden’, ‘From anger doth one’s own wisdom [become an ogress] and eat other unoffending ones. Lady, I said unto thee, ‘Be not enraged, who hath not been ruined by this anger?’ Thou wast full of anger, nor didst thou look before thee. In anger, for whom hath ever wedded bliss been born ?‘ Upon anger is born dis-love and discord, but no one beateth him who beateth down his own wrath. She who hath anger, to her, meetly, love cometh not; and without love she becometh yellow as turmeric’®. Therefore let her not create anger and wrath‘, from which she dieth; and lether not abandon love, from which she liveth. The love of a husband cannot be gained by 2 mere wish. She only obtaineth it, who hath fixed her heart upon him.
‘She who obeyeth the behests of her mate, and humbly offereth her service, appeareth like unto a spotless moon, and her life hath no stain.’
0. *°The queen felt in her heart like unto a gambler who hath gained once more what he hath lost, and she brought the parrot and gave it to the king. ‘Heed thou my words ; I was not vain. I but wished to test thine affection, O my love. Wouldst thou destroy for so small a fault one who hath faithfully been thy slave from year’s end unto year’s end? [So pitiless art thou, that] even though one humbly bend his neck before thee, thou dost not dismiss him without an otder for his death. Even when I meet thee, thou art as it were far away : and hence, O dear one, is my heart full of fear [that thou lovest me no longer]. 1 thought that thou dost pervade me alone, yet now I look and see that thou art enshrined in every heart. Whether Queen, or whether slave-girl, she alone is good, on whom thou showest mercy.
(22) This stanza is a 86168 of puns on the words risa ‘anger’, and rasa ‘love’, both of which are written similarly in the Persian character, thus
(+= [7 consider that the pun is proof itive that Jaisi wrote in the Persian character, a question on which there he been some sacra | .1 (8) I should prefer to translate ‘Anger devours itself, wisdom devoura others’ (i. ९. defeata its opponents). (४) Shukla transposes verses 4 and 6.
(28) The jaundiced gaze of jealousy. (24) Aiea moans inward anger, of which kradha wrath, is the outward
expreasion. (25) The maid must be presumed to have given the parrot to the Queen.
Bs 9-4-8; 2 SHE KING AND THE PARROT 65
1, ‘Na one can conquer thee. The 81087" and Vararuci are defeated’ before thee. But one doth not learn to seek for thee, till after one hath lost himself?’’.
9. THE KING AND THE PARROT
1. The King said, ‘O Parrot tell me truly. Without truth unto what art thou like? Thou art [useless] like unto the fluff of the silk-cotton tree’. From speaking truth the face acquireth beauty. Where there is truth, there virtue is its companion. Creation itself hath been composed in truth. Lakshmi’ herself is the handmaiden of truth. Where there is truth, daring gaineth success, and the speaker of truth is known as “‘the truthful man’*.’”’ For the sake of truth doth she who becometh suttee” prepare her funeral pyre, and for truth [at the marriage ceremony] do women put four fires [round the couple]. They who cling to truth pass through this world and the next, and beloved of the Almighty are they who speak the truth. He who abandoneth truth, destroyeth virtue. [So tell me Parrot], didst thou form in thine heart a truth destroying thought, [when thou didst tell the tale of the 2241111 | ?
‘Thou art a learned scholar, speak not that which is false. Tell thou me now the truth, to whom hath injustice been done *?’
2. ‘O King,’ quoth the parrot, I will tell the truth ; and may life depart, but still I will not speak untruth from my mouth. My truth was all that I brought with me to
-— —_— Oe
(26) Regarding Bhdja see 6(1)8 note (6). Vararuci, the celebrated gram marian, was one of the ‘Nine jewels’ who attended his court
(27) 4%.¢e., Had seen that I was not an individual, but only an emanation from the Supreme. The well-known Védantik theory. The whole verse may be interpreted throughout in a Védantik sense
Canto 9.
(1) See 8(7)5 note (20).
(2) The Goddess of ates rity.
(a) An alternative translation would be ‘Where there is truth, there
and fortune are found, and the trath teller is called a man indeed’.
(9) Sutteo is literally sati, the base of which word 18 the same as the base of the word satya (truth).
b) Grierson reads K74 mats hias Linh esat-nasya. Shukla b44 matshin dharm kari nowt (he becomes bereft of sense, destroying virtue)
(4) 1t.e., Has Nagamati told true or false stories (त you when she said that you had spoken evil of me.
9 4
66 tHe KING AND THE PARROT 9: 2-3
this country’, or else should I have been* in the king’s palace in the isle of Simhala. Padmavati is the king’s daughter. The Creator in her hath made incarnate a moon of lotus- odour. Her face is like the moon, and her limbs are odor- ous of sandal. Scented gold is she, and perfect in all her parts’. Many are the Padminis in the isle of Simhala, but in fragrance and in beauty, they are but her shadow. [, Hira-mani, was her bird, and 1n her service did I become full grown*. Thus did I gain the speech of men; otherwise what would I have been but a bird,—a fistful of feathers.
‘As long as I live, night and day, do I e’er bear her name in memory, and, [85 I do so], I die® [ग shame, that I serve her no more]. My face is red, and my body green, and them will I carry with me in both worlds, [for I speak the truth]'.’
3. As Hiramani described the lotus, the king, like the fabled bee’, became enamoured. ‘‘Come hither, my bright bird. This island hath killed the serpent’. Thou, who hast dwelt in the home of golden fragrance, how art thou not well named Hira-mani (diamond-jewel)? Who is the king? How lofty is that island, at the mere hearing of which my soul hath become a moth enchanted by a candle’. When I hear it mine eyes become agitated like the
, (©) Grierson reads ehi pated (lit. to this address) : Shukla ehs bitte (in the strength of it).
(d) Grierson reads hate: Shukla Ataie (from).
(5) Compare the modern Hindi barah bans, accomplished, perfect, possessing the twelve colours, or the twelve different kinds of brilliancy. There are twelve Adityas or forms of the sun, each of which lends a different kind of brilliancy.
(6) Literally, the two lines (black and red) round my throat. which indicate full growth, appeared, cf. 7(4)6 note (7).
(€) This is the rather awkward translation of Grierson’s reading eazven marauh oht ntun. Better Shukla’s saavaraunh oht kar naun.
(f) 4.¢., if I were a liar, my face would he black and body yellow.
(7) The love of the bee for the lotus is one of the common-places of Indian poetry.
(8) This is impossible to translate literally. It has two meanings. It may mean either ‘this light (diya) which has hitherto killed merely small moths, has killed me, the Brest serpent’. Orit may mean ‘this (deacription of the) island has killed the snake (t.e., Nagamatl), and I cease to care for her’.
(zg) Grierson reads kuhe so dtp panig ke mare. Shukla (better) kahaa so dip pataag kai mara (where is that lamp—or island—which has made a moth of me and slain me ?) :
(9) Here again, there is a pun on the two meanings of the word dtpa, an island, and a light.
9: 3-5 THE KING AND THE PARROT 60
Kilakila 066801०. Tell me of the spotless fragrance of the lady. Hath she found a bee for a companion, or is she still but a bud, and not an opened flower? And tell me also of the beauteous Padminis there, and how the fate of each is in her own abode.
‘Come, tell me all the tale of them. I long to see that isle. My desire hath arisen at hearing thy recital.’ |
4. ‘O King, how can I tell all that? The isle of Simhala is like unto Kailasa''. Whoe’er hath gone there hath been fascinated, and ages may pass, but none hath e’er retuined. In every house are Padminis of the thirty-six ९४5६६51 9, and it is ever spring both day and night. With whatever here a flower-garden bloometh, there, of that colour, flowereth a fragrant damsel. Gandharva-sena is there the mighty king—created by God like Indra” amidst his heavenly nymphs. This Padmavati is his daughter, glorious amongst all lights. Suitors from all lands have bowed themselves for her, but to all, in his pride, the king refuseth an answer.
‘Even as when the sun riseth, the moon concealeth her- self in his glory, so there all hide themselves before Padma- vati's beauty.’
5. When Ratna, the Jewel, heard the name of the Sun, his face became flushed'*. ‘Tell me, Learned One, again this tale. Thou hast told me of her fair complexion and of her form, and they are now imprinted like a picture on my heart. Her form hath, as it were, become the Sun, which hath taken up its dwelling in my soul, and which, filling my whole being, hath become manifest in my heart. Now, though thus I have become the Sun, and she the Moon, yet ‘tis I who borrow my radiance from her [and not she from me]. Were this not so, I should be but a fish without 1(2) 1, note (8).
(11) Qiva’s heaven. The poet, as usual, confuses it with that of Indra. (12) The castes are usually enumerated in a catalogue of thirty-six {ap. 20(3)1 note (h)]. Grierson reads Indar lidhi सकत : Shukla indraean saj7 (he has made his throne among the nymphs). (13) Or, if we take Ratna as meaning ‘a jewel’, especially the gem called sfirya-kainta, or Sun-stone, which gives out a blazing light in the Sun, the line
means, ‘The jewel became ruby-coloured in the blaze of the Sun’ mentioned at the end of the last verse,
68 WHE KING AND tH PARROT 9: 4
water,—a body without blood. In the radiante of her beams, shoots of young love have sprung up [within my hearts). Even if this Moon be in the heavens, I, as the Sun, will meet her there’4, Her rays are thousandfold, and bewilder my soul. Where’er I gaze, the whole universe seemeth to be but one lotus'*'; and where that lotus is, there my soul hath become the bee, and the moon hath found itself in debt to Rahu’’.
(14) Tn his agitation, the king compares, sometimes himself, and some- times Padm&vati to the Sun.
(15) This absorption of one’s whole self, and ail one’s sentient powers, in one idea, is expressed in Hindi by the phrase “The worm has become the ichne- umon’ (cp. L1(7) 7]. The dhrnga, or ichneumon, is a wasp-like insect, of the order Hymenoptera, the female of which, by means of its ovipositor, first stings and stupefies sume other insect or caterpillar, and then deposits its eggs in its boily. In process of time, the larve are hatched, and find their food by de- vouring, bit by bit, the interior of their living, but still stupefied, boat. When nothing but the empty shell remains, they come forth into public life. The bhpnga is wrongly described in the dictionaries as a kind of wasp. The Indian tradition differs from the actual facts of natural history. It is said that when the ichneumon stings the insect, the pain to the latter is so severe that it is filled with terror, which renders it motionless and compels it to remain night and day doing nothing but meditating in rapt absorption on the ichneumon. So intent is this absurption, that the insect gradually abandons its own nature, and ultimately, itself, becomes an ichneumon. This is a favourite simile of teachers of the Vedantic school. Like the insect stung by the ichneumon, the soul, by absorption in contemplation of the Deity, gradually becomes, itself, a portion of the Deity. Here Ratna-sina represents 1108611 as gradually becoming, in the same way, one with Padm&vatl. The more usual Hindi name for an ichneumon is bilan.
(i) Shukla (by 8 printer’s error) omits a verse after (5)6 Tahan bhanvar 2१४ kakvoala gandhi, bhas sass rthu ker rins bandht.
_ (16) +.¢., a8 Rabu, the demon of the a , covets and claims the moon, 80 I covet and claim her. When the Gods and Demons fought for possession of the nectar produced at the churning of the Ocean, Visnu took the form of a beautiful woman, named Mohini, and she persuaded the combatanta to make over the jar of the precious liquor to her, to divide amongst them. She arranged the Demons in one line, and the Gods in another. To the former, she only gave the wine which also appeared from the Ocean when it was churned, and to the latter she distributed t he immortality- eine nectar. The Demon पक, who was the ascending Node of the Moon, disguised himeelf, and stood in the row of the Gods between the Sun and the Moon. Mdhinr handed him the jar of nectar in his turn, and as he commenced to drink, the Sun and the Moon told her that this was a Demon, not a God and that he had no right to be there. In her rage, Mohini there and then cut off R&hu’s head with Vignu’s discus. Owing to the nectar which he had drunk, Rahu’s head and oe remained alive, though severed from each other. To console him, Brahms gave him the boon that whenever the Sun and the Moon came into conjunction, he might swallow one of them, and that all dedications, sacrifices, and good works done during the time of swallowing should be his by | t. In this way, it 38 said that the Sun and the Moon are in debt to Rahu, and he has the a to seize them in a bcs ent of his debt. The swallowing of the Sun cr . the Moon causes an eclipse of that heavenly body, but as Rahu's head has been cut off, he only swallows it, to let it out at the back of his head where tt Was separated from his trunk,
9: ˆ «9 THE Kittc AND THE PARROT 64
` “The three worlds, the fourteen regions, have all come before my vision. But, except Love, naught else that पपर heart can understand, ts fair.’
6. ‘At hearing the tale of love be not distraught, O King. Love is hard, and unless one offer his head for it, it adorneth not. If a man fall into the noose of love, he escapeth not. Many have given up their lives, but that noose breaketh not. It hath so many pangs as the chame- leon hath changes of colour; sometimes turning red and sometimes yellow and sometimes white. The peacock knoweth this, and hath become a hermit in the forest, and beareth on every hair the marks of the serpent-lasso’’. Again and again doth this noose fall upon his wings. He cannot fly for it, and remains bound in its entanglement. Crying night and day ‘mueun mueun,’ ‘T am dead, Iam dead,’ in his rage doth he devour snakes'*. The turtle dove and the parrot have the same marks of the noose upon their necks’ ; and on whose neck it falleth, he must give up his life.
‘The partridge hath the noose upon his neck, and ever proclaimeth his guilt. Else, why calleth he out till the hunter’s noose falleth on his neck? Vain is the hope that death will give him release’’”.
7. The king heaved a deep sigh, and cried, ‘Say not so hopeless a speech. Whether love be full of happiness or sorrow, it is hard; but, still, he who hath played the sport of love, hath safely passed this world and the world to come. Within [the casket of] sorrow is placed the honey of love, and he who tasteth it must bear contempt" and death. Why doth he e’er come upon this earth, who layeth not his head upon the path of love? Now have I placed my head in love’s noose’. Thrust not aside my feet [from
(17) The Naga-p&ga or wi a nt-noose, is the name of a special kind of noose used in battle; a kind of 0.
(18) The round spots on the peacock’s tail are the marks of the noose. The peacock is said to be a great devourer of snakes. The poet’s fancy is that his hatred for the reptile is caused by the Naga-paca, the serpent-lasso of love in which he is entangled.
Grierson reads kanth : Shukla (wrongly) kaak (kite).
(19) Cf. 5(7)3 note (18). The Partridge’s lamentations attract the hunter,
and it is killed ; but even then the lasso mark remains upon its neck. Grierson reads ganjan : Shukla jag nahtz (he who has tasted it never
7 किकः eath in this world). (1) Grierson reads phayd : Shukla paath (way).
79 LOVE'S INVENTORY 9: 7-10; ॐ
the path], but take me as thy disciple. He alone can tell of the door of love who hath seen it; and how can he who hath not seen it, know its secrets? Till the beloved is met, so long must pain be felt ; and when she is met, the pain of ali one’s life is wiped away for ever.
‘As thou hast seen the matchless one, so now describe to me her beauty from head to foot?®”. Hope havelI of meeting her, if the Creator but bring us together.’
70. LOVE'S INVENTORY
xr. {Quoth the Parrot], ‘My Liege, how can I tell the tale of her charms. Charms verily hath she, but such as become her alone. Imprimis—A head’ crowned with musk-scented locks, before which Vasuki, not to speak of earthly kings, doth immolate himself*. ‘The Princess is as it were a jasmine, and her tresses are black bees, attracted by her fragrance and impetuously struggling to imbibe her nectar. When she looseneth the braid and shaketh out her hair, darkness o’erspreadeth the universe from Heaven unto Hell. Soft and waved are her tresses like black snakes seated in wavy undulations on a mountain. For pervaded is she with the sandal odour of Mount Malaya, and therefore have they climbed her head and drag their slow lengths around it®. Full of deadly poison are her curls, chains of love ready to fall upon the neck of the beholder.
(20) Lit. ‘From toe-nail to top-knot’? A nakhadikha is a technical term for a class of postry describing a woman, limb by limb.
(m) An article by Pt. Chandrabali Pande in the Nagri Pracarini Patrika, year 43, p. 255, aims at proving that Jaisi’s Nakhastkhaisimitated from Manjhan’s Madhumalati. (see note (Il) to 23 (17)). There is also an incomplete Nakha aikha in Canto 41, in the notes to which I have given stanza-wise references to Canto 10.
Canto 10.
(1) In describing a divine being it is usual to begin at the feet and work up to the head. In describing a human being the order is reversed.
(2) Véasuki is the king of serpents, the most potent of which are black. So are Padmf&vati’s locks, but they are also odorous, thereby surpassing the Lord of Snakes who immolates himself in consequence at their shrine. "Phere is, however, a pun in the original. Késa the word for hair also meana Vignu whom Vasuki would naturally adore.
(3) Mount Malaya is celebrated for two things, its sandal trees and its anakes. Padm&vati's head has the sandal-fragrance so that, the snakes imagine it to be their natural abode. This comparison of wavy hair with serpents 16
un न to European taste but is one of the most ular commonplaces of Indian poetry. a :
40: 1-2 LOVE's INVENTORY yt
The locks upon that head are nooses which inevitably snare each neck, and hence all the eight tribes* of serpents are tangled in the fillets of her hair.
2. ‘Item—the parting of her hair yet untotiched by vermilion®, Pure white shineth it as though it were a shaft of light beaming bright upon a path through the night”. ‘Tis like unto the bright line left by gold upon the [black] touchstone; ‘Tis like the lightning flashing through the clouds. "Tis a bright sunbeam shining across the sky ; "Tis the shining stream of the Sarasvati in the midst of the [black torrent of the] Yamuna. Pink is it like an ensan- guined sword-edge ; [slightly uneven is it] as though 1t were a saw laid upon the braids. On it lieth a string of pearls, white as the stream of the Ganges amid the Yamuna’. At this holy confluence there thus lieth ready the saw for cutting the devotee in two [who sacrificeth himself that, perchance], she may take his blood and use it for vermilion’.
(4) The eight tribes of the nagas or serpents are (1) Vasuki, (2) Takgaka, (3) Kulaka, (4) Karkdtaka, (5) Padma, (6) Qankha-cida, (7) Mah&padma, (8) Dhananjaya.
(5) The Mang (Skr. marga, or path) is the parting of the hair. Vermilion is first put upon it when a girl is married and she uses it during her married life. The flat folds of hair on each aide are termed patiya. When a topknot 18 worn it is called cho{t. The ends of the paftyms and of the hair hanging down behind are tied into three braids (bent). When these three are twisted together at the back of the head, the coil is named ए छक. These three bénts are known as tribeat. When & woman is separated font her husband she ties her hair in one bén? instead of three (Compare Valmiki-Ram., ए, 65,14). Whena woman becomes a widow she washes the vermilion out of the parting of her hair, and never applies it again.
sting (6) The night, of course, is the two black pajtyws on each side of the
(7) The Ganges and Jumna meet at Allahabad. There also is said to flow the Sarasvati by an underground channel. The three streams unite and form the tribént (Compare note (5) above). Each has waters of a different colour. The Ganges-water is plain to every eye for some way below the con- fluence. The Jumna (Yamun%) waters are much darker.
(8) This is an elaborate comparison between the parting of the hair and the Pray&ga or confluence of the three rivers (with a aa on the two meanings of trtbent). At this confluence a saw is supposed to be laid down. 1४5 object is for the devoted lover to sacrifice himself with it, so that his blood may supply the vermilion of her parting, and thus make her a married woman. This is a reference to the true confluence (trifeat) at Prayfga (1.e., Allahabad). According to tradition a saw was kept at this holy place, wherewith devotees cut themselves in two in order to obtain final emancipation. The action was considered 80 meritorious a one, and the self-sacrificers were considered so holy, that large crowds ured to attend these dreadful functions, the women anointing the partings of their hair with the blood of the victim in the hope of obtaining Jong and happy wedded lives. It is said that Shih Jahan put a stop to the practice
92 LOVE’S INVENTORY 10: 2
It is gold perfect in all its qualities, and longeth for its flux’, The stars and planets are its slaves. It is the Galaxy shining in the skies’.
3. ‘“Item—A forehead, bright as the young moon of its second day,—but where in the world is the young moon so bright ; for the thousand-rayed sun himself who shineth in the sky setteth in shame when he beholdeth that brow. How can I compare it* with even the full orb of night? for the moon is blemished, and it is without spot. Moreover the moon suffereth eclipse while it remaineth ever in its glory. And on that forehead lieth a beauty-spot, like Dhruva seated on his new-moon throne’’. Like a monarch seated on a golden throne, he hath been endowed with every charm-weapon from the armoury [of love]. Before him none can remain firm’’; for [the destruction of] what [poor mortal] was such a union made?
For she hath endowed this monarch with a scymitar, with bows and discus’ twain, and with [a quiver-full of] arrows'*’. ‘‘World-Slayer’ is his name. At these words Ratna-sena fell fainting and cried: “Alas, those weapons have all smitten’ me in a mortal spot! ’
4. ‘Item—Two eye-brows, black bows ready strung, from which she speedeth mortal shafts at whomsoe’er she casteth but a glance. Upon each eye-brow is fixed this
ज —e ae 1
by destroying the saw. The parting of the hair is compared to a saw because ita edges are slightly jagged (9) Here again there is a pun. Sohwgu means both the flux which is added to gold to enhance its brilliancy, and also happy married life, (saxbhagya) Regarding the gold ‘of twelve colours’ see 1(2) 4, note (5) (10) The Galaxy is the Ganges flowing in Heaven; which, of course, the stars and planets worship. (a) (Grierson reads k@ sart barnak dieun : Shukla ka sarvari tehs <". The meaning is much the same (11) The tilaka, ४.८. forehead-ornament, which I translate by ‘beauty- _ is compared to Dhruva, or the pole-star, seated on the new-moon as on a ne. Dhruva was the son of Uttinapida. One day his step-mother thrust him from his father’s arms, and placed therein her own son instead ae under the वः ht he wandered forth and took to severe austerities, At leng Vignu at his devotion, made him the pole-star so that he might oocupy the highest and most immoveable position possible. He has remained there ever since, With all the stars circling round him in his honour (12) Just as no star except Dhruva is immoveable ; all must go circling round him (13) The acymitar is her nose; the bow, her eyebrows; the discuses, the pupils of her eyes; the arrows, her glan (b) Grierson reads bdhae: Shukla hae, which is probably the same as
hane (struck)
10: 4-5 LOVE'S INVENTORY 73
bow’, and [who knoweth] who it was that fashioned this weapon of Death. This was the bow which Krishna bore ; this was the bow which was grasped by Rama’s hand. With this bow was Ravana slain; with this bow did Kamsa meet his fate'“", With this bow [Arjuna] smote the 0571" “; with this bow was Sahasra-bahu sent to his last account’®. It is this bow which I recognized to be in her possession, and with it she, like a fair huntress, hath turned the world into a heap of slain’. None hath e’er obtained the mastery over it. The Angels of Heaven, nay the well-guarded Goddesses"' themselves, have hidden themselves before it.
No other bow beareth comparison with the brow-bows of this lady huntress. Indra’s rainbow itself when 1t riseth in the sky, seeth them and disappeareth 1n its shame.
5. ‘Item.—Two eyes, arch beyond compare, which rise and fall like the ocean in its pride. Therein two black bees flutter upon a coral-pink lotus. Intoxicated with its fragrance they dart around and seek to flee. Like are they to horses that obey not the bridle, but rise and rear until they touch the skies'®. The tempest bloweth, the
{c) Grierson reads oht dhanukh ohi bhaunhahin charhe : Shukla hanai dhunat unt bhaunhant charhe (these brows are bent to strike and smite).
(14) Vigsnu’s bow was named Qarnga. Krsna slew Kathsa, and Rama slew Ravana. Both were incarnations of Vignu.
(15) R&hwt is said to be for (ठत, the name of a kind of fish. ‘There is a well-known story in the Mahi-bharata of how Arjuna won Draupadi for his bride by shooting a fish, after merely aiming ot its reflection. His bow was named Gandiva.
(d) &&४प is also the demon of eclipse, which was cleft by Visnu’s discus (cp. 51(4) 7). Tam inclined to think that there was some confusion in Jaisi’s mind between the two stories. Elsewhere he uses the form १०१४४ for the fish, e.g. 45(2)1.
(16) Sahasra-bihu’s daughter Rénuka was married to seats fi i, & famous saint. Jamadagni was subsequently murdered by his father-in-law in order to obtain the famous cow of plenty. In revenge for his father’s death Jamadagni’s son Paragu-rama slew Sahasra-bahu and exterminated all the Kgattriyas (to which caste Sahasra-bahu belonged) from the face of the earth. Paragu-rima was one of Vignu’s incarnations. His usual weapon was a halbert (paragu).
(€) Grierson reads bojh : Shukla (perhaps better) oejhk (pierced). ,
(17) So gopit&a is explained in Sudhakar’s commentary. The word might also be interpreted as meaning the Godpis or herd-maidens, beloved of Krena [as in 11(4)2 and 49 (10)8}.
(18) It must be remembered that the simile of the ocean is preserved throughout, The lotus (7.e., the eyeballs) over which the bees (the pupils) hover are growing in this ocean, and, if we take manasamuda in the sense of the sea of milk which was churned by the gods, then the greatest of all horses, Uccaih-cravas, iasued from it on that occasion.
10
74 LOVE'S INVENTORY 10: 5-6
waves arise and dash up to heaven and again fall to earth’. When this eye-ocean moveth, the whole world is moved, and it threateneth to overwhelm all creation in an instant’®. Beneath those eye brows are a pair of whirlpools, which, when they are set in motion, seize the very skies and drown them. When they turn from side to side, the sea moveth its waves, khanjana-birds quarrel among themselves, and deer wander lost through the forest’’.
Each eye is an ocean of milk’*’, filled with gems and waves. In each is a deep-black whirlpool which carrieth away all who approach its bank. )
6. ‘Item.—Eyelashes passing description. [Over each orb] they are as it were two opposed armies with their arrows drawn’’. The troops of Rama on the one side and of Ravana on the other are in array, and between them lie the two eyes,—the Ocean*!. On each shore is the line of atrows ready drawn; and at whomsoe’er they are aimed, to him they give the tortures of a poisoned wound**. Who is there who hath not been smitten by these shafts, for the whole universe hath been pierced by them ? The bright stars in the sky, which are beyond all count, have all been wounded by those arrows [8114 lie there cold and still]. Everything
(19) A simile to the rapid rise and fall of the eyes. When they rise the hopes of the beholder are raised to heaven, when they full his hopes are dashed to earth.
(20) That is to say, the whole world will be drowned 111 the flood of the ocean,
(21) A malOpamaé or ‘garland’ of similes. The glancing eyes are first compared to the waves of the sea, Next they are compared to khanjana-birds (motacilla alba). (This bird is a favourite subject of comparison when des- cribing a ladys eyes. It has a jet black neck, and a very swift and darting manner of flying. When a number of them quarrel amongst themselves these peculiarities are of course heightened). Next they are compared to deer wandering lost in the forest. The large and liquid eyes of a deer are never at rest. This peculiarity is heightened when it is lost and anxious.
(22) The celebrated ocean of milk which was churned by the gods. {f) Grierson evidently translates Subhar white (Sanskrit subkra), but elsewhere Jalsi uses it as-=full (Su+bhar) e.g., 49(10)4.
(23) The upper and lower lashes areeachanarmy. Each hair represents an arrow.
(24) In stanza 5 the eyes have been compared to the ocean. Ra&ma had to cross the ocean in order to attack Ravana. The upper eyelash repre- sents Raima’s army, and the lower one Ravansa’s. The commentary (Sudha- kar’s) points out that on the lower (४.८, Ravana’s) side are Padm&vati’s lovely neck (su-griva), jaw (hanu), and armlets (aayada), although, according to legend Hanum&n and Afgada were allies of Rama.
(25) The mere aiming is sufficient to wound the unha wight upon whom Padmavati’s glances fail. ॥ Ne
10: ९7 ` LOVE'S INVENTORY 25
upon the earth have they pierced ; the very branches stand- ing out upon the trees [are not branches} but are the arrow of her eyelashes. So is every hair of the down on men’s bodies, which they have pierced and in which on every space*® they are firmly buried.
So were these evelash-arrows created*, that they have smitten alike the warrior on the field” and the tree in the forest. Under the form of hair have they pierced every animal, and, under the form of feathers, every bird.
7. ‘Item.—A nose, thin as the edge of a glaive. With what' can I compare it, foi it is thinner than a sword and is joined unto her face?‘ 2 When it saw her nose the parrot”® tribe was filled with shame. The planet Venus herself came down to be the pearl-stud that adorneth it. On account of it even I, Hira-mani thy parrot, have become yellow in my jealousy ; and, in that case, why need I, my Liege, tell the fate of others. I, thy parrot, who sing her praises’”’, have a slender beak it is true, but it is hard, and her nose 15 tender and is adorned with a sweet flower-like mole. Every flower and every scent liveth in but one hope, to wit that some day it may be brought near that nose and have its odour thereby inhaled. Over her lips and teeth its loveliness calleth to mind a parrot gazing at a pomegranate with soul entranced’"*. On each side of that
(26) Literally on every suf or thread. The sé is a unit of measure- ment, about the 16th of aninch. Four stt=1 pain: 4 172 = 1 lash ; 24 ८.११ =1 tmaralt gaz or ‘mason’s yard’. A tasii is about an inch.
(g) Grierson reads upant: Shukla opahan, which perhaps means ‘are bright’.
च h) Grierson takes ‘ran’ ४० = 080४6 and translates ‘the warrior on the field’, Shukla and the Hindi Sabd-s&gar derive from aranya and translate ‘forest’. Ran-ban ia a common expression for Jung le’,
(i) Grierson reads kehi : I do not understand Shukla’s kah.
(27) An ordinary sword is held by the hand, not by the face.
(28) A nose is frequently compared to a parrot’s beak.
(29) A pautriya is properly a rhapsodist who sings the praises of the Pravara or Pramara clan. Hence any panegyrist in general. (j) Paawart can mean a panegyrist ; but a better meaning here is that given by Shukla and the Sabd-Sagar, a blacksmith’s drill for piercing iron. ‘A parrot’s nose (beak) is hard like a blacksmith’s drill’.
(30) Parrots are very fond of pomegranate seeds. The colour of these is partly a delicate pink and partly a pure white. Hence the-comparison with the lips and teeth.
(x) Grierson reads daruik dekhi sua man lobha : Shukla reads dartith ९५१४८ dekhi suk lobhw (like a parrot gazing at [white] pomegranate [aeeda] and [red] bimba fruit with soul entranced),
76 LOVE’S INVENTORY 10: 7-9
parrot sport two khanjanas*'. Who is it that is fated to have the bliss of tasting the nectar (of that pomegranate), and who 15 fated not?
When it beheld the nectar of those lips the parrot trans- formed itself to that nose. It abideth ever by that shrine, for thither the zephyr of her breath doth waft the nectar’s fragrance.
8. ‘Item.—A lip, scarlet, full of nectar. The blood- red wild गात because of it hath humbly hbetaken itself to the depths of the forest that it may bear its fruit. Poets have called the midday-fiower’’ crimson, but it is when she speaketh that it really raineth its blossoms. Then 15 it as though diamonds** were swimming in a stream of 60181, and when she smileth, the whole world becometh full of light. Her lips have become a still deeper scarlet’’ with the betel dye ; and before them the red saffron flower appea-~ reth as though it had faded away. Brimful are they of nectar, for up till now they are untouched and none hath sipped it. The betel within her mouth ever poureth" new colour into 1६ ; [happy will he be] for whom that fragrant nectar is destined. At the sight of that blooming beaute- ous one the whole world is inflamed with passion ; but when she fully smileth those lips yet become more encarmined, and appear fiiled with the vital fluid.
Such, my Liege, is the nectar of her lips, that every world hath hopes but for them. For whom hath that lotus blossomed forth ? What hee will sip its honey ?
g. ‘Item.—Her teeth, like diamonds on a pedestal:
(31) The eyes. See stanza 5.
(1) Grierson reads asram (shiine) : Shukla reads aw ram (he dallies thus and does not leave the neighbourhood).
(32) The छश (momordica monadelpha) is a forest gourd with a bright red fruit to which lips are frequently compared. In Sanskrit bimbtsthi is a synonym for a pretty gir) with coral Izps.
(33) The Dupahart or bandhujtva (pentapetes pheenicea) is a plant with deep ruby bunches of flowers. They bloom at midday, and immediately wither and fall off. The poet says that when Padmavati speaks, her lips appear like the shower of the red flower of the dupahurt
(34) Her teeth.
(35) Majith ia the dark red madder dve. When she chews betel, her lips become redder still,
(m) Grierson reads dha@rahia: Shukla dh@rahin (her mouth is impreg- nated-rae74-with streams of betel juice).
10: 9-10 LOVE'S INVENTORY 77
\
between each, deep deep black”®". Like a gleani of lightning in a dark Autumn’! night, so are these thirty-two caused to flash. Their sheen exceedeth that of diamonds,—nay, the sheen’ of diamonds is but their reflection. From the day that that sheen was created, the sheen of many things is but their sheen. The sun, the moon, the stars, jewels, diamonds, rubies, pearls all owe their glory but to it. Whene’er she openeth her lips, the smile that cometh thereby scattereth drops of light around. The brightness of summer lightning cannot equal it; verily, no other brilliance approacheth it.
When she smileth or laugheth adamant blazeth forth in glory, the pomegranate could not equal her teeth in beauty, and hence its heart did burst’*?
10. ‘Item.— A tongue, whose words are full of savour inflaming the heart of him who heareth its nectar speech. It hath stolen the song of the cataka’’ and of the cuckoo ; nor can the melody of flute and lute compare with it”. The cataka and the cuckoo abide not’" with us, for they hear her voice and hide themselves in shame. It speaketh words full of the wine of love, and he who heareth it be- cometh drunken, and staggereth in giddiness. On it is all the wisdom of the tetrad of the vedas,—all that 15 within the Rc, the Yajus, the Saman, and the Atharvan**. Not a sentence speaketh it that hath not four different meanings*?. Indra is amazed and Brahma wags his head.
(36) The pedestal is the gums. The interstices between the teeth arc blackened with mist, which 15 a powder made up of yellow myrobalan, gall-nui, iron-filings, vitriol, and other ingredients. (7) But here Shukla (and Sabd- siigar) take chauk to mean, not pedestal, but the four front teeth. For blacken- ing as an adornment to teeth cp. 36(11)4 note (w) and Shukla’s introduction p. 217, note at foot of page. Also 49(16)6.
(37) Bhadod is an Autumn month of the rainy season. Ita nights are black with clouds. The mist represents the dark clouds.
(0) Shukla has jaf? for joti. A misprint.
(38) It has already been stated (note 30) that teeth are often compared to pomegranate 86८48. When this fruit ripens it burats and scatters its seeds The poet said this is a case of a burst or broken heart.
(39) The pied cuckoo (cuculus melanoleucus).
(p) Grierson reads bin bans wei bayan na mila : Shukla reads binu basant yah bain na mila (without spring you cannot get this voice).
(40) These two birds only sing during spring and the rainy season.
(41) The names of the four v&das,
(42) Students of Indian classics need not be told of the immense 8 1229178. tion exhibited for language capable of being interpreted with a double meaning.
78 LOVE’S INVENTORY 10: 10-12
‘The Pandits cannot surpass her at interpreting the Amara, the Bhagwat, the Pingala and the Gita’.
She could read Bhasvati and Vyakaran‘, Pingala and Puranas ; she could recite from the mysteries of the Vedas so that good men were pierced to the heart.
II. ‘Item.—two beauteous cheeks; how shall I des- cribe them? They are like two priceless halves of one orange. Composed of flower-pollen and juice of nectar, who has kneaded these sugared comfits, fair of hue? On the left cheek there is a mole. He who sees this mole ts enkindled in every molecule’. Ratti berries are, as it were, black-faced with this mole: it is like an arrow of love aimed straight. This mole appears like a fire-arrow. One sidelong glance and a million are slain. This mole is never effaced from the cheek, and the cheek becomes a source of destruction for the world. When eves see it its reflection comes into them and from it they become black and red above it.
Seeing this mole on the cheek, the pole star has remained fixed in the sky. It rises one moment and sets another, but it never changes its position with relation to the mole.
12. ‘Item.—two ears, pearly shells fashioned to be lamps : brilliant are the ear-pendants, fashioned of gold. These jewelled pendants shine with wondrous beauty, as it were lightning flashing in opposite quarters of the sky. On both sides they shine, like moon and sun: with their starry host no one can look on them. On these pendants
od
~ — ee न ~~ [ 7.1 —_—. ---~ ~~ [रा ae
It is one of the great testa of learning. One time Krgna was in company with six herd-maidens
The first asked him for a leaf platter for her food.
The second said ‘come to my house to-day.’
The third said ‘fasten ory ear-pendant.’
The fourth said ‘give me a light.’
The fifth said ‘pluck me a flower.’
The sixth said ‘bring me water.’ [त he anowered them all with »77rt nahin, meaning, respectively,
There is no servant, It is not lit, Not your turn, There is no garden, and There is no pendent, There is no water. |
(q) Here end Grierson’s translation and notes. His notes of various readings aud Sudhakar’s commentary continue up to the end of Canto XXV.
(r) Grierson reads Amara, pingala, bharatha au oy: Shukia’s text replaces the [Maha] bharata by the Bhagawat [Purana]
(8) Amara (koga) lexicography : piagala, prosody : bhasenti, astrology rytkaran, grammar
(t} There ia a pun on til =(1) mole (2) molecule
10: 12-14 LOVE'S INVENTORY 79
are the two drops like lit lamps; the drops are fixed like two pole-stars. She wears ear-studs inthe fashion of Singhal-dip which are like pearl shells encrusted with gems like the Pleiades. When she holds her veil up to her head from time to time, it is like lightning flashing in opposite quarters of the sky; the gods in Singhala are alarmed, lest a flash of this lightning should fall suddenly.
[God has] given her such a pair of ears that all the stars of heaven do them service: the sun and the moon stand in attetidance on them”. What such other ears are there in the world ?
13. ‘Item.—a neck, which I will describe. It is like a conch shell. It is like the neck of a vase overlaid with gold thread. A neck that seems to have been turned on a lathe ; the peacock is defeated by it, and stands as though he had been drugged and robbed. The pigeon stands as though his heart had been taken away ; with all the greater pleasure does he stretch out his neck. It is as though a mould had been made for it by turning it on a wheel : it 1s like the neck of a horse straining at the bridle. The peacock and the game cock, vanquished by her neck’, both proclaim [their own defeat | in the evening and in the morning. Again, three lines” are marked thereon, through which the marks of betel juice which she swallows are all visible. Blest 15 the neck to which God has given such charni ; to whom will He bring and join it ?
A kanthsert (gold ornament) and a pearl necklace are the glorious adornments of this neck. Who will have such fruition of a life of self-denial as to become its garland?
14. ‘Item.—two arms (upper arms and fore-arms) like golden shafts ; they appear to have been turned on a lathe. They are like a pair of young plaintain shoots, and the palms of their hands are red like lotus flowers. These palms are steeped, as it were, in blood: [their redness is not like that of] the sun at dawn, [for that] is hot and they
(ध) Grierson reads gahane (are their ornaments). —
(v) Reading 0४४ (Grierson) for gae (Shukla).
(w) Cp. 40(5)2 and Du Maurier’s description of the ideal beauty of the 0५९0688 of Towers in ‘Peter Ibbetson’ :—‘‘Round her long thick throat two slight creases went parallel, to make what French sculptors call le rollse, de
Venuas’’. The rest of Jaisi’a description is not so happy (see Shukla’s Intro- duction p. 124).
80 LOVE'S INVENTORY 10: 14-16
are cool. It isas though she had torn out hearts with her hands and her fingers had therewith become covered with blood. She wears also jewel-studded rings: the world 1s without life, its life being 1n the grasp of her hand. On her upper arms are armlets and lovely bracelets: when she sways her arm the effect of the motion is charming : it 1s like a daucing girl displaying her movements: with the swaying of her arm men’s souls are ravished.
The lotus stalk is not to be compared to her arms, and it is this thought that makes it thin : 1t 1s pierced with holes in many places and continually draws deep sighs.
15. ‘Item.-—a bosom likea tray on which the breasts are like golden sweet-meat balls, yea, they rise like beauteous golden bowls. They are like golden cups fashioned on a lathe. They are two jewelled caskets closed fand coti- taining! ambrosia. They are like Ketaki flowers which have impaled humble-bees on their thorns : they are ready to pierce through her jacket: they are like arrows* of youth, impatient of restraint, ready to leap out and pierce the hearts of men. They are like two fire-arrows aimed straight; they would pierce all the world if they were not fastened. They are like [165 on a high branch, carefully guarded : who could touch the royal garden’ ? They are like pome- granates and grapes whose fruit is as yet untasted ; for whom have such oranges been kept 2
Many kings have killed themselves by austerities, placing their heads on the ground ; but none has succeeded in touching, and they have gone away wringing their hands.
10. ‘Item.—a stomach, thin and overspread, as it
(\) For ban (arrow) Pt. Ranta Nath Pande conjectures baje (horse), which would suit better with (नत (bridle), but 1 doubt if 1४ 1s a word which Jaisi would have used. Agn: ban in the next verse (and els*where) may mean ‘bullet’? and not fire-arrow. Burton (Terminal Essay) suggest, that agniban treans some kind of incendiary or explosive ballet, and alae that the use of thi» and similar words in Sanskrit literature indu ates that the knowledye of explo- aives was catlice than 14 generally sapposcd. Tod (Rajasthan) mentions indi-- tinct notices of firearms in (hand Bardai, ‘especially the nal-gola or tube-ball ; but whether discharged by percuswion or the expansive force of gunpowder is dubious’. The fire-arms used im later cantos are of course an anac 1 । guns weTe first wred in india by Babur.
(४) A pun on bart=(t) garden (2) maiden. For the simile cp. Sappho’s COMpPArlyon uf a maiden to the apple on the topmost branch, which the apple gathorers have not been able to reach.
(2) Shukla has parat for patar (a misprint).
40: 16-17 LOVE’S INVENTORY ` 8r
were, with sandal paste, of a fair colour, like turmeric or saffron. So dainty is it that it does not feed even on milk: its sustenance is [the juice of] betel leaves and [the scent of] flowers. The line of hairs, like a black serpent, goes from her navel towards the lotus {her face]. It passes between the two oranges [her breasts] but halts in alarm when it sees the peacock fher neck]. It is like a line of black bees which has settled there, intoxicated with the fragrance of the columns of sandal wood; or it is like the Jumna, which, distressed by separation, makes its way to Prayag and to [the junction with the Ganges at} Arail. In the hollow of her navel is Benares. Who can face it ? Death dwells therein. |
Many have sawn off their heads or have burnt their bodies on slow fires“ in hope of obtaining her; many have suffocated themselves with smoke and died ; all hopelessly, for she gives a [favourable] answer to none.
17. Item.—her back. It is an enemy which she has put behind her: it is like a fully dressed Apsara who has ' turned round. Her back 15 dight like the Malaya mountain whereon her hair braid climbs like a black serpent: in sinuous waves the serpent climbs down her back and the clothing in which she is wrapped is the slough which covers it. For whom has this hair-braid been made so [beautiful] ? The serpent has taken the fragrance of the sandal-tree. Krishna’’, in his splendour, rides upon her forehead : the serpent got away then but now it cannot, being fastened. The black snake is seen holding the lotus [Padmavati’s face] in his mouth, or it is asthough Rahu" were placed just behind the. moon. Who 15 it that can attain to the sight of this serpent ? It is he in whose forehead is the jewel” of good fortune.
The serpent holds the lotus in his mouth and thereon sits the Khanjan bird. He who sees this [auspicious omen]
(aa) s.¢., have undergone the most extreme forms of penance practised at 4 or Benares. €. 10(2)7, note (8) and 50(4)5.
( ४ Alluding to a story of Krishna which is told in the Bhigavata-pur&na, 8. X, adhy&iya, xvi. ६
(cc) Some astrologers hold that R&hu (the demon of eclipse) has the form of a serpent.
(dd) Reading manthahs mani (Grierson) for jehi ke sir (Shukla),
1}
82 LOVE'S INVENTORY 19; 17-79
to him come all the attributes of royalty and wealth”.
18. Item.—a waist: no one on earth has a waist like it. I might speak of the lion, but yet even its waist does not rival this. People speak of the thin waist of the wasp, but this waist is even more slender : it is through envy on account of this that the wasp has beome yellow and uses his needle to sting people. It is as if a lotus stalk had been split in two and the thread in the middle had been left as her waist: this thread quivers when she but turns her bosom ; how will it bear its weight when she moves her feet ? Her girdle with its tinkling bells ravishes kings ; it might make music in the hall of Indra. You mught imagine it a chdrus of maidens with Inte in hand singing all the [six] Rags and the [thirty-six] Raginis".
The lion cannot surpass this waist if he competes with it: defeated, he has taken up his dwelling in the forest, and in anger at his defeat he drinks men’s blood and eats their flesh when he has slain them.
19. Item.—her navel: it is [scented with} breezes from Malaya: it whirls round like a deep whirlpool in the ocean. Many whirlpools have become whirlwinds but they could not reach this and have gone off to heaven. It is like the track of a doe in a forest of sandal-wood : who will be the Prince fortunate [Raja 28101] who will win it? Who for its sake has accomplished austerities in the Himalayas ? For whom is this written [in his forehead| ? Who has found such delight ? Her body is fragrant with the scent of lotuses : her garments float elegantly over it like waves of the sea, and a tassel of silk and jewels swings there. With whom was the god of love wroth when he made such [warlike] preparation? As yet this body is but a lotus bud : who knows for what bee it is preserved ?
Its fragrance impregnates the word, tlhe sweet savour of scented powder of musk. All the bees smell it greedily and will not be parted from the fastening [of the tassel.]
(ee) Literally ‘umbrella, throne, kingship and wealth’. Sudhakar quotes Var&hamihira 87,20 for the favourable omen of a king-crow perched on a snake's head. cp. 12(10)3
(ff) For the Rags and Raginis see 43(13) note (ह) and 43(14) note (t).
10: 20--11: 7 LOVE 88
, 20. Item —buttocks, which are the ornament of her waist and [by reason of which] she has the gait of an elephant, the sight of which entrances the mind. The two thighs attached to them are exceedingly beautiful, like plantain stalks planted upside down. The lotus feet are very specially rosy : they always remain on her couch and never even see the earth. The gods hold these feet in both their hands : where she would place her feet, there they Jay their heads. What man has such good fortune written in his forehead that he may take those lotus feet and set them on his head ? Her anklets are like the sun and moon for brightness: their circlets make music like the waves : her toe ornaments” are like the constellations and stars : who can approach her feet ?
I have told the tale of her charms, yet I know not rightly how to tell of all her members from top to toe, how pure they are. I have not found anything like them in the world which I might offer as a comparison worthy of them.
Ir. LOVE.
1. Even as he listened, the king fainted away, as though stricken by the sun. No one knoweth the pain of the wound of love save he whom it afflicts : he knoweth it. He fell into the shoreless ocean of love, where wave follows wave in confusion. His love longing eddies like a whirlpool* in this ocean, and from moment to moment hts life comes and goes like a wave: at one moment, his life departs, drowned in a deep sigh: at another it emerges, issuing forth in frenzy. At one moment his face is yellow, at another white: at one moment he is conscious, at another unconscious. The condition of love is more grievous than death, for in it life doth not depart’ and the ‘tenth state’ [death] doth not come.
Death’s messengers do not take away the [King’s] life,
(gg) Anwa} an ornament for the big toe : bichhiy# an ornament for the other toes. Canto 1}. (a) Omitting Shukla’s hyphen after birak. (४) Reading jae (Griereon) for jiyat (Shukla).
84 LOVE 33; 143
but they harass and terrify it. The only utterance that comes to his mouth is to say ‘Save me, Save me’.
2. All his family and dependents, his princes. and lords, all came speedily. And all the magicians and the curers of snake-bite came, and the sorcerers and the physicians and the wise men were summoned. They , examine his symptoms and feel his pulse: ‘‘The medicine [they say] is not near: it is there in the garden®. The king is in the condition of Lakhan"; an arrow of might {the Saktiban] has pierced his heart’ and caused him to faint. Rama is not here: Hanuman is very far away : who will bring hither the root Sanjivan?”’ All his barons address him respectfully, “What have you done m your spirit? What idea have you entertained? Tell us your distress. What is it that you stand in need of? The ocean [with all its jewels} and Mount. Sumeru [with all its gold] will come if you require them.
‘Send your runners to the place : offer a million m cash. Whatever garden’ that plant may be in, all will bring it as a gift to you.”’
3. “When he became conscious he arose to renuncia- tion: he awoke as from sleep, like one distraught. As a babe weeps when coming into the world, so he arose weeping and saying ‘‘Alas, I have lost the knowledge [I had attained]. I was in the city of Immortality. How have I come here to the city of Destruction ? Who has done me this service of [causing my| death? Who has called for Sakti and taken away my life? I was sleeping under branches of happiness. Why did not God let me stay sleeping there? Now my spirit is there, and here is ouly my empty body ; how long will it endure, without the vital principle ? If the spirit is consumed by the hand
I भप
(९) There is the us 0 on b4rt—{1) garden (2) maiden
{9) The Ram&yana 8 how an was wounded by Meghanida son of Ravana with the jv Saktiban and was oured by Hanum&n with the root Safijivanl which he brought together with the mountain on which it grew He was in & hurry as Lachhman’s life depended on his being treated before day-break.
{e) Reading htye (Grierson) for kas (Shukla)
(f) There is the usual pun on bart, and berok is either a gift of fruit and flowers or the gift made ४९ a bridegroom at the betrothal,
(g) yf the king’s condition is that of a mystic awaking from a trance (see Shukla’s Introduction p. 78) |
14; 3-5 LOVE ` 84
of fate it is not well for the body" which does not have the spirit for company.
“The body of three and a half cubits 1s like a lake and the heart is like a lotus in the midst thereof. It seems near to the eyes, but for the hand to reach it [the water is too] deep.”
4. They all said ˆ.€ advised in your mind, O King. It is not seemly to fight against fate. Fight against him who can' be defeated. Krishna could not', and left the herd maidens. Do not entertain love for any one: love’s name is sweet, but eat the sweet and you will lose your life’. There 15 delight in love when it is first jomed, but after- wards it is dificult to bring it to a conclusion. The body [of the beloved], though only three and a half cubits, 15 like Mount Sumeru : it cannot be approached, so winding is the way. The sky“ can be reached by the sight, but love is invisible and higher than the sky. The pole star of love rises higher than the pole star of heaven : only he who cuts off his own head and sets his feet thereon’ can touch it.
“You are a king and a happy one: enjoy the happimess of your kingdom. By this path [ the path of love, or of Yoga | he arrives who endures the distress of separation.”’
5. The parrot said “O, King, be instructed in your mind. To be a lover is a difficult undertaking. You are a prince, and always eat cooked food (enjoy life) : you have not met the day lotus : you have met the night lotus. This the bee knows, who has been robbed on that way ; he has given his life, and, in spite of giving it, he has not escaped. The kingdom of Singhala is a difficult thing, you will not attain it by warlike preparation. That way is a way on which he goes who has renounced the world : who is a Yogi,
(0) There is a pun on ghaj—(1) diminish (2)
(i) Reading 10 na (Grierson) for janat (Shukla). (Kyishna understood [that it was no use fighting against ))
(j) Reading natv mh khae jiu Eig (Grierson). Shukla’s कद क msjas > jw dijas would mean ‘your name be effaced : why should you eacri- fice your life’ ?
(k) Grierson) for jn4n (Shukla) and omitting the hyphen.
(1) An expression tor complete व of the disciple’s will to the a 9 guidance. So in Kabir, sts धद bhusa dhare tupar rakhas pane dis
abun yor kahat aism hoz to mv, and ep. 13(3)2
86 LOVE 11: 5-7
an anchorite, an ascetic or a hermit. if by pleasure one could attain true happiness, no one would abandon such pleasure in order to practice austerities. You are a king and desire to obtain pleasure : it does not beseem a man of pleasure to practise Yoga.
“Perfection cannot be attained by wishing for it, nay, net till penance has been performed. This the unfortunate wretch knows who cuts off his own head (४.८. renounces everything).
6. “But what is the use of telling the tale of Yoga ? Ghee is not produced without churning curds. So long as a man does not lose himself, so long will he not attain what he seeks. God has made the mountain of love difficult of access : only he can ascend it who climbs with his head”. On that path the sharp point of a stake arises: a thief will be impaled thereon, or a Mansur’. You are a King : why should you clothe yourself in rags ? You have the ten ways’ at home (2.९. in your body). Lust, anger, greed, pride, and delusion, these five thieves never leave your body. They are lookimmg out for the mine entrances, and will rob your house by night or by day”.
“Awake now, O senseless one, the night is becoming dawn. Nothing then will come to your hand when these thieves have robbed you.”
7. Hearing these words the King awoke to conscious- ness. He gazed fixedly’, not winking an eyelid. From his eyes rolled down pearls and rubies (7.e. tears and bleod) : he was dumb as one that has eaten (drugged| gur. The light in his heart looked like a lamp to him, and other lamps (or the islands—dip—of the world) seemed darkness." His gaze turned away from illusion in
(m) १.९. laying down his head, in the sense of abandoning himself to his guru's imstructions
(n) Mansur a celebrated Sufi martyr known as Anal-hag. He was learned in the Vedanta and took the name of An-al-haq (the so’ham of the Upanishads—‘I am He’). This was पथ as blasphemy, and he was impaled at Baghdad by order of the Khalif& Muktadir. (922 A.D.)
(0) The ten body openings op. 2(17)3 note (67) and 2(18)] note (cc)
(p) ५.९. unleas you can control your passions, it is no use attempting
to practise Yoga takjaka lagu (Grierson) for pem chit l. (Shukla) love
(q) was fixed in his min
(7) For the esoteric meaning of what follows, see Shukla’s Introduction p. &
14: 7-8-13: 1 THE YOGI 82
anger and returned not thither, knowing it for false. (He meditated thus] ‘‘When worldiy things are all uncer- tain, .why should one choose to live in this desolate world ? The guru is he who brings the spark of love: he who receives it and kindles fire with it is the true disciple Now I would be like an insect with the ichneumon fly’ I would become a bee for her for whose sake I have been burnt
“Roving from flower to flower, I will inquire {for her] and if I reach that ketaki, I will sacrifice my body for union with it like a bee which gives up its life.”
8. His kinsmen and friends gave him much good coun- sel, but the King did not heed anyone’s cajolery. If the pains of love have arisen for anyone, the advice of others only makes them greater. Though words of ambrosia were spoken, he thought them poison, while he thought that words of love were sweet. Ask him about the sweetness of love who has eaten of it after subduing the senses’. Ask Bharthari" about it : he left his ambrosial kingdom when he had eaten poison. Mahesh (Shiva) is called a great siddha, and yet he affixed poison to his throat. |The King said] ‘‘ The rays of the sun are about to be display- ed : who will be like Hanuwant” and give hope?
‘“So do you all prav for my success. With 241" auspi- cious beginning may accomplishment be brought about What guru will not set his disciple on the path of the secret which he himself has attained 2”
12. THE YOGI 1. The king left his kingdom and became a Yogt. Lover-like he took his violin his hand. His bodv was un- cared for, his mind was distraught and drooping: love was
me न णु भ ~ = क भ क क = cig a a क, -> ~~ ~ ५
(8) For the ichneumon fly, cp. note (15) to 9(5)
(t) Thete is a pun (here and in २,6) on btshai (object of sense) and bish (poison)
(ण) Bharthari or Bhartribari, the poet prince of Ujjain, brother of Vi kramiditya, who renounced the world on learning that his wife was unfaithful He ia the legendary founder of one sect of Yogis, who pox ballads about his re र some atories his guru was Jalandharnftha, in others Gorakhn&tha imse
Alluding to Hanumiin’s 0 the antidote for Lachhman’na den (न the of the sun — . (w) Lit, Ganes who is the God of good beginnings. Cp. 33(3)9
88 THE YOGI 12; 2
fixed [in his mind] and a tangled knot of hair was on his head. He whose face was bright as the moon and whose body was fragrant as sandal wood, reduced his person to a clod of earth, smearing it with ashes. [He was provided with}* string girdle, horn whistle, ring and gorakh- dhandha, with Jogbat, rudraksha necklace and crutch. Clothed in patch-work he gripped his staff in his hand, with a view to becoming a siddha’, as Gorakh* prescribed. In his ears were ear-rings, round his neck a rosary, in his hand his drinking bowl, on his shoulder a tiger’s skin, on his feet were wooden clogs, and he had an umbrella over
— (1 were -- ~ ~ ~ - णी "9 es al
[क छ 1 EE a रीण
Canto 12.
(a) Jaisi’sdesoription here and in 50(2), 50(8) and 51(2)6,7 of the ५७ व 8 corresponds with what is worn and carried by the present day Go - n& ogis. Boe Briggs’ 1 . 6-22. Mahant Digvijai Nath of Gorakhpur, with whom I have discussed, does not accept the acouracy of Briggs in some details. He also dislikes the title of Briggs’ book Gorakhnath
the ४ Anima Yogts. They prefer to be known as क कार.
Mekhal, (a one girdle worn round the waist). The word is also applied to the janeo or sacred thread, of 9 strands of wool, worn round the neck. To this is attached the Singhs or singhné&d (® horn whistle about two inches long) by ॐ ring (Briggs’ preitr3) which is probably Jaisi’s chukra. The dhandAart is the gorakhdhind4, a puzzle of iron rings and rods about 3 feet long. च व्क can only mean the way of Yoga: the textis probably corrupt; Grierson has jogot7, another unknown word, which Sudhakar ch a lains as either ‘purifying Yoga’ or ‘the support of Yoga’. Rudraksh, the nec of large seeds of the स + UB
नुक Adhkart : the Sabd sfigar explains as either ‘wallet’ or ‘crutch’. The rakhnaithi Yogi carries both these, but calls the first jholt and the second phaori from its mattock shape. Jaisi probably means the second. Kanthn is patchwork clovhing, of which a good instance is shown in the photo of the Mahant of Puriin Briggs’ book. Dand 18 a short ebony wand supposed to have healing and magical properties, Mudra is the ring (generally of rhinoceros horn) worn in the large opening made by splitting the cartilage of the ear. Ratansen's ears are not actually split,—see25 (22)5. The japmait is the rosa of amall rudréksh beads, generally 108 in number. The udapan (or kaman १५) is the drinking vessel, carried by a handle, and made of gourd or of metal. Bagh chhtla: a hide is generally carried, but it ia the hide of a deer. The tiger skin would be very unusual, and is perhaps an indication that Ratansen is not really a Yogi but a monarch in disguise, Panwart (clogs or pattens) and chhaim (umbrella): it would not be strictly correct for a Yogl to carry these; this also may be an indication that the Y og dress is only a disguise. Khappar 18 the begging bow] made of cocoanut shell. The red (or ochre) robe ia worn in memory of the cloth stained with her own blood given by Parvati to Gorakhaath.
(b) For Siddha see 24(2)1 note (c), but here the word may mean only ‘succesafnl in attainment of an object.’
(c) The reference to Gorakhn&th here probably means no more than that Ratansen disguised himself as a Gorakhnathi Yogi, but the connection between Gorakhn&th and Chitor offers an interesting field of research. We learn from Tod that Samarss, prince of Chitore (brother-in-law of Prithviraj and an ancestor of Ratansen) was addressed as Jogindra, or ‘chief of ascetics’, and there are legends connecting Gorakhn&th with the foundation of the king- dom of Mewar (Briggs p. 245 ff), and also of Nepal.
13: 1-3 THE YOGI 85
his head. He carried a begging bowl and had put on red attire.
He set out to beg for happiness, having made outward show of penance- and Yoga in his body. “ May I win Padmavati [he said] whose love is implanted in my heart.”’
2. The astrologers made reckoning and said “ It is not (a time for] departure to-day. Choose an [auspicious] day, that your business may be successful.’ [He answered] ^“ [पच € who is on] love’s path does not look to days or hours ; he will do that when he is of right understanding. When love is in a man’s body, where is his flesh? There is no blood in his body and no tears in his eyes. The wise men are wrong, they do not know the right day for setting forth : fate does not inquire about an auspicious day for taking a man’s life. Does the distraught widow ask the wise men [if it is an auspicious day for committing Sati], and, [if not], remain at home and arrange the household utensils? If a man dies and fhis body] goes to the Ganges, does anyone prescribe an auspicious day or hour for that? Where have I obtaimed any house or home ? Only for an hour is it mine : in the end it is another’s.
“I am a wayfarer and a bird: I have set out roving to find the grove where I would be. Do you go to your own houses.”’ |
3. Drummers carried the order in all directions. “The King’s army has been mobilised. All you who are the captains of the host, take provisions for the journey : the expedition is a distant one. It is to Singhala-dvipa that we are to go, where you will not be able to buy commodities. You will exhaust all your substance [in getting] there and, without substance, a man’s face is in the dust. The King has set forth, making himself a Yogi: let all the folk make themselves ready speedily and set forth with him. Let him who used proudly to ride on horse-back now walk upon the earth with his eyes fixed on heaven. Accept initiation® and be his companions : wait upon him, all of you; and go before him.
(9) Mantra is the initiatory verse which the disciple receives from his guru or some other Yog! (Briggs, p. 28).
12
90 THE YOGI 13: 3-5
“(Why art thou careless, O mortal? Occupy thyself with thine own mind. Be wakeful and take [heed] beforehand, that thou mayest not repent later in thy mind.”’
4, Ratansen’s mother besought him saying, ‘‘You have the umbrella of sovereignty above your head and the royal dais ever beneath your feet. Enjoy the countless wealth with which fortune has favoured you and do not leave your kingdom to becomea beggar. Your body was always anoin- ted with sandal-paste and now behold it is covered with dust. You used to spend the whole day in enjoyment: how will you now perform penance and austerities? How will you endure the blazing heat without any shade ? How will sleep come to you [lying] on the [bare] ground? How will you clothe yourself in rags and tatters ? How will you go upon your journey on foot ? How will you endure hunger at ali times 2 How will you eat dry crusts ?
“Your royal throne, your army, and your court are all bright in your light alone. Remain seated [on your throne} and enjoy pleasure and bliss. Do not go away and leave them in darkness.”’
5. ‘Mother, speak not to me of such temptations. No one can reckon happiness, or even his body, as his own. When, in the end, the body must become ashes, who would nourish this clay*, only to be crushed by the burden of it? Why should I be entranced by these sandal perfumes when every hair of my body is an enemy ? Hand, foot, ear, and eye, these all will join to bear witness against me in the next world. Every particle of my body imputes sin to me. Say then by what way can salvation be attained. If kingships and enjoyment were good things, Gopi Chand‘ would not have engaged in Yoga. When he saw that all created things were transitory (bird like)*, he
(9) ep. Hamlet’s ‘Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life’;..........
(f} Gopichind, a king of Bengal who renounced his kingship and became an ascetic under the influence of Gorakhnath. Like Bharthari, he is the hero of ballads sung by Yogis. °
See Grierson : The song of Manikch&nd. J.4.8S.B.1877 and 1888,
(g) Reading with Grierson Uhau sisiji (creation) jo dekh parewa ; Shukla’s Unh hiya-dtihi jo dekh paréwa might mean ‘When he saw with the vision of his heart that [his own condition was like that of} & bird.’
128 : 5-7 THE ४०८५] gt
left his kingdom and took up his dwelling in the Kajari forest".
“Seeing that all things must in the end be so, my Guru has given me his instructions. I shall go to the island of Singhala. Mother, give me your permission.’’
6. Nagmati weeps in the harem, “Who has exiled you to the forest, my beloved? Now who will make me a happy woman? I too will go with you and become a Yogini. Either you must take me with you, or you must slay me with your own hand before you depart. [What else is there for me] when you depart, a husband so dear? Where Rama is there Sita must be with him. So long as my life does not depart from my body, I will do you service and will wash your feet. Granted that the beauty of a lotus lady is marvellous, still no one is more beautiful than I am. However the eyes of men may rove they should not’ turn their backs on those whom they know.”’
All his queens join in giving him their blessing: “May the umbrella ever be above thy head. Keep thy royal state in the fortress of Chitaur and maintain us, our beloved lord, in wedded happiness.”’
7. “‘VYou are women, and deficient in sense. The man is & fool who takes advice of women-folk at home. When Raghava (Rama) took Sita with him, Ravan carried her off, so what success did he obtain? This world is like a dream : we are separated as though we had never seen each other. You have heard of the wise King Bharthari : he had sixteen hundred queens in his palace: they cherished the soles of his feet on their breasts: but he became a Yogi and took none of them with him. What business has a Yogi with enjoyment? He does not desire either wealth or wife or kingship. All he wants is dry
(h) Kajali ban, a legendary forest where dwell the Siddhas (note (£) to 24(2)1), and in which is the tree (or the fountain), of life. See Sudhakar, p. 252/3, and his quotations from Mab&bb&rata, Vanaparva 145-6. It is also identified with Zulm&t, the land-of darkness of the Alexander legend, see note (31) to 1(13)5 and 42(5)1. The text has kadali in some places and kajali or kajari in others. In 42(21)8 where it 18 a simile of darkness, kajali 18 clearly correct. Kadali of course means banana. _ (i) Reading with Grierson jinh jan tinh dinh na pwht for Shukla’s jinhin jan tinh dtnht piiht (verily the eyes of men are roving: they turn their backs on those whom they know best.)
92 THE YOGI 19 : 7-9
crusts to be had by begging : what has a Yogi to do with warm rice ?
The King did not heed what they said: he left the whole crowd of them. He went off leaving them weeping and would not turn back to console them
8. His mother weeps [and says] ‘“‘My son returns not. Ratan, my jewel, has departed and our home has become dark. My son who rejoiced in kingship has been led away’ by a mountain-dwelling parrot.”” The queens weep and are ready to give up their lives: they tear their hair and scatter it like straw on a threshing-floor. They break to pieces therr necklaces and garlands saying: ‘‘Now for whose sake shall we adorn ourselves? He whom we were wont sportingly to call our beloved has departed; for whose sake isthis existence ?”’ They wish to die but cannot manage to do so: when the flames arise, everyone puts them out. For a short space of time there was a great outcry : afterwards the weeping was exhausted.
Nine maunds of pearls were broken : ten maunds of glass [bangles] were smashed. They did away with 211 their ornaments. There was a dance of lamentation.
9. The King issued forth, blowing a long blast on his horn. He left his city, after covering himself with dust. All his barons and lords made renunctation : sixteen thousand valiant youths became Yogis. They abandoned" all illusion and error: they realised that in the end they could not keep these things with them. They all aban- doned their folk and their families: they became separate, leaving both happiness and unhappiness. They thought only of the King in whose path they had set forth, be- coming his disciples. Leaving everything, they went from town to town, from village to village, and from place to place. Who possesses any place of abode or any house and property ? All things are His, of whom are the spirit and the body.
The army of Yogis set forth, all of them having dyed their clothes red. It was as though the dhak had flowered for twenty Kos in all directions.
(1) Omitting Shukla’s comma after कामत. (x) Set Awth=-Anth ee (were lost from their hands) op. 4(7)3 note 41.
19: 10-12 THE YOGI 93
10. The soothsayers observed the omens in front. “On the right is a fish in a silver dish. A young woman approaches carrying a pitcher full of water. A milk-maid calls ‘who willtake my curds ?’ A gardening maid comes with a coronal of flowers which she has woven. A king crow sits on the head of a snake. On the right a deer comes running out of the forest. On the left a partridge calls and a donkey brays. A black bull bellows on the right. On the left a white kite draws near, and a fox shows himself. A copper-smith bird on the left, a Saras (crane) on the right. You will reach fruition to your heart's content.
‘He who has such omens and sets forth in hope of attaining an object, he has the eight great 5140015, as the poet Vyas hath said.’’
Ir. “The expedition started and the King set forth. A blast was blown on the horns of the Yogis. ‘‘To-day’’, they said, ‘is a short stage. To-morrow the march wil] be a long one. He who reaches the camp at the end of that march, him we will call a good and true man. It is a mountain way which lies before us with craggy peaks and very difficult passes. Between the mountains are rivers, caves and gullies : in many places dacoits are lying in wait. We shall [go to where we shall] hear the shout of Hanuman’ : who knows who will cross the strait, and who will be too weary? Realising these things in your minds, prepare beforehand ; tread in the steps of your leader.”
[Daily] they rise at dawn and set forth, and perform a march of ten Kos. When travellers really go on the way, how can they remain stationary ?
12. Be watchful and steady, O travellers. Look ahead as you place your feet on the ground. Those who have missed the road and have got lost, they have been slain.
(1) Jaisi’s list of auspicious omens is a longer one than I have found elsewhere, ¢.g., in Crooke’s Popular Religion. The king-crow sitting on a snake’s head has been mentioned previously—10(17)8. The donkey bray ing on the right was a favourable omen with the Thugs, by whom it was call pithan as I am informed by Mr. J. H. Frere of Gorakhpur.
(m) For the 8 siddhis see note (v) to 11(8)8.
(n) For the allegorical meaning of the journey, see Shukla’s Introduo- tion p. 81. Itis the way to Yogic emancipation, as well as the way of love.
{o) %.¢., to the southern extremity of India, where Hanuman # his
double) was posted as watchman over the straits between India and Lanka. See Sudhtikar’s Commentary p. 272.
94 ‘HE YOGI 18; 12-13
They knew not how one shall journey on the way. Let all of you don clogs on your feet, so that thorns may not pierce them and pebbles may not become imbedded in them. Now you have come into the region of jungle and mountain, where there is the dense wood of the Dandak forest’, On all four sides the thick dhak forest 15 in flower : in great distress will be he who loses his way there. Leave the road which is beset with thorns: do not tear your clothes by getting them caught in brambles. On the right is Bidar, Chanderi* on the left. Of these two places, which is the way ?
One way goes to Singhala, the other to the neighbour- hood of Lanka’. Both roads are before us; to which island are we to journey ?
13. Thereupon spoke the sagacious parrot : ‘He leads the way who has beheld the road. How can he fly who has no wings on his body? He clings to the dhak when the sal-wood is sinking’. He is like the blmd who accom- panies the blind: he cannot find the road in such com- panionship. Hear my counsel, if you wish to succeed in your object. In Bijanagar 15 the king of Byaygiri. You must come to where the Gonds and the Kols are, leaving on your left Andhiyar and Khatola. To the south, on your right, dwell the Tilangas and to the north on your left is the fortress of Katanga. In the midst is Ratanpur and Singh Duwarat. Keepthe Jharkhand mountain on your left.
“Further on you have Orissa: leave that way also on the left and, taking a turn to the right, go down to the ocean-shore.”’
(p) The Dandsk-aranya, the scene of Rima’s exile, between the Vin- dhya range and the Godavarl.
(q) See Shukla’s introduction p. 232-4 for the geography of this stanza and the next: also Sudhakar, p. 277-282. Identifications are uncertain, and probably the places were only names to Jaisi. Shukla identifies Bidar with a place of that name in Borar (not with the place near Golconda). Chanderi Is in Gwalior State, west of Lalit ‘se
(८) Jaisi did not realise that Singhala and Lanhk& are both names for the same island,—-Ceylon, cp. 2(2)2 note (10).
8} The simile 18 not very clear, but there may be puns on 24175 == (1) dhak (2) leaf and on s#khu=(1) aaél (2) branch. Dhak wood floatsin water while 881 wood sinks,
(४) Singh Duwara—Chindwara. Jharkhand between Chhota Nagpur and Orissa (Chattisgarh).
13:14—18:2 THE KING’S TALK WITH GAJAPATI Qs
14. They march every day and they bivouac in the deer forests. Mats of kusa grass are their bedding (lit. mattress and sheets) and they lie down upon the earth. When they have marched tei leagues their bodies are wet with dew : they apply ashes to them and rub them in. The disciples all sleep, each in his place: the Kmg him- self alone keeps awake. He in whose heart the passion of love has sprung up, how can he feel hunger or find sleep or rest? In the [dark forest,”] in the dark night, in the month of Bhadon, love is exceedingly grievous. He gras- ped his viol in his hand like a Bairagi, and from all the five strings the one sound” came.
His eyes were fixed on the way that led to the island in which Padmavati was, just asthe chatak in the forest or the shell in the water waits upon the Sewati".
13. THE KING’S TALK WITH GAJAPATTI.
ए. A full month was spent in travelling on the way until they came down to the shore of the ocean. ‘Ratan- sen has become a Yogi ascetic’,—hearing this news the Gajapati* came to meet him. ‘You are a Yogi and all your host are disciples: to what island do you wish to fare? It is well that you have come: now do mea favour and bid me show you hospitality.’ “Hear my answer, O Gajapati. I and thou are alike, but our dispositions are different. Entertain him who has not this disposition : you will ruin him whose affections are absolutely set [on Yoga.] It will bea great thing if I can get boats and journey, by your aid, to Singhala dvipa.
“Whither I have to go myself, thither would I take my army across. If I live, I shall bring her [Padmavati] back with me’: if I die, it will be at her door.”’
(प) Perhaps ‘in the frest of Andhiyar’,v. 42 (12 )4.
(v) 4.e¢., the name of the Beloved. There 18 a pun on dhunt=(1) sound (2) absorption of thought. In relation to the latter meaning, the five strings symbolise the 5 senses.
(छ) Sev&ti or रुषत् is the 15th asterism, in which 9 drop of water falling from the clouds enters the closed shell and becomes ४ pearl : see 23(18)4. The Ch&taka (p&piha) also waits for the Svati in order to quench its thirst, v. 23(10)9 note (w).
al a —
Canto 13. (a) Gajapati was a title of the kings of Kalitga (See Sudh&kar’s Com- mentary p. 2886). (1.) Reading tab let phiraua (Grierson) for Shukla’s tas bahuraus (then I will return).
96 THE KING'S TALE WITH GAJAPATI 18 : 2-2
2. Gajapatisaid ‘‘On my head be your demand: thereshall be no lack of boats and ships. I shall bring them all and give them to you, newly built ones: flowers which are offered to Mahesur (Siva) are flowersindeed. Still, I have one thing to urge respectfully on your Holiness: the way is difficult, how will you travel on it? There are seven oceans‘, vast and boundless, where crocodiles and alligators slay men. The waves rise up and cannot be controlled. It is only by good fortune that an occasional merchant gets through. You enjoy happiness and are a king in your own home : ‘for what purpose shall you endure such risks? Some one may perchance reach Singhala dvipa if he takes his life in his hand.
“The salt ocean, the ocean of milk and of curd, of water and of wine and the enormous kilkila: who can sail through these oceans and cross them,—who is it that has such strength ?”’
3. ‘Gajapati, a man’s mind 15 the limit of his strength. Still, if a man has love, what does he care for life? He who lays down his head" before he places his feet in the way, what can death do to him? He is dead already. I have given up pleasure and have taken sorrow as my provision for the way; and so have I set forth with my face towards Singhala. It is the bee who knows the love of the lotus ; he it is on whom love’s distress has fallen. And he who has seen the ocean of love, he will count these oceans amere drop. Truth has brought the seven oceans into order, just as the mountains are no burden to the earth. If a man has tied his life to the raft of truth, even though life is lost, he will not turn back for anything.
“(€ whose puppet I am’, my guiding string is in his hand. Let him seize the string and draw me, and nothing will turn my head.”’
4. “The ocean of love is exceedingly deep: there is no boundary on this side and on that nor any bottom. He who falls into this ocean of milk, if he lose his life, may
(¢) For the seven oceans mde 1(2)1 note (£). Only six are named in v. 8 below, perbaps because M&nasarovar, the seventh, is a quiet one (d) ५५३ 11 (4) 7 note (1) ere 18 & pun on n#fh=(1) an actor (2) 8 nosestring. There is 2 similar allusion in 24(7)8
18: 4-6 {HE KING’S TALK WITH GAJAPATI 9
still become a swan’ and fly to the other side. I*am Padmavati’s almsman. I have no eyes for the ocean or for the Ganges. I am going by that road where I may meet her for whose sake I have rags and tatters on my | ‘shoulders. Now I will lie in this ocean | of love | as one that is dead : when one is dead, what can water do to him? Iam dead and float with the current: let it take me where it will. So long as I am on the way to her, any creature may seize and devour me. I will throw myself into the ocean, knowing that, if Iam devoured, I shall speedily attain salvation.
“My head is in heaven, my body is on the earth, my heart is the ocean of love. My eyes are like king-fishers which keep on picking up drops from it, and flying up with them.”’
5. The distress of severance awakens a grievous fire : burning or dying [ the lover] finds surcease. He loses there both fear and shame : he sees nothing, neither water nor fire: if he sees fire, he runs to meet 1६ : if he sees water, he plunges straight into it. Such a senseless one cannot be made wise by instruction : he [ only ] sees clearly the road on which he goes. He recks nought of the fear of sea-monsters : all he desires is to get across and see the beloved. Lions and tigers will not devour him : he 15 drier even than wood. Body and illusion are not with him : [the Guru J, to whom he has given up his spirit, is his companion.
The king bestowed all the money that he had with him in gifts to men and [ he said ] “There is no knowing but that God may bring me across the ocean in recompense for some merit.”
6. Blessed are that man’s life and heart, whose light/largesse® is set on high in the world. Such a light/ largesse is above all prayer and penance : there is nothing in the world equal to this light/largesse. From one light/ act of largesse there is tenfold gain: beholding such light/ largesse all the world desires to look on it/the face [ of the giver.] Such a light/largesse makes all before it bright:
(f) Hats hasa double meaning (1) swan (2) the emancipated soul, -haha. (&) Throughout thie stanza diy has the double meaning of lamp and
98 THE SHIPS 13: 6—~14; 1
where there is no light/largesse all is darkness. A light/ largesse makes a dwelling bright at night : if there is no light/largesse thieves rob the house. Hatim® and Karna’ learnt how to give and their largesse has been recorded in the scriptures or, the flame of light of Hatim and Karna is a light which has been recorded in the scriptures. The light/largesse is of service in both worlds : all that a man gives in this world he gets in the next’.
He who has a lamp in his hand/given anything with his hand - {185 made his road bright. No man will take anything with him [ at death |, only the light/his largesse goes with him.
14. THE SHIPS.
^. Gajapati saw that the king would not yield, but was sincere both in his true resolve and in his liberality’. He who has given his life beforehand [ in order to go on ] that way, his body is not his own, it is nothing but a clothing of rags*. The King set forth resolutely, abandoning the doubt in his spirit: where there is courage, there will be success. He set forth resolutely, abandoning his kingdom: [Gajapati] gave him ships and gave him all their equipment. The King went speedily on board and the ships were rowed away. Happy is the man who goes forth on [the way of] love. He who reaches his bourne on the road of love never comes back to mingle with these ashes. He attains the most excellent Paradise, wherehere is no death but eternal dwelling in happiness. =,
What is the hope of this life? It is like a dream that endureth half the twinkling of an eye. (Saith Muhammad) those men who have died while still living, it is they whom you should call Sadhus.
(h) Hatim. See 1(17)2 note 43. (i) Karna. See 1(17)2 note 44. {j) Cp. ‘What I gave That I have’, in the English funeral verse,
Canto 14.
(a) In Grierson’s text, this is the last stanza of Canto XIII.
(0) For the parable of Datt and Sat see Canto XXXII stanza 17. Here, the king’s observance of these virtues bring’ him safely across the seven seas : there, his transgression brings him to disaster in Canto. XX XIII.
(९) I have followed Grierson’s reading Apun nwhin kaya pas दयन. Shokla reads Apnehi kaya apnehi kaatha, which might mean The king-had of his own accord clad himself in rags and had given his life beforehand...... Perhaps the second mpnzhs conceals the word +त +,
ॐ
14 2-4 THE SHIPS 9
2. Asa herd of elephants roves in the forest, so the ships set forth and the ocean was covered. The ships speed, swifter than thought: they travel a thousand lea- gues in the twinkling of an eye. The ocean is boundless : it seems to touch the sky. He who is an ascetic does not count heaven a trifle. At that moment a Chalha’ fish came into view like a snow-capped mountain. When the Chalha was angered there arose such a disturbance that the waves reached the sky, and beat upon the land. All the young warriors say to the King, ‘‘Such monstrous fish are there in the ocean. We are quite willing to go by such a way, but you must be prepared not to return again.
“Thou art our Guru, O King: we are thy disciples and thou our lord. Where the Guru places his foot, there the disciple should place his forehead.” *
3. The mariners laughed when they heard this talk. ‘The frog who lives in a well does not know what the ocean 15. This is a Chalha and does not attack any one. What will you say when you see the Rohu? You have not yet seen that fish, into whose mouth a thousand fishes such as this would enter. Above this Rohu hovers a Roc (royal bird) whose shadow spreads for a thousand leagues: he seizes’ this fish in his beak and carries him off and places him in his young ones’ mouths to feed them. When this bird utters his cry, the sky thunders : the ocean heaves when he flaps his wing. There {in the ocean] the moon and the sun are lost to sight : only he who knows the way al- ready should embark on it.
One man in ten makes the journey, [by virtue of] his good deeds, his virtue, his penance and his obedience to rule. When the ship reaches the further shore, then only is there happiness and peace
4. The King said “I have devoted myself to love where love is, how can there be happiness and peace? Do you row on if you can do so: bring me across, as you cross yourselves. I have no such care for happiness: happy would it have been if I had never been born. ‘The earth
‘a (9) Except in these perilous seas, the cha&lha or chelhud is a small fish ike s sprat. (e) Reading goss (Grierson) for bhart (Shaokla) filling his beak with.
too TH SEVEN SEAS 14; 4—15: 2
and the sky are the nether and the upper millstones: no one who comes between them can preserve his life. There is one happiness though, for which I now pray, that having pledged my truth, I may not fail on the way of love. If there is truth in the heart, it is a light to the eyes and the diver will not fear to plunge into the ocean. I will search and sift the ocean, until Ratan (the jewel) and Padarath, (the treasure), are joined.
4.5 [Vishnu] searched’ the seven hells and brought out from them the sacred Vedas, so will I climb the seven hea- vens and speed on the way which leads to Padmavati.”’
15. THE SEVEN SEAS.
I. He who has full truth in his heart can cross oceans : if he has truth in his spirit, the coward becomes a hero. By this truth, fleets of ships are moved: by this truth the winds give them wings, as it were. Truth 35 the companion, the spiritual director, the helper’: if truth rows it will take you and bring you to the other side. Truth keeps a look-out fore and aft wherever there are sea-monsters and turtles. The waves rise and stand erect like mountains, they go up to heaven and sink down to hell. The ships are thrown about and receive the shock of the waves: at one moment they are down below, at another they are up above. The king had made fast truth in his heart, that truth by which one can support mountains on his shoulders.
He crossed the salt sea and came to where the sea of milk is. These seven seas are connected”, though their waters are separate.
2. How shall I describe the water of the sea of milk? It is white in appearance, and like milk to drink. Rubies ~~ ¢) Reading jaskarheu (Grierson) for kai ktrhava (Shukla), (I will search the seven hells and drag out the sacred scriptures). With Grierson’s reading a subject has to be supplied for karheu. I have su pplied Vishay but Viahnu (in the Matsya-avatar) recovered the Vedas, not from hell, but
from the bottom of the 868. : Caxto 15.
(a) Reading sai guru sahivmra (Grierson) for sat kar saneart (Shukla) ‘the world is Troth’s.
(b) In the Puranas, the seven seas are separated by continents. For the seven seas in both Muslim and Hindu tradition, see Dar& Shikoh'’s Majma- ul-Bahrain, XVII, Discourse on the divisions of the earth.
15: 2-4 THE SEVEN SEAS 161
and pearls and diamonds rise and fall in it : seeing such riches, the mind is unstable. The mind desires riches and enjoyment, but they make it lose the way and are des- tructive to yoga. Ifa man isa Yogi, he controls his mind : the riches which his hand holds he will throw into the sea. Let him who is a Raja take riches: of what use are they to him whois a Yogi? To the pilgrim on his road riches are an enemy : they are like a Thug, a footpad, or a thief in his company. He is a pilgrim who is estranged from riches : many who have collected riches have been looted:
{The King] crossed the sea of milk, and came to the sea of curds. They who are love’s frenetics, for them there is neither heat nor shade.
3. The sea of curds is in appearance burning hot‘, but love's frenetic 15 initiated in burning. Happy 1s the spirit which love has burnt: he makes the curd set and churns it and extracts the Ghi. One drop of curd makes all the milk set: one drop of acid destroys the water. The breath is the string, the mind is the strong churning stick : unless the heart is smitten, the butter will not break its way out. He who has love in his spirit, for him fire is like €001 sandal: he who is without love turns away and flies in fear. If anyone is burnt by the fire of love, his distress is not in vain. He who knows the truth will set fire to himself : he who has not the truth in his heart can- not attain the truth.
They crossed the sea of curds : what can restrain love, whether water fall on the [lover's] head or burning coals ?
4. They came to the boundless sea of ocean* whose conflagration burns earth and sky. Such is the fire that is born in this sea that Lanka was burnt with a single drop of it. Tove’s distress arises and is extracted® from this: it is never extinguished but spreads through the world. He who suffers love’s distress, will not pay regard
(c) The meaning of this stanza, which is a not very clear allegory of Jove (sacred and profane) and butter-making, is further obscured by puns on dadhs (curds) क dadha (burnt).
(d) Udadht samudra. It was called the jal udadht in 13(2)8.
(6) Reading ददात (Grierson). Shukla's gasha would mean strong.
102 THE SEVEN SEAS 18: 4.6
to [any other] fire’: he will stand up to it and be bumt ; he will not turn his back. Terrible in this world is the edge of the sword, but more terrible yet is the flame of love’s distress. If the road were not so inaccessible everyone would attain success merely by wishing for it. The king plunged into this sea : he was ready to be burnt, but not 2 hair of him was burnt.
As oil bubbles in a cauldron, so all the water bubbled and seethed. [The king| was the Malaya mountain’ of love, and the breeze from him impregnated the sea.
5. Then the king came-to the sea of wine, which swells proudly", drunk with mahua spirit. He who drinks of it experiences vertigo: his head goes round, and he cannot set his feet on the road. He who has the wine of love in his heart, why should he sit in the shade of the mahua trees? [The king] had drunk the grape-wine (of love] with his Guru and had brought his mind under control after subduing the babul-tree-like enemy. In the flame of love’s distress he had made his body a still and had burnt his bones like fire-wood for it : he had distilled' with the water which flowed from his eyes ; the liquor that ran out was [as hot] as a burninglamp. Love's distress roasted his flesh on spits and tears of blood kept falling.
(Muhammad saith) By means of the wine of love they attained that island/lamp’ Until he goes into the lamp, giving his head for it, like a moth, a man shall not get this food. |
6. Next they came to the sea Kilkila. Their fortitude deserted them and they were terrified at the sight of it. Its surge rose with a noise like its name, as though the sky were broken in all directions. Waves rose like moun- tains and swept round for a hundred leagues. It swelled
(f} Reading jsnh ao birch teht Agi na. ए (Grierson). Shukla’s वफ so birah gi kah (ष might mean ‘where there is this love, what notice is taken of fire?’ if kah be taken to=—kah7n.
(£) The Malaya mountain is noted for its forests of sandal, the charac- teristics of which are fragrance and coolness.
(h} Literally ‘displaya ite chest’. I have placed the hyphen (with Bhagwan Din) between mahu7 and mad.
(i) Pot# is the technical term for a water-cooling jacket used in dis- tilling.
(j) The usual pun on dtp (1) island, (2) lamp.
15: 6-8. | THER SEVEN SEAS 103
from earth to-heaven : it was as though the whole sea were standing upright. The water was turned upside down, so great was the roar of the sea im its churning. You could see the sea sweeping round for a hundred leagues as a potter’s wheel revolves. When it came near it was like the annihilation of the last day: when a man dies, it is annihilation for him. |
They all lost their senses when they saw the swelling of the sea; it looked as if it would swallow them as it approached, so did it glare at them.
47. Hiramani said to the king ‘‘By coming to this sea, truth is shaken. If one does not win through to Singhala Dvipa, {it is because] there is difficulty for everyone in this place. This is the deep sea Kilkila: only he who has special qualities’ can reach the further shore. Here is a path’ in the midst of the ocean stream, dividing it like the blade of a sword: thirty thousand leagues the way” stretches, but it is so narrow that an ant cannot walk on it. Its sharpness" is sharper than a sword and its thinness thinner® than a hair. For this place you must take your Guru with you: if your Guru is with you you can make the crossing.
“Death and life are on this path : on it are hope and despair. He who falls goes to hell: he who gets across goes to paradise.”’
8. The king gave pan” to his army [and said] “Quit you like men and let your minds be firm. If the leader: is a hero then his soldiers will also themselves be heroes. So long as the widow who is to perform Suttee does not make a firm resolve in her soul, so long the porters will not shoulder the litter. I have built my raft on the sea of love, compared to which all these seas are but a drop
(p) Bitra aroll of betel or pan leaf given as a pledge of loyalty to a person engaging on a dangerous undertaking. :
104 THE SEVEN SEAS 15: 8x20
of water. I do not desire the kingship of heaven, nor have I any concern with hell: what I desire is to ob- tain the sight of her who has taken and set me on the path of love. What is difficult or easy foi a piece of dried wood [like myself]? It will not sink in the ocean gsea-monsters will not swallow it
He seized the tiller and pressed forward into the sea, and all the others followed. None paid heed to any other: each was for himself
9. Some of the ships fly like the wind : some speed like a flash of lightning : some race like splendid steeds and some go like stubborn bullocks. Some are like a light carriage being driven and some go heavily, weary with a heavy burden. Sqme crawl like ants: some are broken and become* like dust. Some fee! the buffets of the wind. Some quiver like leaves. Some fall into whirl- pools in the water: they keep on whirling round with no one to rescue them. The king’s ship was in front, with the bird, the parrot, as pilot at the prow.
Some arrived early in the day, others after mid-night. According as eack had equipment, so did each come to the land.
10. They came to the seventh sea, the Manasar: in virtue of the courage they had shown in their minds they obtained fulfilment of their desires. When they saw the glorious beauty of M4anasar, rapture spread in their hearts like lotus petals. The darkness departed : the inky blackness of night was removed : dawn came and the rays of the-sun burst forth. "‘It is well: it is well’’, cried all the companions. ‘“‘We were blind, but God has opened our eyes.” ‘The lotuses open wide like laughing faces on which the bees settle and suck their sweets. The swans laugh’ and disport themselves : they pick up jewels, pearls and diamonds. He who arrives thus having accomplished penance and yoga
q) Reading sari (Grierson) for tar (Shuk!a) ‘down below (r) 45६1, aett, as in 265(23)1 and 54(1)6, 18 probably an exclamation of delight Hurrah | Orit may merely mean ‘There i (8) See Shukla’s Introduction p.216/7 for his explanation of thia passage (४) Theré is the usual pun ont as (1) swan (2) laugh
15; 10—16; 2 SINGHALA-DVIPA 105
will attain his hope in the enjoyment of the Manasar.-
The bee which has made up its mind to come to the Manasar, reaches it and rifles the sweets of the lotus : the weevil, which could not find the courage to do so, eats accordingly dry wood.”
10. SINGHALA-DVIPA
1. The king said “Say, parrot, my Guru, [what is this?] I cannot tell what" [day-star] ha$ arisen today. The breeze wafts a cool fragrance and applies as 11 were sandal to my body which was burning. Never has my body been so cool: a breeze from the Malaya mountain has fallen on the flame. The sun’s beams are issuing forth: the darkness has departed and I see the world bright and clear. But it seems to me that a cloud rises in front, and lightning flashes, reaching to the heaven : above this it appears that the moon is displayed and this moon has swallowed the constellation Kachpachi (the Pleiades). Other constellations are bright on all sides like lit lamps in different places. `
“Vea andin the southern region, near-by, a golden Mount Meru shows itself. As though the season of spring were approaching, such is the fragrance that comes to the world.”’
2. ^“ 0 King, thou art altogether like Bikram,’ thou art like the truthful Harichand® or Bain. Thou hast surpassed Gopichand" in Yoga and Bharthari‘ did not attain equality
(४) [ have adopted २५ conjecture of my friend Pandit Rim Naresh Tripathi manasar bhogd for the accepted reading man ras bhoga (honour, delight and enjoyment)
(ष) Sudhakar, pp. 344/5, cxplains this whole canto as an elaborate
त ry of Hatha Yoga practice, in which the seven oceans represent the chakras or internal lotuses
Canto 16.
(a) Reading kaha (Grierson) for Shukla’s kahwa (where).
(b) Bikram—Vikramaditya. See 1(17)2 note (42).
(५) Harichind—Haridécandra, the celebrated king of Puranic tradition, a model of truthfulness and liberality. Bain—Prithu the son of Ben, a bene factor of mankind, whose deeds are told in the Puranas
(५) Gopichind see 12(5)6 note (f)
(९) Bharthari see 3 1(8)5 note (1)
106 SINGHALA-DVIPA 16: 2-4
with thee in renunciation. Gorakh' has given the {eight] siddhis* into thy hand and Guru Machhandamath" has given thee the key. Thou hast conquered by love both earth and heaven: this Paradise of Singhala has been revealed to thy sight. That cloud of which you speak 1s the fortress which reaches to heaven the lightning the golden ramparts on every side. Over this the moon which 15 filled with the constellation Kachpachi is the king’s palace of gold stud- ded with jewels. The other constellations which you behold on every side are the mansions of all his queens The sky is the lake : the moon is the lotus | Padmavati): the night lotuses are the stars around it: you have risen like the sun, and, to you, as to a bee, the hreeze has come bringing the fragrance [of the lotus].
3. “Behold the fortress, O King. It is loftier than the sky. Eyes cannot see nor can hands reach [to the top of it]. A wheel of lightning’ whirls round it in all directions and death’s lethal weapon revolves. If any man intet- tionally runs up against it, struck by the wheel he 1s cleft in sunder. The moon, the sun, the constellations and stars one and all, from fear of this, revolve in the firmament. The wind sought to reach thither but was smitten so that it returned to earth and stayed there. Fire rose [against it], but it was burnt out and extinguished in the end : smoke rose but disappeared half way. Water rose, but could not reach thither to touch it: it fell back weeping and came dripping to earth.
“Ravan desired to attack it : his ten heads were cut off. Shankar laid his forehead to the earth [before it], and who but he is lord of the Yogis ?
4. ‘There behold the beauteous maiden Padmavati. No bee can approach her. and not even any bird. Now I will give you a device of Yoga [by which] you may first attain to sight of her and then to enjoyment. Where a
-- - ~ - _ ~ ~ -* “~ — — =
»(f) Gorakh see 12(1)5 note (c) (£) Siddhis see 11(8)8 note (भ) (h) Machhandarnith or Matsyendranath, the guru of Gorakhna&th in Yogi tradition (sce Briggs, Gorakhnath, passim, Sudhakar comm, p.240, 356) (i) of a sword the flame, Wide-waving, all approach far off to fright’. Milton P.L.X1,120/1 A similar revolving flame, the chakra sudaréan, protected Krishna's palace
16: 4-6 = SINGHALA-DVIPA 107
mountain of gold shows itself like Meru, there there is a temple of Mahadeo. Its parts are like Mount Meru: to reach that Meru it is a very wide circuit. In the month of Magh, at the beginning of the second fortnight, 1६ will be Sri Panchami.’ The door of Mahadeo’s temple will be opened and all the world will go to worship. Padmavati too will come there to worship and this will be the occasion for you and her to see each other.
“Do you go to that temple and I will go tou Padmavati. When she comes to celebrate the spring festival, then the desire of your heart will be satisfied*.”’
5. The King said “If I may get sight of her, what is a mountain? I would run up to the sky. The mountain on which that sight is to be obtained, I would climb it on my head, not to speak of my feet. A high place is pleasing to me: on high I will call on the name of my beloved. A man must keep a high heart and must from day to day set his feet higher and higher: he must ever attend at the doors of the exalted and must do business with those that are high. If you gu on high, you will see the high quarters [of the earth]: in the company of the high, the mind under- stands high wisdom. You should always associate with the high : for a high object, you should give your life.
“He whose ambition is set on what is high becomes higher day by day. Even if, climbing on high, he should fall, still he should never abandon that which is high'.”’
6. When Hiramani had spoken thus and told his tale he went to the place where the princess Padmavati was. When the parrot departed, the king too went to the moun- tain", meditating on that lotus plant (Padmavati). Climb- ing the mountain, what does the king see? A high temple
Sri Panchami, the festival of Basanta, the companion of Kamadeo, sec 30(13) note (aa). Jaisi, here and m Canto XX, treats 1६ as the festival of spring, though it actually comes two months earlier than the spring season (also called Basant).
_ (k) There is a pun on pyjas—(]1) worship (2) fulfil. (1) Compare George Herbert’s ‘Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be Sink not in spirit : who aimeth at the sky Shoots higher far than he that means a tree (m) ‘There is a pun on parbat (mountain) and parbata (parrot)
108 THE VISIT TO THE TEMPLE 16: 6—17: 2
all bedecked with gold. Ambrosial fruits" are planted there in sullest abundance and there too is planted the root Sajivan’. Four-faced is the temple, with four doors, and in all four doorways Gods re seated. Within the temple four pillars are fixed : sms fly away from those who touch these. Here resound snultitudinous conches and bells and much hom is offered and many prayers recited. \
This is the temple of Mahadeo’; men come thither from all the world. Whatever wish any man has in his mind, such fulfilment does he obtaim.
17. THE VISIT TO THE TEMPLE.
I. he king was distraught, the victiin of luve’s dis- tress : with him were thirty thousand Yogis, his disciples. In the hope of beholding Padmavati, he prostrated him- self on all four sides of the temple. Entering by the eastern door he bowed his head and, bowing it, came before the deity. ‘Hail, hail to thee, O god Narain : how am I worthy to do thee service? Thou showest mercy upon 211 creatures, and dost not look for any man’s service. I have no virtue; my tongue has no pleasing wurds : thou art merciful and givest virtue to the virtueless. Do thou fulfil my hope of seemg {Padmavati]: at every’ breath I draw, I am looking for the way [to ला.
“JT know not how to worship tn the way im which thou shouldst be praised. Look favourably upon me and let my wish be fulfilled.’’ |
2. When the king had praised [the deity| and offered many prayers a tremendous’ voice sounded in the temple. “Man by love becomes a denizen of paradise : else what is
(n) Reading phal sab lagu (Grierson) for sadaphar hare. Sadapha! 18 the name of various fruits, one of them being the custard-apple. :
(0) See 11 (2)4 note (d).
(क) Mahadeo (Siva) is the tutelary deity both of Kajpuls and of Yogis, and it is in the fitness of things that Ratansen should go to his temple.
Canto 17.
(a) Reading hari (Grierson) for dhart (Shukla) ~tholding my breath’ (in suspense).
(b) Shukla explains akwi here as ‘sudden’ and in 20(10)2 as ‘heavenly’ The usual meaning is ‘vast’, as in 13(2)8.
.17:2—-18: 1. PADMAVATI'S PASSION 109
he? A handful of ashes. Love is penetrated by the essence of severance, as ambrosial honey dwells in the waxen cell’. If the wicked man run until he die, what use is it? What the good man does, even sitting still,—in that there is profit. If once a man does service, giving his mind to it, the deity is pleased by the result of his service.’ When he heard the voice whith echoed through the temple, the king went and sat at the eastern doorway. Smearing on his body ashes, as much as it would hold, he became as dust, he who in the end would become dust indeed.
Dust if put to sale will not fetch any price, yet all things which are for sale are dust. He who looks upon { everything] as dust, his dust (body) becomes priceless.
3. He sat upon his tiger’s’ hide as an ascetic and = recited the name of Padmavati over and over again. His trance-vision was fixed on her, for the sake of beholding whom he had become an ascetic. He grasped his viol and played upon it aimlessly : morning and evening he ever blew on his horn. His ragged garment burned as though fire had been set to it: the flame of love’s dis- tress when it burns cannot be put out. His eyes are red from watching the road at night, like the eyes of a fright- ened® chakor fixed on the moon. He held his ear- rings and placed his head on the ground [saying] ‘May I be the foot-stool on which her foot [rests]. 1 would untie my tangled hair and sweep her doorway : I would sacrifice my head on the path by which she came.
“I would circle round all four quarters and not remain motionless for a moment: like ashes driven with the wind [I would speed] to where she is, the support of my life.”’ - 16. PADMAVATIY’S PASSION.
I. Padmavati by the force of this Yoga {practised by the king] fell into the power of -love by reason of separation. Sleep did not fall on her when the night
(£) There isa pun on main—(1) love (madan), (2) wax, and also perhaps on madhu—(1) wine, (2) honey, and on basa—(1) dwells, (2) wasp
(d) Singh ordinarily =lion, but it is a tiger’s hide in 12(1)6
(6) Reading chakit (Grierson) for charhe (Shukla) which does not give such good sense
10 PADMAVATI'S PASSION - 18: ३.2
came : it was as though someone had placed nettles’ in her bed. Moon beams and sandal—(scented] ratment burned her: deep distress of love scorched her body. The night lengthened out for her like an eternity : every instant of it was as oppressive asanage. She seized her lute if perchance the night might be made to pass, but the [deer which drew] the moon’s vehicle’ only stood stull to listen. Again the maiden began to draw a picture of a lion’: in such distress she remained awake all the night. ‘‘Where is that bee, the rifler of the essence of the lotus 2 Would he would come to me dnd alight like a homing pigeon" 2”
The maiden became like a moth in love’s distress, longing to be burnt in its lamp. When one’s lover does 110६ come in the form of an ichneumon fly’, what 15 the use of anointing the body with sandal paste 2
2. Padmavati had fallen into the forest of love’s long- ing and was as it were a prisoner there : where’er she looked it was impenetrable to feet and to sight. She gazed in all directions as though she had lost her way, [saying], ‘“Where is the forest in which the Malati blossoms ? In that forest the lotus will get its bee: who will bring me to it and extinguish the burning of my body?” In every limb her body was like a lotus : its heart was yellow with the pain of love.’ She desires to unfold her petals to the vision of the sun: it is as if her bee-like eyes were fixed on the sky. Her nurse questioned her, ‘‘Tell me, girl, what is the matter? You are rosy red like a lotus flower but your heart has be- come the colour of 5877011 ` it would seem that some trouble has arisen in your mind.
wee “~----- ~~ ee -- ee |
Canty 18.
(a) Kewznch or kapikachchu a stinging fruit.
(b) See Shukla’s Introduction p. 228 for a similar simile from Sur Das.
(0) In order to frighten the deer and make the moon 7७५४९ un.
(५) Ghirint: Platts gives ‘tumbler’, not correctly. Thakur Suresh Singh writes ‘The girahbaz kabutar {the homing or carrier pigeon) when it ae up or comes down always makes a few circles in the air like a ghirns ‘pulley).’
(e} See note 15 to 9(5)6 for the ichneumon fly.
(f) Reading pem kai pira (Grierson) for Shukla’s kahai par-pira which could only mean ‘by telling the woes of others’.
18: 2-4 PADMAVATI'S PASSION 177
“Where the wind cannot enter, there the bee cannot sit.” How have you become like a lost doe as though you had seen a lion ?”’
3. “O nurse, it would be better if a lion slew and ate me, or if I remained such as I ९३5 28 a child. I have heard that in the forest of youth’ there is fresh spring season, but into that forest a raging elephant has burst. Who now can preserve the garden of youth, wherein the elephant of severance is destroying the branches? I thought that youth was [the season for] enjoyment of delights, but in youth severance is a grievous distress. Youth is a heavy and immovable mountain: ethe burden of youth cannot be bome. There is no creature so furious as youth : the elephant bows its head when there is an ankus [but not youth]. Youth is like the Ganges, swellmg in the month of Bhadon : it gives [rise to} waves which the limbs cannot contain.
“Ah, nurse, I have fallen into the unfathomable depth, into the profound ocean of youth. I gaze in every direction to see who will clutch me and bring me to the shore.”
4. “O Padmavati you are cheerful’ and wise: the ocean cannot fully compare with you, O queen. The river goes to the ocean and is contained in it, but if the ocean be moved, where shall it be contained? Your heart is as yet a lotus bud: there will come a bee who will be your match. Seize and control the steed of youth with your hand and do not let it go where it would. This force of youth is like a ‘mast’ elephant :, grasp the goad of wisdom to make it stand still. You are as yet a girl and have not played the game of love ; how can you know how difficult
se =
~ चः i ~ ne ee -------- ---= - -“~् ee Nee न्च
(g) Perhaps the meaning is that the bee (lover) cannot enter the lotus unless it unfolds. The lotus bud only shows a yellow heart if it opens Padmavati has hitherto been like a closed bud.
(h) Jo ban=which forest, Joban=-vouth (adolescence). The sense requires both meanings, not merely a pun.
(i) Samud probably=sa-mud (cheerful) and is used punningly in connection with samtd (ocean) later in the same verse. Bunt it 8180 suggests the meaning of ‘deep’.
cp. She was the miller’s daughter And lived beside the mill, Deep was the flowing water But she was deeper still. (The Country Girl),
772 PADMAVAT!'S PASSION 18: 446
itis? Turn downwards your gaze that is fixed on the sky : you may see the sun, but he will not come to your hand. “Vou must control the anguish of love until your beloved meets you, as the shell endures penance for the sake of the Sewati’ in the midst of the ocean waters.” <. “Ah, nurse, youth is scorching my soul: it is like ghi that has fallen into the flame. I could bear to be sawn asunder but the burning of youth is unbearable: sever- ance“ is an ocean which is full and uncontrolled : it casts my soul into a whirlpool and beats upon it with its waves. Severance is a serpent which climbs to my head and strikes : it 15 a fire which takes up its abode in sandal paste. Youth is the bird and severance is the fowler : it is the lion for the doe which is tts food. Why has youth been made like golden water only for severance to afflict it by bringing it to’ the boiling point ? Severance is like ink which infects the water of youth: it 15 like a bee to its blossom and like a parrot to its fruit (१.९. destructive). “Vouth arises like a moon: severance attends it like the demon of eclipse. I have been consumed by gradual wast- ing : I cannot tell anyone { my trouble ].” | 6. Her eyes revolve in all directions like"wheels : her nurse rebukes her, but her eyes are still restless. The nurse says, ‘‘ My child, if grievous’ love has arisen in your heart, then be resolved on truth and let not your mind waver. He who has truth in his soul for a guardian”, though a mountain fall on him, he will not shift a hair’s breath. ‘he Sati who burns for truth to her lord”, if there is truth in her heart then the fire is cool. Youth, which is like the moon at full, is set on fire again by the spark of separation. That Yogi who can control the wind [7.e., his breath] is a true ascetic : that woman who can control love is atrue Sati. Spring is coming, when the garden will
(j) Sewats v. 12(14)9 note (u).
(ए) Shukla’s hyphen after birak here and in the next verse is not necessary. |
(1) I have followed ms. 1 a. quoted by Grierson, which gives better sense by transposing lars and bhvrt.
(m) There isa pun on कर्तितः (pahart, watchman) and pahar (pahar, mountain).
(०) Grierson reads pem pia lags : Shukla reads pem sat (क. Perhaps the eorrect reading shonld be pia sat lagi.
18: 6-19: 1 PADMAVATI'S MEETING WITH THE PARROT 173
bloom with flowers, and all the maidens will go to the door of the God
‘Do you too go, taking with you [the flowers of] spring worship and entreat the deity, [saying] ‘I have received life by being born into the world : may I receive a husband by doing service.’ ”’
7. Until the appointed time arrives, the days pass like aeons for the love-lorn maiden. Appetite and sleep both desert her by night and day : she weeps as one who 15 broken hearted. It is as though ants were attacking her at every pore, or thorns piercing her at every fibre. She burns like ghi in a blazing cauldron : her lord comes not speedily like [a cool breeze from] the Malaya mountain. ‘To what deity shall I go and touch [1115 feet] so that by his means I may clasp my beloved’ to my heart with my arms? The flower that was hidden is revealed in my breath which now is full and burns in my body. If there were to be meeting it would only end in burning: what is the use of enjoyment if the person who should enjoy it is gone ?
“Youth is tickle and bold and performs unprofitable works. Happy is the lady who maintains the honour of her family, being ashamed of youth in her mind.”’
19. PADMAVATI’S MEETING WITH THE PARROT.
I. Hiraman came to fher inj her torlorn state: it was as though Padmavati had recovered her life. She fondled the parrot affectionately, and wept over him : very great is the pleasure when that which was lost is found.» Her grief arose like fire from the depths of her heart : it came to her eyes and flowed forth as water. When the lotus princess wept on and on, all her clever companions laughingly questioned her, ‘“‘I‘rom finding a thing there should be double joy : why do vou weep at finding that which was lost’?’’ In answer to this Padma- vati said, “Sorrow at the loss filled my heart, but at hnding {what was lost| happiness came and filled my
DLL Tir cree ष्य LP re pa a ण भीम 0 ae
fo) Sumeru may mean ‘beloved’ (= Sudb&kar) or/and the principal bead in ॐ rosary 15
ti4 ` | PADMAVA‘I'’S MEBTING WITH THE PARROT © 193 143
heart, and that sorrow has become water and Has flowed out of my eyes
“When that which was lost is found, be who has love knows [what delight it is]. The Canopus" of happiness arises and sorrow is shed like rain from a cloud.”’
2. Then the princess, smiling, asked about the parrot’s welfare [saying] “Why did you depart, leaving your cage empty?’ ‘‘Princess, may your throne be happy for’ ages : the bars of a cage do not suit a bird. If a creature has wings, how can it remain steady ? It desires to fly if it has feathers” on its pinions. When your bird was imprisoned in a cage, a cat came and prowled round it. Some day it will certainly come and lay hands on me ;— in fear of this I flew off to make my dwelling in the forest. A fowler came thither and prepared his limed twig. There is no escaping from the noose of death. He caught me and sold me into the hands of a Brahman: with him I went to Jambudvipa (India).
“There 15 the carven’ fortress of Chitaurgarh, the king- dom of Chitrasen. He [Chitrasen] gave over the succession to his son, aud himself went to the funeral pyre.
3. ‘He who has been installed in the kingdom in the place of his father is named King Ratansen. How shail I describe the jewel-rich country in which such a resplendent gein has 1€€11 00771 2 Blessed may that mother and father be called from whose line such a ray proceeded. He has the thirty two marks" of excellence and is of pure race ; his beauty and his glory cannot be described. It was he who acquired me; such was my good fortune; borax
-- ~~~ 8) --- क का = = an
Canto 19
(a) Suhelu (Arabic) =-idgast (Hindi) 24(9)4=Canopus, the star which tises at the end of the rains, heralding the dry weather. Cp. Tulsi Das, Ramayan Kishkindhakand Udst agast panth jal sokha, jimi lobhahi sokhai sahtokh”.’ See Shukla’s Introduction p. 236
(b) Reading 27 24 (Grierson) for Shukla’s pankhs (a bird desires to fiv if it has wings)
(©) Chitra, artistically painted or carved, (more or‘ 1688 a pun on Chitrasen and Chitaur). The most notable feature of the now deserted city of Chitorgarh is the marvellous sculpture covering the towers of Fame and Victory, 6(1)1. note (1)
(त) The thirty two qualities of a great man are detailed by Sudh&kar at the end of bis note on the 82 points of woman. (Sudhikar Commentary p. 77, note on 2(25)8), but here the reference 18 rather to the 32 good qualities ol a Yogi prescribed by Gorakhn&th
19 3-5 PADMAVATI'S MEETING WITHTHE PARROT II5
desires to go where gold is. When I saw this jewel I con- ceived this wish ‘This jewel Ratansen is a match for the precious metal, Padmavati: indeed this sun 1s worthy of themoon’. I [therefore] sounded your praises in that place.
‘‘Where is the jewel in the mountain’ of jewels, and where the gold in Mount Sumeru? If God has written that both are to be joined, they will meet by some way or other.
4. ‘‘When he heard me the spark of severance fell upon him. If only [he thought] the jewel could obtain the gold bracelet’! Tove is hard and severance is a grievous distress. He left his kingdom and became a begging Yog!. As is the bee for the sake of the Malati flower, so he became frenzied and wandered forth with wits distraught. ‘Let me be a moth,’ he said, ‘and get the lady. Tet me go to Singhala-dipa* and sacrifice my life.’ Then noone left him solitary: sixteen thousand princes became his 015- ciples. Who can count the other helpers who went with him? He arrived at the temple of Mahadeo. ‘This sun- like man is gazing for the sight ot you as a Chakor gazes for the sight of the moon. |
“You are a maiden for whom the delight of love is fit- ting as the scent is for the lotus. So I have made the sun reveal himself and have brought the bee to a meeting with you.”
5. When Hiraman said these words, Padmavati, hear- ing him, fell in love with Ratansen". As the sun is blazing hot to behold, even such was the distress of separation, and love's army raged. But when she heard the description of {the king as a} Yogi, there was pride in Padmavati’s mind. Pure gold does not find pleasure in glass, but if it is a true gem, then it acquires splendour. If you heat gold and try it on a touch-stone, then you may know
(e) Reading ratnagi: (Grierson) and not ratnagar (jewel-mine or ocean) with Shukla. The jewel-mountain is under the southern pole-star, and Sumeru under the northern, as far apart as ible, just as (conversely) Padmavati is in the South and Ratansen in the North.
(f) In 1(21)7 Grierson translates kanchan kala as ‘pure gold’, and this meaning would suit in 19(5)4 and 19(6)1, but ‘golden bracelet’ suits better here and in 36(6)6.
६ ) There is the usual pun on dipa—lamp and isiand.
») Literally, the precious metal became red with the ruby.
7758 - PADMAVATI'S MEETING WITH THE PARROT 19: 54
whether it is yellow or red. Itis the mlayer whe knows the secret of the gem. He sees and praises the gem which is suitable for inlaying. ‘“Who now will put his hand in the lion’s mouth? Who will move the matter with my father ?
‘In heaven Indra trembles with fear [of mv father] and Vasuki fears him in hell. Where is there an acceptable suitor for me on earth or in the whole world ?”’
6. “You, princess, are the moon; you are pure gold : he is the jewel without flaw, the sun without spot. What difference 25 there between severance and a devouring fire? ' He who touches the flame will be consumed by it. Any fother] fire can be extinguished if abundant water falls on it, but that fire cannot be extinguished : it increases of it- self. The fire of severance makes the king burn and tremble : he burns night and day with the same conflagra- tion : now it rises to heaven, now it descerids to hell : it does not remain stable, this illimitable fire. Happy is the being who can endure such burning: he is consumed in himself alone and tells no one else of it. Scorching inwardly, he becomes black, but openly he does not even mention his distress.
“What shall I say to him who has taken upon himself such irretrievable’ distress ? On the dav when he meets vou, he will get rid of this fire.”
7. When the lady heard how the king’s body was thus set on fire, there was love in her mind and kindness in her heart. ‘‘Let me go and see how the sun (Ratansen) burns [she said] : 1f gold burns, its brightness is enhanced If he should die from disappointed love, the blood-guilt will be on me, for whose sake he is a Yogi. O Hiraman, [after] what you have said, I shall remain in love with Ratansen.* If he completes’ his practice of Yoga, sitting on his [tiger]
(i) T have omitted Shukla’s Pa between Osrah and bejagi. Or we may read dach for hitch (conj. Pt N. Pande) ‘How shall anyone escape the flame ?
(j) Reading na met (Grierson) for rime? (Shukla). I do not find any dictionary authority for the latter, to which Shukla gives the same meanin
(i) Reading Hiramani jo kaht tumhA bain, rahthaun ratan-padarath कदि (Ggierson), though it is not satisfactory to refer both rafan and pedaratXk to Ratansen. Shukle’s Sunt kat ratan padarath rata, hiramani sauh kah yah bain, (hearing that Ratan—the jowel—was in love with Padma yati—the precious metal, she said as follows to Hirimaa) is cut of place
10: *9 PADMAVATT'S MEETING WITH THE PARROT 117
skin: he will obtain delight and I will also give him a garland of victory. Spring is coming ; tf 1 am fortunate I will come to the temple on the pretext of worship. B ‘my Guru’s instruction, I have woven [a garland of} flowers when I behold him with my eyes, I will place it on his forehead
“Vou have described' the bee on the lotus: I have accepted him as such. If he is asun”, why, the sun needs its moon.” |
8. When Hiraman had heard her words full of charm he accepted betel leaf" and his mouth became red. The parrot started to go, and then the princess said, ‘‘That which was winged /another’s, how can it remain? That which ever practises its wings for flight, even if it remains today, who can keep it tomorrow? I know not where [my day- star] has risen to-day. You have come back to me but, having come, you have gone away again, my parrot. To meet and then separate is another form of death’. Why did you come if you must in the end depart?” ‘‘Listen, princess, I should [gladly] remain with you, but how can I remain when I am bound by the promise I have made ? His vision rests in your service just as a bird remains [happy] in its bower’.
“The fish dwells in the water on {the surface of] the earth, the mango dwells in the air. But if there is love between the two they will in the end meet together’.”’
g. The parrot came to where the pilgrim was sitting, his eyes fixed on the way, a pilgrim of severance. He arrived and spoke his message full of love’s charm: , “I have met Gorakh'; I have obtained instructions. Your Guru has shown you great kindness: she has given her behest, and has declared the first thing’. One word she has spoken, one alone, that the Guru 15 like the ichneumon
(1) Bee 19(4)8,9 ।
(m) pun on s%r—(1) sun (2) hero
i As a sign 0) Parter o'est mourir un pew. Cp. 24(10)3
Pp) mahaft (one ms. quoted by Grierson) for man
(q) Not one of Jaisi’s ee piest aimiles. The fish and the mango meet when the fish is cooked with a flavouring of mango juice
(६, पुनर क a ( ध त refers to Padmsvati
8) 9.९ secret ove’s in on n Din has awan kahs dimhz, has bid you come to her
118 . - ` THE SPRING , ` ,493 0-20; 2 fiy' and the disciple like the moth. .The ichneumon fly seizes the moth and at one blow steals its life and gives it back again. Such kindness does the Guru do to his dis- ciple, giving him a new incarnation and a new body.. He who dies and lives again becomes immortal, and, as a bee, reaches the lotus and drinks its honey.
“When the season of spring comes, then comes the bee and the fragrance. If the Yogi thus practises Yoga, he obtains the fulfilment of his object.’’
20. THE SPRING.
7. Somehow or other the [cold] season was.passed : the spring festival came round. There was rejoicing in the new season: both sunshine and shade were pleasant* at every moment. Padmavati called all her friends, as many maid- ens as were in Singhala-dvipa. “‘ To-day is the new spring- tide, the king of the seasons. It is [Basant] panchami and all the earth hedecks itself. The forest trees have put on new adornment : vermilion is laid on the head of the dhak plant’. The flowers unfold and blossom with many odours : the bees approach them greedily from all quarters. The yellow leaves of sorrow are shed from the leafless trees : the fresh shoots of happiness burgeon rosily.
“The appointed time has fully come for the wish which I had formed in my heart. Come to the temple of the God in my company, for I desire to do worship.’’
2. The order went round: the seasonable musical instruments were sounded, and all the maidens prepared their adornment. ‘The lotus-bud princess Padmavati was like a Malati in her unfolding*®. She wore a lovely star-
~¬ =-= ~ SS eee ee ----* SO a _ =
(t) Vide note 15 to 9(5)6. CaNnTo 20
(a) Reading khinan for khin na. Sudhakar accepts khin na, observing that the alternation of light and shade is a defeot of apring. But Jaisi is not here concerned with defects.
(9) Asa bride’s head 18 adorned with a painted vermilion line, so the dhak plant is adorned with scarlet blossom
(c) +.¢. she was like a pink lotus, but when she laughed, her teeth . wore like the white Malati flower ८
20: 23 THE SPRING 13
spangled ऽप" and her head was covered’ with priceless [jewels like] constellations. Ten thousand companions were with her, like water lilies, all with their limbs anointed with perfumes. They are all daughters of kings and noblemen, and all wear saris of different colours. All are beautiful, all are lotus maidens (Padminis) by race, and all are red with pan, with flowers and with vermilion. Merry and bright, they make sport [among themselves], and all are wet with perfumes and sandal paste. |
So bloomed the flower garden‘ that there was sweet fragrance’ on all four sides. They were enamoured of the spring and the spring became enamoured of them.
3. There was a sound of acclamation as Padmavati set forth : [maidens of] the thirty six castes" were her goodly company. The Gaur maiden was in attendance there 1n silk attire, and the Brahman, twisting her limbs in a thou- sand places. There was the Agarwal, with the gait of an elephant, and the Bais, placing her feet with the step of a swan. The Chandel takes short and cautious steps: the Chauhan walks with a jingling of ornaments. The Sonar maiden proceeds happy and bright, and the Kalwar drunk with the wine of love. The Bantya girl sets out with a vermilion mark on the parting of her hair; and the Kayasth bursting with joy. The Patain goes clothed in a brightly coloured skirt, and the Barain chewing betel leaf.
All the menials proceeded in company with baskets of flowers and branches in their hands, to do worship to Vishwanath, together with Padmavati.
'3. (a) The Thather maiden came: she had adorned herself
(५) The ‘starry sphere’, a particular kind of embroidered skirt.
(e) Grierson reads au pahtrai sasi nakhat amolw. Shukla reads bhare sts sab nakhat amol#. Neither makes good sense. Perhaps the reading should be pahirs sis nag nakhat amola, (she wore on her head gems like priceless constellations.)
(f) १.९. the metaphorical garden of girls (bart meaning both).
(£) Reading subasny (Grierson) for 50 bvent (that fragrance) (Shukla).
(४) Cp. 9(4)3 note (12) and Sudhakar’s commentary p. 154 where a list of the 36 castes is given. Shukla here explains as the 36 clans of Kshatriyas, but of thenames in this and the next stanza (only 29 actually) only same are sub-castes of Kshatriyas (९.0. Bais);.some are definitely other castes (e.g. Brahman), while some may be either one or the other.
(i) Shukla omits this stanza, but it appears in all the mds., Grierson’s 1.8. being the only exception, and in that a page is missing
120 गड spainc ` -ॐ9; - 9
richly, The Ahir maiden came: she had applied lamp black [to her eyelids]. The Gujar maiden came : she. was drunk with cow juice. The Tambolin came: she was red with the stain of much [betel juice]. The Lohar girl came: she had sharpened her eyes. The Bhat maiden came with sweet words in her mouth. The Gandhi maiden came, steeped in scent, and the Chhipi who had died her clothes and printed them with flowers. The Rangrez girl had a brightly coloured dress on het body. The Nau and Bari girls went with a lively pace. The Mali girl went with flowers which she had woven in a garland. The Teli girl went with scented essence on her head. Many Besava girls went, titivated and adorned. All the buds which had been closed spread their petals.
The Nat girl, the Dom, the Dhobi, the Sahnai and the Bherikar, all these women went dancing with delight to the instruments of music and laughing and sporting.
4. The flower-like girls set out in attendance on the lotus ,Padmavati|]. They all pelted each other with fruits and blossoms. They bow and beck to each other isaying| “This spring festival is a universal holiday. The ‘Manora Jhumak’* must be chanted. Bring fruits and blossoms, all of you. When we have played the spring game we will burn the Holi fire: we will collect dust and throw ashes in the air. Perform the celebrations to-day ; no second day will come’: play the game of spring and perform worship.” Padmavati gave orders saying, ‘‘We shall not come again to make a visit here. Such guard will be kept over us that we shall certainly not be able to reach this garden. |
“We shall return to our own homes after worshiping
(j) There is a pun on J'hather—copper-smith and 44#thar—adornment. (ष) Manora Jhumak; the Holi song, sung by women in the month of Phaigun. The Sabdsfigar (sub voice) says that this verse of Jaisi is the refrain of the song as sung now-a-days. cp. 30(8)6 note (प). Phag: Holi aports, specially the throwing of coloured 1 For Holi celebrations see 30(12)(13) notes (3) and (aa), also atanza 7 below, notes (m) and (n). (1) Compare Lorenzo di Medici’s carnival song, ‘Chi vuol esser lieto sia Di doman non o’e certezza’, With ita reminiscence of the Pervigilium Veneris Cras amet qut nunguam amavit, quique amavil crus amet.
20: 4-47 THE SPRING 42x
Bisesar [the lord of the universe]. Whoever will disport herself, let her take her sport and her laughter to-day.”
s. Some seized branches of mango, and some of jamun [whose fruit was] scorched by [the fire of] severance. Some took orange boughs, some bushes of chiraunji: others took jack-fruit, barhar and lichees. Some took pomegranates, some grapes and some khirni fruit, some custard apples, lemons and citrons. Some took nutmegs, some cloves, some areca nuts; some took cocoanuts, some gua and some dates. Some took bijaur and some bunches of corinda: some took tamarinds, some mahua, and some khajur dates. Some took harpharevari and kasaunda, some myrobalan and some rai-karaunda. Some seized bunches of plantains and some had nim berries in their hands.
Some found these near by, others went to some dis- tance, For some the game was poison, for others it was ambrosia.
6. Again, her companions plucked all manner of flow- ers, ransacking all the plants in the neighbourhood. Some picked the screw-pine, some the champa or the jasmine: some the ketaki or the aganosma of the garden : some the hundred-petalled marigold, the Indian jasmine or the citron blossom : some the Arabian jasmine, the rose-chestnut, or the scented lime : some basil, or rose-apple, or kuja-rose : some found the oleaster, suitable for oblations : some found maulsiri or the abelia flower: some rup-manjari or the white jasmine: some found the weeping nyctanthes near by and some the dogrose in the shade of the Kadamba. Some flowered as it were with sandal flowers and some were lost beneath the tree of forgetfulness. |
Some found flowers and some found leaves; just as either came to hand. Their necklaces and clothes were caught, for there were thorns wherever they touched.
7. They all filled baskets with fruits and flowers, and, assembling in a crowd, sang songs in a high key. Drums and kettledrums and horns are sounded, and drums, bugles and cymbals on every side. Horns, conches, and tambourines made music, and flutes and pipes mingled their notes with them, All the goodly. instru-
16
122 | ‘THE SPRING | “20: 79
ments of music that you could name were sounded in procession, each in its own way. All the maidens mounted on waggons, resplendent with beauty, and set out for the monastery temple, conducting the procession of Spring. Young and fresh is the spring, and young and fresh are the maidens : there 15 a carnival battle" with vermilion pow- dered mica. At one moment they go forward, at another dance in a ring”; they are all carried away by dancing and leaping
The vermilion dust so flies about that the whole sky 1s red ; red is the whole earth and red are the leaves of the trees
8. Sporting in this manner the princess of Singhala reached the temple of Mahadeo. All the deities looked on her and in that instant all their defects of vision fled away. “These [they said] are Achharis’ of Indra’s Kailas : or Parmesari has come from somewhere’. One says ‘These are lotus girls who have come’’, but another says that they are the moon and stars and constellations. One says, “Tt is a garden which has burst into flower : behold all these flower-like maidens. What with their beauty and what with the adornment of vermilion” it is as though a lamp had been lit over all the earth. All who look on their faces are entranced like a deer dazzled by a mirage.
One fell down as if he was a bee that had smelt the scent of champak ; another was like a moth in the [flame of a] lamp’ and fluttered with half-burnt body.
0. Padmavati went to the door of the God and entered the temple. The God was alarmed for his life; [he thought] (€ temple is beset on all sides : in which direction shall I flee?’’ Padmavati made obeisance once and twice, and at the third time she came forward and offered her oblation. She caused the whole temple to be
(m) Dhamar:t; the Sabdsagar explains as ao special Holi song, but it ppeare to mean here the Holi revels in which red powder is thrown. पाशु is mistaken in v.8 in describing the powder as sendur (vermilion) what is actually thrown is #bir (red mica) or gul#l (meal stained with red vegetable dye)
(n) Chanchart; a rag to which Holi songs are sung
(०) See 3(8)8 note (€)
(p) Reading sefdur (Grierson) for euzdar (Shukla) beautiful a
(५१) Reading hot (Grierson) for Shukla'’s second ko; a
20: 9-10 ` THE SPRING 123
filied with fruits and flowers, and the [image of the] deity to be washed with sandal and aloes. With vermilion in her hands she stood before the deity and, after touching him, fell at his feet. ‘All my companions have been wedded, but for me, Lord, there is no bridegroom any- where. I am void of virtue in that I have not done thee service, but thou, Lord, art the giver of virtue to the virtueless.' *
“Do thou bring me to meet a suitable bridegroom. I will vow to make an offering,” and then depart. On the day that my wishis filled, I will straightwavy come and present my offering.”’
710. Wishing her wish again and again, the princess prayed as best she knew how, and then stood up with hands clasped. ‘‘Who shall give an answer? The God 15 dead,” —-a tremendous voice sounded in the temple. ‘Likea bird which is thrown away after [its wings have been] cut off, even so the Lord is dead," not to speak of any other (>०५.”* The barbers’ and the priests had become without life, the shew-bread was poison, the sacrificial cakes were death. Anyone who looked at Padmavati, it was as though he had been bitten by a snake. Seeing this state of affairs, Padmavati laughed [and said] ““Much good have I done by coming and praying to the God; he seems to have gone to sleep. Who will take notice of my devotion? Who will fulfil पार wish and remove my distress? He whom I came to worship has gone to sleep.”
‘Whomsoever [of the temple attendants] the companions lay their hands on and lift up, his head is feeble and he cannot move. No one knows which is body and which is living soul”: their mouths babble nonsense
(7) Grierson reads gun nirgun, Shukla gunt nirgun. 1 should prefer gun nirguas
s) Lit. ‘vow a pitcher’ the ordinary form which such votive offerings take being that of a pitcher filled with milk or milk and bhang (Sudh&kar) or with water and twigs of five sacred trees (Bate)
(४) See 17(2)1 note (b)
mart bk (Urierson) for Shukla’a scex (has gone to
sleep). In the second half verse, Bhagwan Din has uteru ko dewa (who will give an answer), an improvement, though there is no ms. authority for it
(v) Reading sad navat (Grierson) for nahia Awat (Shukla) and does not come
(w) Reading dhur jiu koi na janas (Grierson) for Shukla's dhkar kos jum na jinaun
‡&4 ‘ite अशयत ॐ< २०.25
11. At that moment one of the companions laughed fand said] ‘Do look, princess: you have not noticed a curious thing’. Yogis have taken shelter at the eastern door of the temple : I know not from what country they have come. It would seem that they have practised the mystery of Yoga with their bodies and have all journeyed forth as disciples in order to become perfect in the way. One of them, who is called their Guru, it would seem that someone has given him sweets (gur) and drugged him. He is a prince glorious with all the thirty-two quali- ties’ : he speaks one thing only and that is the tenth quality (४.९., the truth). I think he is the Yogi Gopichand’, or that he is the lovelorn Bhartari*. Bhartari for the sake of Pin- gala went to the Kajari forest : for whose sake has this one come to Singhala ?
“With such a form and such a posture I have never seen any ascetic. To my mind he is not a Yogi but some King’s son.’
12. Hearing these words, the princess mounted her waggon, [saying], “Where is such a Yogi? Tet me see him in the temple.’ Taking with her her friends she went round to the place. The Achharis came and surrounded the Yogis. Their eyes were cups full of the wine of love: when their glances met, the Yogts fell unconscious before them. The Yogis met glance with glance: fixing eye on eye, they gave up their lives. He whom intoxication assailed, fell into its power : he had no consciousness left even at a single cup. The disciple of Gorakh fell down in a stupor, as if drunk: his spirit left his body and departed to heaven. The viol which the pilgrim was grasping still sounded the same strain at the time of his death.
The business on which anyone has his mind fixed is that which will appear to him even in his dreams: it is for this reason that ascetics practise asceticism and afhx their minds to love.
13. Padmavati beheld [the pilgrim] as he had been described to her, like the thousand-rayed sun. She put (x) Reading ek (Grierson) for क (Shokla). ४) See 19(3)4 note (d).
{z) Gopichind, see 12(5) note (f). (a8) Bhartari, see 11(8)5 note (ण).
ॐ; 13-25 tae spring - =. 188
sandal-paste on him ८०. see if he would awaken for a moment, but he only slept more deeply when the coolness affected his body. Then with the sandal-paste she wrote these letters over his heart "श जा have not learnt the yoga of asking alms. When the time came, you fell asleep. How will you obtain fulfilment of your desire? Now if you, the sun, are in love with the moon, come to her, climbing the seven heavens.’’ Having written these words, she said to her friends ‘‘This is the occasion that I was trying to avoid. If I reveal myself there will be destruction : everyone will be like the moth in the candle-flame.
‘“He into whose eyes I look dies upon the spot. It 1s on account of this misfortune that I never go abroad, for who would incur such blood-guiltiness ?”’
14. They set forth and all drove their waggons : leaving the mountain they made for the fortress of Singhala. All the mighty gods were made a sacrifice’” and their slayer went away with the guilt of blood on her. Who is sucha friend as to grasp the arm of one who is dead, when life is not in his body? So long as a man has life, everyone 1s his friend : without life, none is a friend. Brother or kinsman or dear friend, without life you cannot keep them for an hour. Without life, the body is a heap of ashes: he who mingles the dust with dust, he is fully a friend. It was by loss of such life that the king was now dead. Who could” rise and sit up and proudly utter a voice of thunder :
The body falls rolling on the earth. Where is the spirit, mighty": as Bhima”. Who will raise it [the body] and make it sit up except its beloved spirit ?
15. Padmavati entered her palace and went laughing and sat upon her throne. She slept that night after hearing a tale of roving. Dawn came and she called one of her companions and said, ‘‘When Ihad returned yesterday after
(bb) १.९. they were made senseless by Padmévatl’s beauty. (There is a pun on dbali—sacrifiee and balt~-mighty). The victim changes in the succeeding lines to the king.
(cco) ४.९. the ane could ००४,
(dd) Balt, Sh ex ae as king Bali, for whom gee 1(17)2 note 41: or Pandit Kanta Nath de suggeate more probably that bal mbalt (mighty).
(ge) Bhima. The mighty man of the Mah&bb&rat, one of the five
Vas.
t26 «KING RATANSEN’S sitit-rumoraTIon 20; 15—-B4:'%
worshipping the god, I saw a dream in the night, girl. It was as if the moon had arisen in the eastern region and the sun in the western. Then the sun went:and approached the moon and the twain, sun and moon, were joined. It was as though day and night were the same. Rama came and besieged the fortress of Ravan. What happened cannet be told; it is unseemly : the fish was pierced by Arjun’s arrow’.
“It was as though all Lanka was nfled and Hanuman ravaged the garden™. As I saw this I awoke and started up. Friend, consider and tell me the meaning of my dream.”
16. Her friend considered the dream and said “‘{It comes from] your going yesterday to the god’s door. You performed worship and prayed with great devotion™ the god was pleased and come to you last night. The sun [in your dream] was a man, and the moon was yourself, O princess: such a bridegroom the God will bring to meet you. It is some king: of the western clime: he will come’ and be:a bridegroom to you. There will then be some kind of fight for your sake, lady: a battle will be fought against Ravan. There will be marriage of the moon with the sun: he will ravage the garden and will pierce the fish. [It will be] as Anirudh came to 31124. That which is written from a previous existence cannot be effaced.
“Joy and married bliss are“* in store for you and enjoy- ment of the essence of pan leaves and flowers. This is to come about to-day or to-morrow, such is the union [fore- told in] your dream.”’
27. KING RATANSEN’S SELF-IMMOLATION. I. When Padmavati departed after celebrating the
spring festival, the king awoke to the consciousness of
- ५“ — —— — —
Ne R&hu, the fish shot by Arjun at Draupadi’s wedding, see 10(4)5 note (14) ) There are probably puns on lanAk#=(1) the island (2) waist,
loins and on b47r3=(1) garden (2) maiden (bh) Reading binzit (Grierson) for bhants (Shukla)}—in many ways
(ii) Reading का (Grierson) for Shukla’s aw (has come)
i) Ushé& first came to Anirudh in a dream, see Sudh&kar p. 443
Reading hai (Grierson) for jo (Shukla)
91: I-2 KING RATANSEN’S SELF-IMMOLATION 127
spring. But when he [fully] awoke, there was neither spring nor garden/maiden there was not that festival nor the girls who had disported themselves in it. There was not that charming beauty of Padmavati: it was lost and no longer came to sight. The flowers were shed, the garden was dried up: all things that came to sight were withered and reduced to 23068. ‘‘Who has destroyed this established spring? That moon has departed : she has set, taking the stars with her. Now, without her, the world has become a pit of darkness: she is the blissful shade and I am burning in the glare of distress. Who will extinguish the furnace of severance when it blazes? Who will bring me to the pre- sence of my beloved ?”’ |
Then, seeing the sandal paste painted on his breast, [showing how Padmavati] had come to him and written and departed, he wrung his hands and beat his head and wept [lamenting] that he had slept so carelessly.
2. As the fish is unhappy at severance from the water : it is dragged out of the water and placed on the fire—[so it was with the king]; the sandal-paste marks lay like a burning brand on his bosom: those blazing letters would not be extinguished. They were like flaming arrows which pierced to his heart : they set fire to the whole forest” so that the lions were branded® on their bodies. The deer of the forest region are burnt with that flame: and they also are burnt who sit on their hides". -‘‘Why were these marks drawn while I slept ? Can it be that the letters are the cause of severance from her? It is like the severance of Sakuntala from Dusant, of Kama-Kandala from Madhava- nala, of Damavati from Nala® ; Padmavati closed my eyes and hid herself. ॥
Canto 21.
(a) Reading 9 त (Grierson) for Shukia’s bars (garden).
(b) Reading ban (Grierson) for Shuk!a’s tan (body) also tan for ban.
(c) Dag in vv. 3 and 4 may be either the Hindi dag (burning) or the Persian (brand). Possibly Jaisi confused the two, as one might also the English word brand.
d) 8.८. Even a Yogt can be burnt by the flame of love.
(e) The erat of Sakuntala and Dushyanta 18 to be found in- the Mahabharata, Adi Parvan, Adhy&yas 68-74 (as 6160 in K&lidxaa’s play): of K&makandalsé and Madhavanala in the hasana battisi, tale. 21; and of Nala and Damayanti in the Mababharate, ana Parvan, Adhyd&yas 52 to 89
(as also in Sri पि Nalgadha), But Jaisi, no doubt, knew these .storien from oral tradition. soit hl 4 a re i: a as
५१३९
128 KING RATANSEN’S SELF-IMMOLATION 9 $4
. “Spring came and then hid herself, disguised in a garment of flowers. In what manner can I become a bee and find ler ? What sage will instruct me ?”’
3. He wept. [His tears were] like rubies [which fell from] a broken necklace. Whert he stood, there was a heap of them, ‘Where is the spring and the voice of the Kokila? Where is the flower which pierced my eyes like bees? Where is that form which fell on my vision and which entered my bosom and drew forth my life? Where is that [good fortune] of which the benefit is to see and touch’ [my beloved]? If there is spring, what concern is it of the Karil? The tree which flowers when it loses its leaves is the mahua, which weeps thus in its passion. The mahua flowers fall dropping like tears,— tears which are shed like mahua flowers in spring. My spring is the lotus maiden, without whom spring is waste and desolate.
“T have found again the new spring with much sorrow and with much desire. This I know not, whether, in the end, the leaves will fall and fresh shoots will appear.
4. “Out on it, thou vile untrustworthy God, wherefore did I come and do thee service ? He who allows another to embark on his vessel ought to row and ferry him across. It was to gain benefit that I touched thy feet, but thou hast been for me like the silk-cotton for the parrot". He who , wishes to cross [a stream] by embarking on a stone, will, like me, be drowned in mid-stream. How can a stone be softened by service? It will never in its life be moistened however you wet it. A fool is he who worships a stone: who can take a second burden on his head? Why do you not worship that passionléss One, by hope in whom the mind lives though it dies ?
‘‘He who grasps a swimming lion gets across along with
(f) I have followed Sudha&kar’s interpretation of Grierson’s reading (daras paras) instead of Shukla’s deg dares, which gives no satisfactory sense But the reading is not satisfactory. Possibly paras conceals the reading paras (dhak), and there ~~ be some reference to the dhak which flowers in the spring, whereas the Karil doea not. Cp. Bhartrihari’s
“qet नैव यदा ettafaze दोषो वसन्तस्य किमू |”
(If the karil doesn’t bud, what fault is it of the spring 1) (£) See 8(7)5 note (20)
81: 4-7 KING RATNASEN’S SELF-IMMOLATION 129
him, but those fools are drowned who hold a sheep's tail in their hands.”
5, The God said “Listen, thou foolish king. The God himself had been struck by a thunder bolt before [you were] How can he who has already fallen on his own head be any- one else’s supporter? Padmavati, the King’s daughter came with her companions and displayed her countenance. It was like the moon with all the stars in attendance: I fell in a swoon when I saw this radiance. Her teeth flash- ed like lightning : the orbs of her eyes whirled the sword of death around. I fell like a moth into that flame: the god of death took away my life and placed itin heaven. After that I know not what became of her, and whether she went to Paradise or elsewhere _ “Now 1 shall die for want of breath, for breath comes not into my bosom. Who will attend to the needs of the sick man when the physician himself is fasting ?”
6. ‘How shall I blame anyone else [but myself] ? Even my body, my [inseparable] companion", has no com- passion fon me]. There has been severance from my beloved friend. I did not go with her, but went to sleep myself. What good have I done by nourishing this body ? The blame is mine: she is blameless. She, fair damsel, departed after disporting herself with the Phag game of spring and after placing the.Holi fire of severance on my body. Now how shall I place the ash of this fire on my head ? If I become ash, I will play the Holi game [ with my own ashes]. Why did I leave my kingdom and perform austerities ? My food and drink were lost and I did not obtain the accomplishment of my purpose. Though I have become a yogi and an ascetic, I have not attained [my desire]. Now I will ascend the funeral pyre and be bumt like a Sati
‘My beloved came and departed again : the spring came but did not reach me. Now I will cast my body on the Holi fire and burn it and reduce 1t to ashes.”
7. As the bird Kakanu' constructs its pyre, so the
(४) Sangt. Sudhakar translates ‘companion of my body’ and refers it to Padm&vati, wrong! 0) Arabic gagu&s, a mythical bird with similar characteristics to the x
11
430 ` PARVATI .AND MAHESH ' 1: 7--9: ‰
king constructed his and desired to be burnt on it. Ali the Gods approached near, wondering what was about.to take
jm the precincts of the God. “The fire of severance ney said] is a vast levin flame: if this hero burns with it it can never be extinguished : such levin flame will arise from his burning that all three worlds will catch fire from it and burn. At this very moment such sparks are flying that the mountains will be burnt and all the roeks will be split : all the gods will be reduced to ashes : you will not find even their ashes to gather up. Earth and heaven will all be red hot. Is there any who can preserve them, O Lord?”
Thus says Muhammad, the spark of love [is a thing] at the sound of which earth and heaven are alarmed. Blessed is the distressed lover and blessed the heart in which such a flame can be contained.
8. The hero Hanuman, who set fire to Lanka, was on that mountain as a watchman. He sits there and keeps watch on Lanka : every sixth month he rises up and gives ashout. With the burning of Ratansen, he began to burn again: he jumped over Lanka and fell upon Palanka’. He went to the place where Parvati and Mahesh were and there spoke to them this message ;, ‘‘There is a certain Yogi, the victim of severance. He has sown the seed of fire in your temple. My beautiful red tail got burnt there and I got my face blackened in escaping and running away. I began to burn with that levin flame and although I am ‘levin-limbed’ I rose and fled, burning as I was.
“I set fire to Rawan and Lanka: he has come to set fire to me. All the mountains have become clotted [with the heat]. Who will clasp his feet and restrain him?’
22. PARVATI AND MAHESH 1. Atthat instant, Mahes arrived at the place: his vehicle was a bullock, his external appearance was that of a leper. He had-rags on his body with a string of bones fastened round him: he had a rosary of skulls and death"
(j) Here and in 30(15)3 Palanks& means an imaginary island beyond Lanks ; but both Sudh&kar and Shukla give the tame explanation ‘he fell on his bed’ (p&lahg)
Canto 22
(९) Haty&. See 22(5)8 note (f).
Pe ` PARVATI AND Marttsrt rgt
om his shonlder. The serpent Sesnag was his necklet: on his’ body were ashes and an elephant hide’. On his wrist was {a bracelet of] coriander seeds, the moon on his forehead and the Ganges in his tangled locks. Chauri, bell and drum were in his hands : Gaura Parvati his wife accom- panied him. The hero Hanuwant also came with him, having the appearance of a young monkey. As he came, the God said “Do not set fire [to the pyre] : I adjure you by her for whose sake you are burning. ।
‘‘Have you not succeeded in carrying out penance, or have you destroyed [the efficacy of] your Yoga? Why are you, while still living, taking away your life? Tell me about your distress in love.”
2. The king said ‘‘You are delaying me with talk. Have you no fear of blood-guiltiness ? Let me be burnt: 1 am burning [already] with boundless distress. Let me get deli- verance and depart once for all. As Bharthari was [dis- traught] for the sake of Pingala, so am I for the sake of Padmavati of Singhala’. I moreover left my kingdom and enjoyment : at the sound of her name I undertook penance and Yoga. I came to this temple and did service, being without hope. She performed her devotions and departed, without fulfilling’ the hope of my mind. She* has burnt this life of mine which was burnt already : half of it has departed and half remained in my body. That which is half-burst admits no delay : if it is delayed it suffers much distress.”
While the King said thus much with his mouth, the flame of love’s distress arose. If Mahes had not extinguished it, it would have spread to all the world.
3. In Parvati’s mind there arose a desire “Let me see the truth of the prince’s disposition | Is there division bet- ween Padmavati and him or is [this division] filled by
PRED oe 2 mereka te ne Pa ae pA A oe ee EET
(b) The hide of the elephant Gajasur, slain by Siva with his trident.
(९) Literally ‘As Bharthari was for the sake of Pingala, so is Padmavati tome’. A guaint chiasmus. For Bharthari see 11(8)5 note (४).
Pingala is in some 1 > भव the wife of Bhartari, in others a courtezan through whom he learnt of his wife’s unfaithfulness. Ina bazar copy of the Bhartari song, one of his wives comes from the country of nese he also appears as the wife of king Bhoj (Briggs p. 244). See Sudhukar's श te p. 252. ; ध si
( ere is & pun on piyi—{]) performing dev (2) fulfilling.
(6) Reading teth (त, for mats (Shukla). In the second half verse I have placed the comme after mibaes and not (as Shukia). aftet rch.
132 | PARVATI AND MABHSH OF: 58
love ? Are they one in body and mind or are their roads different?” She became as beautiful as if she were an Apchhara‘, and laughingly placed the hem of her garment in the prince’s hand. ‘‘ Hear, my prince, one word from me : no other is bright with such beauty as is mine, The creator has also endowed thee with beauty : the sound of it has gone up to Siva’s heaven. Thereupon Indra sent me to thee. The lotus-girl has departed and you have gained an Achhari. Now leave off [the idea of] burning and dying, of penance and yoga, and enjoy bliss with me for the whole of your life-time.
, ` “Jam an Achhari of Kailas, whom none can rival. If you leave me and die in the memory of her, what advan- tage will you have ?”’
4. ‘‘O Achhari, bright may be thy beauty, but I care not to speak to any but toher. This is the advantage that I have from dying in the memory of her—(why dost thou ask about what thou seest with thine own eyes?)—that, eyen now, when I have not been able to give my life for her, such a heavenly nymph as thou stands [by me] and appeals to me. If I give up my life in the hope of her, I know not what may happen in Paradise. And what should I do even if I gain Paradise? She is my Paradise for whose sake I am dying. At her door I will not spare my life : I will remove my head and make sacrifice of it. If any one should come and tell me news of her, I would give him glory in both the worlds.
“ She is indifferent to me but I set my hope on her. For this indifferent beloved what shall I give if I give not my life ?”’
२. Then Gaura smiling said to Mahes ‘‘ Assuredly he is being consumed by the fire of severance. Assuredly he is being burnt on account of her : the fragrance of love can- mot be hid. Assuredly he is awake to the anguish of love : he has been tried on the touchstone and has proved to be gold. His face is sallow, his eyes stream with water, both clearly telling a tale of love. Hein this life is inflamed [with love] for her: he does not desire any other, but his delight is in her. O Mahadeo, father of the Gods, it was by
(फ Wor Apohhar& or Achhari see note (£) to 3(6)8.
ॐ: 5-4 PARVATY AND MattHsH . 133
thy protection that Rama was victorious in battle; show like favour to this one also ; fulfil his hopes, or else be res- ponsible for his death
“You are grievously at fault in that you carry two dead bodies’ on your shoulders. Take this third on your forehead, if you are set on taking it.”
6. When he heard Mahadeo’s speech", the King per- ceived in his mind that this was one who was a Siddha (an adept in Yoga). The Siddha is one on whose limbs flies do not settle: the Siddha does not close his eyes for an instant. The Siddha is one who is not attended by a shadow : the Siddha is one who feels neither hunger nor confusion of thought. He whom the Lord has made a Siddha in this world, none can recognise him whether he be revealed or disguised. This one, riding on a bullock and with the outward appearance of a leper, is truly Mahes the Lord of Girija. He can recognise him who is engaged in seeking for him——as were Bikram and King Bhoj. He who~ seeks him by secret spells’ is lost if he meets with him.
The way cannot be attained without a spiritual guide: he is in error who disregards this. The Yogi becomes a Siddha when he comes to a meeting with Gorakh. ©
- 9, Straightway Ratansen was disturbed in mind. He burst into violent weeping’ and fell at the God's feet, clasp- ing them. ‘Why [he said] did my mother and father give me birth and nourish me if love was to cast such a noose around my neck? Earth and heaven had both met toge- ther : who has parted them and caused this severance? I have lost the precious amulet from my hand.” Ratansen
(g) Cp. 22(1)2. The reference to two Aatiya’s on Siva’s shoulders is obscure < Sudhakar (p. 472) gives two explanations, both far-fetched. `
Siva for some time carried Sati’s dead body on his shoulders. He was also responsible for the death of Kaimadeva. Perhaps these were the two deaths
(h) This can hardly be the speech in 22(1) to which the king has already replied in 22(2), but no editor has suggested any gap in the text.. For Siddha see 2(6)8 note (33) and 24{2)1 note (e)
(i) Grierson reads Kai jsu iati mani 502, harm. Shukla reads jo ods tant satt sauh Aerz, and explains iaat as tates, truth. I would read jo okt tant maal saun hera. Tho Sabdasigar also qu the reading tatt.manrs (8.V gp a peor spella, op. 23(5)9. But in 27(2)8, 31(14)9 taat mass may
reason
mean wits (j) Reading chhwrt gdaphar (Grierson). Shukls’s rowdy, ककम (leaving off weeping) is not the req 26186. \
144 PARVATI AND MAHAH Mar 7
wept, and his tears were like falling rubies. As when in the sky the clouds rain heavily and the earth is covered and. the water flows along, the reservoirs burst and the peaks are levelled : nowhere can a ford be seen across [the flood]; everything become wind and water and melts away”. God forbid that anyone should fall into the noose of love |
He weeps as though his life were set on fire, and his blood and flesh were melted’: tears pour from every pore™ and fill every fibre.
8. Weeping, he was drowned and rose again in the world. Mahadeo then became compassionate. He said “‘ Do not weep. You have wept much. Now you are rich and have lost your poverty. He who suffers sorrow will have happiness. Without sorrow one cannot go happily to Siva’s heaven. Now you are perfect, having received initiation : the mildew has been cleared away from the mirror of your body. I will now say a word of instruction: straying stranger, keep to the way. Until the thief makes a hole in the wall, he cannot rob the King’s strong-box”. If he climbs’, he can jump in by that door; if he falls, his head will be [cut off and] the hole he has made will be stopped with it.
“I will tell you of that fortress of Singhala: the ascent is Of seven storeys. No one who has set his foot on the heavenly way has returned as a living being.
0. ”* The fortress is as upright as your body: man, as you may see, is an image of it. It is not to be attained by fighting [ever so] stubornly ; those who do attain it are those who know themselves. There are nine gates in that fortress and five constables patrol therein. There is a tenth gate, asecret postern‘ : inaccessible is the ascent to this and
(k) Reading garahta (Grierson) for gtrat (Shukla)—falls
(1) reading garat (Grierson) for girat (Shukla)
(m) There is & pun on roucs (lit. short haire) and rovahtz (weep)
(ण) Pet. Both Shukla and Sudhakar explain as—painz hat; but petm peit (box) would suit the sense better. For the metaphor of the burglar, cp 22(9)7 and 24 (1) 4 सन 21 (| a? .
(0) Reading rhat ८९, (Grierson) for rhe najas (Shukla), which does not give the = uired sense : but the whole verse is obscure.
' (p) एणः the Yogi ory of this and the next stanza see Shukla’s Introduction p. 81-83. See also 2(16)-(18) where there is a similar description
of
) Beading »tka (Grierson) for tka (Shukla) which would mean
perry | may 08 ecems; Griorson's text actually has avait, rhyming with Akt, कत्व is the usual form
99-998: 1 THE KING'S ASSAULT ON. THE FORTRESS 135
the way is exceeding steep. Only he can penetrate that pass who has obtained the clue’ and climbs hike an ant. Beneath the fortress is a pool, and there is atunnel therein : through this is the path, as I declare to you. As the thief enters in’ by working a breach in the wall : as the gambler sets [his stake] on the winning throw in the game :
“Ag the diver plunges into the ocean and only then does the pearl come to his hand ; so he who seeks out the door of heaven will make the ascent of Singhala-dvipa
Io. ‘The tenth gate is [narrow and tall] like a palm tree : he who turns his eyes upward to look at it can see it If a man will go there, he must restrain his breath and his mind, as Krishna when he dived into the Jumna. Do thou bridle thy mind by restraining thy breath ; if thou must die, destroy thyself’. Openly, do thou speak the words of wordly affairs : secretly, fix thy mind upon its beloved. By egoism all intelligence is lost: if you get rid of egoism everything is yours. He who in life once dies", what is death to him? Who can slay him? He is the Guru and he 33 the disciple : he is everything and he is alone : |
“He is death and living again, he is body and mind: he can make himself what he will; who else has anything to do with it ?”’
23. THE KING’S ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS
1. The King received* ‘Siddhi-gutika’. Thereupon he obtained enlightenment, having worshipped Ganes. When Sankar had given him the charm, there was a hubbub and the Yogis assailed the fortress. All the lotus maidens clim- bed up [on the roofs] and looked : Yogis’ huts had arisen, besieging Singhala. As when a thief has made his plans against a well-filled house, in the same way [the Yogis|
(r) There is a pun on Dhedas | aia ray: and bhed (secret).
(8) Reading pastht (Grierson) for batjh (Shukla)—sits.
(t) Reading apu (Grierson) for abAta (Shukla)
(४) Reading jo re (Grierson) for juras (Shukla)—is joined.
Canto 23
(a) Siddhi-gutika, a pill or wooden bead b ing which in his
mouth a Yog! is phe to obtain the eight siddhis oy note (33) to 2(6)8
Sudh&kar fing 46 Briggs Gorakhn&th p. 226. Shukla reads rajat jab pawn
॥ the न received), which may refer to 22(8)4 and mean that iva gave the Si gutika then. But it is better to omit jas, with Grierson,
136 . ‘HE KING’s ASSAULT ON THE FoRTRESS ` ` 88: +3 त्र
desire to break into the fortress. He is the true thief who remains hidden: if a thief is revealed he will not save his life. At each gate of the fortress the doors were closed and a shout reached the King [Gandharvasen]; “The Vogis have come and assailed the fortress in a band: we know not from what country they are come roving.”
. The King gave command, ‘Look to it and see what beggars areso bold. Quickly drive them away and return.” [So saying] he sent two men as messengers.
2. The messengers descended and, after saluting them, [said] ‘‘Are you Yogis or travelling merchants? Our King has ordered that you should go roving further away, that you should leave the base of the fortress and band your-. selves together somewhere else. By whose instructions have you planted yourselves here? -You have come to die and have taken your lives in your hands. Here there is a King who blazes like Indra in glory: when he is angry, the sun hides himself for fright. If you are travelling mer- chants, then purchase merchandise: take all the commo- dities you desire. If you are Yogis, then beg suitably”: take food and when you have taken it go on your way. Here such beings as Gods have been vanquished ; what are you, you beggarly insects’?
“You are Yogis and Bairagis; do not feel anger at what we say. Ask for and receive some alms and go roving elsewhere.”
3. [The King replied] ‘‘The alms which I came to take 15 something different. How should I not accept it if the King gives it? Padmavati, the King’s daughter, it is for her sake that I am a Yogi and a beggar. With begging bowl in hand I have been asking [alms] at [the King’s] door: if he gives me this food", I will take it and go on my way. This is the getting of food which will satisfy me: where else shall I go? There is no such other door. Now is my body here and my soul there [where Padmavati is}: let me be reduced to dust, yet will I not cease to call on her
(b) A play on the words jogt and juguti (yukti)
(9) a 24(५)8, where the phrase is more to the point
(d) १ what the messengers said in 23(2)6, but by bhuguit (satisfaction) he means, not food, but Padmava
ॐ: 35 > ‘THE KING’s AscAULT ON THE एवाः ` च
name. As without the vital spirit the body is an empty thing’—on my honour I will tel] you what you ask. You are messengers from the king: be witnesses with respect to this alms that I seek
“That Yogi comes to the door who has hope of obtaining alms. If he has no hope, he remains firmly seated: why should he go to anyone’s house?”’
4. :When the messengers heard this, anger rose in their ‘minds. When the barley is crushed the weevils wilk be crush ed also’. “Let noone[they say] call such a fellow a Yogi you should speak such language as is fitting*. He [Gan- dharvasen] is a great King: his throne is like that of Indra Who can lie on the ground and lick the sky"? If this word should reach there [to the King], the elephants of Singhala would be let loose at once. And if the thunder-balls are fired, your satisfaction will be forgotten and you will all be crushed’. You, a beggar, stretch out your hand to a place to which noone’s sight reaches at fullest stretch. Look ahead before placing your feet, disciple of Gorakhnath, and do not make your quest where your head will be broken.
“She is a princess, a match for him who has a kingdom and athrone. The fair lady will go to the King’s palace, the Yogi will be bitten by the ape’.”’
5. ‘Although a hundred apes may bite the Yogi, still Yoga is one, there is no second way. Other achievements come by practice, but the achievement of Yoga comes by self-immolation. The accompaniment of Yoga brings one to
the goal": the hand reaches even further than the sight’.
(6) There seems to be an aposiopesis here. Supply perhaps “80 am I without Padm&vati (0) +.e., the messengers thought (proverbially) ‘If we take back such a message we shall get beaten as well as t ogis (४, A play on the words jogs and jog ) A proverbial expression, somewhat similar to the English ‘doa’t bite off more than you can chew (i) Lit. (flattened like) pancakes (j) An allusion to the story of the Yogi, the Banya’s daughter, the dar ०8 and the ape, told in full in Sudhakar’s Commentary p. 489 from the thasaritaigara 3, 1, 30-53 (k) Reading str pahuachav kar satha (Grierson) for Shukla's sari pahunchre jogi kar ऽत क which would mean ‘the company of a yogi brings one to equality (1) Referring to र. 6 of the previous stanza. 18
138 ‘THE KING'S ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS ॐ: 5
If you have™ elephants of Singhala, my elephant is the Guru who is my companion. He makes the existent non-existent” ‘without delay: he makes the mountain as the dust beneath one’s feet. It is he who throws down all the fortresses that there are: the fortresses which showed pride bow down. Noone knows about the final departure [from this world] : he who comes [into the world] wants to make it his own’.
“The Yogi must not be angered, and so I do not feel wrath. The true essence of Yoga is like water: what can fire do to it??”
6. The messengers went and told what he had said. When the King heard he was red with rage. All the princes in their several places were indignant [saying] ‘“‘Who has preserved this Yogi's life till now’? Do you immediately and swiftly take suitable action. Slay him in such a way that there will be no blood guiltiness.’’ His counsellors said ‘‘ Stay and consider in your mind. There will be no glory for you in fighting with Yogis. If you slay him, a mere beggar, what profit is there? If you admit defeat, it will be a disgrace to you. No good will come from being slain and no deliverance from slaying: fault attaches to either event alike. Let them be if they have assembled beneath the fortress: how can Yogis exist without roving ?
“If they are beneath the fortress, let them be: do not raise this question. If there they eat the stones, who else has such teeth in his head °?”’
7. When the messengers had departed, they did not return again. The King [ Ratansen] said “They have taken a very long time. I know not what [is happening] in heaven [that] no-one has come back and brought news. I have no wings to my body, my feet do not [move on] the wind : how
m) Reading jau re (Grierson) both here and in v. 6 for jor=:Persian zor ‘strength’ (8 (n) Grierson reads hasats nasat (He destroys the elephants). Shukla reads 0९71 nei, (He makes the existent non-existent), I prefer hasti nati ken from a Kaithi ms. in the possession of Sir Richard Burn This could be capable of both interpretations, and this was no doubt Jaisi’s intention. Cp. 24(7) 6. [1 find Bhagwan Din haa this reading] “pan chahk kinha (Grierson) for Shukla’s so apan Hahn
(0)
(p) Cp. 24 (5)7
(q) Reading ‘be rakhe (Grierson) and not kei ab land 309, kot "त ९, (Shukla)—who has taken aud preserved Yoga ?
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shall I reach her? On whom shall I depend’? When he remembered { Padmavati] [tears of] blood filled his eyes and fell : weeping he called upon the parrot as his intermediary. The tears which fell like drops of blood went crawling like red velvet insects. With this same blood he wrote a letter: when the parrot took it, his beak became red. He tied it round his throat and a red ring was burnt upon it: how can the burning of severance be annihilated °
His eyes [provided] the ink ; his eyelashes were the ne weeping he wrote things which could not be spoken. Tae characters burned so that none could touch them. He gave it into the bird’s hands.
8. ““ Also do you, O bird’, give my message by word of mouth, after first having told her of my fullest devotion. Thereafter tell her asecond message, thus: he who worship- ped and did sacrifice to the Gods is still intent on a like sacrifice’: when his life was sacrificed, his body could not keep awake. Rightly have you also made sacrifice to the Lord : where it pleased you, there you made sacrifice’. Although you did an act of kindness in coming [to the temple], yet, when you showed your face, you shot me with a poison dart. If anyone has, like me, his hopes turned to another, that other will not slay the unfortunate one in his misfottune. My beggar eyes do not heed instruction: they go running ahead to obtain a beggar’s dole.
‘‘When eyes have been pierced by eyes, those arrows can- not be withdrawn. The characters which you wrote upon my bosom have completely taken away my life.
. ^^ How much shall I write about those poison darts? With the blood that flowed [from my wounds] the earth has been soaked. He who sweats blood knows [what it is to do so]; the happy man knows not the secret of the unhappy.
(r) Reading hour kehi कक त (Grierson) for Shukla’s hot kas chinya, (being a shadow), and taking chhay# as past participle of chhanz.
(8) Reading au mukh saua bach kahesu parewa (Grierson) for aw mukh bachan jo kaha parewa (Shukla), which might mean ‘and he also gave this message orally, 0 bird’ ’......
(t) Reading tateat ठ lagna (Grierson) for ४४१५४ eev na (तत (Shukla) which appears mesningless. +
(नवाण bhalehi ts tumA Au bals ककत : jahaa tumk 26 तए ladae ००१ kt (Grierson) for bhaleAs इञ AW tumh bali dinha : Jahan tum tahaz bh bali kinks (Shukls) which again appears meaningless,
140 THE KING'S ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS 3B: g-It
He who is free from pain, what has he to care for? ‘The beloved is always cruel like this. To whom shall I speak the language of love’s distress? He to whomI speak it will be burnt to ashes. With the fire of love’s distress the body becomes a forest” and is burnt : with the water from my eyes all the oceans are filled. I have written this letter remembering thy name: the characters, written in blood, have become black [in the fire of love’s distress]. The characters burn: noone can touch [the letter]. Seeing my distress, the parrot has taken it and set forth.
“Now I am dying indeed. My letter has gone to the hands of my beloved empty: if my life went with it, it could meet her and weeping recite my sorrows.’’
10. Binding the letter to his neck with a golden wire, the parrot took it and went to where the bright lady was. She was like the lotus which, in hope of the sun, though the water is up to its throat, dies of thirst: forgotten were her enjoyment, her repose, her happy home: where her bee was, there was all her delight. She had fortitude so long as she had not heard [news] of her beloved: when she did hear, her soul did not remain [steady] for the briefest space of time. There was happiness in her heart until love took root there: where love 15, how can there be happiness or repose? Unguents of aloe and sandal burnt her body thoroughly, and the clothing upon her limbs was like fire. As she listened to tales and stories her spirit was burnt: it was like ghee falling upon a fire.
In love’s distress, she cannot control herself: her clothes are soiled, her head unkempt. Calling ‘my love, my love’ night and day, like the papiha”, her mouth is dry.
17. Atthat moment Hiramani arrived. She was like one who has found shade when dying of thirst. “‘It 1s well, O parrot, that you have returned. Tell me, is it well now
(v) A punon ban (forest) and ban (becoming).
(क) Grierson distinguishes between the papliha, 2 (5) 4 note (28), (the hawk-cuckoo, hierococcyx varius Vahl) and the ch&taka, 10 (10) 3 note (38), {the pied cuokoo, cuculus melanoleucus) but Jaisi gives them the same characteristics. The nate of the papiha is ति to be piu, ptu or pi प्क, ‘where is my beloved ?’ (Less poetically, the lishman represents the same sounds by ‘Brain-fever Brain-fever’). Piu, besides beloved, may mean ‘drink’, and there is perhaps here a play on this meaning in the mention of a dry mouth. cp. 30 (7) 3 note (q).
O98: 11-3 ‘THE KING'S ASSAULT‘ON THE FORTRESS सवैर
with my’ beloved? I know not the way [to him]: the mountain is ‘inaccessible. When hearts have once met, there can be no separation. He who 15 athirst knows the secret of water. He who is in the midst of water, how should he need it 2“ [The Parrot replied] “Princess, why do you ask such a question? God forbid that anyone should be [so utterly] lovelorn. In order to attain the sight of you, he became a pilgrim of love, and was a Yogi in the temple of Mahadeo. You went there, taking the [festival of] spring, and after worshipping the God, you came to him. :
“With the arrows of your glaned you so struck him that he was wounded on the spot. He could not utter any other word; but only spoke the name of Padmavati.
712. ‘As every pore was pierced by these arrows, blood poured in rivers* from the mouths [of the wounds]. From his eyes too proceeded a stream of blood : his ragged robe was soaked and became red. The sun was drowned and rose again red hot, and the majith and dhak in the forest became red. It was like Spring : all the forest shrubs were red, and so were all the Yogis and ascetics. The earth which 25 soaked all became red ochre coloured and all the birds and winged creatures became red. All the bodies of Satis in the fire became red: the clouds in the sky became red from its reflection. The mountains were soaked and be- came deposits of vermilion : yet not a hair of yours was even damped’.
“Pity has entered 11६0 the hearts of the Chakor and the Kokila which are there, and their eyes have filled with blood : but you have not even turned to glance at him.
13. ‘‘No indeed, this is the spring game which you play,—you mix the blood ‘of others with the vermilion powder’. You indeed came back to your home after play-
(x) Reading sofahin sot (Gmerson) for Shukla’s stitahtnz sit (at every hair's breadth), with which reading mukh would be meaningless. (y) pastjny—(1) be compassionate (2) sweat. Lit. ‘you did not melt ४ न् ta ® single pore’.
(2) The red powder scattered in the Holi celebrations is not sender, See 20 (7) 6 note (®),
142 THE KING'S ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS ॐ; 727
ing your game: what his condition was God afone knows. He said ‘‘Who would die“ over and over again? Tet me once for all be burnt to ashes. When he Had made a fune- rai pyre and wished to set fire to it, Mahadeo and Gauri learnt the news. They came and put out [the fire] and showed him the road to where the game of death is approached [7.e., the road of self-sacrifice.} The road to love’s door goes backwards: he who would rise to heaven’”, falls to hell. Now the King wishes to press in, in hope of that [love]: he may either obtain his hope”’, or die in hope- lessness.
‘He has written and sent a letter in which he laments all these sorrows. Is his life to remain or to depart ? What is your royal command ?”’
14. Having said this, the parrot unfastened™ the letter. It was like the flame of a lamp totouch, so hot was it. Where it was fastened round his neck by a golden thread, his throat had begun to burn red and black’. Fire and breath issued together hot from his mouth: tall trees were burnt by the King’s letter. Weeping sorely the parrot told the whole" tale: his face became red with tears of blood. ‘‘Look,”’ [he said], “It began to burn my neck, so I threw it down. How must he be burning whom love has encircled in like manner ? His bones have been consumed by fire and have all become lime: what use is the flesh upon them when it is devoid of blood? He for your sake has let his whole body be burnt. The fish is burning. Throw it into the water.
‘For your sake he is a Yogi and has burnt his body and reduced it to ashes. , You are so cruel and indifferent that you do not even ask after him.”
15. [Padmavati] said ^ ¢ parrot, hear what I say. If I wish, I will meet him to-day, since he is enamoured of me. But he in his simplicity does not know the secret [of love]: that man knows love who has died to bring it to
cm a te
(aa) Reading mara: (Grierson) for Shukla’s jaras (be burnt). (bb) Reading so (Grierson) for jo (Shukla).
(cc) Reading कऽ (Grierson) for कत? (Shukla)—breath.
(dd) Reading chhari dai (Grierson) for jo chhareet (Shukla). (ee) For the rings on the 8770६18 throat see 7(4)6 note 6, (0) Reading sad (Grierson) for so (Shukla).
98; 15-17 THE KING'S ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS == 243
union. I know that he is not yet burnt through: the colour of love has not wrought on him as a fast colour. He has not become fragrant with the scent of the Malaya mountain: he has not become a sun and mounted to heaven. He has not become of the colour of a bee [४.९. burnt black]: he has not become a moth in the lamp flame. He 735 not got into the condition of the ichneumon fly“: he has not himself died, having lost his life. He has not been welded together with love and become one: nor has fear departed from his heart.
“How can that be called remaining in life when it is for the sake of the beloved that [the lover] remains ? Wher- ever he hears [that the beloved is] he will plunge in whether it be into water or into fire.”
16. Then the lady called for gold-water for ink: in writing an answer she bedewed"" the jacket upon her body. “For such gold [as I am] a flux of borax'' is needed: the jewel [८.८. Ratansen], if it is pure, will be set in it. When I in my simplicity went to the temple of Siva, why did you not there tie the knot”? ‘You were discomposed when you ‘saw my eyes. I was shy of my companions: what could Isay? Under colour of sport I threw sandal paste upon you: I thought that if you woke up I might give you the victor’s garland. Even then you did not awake, but slept. It is in waking, not in sleeping, that meeting takes place. Now if you are the sun and will climb the sky, it is only if you give your life that you will come near to me.
“Ravan could not enjoy bliss while Sita was with him. In what confidence shall I now say anything? My life is in another’s hand.
17. ‘‘Now if the sun climbs the heaven, he will become
(gg) For the ichneumon fly see note (15) to 9(5)6 and 11(7}7, but there, and elsewhere, it is not the ichneumon fly but its victim which is compared to the true Yogi or lover who dies and lives again.
(bh) hether with gold-water, or tears, or (88 Sudhakar suggests) with perspiration, is left to the im si aa
(ii) The usual pan on soAagy=—(1) flux (2) married happiness, cp. 10(2)8 note (8).
(jj) In a Hindu marriage, the bridegroom would not tie the knot,—a
int of detail which Jaisi might not have known. It would be tied by the family priest or by the barber's wife.
144 THE KING’S ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS ` 28; 17-338 the planet of eclipse and will win the moon”. Many have thus risked their liyes : how are you alone, 0 Yogi ?" Bikram entered the doorway of love: for the sake of Sapnavati he went to hell: Madhupachh for the sake of Mugudhavati became a mendicant and went to Gaganpur. The Rajkunwar went to Kanchanpur and beeame a Yogi for the sake of Mirgavati. Prince Khandavat performed Yoga and endured love’s distress for Madhumalati. Sursari be- came a siddha for the sake of Premavati. Anirudh put on 211 his strength for the sake of Usha.
“TI am the princess Padmavati: my dwelling is upon the seven heavens. I will come into the hands of him who first destroys himself. ध
18. ‘I also am”” enamoured of thee in like manner. A letter from the beloved is half a meeting. If love's fulfilment is within your reach, [you must be like] the bee [which] does not see the thorn of the Ketaki ftower. You must be the moth and seize lamp-flame with your lips. You must be the diver and plunge” into the sea to grasp me. You must be passionately enamoured as the
‘kk) The sun and moon stand, as usual, for Ratansen and Padm&vatl.
(1) For the stories referred to in this stanza, see Shukla’s Introduction 1 4 and the essays by Brij Ratan Das, Ganesh Prasid Dvivedi and Chandra-
li Pande as well as the histories of literature by R&m Chandra shukla, Shyam Sundar Dasand Ayodhya Singh U padhya mentioned in the bibliography. Most of these accept the view that Jaisi is referring to previous (न sources, but the evidence is not convincing.
There are textual variants of the names of the pairs of lovers :—Bikram (Vikramaditya)’s beloved isin Grierson’s text Champavati and not Sapnavati. (In the Sifghasana battisi her name is Singhavati}.
Shukla’s text has Madhip&chh and Mugudhavati, while Grierson’s has Sudai Bachchh and Magadhavati, whom Sudhakar connects with the Vatea king (Udayans) and the Magadha princess (another Padmavati) whose story is told in the Kath&saritsigara. Pt. Chandrabali Pande has Siribhoj and Khandariavati.
Both Shukla and Sudh&kar have Raj Kutwar and Mirgivatt. These were the subject of a poem by Shaikh Kutban of which some fragments are said to have been traced (Nagari Pracharini Sabha’s research report for 1900) and to be dated 909 Hijri—1502 A.D
Shukla has Khand&wat and Madhuméalati ; Gricrson has Gandhawat. These were the subject of Manjhan’s MadhumAalati. Pt. Chandrabali P&nde, who gives the prince’s name as Manohar, finds evidence that Jaisi imitated Manjhan, particularly in the catalogues of beauty in cantos 10 and 30. Mas, of a Madhumélati are extant, but they are later and not by Manjhan. The story of Sursari (Grierson has Sar Sur) and Premfvatiis not known elsewhere. That of Usha and Anirudhbha is in the Bhagwat Purana.
(mm) Reading ahaut (Grierson) for कवक (Shukla).
(nn) Reading lehu (Grierson) for lest (Shukla) which would mean ‘you set fire to the sea’.
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jamp. flame is red® in colour. You must close your eyes and become like a shell [waiting for] Sewati. You must be the Chataka bird and call ‘Piyasa, [‘thirsty’, or ‘she is my beloved’] : you must drink no water, in hope of the Sewati. You must be like [one of] a pair of Sarases who have been separated ; your eye must be like the Chakor’s [fixed on] the moon. You must be the Chakor, with his glance fixed upon the moon. Ay, and you must be the sun in the midst of a bed of lotuses.
“T too am [enamoured] of thee in like manner. If thou canst, bring [our love] to fulfilment. Be Arjun and pierce the fish and win Draupadi in wedlock.”
70. On the other hand the king had been so dried up by austerities that, burnt by love’s distress, he was like a heap of ashes. He had closed his eyes and become senseless : he was without life: he had given his life to her. He had grasped’? the ‘Pingala’ and ‘Sukhaman’” arteries and his gaze was absorbed in vacant contemplation. He was like a drop of water that is mingled in the ocean: he was lost and could not be found by seeking- As water“* that is mixed with dye, so he had lost himself and had be- come the beloved. When the parrot arrived and saw his miserable plight", tears of blood filled his eyes. ‘‘He always suffers hardships on account of the beloved: her he forgets not, but, forgetting himself, he gives up his life.’’
(The parrot] brought the root ‘Sajiwan”™ and placed it in his mouth, after mixing it with water. As Garuda flaps his wings, so the parrot distilled ambrosia”.
20. He was revived from death when he received this
fragrance. He drew breath and the life returned to his body.
(००) Ratu rang has both meanings, enamoured and red. (pp) Reading gaht (Grierson) tor kahan (Shukla). Pingala and ushumng are two of the main narte in Yogic physiology. The narts are lines of vital forcesin the body: see Briggs, Gorakhnath, p. 307-8. Tarai=-Traitek, a form of Yogic contemplation. Beene p. 328 quotes from the Hatha-Yoga-pradipika ‘Having the ए fixed (in meditation), one should look fixedly at @ small object (mark) until the eyes are suffusef with tears. (This) by adepts is called tritaka.’ (qq) Reading pans (Grierson) for pan (Shukla). (rr) Reading n¥e8 (Grierson) for {कड (Shukla)=—him. (as) For the root Sajivan see note (०) to 16 (6) 4. (४४) Perhaps alluding to तुक by which certain birds are trained to fly through an aseembly prinkling attar of roses from their feathers.
19
7146 शश्र KING'S ASSAUL? ON Ht FoRtRESS 98: 20-24
re
He awoke and looked: the parrot bowed his head; he gave
him the letter and also recited the message by word of mouth. ‘The words of your Guru have reached your two ears. She has looked favourably upon you. Come quickly, O disciple. She has made you the bee and she herself is the lotus: she has sent me, making” me, 2 bird, her inter- mediary. Restraining her breath, she has made fast her mind to you. She watches your way, laying her eyes 0६९ a carpet thereon. How you have immolated your body on the fire, this has all become known to your Gurn. It is on this that she has written and sent a letter [telling the] tale. Come quickly: she desires to give you the accom- plishment of your purpose.
“Come, [she says] lord of auspicious marks: my life dwells in your name. Your way is in my eyes, and your place is in my heart.”’
21. When he heard of this loving kindness of Padma- vati, it was spring-tide {for the king]; a new body -was created [for him]. The parrot’s speech was like a breeze which reached him: he arose from sleep and awakened like Hanuwaunt [t.e., invincibly strong]. The moon {Padma- vati] had given hope of meeting: the sun [Ratansen] revealed himself with a thousand rays. He took the letter and, taking it, placed it upon his head ; he was like a Chakor whose gaze has found the moon. When anyone longs and thirsts for another, even if that other upbraid, he still will seek"’ for him. ‘“‘Now what water is this that I have drunk, that wings have grown on my body and that I have come to life again after dying like a moth?’’ His heart rose swelling and could not be contained [in his body]: his ragged cloak was torn to pieces.
“Where the beloved dwells, this life is a sacrifice on the road thither. If she calls me [to come] on my feet, I will go there on my forehead””.”’
(22. The way‘ which he had obtained by worshipping
(uu) Reading kas (Grierson) for guru (Shukla).
(vv) Resding so (Grierson) for sahunz (Shukla),
(ww) Alluding to a method of performing pilgrimage which is still to be seen in India ; at each pace the pilgrim measures his length on the ground, touching it with his forehead.
(xx) He was given instruction about the way by Mahadeo in 23 (8).
93: 2e-—O4: I KING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER 147
Mahadeo, that way had become closed”, but he plunged into it. Where the steep fathomless cavity is, there he fell in, but could not find bottom. Senseless and blind by the stroke of leve he pressed straight on ; he could see nothing clearly ahead. He obtained fulfilment and controlled his breath and his mind ; Machhandarnath”, the Guru, supported him. Even if the disciple is far behind, still he does not give up following : the disciple is the fish and the Guru is like the tortoise’. As the diver plunges into the ocean, so his eyes were opened and blazed like lamps. He sought out the gate of heaven’’’: (the doors], closed like adamant, were opened.
Steep was the ascent to, the heaven of the fortress : dawn came while he was climbing. There was a shout on the castle heights “The thief has broken in and climbed up*”,’
24. KING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER.
1. The king [Gandharvasen] heard that Yogis were climbing the fortress. He enquired of the learned pandits who stood by him: “‘As for these Yogis who have broken into the fortress and are approaching, say a word of counsel whereby I may obtain success.’ The pandits learned in the Vedas study their Vedas and reply “A Yogi is like the bee which pierces the Malati flower. As the thief makes a hole in the wall and places his head therein, so both Yogi and bee play at hazard with their lives. They do not walk in the way as it is written in the Vedas : they have learnt* to go to heaven by mounting the stake. They are thieves, and it is on the stake that they will get deliverance: he who impales them on the stake does no wrong. A thief
(yy) Reading so mund (Grierson) for samud (Shukla). A reference to the ocean would be irrelevant here. (zz) For Machhandarnath see 16 (2) 3 note (h). (asa) The tortoise is an emblem of steadiness, the fish of the reverse. (bbb) Allegorically, the Brahmarandhra ए. 2 (18) 1 note (cc). (ooo) Grierson ends canto xxiii after the next stanza.
Canto 24, , (9) Or, ‘let them go to heaven, mounted on the point सकत of the © .
748 KING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER 24: 13.
makes a hole in the wall’ and robs the house : he opens the casket which is the king’s treasury.
“As these have at night broken into the royal palace, so do you stop them and slay them by impaling them on stakes.”’
2. His prudent ministers said ‘This kind of thief is assuredly a Siddha®. A Siddha wanders fearlessly by night and by day : where he has fixed his eyes, there he approa- ches’. A Siddha is so fearless as regards his own life that when he sees a sword he bows his neck. A Siddha goes verily to the place where life is destroyed : where else are such wings of death® upon any other person? If [a Siddha] climbs up to heaven in anger it will require no small pre- paration to slay him. If a King sets out to battle with a jackal, it is seemly that he should equip himself as for [battle with] a lion and then set out. Siddhas are immortal : their bodies are like mercury. It is only by stratagem that they can be slain : they cannot be slain by force.
“Stratagem was Krishna’s method when’ kings attacked him in anger. Siddhas are like vultures, and can see to the ends of heaven; without stratagem nothing can succeed [against them].
3. “Do you now make preparation for battle*® through- out your kingdom, let everyone come with bands playing. Let all your feudatory princes be prepared: let all your host
assail and seize the Yogis now.’”’ Twenty four lakhs of
(b) Both Grierson and Shukla read pukars which does not appear to have any meaning, though Sudhakar explains as ‘encouraging one another by shouts’. One ms. has चात क, which mig ht mean ‘making a hole in another man’s wall’. Possibly some word for is lost.
(c) A Siddha is one who has attained to a semidivine existence through the practice of Yo go gee 22(6) for his attributes. See also note (33) to 2(6) 8 and Briggs Gorakhnath p. 137. The chief Sidda’s were 84 in number. Sudhakar (p. 601) gives their names. There are 84 corresponding Asanas in Hatha-yoga,—those by which they obtained emancipation.
(0) Reading upasavahta (Grierson) for apasavahta (Shukla) =departa.
(6) Wings of death are wings such as those of the ant, which only lives a short time after becoming ve ed.
(f) This translation requires the reading charhe for charhain. With the latter reading, the meaning would be ‘Krishna worked by stratagem : kings attack with wrath’, which is not so good.
(g) Reading kadarmae (Shukla’s variant) for gudar mis which might possibly mean on & of a durbar (guzar, 6९०, == 7०७०१), not (Sudhakar) for dealing h the yogte (gudartesrage). The Shabd-sagar explains kadarmas aa=fighting, with reference to this verse,
94: 3- KING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER 149
tuling chiefs" made them ready : fifty six crores of soldiers sounded their instruments of music: twenty two thousand Singhala elephants [marched] : the earth with all its moun- tains was shaken. They all pressed the earth flat : Indra was afraid and Vasuki’s heart trembled. Millions’ of chariots came harnessed : the mountains became dust and flew up to the sky. As they marched it was as though an earthquake had fallen on the earth : the back of the tortoise was broken and its heart was terrified.
The sky was covered with umbrellas and the sun was hidden. You might see the night in the day time, as [the army] set forth like Indra in anger.
4. When they saw the army and the furious elephants the campanions of Ratansen said ‘‘An immeasurably great army is approaching : be assured that there will be a battle. O King, you have come here roving 852 Yogi: it was for this day’s sake that we became your disciples. Where the master is in straits, he is a servant indeed who does not desert him. That which we envisaged in our minds as the day of our death has today come upon us having ful- filled its period. Let life go rather than the plighted word: our loyalty to our king’ is like Mount Sumer which cannot be shaken. If we receive our Gurw’s order, we will face the foe and hurl our quoits.
“This day we will do battle like the Mahabharat, since we have given our truthful word once for all. Let truth see the whole show and then let truth bear witness.”’
5. The Guru [Ratansen] said ‘‘My disciples, you must be Siddhas. Standing at love’s door you must not display anger. If you have bowed your head and given it as an offering to anyone, it will not be right if you lift it on high. He in whose spirit love is has become like water : whatever
colour he meets, he will be of that colour. If love is to be
ne,
a It is by an excess of hyperbole that these subordinate chiefs are
called chhatrapats, the term properly applying to an Emperor, and have umbrellas over their heads (ए. 8). In 2(23) Gandharvasen sitting in darbar has the chhatra, while the princes have (ककम, which Grierson translates
(i) 48 0106 व Koti)=10 million, one arabe=100 kror, one kharabu 100 arab, one nil=.100 kharab and 1 padam=100 nil, a padam of Krors would be 1,000 billion. See 32(16)9 note (n).
(j) Omitting hyphen after eat,
4
९0 KING GANDHARVASEN AND BIS. MINTER. 34: 9-9
fought with, why do wise Siddhas perform austerities and die? Ample truth is this", that you shall refrain from fight- ing: when you see the sword you should become water and meltaway. What can the edge of the sword do to water? He who strikes [water with a sword] becomes water himself in return. Whatcan fire do to water? It is extinguished if water falls on it’.
“I have already given my head as an offering, laying it at the feet” of love. Now let me bring that love to com- pletion : let me go roving as a Siddha.
6. “Even though the king [Gandharvasen] assails and seizes all the Yogis, still the lover must endure one distress upon another. My spirit will not be agitated if anyone seizes me: I will have no fear either of dying or of living. She has cast the noose” round my neck: there is neither any joy nor any sorrow in my spirit. She who gave me life has taken it away : I shall not forget her so long as there is breath in my body. With viol in hand she will sound the strings and her devotee will sing the song of love It is well that she has brought the noose and placed it round my neck: there is no sorrow in my heart and all anger is quenched. I placed the noose around my neck on the day when I set out roving on the way of love.
‘‘Her name 15 in its fulness in everything whether open or secret. Wherever I look, there she is : there is no other to whom I should go.
7. “So long as I had not recognised my Guru, countless curtains were fixed between us. When I recognised her, there was no other but her : she was everything, body and mind, spirit and life. I said ‘I, I,’ making vain repetition : when one has become a Siddha, there is an end of shadows.
(४) Reading yah sat bahut jo j¥jh nahin kariye (Grieraon) for «ht sehit bahurt jujk nahin kariye (Shukla), ‘for this reason do not return and fight’. Bahurt would be meaningless here, and sat is required. The Yogia have appealed to truth at the end of the previous atanza, in advocating resistance to force by force: Ratansen argues that the real truth is non- violence,—the doctrine of satyigraha.
(1) ep. $3 (5) 9
(m) ng gpae (Grierson) for pant (Shukla)
(ए) Nag-phahese=nag-pus, 880 used as a warlike weapon, e.g. by
the Valmiki Rim&yan. See 9 (6) 4 note (17)
(0) Reading neh (Grierson) for thas (Shukla)
(p) For the allegorical meaning of this stanza see Shukla’s Introdue- tion p. 191/2
G4: 7-§ KING GANDHARVAGEN AND HYS MINISTER = x51
Let'the Guru stay or let the Guru give life ; who else can अध? All men come into the world to die. Fix me on the stake, er crush me beneath an elephant : I know nothing : it ts the Guru, who knows. “The Guru rides on existence/the elephant’ and sees [everything]: even if the world is non- existent, he still sees the non-existent. It is as when a blind fish darts through the water: life.is like the water, unstable and invisible.
‘‘My Guru has fastened my heart as a horse is fastened with a twitch’. She makes movements within with her hands and the wooden puppets dance outside.
8. ‘This Padmavati is the Guru and I am the disciple. It is for her sake that I have practised the secrets of Yoga. If I leave her door I know not of any other: on the day that I meet her my pilgrimage will be completed. I will yield up my life and will place my forehead on the ground : I will give her a throne within my breast. Who will aid me to touch her feet, and give me a new incarnation,—a new body? She is dearer to me even than life’: if she demand my life I will give it in sacrifice. If she demand my head I will give it, neck and all: if she take my life I will bend‘ all the more. I have no desire for my own life : standing at love’s door, I ask for her.
‘The sight of her is like the fame of a lamp: I am the beggarly moth". If she should saw my head off, I should die without flinching ।
9. Padmavati was like a lotus or the radiance of the moon: her smiles were flowers: her tears were pearls Her father restrained her smiling and her weeping : he posted informers: a continual watch was kept. When eclipse came on the sun’, the lotus had knowledge of it immediately in her mind. When the Canopus” of severance arose out
(q) A pun on hash =(1) elephant (2) existence, oD. 28 (5) 5, note (n)
(£) Reading ¢Aath (Bhagwan-D ere is ms. authority for this, and it is obviously the correct word. ® पताक is a cord twitoh a pplied to refractory horses. The mention of the cord suggests puppet strings in the next verse, (cp. 13 (3) 8, 9.)
(8) Reading so (Grierson) for jo (Shukla).
(४) Reading navaws# (Grierson) for taraneé (Shukla).
(u) cp. 28 (2) 7 note (c)
(v) 4.6. when Ratansen was surrounded by Gandhsrvasen’s army
(ऋ) See note (a) to 19 (1) 9
152 KING‘GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER 24: 9-22
of due time’, the lake of joy was all dried up. She could not openly let her tears fall : her flesh wasted away secretly and was destroyed’. As though night had come in the middle of the day, the blooming lotus faded away. Her rosy face became white : the circling bees [her eyes] became still.
When the lady meditated in her mind, she wept at every pore. Enduring a thousand woes, sighing deeply, shé fell into a swoon and lost consciousness. |
70. Her clever companions who were with Padmavati passed the whole night until dawn counting the constel- lations. The water lilies know the secret of the lotus: seeing the distress of [their] love-lorn [mistress] they wept. Severance is grievous : it is the image of death’: it cannot be borne,—death is far better. Death draws forth the living spirit and carries it away : the death which 15 severance slays twice over™. Severance adds flame to fame: it lays wound upon wound like a levin stroke : it shoots forth arrow upon arrow : it heaps affliction upon affliction : it is a fresh woe upon an old one : it 1s a grievous death beyond death.
The body is Ravan who mounts the pyre: severance is Hanuwant. It inflicts burning upon burning, and reduces thought and mind to ashes.
Ir. Some of her water-lily [companions] press’’ her legs with their hands: some sprinkle sandal scent on her body : some shed cool water on her face : some set a breeze in motion with the folds of their garments: some bring ambrosia and squeeze it into her mouth : it was as though they gave her poison ; the lady slept all the deeper. Her companions watch her breath from moment to moment, to see when life will return, a bird with wind for wings”. Severance planted itself in her heart like death: it drew
(x) Bisamau also=distress asin 24 (6) 3, and there is possibly a play on the two meanings here
(y) Cp. she let concealment like the worm ४” the bud Feed on her damask cheek. (Shakespeare) The lotus simile is carried further in the next two verses.
(z) Cp. 19 (8) 5 note (0) (98) 1 १ body and spirit. F (bb) ng kar parasakt# (Grierson) for pasarahtn (Shukla) which eis = त mean stretch out र । । oc) Akharawat 51, soratha, where the soul is described as pavan bind of the wind)
ॐ 11-13 KING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER 153
forth her life and grasped it in its hand. At one moment it clenched its fist“, at another it opened it. It grasped her tongue and no speech came from her mouth. At one time it struck and pierced her with its darts: the lady, trembling, was dying with discomfort.
In no way would love’s distress leave her. The moon was swallowed by eclipse. The constellations wept all around her: there was darkness on earth and in the sky.
12. Thusforatime™ she was swallowed by eclipse: there- after, God revealed light in her heart. Sighing heavily, she drew a deep breath : she had support and fresh hope of life. Her friends respectfully said ‘“I'he moon is freed from eclipse. Your brightness is brightness for all. You, the moon- faced, irradiate the world : who has taken this radiance away and made darkness? You are proud and stately with the gait of an elephant : how 15 it that you, our com- panion, abandon hope? ‘You have defeated the lion by stealing his waist : how is it that you now, being defeated, recite the name of the Lord?" You are the Kokil-voiced one who delights the world : who has become a fowler and seized you pitilessly <
“You are a lotus bud, a Padmini®™. The night has departed and the dawn has come; yet still you do not open your closed petals, when, lo, the sun has arisen upon the world.’’
13. Hearing the name of the sun, the lotus opened her petals and the bees returned™ to obtain the fragrance .of the honey. When her face, like the autumn moon, was disclosed, her eyes, like Khanjan birds, arose and
(dd) Reading khan ek muths © क्छ (Grierson) for khinahin maun bradhat (Shukla), which would mean ‘At one moment she 18 dumb, at another her dumbness is relieved.’ This hardly agrees with the second part of the verse.
(ee) The actual time is four gharia of 24 minutes each.
(ff) Reading Ab kas hari karas: hai he Aart (Grierson) for Shukla’s 46 kit Atri karats hai hiya hart, which would mean why do you feel dejected, O stealer of hearts ? There are puns on hart=(1) lion (2) having taken (3) the Lord; and (ए = 0666650.
(88) See 2 (1) 1 note (2).
(hh) Shukla (see also his introduction p. 144) takes the bees to refer to Padmavati’s eyes, and the reference to these as khanjan birds in the next line does not make this impossible. Sudhakar explains that the lotus (Padmavati) revives: its scent:is renewed and spreads, and the bees there-
fore return to it. Or the bee (eingular) returned to the lotus may mean that, when Padmavati revived, she thought of Ratansen,
20
54 XING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS. MINISTHR 94: 13-25
disported themselves. Owing to love’s distress, no speech came to her mouth : speech was crushed in her spirit, as she died. Grievous severance pressed upon her : her heart trembled : the enclosure of love’s distress could not be opened. Severance like an ocean displayed waves: her eyes went round and round : no word came from her mouth.” The waves followed rushing one upon another: there was a whirlpool in which her spirit could not find bottom. ‘Bring poison, girls, and give it to me that I may die. My life is not dear to me, why should I fear to die?
“At one moment it rises [above the flood of severance] at another it sinks, so is the lotus of my heart distressed. Call Hiramani, my friends. Eclipse is seizing my spirit.”
14. Her hand-maids and her nurse, hearing her, ran at the instant and fetched Hiramani after calling him. It was as when a physician brings medicine and the patient, dying of disease, receives life. Hearing his blessing, the lady opened her eyes, and spoke with a lovelorn voice like a Kokil, ‘‘As the pain of severance increases for the lotus, it becomes saffron hued with deep pain“ at heart. How can the lotus obtain buds of love if eclipse seizes the sun in day-time? The lotus leaf gives shade to the lotus bud : so you have heard all my distress and have taken it away. The wise man does not talk to anyone [of his purpose] : if he does talk [of it] he will carry it through to completion.”
Uttering so much speech with her mouth, she again became unconscious. Who should again restore her to her senses? Her face became white while she satd this.
15. And as for the burning, what shall I say of it, limitless as it was? A widow who commits Sati would be burnt with a fire of such violence. Someone has become Hanuman and has invaded, and has begun to carry out the burning of Lanka". When Lanka caught fire, that fire was extinguished : this devastating flame cannot be exting-
त i Reading birah samud (ms. Burn), for udadhi samud (Grierson and a
(ji) I have omitted yah sunt, which I do not understand, any more than Sudhakar appears to have understood the variant yah eujhé adopted by Grierson.
(kk) Reading pw (Shukla), but perbaps Grierson’s piari (yellowness is better. The heart of the lotus is ना ध र |
(४) There is the ysual pun on Lanka=(1) the island (2) loins, reine,
$6:15-1¥ XING GANDHARVASEN AND HIS MINISTER 135.
nished. It is as though mountains of fire arose : yea, coals of fire settle on all her limbs. Her flesh is cut into morsels and threaded on a spit, and ali her flesh weeps teats of blood. At one moment her flesh is as it were slain and roasted, at another it is brought to life™ and roars like a lion. Better than such burning it is that one should die : the bur- ning is intolerable : rather should one give up life. Though all the sandal paste of the Malaya mountain and all the water of the ocean should come together to extinguish it, the fire of her body could not be extinguished. 16. When Hiramani saw the lady, [he realised that] the plant of love had sprung up in the garden of her heart. He said ‘‘Why should you not be unhappy: you have been caught in the plant of love and passion™ ? God forbid that anyone should be caught in the plant of love: if he is, he will never get free even if he dies. The plant of love burns the body in such a way that as it sprouts there is happi- ness but as it spreads sorrow spreads. Who has sown the plant of love as 1f it were everlasting? It increases day by day : it does not decrease. The plant of love is accom- panied by limitless distress in love: heaven and hell are burnt with the burning thereof. The plant of love alone grows and spreads : no other plant can spread [sol]. ‘‘When one 15 caught in the plant of love, there 15 pleasant shade and delightful branches. When the beloved comes and meets the lover, the lover tastes the juice of the vine.”’ 17. Padmavati rose and held his feet. ‘‘Through thee I behold the shadow of the beloved. I am ashamed to speak and [if I speak not] my life will not remain: on one side is fire, on the other freezing cold.°° The sun has lost his way while climbing the mountain of sun-rise ; eclipse has seized him, and the lotus has faded.”” Being distant from him I am withered and am dying: it would be better to die near than far. We are near in the body, but meeting (mm) Reading शष्के. ,,,..१०...-.., gyms (Grierson) for b4r........ का ee ee chaba: (Shukla). The latter reading might mean ‘at one
time [love] roasts her flesh: at another it chews it, roaring like a lion - Reading pem prttt kai belt (Grierson) for pem jo ptfam bels
(00) Reading ® छ (Grierson) for piu (Shukla) (pp) १,९. Ratansen has been made prisoner while ascending the for tress, and Padmavati is distressed. (See Shukla’s Introduction p. 75)
156 KING GANDHARVASEN AND i18 Mitist#e 94: 17-26
is difficult : though he comes near, he does not reach me, so circuitous is the way. You are my ferryman, my Guru, my divinity : row me in such a way that I may reach the further shore. [You are like] the swan which ‘Drought Damana and Nala"* together, you, who are called by the name of Hiramani.
“The root Sajivan 15 far away: the dart Sakti" pierces me. My life is now on the point of departure : show me the sun speedily.”’
18. Hiramani placed his forehead on the ground: “Q Princess, may your throne be fortunate from age to age. He in whose hand is the root Sajivan, he, you may know, is not far away now. Your father is in enjoyment of his kingdom ; he reverences Brahmans, but he has Yogis put to death. For all that constables sit at every gate, love's votary made his way in by a hole. While he climbed the fort by night, it became dawn: as he came to the door, they seized him, treating him as a thief. Now they have taken him and gone to impale him”: for this reason you are filled with the deepest woe. Now you are the life, and that pilgrim is the body: it is the sick man who knows what bodily sickness 1s.
“By placing his life in your beauty, he has reconstruc- ted his body“. He himself has been lost: death cannot find him by searching.’’
19. When Hiramani had said these words, the eclipse of the sun seized the moon. The moon was afflicted with the distress of the sun : how great was the distress which that black-featured” one suffered. ‘“‘Now if the pilgrim dies for love of me, I shall be with him on earth or in heaven. If he remains fon earth] I shall do him service all my life: if he departs, this spirit will take wing and be with him.”’ She said, ‘“What is that practice by which one may enter
V—— eee
(qq) Sudhakar explains “‘you will deserve the name of diamond gem if you — us together, as the swan did Nala and Damayanti,"’ vide 21 (2) 7 note (6
(rr) For Sajivan and Sakti see 16 (6) 4 note (0)
as) Reading den gae (Grierson) for gae det (Shukla)
(४४) By a Yogic practice of entering into a fresh body, para-kaga— pravea of the next stanza
{uu} Alluding to the spots on the moon's face and to Padmavati’s BOITOW,
9९-20-24 KING GANDHARVASEN AND Hts MINISTER 1457
into another’s body. How does that road return roving by which the disciple becomes the Guru and the Guru becomes the disciple? In what place can one remain so hidden that if death comes it will search [in vain] and depart?
“That disciple obtains Siddhi who is not separated from his Guru. If the Guru shows compassion the disciple will attain the secret.”’
20. ‘‘Why, Princess, you are the Guru and he its the disciple. Why do you question me as if I were a new ini- tiate? You were pleased with your disciple and allowed him to see you when you went to the temple. The disciple beheld the beauty of his Guru : it entered his mmd like a picture and was contained there. You took away his spirit and departed : he became the body and you became the spirit. The heat and cold which assail the body, the body knows them not, it is the spirit which knows them. Your enjoyment went and reached him and the distress that was his came to you. You are in his body and he is in you. Where will death now find his shadow ?
“Sothat Yogihas become immortal by entry into another body. If death comes, it will see the Guru there and will do him reverence’’.”’
27. When she heard the feat by which the Yogi was immortal, death due to the woe of severance passed from her. Like a lotus bud her spirit unfolded, as though the cold had departed at the sight of the sun. ‘“‘Who can slay one who is so complete a Siddha? Ata glance of his eyes they will be burnt to ashes.“~ Go now and tell my message ‘Abandon your Yoga now and be a king. Think not that Iam far from you. That stake [which is prepared for you] is infixed in my eyes. If you lose [8 drop of] sweat from
your body, I will without delay lose the life from my body.** I
(vv) ‘Ades’="des (command). Ades guru is a respectful form of greeting among Sadhus.
(ww) Reading nirakhat main hot jari chhara pie ihe Din) for | Shukla’s nipurush tes Dela hk, chh, (It is the unmanly who will be burnt to ashes) ‘Grierson has a 1685 satisfactory text, niua ras tain jo hoy chharz, which Sudhakar explains (with reference to Vaidio prescriptions), ‘If he is such a Siddha, who would make quicksilver dead when it becomes ashes by the effect of lemon juice.’
(xx) There is the usual pun on ghaj=(1) decrease (2) body.
tsS THR EMPALEMENT of RATAN HN 84: 21-852 >
have made a throne for you within my bosom : you are now my King in both the worlds.
“Tf we live we will have mutual delight :* if we die, it will be together. Let nothing happen to thy life; if it is to be, let it happen to my life’.
25. THE IMPALEMENT OF RATAN SEN,
1. They bound the Yogis and brought them to where the stake was. All the citizens of Singhala assembled. They brought the Guru (Ratan Sen) first to impale him; but, seeing his beauty, everyone felt regret. The people said “This is not a Yogi : it is some wandering love-lorn prince. For someone’s sake he has become an ascetic : on his bosom is a rosary and he mutters® prayers with his mouth.” As the trumpet sounded for putting him to death, he, like Mansur’, laughed as he saw the stake. His teeth shone and there was a bright radiance: wherever people were it struck them like lightning. [Gandharva Sen said] ‘Make inquiry of the Yogi: perchance he may be King Bhoj’.®
They all asked ‘‘Tell us, O Yogi, your caste, your birth and your home. Say what is the humour which made you laugh where the place for weeping is.”’
2. ““Why do you now ask our caste? We are Yogis and begging ascetics. What caste, O King, is there for a Yogi, who has no anger if he is insulted, no shame if he is beaten? The mendicant is shameless: he has lost all shame: let no one become involved in inquiry about him. He whose spirit dwells in death, how should he not laugh when he sees the stake? To-day there will be release from love : to day I willleave the earth and have a dwel- Img in heaven: Today the bars of the body’s cage are broken : today the bird of life escapes. Today I shall be
) Reading mili ¢ karahia (Grierson) for mils gar rabehia,
(yy (Shukla) (we will be embracing each other), which gives better metre but not such good sense
CamTo 25
(a) Reading karat (Grierson) for karahu (Shukla) ( Manstir, the Sufi martyr who was impaled, see note (n) to 11 (6) 4. Grierson has man efru (the hero smiled in his mind), which maker an
excelient king (9) प king Bhoj see 68 (1) 8 note (6). Here probably any prosperous is
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separated from love: today along with love the beloved departs.
“Foday the limit is reached: I shall be made of a bright countenance’. Be quick and slay me: do not delay this matter.” .
3. They said ‘Meditate upon whomsoever you wish to meditate upon’: we are going to make you a bee on a Ketaki'.”” He said ‘‘I meditate on her at every turn: I am hers whether dead or living. Yea, I meditate on the lady Padmavati, to whose name this spirit of mine is a sacrifice, As many*® drops of blood as are in my body all say ‘Padmavati, Padmavati’. If these drops stay [in my body] her place is in each drop: if they fall, they do so taking her name. Every short hair of my body is bound up with her: every particle is breathed through and puri- fied by her spirit : in every bone there is that word [४.९., her name]: in every vein the sound of it arises.
“Where love’s distress is awakened, what is loss of and of flesh? I have become a mould in which her marrow beauty 15 contained.”’
4. "When such distress fell upon the Yogis, Maha- deo’s posture changed. He said, smiling, to Parvati: “It would seem that something like an eclipse has seized the sun. ‘Today the Yogi has climbed up on the fort: the king has seized him, and the sun has thereupon been hidden. A fine show has been seen today in the world :
—— rr — 0, 1
(d) Mukh rat is a translation of the Persian Surkhrt (literally) red- faced, (figuratively) of a cheerful countenance. There 18 a grim jest here, on the two meanings (1) Today the point of the stake will reach my head, which will be red [with blood], {2} Today the limit will be reached and I will ‘be cheerful.
(6) ५.६. prepare for death by performing your last devotions to your patron deity. ‘Say your neck-verse’.
(f) Ket=ketakl, the flower on whose sharp thorn the bee is suppesed to impale himself. Grierson and Platts identify the ketaki with the ०५ or fragrant screwpine (Pandanus odoratissima), but they are mentioned sepa- rately in 20 (6) 2.
(g) Reading jat (Grierson) for Shukla’s jas.
(0) From here to 25 (14) the mss. differ widely in the arrangement of verses and stanzas, See Grierson’s critical notes pp. 47, 48. I have followed Grierson’s order of stanzas, according to which Shukla’s 25 ‘8) (Grierson’s 277) comea after Grierson’s 276 which is Shukla’s 25 (13) and, in fact, after Shakla’s 25 (14) which does not appear at all in Griergon’s text or critical note.
(1) There ie a play on words in this and the next veree,—sir=sun and hero, tapa=blazing and ascetic, gahanuseigure and eclipse, .
160 . ‘THE IMPALEMENT OP RATAN SEN 98; 4-6
they have made preparation for slaying the ascetic.” When Parbati heard, she fell at his feet : ‘““Come, Mahesh, let us see [this show] at once.” They took the disguise of a glee-man and glee-maiden, and took the hero Hanuvant with them. They came in order to watch, concealed them- selves, and to see how true and how favoured by fortune was that figure [Ratan Sen].
The king [Gandharva Sen], seeing his enormous army, was proud. He saw not the disposal of God,—to whom He would give the victory.
5. The Yogi [Ratan Sen] remained in his seated posture and muttered ‘Padmavati, Padmavati’. His mind was in a state of trance, absorbed in her for the sake of beholding whom he had become a Bairagi. “Her form and name are contained in me: there is no other door visible to which I should go. And I will do reverence to Mahesh who gave me instruction with regard to this way.” Parbati, hearing’, praised his truth, and turned and gazed on Mahesh, ‘li Mahesh is in his heart,’’ said Parbati, ‘‘why should this stranger bow his head? Even at the point of death it is your name that he has taken : it is you of whom he has been thinking on this occasion.
“They are slaying“ the stranger. Save him at this time’. No one is anything to anybody who does not go all the way with him to the further side.’’
6. The parrot took the message” and went to the place where they were impaling Ratan Sen. Seeing Ratan Sen, Hiramani wept, saying, “People have, by their perversity, lost the Raja’s life.’’ Seeing HMiramani’s weeping, all the people weep and gaze on the king’s [Ratan Sen’s] face. They all, weeping, pray to the Creator, saying, ‘Do’ this kindness that someone may deliver him.” [The parrot] spoke the message and told all [Padmavati's] misfortune. “She is much distressed, mure than can be told. She has taken out her life and sits with it in her hands, [saying]
M Reading suns (Grierson) for punt (Shukla),
(x) Reading Aas’ (Grierson) for At (Shukla).
(1) Reading bar (a ms. quoted by Grieraon) for fir (Shukla) which could only mean save the hero. This involves a conjectural emendation in the next verse (for rhyme’s sake) of na {ड} to na par.
(m) The measage given to him by Padmavati in 24 (21), (n) Reading karn (Grierson) for ka} (Shukla).
25: 6,7.9 THE IMPALEMENT OF RATAN SEN 161
‘Tf he dies, I will die: [if he lives], I will live with him.”’ Hearing the message, the king then smiled and said ‘‘My life lives in her life, and my body in her body.”
The parrot and the gleeman bard’ were together ready to give their lives. [They said to one another] ‘‘Come: go and see [what can be done] there where the king [Gandharva Sen] 15 sitting.”
7. The king [Ratan Sen] remained with his eyes cast down, but the gleeman bard could not stay [where he was]. He said, as he took a dagger in his hand, ‘‘To sit in a box does not become a man. When Krishna slew Kans in his anger, then it was known that he was of manly birth.” Where Gandharva Sen was, greatly angered, the bard went and stood before him. Gandharva Sen spoke in wrath, “What kind of Yogi is this and what kind of ill-mannered bard? While all the princes and nobles stand and look on, he has given his blessing with his left hand? [The bard, 2.९., Mahadeo, said] “The Yogi is water, and you, O King, are fire : it is not fitting that water should war with fire.
“Water is quenched by fire. War not, O King, be wise. He is holding his begging bowl at your door. Give him alms and not war.”’
g. * The king spoke ‘Who is this ul-mannered bard who has given his blessing with his left hand? What such Yogi is there in my city who would break in and climb my fortress in order to steal? Indra fears me and ever bows his head. Krishna, who muzzled the’ black snake, fears me. Brahma, who has four faces, fears me: and in hell, Bali and Vasuki fear me. The earth quivers and Sumeru quakes: the sun, the moon, and the sky and Kuber. The clouds in whose glance is the lightning, fear me: the tortoise, on whose back the earth rests, fears me. If I wished, I could smash* all these, seizing them by the hair : and who is this king’, a mere worm or moth ?”’
(0) १,९. Mahadeo in disguise. a (p) Reading Kirisan garai दति jei natha (Grierson) for janat kran aes _ jew nth, (Shukia)—Krishna knows this, who muzzled (lit. put a nose-string on) Sesnag. Kali was the snake which Krishna muzzled, not Ses.
(q) Reading so ab bhavjaun (Grierson) for क m@agawé (Shukla), which does not make sense.
(८) The mention of a king is premature ; Gandharvasen does not yet
know that the Yogi is king Ratansen. * See note A, page 159,
9
169. (28 MPALEMENT OF RATAN BEN’ 26: पर
The bard said “Listen, O King. Pride does not bessem the spirit. Bhima" was rescued from drowning in the skull of Kumbh Karan.
10. “Ravan in pride quarrelled with Rama, and through the same pride battle took place. Who was so mighty as Ravan, who had ten heads and twenty strong arms, whose kitchen the sun heated and whose garments the sea’ washed continually 2 Suk" was his counsellor and the moon -his torch-bearer : the wind cohtinually swept his door. He fetched Yama [the God: of death] and bound him to his bed-post : there was none other who could challenge him, even in adream. He who was like adamant, not to be moved for any moving, even he died when struck by two ascetics. He had ten crores of grandsons and sons, but not a single person was left to weep for him.
“Tet noone display pride, esteeming any one as small and weak If God is with the small and weak, he gives him the scroll of victory ”’
Iz. Now the bard who was there in front [of the king] rose respectfully when the king was angered, [and said] ‘“‘A bard is the image of Sankar: a king keeps a bard as a barrier before him. The bard who looks on his own death’, who would be angry with him?’ King Gandharva Sen said ‘‘Why have you mounted the ladder of death? Why do you hold such unseemly discourse ? It 1s confusion that you make and not bard’s work” If you area bard by caste why do you bring disgrace on your caste by giving a bles- sing to a king with your left hand? When you call yourself
(r) Bhima boasted that, if Kuambha Karan were alive and present, he would throw him into the ocean. Soon after, he himself fell into a lake and was nearly drowned. After he had been rescued, he learnt that this lake was contained in the skull of Kumbha-Karan. (Sudhakar quotes this as a traditional story, ए. 590).
(४) All authorities have basandar or baisundar (fire), but samundar (ocean) seems an obvious emendation, althongh the usual form of this word in Jaisi is samud.
(a) Sukra, the regent of the planet Venus and the guru of the Daityas v. 4) (13) 4.
(v) Reading jo Apant (Grierson) for pat Apuna (Shukla).
(w) I have followed Grierson’s reading kthe apbant as dharat, karad bttand bhajaat na karat and Sudhakar's interpretation. Shukla’s 1 ould mean ‘Why have you recited a different speech ? You do not act wisely, #0 af to extract a gift,’
$62.12+13 श" TMPALEMENY OF RATAN got #63
a.bard, how shall I take your life? Speak at once, bowing your neck.
“You are a bard and he is a Yogi. What have you and hein common? What do you gain by this deceit? What lunacy is this?’’
12. ‘If you ask me truly, King Gandharva Sen, I will speak truly, even though’ lightning should fall. .What has a bard to fear from death? The dagger is in his hand with which he will stab himself and die. In Jambu-dvipa is the country of Chitaur : Chitrasen was there, a mighty king. This is Ratan Sen, his son: he is of Chauhan’ race. [That which is written] cannot be extinguished’. In sword play he is immoveable like mount Sumeru™: he would not yield ground though the world came against him. In liberality he is like Sumeru, he never stints in giving: he who asks alms of him [need never] ask of any other. I have raised my right hand to him: who else is there to whom I should thus give my blessing ?
‘My name is Mahapatra’’, and I am his bold beggar-man. Even if anger arises from the saying of a hard word, still a messenger should say it
13.° At that moment Mahes again was ashamed in his mind : being in the guise of a bard he addressed the king respectfully : ‘“Gandharvasen, you are a great king: I am the image of Mahes : hear what Isay. One should say that word which will result in good in the future : what is the use of losing one’s temper? This isa prince, he is not a Yogi: he has become a pilgrim of love, on hearing of Padmavati. Heis the son of a kingly house of Jambu-dvipa : that which is written cannot be effaced. Your own parrot went and brought him : she whose [lover] he is has accepted him as
(x) Reading kin = kyua naA¥a (Grierson) for nahsa (Shukis)
(y) As Shukla pointa out (Introduction p. 241) Jaisi has made: a कक न resenting Ratansen as a Chauhan. The rulers of Chitor were, and are, as
(४) Op. 25 (13) 5 where the same thing is said more clearly and with
(aa) Sumeru, which in the previous verse was an emblem of firmness, being situated at the North Pole, is here an emblem of liberality, being made of gold. But some mss. have samuad (ocean) here
(bb) A bardio title of honour
{oc) This stanza repeate part of the preceding stanza, and ‘the first
two vorses (which are not in some mas.) in the narrativ
164 ‘te IMPALEMENT OF RATAN SEN 296: 23,048 `
a bridegroom. Furthermore, this matter has been heard in the heaven of Siva. Perform the marriage: it is your duty.
“He 15 holding out his begging bowl and asking alms: even if he dies he will not leave your door. Be wise and give him alms in a golden bowl: slay him not.”
144. “Avaunt, you begging bard. Why do you thus insult me? Who in the world can he worthy of me? He on whomI fix my gaze goes to hell. If any Yogi or ascetic comes hither, he is terrified even at hearing of me : he takes his alms and goes on to beg elsewhere, but this one has remained ail night at the approach to my fortress. I would like to give him according to his wish, and, if not, to impale himon a stake and take his life. Any one who has such a desire to lose his. life will lament like a moth tn a lamp flame. Gods, men, Munis and all Gandharvas and Devas (who would reckon him?) do me service continually.
“‘Who can rival me? Hear me, O false bard. He will be dust if I set in motion my troops of elephants.”’
8.° While the Lord spoke in the guise of a bard, the hero Hanuwant could not be restrained. Instantly he crushed the stake and seized it and put it in his mouth like a radish. Mahadeo rang the bell for battle : hearing the sound, Brahma came : Bisun” the flute player advanced with his weapons: all Indra’s heaven came to the rescue. The lord of serpents thrust his hood out from hell: all the eight tribes® of snakes stood by: thirty three crores™ of
(dd) This stanza is not in Grierson’s text, or in his critical notes.
(ee) See note (h) to 25 (4) for order of sianzas, I have followed Grierson’s text of this stanza. The first two veraes in Shukla do not fit the context,—‘He is no Yogi, he is 800} : if you know the secret, engage on the search. If battle ia joined, it will be a Mahabharat : all the warriurs will come to aid’.
Grierson’s text of the first two verses is ‘Bh&t bhes isar jas bb&kha, Hanuwanht bir rahai nahin rékba&. Linh 0007 tat khan wai stril, dhari mukh melesi jainahin muri.’ The order of the other verses is different.
(ff) There does not seem to be any ms. authority for Shukla’s Krsna.
(gg) Cp. 10 (1) 9 note (4).
(hh) Sudhakar (p. 601) explains the number thus : there are 11 deities ap iece for heaven, earth antl hell in the Rigveda, and in the Puranas each of
esa has 10 million offapring. He is also at pains to find Puranic authority for the numbers of clouds, flames and mountains which follow.
95:8,15,16 ‘tHe IMPALEMEN?T of RATAN SEN 165
deities made themselves ready and ninety stx clusters of clouds thundered. Fifty six crores of flames blazed and a lakh and a quarter of mountains quivered.
the nine Nathas’ approached, and all the eighty four Siddhas’, The earth blazed with the three and a half thunder bolts"*: the sky [was filled] with Garud and his vultures.
15. The Yogis all gathered in a circle behind : valiant and mighty, they advanced with their loins girt for battle. The ministers said “Listen, O King, now you may see the work of the Yogis. As we told you, you should not go to battle : a huge", immeasurable army approaches. In a moment it becomes a dense throng: he who advances in the host and remains is the conqueror.’ Mustering his resolution, the king then raged : Angad™" came and planted his feet in the battle. Five elephants which had charged in the van, these Angad seized by the trunks and swung round. He flung them away and they went up to the sky : they did not return but remained fixed there.
The Yogis watched the marvel : the elephants came not back. “It is for Yogis to fight like that, with their feet not touching the ground™.”’
16. They tell the news ‘‘The Yogis have come now: ina moment they will attack. Beforethey attack, do you manoeuvre thus,—make the whole troop of elephants charge. When the elephants, charging, are in the forefront of the battle, them make a cavalry charge along with them.” The troop of elephants advanced in front : then Hanuwant
stretched out his tail. As they came to battle in the midst
(ii) The nine Nathas are the principle gurus of the Gorakhnathi Yogis. Sudhakar (p. 241) gives a list of names. They are worshi re by Ba a at initiation (Briggs, p. 33. He gives other liste in Chapter 1 f his ).
(jj) For the 84 8140088 see 24 (2) note c.
(kk) Reading, with Grierson Ahujs bajar, Bhagwan Din notes that the correct traditional nu:nber of thunderbolts is three and a half. Shukla has 7८921 bajar (the eight thunderbolts) in 26 (17) 5, 43 (3) 1 and 48 (17) 5 where also I think the correct leading should be ahujs or ahujhaw. Here Shukla has त mahabitrat, chale gagan garud au gidh (Garud and the vultures flew up in the sky [saying] “today there is a Mahkbh&rat.’’) *
(ll) Reading bahut (Grierson) for jagat (Shukla),
{mm) Angad, a warrior monkey, son of Bali, who assisted Rame in the rescue of Site.
(nn) a being supposed to have attained the power of levitation, one of the eight Siddhis,mnote 23(1)1 note (c).
766 ‘et patient of अ. enw 8698: rod
of the armies, he swung his tail and enfolded them ail. Many were broken into nine pieces : many were thrawn into the depths of the universe: many, whirling, adorned the firmament : what had been exceeding great became exceeding small
Many fell in the ocean and, when they fell, not a trace of them was found. Where there had been pride. there there was distress : where there had been laughter, there there was weeping.
17. Then what did the king see before him? The Lord’s bell sounded in the battle, When Bisun heard it, he blew” a blast on his conch. In the van was Hanu- want’s tail. [Vishnu] carried about with him the universal world. Up to heaven and down to hell everything was filled with dust. Bali, Vasuki, Indra, king of men, Rahu and the constellations, the sun and the moon, all the Dana-~ vas of the city of demons, and all the three and a half thunder- bolts’’, all came massed for battle. All that the King had prided himself upon had now turned and arrayed itself against him as an enemy. Where Mahadeo was standing in the battle the king bowed his head and fell at his feet.
“For what reason are you wroth? I am your servant and disciple. The girl is my Lord’s: give her to whom you will.”
18. Now once again Mahes acted as a messenger : before, his message had been bitter, now it was sweet. “You, O King Gandharvasen, are esteemed by all the world: you have all the fourteen virtues :** who else is there who can instruct you? MHiramani, who 15 your bird, went to Chitaur and there did service. Summon him and question him about that country, and whether [{Ratansen] 1s a Yogi or is king there. If you do not trust my word, let what he says be relied upon. Where the maid is, there: her bridegroom has come: perform the marriage: it is a duty strongly incumbent on you.
(00) Reading ao (Grierson) 1 (Shukla). Literally ‘he filled the conch’ op. ‘Sound, sound the clarion { ading ahujhau (Grierson) for ajhau (Shukla), see 25(8)9 note (kk) and &3(3)1 note (c) g gives & list of the 14 scsences at p. 612. These may be what are intended here
$5: 18-20 TRE IMPALEMENT OF RATAN SEN 16H.
Thottgh {a man] may at first not esteemt a thing in hie) mind of accept it, yet when he tests it [ and finds it is] a jewel, he will fasten it in his pouch.
“Ratansén is a jewel which cannot be hid : if there is any tester, let him test it. Give him what he begs for in a golden bowl which has been tried on the touch-stone’”’.
19. When the king heard of Hiramani, his anger departed and he considered the matter in his mind. The order was given ‘Call him. From a pandit there can be no deception.’ At the word of one thousands ran: they swiftly brought Hiramani. They brought the cage before [ the king ] and opened it : the parrot came forth and met [the king] after estrangement of many days. He met him, praising him in many ways: the king listened, and there was peace in his heart. It was as though water had fallen on burning fire: his heart blossomed and was filled with joy Then the king, smiling, asked him a question : ‘How has your body become yellow and your face red?
‘You are learned in the four Vedas, and have read the Shastras and the Vedas. Where have you brought up these Yogis who have come and broken into the for- tress ?”’
20" MHiramani began to speak elegantly: giving [ the king] his blessing and reciting his praise, he said, ‘QO great king of Gods and God of kings, if you are angered when you hear me, I can say nothing. Still, your servant will say fearlessly that which will be good in the end, even if it rouses anger. Your parrot has indeed sought out a delicious and ambrosial fruit: do not, O King, be like Bikram or Bhoj™. I am your servant, you are my first master: J will do you service so long as I live. He who has given me life and has shown me a country [ to live in ], may he live for ever, O King. The bird which medi-
(rr) Throughout this stanze, Hiramani confuses Gandharvasen with the deity, partly hyperbolically, partly allegorically. This and the next stanza (which is missing in several mss.) contain practically the ssme matter. न pr प would be obtained by combining the first verse of 20 with verses
to 9 of 21.
(४०) For Bikram and the parrot see 8(6)1 note 17, For Bhoj, see
6{3)8 note (6),
95: 20-22 ‘MH IMPALEMENT OF RATAN SEN « 168
tates on God, reciting ‘Thou art the one’, that bird is red-faced in this world.
“My sight, my speech, my hearing, all are by your favour: this is my service evermore that I should pro- nounce blessings on you.
27. “If a servant be such as has mortified himself with penance, then ambrosia dwells on his tongue. That servant’s destiny is at fault who, in doing service, occasions his master’s wrath. And, if blame attaches to him though blameless, a servant will be afraid and will fly for his I1fe. If he is a bird, how shall he stay fixed? He will go where he looks, since he has wings. Roving I saw the seven continents, O King, and finally I arrived at Jambu-dvipa. There I saw the high fortress of Chitaur : it is a high and mighty kingdom, reaching equality with thee. This is Ratansen, who is king there: J have brought him here in the euise of a ४0१1.
‘I, your parrot, have brought an excellent fruit: by virtue of this my face is red. If my body is yellow, it is for fear of this,—that I remember the story of Bikram.”’
22. First there was the Bard, speaking the truth: then spoke Hiramani as witness. The king was convinced and believed in his mind. They released Ratansen, who had been bound, and brought him. The king asked him what was his race, and learnt that he was a high-born Chauhan : a jewel does not lose its radiance by being tied up. His diamond teeth were set off by the stain of pan : when he smiled all men gazed as at excellent lightning. The Yogi ear-fings were fastened to his ears with wax””’. All the attributes of kingliness, which had been suppressed, were revealed. They brought a savage stallion: he was told to ride it, and he mounted. He rode the horse with
(tt) +. €. Single-minded service has its reward. kai tuht, according to Sudhakar, isthe local name in Oudh for a particular bird. In 2(5)2 the turtle dove says दवः एक, butit has not a red face. The parrot explains his own red face in reply to the king’s question in ए, 8 gf st. 19. Red-faced also means cheerful, v. 25(2)8 note (d), 43(3)8.
(ua) v. 26(12)4 note {$}.
(vv) Reading main saun (Grierson) for vinay secur (Shukla) the mean- ing of which is not clear. As Ratansen is only a pretended Yogi, the cartileges of his ears are not split and the thick rhinoceros-hide (crystal in 26(2)5) earrings are fastened to them with wax,
95:22~4 (छ IMPALEMENT OF RATANSEN. 100
all the thirty six””exercises of the manege : all the citizens of Singhala praised him.
‘‘ He is a prince with all the thirty two™ marks: he 15 like the sun with a thousand rays. Why should you test him on the touch-stone? He is purest” gold.”’
23. Seeing the princely bridegroom worthy of the lotus”, all the people made acclamation. He came, a glorious scion of his race: the bridal-gifts were given and the betrothal was then arranged. ““If the garland of victory was decreed to Anirudh, who could cancel this? Banasur was defeated. To-day Usha came to Anirudh: the gods had happiness, the daityas’ heads ached. The 91111 is in heaven, the lotus is in the lake on earth : the bee comes from the forest and takes the honey. Bridegroom of the west, bride of the east : if the union is decreed, they cannot be separated. Man may devise countless devices in his mind, but that will take place which: God brings 200६००१.
The instruments of music which had gone forth playing for the slaughter of the prince in battle, the same instru- ments again made merry in connection with the festival [ of his betrothal***]
24. [Gandharvasen said? ] ‘“‘I have accepted what my Lord says. What fitness is there in [ giving] any other answer?” He accepted what was said and joy spread in his spirit : the bridal gift was given, the betrothal was performed. The twain came together: good omens
(ww) Reading khurt (Grierson) for kurt (Shukla). Shukla connects with ainghdlpurt (ail the 36 castes of citizens of Singhala); the 36 castes would be those mentioned in 20(3)1. Butit 18 better, with Sudhakar, to connect with horsemanship, translating khurt as paces. Sudhakar refers to treatises on equitation for the 36 paces. The references are not exact; in one there are 3 uses of the whip in connection with 12 qualities or vices : in the other there are only 6 paces, which Sudhakar multiplies by 3 (slow, medium and rv to make 18 and again by 2 (comfortable and uncomfortable) to-make 3
(xx) v. 19(3)4 note (त) (yy) v. 9(2)4 n (zz) Reading kafwal (Grierson) for kaAchan (Shukla) | aaa) This and the following verse allude to the bridal of Anirudh grandson of Krishna, to Ushas, daughter of Vanasur (bbb) ‘Man proposes, God 8 26(16)2 (occ) Reading «कक (Bhagwan Din) fot Shukla’s unhe Here end Grierson’s critical notes and Sudhakar’s commentary
170 WHDDING OF RATANSEN AND FADMAVATI 25: 24-96: <2
were invoked: one noble being came to another { Ratansen ] drew down to him her for whose sake he had performed Yoga: he who performs austerities will obtain bliss. Since he was sincere in mind and thought, he would not change his word though men should slay him. If any man thus makes hazard of his life, the Gods come and do him service for evermore. He who beholds sorrow for the ten days’ of life, for him there is happiness that cannot be reckoned, for ages and ages.
I shall describe the wedding of Padmavati with Ratansen. The palace was quickly made ready, and the drums and clarions made jubilee.
26. THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI.
1. The auspicious time was fixed and arrangements were made for the wedding. Invitations were sent forth to everyone in Singhala. Five hundred million instruments of music were sounded: there was rejoicing through all Kailasa. Padmavati had attained that day for which she had continually been invoking God. The sun and moon were as jewels of good fortune on her forehead : and all the constellations sang the wedding song. A bower was built, fashioned with rubies, and scarlet floor- cloth was spread on the ground. Pillars of sandal wood were carved in many forms: ruby lamps burned by day and night.’ In every house leaf garlands were wreathed on the doors: throughout the city songs echoed.
In every square and road of Singhala, wherever one looked, there was scarlet. Happy was the princess Padmavati who had such a bridal.
z. Raiment was brought for Ratansen: diamonds and pearls and precious stones were fixed therein. Ten thousand princes of good fortune came: they made their salams and attended on the King. “ Take [ they said ] the kingdom and enjoy the bliss for the%ake of which you
(ddd) Bhagwan Din reads ‘Bigrakh 4p Ap ga chaly’ (Dissension departed
of ita own oa ee {eee) Op iri Kalam 10(2) where the poet speaks of himself as a ten day's guest in Jais. |
96: 2-4 THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI 177
have trained your body to Yoga. Anoint yourself with oil : take off the ashes [ smeared on your limbs}: bathe your body and adorn it with cosmetics all over. Remove your ear-rings which are of crystal and unpleasing, and put on ear-drops of gold studded with jewels. Give up your matted locks, take scented lotion, comb your hair and place a diadem on your héad. Take off your rags covered with patches and clothe yourself in a fair cloak of scarlet.
“Teave off your clogs and set your feetin the stirrups of a gallant steed. Fasten on your diadem, take the umbrella above your head and be mounted speedily”.
3. The King made himself ready; the instruments of music sounded : both armies called the God of love to help with a-voice of thunder. A chariot of scarlet and. gold was equipped : all the princes joined the bridal pro- cession. With music and shouting the King took to horse : 211 the people of Singhala bowed and did obeisance. With constellations and stars for torches on all sides, the sun climbed up to the place of the moon. As he had been burning all day in his heart, so at night he obtained the shade of bliss. Above him the night was spread like an umbrella : all the inhabitants of Indra’s heaven came to see. To-day Indra met his Achhari, and bridal songs resounded throughout Kailas.
Earth and sky on all four sides were filled with torches. Making music, they came to the palace in which the aus- picious ceremony was to take place.
4. Padmavati went up into her tower to see what manner of sun it was for whom the moon was fashioned. Seeing the bridal procession, she said to her friends, ‘Which of these is that Yogi? Who is it who undertook Yoga and carried it through to the end, who has become a sun and has arisen to wed the moon? Who is this one and only initiate who has set his head as a stake in the game oflove? By whom has my sire been so worsted in contro- versy .that he has not been able to give an answer", and
(a) 8.८. > refusal, cp. 3(4)7,
7172 ` THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI 26: 4:6
has given him his daughter? To whom has God given such a spirit that he has conquered in battle and won the garland of victory? Happy is the man who, like him, will not yield to any force, and who shows himself a hero in a foreign land.
“Who is such a mighty hero? I have a desire to see him. He is about to go to the bridegroom’s chamber ` my friends, show him to me speedily.”’
5. Her companions point him out, waving their arms : “ Vou are like the moon and your lord is the sun. The sun’s radiance cannot be hidden : when the lotus beholds it, its mind is expanded. He is bright above the world : if the world is bright, it is his reflection. Look: as the sun rises at dawn, so does his umbrella rise in the midst of the bridal procession. In the midst thereof is he, the bridegroom, and all the others are with him as his bridal train. God has fashioned his beauty with a thousand rays:’ he advances, mounted on a _ golden chariot. There is a jewel on his forehtad : his aspect is radiant : it is impossible to gaze straight at him.
‘He is beautiful’ as a mirror. Happy are you, whose lover ‘he is. You have obtained your heart’s desire, as delightful as could be wished.”’
6. The moon beheld how the sun was adorned: love smote her in all its eight forms." Her eyes quivered with joy, drunk with the wine of sight : her lips quivered with joy, red with the juice of passion : her face quivered with joy, having received the splendour of the sun: her bosom quivered with joy, it could not be contained in her stomacher : her breasts quivered with joy, so that the ribbon which bound them was burst: her arms quivered with joy, so that the bracelets on her wrists were broken : her waist’ quivered with joy, that today Rama and
(b) op. 25(22)8. ध
(०) _ #€p here and in v. 6 above perhaps has the double meaning of beauty and stlver. | 7
(१) The astau bhav of love are the 8 forms of erotic pleasure. Shukla quotes a variant sahasan (1000). The Sabd-sagar (8. ए. bhtiv) also has 1,000 and reads tan for janu (Love smote her body with a thousand क ). र |
e) ere are puns on laak—=(1) waist (2) Ravan’s kingdom of Lanka, and on r#van=(1) Ravan (2) lover. “a
26:6-6 THH WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI 173
| Lakhan had preparéd an army against the kingdom of Ravan. Today the sun has arrived in the house of the moon : today all her ornaments will be broken in pieces : today love has assembled his army: today there will be battle with ‘ severance ’.
She quivered with joy in every limb so that none of them. could be contained anywhere. She kept of swooning and faintness came upon her, body |
7. Her friends sustained her and gave her water to drink. ‘‘ Princess,” [they said] “‘why have you faded away? We only showed you your lord and you drooped like a flower. What came over your spirit?’ “ Listen, my friends; everyone is talking of marriage. For me it is like eclipse for the moon. What you think of is that the bridegroom is coming in full array: but all this beats with a dull thud on my head. All the bridal train’ and the horsemen have come to take me away. When I see their arrival I am distressed; I see no hope of my re- maining my own mistress, O my friends. If the wedding takes place my departure will follow: I will go to a place from which there is no returning.
“Now where is this meeting: It is severance which has fallen upon me. My beloved will tie such a knot as will never be loosed in my life-time ”’
8. The bridal party arrived with music and took their seats: they were all bright with pan, with flowers, and with vermilion powder. Where there was the golden hall of state, there they brought the procession and dis- mounted it. In the midst was a throne erected on a dais: they brought the bridegroom and seated him there. Golden pillars were fixed there in four rows and ruby lamps burned day and night. He who had been a Yogi, roving like a bird, was fixed like the pole-star: swelling { with joy ] he sat motionless like Mount Sumeru. ‘ Today God has made me fortunate : all the woes he inflicted have turned out for the best. Today the sun has come to the house of the moon: the moon and the sun will, as it were, be in conjunction
“Today I have become like Indra and have come with my bridal train in array to paradise. Today I have
174 THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI 26: 8-46 obtained my Apchhara: the hope of my mind has been fulfilled.” _ |
9. The banquet began to be served. The dishes were served on gold plate. Golden trays, studded with rubies and other gems, were placed before princes and beggars. Jewel-studded vessels, large and small, were placed before the guests, ten pairs to each person. . Dia- monds and precious stones were: fixed in the beakers: even those whom fortune had blessed were astounded at the sight of them. They gave out light like constellations : the lamps and torches were obscured. The rays of the sun and the moon met together, so pure was the radiance. That man who had not the light of his eyes would have obtained light if he had seen this light.
They sat in row upon row, with viands of every sort { before them]: there was gold plate beneath the leaf- platters, and of gold plate were the dishes.
70. First rice was brought and served : it was fragrant as though scented with camphor. Jhalars and 2150485 ` ( different kinds of chapatis) were brought after being cooked : they ‘were white to look on as a puggaree newly washed. Luchui and Sohari (cakes of fine flour) were placed { before the guests ], both hot and exceedingly soft. Khandaras and Bachkas and Dubhkauris, one hundred and one (? kinds of ) Baris and Kohandauris. Then fragrant Sandhanas (kind of pickle or condiment) were brought and Murandas (a sweet ) compounded with milk and curds. The fifty six’ varieties which were brought, no such have been seen or ever eaten. Again Jawari (a dish of butter milk ) and Pachhiawari (last dish, dessert) were brought and sweets made of ghi and sugarcandy.
Exceedingly fragrant [ were the foods] in eating, and they melted away as they fell into the mouth. He who ate a single mouthful would obtain a thousand flavours.’
17. The food came, but the lute sounded not. ‘The King would not eat without music. All the princes then drew back [ saying | “ Eat, lord, and then we will eat with
(f) Reminiscent of Heinz, but “p parently there are supposed to be 56 varieties of food generally, not of condiments, op. 36(14)3, 46(11)5, (g) op. 45 (3) 5.
$6; 11-12 tot WEDDING of RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI 175
you.” The learned pandits respectfully addressed him “ Why does our guest” not eat? This is Kailas, the dwelling
of Indra, where there is neither grain nor fish nor flesh. .
Every one here eats only pan and flowers: it is for your sake that this banquet has been cooked. If a man is hungry, stale food is like ambrosia. If a man is in the glare of the sun, the [ shade of the ] nim tree is cool. If he is sleepy, the bare earth is like bed and bedding. Why try to show such niceness ?
‘For what cause and for what reason have you, our guest, become troubled? Whatever you are pleased to order we will speedily bring and give you.”
12. ‘‘ You are pandits and have all secret knowledge. First was the sound of the word' and then the Vedas. When God created our first father,’ He caused soul and body to proceed together with the sound. You have not done right in banning sound. God has given it as a delight along with feasting. The eyes, the tongue, the nose, the ears, I have come to feast all these four together. In feasting, the eyes behold and are refreshed : the tongue receives sweet savour and knows the charm of enjoyment: the nose obtains all kinds of fragrance : what hospitality is extended to the ear? If the ear have its portion in music, then all four shall have satisfaction.
‘‘And he in whom sense is ithbedded can hear a certain other sound. O Pandits, with what idea in mind have you refused to allow music to be heard ?”’ ह
| ॥ Jajmaink ht. Clent, the pergon for whom a Brahman performs sacrifice.
(i) Wad is here used for the ‘word’ that wasin the beginning,—the Om,—and also for sound or music. Shukla explains by (नकम nad the ‘sound in the heart lotus of Hatha Yoga (Briggs p. 341), but Shukla also (Introduction p, 100) considers that Jaisi uses these technical terms without much relevance or real knowledge. There'is.a reference to this secret sound also in भ, 8 of thia stanza. Dara Shikuh identifies the An&hat N&d with the Awészi-Mutlak of the Sufis, ‘but this sound is inaudible to all. except to the ध ॥ of both the communities’. (Majma-ul-Bahrain, VIII Discourse on Sound).
(j) Shukla explains the first Father as Brahman and Viddhi as Brahm&, (these names are not, of course, used by Jaisi). ए षः Din explains the first Father as Adam, which is better. I have also adopted his reading of kay” for Shukla’s jn4n in the second half verse.
“i.
t76 THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAVATI 96:23-15.
13. * 0 King, hear our answer. It is this. The earth would be shaken if it were not for the Vedas. The. word, the Vedas, wine, the way, these four, consider care- fully what they are in the body. The word is born in the heart: intoxication’ in the body: where there is intoxication there is not the way, nor its shadow. Such a person would become like a ‘ mast’ elephant and fight, unless he carried the ankus of the Vedas on his head. As a Yogi you have heard that sound by the hearing of which the body is burnt four-fold. If the body attaches the mind to the highest truth, it spins round in intoxication : nothing else that it hears pleases it. Those who have travelled by the way of righteousness and become kings, if their righteous conduct be heard, it is seemly.
‘As a man staggers after drinking wine, so does he stagger at hearing music. For this reason it is proper to ban it : if it grows on a man he reels with enjoyment.”
14. The banquet was finished: the sherbet went round : round went also the saffron water scented with mixed perfumes." PAn was distributed, and every one went back to his place: the marriage ceremony began to be performed in every detail. A pavilion of gold was erected up to the sky: garlands were placed on every door : a dais was constructed in the shade of an umbrella : in it were tesselated squares filled with gems: golden pitchers were placed, fillell with water: the Apchhara was brought to Indra. The knot of bridegroom and bride was tied which shall not be loosed in this world or the next. The Pandits recited the Vedas on the spot : they called the constellations of the Virgin and the Scales by name.
There were a sun and a moon, both spotless, both most excellent in conjunction. The sun was lostgin love for the moon, and the moon for the beauty of the sun.
15. Girls sang songs in the names of both bride and
ele
~ - ~
(४) I have not attempted to do more than suggest a verbal rendering of this stanza. Shukla’s Introduction at p. 187 throws some light on the esoteric meaning of it (see also p. 211).
(1) Mad==(1) wine (2) intoxication (3) spiritual intoxication or egoism (4) the condition of a maet elephant.
(m) cp. 46 (14) 1.
9821517 THY WEDDING OF RATANSHN AND PADMAVAYI 174°
bridegroom ; these lotus maidens performed auspicious ceremonies, The victor’s wreath was given into the hand of the moon (Padmavati) : the moon “ook it and threw it on the neck of the sun (Ratansen). The stn received a garland from the constellations and stars (the bride’s attendants) and attired the moon with it. Thereafter the lady took water and filled her cupped palms therewith : she gave her youthful life to her lover. Her lover took it as the lady gave him her hand: the knot was tied for both together. Moon and sun made seven revolutions : the constellations (attendants) gave largesse of pearls. They both went round seven times, tightening the knot: there were seven turns but only one knot.
The revolutions were performed and the largesse, all the royal ceremony was carried out. How shall I tell of all the dower? The amount that was given cannot be writtett.
16. When Ratansen had received the dower, Gandharva- sen came and bowed his head: ‘‘ A man,”’ he said, ^ may propose one thing in his thought, but what God does that will be.” Now are you the lord of Singhala-dvipa: we are your servants and at your service. Just as the land of Chitaurgarh 1s yours, even so are you our monarch here. Jambu-dvipa is far distant. What does it matter? Do you now rule as King over Singhala-dvipa’’. Ratansen did obeisance with folded hands: ‘“‘ Where will I find the tongue fit to sound your praises? You are my lord and have freed my body from its ashes: you have made me a man and have now given me honour.
“What you have given I have received, life, birth and enjoyment of happiness.. Otherwise I should be only the dust beneath your feet, I, a Yogi,° worth nothing ’’:
17. [Gandharvasen] gave him a dwelling in the tower where was the seven storeyed Paradise. Ten thousand companions were in attendance [on Padmavati] like the constellations and stars that accompany the moon. There was a halo all round the moon_: the moon received the sun and ascended the ‘heaven. Go, 0 Sun, to where the day
(n) 1 क . 25 (23) 7. {o) There is & pun on Jogs and jog, 23
178 THE WEDDING OF RATANSEN AND PADMAYATI हः 17-19,
sets: you will obtain there a spotless moon. The tower which Gandharvasen had constructed, he gave it not to a king, he gave it to a Yogi. They met on all four sides. of the moon : the sun could not suppress the shade. Now this Yogi has found his Guru : his Yoga has departed from him ; the ashes are washed away.
Of seven storeys is the tower, and precious stones of seven colours are fixed therein. On beholding this Paradise, all faults of sight flee away.’
18. The seven storeys are seven heavens: how shall I describe the mansion which was above everything in the world? Diamonds were the bricks, camphor was the mortar: it was covered all over with sandal paste from the Malaya mountain. The plaster had been made by extracting the essence of elephant-pearls: its radiance was gteater even than that of pearls. Visukarma* had exercised his hand thereon: the seven storeys were each occupied by its own apartment. Very bright and spotless {was the building], indescribably so : you could see every- thing as in a mirror. On the ground floor the plinth was like the waves of the sea: the golden columns were fashioned like a swing. Brilliant were the jewels and precious stones: lamps and torches were lost [in their light}.
There was the Achhari Padmavati with Ratansen they had, as it were, attained the seven heavens and the seven Kailasas
19. Then Ratansen proceeded thither where was the bed adorned with nine kinds of jewels’. Pillars had been set up carved into figures which stood like living creatures all ready for service. In the hands of one was a bowl of sandal paste: one held vermilion, another a casket: one held saffron such as folk lay on their limbs when they desire delight. One held a vinaigrette of scented pom- made: ‘the lady, when she wished, could stand and
(p) Omitting Shukla’s comma after kabilasahinz and taking gv with bhag. For disss-pap bhag cp. 20 (8) 2
(q) Visvakarma, the mason of the gods
(r) For the nine jewels of mythology (related to the nine planets) see 33 (6) 5 note (kx)
(8) I think a reference to a mirror held by one of the carved figures must be missing
$6: 1987: 2 MENTING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN £79
see’ her face. One held pan, another tooth paste’: one had unguents breathing the sweetest odours. In one’s hand was musk. One held one thing, another another,: such difference was there among them.
They were all in row upon row on all four sides like a bazar of perfumes. In the midst was fashioned a throne, a couch for Padmavati.
27, THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN
1: Above tHe sevén storeys is Kailasa: there is the lady’s bed, the abode of delight. Four pillars stand at the four corners, studded with diamonds and other jewels and precious stones. In ruby lamps pearls were imbedded : even in day-light their radiance continued. Above, a scarlet canopy was stretched, and on the ground a brightly coloured floorcloth was laid. Thereon stood the bed on which a couch was strewn: the coverings were scented with flowers. All about it were pillows and cushions, made of hemmed silk stuffed with down. For whose deserts did God make such a bed ? Who is to lie in it and enjoy the bliss of dalliance ?
Exceedingly soft was the couch that was strewn : no one could touch it. Even if one looked at it it sank down immediately : what would’ happen if one placed a foot in it ?
2. When the King, by his penance, had attained the bed {of Padmavati] her friends hid the lady after loosing the bridal knot. They said ‘‘O prince, this is our custom. To-day we will adorn the princess. We will remove the turmeric and apply cosmetics, and then at night there will be a conjunction of the moon and the sun. As the mouth of the Chatak bird waits for the drop of water in Sewati, ° ‘even so the king’s eyes were watching. The Yogi was
cozened of the Achhari who seemed to be with him: the
*(t) Paste for staining the teeth, not for cleaning them.
Casto 27, (a) Op. 12 (14) 9 note (a).
180 THE MEER/TING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 97: 2-4
Yoga which his hands had accomplished had become useless. ‘The maidens by sleight took her away and stole , from him a priceless charm. He was left stranded, having lost everything, root and branch: he got no interest and his principal was a total loss.
He had swallowed drugged sweets such as Thugs use : he had lost his wits and his reason’. The tower was like an [uninhabited] forest: he could neither laugh nor weep, `
०३. In such penance the day went heavily: the four watches passed like four aeons. Evening fell, and the maidens came again: the moon remained [hidden] while the stars arose. They ask him, “Where 15 your Guru, O disciple? How is the sun all alone without his moon? “You have learnt, O Yogi, to practise alchemy: how have you now become unmettled and separated? How have you lost that ‘lona birwa’ (lovely plant/herb used in alchemy) by virtue of which beauty and sleep/gold and silver are to be obtained. Has the orpiment not found its mercury? Why has the sulphur devoured a coarse crust? Where is our moon hidden without whom it is dark night for the world?
“Your eyes are the king-fisher, your heart 1s the ocean, your Guru is the light therein. Unless your mind is re- born/is the diver* and plunges in the pearl will not come to your hand.”’
4. “Cruel maidens, why do you ask me about my metal/mettle,. when it 15 you who have hidden away my Guru? Where now 15 the charm ‘which I had? I have become debased: truth has not remained in my heart. There is not that beauty' to which I can dis- close my sorrow: my confidence has gone: what am I
(b) Zant mant op. 31 (14) 9.
(c) This and the next two stanzas are obscured by punning allusions to alchemy (See Shukla’s Introduction p. 100/1 and 154), I have only attempt- ed a verbal rendering.
(d) ei tym == (1) a diver (2) one who has died and lives again. In 22 (9) 8 and 23 (18) 3 it has only the first meaning: in Akharawat (37) 6 it has Only thesecond. Usually, as here, there is a pun on both meanings. The rest of the metaphor is extremely tangled. ४
(€) Siddbi Gutiks ; see 23 (1) 1.
f) Thereisa pun here; s0na rip=that beauty is not, sona ruip=gold and silver.
$7; 4-6 THE MENTING oF PADMAVATIAND RATANSEN 281
to say here? Where there is that lovely plant, who will tell a message and bring a letter? If you make a combination of mercury and orpiment, you will even now give up your life seeing the sulphur. You have made a trans- mutation/a conjunction of the sun and the moon: again, by separating them, you have incurred a stain. If anyone would at this hour bring me to her, I would give my head as a sacrifice for him
“I that was like mica have become like red orpiment having been turned in the fire.s My body can become yellow gold, if you choose to make it so.
5. “What does my power avail if my Guru is thus minded? [ shall be] like Abhimanyu’ who was slain in the Battle of the Maze. If she gives poison, having first shown ambrosia, who will put his trust in one so merciless ? Let him die who is without qualities: he who is without severance does not know what affliction is. If mercury cannot succeed in swallowing sulphur, how shall I call my life orpiment ?" He who has not got the Siddhi Gutika charm, how do you inquire for metal from him? Now, without her, I am mere base metal and sway about : if I had real substance, I should speak mightily. I have been made like mica and then I have been made like red lead, so has my body been placed in the fire and turned about
“Tf after I have obtained the beloved she.is separated from me, this sets my body on fire. Either by obtaining her will the burning of my body be extinguished, or it will be extinguished by my death.”
6. Hearing his words Padmavati’s companions all laughed : it was like the stars becoming visible in the night. ‘That moon is now hidden in the sky: how will you obtain her, O Yogi, by coveting her? We ourselves know not where she is: we will make search and will speak respectfully to her there [2.८., when we find her]. We will say, ‘He is a stranger from a far land. Have
, {g) In the Mahabharat, Abhimanyn, son of Arjun, was slain in battle (1 of the protection afforded him by a maze (Chakravytha) devised
) Reading hartai for hatyas (aggariant given by Shukla)
182 Ti MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 97? 6-8
compassion on him: do not incur blood-guiltiness.’ ‘We have felt affection for you on hearing of your affliction : pray to God that thé like may happen to her. You are a Yogi and should rove about doing penance and performing Yoga : what enjoyment of royal happiness is there for you? She is a princess, and where royal bliss is to be enjoyed she adorns herself with ali the twelve ornaments
“A Yogi should sit in a fixed posture, holding his mind immoveable in one place. If you have not heard, then hear now the names of the twelve ornaments’.
श. “First, there is the laving of the body: next, the body should be clothed with garments fragrant with sandal: then a parting line should be made on the head and vermilion placed thereon: then the forehead should be adorned by fashioning a beauty mark on it: then both eyes should be marked with collyrium: then ear-pendants should be worn in the ears: then the nose should have a fair nosestud, beyond price: then the mouth should be reddened with chewing pan: then upon the neck should be worn all the ornaments pertaining to it: then upon the fore-arms there should be bracelets: then on the waist should be its adornment? the complete girdle with small bells: then on the feet should be worn anklets with bells: these are what are called the twelve orna- ments: these should be worn on their twelve places.
“Then again there are the sixteen ‘elegances in their four noble quaternions,—four long and four short, four broad and four narrow.”’
8. When Padmavati had adorned herself, God made her like the moon in a night of full moon. She laved and washed her body: she put on clothing [so bright that] the sun went into hiding: she arranged gold spangles* and drew the vermilion parting line on her head, and
(i) Shukla gives 8 more correct list of the 12 ornaments (abharan) and points out that Jaisi has confused them with the 16 appliances for decoration solah eringar of which Platts gives a list 8. ए, singdr. Jaisi’s solah अश्मका referred to in v. 8 of the next stanza, are 16 elegances of the body, catalogued in 40 (5)
(j) See note (i) above.
(k) See Shukla’s Introduction p. 240 for his exp lanation of the patra. ४८१४. (There are others. Even jn India, feminine fashions have cha 1n the last four hundred years, and the word may now be used in quite a व)
e). =
27: 5-10 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 183.
filled it with pearls and powdered rubies. She clothed herself in sandal-scented garments of many kinds, bright as a row of cranes against a mass of clouds. The jewels which were strung and fixed on the parting of her hair were as bright as falling stars in the night. The beauty _matk placed on her forehead looked like Canopus seated above the crescent moon. In her ears were eardrops, the Khunt and the Khunti, like the stars of the Pleiades if they should break and fall.
Wearing her gem-studded ornaments she stood with an indescribable charm. It was as though heaven was her mirror and the moon and stars showed themselves in it.
9. Her side-long eyes and the streaks of collyrium were like Khanjan birds seen in the autumn season. As she glanced hither and thither, her eyes turned and twisted like a pair of Khanjan birds fighting in the autumn. Her brows were bows, but the rainbow was defeated by them : they took aim with her eyes and shot with poisoned arrows. ‘The ear-studs in her ears were exceedingly beautiful: it was as though Venus' had become en- amoured of the moon’s face and approached it. Her brightly coloured lips with pan juice added were beautiful as leaf and flowers in union. Her cheek was fragrant as a flower and very brightly coloured and upon it swung a snake-like curl. There was a mole upon her cheek like a bee sitting upon a lotus: anyone who beheld that mole would be stung.
Seeing the wondrous fashion of her adornment love’s distress then departed in flight, saying” “This is the time of disaster that has come upon me: everything is in pursuit of my Itfe.”’
10. How shall I describe her ornaments and garlands : she was the moon wearing a wreath of constellations. She had a lovely robe and a sandal-scented Sari: there
(1) Reading stk (Bhagwan Din) for sur (Shukla), ¢.e., the moon and stars in heaven were only a reflection of the beauty of Padmavati and her Jowels on earth.
{m) There is a somewhat similar image in Dante’s Vita Nuova § ii when Dante first sees Beatrice, whom (like Padmavati) he allegorised aa divine wisdom. ‘Lo spirito della vita..tremendo disse queste parole; ‘Ecce Deus fortior me, qui veniens dominabitur mihi.’
184 Ti MEBTING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 37: 10-P¢
were diamond necklaces and priceless jewels thereon These covered the black line of hairs on her body: it was. like a black serpent ready to bite murderously. Her breasts rose like Bel fruits beneath her stomacher: sportively they sought to pierce a lover's heart. On her arms were lovely bracelets and bangles: their . dainty motion was delightful when she swung her arms. Ornaments like lotus buds* were fastened on her palms :. her wasp-waist divided her into two halves. On her hips was a row of small bells on a golden thread : as she moved all the thirty six musical modes arose”.
The anklets and morrice bells and toe rings pay loving court to her feet [saying} ‘Just take us to your heart and embrace us and enjoy complete bliss.”’
II. So was the lady adorned with the twelve and with the sixteen®: they beseemed not others: it was her? whom they beseemed. Her companions respect- fully ask her “Why do you delay? Give life to him who has given his own life.’”’ When she thought on the bridal bed, there was doubt in the lady’s mind: she stood deep in thought with hands pressed on hips. “My lord is a stranger to me: I tremble in my mind: what shall I say if he seizes me by the arm? My life has been passed in maidenhood : I have not known love: I have come to maturity and have become lost in passion. I have not thought at all of the pride of youth: I know not love, whether it be black or white. Now if this lover ask me anything, what shall my countenance be, yellow or red?* —
“IT am a maiden and a bride, my lord is grown up and in the flower of youth: I know not how it will be when I mount my lover’s bed.”’
12. “Tisten, lady: fear should be in your heart only so 10118 as your lord does not meet you sportively. What bud is there of which its bee is not enamoured ? The branch is not broken by the weight of the blossom. Vou will pass
all your life with that lover to whom your mother and father
[यि
(0) op. 101{18}) 7. The 36 r&ginis are catalogued in 43 (14).
{0} १.९. the 12 abharans and the 16 81 a °p . 27 (6) 9 note (i). (p} Reading ०१४ (Bhagwan Din) for Shukla’s At.
(q) १.९. frightened or cheerful.
27 : 7214 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 1884
give you in marriage. He will keep you all your life where he desires: his word cannot be set aside. Do not, O maiden, make delay for him: your lord’s command 18 what must be dear to you. Come speedily, as was his command: when your lover calls, how can you stay? Do not practice coquetry : be vigorous in love: a vehe- ment lover is angered with one who shows coquetry.
“Your lord has sent for you: his command cannot be set aside.’”’ After adorning herself, she went to offer as a gift her body, her mind and her youth.
13. [When they saw] the lotus lady’s gait, swans departed far away: elephants, in shame, threw dust on their heads. When the moon saw her face, it waned and hid itself : seeing her teeth, the lightning was ashamed. Khanjan birds hid themselves when they saw her eyes: the Kokila hid when it heard her sweet voice. The pea- cock hid when it saw her neck: the tiger hid when he saw her waist. [Seeing] her eyebrows, the rainbow hid its shape: seeing her braided hair Vasuki hid in hell. The sword hid [when it saw] the special [straightness] of her nose: ambrosia hid when it saw the nectar of her Lip, [At seeing] her fore-arm the lotus stalk hid: {at seeing] her thigh the plantain hid in the garden.
The Achharis hid their forms when the lady went forth in her adornment: all proud beauties hid themselves, ashamed in their minds.
14. [Padmavati’s] companions clustered around her like stars, and taking her, their moon, with them, came to the sun. The moon showed her beauty, which was {bright as] the philosopher’s stone: seeing it, the sun became faint. The moon showed a countenance of all the sixteen digits: she took all the thousand rays of the sun. The sun set: the stars laughed and said ‘“‘The sun remains no more and the moon has shone forth. This is an ascetic and not a man of pleasure: he has eaten crusts and gone to sleep. Padmavati is as pure as the Ganges: you, her lover, are a mendicant Yogi.” They came and awakened him ‘‘Wake up, O disciple: your Guru has come: rise and clasp her feet.”’
24
186 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 87 ! 14-E7
The companions [of Padmavati] say their - word approaching near to his ear and laying their hands on his forehead. ‘“Gorakh has come and is standing by you rise, O disciple.”
15. When he heard this word, it affected him like ambrosia : his sleep was broken and he awakened as from slumber. He grasped the lady’s arm and led her to the bed: the princess hid, scree :ing herself with the fold of her garment. Modestly the maiden was afraid in her mind [and said] "(20 not grasp my arm, O mendicant pilgrim. Begone, O pilgrim. The smell of crusts reaches your handmaid. The very sight of the ashes [with which you are smeared] is a defilement to me: the moon trembles and flees from the sun. O Yogi, your ascetic’s body will throw a shadow upon my limbs. Though a beggar, you do not ask for alms at the door: you have learnt to ascend to heaven and beg there.
“No Yogi or beggar can effect an entrance to this house. Beg for and receive something in alms and go and stand at the door.”’
16. [Ratansen said] “It was for your sake, my dearest love, that I left my kingdom and became a beggar. It was when your love filled my heart that I left Chitaur and changed my condition. As the bee becomes ena- moured of the Malati, so love arose in me, and I set out as a pilgrim. As the bee seeks and finds the lotus, so for your sake I adventured my life. I became a beggar, lady, for your sake: I became a moth for the lamp and endured the flame. He who arrives at his goal after dying once, why should he go and die a second time ?’ How can there be death for him who lives again after having died? He has become immortal: he has drunk the honey of ambrosia.
“When the bee finds the lotus, after much suffering and much hoping, the bee becomes a sacrifice; the lotus, laughing, gives him an abode.”
17. [Padmavati said] ‘Praise from one’s own mouth
(ह) There isan allusion here to the whispered mantra at the initiation of a Gorakhnathi Yogi
(8) Bar-bir. There may be a punning reference to door in 27 (18) 9 besides the straightforward meaning f time :
97:.17-19 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI ANB RATANSEN 187
15 not beseeming : a Yogi can never be a King. Iam a princess and you are a beggarly Yogi: what acquain- tance can there be between a votary of Yoga and a votary of pleasure ?' All Yogis play frauds like this: you, the beggar-man, are preeminent in it. They take the wings of the wind and fly up to heaven to visit whomsoever they have a mind to. In this manner they trick all creation : in this disguise Ravan stole away Sita. When death approaches the bee, he hastens to get the fragrance of the Champa flower. Seeing the bright radiance of the lamp light, the moth comes and falls tnto it, like a beggar- man. “If the moon’s face is seen in the night, yet the moon’s body is hidden. You too, being a Yogi, have made a like mistake in assuming the splendour of a King.’
18. (R). “Come, lady, you are the moon in the night : I am the sun, of which you are but the reflection. Whence has the moon her brightness and her rays? It is by the brightness of the sun that the moon is immaculate. The bee does not get the fragrance of the Champa: where the Malati is, there he gives his life. For your sake I have become like a moth: I have come flying to Singhala dvipa and have fallen into the flame.' I performed worship at Mahadeo’s door: I went without food and the wind was my diet. So did I tie the knot of love in my heart that nothing can cut it, nothing can unfasten it. Sita gave alms to Ravan: you were so cruel that you hid yourself behind curtains.
“T° am enamoured of your charms, and have climbed up to heaven like the sun. Where the moon is cool, there let me perform penance: lady, fulfil the desire of my mind.”’ |
19. “{P]. ““Beggarly Yogi, you talk a great deal: you speak of colour/love, but I do not see you really in love. One does not get real colour by colourjng cloth:
the colour which is produced by boiling is good colour.
(४) Bhogt has the double meaning of man of pleasure and king. (ण) There is the usual puo on dtp=(1) island (2) lamp. । (४) There are puns on rafg=(1) charm (2) colour and ratewt=(1) am in love (2) am red ; perhaps also on fapau%=(1) perform penance (2) be hot. The pnns on razg and r#ta continue throughout this stanza.
188 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 27 $ 19°25
How the sun is.enamoured of the charms/red with the colour of the moon, the world can see at dusk and at dawn. Love is ever burning and becomes like coals: with the heat of it the world is scorched. The red dye which is boiled with great heat, that is the colour which, if it is produced, will never in this life be removed. Love burns like the wick of a lamp: it burns within, and 1s ted/impassioned above. The dhak burns and becomes like charcoal: it is then that the flower of the dhak blos- soms and 1s red. |
“Just as pan, areca nut, and catechu are mixed and reduced to a powder: the colour is not produced until they are crushed.”’
20. ` [2२]. “What, lady, has the colour of pan* or what has lime to do with the matter? He in whose body love is, is doubly burnt. I for love of you have become like a yellow pan leaf, what they call gold-leaf, as it still remains on the stalk. When I heard of your fame in the world, I undertook Yoga and buried my body. When as an ascetic I took my viol in hand, the fire of love was renewed. I turned my body again and again in the fire and roasted it: I boiled my blood and its colour came into my heart. My mind, cast down, was like the dried areca nut: I used the saw’ on my head like the ‘sarauta’. My bones were the lime, which love’s distress burnt: only he knows this burning who has endured it.
“He alone knows this affliction who has such distress in his body. If a man is thirsty for blood how can he know another’s affliction 2"
21. [P]. ‘‘Yogis are full of tricks : they do not refrain from them. They fall like the drops of water in the asterism of Sewati. They fall on the earth, and ‘Kachuru” grows: they fall on the plantain tree and camphor is produced : they fall on the ocean and its water becomes salt: they.fall on the oyster shell and pearls are formed :
(x) There are puns throughout this stanza on different kinds and pre- parations of pin. Barauna and garauna in this verse are two varieties, as well as meaning fame and buried. SeeShukla’s Iotroduction p. 101.
ly) For the saw, see 10 (2) 7 note (£). The sarauta is an instrument for cutting areca nut.
(४) Kachtrf, a medicinal root, zedoary, curcums serumbet (Platts).
97 : 21-23 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 189
they fall on Mount Meru and become ambrosia: they fall on the serpent’s mouth and become poison. The Yogi and the bee are both cruel. Whose friends are they’? If anyone’s, let him say. They do not remain steadfast in any one place: they sip the honey and go off roving elsewhere. They are at one time householders, at another hermits, and at the end both of them are treacherous.
“Who would knit love firmly with such one? They remain not in a single country. The Yogi, the bee, the beggar-man,—it is best to salute these from afar.”
22. [1२]. ““On™ every plain there are not gems which have radiance : in every sea there are not shells in which pearls are formed: in every forest there are not trees of sandal: in every body love’s distress is not born. He in whom it is born is seethed by it and dies: never in his life will he get away from it. The lotus dwells in the water, the sun in the sky: if there is love between them, you may suppose that they dwell together. Lf the Yogi and the bee do not remain steadfast, [it is because} they do not find that which they seek. I have found you, my life: I will not leave the drop of Sevati to drink anything else. If the bee comes and finds the Malati, how will he leave it and go to any other flower ?
™The bee has no love for the Champa, though its fragrance increases day by day. If the bee finds the Malati he wili not depart from it even if he dies.”’
23. [P]. “Not thus will I believe that you are a prince.
(aa) The same idea isthe subject of a Sanskrit sloka : ‘Saile saile na ménikyam Mauktikam na gaje gaje, Sadhavo nahi sarvatra Chandanam na vane vane.’
{४ is aleo found in Manjhan’s Madhumalati, in the following form Ratan ki s&gar sigarhin, gajmoti gaj koe Chandan ki ban ban upajai, birah ki tan tan hoe ?’ as quoted by Pandit Ajodbya Singh (Hindi bh&sh& aur uske sahitya ka vikas), who thinks that Jaisi borrowed from Manjhan,—see note (11) to 23 (7) 6 and Introduction
190 श्रं MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 971 23-24
Play me a game of "’chequers and then I will acknow- ledge it. If the twelve pieces are placed ‘kachcha,’ the winning point will be placed ‘pakka.’ There will not remain what are called the eight and the eighteen, but the sixteen and the seventeen will be kept. He who throws seven/keeps truth is a true player: he who- casts the eleven (the ten senses and the mind) cannot be de- feated. You have taken in your mind the deuce, and then you wish to touch the pieces that are a pair (my breasts). I will form fresh love/the nine for you [and make] the winning move into your heart. Then I will play ‘Chaupar’ with your heart in my hand, if my rival/the tierce is in my power.
‘When, by getting a thing, all we get in the end and continually is severance and penance, then who would endure injury by getting it? Better without it to be care free.”’ ति
24. [Rj]. ““Hear me, princess; I will say a true word. A man’s word is his oath and his bond. I have in such manner attached my mind to you, lady, that you will be with me by day and all the 111211४." Falling at your feet "गू have prayed to you again and again: staking my head I have brought my spirit to the winning point. I have now escaped the quart and the quint/devices and. tricks. Kachcha pieces cannot be moved to squares where you are. I have raised pakka pieces in hope: I have been defeated by you in spirit and you have won. Now you have joined me you/that the pair have been joined they will not be separated for an age: where is the go-between/umpire who will interfere? Now is my spirit with you for life after life: I have entered upon Yoga and have arrived at Paradise.
“If one’s spirit lives in another, then in that other is
(bb) Sari p&sa, a game like backgammon, also called chausar or chaupar seo 2 (14) 6 note (62). (It is played on the same board as pachtst tut with dice and not cowries) Throughout this stanza and the next and also in stanza 31 there are veiled allusions to terms of this game, ¢.g., the ‘12’ are the abharans, the ‘16’ are the sing7re as well as being throws of the dice.
(0९) There isa pun on gaf=(1) seven (2) truth.
(dd) There are puna on pet =(1) with (2) dice and s7rt==/1) whole (2) a piece in the game.
(ee) Pauus(1) foot (2) last place in the game.
27: 24-26 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN २०१
his support. Gold and borax will not be separated: they are united by heating and become one
25. The lady laughed when she heard his words of truth: ‘“‘Assuredly you are enamoured of my charms. Assuredly the bee has tasted the nectar of the lotus: as one’s mind is, so are the things which dwell in it. When Hiraman was your messenger, I went to the temple for your sake, O pilgrim. I saw your beauty, a beauty so charming that it seemed that you had bewitched me, O Yogi. When you worked the charm with your glance, by mixing mercury you implanted silver/you brought your beauty over and implanted it. In order to give bliss I beheld you: you became a bee and settled on the lotus of my eyes. My eyes were the flowers, you were the bee, and that bee remained and pierced the flower: it did not fly away, the greedy creature.
“Tf any one sets his hopeson another, that other will set his hopes on him in return. If the bee is inflamed for the lotus, how shall he not obtain the scent thereof.”’
26. ““‘What witchcraft was this of yours, [by which] the distress which was in you has been produced in me? My spirit writhes like a fish without water: I have become a Chatak and repeat, ‘p‘u, piu’, (My love, my love/drink, drink). I burn with love’s distress like the wick of a lamp: watching your road I have become like a shell [watching] for the drops in Sewati. Being burnt to a einder I have become like charcoal :“* I have become like a Chakor, for sleep has deserted me at night. Through your love love has been produced in me: I have been made glowing hot like red gold in the fire. The diamond is bright if the sun irradiates it: if not, how would it, a mere stone, have radiance. When the sun is revealed the lotus unfolds: otherwise, where would the bee be and
where the scent २०"
(ff) This stanza is क by Padmavati, although it is Ratansen’s turn in the dialogue which ins with st. 15 and continues to at. 20 Possibly 25, 26 and 27 are ail three variants of the same. There is eome repetition also in 29
(gg) Koil may mean charcoal, asin 27 (19) 7, or, as in 27 (29) 9, the Koel bird or kokila, which is alao black. Perhaps there ia an intentional
hh) कड (bas) here obviously means ‘scent’; in 27 (16) 9, 27 (2) 8, 27 (25) 9, it may mean either ‘scent’ or ‘dwelling’, possibly both
192 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 27: 26-29
What veil is there to hide one from him who is, like you, the best beloved? I will now sacrifice utterly my body, my mind, my youth and my life -
27. Laughing, Padmavati accepted his word, “‘As- guredly you are enamoured of my charms. You are a king, of glorious birth on both sides : what I did was done to make proof of your nature. But you are a dweller in Jambudvipa: how did you know how Singhala could be reached ? How did you know that lotus of the heavenly lake, on hearing of which you became a bee and adventured your life? You had never heard nor seen me: how diiI become a picture and enter your thought? As long as the fire has not effected separation, so long the attar is not boiled and does not distil, How did Shankar [Mahadeo] thus reveal thee, and the Invisible meet thee and cause thee to taste of love?
“If a man have truth for his companion, it removes his fears. Tell me how you got this truth, which is a gift in both ways.”
28. (R). “I will speak the truth. Listen, Padmavati. Where there is a true man, there is Saraswati. I obtained the parrot, and he told me his tale : I was convinced when I saw his red face". I heard of your most excellent beauty, and how no one was betrothed to you. Repeating your name again and again I then made a picture of you: it found its place in my heart by way of my eyes. Hearing of you I became true at” that very hour: you became a form of beauty and entered into my thought. I became a wooden image, my mind deadened: whatever I do is all by your hand. If you move me, then I will move: I am dumb : if you give me breath, I will speak.
“Who 15 if that sleeps and who is it that wakes? Even so I became dazed. Revealed or hidden there is none other : wherever I look it is thee that I see.”’
29. The lady laughed when she heard his true feelings. “I am your fair lady (she said] and you are Ravan the
(ii) Cp. 25(2)8 note (d)
(jj) There are puns (and probably alchemical allusions) here on eTach==n(1) true (2) mould, ghart=(1) measure of time (2) alembic and rip=(l) beauty (2) silver
$7: 29-30 ‘THR MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND BATANSEN 164
king/mry fover.“* That bee which was in hope of the lotus, how ‘should it not enjoy the bliss of its honey and fragrance? Just as you, O prince, have spoken truth to me, 90 my mind in turn has attached itself to you. Ever since the messenger bird spoke, and I heard that a pilgrim from a foreign land had come, ever since then my spirit cannot endure without you, JI have become like a chatak which says ‘My love! MY love!’ : I have become like a chakor gazing upon your road: like an ocean shell व have opened wide my eyes’: burnt by love’s distress I have become black like a Koel: [flitting] from branch to branch I have called w:th the Koel’s cry.
“What day is that on which I will find my beloved, him for whom my mind yearns -when he shall see all my distress and I shall see his 2
30. When they had declared their trye feelings they fell on each other’s necks: it was like the meeting of gold and borax. He was a Yogi for all the eighty four postures : a votary of pleasure [skilled in} all the six delights and an adept in protracting them. It was as if one obtained a garland of Malati flowers or seized the branch of aChampa and bent it down. It was the rapture of the bee which has pierced the bud: it was the transfixing of the fish™ by the arrow of Arjun: it was the setting of radiant gems in pure gold: it was the piercing of a pearl by a boring needle. The parrot [s.e., Ratansen] set his claws on what -he thought was an orange [Padmavati’s breast], and took as it were the nectar” of her lips. With dainty games they annihilate all their distress: they dance and dally like swans in a lake
There was a fragrance of sweet odours, a perfume of sandal and musk. He who has such a lotus lady” for
queen, it is he who understands this secret
There are puns on r¥ma=(1) Rima (2) fair lady and ra7van= (1) Ravan (2) one who excites passion, or lover (il) As the oyster shell opens to receive the drop of water in Svati which becomes a pear! (mm) Rahu ए. 10(4)5 note (14) and (d) (nn) Amrus would be either ‘mango-juice’ or ‘envy’, neither of which suits the context. Possibly the correct reading may be a-méiya ras
(ambrosial juice) (oo} The Padmini, the most excellent of the four classes of women,
ie distinguished by her sweet scent v: 40(4) 25
104 THR MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 97; 33-33
31. Ratansen was a wise lover, learned in the six delights and possessing the sixteen colours. The meeting of the man and the fair maid was like that of a Saras pair which have been separated. Both together played their game of chequers: as a pair’, they reached paradise together. The lover clasped the lady and caressed her : the lady, united after severance, lay pressed to his heart. Satisfied with delight, they staited to play afresh and sucked “‘delight from each other’s lips. How could the lady’s “nine plus seven and seven plus five remain safe from the man’s tén? The lady utterly destroyed love's distress and the King was a victor in every act
It was as if they had been welded together, so did the two become one. There was no staying the hand which tried the gold on the touchstone”.
ˆ 32. The clever wit of a woman clings exceeding close : where love increases, how should it let go? Dalliance is the satisfaction of passion : she who is devoid of dalliance is no true wife. In dalliance a lover finds relief: by dal- liance a wife gets salvation. She who does dalliance is a happy and fortunate wife, she is like sandal paste laid on her lover’s" throat. He takes her in his arms like a ball [of flowers], though the lady is softer than any ball. He tastes the flavour of pomegranate, of grape and of bel: in the sport of her beloved the lady has set her life. Spring came and the buis opened their mouths: the Kokil sang with a delightful voice.
The lady who had been parched with thirst and had been calling “Drink, drink’/‘my love, my love’, like a Chatak, was now like the shell into which that drop falls, and the pearl of bliss and comfort is produced. .
33. There was a battle like that between Ravan and
(pp) न" alsox=the throw of deuce. ^
(१५१) Chok# 8180 = 6 throw of quart. Possibly chhaki and nava also have a double meanj g, six and nine.
(rr) The 16 singirs and 12 &bharans, vide 27(6)9 note (i), and the ten fingers, for which compare the vulgar Enelish ‘ten commandments’ fora woman’s finger-nails. There 18 alsoa pun on dae te rah (remain from the ten) and dve terah (ten and thirteen).
{88} Meaning obscure; perhaps just as well
(४1) Readinu piv (Bhagwan Din) for sam (Sbukla)
(uu) Reading Kusum gead jankw kur lat (Bhagwan Din) for gead god kai janhu lat (Shukla). .
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Rama: the couch was crushed and hroken in the battle of jove. He took Lanka: the golden fort was breached : the adornment that she had put on was all stripped from her. Crushed and broken too was the frenzy of youth: the passion that was destroying her spirit departed. Her garments were torn from every limb: the parting of her hair was lost and her tresses were dishevelled. Her stomacher was torn and her 1100005 were broken: her necklace was broken and the pearls were scattered. Her bari and beautiful tand were broken: the bracelets and 0871168 ° on her arms were smashed. The sandal paste was removed from her limbs, so strait was the embrace: her nose ring was broken and the mark on her forehead effaced.
Having arranged all the flowers of passion 1n the fresh spring of youth, her lover press.d her to his heart like mixed scents which he reduced to powder.
34. The lady Padmavati respectfully addressed him : “So drink the cup that sense may remain. I am ready to accept my lovér’s commands upon my forehead: I will bow my head and give whatever he demands. Yet, my love, hear one word of Mine: sip your wine, my beloved, a little at a time, He really drinks the wine of love who does not let anyone observe that anyone has given it. If the wine of the grape has been poured out once, he who takes it a second time becomes senseless. He who has once drunk it has obtained the benefit of delight in life and delight in feasting. 00 you now enjoy the delights of pan and of flowers and sip with lip from lip.
‘Do whatever you wish: I do not consider anything good or evil. What is pleasing to you will be so for me also: it is your pleasure, my beloved, that I desire.”’
35. “Listen, lady, by drinking the wine of love no fear of dying or of living remains in the heart. He who finds intoxication, where is the world for him, whether he stagger about or whether he be drunk? He knows [fits effect} who drinks of it: he should not drink his fill, or he will fall down and sleep. He who once gets the benefit
(vv) Reading baliyn (Bhagwan Din) for Shakla’s था (ww) Reading Sudhi #0 rahaias piyo अत (Bhagwan Din) for Shukla’s Badhi na, eurtht piyeu piyniz.
296 ‘THE MEETING OF PADMAVATT AND RATANSEN 87: 35-37
of it will not remain without it: it is this that he wif desire. He will fling away his wealth and his goods: le everything be lost fhe will say] but let not drinking/love go. Night and day he will remain steeped in delight ; he will not see advantage or loss. When dawn comes his body will flourish again: he will obtain the after effects of intoxication with cool water.
“Fill the cup once and give it: who demands it over and over again?” If such a stake is too small, why (says Mithammad) should one not call out ?
36. Dawn came and the bridegroom arose like the sun. The constellations and stars came from all four quarters. All night on the couch the moon had been in conjunction with the sun: her necklace, her clothes and her bangles were broken. The lady was like pan leaf, her dress like the lime: “*‘simple girl, she had become discoloured through amorous sport. She had been awake all night when the dawn came and now she was drowsy and slept brokenly. A curl of hair lay on the fair lady’s bosom: like a poisonous serpent it touched the oranges [of her breast.] Necklace and garland were intertwined on her bosom ; it was like the Jumna meeting the Ganges. It was like Payag with 41211 coming in the midst of it, so glorious were her tresses and the line of hair on her body.
Her navel is the place of acquiring merit: it is called the tank of Kasi. [There] the gods immolate their heads, but no blame attaches to her.
37. Laughing, her clever companions awakened her: “The sun has arisen; arise, lotus princess.” Hearing the name of the sun, the lotus unfolded, as it were: a bee had come and taken its honey and fragrance. It had, as it were, become intoxicated and stayed all night and was now all discomposed and drowsy. "Her eyes were like two lotuses in flower: her glances were bewildered like deer that have gone astray. On her body, her hair and her dress were disordered : her senses were distraught as if she were a witless simpleton. The moon waned as
(xx) A pun on ch#n=(i) lime, which is mixed with betel-leaf for pan, (11) ‘torn’, ‘crushed’, Cp 27(19)9. Gh AL Reading bhauar @rase (Bhagwan Din) for pauli janu aret
नि? $7-39 Tm MEETING OF PADMAVA'T AND RATANSEN 167
though eclipse had seized her: the constellations [of her ornaments] were scattered : the couch was full [of them]. The yellow was, as it were, seen in the lotus: she had thrown away her youth for good and all.
The plant that was kept.for Indra, whose fragrance had not been given to the wind, to it the bee came and clung: he pierced its bud and rifled its ‘nectar.
38. Her clever companions laugh and question her : they are like water-lilies which look on the moon’s face: “Princess, you are so exceedingly delicate: your body is like a flower and your spirit like its fragrance: you cannot bear a necklace upon your bosom: how could you bear the weight of your lover? Your lotus face used to be unfolded by day and by night: tell us how has it now become faded? Your lotus lips which could not endure [the touch of] pin, how.could they bear it when the sun touched your mouth? Your waist’ which bent at each step you took, how did it remain when Ravan was en- amoured ? Your beloved is like a breeze scented with sandal: you have become like a statue: what has hap- pened to your spirit ?
“All your scents have been crushed : your eyes are like red berries or [pink] lotuses. Tell us the truth, Padmavati”: so all her companions tease her.
39. “I will tell you, my friends, my true feelings : what I tell you is how my lover was enamoured. I trembled when I saw the bee upon the flower: it seemed to me like the eclipse of the moon. But today I have realised the truth of the matter: none is so dear to me as is my beloved. True, fear reached my heart when I had not found my beloved, but the cold has been dispelled by the sight of sun. The moment that the sun shone forth, the lotus bud of my mind was unfolded. In my heart affection was produced, and the cold departed™. Move not my beloved to anger: rather take my life. The distress of severance which was immeasurable has been destroyed: it is like water that has been dried up by the rising of Canopus.
(zz) There is the usual pun on lank (Lanka and waist) and on ravan (Ravan and lover) : perhaps also on rat (prince and enamoured). (aaa) Reading क 4 (Bhagwan Din) forShukla'sau ste,
198 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSHN ॐ : 39-4¢
“Y produced many delights of lave, as many es the waves of the sea: but by the adroitness of my lord, not a drop was wasted.
40. “Why should I adorn myself and go to him? I gee him in every place. All that is in my spirit is he, the beloved : he cannot be separated from my body or my mind. He is contained in my eyes: where I look, there is no one else. It is his own nectar that he takes from me: it is he who gives me the nectar, clinging to my lips. My bosom is a 54] एला, ०० my breasts are golden sweet-meats : I have presented them as a gift before him, with deep affection’. My waist quivered, pressed against his: my lover (Ravan), with joy, drew [the gold on] the touch- stone. All my youth went out to him and I was lost between them.
“As a man who has given a thing to be kept collects and takes back what is his, even so did he squeeze-out the nectar and left me dry and empty.”
47. (The friends said] ‘‘Go to, charmer. You have charms’. Your eyes are reddened (Gull) from keeping vigil with your lover. [Your colour} that was like Cham- pak and rose-apple has become yellow (Kesar) like oleaster. The bee has settled on the orange-garden of your breasts: his nails have touched them and lines of colour have risen. Lip has been moistened by lip as if by pin: your row of curls has been all twisted awry. Vou are red faced like a rai-muni bird: for the sake of your bee’s face you have become a hon:y-sucker. Now you have been joined with your bold lover (Singirhar)’* do you, O Malati, always remain blooming. Do you again adorn yourself, removing (New&ri) all pretence: sit and cherish (Sewati) his feet (Kadam) O loved one.
“The jasmine buds have all opened together : it is the season of spring and of Holi. Do you also blossom and
(bbb) Cp. 10(15)1.
(९0९) Thore are the usual punson laak and rf@van and probably also on kasauit, op. 27(31)9. |
(ddd) <A number of names of flowers are brought in punningly in this tie (gulél, kesar, aiig&r-b&r, nev&ri, kadam and sevati). op. 32(4) and
(९९९) Lit. ‘breaker of ornaments’ or ‘rifler of charms’,
37: 41-44 THE MEETING OF PADMAVATI AND RATANSEN 199
bear fruit for everlasting happiness, and may your happy marriage be fruitful in bliss.”’
42. Having said these words, all the companions ran off and went and told [their tale] to Champavati: ‘Today the girl Padmavati is pale: it would seem that her life is dependant on air. Her sandal-scented garments have been torn to shreds: hér heart throbs and swells, and she speaks not. She who was like a lotus bud full of nectar, has been crushed and broken. Go and see how she has faded away.’ Hearing of the consummation of the marriage, the queen smiled. Taking with her all her lotus ladies she came to where the girl Padmavati was. They all came and saw her appearance: the line had become of the colour of gold. —
As when one crushes the flower of saffron, so were all her limbs pale to the view. Champavati threw herself upon her’ and kissed her tresses and the parting of her hair.
43. All the ladies of the palace sat round about her as a halo surrounds the moon in the sky. They all said “The garden,The girl has faded: sustain her and give her sherbet. The lotus bud which was soft and full of colour/delight and exceedingly delicate, has been rifled like Lanka/has a slender waist. The lady was re- vealed like the moon: the sun shone forth with all his thousand rays. By hts radiance the moon was, as it were, eclipsed : she became pale and the radiance of her face was lost. Do you now perform a meritorious act by making oblation of your wealth and then take it and give it ‘to a mendicant.” She filled a tray with elephant- pearls like constellations and made oblation of it to the radiance of the moon. |
Her companions made a preparation of crushed scents and bathed her. She became again like the moon of the fourteenth night”: the sun’s beauty had been hidden.
44. Then they brought many garments and laid them
(fff) Lit. ‘was her sacrifice’ cp. 27\43)6 2) i.e, with only 14 of the 16 ‘digits’ of perfect beauty. Seo 40{3}7 note (b),
200 RATANSEN’S COMPANIONS $7: 44-~@8:2
out,—sAris and stomachers of striped silk: ८२०७९18 and scarlet jackets: chhayals and Gujarati bands were brought : dotted silks and beauteous indigo coloured cloths on which pearls were fixed and which were stamped with gold. There were cloths of Singhala-dvipa of bright colours: blessings on the printer who printed them. There were pemchas, 0011985 (fine’ check) and chaudh§fris (broad check), deep blue, white, yellow and green. They were of seven colours and of divers patterns: you could - never gaze your fili on them. There were pleated skirts and heavy kharduks and muslins and striped saris.
They brought out also many ornaments, studded [with jewels] in a multitude of ways. These were what she always ransacked and wore according to her mood on each occasion.
28. RATANSEN’S COMPANIONS.
I. Ratansen went to his own Darbar hall and seated himself on the dais round which there were eight pillars. His companions of Chitaur came and met him: they all gave him their hands, smiling, [and saying]. ‘Brothers, wish well to our king, who has shown us this country. If our monarch had not brought us [here], where should we be and where this land? Blessings on your Majesty : you have made your kingship specially excellent since in it we have beheld all [that we desire]. We have obtained bliss and delight and everything : where is the ton gue which can prais2 you aright ? Just now you, after coming here, concealed yourself [from us]; do not, O King, deprive us of the light of your countenance.
“Qur eyes are refreshed, our hunger has gone, now that we have gazed on you. Tuday there has been new birth for us: our life has found fruition.”
2, Laughing the King gave 1113 royal command: “All this I haye done for the sake of showinz myself to your gaze. I have disported myself thus for the sake of my own Yoga: I myself have become the Guru and have made
2894. 2-89: 1 THE SIX SEASONS 20
you. my. disciples. In my volition you see manly virtue : you have recognised me as your Guru and have shown most excellent Yoga. If you have performed austerities for my sake, let there not now be renunciation in your hearts. He who for another’s sake endures penance and Yoga, should with that other enjoy 01155." He called for sixteen thousand lotus maidens, and gave them to all his companions : none of them lacked [a maiden]. Golden houses were fashioned for all of them : each was a monarch in his own house.
Hlephants, horses, and raiment,—to all he gave new equipment. They became house-holders and men of wealth ; each in his own house enjoyed kingship.
29. THE SIX SEASONS’
1. Padmavati called together all her companions’ and gave them raiment of cloth and silk and necklaces to wear. Vermilion was applied [to the parting of the hair} on the heads of all of them, and their rosy limbs became still brighter. They were covered with designs [drawn with] sandal paste and aloes: it was as though they had been re-created in fresh fashion. It was as though water-lilies were flowering in the company of the lotus: it was as though stars had arisen in the company of the moon. ‘Blessings on you, Padmavati, blessings on your lord, who has given every one of us ornaments to wear. The twelve ornaments, the sixteen methods of adornment” [are yours] : in your presence the moon is not radiant. The moon has dark spots and is not [always] full: you are spotless and none else can be compared to you
ja) In Canto X XTX we have a song of the six seasons and in Canto XXX a song of the twelve months. Both are familiar forms in Sanskrit and Hindiliterature. There 18 a specimen of the former in the Rtu sasathéra attributed to Kalidasa, and numerous specimens of the latter in ballad literature (see Grierson, Some Bihari Folk songs: च. 2. 4. 3. vol. xvi. p. 196 and Pt. Ram Naresh Tripithi’s Gramgit under the head B&tahm&sa). In . Canto XXIX the happiness of the fortunate lovers 16 described त न Sey in relation to each seagon, and 19 Canto XXX the unha ted Nagmati is also described in relation to the ciroumstances of each month See Shukla’s Introduction p, 65 for a note on the contrast
(b) Vide 27(6)9 note {i)
26
202 THE SIX SHASONS 29: I-4
One grasped a lute in her hand, another made music on a [clay] drum : all showed their gladness and danced together with delight.
2. Padmavati said, ‘Listen, my companions: I am the lotus and you are water lily plants. I came back that day after vowing to present a bowl to the temple: come, let us go and worship and make the offering.” In the midst went the vehicle that was Padmavati’s: it was like the sun becoming visible at dawn. Round about her litter resound kettle-drums, cymbals, clarions, tambours and drums. All together, replete with fragrance, they alighted and stood at the door of the temple. They bathed the deity with their own hands: they filled thousands of bowls with Ghi: they anointed [the walls of] the temple with aloe and sandal paste and covered the deity with mixed scents and garlands.
They did obeisance and stood before him: they showed their devotion in many ways. The princess said ‘‘Come home, my companions : night is falling.”
3. Night came. The lady shone forth like the moon. Seeing the King, she turned and dwelt on earth. The armies were set in array: the autumn moon marched forth: the sun, circling in heaven, prepared to pitch his camp. Hearing this, the lady again bent the bow of her brows : she gazed askance at him with sidelong looks of love. ‘‘Know you not, beloved, that I am making a vow? I swear by my father that I will not let you escape me today. It will not be tomorrow: your lady is now on the earth: today you must battle like a lover. I too have drawn up my army of dalliance: its march is my elephant-gait : its banner is the swaying of my vesture: my eyes are its war-horses* : its sword is my nose : who can stand against me as my match in battle?
“Iam the queen Padmavati: I am the victor in the enjoyment of bliss. Do you match yourself with him who is a Yogi and your like.”
4. “I am such a Yogi, as everyone knows: I am the
(९) Reading eamand (Bhagwan Din) for samud (Shukla).
29: 4-5 THE SIX SEASONS 203
victor.in both bravery and dalliance’, In the one J {march} breast forward through the enemy’s host: in the other my battalions of love are directed against you. In the one I mount my charger and marshal my host: in the other I suck the nectar of your lips. In the one I slay kings with the sword: in the other I destroy your love- longing. In the one I am a lion and rout elephants: in the other I take away° [the distress of] love from the heart of my beloved. In the one I ravage armies and camps : in the other I win the victory over your passion. In the one I make elephants bow [with my ankus on their] temples: in the other I lay my hand on the rondure of your breasts.”’ ।
What go-between could interfere? What resistance was there for the rule of love? They enjoy bliss through all the six seasons, united and being both as one.
5. First came the fresh season of spring; that fair and delightful season of Chait and Baisakh. The lady clothed her limbs in sandal scented vesture and laughingly applied vermilion to her parting, filling it therewith. With flowery garlands and the fragrance of crushed perfumes she scattered the scents of sandal wood in the paradise [of her chamber]. Sheets and coverlets were strewn with flowers: the lady and her lover embraced and dwelt in bliss. The lady offered ail her youthful charms to her lord’s embrace: the bee and the flower danced their spring dance together. It was the spring festival and well they joined in the Holi song: they burnt the sorrows of severance like the Holi bonfire. The lady was like the moon, her lord blazed like the sun: the constellations, her ornaments, were all crushed and broken.
Fair is the season for those whose lover is at home with them: since spring comes perpetually. They enjoy happiness day and night’: they know not what unhappiness is.
(0) भक्त) (srngmr)-ras and dir (ttr)-ras are technical terms for the heroic and the erotic sentiments in literature
(8) A pun on ‘hars’am(1) take away (2) lion
(f) Reading sukh baharawatn divas niet (Bhagwan Din) for Shukle’s sukh bhars वणप devaharat
कध्यै THE SIX SHASCKS ` 9; ty
- ‘6 The hot season : its burning is not felt there where a lover is in the house in the months of Jeth and Asarh. The lady clothed herself in cloth of gay colours, finely woven: her body was covered with pommade and musk. Padmavati’s body was cool and fragrant: her father's house was her kingdom, her lover was at home with her. And very cool was the sleeping chamber there: the walls were washed with aloe and curtains were hung gracefully. On the couch were strewn sheets and coverlets: they took their pleasure there blissfully. On their lips was pan, camphor and Bhimsena [a kind of camphor]: fans played upon their bodies which were anointed with sandal- paste. There was happiness 11 Singhala for everyone : for the fortunate there is bliss throughout all the six seasons.
They sipped the juice of pomegranates and of grapes and of baskets of mangoes and custard apples. Green indeed would be the body of the parrot who had such fruit to taste.
7. In the season of the monsoon it rains, but, if one has the beloved, even the months of Sawan and Bhadon are exceedingly pleasurable. Padmavati obtained the season which she desired: the sky was delightful, the earth was lovely. The voice of the Kokil and the lines of cranes were both sent forth: women came out like red velvet insects. The lightning flashed and rain fell like golden water*: the voices of frogs and peafowl were wondertully sweet. Lovingly she lay awake with her beloved : when the sky thundered she started and nestled close to him. Cool were the drops of rain, lofty was the pavilion: ali the world was green to the view. Green was the ground, and her dress was the colour of safflower : the lady, with her lord, set up a swing.
At the buffets of the wind they felt joy : cool fragrance reached them. The lady supposed that this [cool frag- rance came from} the wind, but the wind was really at her side (7.¢., was her lover).
, (ह) Shukla explains that rain lit by lightning looks like gold,—see also his Introduction p. 116. But there iss saying in Qudh that when rain falls in the early monsoon, it rains gold. -
90: ४-५ - : - - द ` 7 51345 0148 264
. 8. The autumn season came, exceedingly endeared, the bright season of Asin and Katik". Padmavati was in full glory : she rose upon Singhala like the moon at full. She had arrayed herself with all the sixteen elegances ` like the moon clustered with constellations she obtained her sun. Everything was spotless, on earth and in the sky : she dighted her couch and made it fragrant with flowers. White and bright were the coverlets: man and wife came together laughing and daffing. The earth blossomed with golden flowers: the lover was lost in love with his lady and the lady with her lover. Decking her eyes with collyrium, she made [them] appear [like] Khanjan birds: like a pair of saras cranes they took their fill of delight.
She who has her lover with her in this season, happiness is in her heart. Laughingly the lady clings to her lover’s neck and round the lady’s neck are her lover’s arms.
g. In the winter season they drink the [wine] cup together : this 1s the cool’season of happiness—-even Aghan and Pus. The coolth is a soldering flux between lady and lover: the limbs of both cleave together as one. Mind clasps mind and body clasps body : bosom to bosom, with no space between for even a garland. They cling to {each other’s] limbs like sandal paste: eve sandal paste cannot remain between them. The king and queen take their fill of happiness: in their estimation, the whole creation is refreshed. They have both joined battle [each] with [the other’s] youth: the cold has fled for its life from between them. The two bodies meet and become one: so do they meet, but even then they are not satisfied.
Like swans that sport together, so they twain dance and make dalliance. The cold cried out and went afar’, like a chakwi bird which is severed.
(h) Asin or Asvin, the month in which the moon is in the constella- tion Asvinas, the first lunar mansion. It is generally known as Kuwéar.
Kgtik or K&rtik (the r is generally not pronounced)—the month in which the moon is in Krttikam (Pleiades).
(4) Lit. ‘to the other side’, alluding to the legend of the chakwi (raddy-goose) which is separated at night from her mate on the other side of the stream.
206 THE SIX SEASONS 29: 10-80: %
10. ‘The chill season came, but there is no cold where the lover is at home in Magh and Phagun. There were scarlet blankets and coverlets in the house: they wore cloaks and garments of many kinds. In every house in Singhala there was enjoyment of happiness: not a trace of unhappiness remained anywhere. Where the husband and wife were, there cold was not felt : it fled like the crow that has seen the arrow. It went to Indra and made its outcry : ‘‘Padmavati has driven me out of the land. At this season I used always to sleep with her: now I am banished from her sight. Now the moon meets the sun with laughter, and cold, that was between, has been effaced.”
Indra said “This is a great torment: sometimes one person suffers pain, sometimes another’.”
30. NAGMATI’S SEVERANCE’
1. In Chitaur, Nagmati was gazing on the road”: saying, My lord has departed, and has not returned again. My hero” has fallen into the power of some woman: she has snatched my beloved away from me. The parrot has became as death and has taken away my beloved : it were better that my life should have gone and not my beloved. He has become like Narayan" in his dwarf avatar, who tricked king Bali who was ruling over
(j) 1, €.» 1८18 your (winter's) turn now to suffer the pain which you have inflicted on others. I think par in Shukla’s text must be a misprint for ptr.
In Bhagwan Din’s text (which does not go beyond this canto) there 18 a different couplet, Bhayo Indra kar कद्व, uwat so athawat 41: Nagmali garh chilaur, tahi satawau jar. (Indra saidto winter, ‘That which rises will set. Nagmati is in the fortress of Chitaur; go and torment her). Uwas so athawaiat is probably quotéd from Kabir, Jo ugat so athawas phtlar 50 kamhtilary.
(a) In this Canto we have a bara 10868, see note (a) to 29(1)1. ‘The images are taken from the Oudh country side.
(b) Omitting hyphen after Chitaur.
(©) Nagar, lit. ‘city-dweller’ and hence one who is specially well- educated, and, in icular, a hero of romance. ए, 34(2)9.
(d) There Pillow references to various legends, each furnishing a
el to the king being led away on false pretences. Vishnu (Narayan) in his dwarf avatar, tricked the Daitya Bali (Vali) by getting him to promise him as muchground as he (the dwarf) could cover in three atrides. With the first stride he covered the earth, with the second the heavens, and with the third he kicked Vali down to hell cp. 1(17)2 note 41.
80: 146 NAGMATI'S SEVERANCE 207
"his own dominion. He is fike Indra‘ who caught Karan in a noose by sleight after putting on the ap- pearance of a Brahman and [taking away] his coat of mail. He is like the Yogi Jalandhar who carried away the pleasuré-loving Gopi Chand’ in the enjoyment of pleasure. Like Garuda* he has taken Krishna away and hidden him: the separation is grievous: how will the herds-maids live ?
“What fowler has caught and slain the Saras pair? I have wasted away and become a skeleton : severance” has slain me.”’
2. By severance from the beloved. her spirit was so distraught that flike] the papiha she ever called ‘My love, my love’. The lady was burnt with excess of love: the parrot had taken him away; the very name of her be- loved had departed. The arrow of severance was so infixed that it could not be moved: the blood exuded; her bodice was soaked. Her bosom was withered: the necklace became a burden: by slow degrees her vital spirits left all her arteries. At one moment the breath came to her body’: at another her spirit departed; she became hopeless. The breezes shook and moistened her dress: it took hours to understand the utterance of her mouth. Her vital spirits set forth and who should stay them? Who should cause her to hear the speech of her beloved ?
The sigh of severance which she breathed, at its con- tact fire arose. The swan of life which dwelt in her body, its wings were burnt and it retreated.
(€) Indra, in order to help Arjun in combat with Karan, went to Karan in the guise of a Brahman and obtained his armour as alms. For Karan see 1(17)2 note 44.
(f) Gopichand. See 12(5)6 note (f). Jalandhar, one of the chief Yogi Na&ths. In some legends he is & rival of Gorakhnath, and in a story given by Briggs (p. 194) Gorakhnath gets the better of him, diverting his wrath from Gopichand to 3 images of iron, silver and gold.
(g) Garthda king of the birds was the vehicle of Vishnu. But I have not disoovered any र of Krishna (still leas Vishnu) being carried off by Garuda and hidden. Krishna was abducted by ~ तैः, and Pt. Kamta Nath Pande suggests the emendationaktUr alopi. Akir and Garuda would -06 nar similar in Persian script and the conjeoture is an excellent one-
(h) Omitting the hyphen after birah.
{४} Omitting the exclamation mark after mahan.
208 NAGMATI'S SEVERANCE ॐ : 3-4,
3. ‘JReyal queen, be not defeated in thy heart = understand in thy spirit and control the thoughts of thy mind. The bee, after meeting the lotus, remembers [former] affection and comes [back] to the Malati*. -As the Papiha [has] love for the Swati [and waits for the drop of water which falls in that asterism] so do thou endure thirst and fix resolution in thy mind. [Thy love will be renewed like] the love which the sky bears to the earth : the clouds come-back again in the rainy season., The fresh spring-tide returns again, with the same nectar, the same bees and the same plants. Do not act thus in spirit, lady: this noble tree will rise again if cared for. [The lake remained] without water for a season and dried up and perished: but again there will be the same lake and the same swan upon it.
“The husband who has been severed from you will come again when the auspicious conjunction of planets comes. Those who have borne the blazing heat of Mrig- sira will burgeon in Adra.”’
4. ‘“‘Asarh comes and the storm-clouds thunder in the sky: ‘severance’ prepares for battle: its army sounds [the attack]. Smoke-coloured, black and white, the clouds charge: lines of cranes display white banners. The sword of lightning flashes on all sides: the arrows of rain are poured from the clouds. The cloud-rack swoops down, coming from all directions: deliver me, my be- loved :—Love has hemmed me in. The frog, the peafowl, the Kokila [are calling] ‘Piu’: if the lightning falls, my life will not remain in my body. The constellation Pushya has come over my head: I am without my lord: who will repair the roof of my dwelling? Adra has come: the land is flooded: who will give me honour’ when I am without my beloved ?
“Happy are they whose lovers are at home: honour is theirs and pride. If the well-beloved is abroad, we forget all our happiness.
¢) This stanza is apparently addressed to Nagmati by her compe- nio (k) Cp. 31(15)8 (1) A pun on 4dar (honour) and Adr7 properly ardra (the constellation),
20: 5-7 ` , "4043 178 SEVERANCE 209
5. “In Sawan the clouds shed rain exceedingly : the floods are out, but I am dried up by severance. ‘Ptunarbasu’ is in the ascendant, but I see not my beloved: I become distraught. Where is my clever lover? Tears of blood fall to the ground, drop by. drop: they roll away like creeping red velvet insects. My companions have made swings to swing with their lovers : the” champaign is green and their garments are safflower coloured. My heart rises, and falls like the ‘motion of a swing: severance buffets it and sets it in motion. The road is hard to see and lies through unfathomable deeps: my spirit is dis- traught,—it is like a wandering dragonfly. The world is flooded with water wherever my view reaches: without a rower, my boat fails.
‘“Trackless mountains and oceans are between us, and rough dense dhak forests. What shaH I do to meet you, my beloved? I have not feet or wings.
6. ‘‘Bhadon comes, hard to endure and very burden- some: how shall I pass the dark nights. My house 15 empty and my beloved lives elsewhere: my bed is like a serpent and bites me again and again. I shall live alone, keeping my couch : straining my eyes, I shall die of a broken heart. The lightning flashes, the clouds terrify me with their thunder: severance is like death and has devoured my lifes ‘Magha’ sheds rain in heavy showers : my two eyes shed water like the eaves of a house’. All through Bhadon, the lady is dried up: not yet has her husband come to refresh her. ‘‘The east wind blows and the land is covered with water, but I am dried up like ak or thorn scrub.
‘All the land is filled with water to overflowing : earth and sky meet in one. Give support, my beloved, to your wife who is sinking in the abyss of passion’.
7. “Kunwar has come, and the waters have receded from the world. Come, my beloved, now: my body is emaciated. At the sight of you, my love, my body will flourish : my thoughts are out of order : return and show
(m) Cp. 20(7)7. (n) Lit. youth, 27
210 । 24464471" SEVERANCE 80: 7-8
kindness to me. ‘Chitra’ the friehd of the fishes has come : the Papiha which calls on her beloved’ has found him. ‘Agast’ has risen: the clouds thunder like elephants [trumpeting]: kings harness their steeds and set forth to battle. The "Swati drop falls into the mouth of the Chatak : in the ocean the shells are all filled with pearls. The swans come back to their familiar lakes: the Saras cranes sport together: the khanjan birds show them- selves. There is brightness: the Kans grass in the forest breaks into flower: my lover returns not: he 15 195६ in foreign lands.
“The elephant of severance gores my body : the wound lacerates my thoughts. Come quickly, my beloved, and do battle with it ; roar like a tiger.
8. “In Katik the autumn moon is radiant: the world is cool but I am “burnt by love’s distress. The moon shines bright with all her fourteen digits: it is as though all earth and heaven were burning. She sets my body and my mind and my couch on fire: to all others she 19 the moon, but to me the demon of eclipse. There is darkness in all four quarters if the true love 15 not at home. Now, O cruel one, come at this time: it is the- festival of ‘Diwali for the world. My companions sing the ‘Jhumak song, twisting their limbs [in the dance]: I am dried up, my partnership-is severed. She whose beloved is at home her* wishes are fulfilled : but for me severance is a double distress of rivalry.
“Ali my frends keep festival, singing and playing Diwali games. What shall I sing, who am without my beloved? I abide with ashes cast upon my head.
(0) The papiha’s beloved 16 the rain-cloud, according to Shukla’s Introduction p.63. For the Papiha’s call see 23 (10) 9 note (क्र).
(p) Svati, chatak and shell, see 12(14) 9 note (u).
3 1⁄9) Diwab, the festival of lights, takes place at the full moon of & ‘
(rf) JhOmak. A festival song, not here the Menora Jhumak which a sung specially in the month of Phagun, see 20 (4) 3 note (k). ¢
(8) The Sabdaagar (sub voice) has manor for manorath. Manor’ is a decoration plastered on house walls b in ५ use walls by women and children in the month
6 : य-71 NAGMATI'S SEVERANCE 211
* g. “In Aghan the days grow short and the nights lengthen : hard to bear and oppressive is the night ; . how shall it pass? Now, through this severance, day has become night: I am burnt by severance like the wick of a lamp. My heart trembles and evinces cold: yet this would depart if my beloved. were with me. From house to house everyone has made [warm] clothes: my lord has taken away my beauty and delight. He who has departed and left me does not return and come again if now he returned, that delight would return too. The heart of her who suffers severance is burnt by levin fire: it flames and flames till it is burnt away-to ashes. The beloved knows not the distress of this burning: he reduces to cinders my youth and my Itfe.
“0 bee, O crow, tell my message to my beloved. [Say] ‘That lady has been burnt to death by severance : we are black with the smoke thereof.’
10. “In Pus my body shivers and shakes with the cold : the sun departs and sinks in the region of Lanka. Love’s distress increases: the cold is grievous: I die with trembling ; it takes away my life. Where is my lover, that I may cleave to his bosom? The road is endless: he appears not near. [In spite of] blankets and coverlets I shiver with ague: it is as though my couch were buried in a Snow mountain. The ‘Chakwi’ is separated by night, but she meets [her mate] in the day-time: I by day and night am the Kokila of severance. How can the bird that 15 separated live when she is alone in the night and her friend is not with her? Severance becomes a hawk for her body in the cold weather: it devours her when living and spares her not when dead.
“My blood is poured out; my flesh is melted: my bones have all become like shells. ‘The lady becomes like a Saras crane and breathes her last: ‘her lord may fold his wings. | गद. “Magh comes in, and the hoar-frost now falls: severance is like death in the cold weather. Though I
{t) The Sabdsagar (8, $, rar=rafan, rat) quotes this verse as ghan steas hoi rar mays, Ap su mejahth pankh (meaning doubtful). For rari mui cp. 31 (10) 3 and 31 (4) 8. :
22 NAGMAT!'S SEVERANCE ॐ : T1-3¢
pack my body with cotton wool on every side yet, shiver, ing and shaking, my bosom trembles exceedingly. Come O my ford, be as the sun and blaze forth: without you the cold will not depart in the month of Magh. In this Magh let the root of delight begin to grow: do you be the bee and let my youth be the flower. My eyes shed water like winter showers: without thee my. clothing cuts me to the quick like arrows". The [tear] drops fall, pattering like hail: severance becomes a wind and buffets them. For whom is adornment? Who should put on silk attire? There is no necklace on my neck, but I am like its string.
“Without thee, thy lady’s bosom shudders; her body is like a wisp of straw, and trembles. And moreover, severance sets it on fire and seeks to scatter the ashes.
12. “In Phagun the wind blows in gusts: the four- fold’ cold cannot be endured. My body becomes like a yellow leaf and, moreover, severance buffets it about. The tall trees shed their leaves and so does the dhak in the jungle: branches bend with flowers and fruits”. The herbs give delight to the heart, but for me in this world there is double despair. All people celebrate the spring festival and join in the Holi song‘: they have taken my body, as it were, and laid it on the Holi fire. If only my beloved might find me burning thus, burning or dying I should feel no anger. Night and day this [wish] dwells in my spirit, that I may now be devoted to you, my lover.
ˆ will burn this body to ashes; I will say to the wind ‘scatter them,’ if only they will fly and fall on that path on which my beloved sets his feet.
(a) Shukla interprets chir as wound, but it 18 better to take it in the ordinary sense of clothing.
(v) Cold days are not unknown in Qudhin Phagun (February-March), but it would be incorrect to call the oold four fold. Possibly chaugun was suggested by the sound of phagun, without much heed being paid to 1४8 meaning
(w) This is not in place here. Phagun is not a month of flowers,. and certainly not of fruit
(x) The Holi festival comes at the full nioon between Phagun and Chaith. 1६18 therefore mentioned both in this stanza and in the next Fort ज and Phag see 20(4)4 note (k). For Chanchari see 20 (7) 7 note (n `
$0: 13-14 NAGMATI'S. SEVERANCE 213
13. ‘In Chait there is the carnival of spring’: but to my mind the world is desolate. The cuckoo call of love shoots all its five arrows home: all the forests pour out tears of blood. All the leaves of the goodly trees rise from a bath fof blood]*: the Majith shrub is soaked therein : the dhak of the forest is red. The mangoes put forth shoots and now begin to bear fruit: “come home now, my fortunate lover. The trees and shrubs flower in a thousand ways: the bees rove around, thinking of the Malati. For me the flowers have all become thorns ८7" if I look at them it is as though ants were tormenting me. My youth blossomed and was like an orange bough: fowing to] the parrot, severance, it cannot now be kept safe. $
` “Be like a homing pigeon"*, my beloved, come quickly, rushing hither. Your wife is in another’s power :™ without you she cannot get release. |
14. ‘‘Baisakh” comes and there is excessive heat : mixed scents, light raiment and sandal paste are like fire. The sun, blazing, looks towards the snowy mountains”, but the conflagration of severance drives its chariot straight at me. In this blazing conflagration, my beloved,
(फ़) Dhamari see 20(7)6 note(m). Basanta (Vasant) is both spring and the companion of Kamadeo, the god of Love; but the festival of Vasant, in the latter sense, is Basant-panchami or Sri-panchami, the fifth day of the bright half of Magh {two months earlier than the beginning of Vasant in the former sense). The pancham or fifth note of the scale is con- nected with Kamadeo, as being the note of his vehicle, the Kokila. Five is also the number of Kamadeo’s darts (see next verse). There seems to be some confusion between the different meanings of Vasant and pancham, but in 16 (4) 5 Jaisi rightly places Sri-panchami in Magh.
(2) i.e. the new spring leaves are pink coloured.
(aa) In Chait the mango puts forth either new pink Jeaves, or dark red shoots which afterwords bear blossom and fruit. The same tree (at any rate the same main branch) does not do both. The tree, or branch, which 18 going to bear fruit keeps its last year’s dark green leaves. But I do not think that Jaisi is referring to this characteristic.
(bb) Cp. Burns: But my fause lover stole the rose, And oh he left the thorn to me. ॥
(cc) Lit. a tumbling pigeon, but the reason for the comparison is that the pigeon isa homer not atumbler. Jaisi may have confused the word with ghar.
(dd) ६.९. she 18 a victim of severance. Shukla sees a pun in द = (1) Wite (2) artery, but this is not necessary.
{ce) In the hottest part of the year the sun’s course (in the Northern hemisphere) is furthest to the North. The poet suggests that it is seeking coolness in the snows of the Himalayas.
2 14 , NAGMATI'S SEVERANCE ॐ I4-18
do you make a shade: come and quench me even in the hot coals. At sight of you, your wife will become cool: come and, instead of this fire, make a [cool] garden. If I begin to burn I will burn like a furnace: though you turn me [like grain in a furnace] and roast me, I will not leave your door/the sand".,The lake*® of my heart is continually shrinking : it is cracked and split into many pieces. Do you support, O my beloved, my breaking heart : join it in one with the refreshing rain of your glance.
“The lotus which opened on the lake of my mind™ has become dried up for want of water. Even now the plant will flourish again if my beloved comes and waters it.
15. ‘In Jeth the world is a fire: the li blows: dust devils arise and coals of fire fall. Severance awakens, roaring, like Hanuwant: it assails my body and causes a conflagration of Lanka”. All the four winds fan the flame: the burning heat of Lanka spreads to Palanka. Through burning I have become black like to river Kalindi (Jumna): the fire of severance is grievous and very evil. The flames arise and the whirlwind approaches : my eyes cannot see clearly : I am dying as the captive of distress. I am half burnt; the flesh of my body is dried up: severance has assailed me, like ravening death. It has devoured my flesh and has now fastened on my bones ? come now: when it hears you approaching, it will flee away.
“Mountains, ocean, moon, clouds, sun cannot endure
hh
(ff) Shukla (Introduction p. 49) explains asa simile of grain being roasted in a furnace, where it is mixed with sand. It hops about, but does not leave the sand. There 18 no doubt also a pun on baru=(1) sand (dala) (2) door (dvar).
(gg) Inthe hot weather, the clay bed of a lake from which the water recedes, dries yp and cracks, At the first heavy shower of rain (davanhgara) the flesures are closed up. See Shukla’s Introduction p. 116/7, where the truth to nature of this simile is rightly praised.
(hh) Ma&nasar, properly the sacred lake near Kailas, but used of the lake of the mind (m&nas). Shukla (Introduction. p. 216) gives it both meanings in 15 (10) 2. See 8186 Shukla’s Introduction p. 15 for the story of how the recital of this couplet by a disciple of Jaiai won for the poet the favour of the Raja of Amethi.
(11) There is the usual pun on lagka. Palahk& is an imaginary island beyond 1.87 दध, as in 21 (8) 3, and also here (punningly)==bed.
80: 15747 NAGMATI’S SEVERANCE | न are
that fire.” (Saith Muhammad) that faithful wife is to be praised who thus burns for the sake of her beloved.
16. ‘“"Now Jeth and Asarh begin to burn: for me, without my beloved, thatching 1s troublesome. My body is like a wisp of straw: I am dried up where I stand: the rain has come and distress burns and spreads. There is no string“ [to splice the thatch], there is no one to support me: speech comes not: what shall I say in my weeping ? When one has no resources’, who in this world asks about him? He goes about like a body without a spirit, like a hollow bundle of munj grass. I am in dis- tress without my support: when there is no upright, the beam cannot be raised. The clouds shed rain: my eyes shed tears: I have become soaked to the skin without my lord. Where are the joists for fashioning a new frame work? Without thee, my beloved, thatching succeeds not.
“Even now look upon me with compassion, O cruel Jord, and come home. My house is becoming ruined and desolate; come and restore it and dwell in it.”’
17. Weeping she passed the twelve months: there were a thousand griefs in every breath she drew. “ Each smallest particle of time became a year: each watch was more than could be contained in an aeon. ‘‘He comes not, beautiful“as Krishna™, from whom a faithful wife will Obtain married bliss. As evening comes I gaze on his road, withering away: ‘What hour is it at which my 06 loved will return ?’ I have been burnt black like charcoal by longing for my lover: not an ounce of flesh remains on my body. No blood remains: ‘my body 1s melted by
(12) Jeth has had a stanza to itself (15), and 80 haa As&rh (4): this stanza is concerned with an operation the time for which falls at the end of Jeth and the beginning of Asirh,—and with similes drawn therefrom. (Not a very queenly occupation, as one commentator has pointed out).
त) (kk) Shukla explains bavdh as string but it may also be bandAu= aman.
(11) ऽक 77४ nths 865 note (1) to 7 (1) 9.
(mm) Mur&ri is Vishnu or Krishna, the enemy of the demon Mura. The passage is full of puns. So nahki#=(1) he...... not=(2) gold. Rup= (1) beauty (2) silver. 8०79 = (1) married bliss (2) borax and sunart—(1) good wife (2) goldsmith woman. Sone met sohag is a common expression for an enhancement of beauty.
270 NAGMAT!’S: SEVERANCE ॐ; I7-Io
severance : (my blood] has become like rattis™ and has poured from my eyes.” The lady clasped her hands in supplication, [saying], ‘ove has burnt me: do you cool me, my lord.’ :
The lady wept for a yearand a day: then she was defeated, lamenting in her thought. After making in- quiry from human beings, going from house to house, she went forth to inquire from the birds.
18. {She said] ^~ have become an inquirer (peafowl) and Have taken my abodein the forest : my rival, who is my enemy, has set a snare for me. I have become (a crow) and the arrow of severance has pierced my body : if the beloved comes the crow will fly”. Being dejected (a green pigeon) I have attended on his road : now what bird shall I send there? [Though] white and pale (two varieties of dove) I [still] recite the name of my beloved : if there is anger in my mind (Chitrokh)"*, there is no other place [of security] for me. Go and come again (weaver bird) that my beloved may embrace me: whoe ever brings us together is venerable (sparrow).’’ She became a Koel and kept on calling : as a Milkmaid bird she called ‘Take my curds’ (or ‘Iam burnt’). [She became] a starling on the tree and a swan on the water : severance entered her heart and made havoc there (blue jay).
Whatever bird she approached and told her tale of woe, that bird was consumed with flame, while the trees became leafless.
19. “She wept with sobs like the notes of the Koel : her tears of blood were sown in the forest like Ghunghuchi berries. She became black-faced but her eyes and body
(nn) Ratti, asmall red jungle berry, here compared to tears of blood. Cp. ghunghuchi 30 (19) 1 and guhjai 30 (19) 4.
(००0) This stanza introduces the names of various birds by means of puns (see Shukla’s introduction p. 154).
(pp) Shukla explains as a colloquial women's saying.
(qq) Chitrokh or chitravaé, «a brick-red bird with white spots on its wings. Sabdsagar (s, ९.) quotes this verse as Dhaurt panduk kahs piyn क, jo chilrokhan dtisar natn (Ring dove and turtle 1 0 where my love ia; chitrokhan is your other name).
(rr) Pt. Chandrabali Pande in an essay in the Nagari Pracharini Patrika, year 43 pt. 3 p. 263, on Manjhan’s Madhumalati, argues that Jaisi had an earlier poem by Manjhan as a model for this among other passages. Whether original or borrowed, this particular stanza is a series of unpleasing tropes, except for the really poetical one in the last couplet.
30: 981: 1 NAGMATI'S SEVERANCE 217 were ted. She is scorched by the distress of sever- ance. who can cool her? Wherever. she _ stands, having taken up her abode in the forest, there there is a heap of ghunghuchi™ berries. It is as though her spirit were in every drop : the berries moan saying ‘My love, My love’. With this grief the dhak became leafless: [its leaves], drowned in blood, arose again ruddy in hue. Ruddy too were the bimba gourds, soaked in the samé blood; the parwar became ripe: the wheat grain was broken- hearted. ‘Let me behold” [she says] “where my beloved is: who will speak a word for me where that jewel, Ratan Sen, is ?
“In that country there can be no rainy season, no winter and no spring. Nor can there be any kokila or papiha: if there were, my lover would have I{stened to them and would have come to me.”’
31. NAGMATI’S MESSAGE
r. She wandered about weeping, but noone stirred, till at mid-night a bird spoke. ‘You are wandering about and scorching all the birds : what is the sorrow on account of which you do not close your eyes at night?’’ Nagmati wept bitterly: how should she sleep who is separated from her lover? ‘‘He does not depart from my mind and my thought : the water from my eyes will not cease. Noone will go to him in Singhala-dvipa : to him for whom my eyes look as the shell looks for Sewati. He, my lord, has become a Yogi and departed: since that time noone has told him my message. I continually question all roving Yogis, but not one tells me the right news, O bird.
“There is desolation on all sides: noone undertakes my message.’ I will tell thee my sorrow in severance: sit and listen for a short time.
(88) Ghunghucht, the same as ratti, 30 (17) 6 note (pp), and as 9५7 in the next verse, where there is a pun on (एण, lit. roar (a milder word would have been more suitable, but evidently a pun was thought more important). These red berries are of course the lady's tears of blood.
(tt) ‘Parwar or palwal, a species of cucumber, grown in the South Eastern districts of the United Provinces during the rains,
28
218 NAGMATI'S MESSAGE ` 31 : -2-3 । ।
2. “To him should sorrows be told, brother, who will be affected by another’s woe when he hears it. Who will be like Bhima to take on his shoulders the distress that consumes another? Who will take word to Singhala? Since my love has become a Yogi and departed thither, I, wasting in severance, have become like [the frame of] ` a viol’. He has blown the Yogi’s horn and has met his Guru : I have become ashes; he has not come to gather them together. If anyone will come and tell me his story, I will be his footstool, his handmaid for life. Thinking on his virtues I have become like [the string of] a necklace : even now he has not returned, and my skin has left [my bones]. Severance is my Guru, and has made my bosom his begging bowl: he who subsists on air, it 1s he who lives. +
“All my bones have become [like the frame work of] a viol, and all my sinews have become like its strings. From every pore the notes arise: in what manner shall T tell my woes ? .
3. “Speak thus to Padmavati, O bird: to her who has met my lover and bewitched him. You in your own house have become a housewife, a husband—stealer : he has left me to recite prayers and perform penance by myself. A palace of gold is what you have obtained, but he has departed after reducing my palace to the con- dition of Lanka. You have obtained ease and bliss for your body: my heart is filled with conflict and woe. I too was married to this same beloved husband: it was as though I had won another’s spirit. Be merciful now, and give back my spirit: unite me with my lover and quicken me again. I have no business, girl, with en- joyment : all I desire is to behold him face to face.
“Do not be a hostile rival, you in whose hands is my lover. Bring him back to me just once, J humbly be- seech you’’’.
Caxto 31 (a) The likeness is explained in vv. 8 and 9 of this stanza. (b) In -39 (11) 7 Nagmati was like the string of a necklace. Here there is 9180 a pun on gun = (1) virtue (2) string. (०) Literally, your foot, my forehead. See 32 (2) 9. for a similar expression,
$1: 4-5 NAGMATI'S MESSAGE । 2१0
4. Ratansen’s mother, Surasati, was like Mainawati, the mother of Gopichand. The old lady became blind, weeping for sorrow [saying] ‘“‘Where is my life, my jewel (Ratan) lost? He has taken away my life: I am without support : who will help me to stand? Deprived of my life I am dependent on others: where is my son who might come and be my stay? My eyes have no sight ; lamps give no light : the house is dark, when a son is not in it. Who will come in place of Sarvan* to prop my body and support my feet? You were like Sarvan and prepared a carrier: having fitted the basket, why have you now left it ?”
His mother was breathing her last, saying, ‘Sarvan, Sarvan’, and clinging to the carrier. ‘Without you [she said] I shall not obtain water; Dasratha will bring fire’.
5. The bird took the message and set forth: fire arose through all Singhala. Who can restrain the con- flagration of severance in mid-course? From the smoke that arose the clouds became black. Such flames were let loose that the sky was filled with them: they became constellations and fell to earth, broken. Wherever the earth was burnt, there was alkali: it became, as it wete, dust in the fire of severance. It was like the two demons of eclipse, when Lanka was bumt: the sparks flew and fell upon the moon. The bird went to the ocean and screamed aloud: the fishes were burnt and the water became salt. The rough jungle was burnt, and the shells in the sea. He went on and came near to Singhala-dvipa.
On the shore of the ocean is a noble tree. He went and perched on that tree. Until he should tell his mes- sage, thirst and hunger were nothing to him.
(d) Sarvan, a model of filial piety, who used to carry his Teg arents about in baskets slung on a polo (kWavari). He was accidentally killed by Dasrath while fetching water for his parents. Dasrath took water to the parents, who foretold that he too would be deprived of his san (Rama). The story is told inthe Valmiki Ramayana: it took the form later of a Buddhist Jataka, in which the hero got his name of Srawana Kumar (the neophyte), and is now sung, by wandering minstrels, as the song of Sarwan. It is sung by 6087570 mendicants, to the accompaniment ofa Sitar, in the same way as the Gopinath and Bhartari songs are sung by Yogi mendi- cants to the accompaniment of a kingari.
220 ¢ NAGMATI’S MHSSAGH Si: 6-8.
` , 6. Ratansen, hunting in the forest, passed beneath that same noble tree. Cool was the tree on the shore of the ocean : it was exceedingly high and its shade was deep. He tied up his horse and sat down alone: the others, his companions, were all disporting themselves. He turned and looked at the branches of the noble tree: he . began to listen to the speech of the winged fowls. Among these fowls was that bird to which Nagmati had told her dis- tress. They were all asking the history’ of the bird, ‘‘Ho, friend, how have you become black?” He said, “Friends, about two months ago I went to Jambu dvipa.
“IT saw acity; the fortress of Chitaur 15 15 18116. How shall I tell the distress [that I found there]? It 1s in that place that I was burnt.
7. “The King [of the place] had become a Yogi and gone forth: the citv was desolate as though smitten by darkness. Nagmati is his queen: she is burnt by sever- ance and has become the colour of a Koel. By this trme she would have been byrnt away to ashes: the burning of severance is unspeakable. Even then she lamented’ brodken-heartedly : her tears kept falling, all like flakes of fire. ‘That fire spread in all four directions: the earth burnt till the conflagration reached to heaven. Who can extinguish the fire of severance when it blazes? He whom it reaches runs straight in front of him. I too began to be burnt there: my body became black. I fled for my life.
“Why do you laugh in pride and disport yourselves in the ocean’? His mind will fall in the power of severance, whom its fire reaches and burns.”
8. Hearing this the King of Chitaur thought in his mind, ‘Irom whom have I heard this divine message £ Who 15 this on the tree in the guise of a bird who has spoken the message of Nagmati? Who are you, O friend, who dwell in the thought of my mind, god or demon or winged fowl of the air? Brahma or Vishnu has made you vocal so that you have told me the mght word. Where
(€) I take nama to be the Persian nama and not the Hindi nam. (f} A@ktis the word ordinarily used for the note of the koei, to which Nagmati hag beon compared {in colour} above.
~
34: .8- 09 NAGMATI'S MESSAGE ` aga
did you see that Nagmati, who told you of severance as she specially felt it in her mind? I am that king who became a Yogi and for whose sake she is thus love-lorn. Like you, bird, so do I pass my days :. I wish for the time when I shall go and fly (to her].
“O bird, my eyes are ever fixed on that way. No mes- sengers come who might tell me her message.”
0. “Why do you ask for a love-message? You have become a Yogi, and have no knowledge of enjoyment. {If the Yogi] does not blow his conch or his horn the right way but blows them the wrong way he will waste away by night and day. He goes round in a circle to the left like an oilman’s bullock: if he falls into a whirlpool he cannot get out of it. Horses, ships and carts are driven on the right: the potter’s wheel 15 turned to the left. Birds do not make the same mistake as you do: they realise that they come into the world to fly. I have come as far as one island for you, but what of that ? The whole world is beneath my feet. He who turns to the right is as bright as the moon and the sun which are radiant in the world.”
Muhammad has left the left-hand direction with one ear and one eye. Since he has reached the right-hand way his song, like the Papiha bird’s, [15 of the beloved].
10. “I went round the mountain of the north pole keeping my right side towards it: having gone round Sumeru I came to the fortress of Chitaur. I saw weeds growing 11 your palace: your mother had become blind with weeping. As, bereft of Sarvan”, his parents became blind, so she was breathing her last, her thoughts fixed
—_ — a ----- भभ भ~ >~ = ~~ ~ श् ७.9
(६) The {1९181 meaning of the stanza is that there is a right wa and a wrong way of doing things: (dahinw and bayan mean bot right and wrong and right and left). The oilman’s bullock 18 driven round left-handed (anti-clockwise) and never gets out ofthe circle in which he is confined, cp. Akhrawat (24) 7. So with a potter’s wheel. But we steer horses, ships, carts by the right and they go 0 The sun and and moon ge round right-handed (clock-wise) and enlighten the world. Speaking of right and left finally leads Jaisi to mention his own loss of the sight of one eye, cp. 1 {21) 1 note 55, and the hearing of one
ear, By this loss he was led to the 1ight way, und became the poet of
love,
(h) See 3) (4) 6 note (व), The point of comparison is that Sarwan took water to his parents.
222 = ` NAGMATI’S MESSAGE 3३ ; ro-r2:
on you.. She said “I am dying, who will lift the carrier? My son is not [here}: who will give me water?” Thirst went and attached itself to her: water was given her by the hand of Dasrath. - She did not drink water, but wished for fire: such is the profit of a son like you being born. Be like Bhagirath’ and return thither: go quickly, it is the time of her death. |
“You, as a good son of your mother, do not thus take a foreign land [for your home]. By this time she will have | died : go and perform her funeral rites. ,
11. ‘‘Nagmati’s sorrow of severance is illimitable : earth and heaven are burning with the flame thereof. The city and its ramparts, the -house and the country outside are desolate: God forbid’ that any house should be bereft of its men. You have fallen into the power of the witchcraft of Kanvaru": you have forgotten your Yoga: Lona the witch has cozened you. She [{Nagmati] has died and become ashes for your sake : she has become a serpent, feeding on air. Perhaps she says ‘Take and eat me’, but there is no flesh on her body which might please anyone. Severance is a peacock: that lady is a serpent’: do you, as a cat, speedily come to the rescue. Her flesh has fallen away, and she is reduced to a skeleton : () Yogi, go to her at once, taking healing herbs.
“Seeing her distress in severance J left my forest dwelling. I came in haste to the shore of the ocean, and from that time I have not left it.
12. “Such a conflagration was there from the bonfire of severance that the clouds became black from the smoke which arose. Rahu was burnt and so was ketu: the sun was burnt and so was half the moon. Moreover, all
(1) Bhagirath by the power of bisa austerities brought the Ganges down from heaven to extinguish the flames which were consuming the sixty thousand sons of Sagar, his ancestor.
(j) Nauz is the Arabic natz bilah (May God preserve us).
(k) Kénvarti—Kamrtp or Assam, celebrated tor witchcraft, where dwelt Lona or Nona a noted witch. Chamar by caste, cp. 38 (3) 6, 49 (2) 2 Crooke, Popular Religion p. 336. Briggs, The Chamsre p. 185 and Gorakhnath ५ 74. Kamrup sorcery verses are still supposed to be very potent, ifrightly learnt from the initiated and properly recited.
(1) The snake (Nagmati) is the natural prey of the peacock.
St: 12-14 NAGMATI’S MESGAGE 223
the constellations and stars were burnt : meteors, rushing, fell to earth. The earth itself was burnt in many places: the dhak jungle flared up and was burnt with this con- flagration. From the breath of severance such a burning heat issued that the mountains were burnt and became like live coals. Bees and insects and serpents were burnt, and koels and king-crows and ravens. All the birds of the forest flew away to save their lives: the fish in the water were distressed and dived down. |
“I too, burning, departed from there and came and quenched myself in the ocean. The water of ocean was burnt and become salt: the smoke covered the world.”
13. The King said, ‘“O heavenly messenger, come down and approach near to me, O visitor from another country. Let me support your feet and fold you to my breast : be near to me and speak your message of love.’’ The bird, which was a forest-dweller, said, “How have you, from a householder, become a wandering mendicant ? If beneath a tree there is anyone like you, it is the same ‘look-out for the bird in the tree] whether it is a Kokila or acrow. Poisoned food lies upon the earth: the haryal knows this and avoids the ground”. I shall rove, a wanderer, from branch to branch: I shall make ready my wings for setting forth. The hours of life are continually grow- ing less: life may remain in the evening, but [next] day it remains not.
“So long as I rove in freedom I shall not fall into a cage. I shall go speedily to my own land, in the midst whereof is a way of safety.’’
14. Having spoken the message, the bird departed : fire was kindled in all Singhala. For a long time the king called after him, but he disappeared and did not come into view again. The king saw no feather, not to speak of the bird: weeping, he returned in despondency. ‘Just as that bird, seeking, lost himself, so one day I too will set forth. While my life and my body are united, I must once go to the fortress of Chitaur.’” The bee [Ratansen] came to where the lotus [Padmavati] was in her palace;
(m) 8966 2 (5) 6 Note (31).
224 NAGMATI’S MESSAGE 81: 14—18&1
but the bird took his spirit away with it. His body was in Singhala, his mind dwelt in Chitaur: his spirit was distraught as though he had been bitten by a serpent.
All the ladies [fof the harem] laughingly asked him with ambrosial words the state of his mind. All charm had departed : poison had spread: he had neither wit nor reason.
15. It was a year or more that he had stayed in Singhala : the days had passed for him in enjoyment and disport.. But he was in despair when he heard the mes- sage: he continually remembered in his mind the land of Chitaur. When the lotus saw the bee in despair she re- mained not firm: she now remembered the Malati. [She 5216 | ‘‘The Yoo, the bee, the wind are not in one’s control : how shall they remain if they have made up their minds to depart? Although one should take one’s own life and give it them, yet a Yogi or a bee would not be in his control. He has left the lotus and taken the Malati to his bosom : now how can the bee be steadfast, my friends?’ Gan- dharvasen, came [and said] ‘“Iisten, my son: how has your spirit become hopeless °
“TY have brought life to you: I have given you a dwelling place in my eyes”. If you become hopeless, then for whom is this place a paradise ?”’
32. RATANSEN’S LEAVE-TAKING
{. Ratansen spoke respectfully with folded hands: “My tongue is not worthy of telling your praise. If I had a thousand tongues, my lord, yet could not your praise be told in due degree. I was base ore’ and you have made me gold: it was when you gave me lustre that I became a jewel (Ratan). The Ganges is pure with such undefiled water, that, if a brook joins it with water that is unclean,
(n) 3.९, In the Biblical phrase, (Deut. 32, 10) व have kept you as the apple of my eye. There is a similar expression in an Oudh ballad dhan aakhsyn men rakhit chhipry (Gramgit p. 68).
Canto XXXII. (a) Kaych. Grierson translates as ore in } (21) 7, but elsewhere the word means either clay—53 (1) 6—or glass 12 (8) 8, and the latter may be the meaning here.
MB: 43 RATANSEN'S LEAVE-TAKING was
that water becomes part of the stream and reaches the ecean : its sin is removed and it becomes pure as a peart. Even so I was of impure nature, but when f came near to you,"I became undefiled. By your favour I came to Singhala city: through you I -rose to kingship and no- bility
“You are king of the seven seas: noone can stand in rivalry with you. 411, men come and bow their heads wheresoever you have erected your throne.
2. “Now one humble request I will make, my lord; the body only remains so long as the-spirit remains in it. A messenger of mine has come to-day : he brought a letter and gave it to me, your majesty. With regard to the business of kingship and [matters of] land there is no enemy like a brother’. Each makes account fof the kingdom] as his own: one is ready to slay another in order to get the succession. It has been like the night of hew moon when the constellations exercise kingship : make me the moon and send me thither this very day. From [the country] where my ancestral kingdom is, they have written and sent me word that [that kingdom] has now become another’s. Nearby thereto is the Sultan of Delhi; if dawn comes, he will arise like the sun’.
“May you remain immortal so long as earth and heaven {endure}: take my life on earth. My head will ever be there where your foot is.”’
3. Thereupon all the king’s council arose: ‘Verily, lord, the request 1s a weighty one and one that should be granted. Let there not be division between brothers : it was by domestic cleavage that Lanka was destroyed. You have planted a tree; let it not be withered: show your countenance so that it may obtain water. You have lit a lamp and brought it and set it up: still this guest will not remain in a foreign land. If anyone has inheri- ted a kingdom anywhere, that land is naturally to his liking. ‘I have placed you in my eye and kept you.
ॐ) Suggesting > fictitious reason for Ratansen'’s departure,—that a brother is interfering with his affairs in hia absen (c) 4.e. let mo recover my kingdom : if not, the emperor will get it
29
aah RATANSEN'S LRAVE-TAKING ॐ: bw there’ :—-let not your tongue speak any such speech. Ordain a-day: let us speed him on his way with good fortune: may his life be long and may he come back again.”
They all agreed in this, and preparation was made for departure. They prayed to Ganesh for success [and said] “May God fulfil the whole undertaking.”’
4. “The lady (garden) Padmavati said respectfully, “T am, my beloved, like a fresh (nevari) jasmine (kund) ` flower. Where is that Malati plant and how is she like me? She should do service (sevati) at my feet (kadam) and be pressed (champ)............ (chameli).......... You are like the thread of an ornamental garland (singar- har), so close you are to the heart of the flower-bud. I shall always do obeisance to that [god of] spring, who is blooming (kusum) and ruddy gulaland ofa good countenance (sudarsan) and auspicious. I beseech you with folded hands (bakuchan): I am not angry (ros): ‘Listen: de not desert the Bakawali and prefer the Juhi. If Nagmati (nagesar) is to your mind, still she cannot 7131 me in speech (bol). I have become cf good conduct (sadbarg) and taken refuge: hereafter, my beloved, de what you will do (karna).”’
However much (ket) the lady (garden) gave counsel, lest the bee should be pierced by the thorn, still he said “T will die in Chitaur: I will perform the horse-sacrifice [there. }’’
5. When Padmavati heard of the move for departure she rose with frightened spirit and beat her head. Her eyes became wet and filled with tears: “I must leave [she said] this paradise of Singhala. I shall leave my home and go into exile: this is the day for which I wept before. I shall leave my own friends and companions: it is a far journey : I shall leave them and set forth alone. Where there can be no remaining without departing, why
(0) Referring to what Gandharvasen said in 31(15)8 (ce) This stanza contains a string ns on flower names, many of them untranslateable, cp. 27(41) and 36(1) [0 v. 6 bof san, Shukla finds 9 pun in ‘bol’ms(l) speech (2) an Arabian shrub. Pt. Kanta Nath Pande _— mob sare (equal worth) with a pun on ‘mawlsiss’ (name of a shrub), # brilliant emendation,
कैः: Soy RATANSEN'S LRAVE-TAEING 237
did I not die there at my very birth? What happiness have I experienced from coming to this my home? It has ‘been only the likeness of a dream. My father was unkind in keeping his girl child alive. Why has he given her in marriage and thus sent her into exile?”
Sorrow came and attacked her heart: her spirit was besieged, as it were. She wept for distress of mind, stopping in every chamber.
6. Thereafter Padmavati called ‘her companions : hearing of the departure they all came together. ‘Come to me, my companions: I am going to a place from which, when I have gone, I shall not return again. That land is beyond the seven seas: how shall we ever meet, or how shall any message come? I am setting out on a difficult road to a distant country: I know not whether I shall have weal or woe. My father has not shown kindness in his heart : who there will grasp my arm and preserve me ? I and you have disported ourselves in company one with another: but the end has brought severance and laid it on my neck. While life lasts, I cannot bear to be separa- ted from stich friends as you, such dear companions.
“If my lover bids me go, what can I do? His command cannot be set aside. Whether I shall meet with you again or not, let us, my companions, embrace.”’
7. ‘When the lady weeps, all her companions weep also: ‘Seeing you [they say] we lament on our own ac- count. If one like you cannot remain, then what of us, who are not our own mistresses? He who is our father, the beginning and the end, he did not think of this day in his heart. He 15 pitiless and has not shown pity: why should blame attach to us [on account of] one grain of wheat? Why, even the heart of a wheatgrain may be split, but that father does not feel in his heart. We have beheld our clever friend living in this her home as if she were a mere guest. She would not have desired her own
(f} This stanza 18 allegorical As a girl has to leave her father’s house for that of her husband, 80 the soul has only a temporary home in this life. This is due to Eve’s ain in eating (in Muslim egend) & of wheat, and to her being oxiled from Paradise, vide Akharawat 7(2) and Shukla’s Introduction P, 201, 238
a8 RATANBEN'S LERAVE* TAXING $3: ay
heme if there had been such great advantage in her ` husband's house.
“We were born to make a journey : we have not learnt how to journey after coming hither. If he now will send us on out journey, who will clasp our feet and detain us ?
8. “You are but a girl: your beloved is King in both worlds : pride and high temper beseem him. All manner of fruits and flowers are-on his branches: if he chooses he will phick them’ off : if he chooses, he will keep them. [Keeping] his commands in your heart remain ever sub- ject to his hand: do him service, placing your forehead on the ground. The banyan tree and the pipal, which hold their heads high, and the pakar, to these [God] has given a small fruit. The gourd which creeps and lays its head on the ground, it has received a large fruit, which is of profit in the world. The mango which bends low when it bears fruit has an ambrosial fruit superior to all others. That loved one is truly dear to her lord who re- mains subject to his commands, surpassing all others in doing him service.”’
They draw a horoscope and look for a day for the journey, to see on what day the setting forth should be. ““If the spirit of the region is subject to an inauspicious -planetary conjunction do not journey straight forward : ‘it is death.”
9.9 On Sunday and Friday the demon of eclipse is in the Western region: on Thursday there 15 conflagration in the region of Lanka in the south. On Monday and Saturday journeys should not be made to the Hast: on Tuesday and Wednesday there is death in the northern region. If anyone must needs set forth, I will declare the
(ह) Visasul (Dikewt) and Chak YoginiI are terms of judicial astrology. The Yogintls (by name Brahmant, Maheswart, Kumirt, Narnyant, Varant, Indrani, Chamunda, and Mahalakemt) are devis presiding over the eight pointe of the compass see note (j) also.
That I Rave been able to offer some sort of translation of the ensuing astrological stanzas is due to the kindness of Rai Bahadur Pandit Padmakar Dube, who has given me a note on them. Pt. Padmakar Dube, retired District M न and at present president of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha, 18 a bon of Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Sudhakar Dvivedi, Sir George Grierson’s क fe e. His note shows that Jaisi’s astro is not altogether in accordance with approved authorities, such as ee ubtrte Chintimani.
ॐ: 9-11 RATANSEN’S LEAVE-TAKING ८. |
remedies to prévent the disease. If he sets forth on a Tuesday he should put coriander seed in his mouth: if he travels on a Monday he should look upon a murror. If he-sets forth on a Friday he should put mustard seed in his mouth: if he goes to the South on a Thursday, he should eat gur. On a Sunday he should put pan in his mouth and crush it: on a Saturday he should chew bai- birang’. On a Wednesday, make a meal of curds before setting out: these are the remedies: there is no [need] to seek others.
Now hear the points of the Yogini, which do not remain fixed. In thirty days the moon circles round the eight points of the compass.
10. The 12th, 70६11, 4th, and 27th are counted as_ the Yogini of the west. On the oth, 16th, 24th and Ist it stays in the south east. The 3rd, 11th, 26th and 18th, count these as the Yogini of the south. On the 2nd, the 25th, the 17th and the 1oth it dwells in the South west. On the 23rd, 30th, 8th and 15th the Yogini confronts you in the East. On the 14th, 22nd, 29th and 7th the Yogini goes to the North. On the 2oth, 28th, 13th and 5th it dances in the North east.
On the 21st and the 6th the Yogini is in the North East. Counting this way, he who wishes to be initiated should read the points of the Yogini compass.
Ir. On the ‘Pariwa and on the ninth, the East is not auspicious : on the 2nd and on the roth the North is ill- omened. On the 3rd and on the 11th the south-east will injure: on the 4th and on the 12th you must avoid the south west. On the 5th and on the 13th to the south is ‘Ramesh- wari : on the 6th and on the 14th to the west 15 Parmeshwart. On the 7th and on the full moon Indrani is to the North- west: on the eighth and on the new moon Lakshmi is to the
(h) A medicinal seed, embelia ribes.
(i) Pariva is the first day of the lunur half month. The lunar days do not (like the solar days of the week) begin after midnight, but are of al lengths. The bright half month ends with the full moon the dark half month with the new.
(j) Rameshwari, Parmeshwan, Indrani (Achhi for कभ the many-eyed one and Lakshmi (L&chhi). Jaisi has not got the names and compass points of these Yoginis quiteright. Theyshould be Brahman! (south), Indrani (west). Chimunds or Chandika (N. W.) and Mah&lakshm! (WV. Z.) See note (8) also.
230 RATANSEN'S LEAVE-TAKING 33 २.
North-east. Recite the names of the lunar days and of the constellations and of the solar days and, when you have arranged for an auspicious day“ send something in advance. The auspicious moment and conjunction must be found : the node of evil influence must be avoided. He who knows how to read the Yogini Chakra defeats hostile might and brings Fortune to his house.
Her lord in joyful contemplation set forth for his happy home : she trembled, her body shook, and her spirit was seized with palpitation.
12. The Ram, the Lion, the Archer dwell in the East : the Bull, Capricorn, the Virgin in the region of Yama (the South), The Twins, the Balance and the Waterjar in the West : the Crab, the Fish, and the Scorpion in the North. If anyone sets out to make a journey, he will have great advantage if ‘Som’ (the moon) is opposite to him. The moon on the right always brings happiness, but the moon on the left brings sorrow and misfortune. It is fatal (to go) to the North on a ‘Sunday. On a Monday the North west 15 fatal: one should not set forth. On Tuesday the west is fatal : on Wednesday the South-west : on Thursday the South, and on Friday the South west. On Saturday death dwells in the East: but if one sets death behind his back and goes [in the opposite direction] he may laugh. When there are the Archer and the moon and the might of the star all at one time, it is the day for setting forth and there will be great good fortune.
13. When the moon 15 in the first [sign of the Zodiac] its star is in the East : when in the second, you must consider it in the North-east. । In the third, North, and in the fourth North-west : in the fifth, count it in the West. In the sixth South-west, and South in the seventh : in the eighth it goes and dwells in the South-east. In the ninth the moon dwells in {the house of] the Earth: in the tenth the same moon resides in heaven. In the eleventh the moon comes
(k) Prasthan. The practice of sending some luggage or food ahead on & ela date, if a start on an inauspicious date is unavoidable, the object being to persyade the powers of evil that one is really starting on the earlier date.
(0) I am not sure if it is the days, or the influences of the planets (sun, moon, Mars etc.), which govern the days, which are referred to here.
नि: 2315 RATANSEN'S LEAVE-~TAKING agi
back again to the East: “{he who travels then] passes his days in great affliction. "Asuni, Bharani and Revati are auspicious : Mrigasir, Mul and Punarbasu are mighty. [Under] Pushya, Jyeshtha, Hasta and Anuradha, he who desires success may accomplish his object.
Divide the lunar day, the asterism and the solar day by eight and by seven. The first and last and°® middle portions, these are for ill fortune and good fortune.
14. The first, sixth and eleventh lunar days are called ‘Nanda’ : the second,' seventh and twelfth ‘Manda’. The third, eighth and thirteenth are ‘Jaya’: the fourth, four- teenth and ninth are ‘Khaya’. The full-moon, tenth and fifth are ‘Puran’. If ‘Nanda’ and Friday [coincide], or’ ‘Manda’ and Wednesday, you may dance for joy. On a Sunday, take the asterism Hasta for success : on a Thurs- day, tell of Pushya, Sravan and the moon. On Wednes- day, Bharani, Revati and Anuradha [are auspicious]: the new moon, Rohini means success. ‘Rahw’ comes from the conjunction of the moon and [the shadow of the] Earth: it is then that the eclipse of the moon is brought about and takes place. On Sunday, take ‘Rikta’’ [as [auspicious], and on Tuesday ‘Jaya’: if Thursday [coincides with] the first lunar day, you may attain full accomplishment of all your aims.
‘If the Sun is in the sign of the moon, that is the ‘Amavas’ [new moon] : if the Earth is between them, then there is an eclipse of the Sun.
15. “Come, come’; it was her lord’s word of starting : death looks not for any precise time when taking life. Bidding farewell to all, she mounted her vehicle `
(m) We are not told what happens whew the moon is in the 12th signa of the zodiac. Possibly divas 18 a wrong reading for dvmdas,
(n) These are names of lunar asterisms.
(9) Pt. Padmakar Dube emends madhya for budk, which has no meaning here,
(p) I have conjectured mande for bhae, which Pt. Kamlakar Dube rejects,
(q) Askia is another name for khayw the class-name of the 4th, 14th and 9th Tithis or lunar days.
(r) Adopting Pt. Kamlakar Dube’s conjecture of ‘Jaya for Ajna, which is meaningless here.
(8). Pandit Kamlakar Dube’s conjectures Sasi for chhate and
for pariwa make sense out of nonsense in this couplet,
aya RATANSEN'S LRAVETAKING 88 : I5¢#7
the day she feared had arrived. Her mother, her feather and her brothers wept: noone could stay her when her lover made her set forth. All the folk of Singhala who dwelt in her home wept, [saying], “the King has set forth, taking her away with music. Ravan left his kingdom: what of anyone else? He leit Lanka, and ‘Bibhishan took it.’ Her companions pressed upon her: she went round embracing them all: at last she came face to face with her lover. In the end, noone is anything to anyone else: all are bound in illusion and deception and cling thereto.
Golden bodied was the queen: not art ounce of flesh remained. It was for her lover to put her on the touch- stone and fashion either bracelet or necklace.
16. When everyone had returned, after bringing them on their way, both virtue and vice went with them. And with them went everything prepared for the journey : it was only that king [Ganhdarvasen] who could give so much. Serving miids went with them in 3 thousand litters: all were lotus maidens of Singhala. Tuey had prepared fine bejewelled silks: they had four and more lakhs of baskets filled with them, {Gandharvasen] took out of his treasury jewels and precious stones, rubies and pearls, and gave chariot loads of them. The testers tested these jewels and said that each of them was worth a continent. Thousands of strings of horses went with them and a hundred strings of Singhala elephants.
If the pen began to write them it could not add up the tale and tell it. {The value of all was | an arab, ten kharabs, a nil, a sankh and a crore of padmas of arbuds."
17. When he saw all this wealth, the king [Ratansen] was uplifted by pride: he did not look at anyone else.
(४) A Rakshar, brother of Ravan, whom Rama made king of Lahka after slaying Ravan, ए 33(4)I. {a) 1 arab = 100 kror, 1 kharab = 100 arab, 1 wil = 100 kharah, 1 sankh om 10 kharab, 1 arbud = 10 kror,
1 Ero op. 24(3)6 note (i).
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“Although I am beyond the sea, yet who is equal to me in this world ?’’ Pride comes from wealth; greed has a poisonous root : ‘Charity’ was not, still less ‘Verity’. Charity and Verity are two brothers’ : where charity 15 not, verity departs also. Where there is greed, there sin is its companion : a man will die after hoarding up a store for others. He who is enlightened regards wealth as a fire: one man is burnt by it, another warms himself. For one it is the moon; for another the demon of eclipse: for one ambrosia, for another poison.”’ So the king’s mind was lost in the dark abyss of greed and sin. The Ocean came and stood by him, taking the
form cf a mendicant. १
33. THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY
1. The ships were loaded and [the King] set forth . taking his queen. The mendicant* tested his truth by asking alms. ‘Be not greedy: give largesse: giving is more excellent than any virtue. God has ordained wealth for alms-giving: from giving, salvation results and dis- tress passes away. Giving 1s an addition to all wealth : giving is interest and saves one’s principal. Giving res- cues in mid stream: giving plies oars to bring one to shore. By giving largesse Karn was saved in both worlds : Ravan hoarded and was burnt with fire. By giving, Meru has grown to touch the sky : by hoarding < प्ल died in
its neighbourhood.
(v) Dutta tne virtue of liberality,—sala the virtue of truth. The description of them as brothers offers a remarkable parallel to Martin Luther’s fable of Date and Dabitur quoted by Browning (Dramatic Romances: The Twins.)
“Then the beggar, See your sins ! Of old, unless I err,
Ye bad brothers for inmates, twins Date and Dabitur.
While Date was in good case, Dabitur flourished too....”’
In Akhiri Kalam (14)4 Datt and Satt leave the world together in the
evil days before the Last Judgment. Canto 33 .(a) ६.९. the Ocean, —32(17)9.
(0) Kuber, the god of wealth, wasastep brother of Ravan. There is no legend of his death, so faras I know. Jaisi correctly mentions Alakpur a8 his dwelling place in 50(5)5, see Shukla’s Introduction p. 229.
30
a4 THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 98 : ४-3
‘Where there are forty parts of wealth, one part therem is mine. Otherwise, it will be burnt or sunk in the sea, or thieves will filch it at night.”’
2. When he heard that [talk of] giving, the king was incensed : ‘‘You foolish mendicant [he said] why do you talk so foolishly? That man is a man indeed who has hoarded wealth: listen and I will tell you how many things come from wealth. With wealth a man can show pride if hé wishes to: with wealth he can buy earth and heaven.- By wealth paradise will come into his hands. With wealth, Achharis are ever with him. By wealth the virtueless man is virtuous: by wealth the hunchback becomes handsome. If there is wealth under-ground, one’s forehead 51111168" : considering this, who can give away wealth? By wealth come righteousness, good works and kingship: by wealth one’s intelligence is clear and one shouts with strength.”
The Ocean said “Fie, greedy one. Wealth is your enemy: do not lock it up. Wealth 15 not anyone’s own: it is [like] a serpent shut in a basket.”
3. They had not come to the middle of the sea when a wind arose, a tornado from the north. Waves rose and the sea was churned up: it lost its way and drew near to heaven. The foulest weather came that there had ever been: such a wind blew that rocks flew about. The ships that were sailing, aiming for Chitaur, were driven out of their course in the direction of Jjanka. If the steers- man accepts a cargo and cannot reach the other shore, how can he show pride? The cargo of wealth does not rise with anyone: it becomes hostile to him who has amassed it. The bird which grasps a stone cannot fly: he who says ‘Mine, mine’ will sink.
Those who think of wealth as sometlung that is their own are mistaken when they लिः pride in it. Those
(५) Cp,in the Sanskrit sloka यल्पा्थाः षपुर्माह्लोके |
(१) ॥ An allusion to the proverb quoted by Shukla Gada hat bhaadar, barat has lidar (If a man has treasure buried, his forehead shines). Shukla’s maadar (trench) must be a misprint for bhaadars.
(6) Shukla explains manathin as man mea, but it seems better to take it aw 8. werbal form from manana.
83: 3-5 THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 235
who cannot lift it and take it, are sunk in the water,
4. There was a mariner of Bibhishan': he came hunting for fish. He was a Rakshas of Lanka, exceedingly black: when he approached, darkness came. He had five heads and ten arms: he had been burnt black when Lanka was burnt. Smoke rose from his mouth together with his breath: fire issued when he spoke a word. He shook his head like a horse-hair plume: his teeth pro- jected and came outside his mouth. He had the body of a bear, but bears were frightened of him: as soon as he saw anyone he ran as though to devour him. His eyes were red when he came near: everyone was filled with fear at seeing this fearful monster.
The earth was at his feet, the heaven at his head: he was like Sahasrabahu*®. Amcng the moon, the sun and the stars" he was like the demon of eclipse to the sight.
5. The ships were driveti on: they did not obey the mariners : seeing the king, the demon laughed in his mind. “After many days this is the second time that the hunger of the python has been 58115060. If Bibhishan gets this lotus lady’ it will be as though he had to-day pitched his camp in Ajodhya. It will be as though Ravan had obtained Sita and had dwelt in Lanka after defeating Rama.” Just as a crane approaches when it has seen a fish, so he lifted his feet and placed them stealthily on the ground. When he had come near he salaamed and asked hew they fared and what was their business. He who was the demon of treachery created full confidence by’ doing service.
“Friends, how have you lost your way, and to what
(f) Bibhishan, the ruler of Lank&, see 32(15)5 note {7}.
(zg) The thousand-armed Arjun; not the Arjun of the Mahabharat, but the hero of many stories in the Puranas.
(h) Shukla explains the sun as Ratansen, the moon 28 Padmavati and the ४६६78 as her companions.
(i) The meaning is ‘There has been no such desirable prey since the rape of 8118 by Ravan. Padmavati will now make a similar suitable prisoner for Bibbishan’,
{1} Jaisi here uses bisu7a in the right sense. He generally uses it wrongly, as in v, 8 of the next stanza. See Shukla’s Introduction p, 263,
236 THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 88 : 549
shore have you come? J am your servant, such a servant as will set you on the right way.”
6. When calamity befalls, the spirit is foolish, and whoever speaks good words appears good. The king called the demon to his side, and put him in front, as though he had found the way. Placing confidence in the demon, he said to him, “Guide the ships so that they shall not be storm-tossed. You are the mariner at the head of all the mariners: rescue us and bring the ships to shore. If I reach through your help the landing place on the far shore, I will give you a collar set with the jewels of the nine planets" to wear. I will set pendents in your ears and I will give you the wages of a master mariner. I will so fulfil your hopes that no trace of your demon nature will remain.”
The king gave him pan : he did not realise his treachery. The crane, for the sake of his own food, becomes the slave of the fishes. ~
7. The demon said “My humble respects to your majesty. The race of demons are good servants. When Rama set fire to Lanka I did not forsake my service, but was burnt black. Now too I will stick to you and do service : men lose their way, but I will go before you. Where Raghava made the Setubandh' dam, there I will place you, taking your cargo on my shoulders. But now let me straightway receive some largesse, and I will at once row you there and place you on the dam. If straight- way you cheerfully give largesse into my hand”, you
(k) The navagraha are the 9 planets. To counteract the adverse influence of each planet there is a particular precious stone, as follows :—
Adit (Sun) ie sa lahsuniya (cat’s eye) Som (Moon) .. nilam (sapphire) Mangal (Mars) .. manik (ruby) ` Budh (Mercury) pukhr& (topaz) Brhaspati (Jupiter) moti (pearl)
ukra (Venus) .. 111 & (diamond) Sani (Saturn) .. 10708 (coral) R&hu (eclipse) , , gomeda (opal) Ketu (comets etc.) pann& (emerald)
(1) Setubandh, Adam’s bridge; the causeway made by R&ma with the aid of the monkeys Nala and Nila, for the assault on Lanké.
(m) Pani. Shukla has ‘from your hand’, which may be right, or it may be dan pan (largesse and p&n).
88: 7-9 - THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 437
will for a small gift receive much in return. If you give largesse after exacting service, you should not count it as largesse hut as [wages] of service.”
The lights were extinguished, truth was lost, that truth whose beauty had been spotless. The tornado lifted up the ships and carried them to the dark abyss.
8. . Where there is a gulf in the mid-stream of the sea the water whirls round at the gate of hell. After whirling round and round the water is condensed at that place: he who falls therein never comes out again. At that place is the city of Mahirawan", a knife-edge hike the knife of Yama° beneath the waves. At that place Mahirawan was slain: his bones lie there as if a range of mountains stood there. The spine of his back which lies there appears to the view like Setubandh. The demon came and reached this place: the ships fell into the whirlpool. The ships when they came there began to whirl round just as a potter holds his wheel and twirls it.
The King said ““Ho, demon: you are behaving foolishly of set intent. See, here is Setubandh. Why do you not lead us thither 2.
9. Hearing the word ‘Setubandh’ the demon laughed : it was as though the sky broke in pieces and fell on the earth. ‘‘Who is foolish? It is you who are seen to be foolish. He who 15 foolish, is yet wise for the sake of his food. The winged insect”, which is foolish and dwells in a house of clay, stretches out its tongue and eats all the ants. It 15 you who are foolish and have come to be eaten up: even then, you showed no understanding and Jost your way. The backbone of Mahirawan which lies there, that you call Setubandh, siuce vour wits have been cozened. This is the city of Mahirawan, where heaven is near to you and your home is far. Now you regret having collected so much wealth: go you up to heaven, and there wring your hands.
(n) Mahir&évan, a Rakshas, the son of Ravan.
(७) Yamak&tar, besides meaning the knife of Yama, the god of death, 88 in 16(3)2, may also mean a whirlpool. In 53(9)7 it appears to mean Adam’asgbridge, which is compared to it here.
(p) Idonot know what insect 18 referred to. P#akAt would ordinarily mean the winged termite or white ant, but it does not eat other ants,
238 THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 98 $9---84:.1
“That Mahirawan, who, in his life-time, bore the burden of the world, when he died did not take his bones with him: he has become a mountain, and lies here.”’
10. The ships whirled round, and so did all the water : the demon danced : all hope was lost’. Elephants, horses, men were drowned: thedevourers of carrion flocked together from all directions. At that moment a Roc (royal bird) approached: when it flapped its wing it was as though a - mountain peak were broken away. Its sight fell on that vile demon: it saw him as if he had been an exceedingly fat elephant. It came and rushed upon that demon: it seized him and flew off, and the whirling of the water ceased. All the ships had been broken to pieces: it could not be known where they had gone to. The king and his queen were on two planks: both were carried by the current and went in different directions.
He joineth the body and the spirit: when He slays them he makes two divisions. The body, weeping, falls to earth: the spirit departs to the universe.’
34. LAKSHMI AND THE OCEAN
I. The queen Padmavati fell into a swoon: she knew not where was her life or where her lord. Tike an effigy carved and fixed upon it she lay on the plank and floated wherever it went. She who was so exceedingly delicate that she had never endured the wind lay in a limitless sea of sorrow. A daughter of the ocean, named Lachhmi (lucky is he whom she meets) was playing with her girl companions, and the plank came ashore on the sand where she was. One of her companions said, ‘Look at that plank. A statue is fixed on it and it has floated to the beach. From what I can see, there is breath in the woman: the flower has died, but the scent survives.”
She who had been rosy with the hue of love, like a velvet insect, came floating in the sea of curds, and yet her colour did not fade.
(q) SoShukla. But can dunt mean ‘was lost’? Ordinarily it would mean ‘arrived’. Perhaps ‘he had gained his object’. (7), The allegory is obscure. For baramhaag see note (4) to 1(1)7,
34: 2-4 LAKSHMI AND .THE OCEAN 249
2. Lachhmi beheld the thirty two points’ of beauty : she said, ‘‘She is not dead: comfort her, my companions. Her body, which is as thin as paper, has been blown about by the wind and has fallen in the midst of the water. The waves have buffeted her and soaked her with sea water: but even so, her beauty and colour are not diminished.”’ She herself took [the lady’s] head in her lap and sat down: her companions fanned her on all sides. When she came again to her senses and the spirit returned to her body, she asked for water, saying ‘piu’”. Lachhmi’s companions gave her water to drink and laved her face: they were Padmini girls, luke water lilies with the lotus. Then Lachhmi asked her about her sorrows : “Tell me all about yourself’, knowing that I too am a woman.
“When I behold your excellent beauty, 1t makes a deep impression on my thought. Of what city are you a citizen? What, lady, is your name?”
3. The lady came to her senses and looked, opening her eyes wide: what did she see? Only the sands of the sea [shore]. She saw noone familiar there: she asked ‘Who are you? Where am J? Where are those com- panions of mine, like water-lilies with the lotus? They are not here: where have they abandoned me? Where in the world is my beloved lord whom God has made grand as Sumeru? His grand love is limitless and has placed itself upon my heart as if it were a mountain. I, who have been covered with love’s grandeur, how shall I exist if I am oppressed with a burden of sorrow? My lord has, as it were, crushed the lotus bud and has set it afloat in the water of ocean.
“The wind of severance came: I lay distraught on the plank : when my noble tree has crushed and abandoned me, to whose branches shall I cling ?”’
4. They said “We know not your beloved. We found you when no spirit remained in you. You came
Canto 34 (a) See 2(25)8 note (86) for the 32 points of woman. (b) Pitie(1) drink (2) beloved. (9) I have omitted Shukla’s exclamation mark after Hiriy#, as suggested by Pt. Kamla Nath Pande.
240 LAKSEMI AND THE OCEAN 84: 4-6
floating, lying on the plank: so it is that we know not where he is.” Then perception came to Padmavatit's mind: remembering her severance, she swooned away as if dead. From her eyes blood flowed in streams’: it was like the blood [that would flow if] her head were cut off. At one moment she was conscious, at another she was distraught: the sandal paste and frankincense on her body became like ashes. She became bewildered and fell again on the plank, saying, ‘Send me floating to the shore where my lover is. Who will make a Hcl fire and set fire to me? A pair of saras cranes cannot be separated and live.
“Set fire to the head’ of her on whose head severance has fallen. Let people say, ‘She has mounted the pyre?’ I shall be burnt for the sake of my beloved.”’
5.' “In the ocean of my body I look for my beloved : I see that jewel (Ratansen) in my heart. It is as though my 0050111 were a mirror and my beloved showed his appearance therein. The eyes are near but they reach very far: now for his sake I will waste away and die. My beloved is in my heart but we cannot meet: who will bring us together? To whom shall I speak, weeping ? My breath is ever going forth to come to him, yet it does not come and tell me any message. My eyes become king- fishers and hover, but they do not dive and strike. My mind is like the bee whose home is in the lotus: though it becomes a diver, it does not find [its object] and bring it.
“He is a true comrade who can endure to the end with one, whether in prosperity or adversity. HH by being burnt, my spirit can meet my beloved, then, spirit, be burnt and meet him.”
6. With the purpose of becoming Sati she uncovered her head: it was as if lightning* had cleft a wound in a thick cloud. The vermilion burnt as though it had
(१) Literally jugfuls ; the sur&hi ordinarily holds about 9 quart.
(6) The second sir should perhaps be ear (funeral pyre). They would be the same in Persian script. ‘Set fire to the funeral pyre of her.......... ।
(1) As Shukla points out (Introduction p. 76/77) this is one of the pecs which can be interpreted ailegorically of the relation of the soul to ;
(8) १.६. the parting line in her dark hair was like lightning in a cloud
O4:6-8 ` LAKSHMI AND THE OCEAN 24%
caught fire: the fire of her head could not. be controlled. The parting was left like strung pearls: again and again it was burnt when she wept. The pearls of severance which filled [the parting] were broken: they fell like drops of rain showering down in Sawan. Her youth flared up with a blazing flame: it was like gold which has fallen into the fire. She asked for fire, but noone gave it: they all gave her air and water, as to a guest. Her slender waist” was broken with its burden of woe: without her loyer, by whose strength could she stand? ॥
She enchanted the birds with her weeping: it was like the prelude of the Kokila. Her beloved had left her, the trunk of which she was the. golden creeper.
7. Iachhmi began to quench the fire of her spirit [saying], ‘Live, sister, do not die: you will find your beloved. Drink water and draw the breath of life. Like me, you too are a child of ocean. I will for your sake# take to my bed': my father shall search every beach. He whom I meet has great good fortune: I will give you a royal. throne and wedded happiness.” When she had spoken and advised her she took her and went straight home: a meal was prepared, but the lady would not eat. She who is separated from her lover, where for her is appetite, where is pleasant sleep? Where is Sumeru and where is the serpent-lord?’ Who is there who will bring a message from him ?
Lachhmi went to the ocean and, weeping, moved the matter. The Ocean said ‘He is on my beach I will brjng him to her to-morrow.”’
8. The king was carried floating to a place where there was no crow to take a message. There was a moun- tain peak there, where everything was camphor and coral. He climbed up it and searched, but there was. none of his companions: of the wealth which he had collected,
(४) There are the usual puns on lanka and Ravan.
(i) १.६, ‘Twill take to my bed and sulk until my father does what‘ I want him to’, (Shultta’s note shows that the practice, as well as the phrase, is still current).
(j) Sumern and 8688, #.¢. heaven and hell. A proverbial expression for things which are poles apart, but it does not quite fit the context either here or in 34(10)3. a
bh | ¢
242 LAKSHMI AND THE OCEAN 94; -8
nothing came to his hand. ‘He had been like Ravan
dwelling in Lanka, but now all was lost, and noone could
be found by searching. Groaning-aloud,sthe king wept,
“Why did I leave my kingdom of. Chitaurgarh? Where? is all the wealth and treasure tltat was mine? Where are
the army and the equipment thereof that were mine?
Where are the horses, gallant and strong? - Where are
the elephants of Singhala that were mine?
‘Where is queen Padmavati, in whom my spirit had its dwelling? Calling all these things mine, I have lost them, and have gone astray in an abyss of pride.
0. “That Guru who should bring the bee to a meeting with the Ketaki, if he should ask for my kingdom, he should straightway obtain it. Wherever I may hear news of my lotus bride, I will fall into fire or plunge into water {to come there]. I will search the mountains and the peak of Meru: I will go up to heaven and descend to hell, Where shall I find that spiritual guide and ins- tructor who will discover and tell me the inaccessible road? J have fallen into the ocean depths, where there is no opposite shore and no bottom. When Sita was carried away and Rama did battle, it was only when Hanuwant joined him that he regained his beloved. For me there is noone : whom shall I entreat' with tears? Who will gird hithself with strength and seek her out for me?
‘The bee which has found the lotus has imagined many a sport in its mind. If an elephant comes and treads upon it, it destroys the plant.
10, “Whom shal] I call upon, to whom shall I gp? Who would be a friend-in need at this place? Who will mightily churn up this ocean in this time of difficulty : who, having churned it, will extract from.it jewels and precious stones“? Where are Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh? Where is Sumeru and where is 6652 Who will make such preparation and take me out,—-with Vasuki as the rope and Sumeru as the pestle? Who will churn the ocean of curds as it was churned of yore? Action is the
(k} Or ‘save from it Ratansen and Padmavati’, (1) Sumeru and Ses are here, not the opposite poles, as in 3€(7)7, but the pestle an string for churning the ocean, %
$4: 102 ` LASSHMI AND THE OCEAN 243
essential thing and not the telling of tales. Until someone churns, giving his whole spirit to it, the ghi will not come out with a straight finger". The ocean has taken my jewel and has gone on his way. If he were hard pressed he would bring her to light
“He has swallowed her and is now lying relaxed with that precious thing in his maw. Who will bring light to the world by uncovering the moon whiqp has been eclipsed 2
17. “‘O Yjord, thou who art the creator : ou hast made this limitless ocean. Thou dost sustain the sky and the firmament whereof there is no prop, no beam, no pillar. Thou hast set the earth above the water: 11 supports the weight of the world and is not wearied with that weight. The moon and the sun and the systems of the stars in fear of thee run their course by day and night. "Water, air, fire and earth, thy rod is on all their backs. He is a fool, and blind and senseless who, leaving thee, fastens his mind on any other. In every form in the world thou mayest be seen: I am blind in that I cannot see thy dwelling-place clearly.
‘Air has become water, water has become fire, fire has become earth;: all has become a Gorakhdhandha’ (mystery).
2. “It is thou who joinest spirit and body, giving life: it is thou who separatest them, and joinest them [again]. All the fourteen worlds are in thy hand: ever thing that is separated comes together again. In thee 15 the essence and the secret of everything: thou dost make ‘the smallest hair grow again where is broken. Thou knowest all my state: it is like that of one of a pair of saras cranes that are separated. If one dies the other will die calling, upon it again and again: it cannot remain
(m) A proverbial expression.—nothing worth while can be accompli shed without effort
(n) The four elements in this stanza (earth, air, fire and water) are thoge of arth (derived from Greek) philosophy. But there is @ fifth elgment (ether or spirit) in both Muslim and Hindu philosophy, vide Dara shikt fh : Majma-ul- Bahrain, I, Discourse on the elements. .In 50(8)7, 54(7)6, and Akhiri Kalam (2)2 Jaisi speaks of the five elements | (०) See note (a) to 12(1) for Gorakhdhandha in the meaning of an actual puzgle. Here it means the riddle of the universe. The puzzle carried by aa Yogis is perhaps a symbol of this mystery and of its solution y Yoga
244 LAKSHMI AND THE ०८६५४ ^ ४4: 125
its life is completed. In grief and anguish I endure muck distress : I will cut off my head and quickly get release. If I die it will be with the name of Padmavati on my lips : do thou, our maker, make us come togetheg.
“Meeting with the beloved is difficult. Let noone sleep at ease. Here and now one should fear in his mind lest, after meeting, there should be separation.”
13. Having sayl this, he rose and came to the (shore of the] ocean: he drew his scimitar and laid it to his
‘throat. The ocean said ‘A sin is now about to take place.’ He came and revealed himself in the form of a Brahman. Twelve ‘tilak’ marks were fashioned on his forehead: in his hand he held a golden crutch. There were studs in his ears and a sacrificial thread over his shoulder: a golden talisman was fastened beneath his linen robe: there were clogs of gold, studded [with jewels], on his feet. He gave the king his blessing as he came to that place. “O prince fhe said] tell me truly, why are you committing self-murder? Are you dying on account of scorn or for any disgrace? For what reason are you giving up your life?
“Do not lay the scimitar to your throat: understand and see in your mind. He who takes his life by force [commits] a great fault and sin.”’
14. “Who will give you an answer, O "Pande? Let kim speak, whose spirit is in his body*. [I am a king of Jambu-dvipa : I have done that which it was not seemly to do". I went tg Singhala dvipa and married as my wife the daughter i the king’s house. He, gave many ships as dowry and filled them with priceless jewels of purest ray. There were gems and precious stones, rubies and pearls: noone ever possessed so much Wealth. There were carriages, horses, .elephants of Singhala, and two hundred thousand maidens also went with us, Lotus
(p) Paunde is used as a generic term for Brahman, as it was by Kabir and also by British soldiers at the time of the mutiny. The use is still current in the expression Pant, Pande.
(4) Lit. *‰ the earthen vessel. The meaning is ‘Iam already as good as dead : why ask me ?`
(7) Perhaps we might read ju kahai na chhaja, (which there is no
pleasure in relating).
$4: 24-47 ` LAKSHMI AND ‘HE OCEAN ` 245
girls of Singhala were they who accompanied us, each more beautiful than the other.
“Padmavati was the world’s jewel of beauty. How 81811 I tell my boundless woe? I lost her in the ocean: How shall J live alone ?”’
15, The Ocean smiled: there was a gleam of radiance. He said “All the world is drowned when it says ‘This is mine, this is mine.’ If you had a raft of your own, it would not be far from you. Be wise and consider to whom you yourself belong. You may wring your hands and beat your head for sorrow, yet eyes are not opened in your heart. Many come [to this world] who weep and beat their heads because the false things of the world elude their grasp. If the world is really illusion, who he hoards does not attain enlightenment, O prince. He who does attain it does not heap up or bury wealth: he sees the burden [of it] and drops it half-way. That whiclt was of the water has gone into the water: that you are alive is the height of good fortune. ४
“The body and soul are His who gave them: He will take them away when it pleases Him. -Wealth and fortune are all His: If He takes them away, what ground is there for regret ?”’
16. ‘“‘Come, O Pande, what harm is there to any human being if I obtain my queen Padmavati? I ob- tained her by penance and when I had found her I flourished : now I have lost her again I have gone astray ftom the way. A man does not praise his own wife, yet, if she is dead or gone, he wishes to remember her. Where is such a woman upon the face of the earth? Where is the pleasant shade of such a life? Where is now the chance of enjoying such bliss and delight? Death is better than such a life. Where such a gem has been thrown away in the ocean, how shall the diver wis to live there? As this ocean has caused me distress, so I will fix blood- guiltiness on it and carry the feud to Siva’s heaven.
“What thing belonging to it have I destroyed? What has it remembered as a score against me? I shall go to heaven and get just€e against it
17. “It you are dead, why do you stand and weep?
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The dead cannot die, nor can he who is dead weep. If you are dead and have left the body, you cannot again make the move of death. If you were dead; you would ‘not sink in the water: you would go floating and reach the shore. You are the most foolish fellow I have met: you are like Rama the son of Dasrath. He too suffered severance from his wife: he went wandering tp and down this ocean, weeping. He came to the sea and made a dam across it: he slew the ten headed [Ravan] and gave him a place among the immortals. You have no strength. Now, close your eyes : I will bring you to the shore: hold on to my crutch.”
T,ove’s blind fool, when he heard this, was impatient for the way. [The Ocean] took him in the twinkling of an eye to the beach where Padmavati was.
18. Padmavati had been enduring distress such as Sita entlured beneath the Asok tree’. On [her body like] a golden tree there were two orange fruits (her breasts): owing to their’ weight she could not mse and stand up- right. Her curling tresses were like serpents biting these : they climbed up to her head and displayed her bosom. She remained [like a lotus] leaning on its stalk, burnt with distress: she was half lotus and half moon. Her hips were like two lotus roots, and I would call the line of hair [on her stomach] a scorpion. She remained broken, like a golden thread : who was to join her beloved to her, by the flux of married happiness‘? She ate no pan, but remained fasting: the flowers withered, no fragrance re- mained in her body
Sky and earth were drowned in the water: drowning, she was without breath. She was like the Chatak which repeats, ‘My love, my love’ and dies of thirst in Sewatt.
19. Lachhmi was flighty, a bird-hke woman: she deceives him who has truth {in him] by doing him servite. At the beach at which Ratansen had arrived~ she went before him and sat down in his path. And she took the
(8) In the Ramayana, Hanuman finds Sita mourning beneath an Asok tree in Lanka when he brings her Rama’s pe net ring as a pledge of her deliverance
(t) The usual pun on sokag=(1) married happiness (2) flux. See 10(2)8 note (9)
BA: 19-21 LASKHMI AND THE OCEAN 240
{0 of Padmavati. She made for herself a shade where the sunshine was hot. Seeing this lotus the king flew to it, like a bee: but when he drew breath, he did not find the same fragrance. When he came and gazed, he saw. Lachhmi: then Ratansen turned his back. If the fair Lachhmi had been his wife, why should Mahes have left her and become a mendicant? Then again the lady went round and stood before him weeping [thinking] ‘How has this cruel man turned his back on me?’
^ am queen Padmavati [she said] and you are Ratansen, my beloved. You brought yme to the ocean and deserted me there. Now I am weeping, having lost my life.”’
20. “Iam the bee [he said]: I am Bhoj. I am going about seeking for the malati. The malati’ is the wife, the beewis the husband : if it could find her fragrance, my spirit would be made firm. Whgt are you, woman, who sit thus weeping? The flower is the same, but the frag- rance is not the same. The bee which roves round all the flowers still seeks for the malati if 1t does not get the fragrance. Where it does get the fragrance of the malati it will offer up its life.there and become a slave. If only the wind would bring that fragrance to me, I should have a new body, and life would come into my heart". I will give my life as a sacrifice for that fragrance: I will not accept the scent of other flowers.
‘The bee desires only the malati: the thorn comes not to his sight. Even if he falls upon a spear, still he will not turn his back.”’
21. 9 Then the king laughingly said at that place, “Take me to where the malati is: I will go.” She took him with her and came near to Padmavati: she gave water to, drink ta one who was dying of thirst. The lotus
“which had suffered such penance drank the water: the sun, which had been hidden in the ocean, arose. [Lachhmi said] “I have found your lord pn the sea beach, a prince whose forehead blazes like a jewel. His teeth shine like the lustre of diamonds: his wide eyes” are filled, as it | were, with pearls. In arms, in waist, in breast he
Se iat er a A A a RGSS, णकुल ध
(४) Lit. stomaca. (ए) Lit, saucer-eyes.
248 ` LAXSHMI AND’ THK OCRAN ॐ: 228
surpasses the lion: his form is like that of Krishna -ghen the herd-maidens saw him. As king Nala made quest for Damana, so [he] without [thee], his life, is an empty body.
‘As you are a precious amulet, so this jewel Ratan is worthy of you. The bee has met with the malati: join, both of you, and enjoy bliss.” `
22. The lustre of the precious amulet [Padmavati] had been dimmed: but it returned to her face when she heard the name of Ratan. It was as though the sun had revealed himself: the day returned: the lotus was unfolded. While the lotus, smiling, gazed on the face of the sun, the sun touched the lotus with his glance. Her eyes were lotuses, his bright face was the sun: both of them found bliss rooted in love. The bee saw the malati and was enamoured : the malati saw the bee and flourished in the forest. They gazed their fill on each other and clung together, she finding all she hoped in him, and he in her. The gold, being burnt, gave, as it were, its life: the sun arose, and the cold departed. |
The lady fell at her lord’s feet and effaced the dust with [the tears from] her eyes. All marvelled at the meeting of the “moon and the lotus.
23. Let not anyone suffer severance, but let all meet as these two met. When Padmaveti obtained her lord, it was like the spirit returning to the body of one restored to life. Making oblation, the lady offered up her body and mind, and, inclining her neck, fell at his feet [saying] ‘“God has given me to-day a new birth: I was [reduced to] ashes and am now fashioned in human form.”’ The king wept as he threw his head dress upon his neck: he clung to Padmavati’s feet. (god has _ made separation between' body and spirit: if He had not done so, noone would- recognise him. It 15 he who slays and reduces to ashes and effaces: it is he who revives and brings together.
` (Saith Muhammad) If God brings a man a friend who
(w) Shukla explains the moon as Padmavati and the lotus as Ratan- sen’s feet. Ordinarily, the moon and the ksfwal (dayolus) would not, of course, meet,
4223-2 LAKSHMI AND THE OCKAN 249
will’ dwell in his mind, and effects a meeting", what profit is there for a human being in good, or loss in evil fortune?
24. Padmavati said to Lachhmi, “By your favour I have. obtained what I desired. [But] if we two go away heaving lost everything, noone who sees us will say that it is well. Alt those princes, who came With us, and all the elephants and horses and substance, tf we obtain these, it means happiness and enjoyment of €: if not, it means death and enduring sorrow and affliction. Then Lachhmi. approached her father [and said] ‘‘Let me receive 811 that was hers and that was sunk.’”’ Then he came with the herb ambrosia and sprinkled it on those that had died and brought them to life.‘ He brought them and gave them one by one: the king and queen were -con- tented in their minds.
-All their companions came and joined them: they made merry at meeting and greeting: happiness and: fortune were obtained: sorrow and hardship left them and went away. ` 25. He gave them many jewels and stones also: of gold and silver he did not take thought. How shall I describe and declare before you by name all the precious stones of great price? Who can tell the beauty and value of them, when each gem was worth a continent. The cut diamonds of great price were all picked gems which he took. If anyone were to exchange a single one of these jewels for cash, he would be able to do whatsoever was in his mind. In the pride of wealth their minds went astray : they did not consider that there was anyone like them in fortune. Wealth is spoken of as little or great: each man reckons it in proportion to his needs.
Great and little are both alike provided they are used in the Lord’s service. Whatever is needed for any parti- cular service let it be used in that service. |
26. fen days they remained there enjcying hospitality : then they went to Ocean and took leave of him. Lachhmi embraced Padmavati and said to her “You are my
i gS
{x} Omitting Shukla’s semicolon after kahak. The meaning appears
250 LAXSHMI AND THE OCEAN 84: 26-98
daughter.” Ocean gave them rolled leaves of pan which he had filled with jewels and precious stones and diamonds, He also gave them five special ‘jewels’’such as ear hath not heard nor eye seen. ’The first was ambrosia, the second a swan, and the third was a species of bird. The fourth gift he gave was a tiger-cub: the fifth was the philo- sopher’s store which is the source of gold. He brought young horses and mounted them thereon, and he sent mermen with them as guides
After embracing and conversing with them ‘they [Ocean and Lachhmi] took leave of them and, bowing their heads, turned back. The mermen only turned back when they had reached Jagannath 3
27. They reached Jagannath and saw it: cooked rice was for sale for food. The king said to Padmavati : “Our wealth is lost, nothing is left in our purse. If a man has wealth, everyone speaks [well of] him: a man who is without wealth shakes like a leaf. With wealth, the loon walks swaggering : without wealth [a man may be a] lord but every one will call [1115 speech} foolishness. With wealth, one’s body flourishes with pride: without wealth a man loses speech, wits and strength. With wealth a man can sleep peacefully at nights‘: without wealth, what slumber can there be? With wealth a man has vision and his eyes have brightness: if a man 1s without wealth, no utterance comes to his mouth.
“With wealth a man remains in control of his body: without wealth he suffers the extreme of hunger. He who is penniless is like a tree which is leafless and which withers away although it stands.”
28. Padmavati said “O king, listen. If life be lost, what is the use of money? When we had wealth we did not .put it in’our purse: how shall we get it again when. our fortunes are ruined? If one puts wealth in his purse when it is abundant, it will be of service when difficulty befalls. A creature which has wings to its body can ga
($) See 41(21) for another list of these jewels
(8) Shukla’s text as it stands would mean ‘with wealth, a man lies awake and sleep at night deserts him’, which may be true, but does not &t ` the context, I think there must be a textual error
494: 28—35: 2 LAKSHMI AND THE OCEAN 241 7 | ‘straight to its mark: feet are like mountains when they ate weary. Lachhmi gave" me a rolled pan leaf which she had filled with gems and precious stones and diamonds.” She took out one gem and straightway exchanged it for money: their fortune returned and came back again to the light of day. Let noone put his trust in wealth: what ‘isin one’s purse, that is his journey-money. Then the king, assembling his host, set forth on his homeward journey. The sun was hidden by day, and Vasuki and Indra were alarmed.
34. THER ARRIVAL AT CHITAUR
1. The king came near to Chitaur: he returned as a conqueror, thundering like Indra. Bands made music and there was an uproar: the carriages, horses and ele- phants came along. Padmavati was sitting in her litter : her gaze was turned away from heaven. This mind is twisted ; it 15 not straight : when it 1s pre-occupied with good fortune, it does not remember ill fortune. Though for a thousand years one suffer pain, yet {if he has] one half hour’s happiness, he will forget it. Knowing this, a Yogi mortifies his mind; and yet the mind cannot die but is infinite. He who binds that which was not bound, slays it by ‘“Teltya’ poison.
(Saith Muhammad) This mind is immortal: in no way can it be slain. If this is in the body", wisdom is ac- quired: if it decreases, wisdom decreases and perishes.
2. Nagmati had a sense of comifig pleasure’: her. affiiction departed as the heat’ departs when the rains come. She who had been dead, like the dry slough of a serpent’, now obtained life and had consciousness of her
(aa) In 34(26)3 it is Ocean who gives these presents. Shukla discusses the difficulty ina note on p. 162 of his Introduction.
. | Canto 35 (a) The meaning is obscured by the usual pun on ghat=(i) body (2) decrease.
(b) <Agam jan4n4, to have knowledge ofa future pleasant event by oe omens or sensations ¢.g. (with women) the throbbing of the
eya,
(c) Tapant is used in both senses (1) affliction (2) heat.
0) Tuchw here and keftcars in the next verse both mean the same thing, the slough of a serpent’s skin, but the metaphors suggested by it are very mixed. Nagmati is the serpent.
252 ` Tun ARRIVAL AT currame , - 88: meq
f
body. All her sorrow departed like the cast-off slough of a snake: she came forth like a velvet insect. As the scorched earth puts forth fresh verdure in Asarh: the tain drops fall and the scented herbs are fragrant ; in the same way the lady flourished with happiness like a garden’: fresh shoots sprang forth with an array of ‘new buds. She quivered with delight like Ganges when she receives flood waters: her youth began to surge in waves. She stood with love’s bow and arrows in hand: severance, that incendiary, fled. |
Her friends and companions question her, seeing her happiness of Heart: ‘‘[How is] your countenance bright to-day and spotless like the moon at its arising ?”’
3. “Till now, my friends, there was a burning wind : to-day coolness has come to my limbs. As the earth rejoices in the shade of the rain-storm, so has rejoicing been born in my mind. He who caused my death by departing at Dasahra’, that captain has returned with his ship. Now my youth surges up like the Ganges: all troublesome heat has been destroyed and removed. I behold all the world verdant as though it had been created afresh. Severance, that incendiary, has fled. My face has. become [like the] moon: the demon of eclipse has departed. My eye twitches, my arms quiver: some friend approaches: let us go and meet him.”’
While she was speaking these words to her friends at that moment a bard came [and said] ‘The king has come and has approached near: spread a dais in the palace.”
4. At that moment when the king’s name was heard there was rejoicing in every place. The king’s return was like the return of the rainy season, like Asarh coming with its;army set in array. At the sight of his umbrella there was shade over the world: his elephants were like clouds bending down over the earth. His full army came
(8) Bart 18 used in both senses (1) lady (2) garden.
(f) I have followed Shukla’s interpretation (elaborated at p. 117 of ide introduction) viz. that Ratansen literally went away at the season of for which reason the Barah-masa in Canto 30 starta with Asarh. But FE think there may be also punning allusions to the game of checkers : dass- hart might mean ‘having lost the throw of ten’, and dawwas draw might mean the winning move, as well as death.
$5: a-b ten aReIvaL at CHITAUR #33
like thuader-clouds, which rained down joy and delight jon every side. Earth and sky now came together: the rivers were filed and the lakes and pools. Earth burst inte verdure at the spund of his name: dub grass sprouted in every place. The frogs and the peafowl and the Kokila were vocal: all their tongues which had been hidden, were unloosed
_ When all his brethren were the first to take horse and go and meet him, it was as when the eighteen qtaternions of rivers ge down antl meet the ocean
5. With music and shouting the king came: the aty held jubilee in all directions. Smiling he approached and met his mother: [it was like]Rama coming to meet Kausila The palace was adorned with hanging garlands: all manner of celebrations were set on foot. Padmavatt’s conveyance arrived: a revulsion came over the spirit of Nagmati. It was as theugh the glare had shown itself in the midst of shade: such was the grievous heat" which assailed [Nagmati] when [Padmavati] arrived. The grievance of a rival could not be endured: she made her dismount in another mansion. When she was there, it was the talk in all parts that Ratansen had brought with him Padmavati.
The fragrance of a flower in the world and its beauty cannot be declared in speech. Like hoarfrost it was opened. She had clothed the world with leaves. ’
' 6. He took his seat on the throne, and the people did homage: those who were without money and without virtue swept up wealth. He distributed largesse beyond reckoning : he gave vast gifts to mendicants. - His mahouts came, leading their elephants: his family priests came bringing basil leaves. His sons and brothers and the princes all came and smilingly fell upon the king’s neck. His dependents came and his principal nobles attended : deep-toned drums sounded at the gate. The princes assembled: he invested them with robes: he bestowed wealth on them and sent them to their homes. Every-
{g) There are popularly supported to be eighteen quaternions of rivers (१.९. 72) which flow into the ocean cp. 50(6)1 0) Jhar(a) here and in the wpxt verse = (1) flame (2) envy
254 THE ARRIVAL AT CHTYAUR 86: KB one’s condition turned out doubly [presperous]}: ` ४७6 drums [which announced his] largesse were heard in <all the world. ` | |
। 41 the five [classes of] musical instrument sounded continually and bards proclaimed good fortune. The thirty six tribes' and the six {schools of] philosophy came and assembled before his throne.
7. Throughout the day the king caused largesse to be distributed: night fell, and he came to Nagmati. Nagmati sat with her face averted: she would not look towards her husband. [She said] “प € who deserted and went away when the hot weather was blazing, who is he to come back and show his face? When the hills and woods begin to burn and the flames arise, the birds fly away. But when they see branches and shade, which of them does not reach out to them with delight? Which of them does not joyfully pefch on those branches? Which of them does not disport himself and warble? You became a Yogi and an ascetic, while I was burnt to ashes on your account.
“Why do you smile upon me? You have been making love to another. The lightning shines on your face while on my face the clouds shed rain.”’
8. “‘Nagmati, you are my first wedded wife: grievous must be the love which burns as you were burnt. When a husband comes after many days, if his wife does not meet him, the life of a stone were better’. Stone and 1101" are the two hardest things in the world: yet even they can be joined if they are severed. The water of Ganges may be bright to the sight, but though the Jumna‘is dark, its water is exceeding sweet. What harm is it to you that your body has been burnt for a few days if rain has now fallen on your head. If anyone searches for another with hope, blessed is the vision for him, he does not turn away disappointed.’”” He caressed and entreated the lady: the plant which had been scorched was watered and flourished again.
On a thousand branches fruits were produced, pome-
(i) For the thirty six tribes see 20(3)1 note th). (j} A punon dhant =(1) wife (2) blessed
35: 8-70 THE ARRIVAL AT CHITAUR 255 granates, grapes and citrons. All the birds of the air came together and did homage: again there was the same crowd
9. When they had met together and he was ena- moured, Nagmati laughingly asked him “Tell me, my lover, were you infatuated with that country? What _ kind of women did you find there, and what: kind of pleasure did you enjoy? Even if Padmavati 1s exceed- ingly lovely, can she be equal to me in beauty? Where Radhika is among the cowherd maidens, Chandravali* cannot rival even her shadow. My husband was like a bee: he could tot be kept: he left the grape and tasted the juice of the mahua. He left the pleasant flower Nagesar' and set his mind on the fetid lotus. Though it should bathe and fill itself with all manner of scents, yet would it not be freed of its fetid odour
What shall I say to you? You have no affection in your heart. The words of your mouth are here with me but your spirit is there where she is.”’
70. When [Nagmati] had spent the night telling her tale of woe, [the king] came in the morning to where Padmavati was. On seeing the sun, the moon’s counte- natice was overcast: her lotus eyes were red, her body emaciated. All night she had counted the constellations until she reached the dawn: she was distressed” when she saw the sun. The hero/sun laughed: the moon broke out weeping, aloud: her tears were like fbeads]. broken from the necklace of constellations’. She conld not contain herself: she was breathless: ‘‘Go [she said] there where you are a dweller at night. After making love to me you have thrown me into a well®: the plant which you began to water has been withered. My eyes have become like the pitchers on 9 well-wheel,—when filled they pour out water, when empty they fill again.
(k) Chandravali, one of the cowherd maidens enamoured of Krishna
(1) N&gesar and the lotus of course represent Nagmati and Padmavati
{m) As applied tothe moon, Mkal would mean ‘shorn of her rays
(च) A mixed metaphor: her tears are like (1) brokew beads from a necklace (2) falling stars from the constellations
hukla explains ‘you have left me in the lurch’, but the well is needed for the mixed metaphors which follow
256 THE ARRIVAL AT CHITAUR 85: 10-19
“Come, O swan, to the full lake which you abandoned witen the water receded. The lotus will never desert its beloved, let there be [nothing but] dry mud [left].”
इ. ‘‘Padmavati, you are mry life’s breath: there is no other thing in the world dearer than life. You like a lotus have made your home in my bosom: I have been like a bee and have pierced through to you. When a/bee has found a malati bud, how will he abandon it and set his affection on any other flower?” “I [she said] am a lotus girl’ of Singhala : a serpent woman of Jambu cannot compare with me. I am fragrant and spotless and bright : she is full of poison and frightful and black. On account of my scent, bees attach themselves to me: at the sight’ of her, men flee for fear. I have seen the glances of men into whose spirit I have thus entered
“Hewho sits in a high place should not associate with the low. This she-serpent will make those limbs black to which she adheres.”’
12. Nagmati’s garden‘ flourished: the flower-garden blossomed with flowers of gold. All the birds had been burnt, [but now] all the birds sang merrily. The myna’, the parrot, the gwalin. bird and the kokila came: the hawk-cuckoo came joyfully and joined them: the green pigeons’ notes and the crow-pheasants’ were delightful the crows enjoyed themselves calling clamorously. They circled round with joy and delight: they laughed and disported themselves and settled to roost. The doves and peafowl and pigeons danced: no bird’s service went unrequited. Bright was the daylight, so did the sun blaze: the owl did not show his face, but hid.
Nagmati, together with her friends, in her own garden gathered flowers and plucked fruits dnd leapt with delight in the pleasant shade.
(p) There 18 the usual allusion in Padmini and Nagini to Bad mavati and Nagmati
q) Throughout this stanza, there is probably a pun on two eR sah (1) gaaden (2) turn. It is Nagmagi’s turn to enjoy her hus 8 | on
(ग) S@riut=cesrt, myna. “In the similar list m 2(5) we have sqraug, green parroquet, though there also Shukla explains as myna.
96: 7-2 NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI S CONTENTION 257 36. NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI’S CONTENTION
1. There were Jahi and Juhi* in that flower garden: seeing the merriment, the lady could not remain (still]. The messenger-maids could not keep the matter in their bosoms: they brought the news to Padmavati and told it to her,—-‘‘Nagmati is in her own garden”: the bee has joined her and is making loving sport like Holi games’. Her companions with her are all leaping for joy and are all weaving garlands of singar-har*. You, who are the abelia, is he satisfied with you if he wishes to grasp the 10528 ° Nagmati is a woman and is like the rose- chestnut the lotus is not in its own garden. Like the dog-rose, the basil and the jasmine, so she is a single person by herself
“The bee which buzzes round the rose-apple, how 1s it fitted for the marigold? The bee has met the rose- chestnut (Nagmati) and has given enjoyment of bliss.”
2 When Padmavati heard she could not control her anger: together with her companions, she came to the flower garden Both the rivals met and sat on a bench: estrangement was in their hearts, sweet words in their mouths. The garden was bright to the view: Padmavati smilingly spoke first ‘‘Your garden, O queen, is fruitful ; you planted it, but you did not understand how to plant 1 Where there is nagesar and malati there should not be sintra’ lemons That bee which was enamoured of the lotus you have brought here and placed upon the bare karil Where tamarind fruits‘ ripen in the bosom, there the shadow of the orange is not suitable.
Canro 36
(1) Jahtund puht are two varieties of jasmine.
(b) 4273 कर! ४ can also mean (1) her own mistress (2)1n her turn, see 35(12) note (p).
(८) Dhamars, see 20(7)6 note (m).
(d) As 10 27(41) and 32(4) a string of flower names 16 brought in here, mostly punningly (Singér-bar, bakéwari, karn&é, nagesar, kanwal, sevati, gulal, chameli, sudarsan, kj, sadvarg).
(€) There 18 a pun on (1) satg-tarmv=sintra lemon (2) safgat rao the company of the king (४.९, 1४ 18 not mght that the king Pe d associate with you). *
(7) There are puns on amilt and nauratg of which the explanations offered by Shukla may be correct.
33
258 NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI'S CONTENTION $6: 2-4
“Took and consider in your heart what flowers and fruits are suitable in what place. In a garden in which mangoes are planted, how should jamuns be in that garden?" |
3. [Nagmati said] “Go to, you have rightly spoken of the splendour [of my garden]: but that 15 the true fruit of which the bee is enamoured. The jamun is dark and so are musk and chowa paste": the 1161180 grows on high, but in the heart of it there are fibres. It is for this virtue that the jamtun is so endeared that it has been brought and planted in the midst of the garden. The water rises if it fows and reaches the place in which the ripe tamarind is. How is it that you have found fault with another’s turn/garden and have abandoned water and run here with a dry face? Fire rises when two branches rub together: who can be a companion of an enemy”? On beholding the rose-chestnut in the garden’, all the parrots and mynas are on the point of death.
“Tf the water of the lake swells, let 1t still remain in its own place: let it not leave the lake and the pond and go to another mango-grove.”’
4. [Padmavati said] ““‘What have you collected in your mango-grove? Why have you become like a nim tree whose roots are poisonous? Why are you like a jujube tree, crooked and thorny, or more bitter than a tendu or tenti?? There are no pomegranates or grapes in your garden: how should parrots and mynas die at the sight of it? And there are no sadaphals* or turanj or jambhiras: only jack-fruit, barhals and khiras are
(@) A mixture of four scents, generally aloe, sandal, musk and saffron. There is a pun on hirday rowan=(1) the strong fibre at the heart of the mango fruit, (2) its heart weeps.
(1) Or, punningly, ‘what companionship can there be between a jujube and a plantain ?’ (The former, being thorny, tears the Icaves of the latter). cp. Rahim ‘Kah Rahim kaise nibahai ber ker ko sahg : We dolat ras &pne, unke phatat ang.’
(i) Or, the lady Nagmati. It is clear why the birds should be ready to die,— probably with envy.
(1) Tendi, the Indian mahogany. Tenti, the karil. Kasaili—(1) bitter (2) arcca catechu.
(ह) Saddphal 18 a. name of several fruits,—the jackfruit, a kind of च bel, and ficus glomerata. J do not know which fruit Jaisi means
y it.
36: 4-6 NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI'S CONTENTION 259
planted there. There is kesar’ in the heart of the lotus: the nagesar cannot rival it. Where nobody would ask about the jack-fruit or the gular, what can the banyan and the pipal say for themselves, those hollow trees? Any fruit that is seen on them is tasteless: they do not show any pride, thinking rightly in their minds.
“Remain in your own turn/garden: do not strive or
fight with me. The tasteless rubbish of the jungle cannot rival the malati.”’ _ 5. [Nagmati] “These jack-fruits and barhars and wild plums are not like you, you lotus plant. The jamun is dark and so are the turanj and jambhira: the nim is sharp to the taste but its shadow is deep. The cocoanuts and grapes I will keep for him: I shall rather melt away’ to nothing than mention the name of my rival. What have I to do with mentioning you? When a tree bears fruit, noone throws clods at it”. The sadaphal which ever bears fruit bows down: when the pome- granates see it their hearts burst and, they die. The nutmeg, the clove, the areca nut, the date: it 1s pepper which cannot bear the heat. I am that pan whose affection/colour none can rival; she who is burnt by severance becomes like burnt lime.
“Why don’t you die, being drowned in shame? You even raise your arm on high. IE am the queen: my husband is the king: for you he is only a wandering mendicant.”’
6. [Padmavati] “I am a lotus girl, a lily of the heavenly lake: the bee and the swan do me service. God has fashioned me meet for divine rites: and I have risen up to the forehead of Mahes. All the world knows the lotus bud: it is not like you, a serpent full of poison. You contain all the serpents of the world: though disguised as a koel, you do not abandon your [blackness of a] crow.
(1) The yellow stamen inside the lotus flower.
(m) There is a pun on the name of a plant,—galgal.
(n) This 18 not borne out either by ordinary experience or by proverbial philosophy—e.g. the Arabic proverb quoted in Rolland’s Jean Christophe, that it is only the fruitful tree that is beaten.
॥ Perhaps phare may be a wrong reading for some word meaning Tren,
260 NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI'S CONTENTION 86: 648
You are a king-crow and I a simple swan: I and you match like pearls and glass beads. A jewel (Ratansen) set in gold bracelet’ is a gem of true colour : where there is such a precious stone (Padmavati) no other is splendid. You are the demon of eclipse, and I am the radiant moon : the dark night cannot rival the day.
“In whatever place you stand, inky blackness stains that place. For fear of this I will not sit beside you lest I may become dark-complexioned.”’
2. [षि]. “What kind of lotus are you? You area piece of areca nut, in the heart of which are ten thousand seed chambers: you have not remained closed in your own seed-pod, and why do you wish to open up and display yourself? Beneath your lotus leaf 1s a pomegranate’; you open your vest when you see the sun. Red above and yellow within, your bosom 15 like turmeric: I should like to burn it. On the one hand you bring the bee into the words of your mouth: on the other hand you laughingly amuse [yourself with] the sun. All night long you endure affliction and die of thirst : when dawn comes you obtain the stale leavings of a lover. You spend all the night weeping in your bed: how can you compete with me?
“May the sun’s rays break forth and the waves of the lake not reach you’. May the bee obtain your heart and the glare roast your body.”
6. {[P]. “T am the lotus, the partner of the sun: if my beloved is my own, what theft is there? I count him as my own murror: I sport amorously/adorn myself and behold his/my face in the morning. My illumina- tion is from his radiance: you burn to death when you look at the sky. I am enamoured of him and he of me: the darkness is dispelled, and the dawn comes. If the seeds that are 111 the heart of the lotus are made into a rosary for Hari and Hara, what is wrong in this? He whose day has come to him, why shall he have black
— वनने al a ee ee oe
ee i =
(0) Kanchan-katt see 19(4)1 note (1)
(p) Shukla explains ‘your breast (the lotus seed-pod) is like u pomegranate
(५) ५.९. the lotus is scorched by the sun and the water of the jake does not reach it to revive it
$6: 8-10' NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI’s CONTENTION 261
night to look upon? You are a gilar and there are flies in you: they wish to fly with wings of death’, ©
१८८९ 01 cannot look upon the blaze of day, you who are filled with poison, even if you obtain a lake of ambrosia. Whom the she-serpent bites will die: it will be like sun-stroke coming upon him.”
g. [N]. “Do not flower, O lotus, without the sun’s arising : the water becomes dirty from contact with your roots. Bees circle round your eyes: the water becomes fetid near you. Fishes and tortoises and frogs dwell there: cranes and such like birds reside in your neigh- bourhood. All the birds which go near you become fetid in the water. The moon which arises radiant is touched by Doms and spots [are produced on] its face‘. Between me and you is the difference of night and day : death comes to the moon by the hand of the demon of eclipse. Although one should wash you a_ thousand times yet the fetid odour would not be washed away.
“What can I say to him, my beloved? You heap hot coals on my head". In confidence in his amorous sport you have conquered and I am defeated.’’
10. [P]. ‘It 15 not you alone that I have defeated : I have defeated the whole world's adornment. With my body I have defeated the radiant moon : with my braided hair I have defeated the black serpent. With my eyes I have defeated the eyes of. the fallow deer: with my throat I have defeated the voice of the kokila. With my brow I have defeated Arjun armed with his bow: with my neck I have defeated the game cock or the peafowl. With my nose I have defeated the flower of sesamum or
(r) Shukla explains as the wings which certain insects unfold shortly before their death,
(s) DPadmavati twists Nagmati’s remarks about sunshine and a lake (from the last couplet of the preceding stanza) and Nagmati’s ‘wave’ becomes ‘sunstroke’ (lahar: has both meanings).
(t) Shukla refers to a legend that eclipses of the moon are caused ‘ by the moon’s being dunned by Doms, who are its creditors. Crooke (Popular Religion) mentions the belief held by the Ghasiyas of Mirzapur that the sun and moon once borrowed money from some of the Dom iribe and did not pay it back. Now a Dom occasionally devours them and vomits them up again when the eclipse is over. There is reference to a similar legend about Chhandels in the Akhiri Kalam (5)4.
(४) This heaping of hot coals is of course not in the Biblical senge,
262 NAGMATI AND PADMAVAT!’S CONTENTION 868 ° I0-12
the parrot’s [beak] with my nose-ring I have defeated the planet Suk [Venus] who has risen 1n its form I have defeated the lightning with my teeth which flash with the colour of my lips I have defeated the bimba gourd I have defeated the lion and taken his waist I have defeated the swan and 1t has given me its gait
“My stainless 1117105 are scented with the odour of flowers and of {sandal from} the Malaya mountain You are a she-serpent’, greedy with desire [31] you do 15 10 | go and bite someone ”’
ir [ष] ‘“‘Why are you proud on account of the adornment of others ** You have just taken it by rob- bery from every place I am dusky, but my eyes are charming my clothes are white, and in my mouth 1s the voice of the chatak My nose 1s like a sword my nose-stud 15 like the pole star the heavenly bow 1s defeated by my eye-brows My teeth are like diamonds white and black * if they smile charmingly the hght- ning will hide itself My Ilips are coral, red with the hue of love they are cool lke ambrosia and not hot with the sun My gait 15 like that of the elephant, very full of pnde my waist 15 lke wasps or a rose chestnut bud Where she who 15 dusky 1s lovely and exceedingly beautiful, how can vou compare with her, you who are insipid ?
“The lotus, which exists on flower-scent and breezes, is subject to me If I choose, I will seize your hair and make you bow to me Your death would be sport to ine”’
12 When Padmavati heard this, she could not reply: she seized Nagmiati like a she-serpent This one seized that one, and that one seized this one , how shall I describe it? It cannot be told They both shouted aloud, full of fresh youth they were lke Achharis making music on the dancing floor Arms were matched
_(v) Shukla explains that snakes are supposed to cling to the branches of sandal trees in order to enjoy their scent (घ्र) Blackness, as well as whiteness, 18 considered an adornment of teeth,—see 10(9)1 note (35) and Shubla’s Introduction p 217, note at foot of page Also see 49(16)6, For the general sense, cp Song of songs, I,s, ‘I am black hut comely’
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with arms and bosoms with bosoms: neither of them drew rein. Breasts met breasts, point to point: nothing could make them yield : their ribbons were broken. They came together and collided like ‘mast’ elephants, which meet forehead to forehead and‘ tusk to tusk. The gods in heaven stood and watched: arrows struck to their hearts which could not be withdrawn.
It was as if someone had given them the Thugs’ [poisoned] sweets : they caine and looked as it were on their death. There was noone to intervene and come between the twain.
13. A breeze reached the king’s ear and told him that the Padinini and the Naga’ were quarrelling. 11 both the rivals, the dark and the fair, die, then where will vou find such a pair ?’’ The King set forth and came to that garden: he extinguished’ [the flames with which] both ladies {were} burning. “She who has once under- stocd the mind of her beloved, why should she quarrel with another? Let no man’s mind entertain such wisdom whereby it will be sometimes night and sometimes day. Sunshine and shade are both hues of the beloved : both join and remain together. Do you two now give up your contest and be sensible: do service and the reward of service will be [yours. |
“You, my two wives, are like Ganges and Jumna: Muhammad has decreed this union. Do you both join and do service and then enjoy happiness and bliss.”’
14. Saying this, he persuaded both his wives: they both then, laughingly, fell upon his neck. He took them both with him and came into the palace: where golden couches had been spread. Five ambrosial meals had been cooked, and fifty six kinds of food. They were thrilled at eating juicy and delicate fruits: enjoying themselves, they laughed and made merry. He gave a golden palace to Nagmati: Padmavati took a silver palace. Ratansen’s own palace had jewels for pillars: the King sat there
(x) Chaudanta (four tusks). Shukla explains incorrectly as eithe ‘rhinoceros’—gayand in 36(11)6—or ‘any young unbroken animal’. As in 46(16)8 it means ‘tusks interlocked with tusks’, two and two making four.
(y) The lotus queen and the serpent queen,—Padmavati and Nagmati,
(z) 5 ८787 == (1) extinguished (2) gave good advice.
264 NAGMATI AND PADMAVATI’S CONTENTION 36: 14-38: 3
and the assembly did homage. All the assémbly said, with submissive mind: “What the Guru says 15 right, that is 80."
There was abundance of sweet scents and of enjoy- ment and happiness : they had dalliance and made sport. He constantly found sport with both of them: the days passed in merriment and delight.
37. RATANSEN’S OFFSPRING
1. Nagmati gave birth to Nagsen: high was his fortune, rising higher every day and every night. Padmavati gave birth to Kanwalsen: it was as though the moon had descended on earth. Many wise pandits were called: they studied the signs of the zodiac and the planets. They said “They will both be great kings: may all your sons’ be like these*. They will go to the kings of all the nine regions, and there will be some trouble in the army.’ He opened his treasury and bade largesse be given : he made the unhappy happy and increased their honour. Mendicants and soothsayers came, and strains of jubilee were upraised.
The astrologers received a great deal and departed after bestowing their blessing “‘May your sons, your wives and your whole family live ten 11111101 years.”
38. THE BANISHMENT OF RAGHAVA CHETAN
1. Raghava Chetan was a man of great wisdom: he had remained all his life in the service of the king. Wise in mind, he knew many secrets: he wasa poet like Vyas", a pandit like Sahadeva’. He had come and narrated the story of the kingdom: he had composed all [the tale of] Singhala in verse. Any poet who heard
Cantu 37
(a) The Sabd-Sagar 8. ए. bvta has a variant reading for this half verse Arse ९ ए dase sab tohia (let such strength be shown for you). Canto 38 (8) For Vy&s and Sahadova See 7(6)7 note (q). (b) The half verse is repeated from 7(6)7, where the parrot received the same praise.
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him beat his head [in dispair]. That is true hearing which hears the mystic sound of the Vedas : that is true sight which sees clearly the way of righteousness: that is true wisdom which understands the highest good. He is a Yogi who remains occupied with contemplation: he is a man of the world, who knows the worth of a wise man. He is a hero who has defeated his anger and controlled his mind: that is true passion which is that which the beloved desires.
[He knew] the secrets of the Veda like Bararuct‘, so wise was he in the wisdom of his mind. [He was like] Raja Bhoj {in his knowledge of] the fourteen sciences’ : his business was with wisdom.
2. When the time comes [a man] may be unwise: [so] all Chetan’s wisdom went astray. One day it was new-moon: the king asked “When will it be the second of the month’?” “Today” {the answer] fell from Raghava’s mouth: the pandits said ‘“Tomorrow, your majesty.” The king turned, and looked in both direc- tions, [wondering] which of them was stupid and which intelligent. Then the pandits asseverated saying, ‘“We will leave the country if our word is shaken.” Raghava performed cantrips to a Jakhini’ who was able, if she wished, to make the order of nature appear otherwise. Relying on her, Raghava vehemently asserted “If today is the second, then I am a true Pandit.”’
Raghava performed cantrips to the Jakhini and she made the crescent moon appear that evening. Those who do not walk in the way of the Vedas lose them- selves in the forest’. |
3. The 7210115 said ‘“We are not deceived. Who [can swallow this, as} Canopus dries up the ocean ?”’
(८) Bararuci, the famous grammarian, ए. 8 (9)8 note (26).
(1) For the fourteon sciences see 1(22)6 0५16 (80).
(९) <‘Dusj’ the second day of the lunar month, in the night of which the crescent moon 18 first visible, vide 3(2)6 note (5).
(f) J&khinl, originally a Yakshini or female Yaksha, an attendant on Kuber. Now-a-days a village fairy, with magical powers. See Crooke’s Introduction to Popular Religion and Folklore, p. 234.
The relevancy of this verse isnot obvious, The variant quoted by Shukla would mean ‘A pandit will not pay attention to a pandit: there is enmity between them’ ; which also is scarcely relevant,
34
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That day passed and the second evening came: the crescent moon was seen when the time was full. The pandits gave the king their blessing: ‘‘Now how" (clearly! is gold [gold] and lead [lead]. If this second night had been last night, then today you would see the radiance of the moon more bright’. Raghava played a trick on our vision yesterday : he produced a kind of illusion in the assembly’. His preceptor is the Chamarin Lona“: he has learnt in Kanvaru to cast magic spells. He who can show the crescent moon of the second night on the night of new moon will one day bring eclipse upon the moon’.
“In the king’s palace such a soothsayer is not wanted who makes research into magic. It was by such illusion and wisdom that king Bhoj worked 1115 stratagem”™.”’
4. The word of Raghava, which was like a golden line, was seen, when its colour was tested, to be like brass. The king was wroth and uttered. his commands: “Slay him not but banish him from the country. He who speaks falsehood cannot remain firmly established: a pandit is he who is true according to the intention of the Vedas. He who speaks the words of the Vedas truly with his mouth, he will remain firmly established for ages and ages. "A spurious jewel should be thrown on the ground: in whose house is there the jewel which will take away poverty? The poet who desires fortune is a fool : where Saraswati is, how can Lachhmi be [also]? Heart-breaking poverty is the companion of poesy, as thorns and snags are the companions of flowers.
The poet is the disciple, God is the preceptor. The shell (0) There is perhaps a pln on kas’ =( ) he on a touchstone.
(1) Perhaps & pun on ‘leg = (1) Persian 4/2 (bright) or Hindi ‘tej’ (glory) => (2) ‘tt)’ the [moon of the] third lunar night.
(j) Shukla notes a variant reading which would mean ‘He is no pandit, but a disciple of [8] Kanvaru ॥ भ
(k) For Lona Chamarin and 1 हरकत see 2] (11)3 note (m).
(1) The pandits hint that Raghava will bring trouble on Padmavati.
(m) Bhoj tricked his uncle Munja who tried to assassinate him.
(11) It is not clear where the king’s speech ends and where the disqui-
sition on poets and poverty (scarcol relevant, but suggested by th i} of Raghava Chetan) begins. 86 क ८४५ exe
ee ee
}) how ? (2) test, by rubbing
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[waits for] the drop in Sewati. What need has he of human [help] who is a diver in the ocean?
5. Padmavati heard of this matter, how the sage Raghava had been banished from the land. With her mind’s eye the lady contemplated the outcome: {she thought, “[The king] has not done well to banish such a sage. He who has drawn forward the moon by performing religious rites to a Jakhini may yet make [another] stand in the place of the sun’. The tongue of a poet is like the sword of Hardvan’: on one side fire, on the other water. Let noone, in error’, utter what is unfitting: glory comes with great [effort], but disgrace with little.” The queen speedily called for Raghava: {she said] ‘There has been an eclipse of the sun: accept an oblation.”’ Where a Brahman can receive an offering he will go to heaven [for it], 1f he is invited,
Raghava Chetan came near to the tower: he had not realised in his heart that such lightning dwelt in the sky.
6. When Padmavati came to the lattice, she showed the appearance of a spotless moon. At that moment Raghava gave her his blessing: he was like a chakor which sees the face of the moon. The moon’ had donned a necklace of constellations: earth and heaven were bright with radiance. She also wore on her wrists a pair of bracelets in which nine score of gems were set. She drew one bracelet from her wrist and threw it: as she drew it off, her garland and her necklace were broken. It was as though the moon broke [and fell] taking the stars [with it], and the stream of death was set flowing through the sky. It was as though lightning broke and fell upon the earth : Raghava was dazzled and his senses were reft from him.
The bracelet came and fell upon the earth : the world was bright with radiance. Raghava was struck by lightning : he was bewildered and could not collect himself.
{a} ४.९. he may incite the Emperor to subdue Ratansen.
(p) The sword of Hardwan. I have not traced the allusion.
(q) Shukla explains bhore as—bhulkar, but it may be bhole (simple,
foolish). (7) The moon is of course Padmavati.
268, THE BANISHMENT OF RAGHAVA CHETAN 88: 7-9
7. Padmavati, smiling, closed the lattice: “If this sage dies [she said], I shall be to blame.’’ All her com- panions ran up and looked : they came and tried to awaken him, [saying] ‘‘Chetan, come to your senses.” Chetan lay there : his senses did not return : they all said “A ghost has overcome him.” One said “It 15 astroke’’: One said “It is an epileptic fit.’ One said ‘‘A gust of wind has struck him”. Nowise did Chetan recover his understanding and speak, Then they lifted him and seated him in the shade: they asked him “What pain is in your heart ? Have you been vanquished by the sight of someone, or has a Thug or a cheat or a ghost deluded you?
“Has someone given you something, or has a snake bitten you? Come to your senses, Chetan, and tell us why youg body is trembling.”’
8. His senses came to him: Chetan recovered cons- ciousness : his eyes were on the lattice, his life was in suspense. When he spoke again he lost his wits and his reason . fixing lus eyes on the lattice, he wept. Bewildered and deaf, he beat his head: he spoke his own words but heard not those of others. It was as someone had administered Thug’s poison: at one time he shouted, at another fhe uttered] babbling words. “I have been way- laid by Thuggi in this* Chitaur : whom shall [ tell of it; to whom shall I go? This king is wicked, a great murderer, since he keeps such Thugs and highway robbers. Noone forbids them, noone comes to the rescue: such highway robbery is there in this city.
‘““Her glance has given me Thugs’ sweets to eat: the noose’ of her curls has fallen on my throat. Where a mendicant cannot escape, who can escape with his life ?
9. “Why did she come to the lattice of her tower? She has taken away my life under colour of a pious gift. She gave light like the moon that has risen in the sky: nay, more than that ; with what shall I make comparison? If the moon had such radiance there, then there would be day by night, and how would there be any night? She
{8} There isa pun on Chitaur: Chsta + wr=‘mind and heart’. (t) An allusion to the scarf with which the Thugs strangled their victims.
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called me and gave me a bracelet : when her glance fell fon me] it took away my life. For those mendicants, my eyes, her glance was a traitor: it struck there and was deeply imbedded like an arrow. When eye has pierced eye and is infixed it cannot be withdrawn by pulling, even though one" beat his head. These shameless mendi- cants refused to bow: was it not for this very reason that their faces were blackened’?
‘‘How have their faces been blackened, those eyes of mine which were the way by which my life was stolen away ? Like the lake when the water abandons it, ny heart cracked and broke.”
10. [Padmavati’s] companions said, ‘Rethink yourself, O distraught one: think in your heart how you shall not be slain. If anyone obtains his own demand, nobody dies and there is no lack of anything.- This Padmavati is incomparable : she cannot be described by the likeness of anything. He who sees her departs in concealment : how can he be visible when he has lost his life? Many have been bewildered like you : they have beaten their heads and have given up their lives: Many have bowed their heads and presented their necks: she has not given them {a favourable} answer but has slain them. You tov will die, being burnt away: come, now, take the cotton wool out of your ears.
“Some who ask shall not get, some shall get without asking. You who are wise and instruct others, whe shall instruct you?”
II. Reason returned : Chetan reflected in his mind: “TI shall not return and suffer such distress again. Where I arrived weeping and departed weeping™ how can there be any happiness? Where there has been risk of life, what is the use of remaining there? Let me depart speedily. Now I will go and ask alms there [where] one will give me
a ge gg 9 Eh स
a ee ey,
(१) Tam not gure if it is the eye itself which is supposed to beat its head in despair, or the person whose eye is pierced by the eye of another. Anyhow, the metaphor ia extremely involved.
(४) The black pupils of the eyes are pictured as dark stains defacing them. cp. 41(8)6 note (p).
: (w) An allusion, no doubt, to birth and death, but the allegory is obscure.
270 THE BANISHMENT OF RAGHAVA CHETAN $8: 11—39: 2
so much that I shall not lack all my life. If I get a second bracelet like this one, then poverty is defeated and the desire of my mind is fulfilled. The city of Delhi is the Turkish capital, where Alauddin is Sultan. Gold flows into his mint, and dinars of purest gold issue {1011 it.
“T shall go and describe the lotus* there where Alauddin, the bee, is. When he hears he will rise like the sun, and the jewel [Ratansen] will be darkened.”
39. HOW RAGHAVA CHETAN WENT TO DELHI
I. Raghava Chetan set forth: he journeyed and approached the city of Delhi. He came and reached the Shah’s door: he beheld the kingdom which was high over all the world. ‘There were thirty six lakhs of Turk horsemen and thirty thousand elephants in the darbar. As far as the sun blazes through the world, so far does the Sultan wield his kingly power. The kings of all four quarters come: they stand [so long that they] are distressed ; thev do not get the chance of doing homage. Raghava was anxious in his mind and* distressed: [he thought] “There is no deliverance and my spirit is full of fear. When those who have the umbrella over their heads” are distressed, who will forward my cause ?
‘One cannot see the other side: there are lakhs of princes and nobles. I shall be reduced to the dust beneath the horses’ hoofs if I go into this crowd.”
z. The Emperor knew and understood everything : heaven and hell were clearly discerned in his heart. If a king is not thus intelligent, whose is the kingdom and where does anybody belong? He alone sustained the burden of the earth and so the whole world remained stable. Ay, and so high was his throne that his sight reached everybody. Every day he finds pleasure in the duties of royalty and at night he
(x) The lotus is of course Padmavati. There 18 a play on the similarity of sound in als (bee) and Alauddin.
Canto 39
(a) Omitting the hyphen between ju and dar. (b) १.९. kings.
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becomes a Yogi and goes about from house to house. He gets information by day and night about all sorts and conditions of men, high and low, rich and poor. All the way-farers and foreigners who come, his messengers bring information about them.
This news arrived there, “May your umbrella be ever fortunate with its shade. There is a Brahman at the door with a golden bracelet studded with jewels on his arm.”
3. The Shah felt compassion when he heard of the mendicant. [He said] ‘‘Who is the foreigner? Call him and question him. ‘I shail some day have to go toa foreign land: what is the road, and in what guise shall I go? There is grievous care in my mind for my kingdom of Delhi. This world is like the skin on milk, I have stored up and have churned many turns: I have churned and taken the ghee from the earth/butter- milk. What curds remain when you take this dahi? You draw off the curd as long as there is the dahi. Taking this curd/in this Delhi how many have departed : after displaying pride, they have mingled with the dust. Ravan has burnt Janka and set all ablaze: youth has not tarried, old age has come.
“Let alms be given to the mendicant, whether he he a Brahman or a Bhat.” [The emperor] commanded “Call him. Let him place his forehead upon the ground.’’
4. Raghava Chetan, who was in despair, was straightway speedily summoned to the presence. He bowed his head and gave his blessing. The jewelled bracelet showed itself flashing on his arm. Then the emperor said" to Raghava: ‘‘You are a beggar. What is this bracelet on your arm?’ Raghava again placed his forehead on the ground: [he said] ‘‘“May your kingdom continue from age to age with the splendour of the sun.
(c) The thread of the Emperor’s speech, which is partly & soliloquy on his own ultimate departure from this life, is entangled by puna on Olver (1) Delhi(2) of the heart, makt=(1) earth (2) battermilk, daht lei=()) again Delhi (2) taking curds. For the allegory of butter-making, cp. 34(10).
(d) Ajn% bhas lit. ‘there was an order’. Anything the emperor says 18 an order, :
272 HOW RAGHAVA CHETAN WENT TO DELHI 89: 4-6
The lotus princess of Singhala-dvipa has been brought by Ratansen to the fortress of Chitaur. The lotus cannot rival her fragrance: the moon in the sky cannot tival her beauty. Where lotus, moon and sun cannot compare, to what shall I liken her? Who else is there?
“This queen, the jewel of the world, gave me the bracelet as a pious gift. She revealed the beauty of an Achhari and stole my life through her lattice.”’
5. When the Shah heard this reply, he laughed in his mind: it was as though lightning showed itself flashing. [He said] ‘‘This beggar has found a bracelet’ fit for glass [beads] and it has set him upon Mount Sumernu. [You may thank] the title of mendicant that your tongue has been spared in your mouth: control yourself now and speak the truth. Where is there a woman who is above all the world, with whom the sun and the moon cannot compare? As for lotus-women, they are in my palace, where all the seven continents fold their hands [in reverence]. In all the seven cortinents I have selected them and have brought them: thus I have sixteen hundred queens. If you see a single slave of [any of] these, you will melt like salt’ at the sight of her beauty.
‘Iam the emperor of all the four quarters, even as the sun blazes in the sky. If there are lotus women, they are mine: as for Achharis, they are in heaven.”
6. “You are a great king and a mighty emperor while I ama Brahman mendicant. I have gone about in all four quarters seeking for alms: from the rising to the setting of the sun there is no kinglike you. Your kingdom is a righteous kingdom: it is truth in an evil age : who has got the tongue that can utter a lie [before you]? Four things which are above all other things are not in this Jambu-dvipa,—lotus women, ambrosia, the swan, and the tiger®: but these are found in Singhala-dvipa in their genuine form. I have seen all the seven continents on
(e) I have ventured to correct kaachan (gold) to katkan (bracelet). The point surely is that the emperor does not accept Raghava’s story and does not believe that the bracelet is of gold.
(f) A pun on lon=(1) salt (2) beauty.
(g) Ambrosia, the tiger-cub and the swan were three of the four ‘jewels’ given to Ratansen by the Ocean in 34(26).
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my travels: hence am I called Raghava Chetan (the wise). If you bid me, I will not practise any deceit: I will tell you the good and evil qualities of all women.
“Here the’ Hastini, the Sankhini, and the Chitrini dwell in abundance. Where is the Padmini, like the lotus, about whom the bees hover?’’
40. DESCRIPTION OF THE KINDS OF WOMEN
1. “First I will tell of the Hastini [elephant-like] woman: she has the complete nature of the elephant. Her head and feet are large, her neck is small: she 15 narrow-bosomed and wide-waisted. Her breast 15 like the elephant’s temple: there is rutting humour 110 ` her bosom: she has the gait of an elephant and well modelled arms. She does not take any notice of her own husband: her life is devoted to other men. She eats much, and delights much in dalliance: she has no cleAnliness and little adornment. Her sweat smells foul like rutting ichor: she cozens everyone by treachery. She has no fear or shame at all in her heart; she will only remain if one keep her by applying the goad.
“She goes to all the four quarters with the gait of an elephant : she keeps a sharp look-out. I have told you now of tke elephant-woman, [who has] all the faults of elephants.
2. ‘‘The next I shall tell of is the* Sankhini woman : she shows great strength but eats little food. Her bosom 15 very large, her waist very small: she is full of pride and shows no hesitancy in her mind. Much is her wrath: she is ready to slay her husband: she counts noone worth
(h) For the four kinds of woman, see 2(1)1 note (2) and Monier Wilhams’ ‘Religious Thought and Life in India’ p. 389. They are the Padmini (lotus-like) or perfect woman: the Chitrini, or woman of various accomplishments : the Sankhiul, or conch-like woman and the Hastinl, or elephant-like woman.
Canto 40
(a) As Shukla points out, Jaisi appears to have confused Sankhini with 81010174 (lion-liks), which would resemble it in Persian script. That he thought the word was Singhini is shown by his giving this woman the qualities of a lioness, This proves that he was here imitating a model which was written in Persian script. For his own use of that script, see note .22) to 8(8)1.
35
274 DESCRIPTION OF THE KINDS OF WOMEN 40: 2-4
a straw. Her own finery is pleasing to her: she cannot bear to see the adornment of another. She walks loosely on the path with the gait of a lion : she has many hairs on her thighs and shins. She is stout and delights to feed on flesh : a fetid odour proceeds from her mouth. Her glance is down-cast, she does not look before her: it is as though blinkers were fastened on her head.
‘When she consorts with her lord in bed she plies the arrows of her nails upon his bosom. She who has all the qualities of the lion, she is the Sankhini woman, O Sultan.
3. “The third I shall tell of 1s the Chitrini woman : very clever is she, and fond with the essence of love. Her form is beautiful and her adornment is rare: her cleanli- ness is like that of an Achhari. She knows not what anger 15 ; she has a smiling face: the lover who has such a wife is fortunate. She knows how to worship her own husband: she will not leave one man and take another. Moon-faced she 1s and her colour is that of a white water- lily: her gait is pleasing like that of a pair of swans. She delights in rice-milk and sugar candy, but eats little : she is exceedingly fond of pan and of flowers. In comparison with the Padmini, she is two degrees” short : with respect to all others, her qualities are spotless.
“As the Chitrini has the hue of a waterlily, so she has its fragrance in her limbs. The ‘Padmini is in all respects like sandal wood: the bees hover about her.
4. “The fourth I shall tell of is the Padmini woman: God has made her like a moon with the fragrance of the lotus. She 15 a Padmini by race and has the hue of a lotus: she has the scent of a lotus and the bees resort to her. She 15 not too tall and not ६00 short: not too slender and not too broad. She has pure radiance with all the “sixteen
(b) ५.९. she is two degrees short of the sixteen degrees or rays of perfect beauty, sce note (d) below, and 27 (43) note (bb).
{९} The text appears to be corrupt. The Padmini’s place is in the next stanza and her fragrance is of lotus and not of sandal-wood.
(५) The sixteen ‘kalas’ are, primarily, the 16 digits of the moon’s face: hence fhe 16 elements of perfect beauty. In 27 (7) Jaisj confused the 16 singérs and the 16 &bhsarans—-see note (i) to that canto. Here he confuses
the 16 kal&s and the 16 singars, making actual physical features of the latter in the next stanza,
ee
40: 4414: 7 DESCRIPTION oF ‘HE KINDS Of WoMEN 275
marks of beauty: such an one, O Sultan, know for a Padmini woman. [Of these sixteen] four are long and four short, four broad and four slender. And behold- ing her moon face everyone is entranced: her gait is as charming as the movement of a cygnet. Very delicate is she and she does not eat even rice-milk: she sustains herself on pan and flowers.
“She has all the sixteen degrees, and all the sixteen marks of beauty: I will now recite these in the fashion in which the world describes them.
5. “First, she has long hair, which entrances the mind: and the long fingers of her hands are beautiful. She has long eyes, and glances brightly therewith: she has a long neck, and three lines’ on her throat. Next, she has short teeth which are like diamonds: she has small breasts which protrude like lemons: she has a small fore- head, like a radiant crescent moon: and her navel is small, the abode of sandal fragrance. Her nose 15 slender, like the edge of a sword: her waist is slender, as though she had defeated a lion. Her stomach is slendér, as though she had no intestines: her lips are slender and red with the hue of coral. Her cheeks are broad ; you may see in them the splendour of her face: her buttocks are broad ; when one sees them, the mind is entranced.
“Her forearms are made exceedingly broad: her thighs are broad and she has the gait of an elephant. JI have described the sixteen marks of beauty, which make the gods covetous.
41. THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY
1. “That lotus maiden who was brought to Chitaur, her body was pure gold, bright with all the twelve forms of brightness. But pure gold is metal: it has no scent: she is fragrant like a lotus in full bloom. Pure gold is metal and its limbs are hard: she is soft and her colour is that of a bright flower. If the breeze which has touched
(6) See note (ऋ) to 10(13)6 and the almost identical descri a of a beautiful woman’s throat there quoted from Du Maurier’s ‘Peter Ibbetson’. op. 41(15)5 also.
276 ग्घ DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY 41: 1-3 \
her blows on any tree that lucky tree becomes a tree of sandal®. What is there not in that body of hers though it is but a handful [of dust]? For whom has God designed such a figure ? All painters of pictures are defeated: noone could succeed in drawing her beauty. Her body is like camphor, her bones” are 21 pearls: yea, God has given them more radiance than that of pearls.
“As the rays of the sun are spotless, even more so is her body. It cannot be looked at directly: water comes into the eyes
2. “When she, the moon-faced, says anything, her lip that moves is as red as the sun arising. The rays which break out from every tooth are like fire- works being let off throughout the world. They are like lightning displayed in the moon-([light]: one is dazzled and utterance is impossible. They flash like [lightning in] a night in Bhadon: like fireflies moving in black night. Like the note of the kokil in the spring season, [her voice] ‘strikes the hearing with charm and the arrow quivers. As for her head, the serpent Ses, who has been defeated, has gone for refuge there and has become a braid of her hair. Like ambrosia her voice is spread abroad: the fragrance which attends the lady is like the fragrance of the lotus
“Everyone expires, defeated in mind, who beholds such elegance. Having first described this distress I will then describe her charms
3. ‘Why did I become a victim of fate when I went and stood beneath her tower? Why did she come and peep through the lattice, with eyes of a fallow-hind and side-long glances? She laughed; it was as though the moon and the stars were falling, or as though fire- works were kindled in the night. It was like lightning flashing in a night of Bhadon: like fireflies filling the
Canto 41
(५) The Malaya mountain, famous for ita sandal-tree forests, is used as elsewhere, for the sandal-tree
(0) 1 suspect that the text is corrupt. Even the poet’s eye would hardly see the radiance of Padmavati’s bones
(c} I have followed Shukla in translating sar by ‘arrow,’ but a word
for ‘voice’ is also needed and (if the word was svar) may be disguised in either suras or in éer
4i: 3-4 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI'S BEAUTY 279
sight of the world. In her eidelong glance of love poison dwelis: her curling tress, like a she-serpent, bites in the twinkling of an eye. Her eye-brow is a bow ; her eyelid is steeped in collyrium: she was the archer and I the bird. She shot me and went away, and, as she shot me, she laughed: behind her was a serpeut*; it bit me.
“Tt was death that she had cast behind her; there was no Garuda® and no spell. It entered my vitals. On whom shall I call, making lament ?
4. ‘When she unfastens her braids and shakes out her hair, night falls and all the world light their lamps. From her head like snakes her tresses fall to the ground: the whole region becomes dark. They wave about full of poison and stretched out: full of mpples, they un- dulate and are exceedingly black. It is as though they were snakes which had climbed up and writhe : they are imbued with the fragrance of her sandal-scented limbs. They twist and twine as though they enjoyed the spoft : they are serpents which have climbed up on a Malati plant’. They undulate like the Jumna: revolving in their eddies the thought is imprisoned. They are like horse-hair plumes waving on all sides, but the bees, which are fascinated by the fragrance, do not fly away.
‘When she grasps her vesture and veils herself there is darkness, the lightning is hidden in the cloud. Why did I behold the serpents of her tresses? My spirit trembles at the recollection.
(d) te. the serpent of her hair-braid.
(€) Garuda, king of the birds, is the slayer of snakes par excellence.
(f) What follows in stanzas 4 to 18 is not a complete Nakha-sikha, or description of the heroine from top to toe, such as we have had in Canto X. It only goes down to the waist, as Raghava is describi what he saw of Padmavati when she looked out of the window. Rack stanza describes & separate feature, as in canto X, the corresponding stanzas being,—
ALI 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
X 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, 13, 14, 15-16, 17-18.
The eyelashes, which have a stanza to themselves in canto X, have only half a line in stanza 7 of canto XLI. ॥
(g) In 10 (1) they are like a bee on a Malati plant, ॐ more agar simile, Snakes are attracted by the scent of the sandal-tree, not of he malati.
278 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATIS BEAUTY 41: 4-6
5. “The parting of*her hair with its ruby line of vermilion” is like the spring [appearing] rosy red for all the world to see. She has arranged the gold spangles’ and laid the hair smooth on both sides and adorned herself by painting patterns of bright colours. There is a pattern of flowers of every kind, like cranes scattered against a dark cloud. Her parting is like the Saraswati in the midst of the Jumna, while on both sides is the Ganges with its waves. Upon it is the vermilion line, red like a row of velvet insects. Seeing this vermilion, the gods are ready to immolate themselves : the sun rises eatly to worship her parting. If the sun is red at dawn and at eve, it is because his limbs are red from [the reflexion of] this line.
“Her black hair-braid’ with its flowers is like the Jumna coming forth and gladly performing the worship of Indra after painting a vermilion line on her head.
6. ‘‘Her forehead is like the crescent moon of the second night, exceedingly geni-bright : when Sankar sees it, he lays his forehead there. Thisis a crescent moon which is ever new and which ali the world beholds: the world does homage to it and gives itits blessing. It is not for the real moon to rival this one: it becomes darkened and hides, ashamed in mind. The spangles which are fashioned in the arrangement of her beauty spot are like the Pleiades in the crescent of the moon. The demon of eclipse has plied the saw upon the moon: filling it with constellations he has caused a great conflagration. Her forehead throws such light“ that he who beholds it is irradiated. The jewel Siri' which she has placed in the parting of her hair is like a falling star in the night.
‘If the moon and the stim are bright it is by the
(h) In 10 (2) the parting has not yet been marked with the vermilion line of the married woman
i) Patravals, see 27 (8) 3 note (j)
j) Bent=(1) hair-braid (2) the trivent (the junction of the Ganges, Jumna and Saraswati)
(k) Shukla explains paras jolt as light which gives reflected light to another object. See also his introduction p. 119
) Sirs, v. 10 (3) 8 and 42 (26) 4. A forehead lornament also
valled dead.
41° 6-8 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY 279
radiance of that forehead. By night and by day they do not fulfil their course but are repeatedly effaced.
47. “Her eyebrows are black and Itke a bent bow fashioned in order to pierce a man. The chandak” 15 the clenched hand which stretches this bow: the collyrium [round the eyes} is the bow-string, the eyelashes are the poisoned arrows. Whomsoever she glances at is slain:" the high mountains are moved when her eyebrow sets them in motion. That bow which destroyed Setubandh, even that bow is defeated by these eyebrows. The bow’ which pierced the fish is defeated: let noone ‘reckon aught of any other bow. Why did I see that bow of her eyebrows? Their life is not worth reckoning whom its arrows strike: with those arrows my heart was riddled : how can one live who has thus been slain ?
“In every particle my body was pierced and all my framein every pore: they penetrated through every fibre and every bone was pierced.
8. “The picture of her eyes is painted with such beauty, it is like a bee roaming over a lotus leaf. They move in beauty like waves of the sea: they roll and turn, intoxicated with passion. Like a pair of khanjan birds in the autumn moon-[ light | they bicker, turning and twisting again and again. A quivering rippling swing affects them: they remain not fixed but are unsteady........ When they gaze, they are not satisfied with slaughter: twisting and turning, they take counsel with her ears. White bodies have they and black faces’: they move sideways and do not remain straight. They make gods, men and gandharvas covetous : when they turn upwards they climb to heaven.
‘So these eyes with their two orbits are like whirlpools
(m) I have conjectured chandak (a forehead omament) for Shukla’s chand ka.
(४) This half verse is almost the samo as 42 (16) 5, where it suits the context much better.
(0) ¢.e, Arjun’s bow ए, 10 (4) 6 note (14). But there may be some confusion between the fish (rohu) pierced by Arjuna’s arrow at the wedding of Draupadi and the demon of eclipse (R&hu) severed by Vishnu’s disous. \
{p) The white body is the cornea, and the black face the pupil of the eye, cp. 39 (9) 7 note (w).
280 THE DISCOURSE 01 PADMAVATI'S BEAUTY 44: 820
which stir up the sea. They throw ( as it were) one’s spirit into a swing and push it and pull it one way and the other.
g. ‘‘Her sword-like nose the lady has taken from a parrot: it is suitable for the defeat of passion and heroism. Presenting this sword before her moonface the fair lady* desires to do battle with her, lover. It is like the Setubandh causeway which Raghubir built in the water between the two oceans. Her nose is like the flower of sesamum, and God has given it a fragrant scent. She wears in it a flashing diamond stud like the star Sohil against the autumn moon. That nose-stud 15 even more exalted than Sohil: the constellations chase after it but it cannot be reached. I know how that stud' is fashioned: all the flowers that blow desire to reach it.
“Now that fragrant stud/flower has become the fastening of her nostril: ail the flowers which approach it obtain sweet scent.
10. ‘‘Her lips are brightly coloured and as thin as pan leaves: rosy are they, and full of, ambrostal sap. They are moist and red with pan juice: smiling, they appear like Gulal’. [€ rubies are her lips and her teeth like diamonds: her voice is sweet, and she chews pan with her mouth. Her lips are drawn out like dabh grass that has been scraped: bload drips when she chews pan. Wet with sap, they pour............. . full of blood and fair and impassioned. They are like the red rays of the sun at dawn which cause the face of the lotus to display itself, by looking at it. A curl of her hair, like a serpent, guards her lips: he who seizes the serpent tastes their sweetness.
“On either lip is the nectar oflove : between them is the curl, like a serpent. Then shall one obtain the ambrosial juice when he seizes and draws away the serpent.
(q) There are the usual puns on Rama and Ravan. (r) 7 un on ph¥t=(l) stud (2) flower. (8) ५ the red powder thrown at the Holj festival,
41: rI-I2 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI'’S BEAUTY 281
व. * “Her teeth are black’, deeply stained with betel juice; they are to the sight like bees on an unfolded lotus flower. There is such brightness in the interior of her mouth as there would be from [ white | pomegranate seeds mixed with black seeds of makoi. When the lady smiles her front teeth" flash dazalingly like lightning flashing in a dark night. White and black they flash upon the sight like a row of sapphires and diamonds set there. Who has fashioned teeth so priceless ? When she speaks smilingly, lightning strikes. They are ‘gems which have become black, stained with the nectar of passion: the name of precious stones beseems them. Why did I behold these teeth, stained with colour? They took away the light and my eyes were deprived of it.
“The radiance of her teeth came by way of my eyes and entered my heart. As I beheld darkness revealed in the world so I beheld this radiance in secret.
12. ‘‘Now hear of her tongue which speaks words of charm. Hearing her voice like a kokila’s, the mind is enamoured. Like an ambrosial bud her tongue is fixed: like pan leaves and flowers her words are lovely. When the chatak” hears her voice, it is comforted: he who hears it becomes intoxicated with the wine of love. Like a parched tree which obtains water, so, on hearing her voice, the body flourishes. When she speaks, it 15 as though drops fell in Sewati, and pearls fill the ear, like the opening of a shell. Blessed is that voice which, as the support of life, gives food to the hungry ear. Who is not filled “with hope by these utterances? They en- trance fallow-deer who take them for the music of a lute.
“Her throat entrances Sarada, what to say of her tongue and Surasati®. Indra, the moon, the sun, the gods
(t) Not all black, as appears from the following verses.
(0) Grierson translates ‘on a pedestal’ in the similar passage in 10 (9). Chauk means either ‘four-sided’ or ‘a set of four’, specially the four front teeth,
($) There is the usual pun on Ratan and Padarath, but the sense 18 not clear,
(क्र) Omitting the hyphen between chatak and bain.
(x) Actually Sgrad§ and Saraswati are the same, the goddess of eloquence.
90
282 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY 41 : 12-14
and all the world desire [to hear the words of] her mouth.
13. “Now hear of her ears, which are like shells : they are adorned with pendants of Singhala-dvipa. These glisten on both sides like the moon and the sun: filled with constellations, they cannot be gazed at. Every now and then they vibrate like lightning: they do not remain covered by the clouds which are her garment. They are like Suk and Sanichar’ giving advice on both sides: they will not be separated from her ears. They remain trem- | bling when she utters her voice: [they are afraid lest] her eyes should turn and reach her ears*. Whatever matter they hear from her friends“, they beat her head on both sides. And on both 546७०" the drops of these pendants glitter like scattered stars of the Pleiades.
“These ears have heard and learnt thelore of the Vedas, the Puranas and all the books there are. God has given her ears which are a pledge for the delight of music and the charm of song.
14. ‘Her lotus cheeks are so becoming to her that God has not adorned anyone 111 like manner. They are composed of flower-dust and essence of ambrosia: they are like brightly coloured gem-like marigolds or oranges. Moreover, there lies a mole on her left cheek: this mole is a ray of the spark of love. He who bheholds this mole is consumed with fire: let noone see it upon his left! It is like a bee which has dropped upon a lotus, which has given up its life but is faithful in death. When men see this mole, it becomes fixed in their eyes : nothing else is seen clearly apart from this mole. Upon it swings a curl of hair studded with gems: this is a serpent which touches her bright-hued cheek.
“There is a peacock*’ which keeps guard upon it:
(y) Stk (Sukra), the planet Venus, was the counsellor of the Daityas, ep. 25(10)4 ; but there is no special reason why Sanichar (Saturn) should also be represented as an adviser.
(ष्ट) ८ 41(8)5 where the eyes turn and take counsel with the cars. (as) Perhaps ‘from their friends’ (the eyes).
(bb) <A pun on ka@Af (side) and क छ ४ (drop) as in 10(12)4.
(cc) The peacock is the lady’s neck (see next stanza) which protects the mole on her cheek from the serpent, a our) of her hair. cp. “She's
neckit like the peacock, She’s breistit like the swan’’, in the early version of Annie Laurie,
41: 14-16 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVAT!’s BEAUTY | 283
[the snake] cannot get past. it by twisting upon her bosom. Who in the world could seize it and touch it, when it is in the cover of two hills?
15. “Her neck stands erect- and is like that of a peacock: a turner has fashioned it, turning it on a lathe. Blest is that neck : how shall I describe its glory? It is like a horse straining at the bridle“. It is as though a homing pigeon raised its neck, or chanticleer prepared to utter his voice. It is like the neck of a flask which 15 inclined to fill an ambrosial chalice. Furthermore, there lie upon it three lines’: he who beholds them is fixed to the spot. This neck is more spotless than the sun’s rays: at first sight it penetrates the heart. Her neck is glorious with a golden thread laid on it : a lotus has been fashioned with art and placed upon it. |
“A serpent has climbed up on the Jotus: a tortoise has climbed up and sits there. He who stretches forth his hands to death, it is he who may cling to her throat.
16. “‘Her arms (both upper and lower) are fashioned like golden bars, like lotus stalks set in reverse position. The upper arms are designed like sandal-wood pillars: they join [her body] like lotus filaments. Joined to these stalks are lotus palms, both matching as if made of a single lotus flower. They are, as it were, naturally stained with henna, like pearls combined with 7411 berries. The fingers which are attached to the palms afe all steeped in gore {shed by] her hands. It is to the sight as if they had torn out a heart: if a heart is torn out it will not be restored. With golden and yewel-studded rings these murderesses [the fingers] are filled with constellations”.
“How [wonderful] are her upper arm and forearm, the manner of this cannot be declared. Where there is a bracelet 011 the arm, what need is there of a mirror for witness ?
(dd) Bank is a common epithet for a horsezenoble, spirited, but here it is probably a wrong reading for bag (bridle), as in the parallel passage 10(13)4 we have Omg turaag janu gahi link.
(ee) Cp. 40(5) note (€) and 10(13)6 note (w).
(ff) The constellations (even as a trope for jewels) seem out of place here ; possibly there is a pun.on nokh (finger-nail) and nakhat (constellation).
284 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY 41: 17-19
17. “Her bosom is a tray: her breasts are golden bowls. They are both like a pair of custard-apples. They are two kings on one throne: black umbrellas adorn the heads of both. They are like two tops, both together: the world is mad for them, but they cannot be grasped. Her stomach is thin like a wheaten cake : it subsists on pan and it blossoms like a flower. Upon it a line of hair twirls like a top : it is like the [kingdoms] of Sham and Ruma™. A curl of her hair like a serpent twines above it: the game-board of her bosom is one, but there are two counters in the game”. Her two breasts rise like a battlement; noone can leap over it and reach them.
“They will not bend for any bending; they are lifted up by the pride of youth. He who first lays his hand upon them will afterwards feel passion.”
18. ‘Her wasp waist has, as it were, no middle : it is like the thread between two divisions of a lotus stalk. When she turned and went away I saw her from behind like an Achhari of Indra’s heaven fully adorned. When she went, there was remorse in my mind: my sight was still fixed on that place. Achharis were shamed by her gait and concealed themselves : hidden were they and did not come to view. The swan ashamed and fiew off to the Manasar lake : the elephant was ashamed and threw dust on his head. I have seen many women in the world : from the rising to the setting of the sun there is no such woman anywhere. Certainly there is none such in the sphere of the earth: in the sphere of Brahma possibly there may be.
“T have described the lady so far as she came to my view through the lattice. The rest of the lady which was unseen, that cannot be described.
19. ‘How shall I tell how delicate the lady is: if ;
(gg) S&m=—Syria, Rtm=Turkey, but there are no doubt puns on s4m= black and roma=hair of the body v. 42(10)3.
(hh) An allusion to the game of pe ile see note (z) to 27(23).
(ii) I sus ah that Jaisi chuckled as he substituted the words rats man for the word pachhitan which one might naturally have expected to round off 8 moral sentence.
(jj) I have omitted Shukla’s comma after lags.
41; 19-21 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY 285
flower touches her she feels discomfort. They pull the petals from flowers and strew these for her mattress and bedding : if a complete flower succeeds in remaining, she 15 ill at ease and cannot sleep. She cannot endure rice- milk or sugar candy or ghi: her body and spirit are sustained by betel-juice. They look-carefully for, and, ‘draw out the fine fibres of the pan-leaves so that the coarse fibres may not bruise her lips. Her clothing is of gossamer, but, even so, by wearing it her body 1 scratched. Her feet remain on her couch or on her chair: if she walks on the road, silks are strewn there.
“Set her in your eye and keep her there: do not {€ her be hidden for a moment. The passionate lover will obtain her, whether he be great or small.”
20. When Raghava had told the description of the lady and the Shah had _ heard, faintness came over him. Jike an image she had been te- vealed and, after showing herself, had been hidden within [115 heart.] All those in his palace whom he had accounted as lotus women, he now regarded as water lilies, having heard about the lotus. The lady had become a malati and had entered his thought; no other flower canie to his sight. His mind became a bee, and he a devotee: his thought would not leave the lotus and attach itself elsewhere. It was just as the sun is enamoured of the moon and takes no heed of other luminaries. Then said Alauddin, the lord of the world, ‘I will crush Chitaur and seize the lady.
“If this lotus lady is in the lake Manasar, the bee“ will not be disappointed. If the lotus lady is in Chitaur, return there and say the same thing.”
21. “Jord of the world, I will tell you this: there are five other gems" in Chitaur. One is the swan, that priceless bird: it picks up pearls and its utterance is like precious stones. The second gem is impregnated with ambrosia ; it removes the poison of a serpent’s bite. The
(kk) A play on ali (bee) and Alauddin. (11) For the five goms, 856 34(26) and 41(21).
286 THE DISCOURSE OF PADMAVATI’S BEAUTY 41: 21-—42! 7
third is a stone, the philosopher’s stone: iron which touches it becomes radiant gold. The fourth is a hunting tiger, which compasses about and seizes all the elephants of the forest. The fifth gem which I saw there was a hunting royal bird with a voice of thunder: no buck or blue bull can escape it by flight: when it sees them it flies and hovers like a hawk.
‘Such are the five priceless gems which the ocean gave him as 2 present. That which Iskandar did not obtain, he [Ratansen] got, after, plunging into the sea.”
22. He gave Raghava pan and invested him [with a robe of honour]: he received ten bull elephants and horses. He gave him also a second armlet, making a pair: thirty two score of jewels were set therein. He gave him a lakh of dinars for his maintenance: he removed his poverty by doing him service cheerfully. “On the day that I obtain the lotus lady, I will estab- lish you, Raghava, in Chitaur. After I have first got all five gems into my grasp, I will seize that gem which is a golden ring.’ Sarja was a hero, a mighty man of valour: his whip was a serpent, his mount a lion. [The Emperor] wrote a letter and gave it to him, and despatched him speedily. He came to the fortress of Chitaur, to the king.
The King had the letter read to him: it was written with the greatest art. ‘She who is the lotus lady of Singhala, send her with speed.”
42. THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT
1. When he heard such a writing the King arose, blazing [with anger]: it was as if the heaven shook and the clouds thundered. “To what purpose do you come and show me your lion? if I command, my tiger will seize and devour him. True, the Shah is a mighty monarch, yet noone demands the wife of a man. If he is an Emperor and bears sway, still a man has means [to protect] his own house. Where Achharis are, there Indra alone may come: no other can obtain either
42 ` 1-3 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT 287
hearing or sight of them. Though Kans the king raged victorious, yet Krishna did not give up the herdmaids to anyone. What sun/hero is more powerful than I? If he climbs up to heaven, he can be brought down to hell.
“Why should I take your life for another’s fault, though I might do so? What the water of ocean cannot extinguish, how shall a dew-drop extinguish it ?”’
2. [Sarja said] “O King, be not thus inflamed with rage. Be cool and listen, do not speak in heat. I am come here prepared to die: the emperor knew this when hesent me. The burden which is on you cannot be taken by any other : he will question me tomorrow, and I shall have to give an answer. Do not speak thus to the emperor: if he attacks, the world will be convulsed. When this monarch attacks/sun rises there will be no delay : his fire inflamies heaven and earth. Mountains fly at the breath of the monarch: this fortress will become dust at a single push. Sumeru is crushed : the ocean is damned up: the earth quakes, and Ses’s hood is cleft in twain.
“What contest can there be with him? Do you remain established in Chitaur itself, and take Chanderi in addi- tion. What is this lotus lady, a single slave-girl ?”’
3. [The King said] “If the lady of the house departs, what is Chitaur and what is the kingdom of Chanderi? Noone will take a man’s life for his house: he who is a Yogi may give up his house. Am 7 [like] Hamir* the lord of Ranthambhaur who cut off his head and gave up his body ? I am that man of might, Ratansen: I pierced the fish and won Sairandhi’. I am the equal of Hanuvant who shouldered the great burden.” I am the equal of Rama who made a dam for the ocean. I
CanTo 42
(0) Hamirti-Hammir, the king of Ranthambhaur, defeated and slain by Alauddin two years before the sack of Chitaur, in 1301 A.D., see 44(2)7 and Shukla’s Intr. poe The siege of Ranthambhaur ended in a Jauhar, described by Amir Khusru in his Tarikh-i-Alai (Elliot’s History. Volume III ए. 75). There are Hindi poems and a Sanskrit epic on the subject.
(b) Sairandhi=Sairandhri the (भव ym of Draupadi. The allusion ia to the stery of Arjun shooting the fish at Draupadi’s wedding, see note (14) and (d) to 10(4)5.
288 THE EMPEROR’S ASSAULT 42 : 3-5
am the equal of Bikram who showed his might*; I took what I aimed at from Singhala-dvipa. He who wrote such a letter is no coward: who will beard a live lion ?
“If he takes my wealth I will acquiesce: I will serve him and clasp his feet. But if he wants a lotus lady let him go to Singhala-dvipa.”’
4. [Sarja] “Do not speak, O king, as if you were someone of note. He has seized Devagiri® and Chhitai*. The kings of all the seven continents bow their heads [to him] and their lotus-ladies have gone with him. He to whom the world does service, what delay would there be in his seizing Singhala-dvipa? Do not account this fortress as your own: everything is his, nothing is yours. On the day that he shall come and assault the fortress, he will seize it utterly : who shall stay his hand? A man will not give up his head because dust has settled on 11, that head which will moreover becomie ashes here- after. Do him service, my brother, if you [wish to] live : otherwise displeasure will ensue.
‘He by whom life has been given, make obeisance before him [bowing your] head. He knows all that should be done, whether by man or by woman.”’
5. [King] “Go tell the Turk*, not to run upon his death. He will be like Iskandar”. He, when he heard about ambrosia, ran to the Kadali forest’: he could not lay hands on it and rued the attempt. Yea, he became a moth for that lamp and fell into it: he set foot on the fire-mountain and was burnt. That earth was iron and that sky was copper: he lost his life only by stretching
(c) .As in 51(6)7 there may be a punning allusion to the Saka era (Vikram who founded the Saka era). But the view accepted at present is that the Saka era was not connected with Vikramaditya of Ujjain (vide Moreland and Chatterjee’s Short History of India Appendix IT).
(d) Devagiri: Deogir (now Daulatabad), the Yadava capital raided by Alauddin in 1294 A.D. and subdued by him in 1306. See Shukla’s Introduction p,. 235, Elliot and Dowson’s History Vol. III p, 77, and 42({10)6,
(e) Chhitai op. 42(5)7, the princess of Devagiri, whose story is told in the Chhitai-vartta, a seventeenth century poem.
(f) #.e. will not give up everything on account of trifling discomfort.
(£) Omitting the exclamation mark after Turk, as Shukla also does in his Introduction ध 132.
(४) Alexander, see 1(18)5 note (31),
(i) Kadaliban see 12(5)7 note (h),
a8: ली व EMPEROR'S ASSAULT 289
१ / forth his hand from a distance. This fortress of Chitaur is like that mountain : if the spn rises/monarch ascends it will become burning coal. If you have rivalled Iskandar, then plunge into the ocean and seize it as he did. The stratagem by which you went and took Chhitai, by the same stratagem and by fear will friendship be produced.
“I too have been ware from beforehand and have made ready the equipment of my fortress. Let him who is to come tomorrow come today.”’
6. Sarja returned and came to the Shah. ‘‘The king’ will not be advised though I gave him much advice. The fire that was burning still showed as fire: it continued to burn and would not be extinguished. Even so the Djinns would not bow their heads but when Suleman‘ assailed them they submitted to his service.”” When he heard this, the Sultan was red [with anger] as the mid- summer sun blazes. [Shining with] a thousand rays, he was so filled with wrath that in whichever direction he looked that region was burnt. “How dare this Hindu king make a show of strength? Even heaven cannot now escape from the sun/monarch. He who in this world has filled his mouth with fire has made fire his companion in both worlds.
“As Ranthambhaur’ was burnt and the fire was extinguished, the same fire will fall on Chitaur: but it will not be extinguished by any efforts when it has once caught.”’
' 4, He wrote letters [and messengers} sped in every direction : all the nobles were summoned with speed. Drums were beaten until they burst: Indra was affrighted : Meru quaked and Ses was ill at ease. The earth was shaken and the tortoise was agitated: there was a noise of churning in the ocean. “The Shah advanced
(j ४
) Dev here means s (Hindu) king; later in the stanza it has the double meaning of king and (Arabic) djinn.
(४) For Solomon and the djinns see note (32) to 1(13)6.
(4) Ranthambhaur v. note (a) to 42(3)3.
{m) There sre several striking points of resemblance between the description of the Sultan’s army in the ensuing stanzas and that of the Parthian army in Milton’s Paradise Regained III, 310-336,
37
290 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT ’ 423: Be
with bands - playing for all the world ‘to know: the first stage was thirty kos. He fixed the place of assembly before Chitaur for all who heard of the royal expedition. The standards were raised and spread to heaven: they were like red clouds to the view. Whoever was sleeping, and in whatever place, was thus awakened: the whole army came and hegan to do obeisance. |
Elephants, horses, hosts of men, and all the mules and camels got saddled everywhere ; the army was let loose like locusts,
8. The Sultan’s mules” proceeded on their road. There were swift horses: gallant Kankanis, blacks, bays, tron-greys, greys, whites with red points, dark bays, 00१3, dur Kete, piebakds, Arabs, horses worth a lakh, horses of Shiraz and galloping horses, fine duns, Tajis (kind of Arab), strawberry roans, nukras, greys (fine horses these): rupkarans, bolsars (these too came), horses with the five lucky marks, Sanjabs (so they were named) ; these had been selected and brought from every land and every sea. There were very dark bays and hirmijis, Iraqis: there were Turkis (so called) and Bhothars and Bulakis. These came scattered in row upon row, of every colour and of every kind.
They lifted up their heads and tails and stooped to breathe on every side: filled with wrath, as if frenzied, they flew with the speed of the wind.
g. The elephants were clad in coats of mail: they came like black clouds thundering. They were even blacker than any cloud: nothing was visible when one looked on their darkness. They came to view like a night in Bhadon: their backs reached the sky and were joined to it. When one and a quarter lakhs of elephants advanced, they shook the whole earth with all its mountains. The bull elephants came marching, drunk with ichor’: the guardians of the quarters’ fled when
{(n) A word for ‘horses’ would be more suitable here. The variant 2०००४, which Shukla mentions, could only mean ‘infantry’, and would not suitable. For the different kinds of horse cp. 2(22). In this stanza there is strange cross-classification. (०) Mad the moisture exuded from the temples of rutting elephants. : (7) The dig-gajas, mythical clephant guardians ofthe eight points of tne unyjyerse,
49:%rt~ पष exiprror’s ASSAULT 26% their scent reached them... There was an earthquake when they moved, as all the world might know: where they placed their feet, there water arose.
As these elephants moved, earth trembled: Ses crouched in hell: the ‘tortoise who was upholtling the earth was prostrated by the weight of these elephants.
10. Those famous nobles. and chiefs who marched, how shall I describe the manner of their adornment ? Khurasan matched and Hareu': from Gaur and Bengal none remained behind. The sultans of Rum (Turkey) and of Sam (Syria) did not remain behind, or of Kashmir, Thatta’ or Multan. All the principal races of Turks, the people of Mandan" and of Gujarat, the people of Patna and Orissa all came, bringing with them all the best bull elephants. The people of Kanvaru” of Kamta and of Pindwa came: they came from Dewagiri” as far as Udaya- gin. The hill men came from as far as Kumaon; the Khasiyas’, the Magars’ and all such names.
All the lands that are from the rising to the setting of the;sun, who knows their names? All the seven continents and the nine divisions were assembled and met together.
II. Happy is the Sultan who is lord of the world: he alone could assemble such an army. 41 the famous leaders of the Turks had drums beating and were girt With swords, These valiant warriors slew their hundreds of thousands with guns‘, bows and’ arrows and darts.’ Opening their mouths [the guns]....with music: men mounted on Iraqi horses and brandished lezims™”. The
(r) Hareu possibly Herat, Shukla (Introduction p. 235) identifies with the dominion of the Mongols, on the North-West frontier of Alauddin’s kingdom of Delhi, roughly Afghanistan. See 43(18)5 note (क).
(8) Gaur was the ancient ca Dae of the kingdom of Bengal wkich was subjugated by Balban, a quarter of a century before Alauddin,
(t) Thatts. I have ngwidentified.
(a} Méandau, the capital of Malwa.
(ष) Katvaru=-Assam. I have not identified KAmté or Pindwa.
(w) Devagiri, see 42(4)1, note (d). Udaygiri is probably the place of ‘that name in Gwalior State.
Khasiy&e, a tribe of hill Rajputs in Kumaon and Nep&l. y) Magaré, a Nepalese tribe.
z) For the use of fire-arms (an anachronism) see 10{15)4 note (x).
ae) Lezim, a bow with an iron chain inssead of a string, used in athletic exercises,
के
292 THE EMPERORS ASSAULT 42: 11-34
horse caparison shone, fitted with plates of steel: it was .
brighter ‘even than a mirror. Of every hue, and every formation and every kind that army proceeded. All spoke different tongues. Where did God open this mine [from which they all came]?
There was an advance of seven Jojans’’ every single day: the rear guard reached the place from which the vanguard set forward.
12.‘ Castles quaked and their lords all trembled: there was no spirit in their bodies: they pressed ` their hands upon their hearts. Ranthambhaur shook : the fortress quaked: the chief was parched with fear and could not speak. Junagarh and Champaneri trembled, and so did every place from Mandau to Chanderi. The fortress of Gwalior was convulsed and Andhiyar was churned to water. Panic fell upon Kalinjar: Jaygarh fled and remained not in its place. Bandbava trembled and the Rana of Narvar: Rohtas and Buayagiri were afraid. Udaygiri trembled: Devagiri feared: it held itself [down] and hid
All the fortresses and all their lords trembled like leaves. Whom did the Emperor’s umbrella approach with its challenge ?
13. Chitaurgarh and Kumbhainere were both equipped as richly as Sumeru. Messengers came to the king and announced, ‘‘The Turk has set forth and is coming With his army in array.” When the king heard this, he sent letters by express to every clan of Hindu name. “Chitaur is the [chief] place of the Hindus: our foe, the Turk, has marched fagainst it] with fell intent. He comes like the ocean which cannot he confined : I have made myself a barrier and taken the brunt. Fill [the line] by my side, I adjure you : even if you do not, who can
॥ 9
shake my dignity? So long as there is a barrier, the
branches” will remain in comfort: if it is broken, the garden cannot be preserved.
(bb) ^ yojan is ordinarily 4 kos. The first march—-in 42(7)4—was
30 kos==7¢ ए ojan ०९) I suspect that Chhap&i is a wrong reading for Chhit&i, which name appeared in conjun@ion with Devagiri in 42(4)1 (day Omitting the hyphen between sukhk and smkhg.
43: 13-15 SHE HMPEROR’S ASSAUL‘ 293
‘He who is loyal and maintains loyalty in his spirit will not desert [his friends] even in the fire. Where there is the Bira™ there is the lime, the betel-leaf, the areca- nut and catechu
14. Those princes who were feudatories of the Shah, a bird (2.९. a spy) came and told them [of the matter]. When they all had agreed together and set forth, they came to the Emperor and did homage. ‘‘Chitaur is the mother of the Hindus: when hardship befalls, kinship cannot be abandoned. Ratansen has prepared a Jauhar" there : he is the greatest king among the Hindus. Hindus are like moths, they hasten to fall into the fire’ when they see it. Be merciful and restrain your mind in its firmness or else, with a smile, give us leave to depart™. Then will we go and die in that place: our names can- not be effaced with shame
The Shah gave them pan, with a smiling face, and three day’s interval. Who can keep them cool for whom there is death in the fire?
15. Ratansen was equipped in Chitaur: all the kings came with their bands playing and encamped there. “»Tomars came and Bais, and Panwars:; Gahlots also came, bowing their heads. There were Pattis and Panchwans, Baghelas, Agarpars, Chauhans, Chandelas, Gaharwars, Parihars in their tribes and Kalhans Thakurs were collected. Dharhis stood in front and made music: behind, the banners of death'' were displayed. Horns, conches and trumpets sounded: they were anointed with sandal paste and painted with vermilion. Having ee ee
[9 0 १ हः । # 1 — ee — ~~ = --- ~
(ec) Btra: pan leaf prepared for eating, a mark of mutual confidence cp. 27(19)8, 9
ff) Jauhar, the mass suicide which Rajputs committed, rather than yield to a conqueror, the men fighting until they were slain and the women throwing themselves into the flames. The Jauhar which took place at the sack of Chitor ८ ia matter of hietory. See 57(4)8 note (c)
(gg) Lit. ‘give betel-leaf’ (as a sign that they may go and join Ratansen in resistance)
h) Tomars, Bais etc., septs of Rajputs. Among these, the Bais and the Kalhans ure Oudh tribes, and would probably not have been found in Rajputans. -I have not found Patti or Panchwan elsewhere as the names of sub-castes of Rajputs: Gahlot was the former name of the Sisodias of Mewar, to which Ratansen really belonged. Dh&ris are a low caste of musicians and singers.
(ii) ‘Banners of death’ cp. 42(27)3.
244 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT 42: 15
equipped themselves for battle they all girded themselves with might: they abandoned their lives and ali faced 06948. ।
He who supports heaven and earth, how shuuld a mountain be heavy for him? So long as the spirit is in the body, he will support the burden if it falls on him.
16. The fortress was equipped as any man could desire : there woulll be no lack for twenty years. Exceed- ingly steep the fortress was built, and all its ramparts were covered with carvings. In every part there were square turrets on which were plaged clusters of enormous cannofi 8118. At many places these had been subdivid- ed: there was no space between where an ant could pass. Bowmen sat at every loophole: there was not a finger’s breadth to spare on the ground. ‘Mast’ elephants also were tethered in the fortress: the ground was rent on which they stood. On all four sides turrets were built at intervals, where drums and tambours and kettle- drums sounded.
The king’s fortress was like Sumeru: it even sought to touch the sky. The ocean could not be brought into comparison with it, still less the Ganges with its thousand mouths.
17. "The emperor advanced with fell intent : Indra’s treasury shook and was afraid. Of the ninety lakhs of horsemen who rod¢, whoever came to sight was clad in steel. Twenty thousand drums thundered, and kettle drums resounded to heaven: standards and shields were spread over the sky : the army marched: the earth could not contain it. The ‘mast’ elephants were driven4in a thousand ranks: as they came they pressed the sky and pressed the earth. They tore up trees and took them trunk and all: after dusting the branches against their foreheads they put them in their mouths. [Men] climbed up the mountains, struck to the heart with fear: [they 1710 | in the forests and caves and did not [dare to] look in front of them.
Nothing could keep any other thing steady, such was
<) There are a number of textual vanants in this stanza as quoted in Shukla’s Introduction p. 111. I have not adopted any of them.
48: 17-19 THE ENPEROR’S ASSAULT 208
the pressure which came. The earth trembled for itself and the sky trembled for itself.
18. The guns advanced, cannon balls in their mouths, and as they came advancing the whole earth quaked. They- were fixed on wheels which were fashioned of adamant: the gun carriages shone, all plated with gold. Upon these the enormous cannons were placed: ‘they were made of all the eight metals, cast in moulds. [These - cannons] ‘swallow one hundred maunds of the powder, which is their wine"", at a time: where they ` strike, mountains are broken up. They lie upon their carriages drunk [with this wine], but they rise up and stand among their enemies. Even if the whole world come upon them, they are not shaken: when they loosen their tongues, the earth quakes. A thousand elephants in rank drag each carriage: they are ‘mast’ but swerve not. .
They fill up all the rivers and nullahs on which they set their feet: high land and low land, jungle and moorland become level as they advance
109. I will tell of the charms of these ladies [the cannon}. They drink powder like women who are addicted , to liquor. Fire arises when they exhale their breath : the smoke that comes from it goes up to heaven. Instead of vermilion there is fire upon their heads: their wheels are their ear-ornaments which flash as they go. Cannon balls are their breasts, attached in pairs to their bosoms their skirts are the far-flung banners. For their tongues there are flames at the opening of their mouths: by their speech Lanka is set on fire. Their curling tresses are the many chains with which their necks are fastened elephants drag them and break their shoulders. They have the erotic and the heroic qualities" both together they are called ‘Foemen’s bane’ and ‘Fortress-breaker
The beauty spot on their forehead is the fuse: their teeth are the missiles of adamant. Whom they gaze upon, him they slay : they grind him to powder in the end.
(kk) A pun on darg=(1) gun-powder (2) wine, (1 cp, 29(4)1 a (५
246 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT 423: I9-a2
20. By whatever road they advanced they burnt up the countryside as though they had set fire to it. The mountains which reached to the heavens were burnt: the dhak forests at their sides were consumed™”. Rhinoceroses and wild elephants were burnt and became black: the deer of the forest and the blue bulls became dark. The Koel, the serpent, the crow and the bee,—-who can +€ member all the other animals which were burnt? The ocean was burnt ; its water became blackish: the Jumne became black though that burning. Smoke collected and became clouds in the firmament: the sky became black through the smoke which sought shelter in it. The sun was burnt and the moon and the planet of eclipse’ the earth was burnt and there was a [second] conflagration of Lanka.
Harth and sky became one’ even then the fire was not extinguished. The hills went up in flame from this levin’ the smoke was spread over the world.
21. [The army] came, shaking heaven and hell: the earth trembled: it could not support the burden. The hills were broken, and mount Meru: they were ground to powder and flew up like dust”. The earth which had seven divisions, became sex-partite, and the celestial regions above became eight”. Indra came and encamped in those regions: he advanced, making all his army and horses charge. The way by which the elephant Airavat”” marched, that path still exists in heaven And where that dust was collected, the place is still inhabited as the city of MHarichand’*.. The dust spread so that
mm) ‘Dhikuhin (Shukla tapte havn) should, I think, be duhakahtn
nn) Reading Ao chhara (as quoted in Shukla’s Introduction p. 112) for 1९५ jhara, (by that burnimg)
(00) +#.e. so much dust went up fiom oarthio heaven that the earth Inst one of its seven divisions while heaven gamed one This 18 based on the Muslim idea of fourteen worlds, seven below and seven above, vide note (8) to 1(1)5. Shukla points out (Introduction p 239) that this verse १8 translated from the Shahuama of Firdaus
In Hindu cosmology earth has 9 divisions, though the number of con. tinents (dvipas) 18 7; and there are stven heavens
(pp) Airavat,-—the elephant of Indra, The path of Airavat m the sky 18 a part of the lunar zodiac.
(११ Harichand, see 16(2)1 note c. The reference to lus city is not clear. He was king of Ajodhya, but lhved in Benares asa Dom when his generosity was tested by Indra, who finally transported him to heaven,
48: 21-23 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT ay
the sky was hidden: the sun was hidden and night came on. -
As when Sikandar went to the Kajari forest”, so gréat was the darkness. If a man stretched forth his hand, he could not see it clearly: torches began to be lit.
22. Thus night fell suddenly in the day time; thé sun set and the moon drove forth her car. Lights shone from people's houses: travellers halted and bivouacked of their journeys. Birds of the day, which were feedinp took wing and fied: night-birds came forth and all began to feed. The lotus closed its petals, the water-lily unfolded: the chakwa was separated from his mate and the chakwi was lost. The army marched in such numbers that while the van had water, the rear had only dust". The land was laid waste, the lakes were all dried up: in the forests not a single tree remained. The mountains and hitls were all mingled with dust: the elephants were lost there like ants.
Those who have lost their houses in dust, if they turn and search that dust then it will come to théir sight if they paint their eyes with collyrium.
23. Advancing in this manner, he came: the Shah came and drew near Chitaur. The king and the nobles all mounted {on the battlements] and beheld :.a host ap- proaches all clad in steel. On all four sides the troops of elephants came to view like a black mass of cumulus gathering among theclouds. Below and above nothing could be clearly seen : the drums resounded to heaven. The queens went up to the tower and looked: ‘Happy art thou” [they said] ‘‘who hast such a monarchy. Or, rather, happy art thou, king Ratansen, against whom the Turk has set such an army in artay. Owing to the shadow of the standards and shields it is becoming night in the day- time.
“It is becoming totally dark, in such measure does the dust’arise. All the lakes and ponds and tanks are 7066 with dust, and so is the food*.”’
£ For 3 and Kajariban see note (31) to 4(18)5 = I doubt if the text, with this violent anticlimax, tan be correct 38
298 THE EMPEROR'S ASSAULT 42: 24-20
24. The king said “Do what is to be done. Things are not clear: one thing is clear, that we must now die. Throughout my kingdom let every arrangement be made.” Immediately there was the fullest preparation. The battle drums suddenly struck up: all the kings and princes mounted in their wrath. Their horses rivalled the wind : high were their shoulders, their riders were out of sight, How shall I describe the height of these horses: their riders reached [the saddle] by two ladders’ lengths. Peacock crests were fastened to their heads for ornament: they swung their tails as if they were plying chowries. They were fitted with breast-plates, greaves and head-pieces: they all shone bright, clad in mail.
Even so the elephants” were fitted with plumes and had donned coats of mail and had white jhuls fastened thereon : he who beheld them trembled.
25. How shall I describe the king’s horses? They left behind the team of Indra’s chariot. No such [other] horses are ever seen: happy are the riders who are on their backs. Of Balka’’ breed, they ford the sea: they have white tails like made-up chowries. Of all colours are their exceedingly beautiful cloths: they are like pic- tures with gold embroidery. They are decked with rubies on head and on shoulder: they have plumes to which morris bells are fastened. ‘Phey are set with gems and precious stones and diamonds: to whom [the king] gives them as mounts, to them he gives pan’’. The princes mount, exulting in their minds: they count no adversary worth a straw.
Their heads are marked with vermilion, their bodies are scented with sandal paste. Why hide that body which will in the end be dust?
26. ““Mast’ elephants raged at the palace gates:
(uu) Reading gaj jhatp (ms. Burn) for galjhatp (Shukla) which would mean that the horses had cheek-pieces of mail and (in the next verse) elephant jhals. ,
(vv) Balka. Shukla explains as Tahtgan, but the Tangan ia a hill cob from Nepal, more noted for strength than speed. I think this refers to Balkh.
(ww) Asa symbol of their undertaking a hazardous enterprise for him—see Platts s.v. छप.
(xx) See X21) for another catalogue of elephants,
48: 26—48::1 ‘THE EMPEROR'S 4684014 290.
/
they appeared like an exceedingly black cloud.. White elephants and yellow and red and-sorrel and black roved about intoxicated with ichor. They glitter like mirrors in their coats of mail: it is as though domed howdahs had been placed upon mountains. They wear ornamental stars attached to their trunks: when they see an arity they crush it under their feet. Their tusks are overlaid and finished with gold. The high mountains are moved when they set them in motion. They overthrow the 018 and cast them upon the earth: if a multitude is in their path, they sweep it aside like leaves. The elephants of Singhala thus arrayed, broad and hard-backed”, wére quivering with excitement.
Above was the goldéh howdah, fitted with plumes and shields. Spearmen sat holding spears and bowmen also sat’ [therein].
27. The cavalry host and the elephant host were both arrayed, and multitudinous battle-drums were sounded. With diadem on brow and umbrella above his head the king advanced with music, like Indra. Before him stood the chariots and all the army : behind him the banners of death” were spread. He advanced with music as Indra advances in heaven: the Hindu princes accompanied him. It was as though the moon advanced with all the con- stellations while the army of the sun was enclosed in the blackness of night. Before the sun [the Emperor] came out and was revealed, the meon [Ratansen] issued from his abode and marched forth. As the stars in heaven cannot be counted, so they [Ratansen’s army] came forth upon the earth
At the sight of the army of the king, the world became darkened. What will the battle be like between the moon and the sun?
43. THE BATTLE I. On the one side the king thus marshalled his
(4) Lit. ‘tortoise-backed’ ध sz) Cp. Milton, P.R.iii, 329 ‘elephants endorsed with towers of
ers’. (aaa) cp. 42(27)3 and &2(16)6.
300 | THE BATTLE _ 4B: rig
army:: on the other side the Shah approached. The vanguard came forward at the gallop, while the rear guard had their quarters ten kos behind. The Shah came and attacked the fortress of Chitaur: twenty theusand elephants were arrayed in his train. Both armies came sweeping down in full array :- Hindus and Turks beth raised a battle cry like thunder. They were like the two boundless oceans of milk and of water, like the two mountains Meru and Khikhind’. In wrath the warriors met on both sides and elephant charged against elephant. [The drivers] struck with their goads which flashed like lightning: the elephants roared like clouds that thunder. ।
Earth and sky were one: trdops surged upon troops. ५ ave way to pressure: both [armies] were like
thunderbolts.
2. Elephants trumpet as they stand their ground stubbornly against elephants: they are like mountains beating upon mountains. The heavy bull-elephants do not give way to any force: their tusks are smashed; their trunks’ are lopped off and fall. They were mountains, but when they fall down, they are crushed in the throng and are mingled with the dust. Here an elephant takes a horseman and enfolds him in its trunk and casts him beneath its feet. Here a horseman like a {107 strikes {an elephant] and cleaving its forehead tears away its trunk. The sky is moistened with the ichor of the bull- elephants: the whole earth is soaked with flowing blood. Some [of the elephants] are so ‘mast’ that they cannot be controlled: they only come to their senses when the pulp oozes out of their heads
It 15 as though the sky rained blood, and the earth mixed with it:and became fluid. Heads and bodies are cloven and lost as mud is lost in water.
3. The battle of the three and a half thunderbolts’ of
ANTO 43 See 1(2)1 न and (0) व a , ¢ Reading as quoted in Shukla’s Introduction page 113) for mth (forehead, head
) Reading hati for Shukla’s ##hun, see 25(8)9, note (kk). Ido not know what battle 1s referred to. /
43: 3-3 tes BATTLE sot
which we have heard,-this was a greater battle than that, four fold as great. Swords smote 5० that fire arose in the host: the earth was on fire [with flames that] songht to reach heaven. These lightnings flashed with a vivid glare: if they fell on anyone’s head, it was cleft in twain. The clouds were elephants which ‘thundered against elephants: the lightnings .were swords which smote on swords. Javelins and arrows rained down and became like mud: it was like the rain falls in Sawan and Bhadon. They dashed [at each other] in rage; their swords fell, and cannon balls fell heavily like hail. How shall I tell of all the heroes who perished? Achharis received them and took them straight to paradise.
He who dies in his Master’s business departs with bright countenance’. He who betrays his trust and runs away, his face is blackened as he flies.
4. There was a battle such as never was [before]: both sides presented a front of iron. Heads and shoulders were lopped and fell to earth: blood flowed in streams and filled the lakes. The flesh-devouring animals made jubilee [saying] ‘Now we have obtained food for life-time after life-time’. Sixty four Joginis® filled their bowls : trumpets sounded in the dwellings of the wolves and the jackals. The vultures and the kites all set up their abode ‘there: the crows made sport and sang. “Today (they said] the Shah has married the two armies with a vengeance: they have enjoyed themselves to their mind's _content.”” As any eats another’s flesh, so others will take his flesh gnd eat it.
No man’s body goes with him: ali men die after cheri- Shing it as much as possible. We can know him for one who is completely base who persists in regarding the body as stable.
5. The moon [2120561 ] did not yield: he raged against the sun [the Emperor]: he brought another umbrella’
(१) ‘Red-faced’. See 25(2)8 note (१)
(®) These Joginis are the BRan-pistchints, witches who haunt battle fields, not female Yogis, as elsewhere, nor the spirits of the eight points
of the compass, as in 32(8)9 (f) The umbrella being the symbol of sovereignty.
302 THe BATILE 48: 5-4
opposite and set it up. The Shah heard that such a force had gathered and that it had charged all his troops of elephants. “Today, 0 moon, I will cause your down- fall: no second umbrella shall remain in the world.” Blazing with a thousand rays he sent forth his beams: he assailed the moon and all the stars. The steel of the host was like a mirror as it advanced: it was as though the stn appeared in every single body. With such rage did they rush brandishing their battle axes that it was as though blazing volcanoes were advancing. The Turks all lifted the lightnings of their swords: they had death in their hands to annihilate the moon.
Seeing the gleaming host, the sight ran and attached itself to it. The man who touches iron gets the heat of it in himself. -
6. Seeing the sun, the moon was ashamed in his mind. The lotus expanded but the king became like the water- lily*, Although the moon may be great when it has the night, yet in the day what greatness can it have 110 the presence of the sun? Those constellations which blazed in the moon’s company hid themselves in the sky at the sight of the sun". The king took thought and considered in his mind, ‘He who 15 in heaven does not fight on earth. The lord of a fortress does not come down and rush into battle, otherwise his fortress will fall a prey to the hands of others. Indra, that lord of a fortress, thunders from heaven which 15 his fortress’: the king of night does not issue forth by day. The moon by night remains among the constellations: it does not come in the presence of the sum even at dusk.’ .
When the moon saw that day had dawned and that there was great good fortune for the sun, then the moon returned and became the lord of his fortress while the sun remained in the fortress of heaven.
7. Vast was the army of Alauddin the Shah: as it
(g) ४.९. like the night-lily, he shrank from the sight of the sun (the emperor).
(h) १.६, the princes retreated to the top of the fortress when the emperor attacked.
(1) Garh patt Indra gugan-gark वक्र, a good piece of onomatopoeic alliteration,
43: 7-9 THE BATTLE 303
advanced, noone could control it. It was like the waves of the ocean of water to the sight: eyes could not see and mouth could not reckon it. How many had he left in the passes of Chitaur? How many, fighting had been trodden down into the dust? To how many did he continually, give new equipment? Never did equipment run short under such a monarch. One lakh depart and two lakhs come; they bear fruit and shed it and put forth new branches. Whoso comes, attacks the fortress: none can remain motionless. The chiefs and nobles, as many as there were, all received commands’ which were divided among them. ,
The army attacks on all four sides: consuming fire assails the fortress: the sun is about to be a captor; it is like an eclipse for the moon.
8. The day closed and the sun went to his abode: night fell, and the moon arose in the sky“. The moon set up his umbrella and came and sat beneath it: the cons- tellations were scattered round on all sides. The cons- tellations mount the sky and shine: falling stars fall in flame’, they cannot be extinguished. Rocks fall like thunderbolts: from every stone flames arise. Cannon balls fall and stone cylinders” roll down: they go grinding [everything] to powder on all sides. The storm clouds sweep down bringing showers of rain: hail rattles, and, falling, covers the ground. The Turks, assailing the fortress, do not turn away their faces: when one is slain, another comes forward.
The king’s atrows fall: who can draw up [troops] to face them? The Shah’s army crouched and remained in its place till the dawn.
0. Morning came and the sun arose again”: with a thousand rays God formed the day. There was an on- slaught: the fortress was surrounded: the {emperor’s] artny
¢ Alanget (‘wings’ of an army). (k) ६.९, Ratansen went up tothe battlements.
1) This refers, no doubt, to firing from the battlements.
m) Kolhu, the cylindrical stone sugur-prese still in use in parta of the country. Rolled down a steep slope, this would be > terrific weapon against an attacking enemy.
(n) Or, the emperor attacked again.
304 THE BATTLE 48: 9-t%
in wrath invested it on all four sides. A crore of arrows are let loose in a single direction: wherever they strike they cleave their way up tothe notch. As stars are seen thick in the sky, so [thickly] did the arrows strike the ramparts of the fort. The arrows pierced them and made them appear like porcupines: the fortress was like Garuda and preened its pinions. It is not edsy to tell of that battle, and yet from the telling comes delight’. They turn not their backs although they are wounded: foot by foot they press forward on the ground.
For the four watches of the day the battle continued: the fortress was not broken, so inaccessible was it. Yet there was heavy [pressure] every day at every point of
vantage. 10. [The emperor] assailed the ramparts with such force: "he dug a mine and penetrated........ He
constructed turrets and set cannon therein: their muzzles were filled with powder like thunderbolts. There were Habsis Rumis, Turks and Firangis*: highly skilled were these, and served with the guns. The cannon balls from these guns go up to the ramparts: they do not miss their aim. Balls compounded of the eight metals are fired: mountains are broken to powder and fall. When all the cannon 8115 are fired at once the -heaven thunders and all the earth quakes. The ramparts are smashed like glass: the towers collapse and are all crushed.
As it was with the palace of Lanka, so fire fell upon the fortress. If it is written that Ravan should be burnt, say, how shall he escape burning ?
171. Builders and masons went to work upon the fortress : they repaired everything, wherever it was broken. They made it still more inaccessible: in the course of one night they set ramparts to rights. The sky thunders as though storm clouds had arisen :- thunderbolts rain
(०) ४८) rata. In 43(3)8 the expression means the reward of virtue in the next world. Here it 18 used of a reward in this life.
(p) Shukia’s text has ghust kat carag suratg tinh dinha ‘Having entered heaven, he dug a mine’. The top of the fortress is allegotised as heaven later on—43(13)9—but this would not be suitable here. Probably sarag has got into the text here by dittography from ewraag.
(q) Habsis Gat Abyminians: Rims, probably Turks of Asis Minor; Firahgia, Portuguese,
43: II-13 THE BATTLE 305
down: who will guard his head? Cannon balls of a hundred maunds each fall like rain: musket bullets fall like hail. It is as though thunderbolts fell from heaven : where they strike, the earth is nven. The turrets are broken in pieces and fall : elephants, horses and men are destroyed. All men say that the end of the world has come: earth and heaven have, as it were, joined battle.
All the three and a half’ thunderbolts came together against one small hill. The earth was burnt on all four sides: the fire could not be extinguished anyhow.
12. Kven then the king was not defeated in his heart : he prepared a dancing floor over the porch of the palace. Where the emperor’s seat was resplendent, over against that place he bade them dance. Cymbals, big drums, and all other instruments of music, drum and well strung rebeck sounded; Iute and pipe, and bow [for viols}] held in hand, these discoursed ambrosial music warbling there. There were the ‘chang’ and the ‘upang’ and the clarion with musical note: the ‘mahuar’ and the flute were blown with full breath. The tabor was played and the tambour with
*deep sound: and many cymbals and timbrels were played. Stringed and unstringed instruments and the large ‘ghantara’, all these played music and there was a melodious sound.
Five dancing girls, who were the ornaments of the world and a delight to the mind, danced. The emperor assailed the fortress: the king was engrossed in the dance.
13. All the artists of Bijanagar recited such music as had never been heard. They sang all the six Rags’ with thythm of clapping hands: the whole army heard the music. They first sang the Bhairava Rag and then took up the Malkos: then they sang the lovely Hindol Rag and then the Megh Malar, so that the clouds shed rain: fifth, they sang the fair Sri Rag, and sixth the Dipak so that lamps were kindled and sprang [to sight]. Above were the dancers dancing: beneath were the Turks,
(7) Reading ahujf for Shukla’s athan. See 25(8)9 note (kk). (४) R&gs: the six musical modes. The names in Bharata are Bhairava, Kausika, Hindola, Dipaka, Sri-riga and Megha.
89
306 THE BATILE 48 : 13-15
drawing their bows. -On the crest of the fortress were the nobles and princes: beneath were chiefs and noblemen looking on.
As they listened, they all beat their heads and wrung their hands in remorse, [saying] when shall we ascend to that summit and the sorrows of our eyes depart’?
14. The dancing girls sang all the six Rags and, after that, the thirty six Raginis’". There were the Kalyan and the Kanhara, the Bihag Rag and the Kedara. The Parbhati, and the Bangala arose: the Asawari and the Gunmala Rag. They employed the Dhanasiri and the Suha: there was the Bilawal, and thev used the Maru. They sang the Ramkali, the Nat, the Gauri, and they loudly chanted the Khammach Rag. The Sam and the Gujari also were delightful: the Sarang and Bibhas came to their lips. There were the Purbi, the Sindhi, the Des and the Barari: the Tort was kept distinct from the Gond.
They recite all the Rags and Raginis with loud tones. How can an arrow reach to where the sight reaches not ?
15. Where the Shah was gazing in front of him a’ dancing girl, as she spun round, turned her back on him. When he saw this, the Shah on his throne roared aloud [saying], ‘“How long, my doe, shall the moon enjoy you? My men will discharge their arrows and go up: why do you display pride and arrogance?’’ As he spoke, a lakh of arrows were shot on high; some reached the ramparts and some the gates. Jahangir”, the king of Kanauj,—his arrow struck the dancing girl. The arrow went home: it danced like [another] leg: her spirit went to heaven, its mould fell to the ground. The dance was broken off: the dancer was slain: the Turks rejoiced and clapped their hands.
Though a man equip ten lakhs of fortresses and raise
¢) The top of the fortress is allegorised as heaven ;——this is pot in acooidance with the key in Envoy (1)3 where Chitaur 18 the body.
(u) The Kaginis are modifications of the musical modes, six to each Rag. Actually, only 26 are enumerated in this stanza.
(v) Kanauj at this time would have been under Turkish control, and the Muslim name of its ruler is probably correct.
43; 15-18 THE BATTLE 307
a crore of ramparts, yet, when the emperor wills [to attack him] he shall not hide in any corner.
16. The king had raised his citadel to the sky: an earth work was made surrounding it on all four sides. As Raghava constructed the Setubandh, so the circuit was laid: the earth could not support the burden. They ali [the Shah’s troops] began shouting aloud like ‘Hanuvant: they carried [earth] on all sides and made a mountain. It was fashioned like white crystal: they raised the earthwork surrounding the fortress on 811 four [sides]. At each stage as it rose it was flattened : there were divers paintings and divers carvings. There were many kinds of stairs going up it by which whole rows of elephants ascended. There were turrets such as cannot'be told: it was as though they had been raised and brought up to the sky. |
As Rahu besets the moon so the mound beset the fortress. The whole was blazing like fre: who could endure to go there?
17. The king’s council all sat to give advice; ‘No- thing can be seen: the view is obstructed. The earthwork has been raised and has shut in the fortress on all four sides: as you have shouldered this burden, take action accordingly with speed. As you have sown fire, so fire has sprung up : now there can be no other advice. You have had your holiday and started this sport; now play your Holi game and prdpare your Holt fire. Let us say our Holi farewells and lay dust upon our heads: the prowess which we ‘have displayed must be carried to its end.’’ They brought out sandal wood and aloes of the Malaya mountain: they fashioned and heaped up funeral pyres in every house. The royal zanana was made ready for the Jauhar; those who have truth in their hearts, where should tears be for them ?
The men made ready the sword and anointed their bodies with sandal paste. The women marked themselves with vermilion and were willing to be burnt to ashes.
18. The fortress was besieged for eight” years: which
(w) Ms. Burn reads barack baras. Historically, the siege only jasted 8 months.
308 THE BATTLE 43: 18—44: 1
was mightier, the Sultan or the king? .The mango trees which the Shah had planted at his coming had fruited and had lost their fruit but still he had nut taken the fortress. “If I storm it, there will be a Jauhar, and that lotus-lady will not come into my hands.” In this manner, he relaxed his efforts: in the meantime* despatches came from Delhi; “In the west, the men of Hareva’, who had turned their backs, have now advanced, facing to the front. Those whose foreheads were laid on the ground now touch the sky: [our] outposts have been removed and [our menjare all coming back in flight. While the Shah is encamped there at Chitaurgarh, here the country 18 now becoming another’s.
“Jujube and camel thorn trees have grown up on those roads on which there was not even grass. The dark night would depart if the stn arose with speed.”
44. THE FRIENDLY MEETING BETWEEN THE KING AND THE EMPEROR
71. The Shah heard the despatches read: diverse thoughts arose in his mind. ‘Let a man so think before- hand in his mind that there may be some result from his thought. If the mind 15 false, the spirit is in another's hands, and thought is in two places in a single heart. I have become entangled with this fortress and will only get free if I make friends or if the fortress is ˆ reduced. The diamond is the enemy of the diamond : I will pierce this jewel [Ratansen] by giving him a roll of betel leaf [t.e. by making friends]."" He told this secret plan to ७2712“ (saying] “Go back again and pay heed to my command. Say to him ‘I will not take the lotus lady away from thee; I will give up the fortress which I have ` crushed. |
G) Ardaseh, indurtnni plural formed from arv-dteM one of the few Persian words used by ठ 8181.
(y) The men of Hareva are the Mongols, see 42(10)2 note (r). For the historical accuracy of this passage see Shukla’s Introduction p. 235. See also 47(5)2 note {€}.
Canto 44.
(a) I have kept the spelling Sarj& throughout. Shukla has Surj& here and Sarj& in Canto 41,
44: 1-4 THE FRIENDLY MEETING 305
‘Enjoy all thine own country and take Chanderi in addition : but give me the five jewels which the ocean gave thee as a parting gift.’ ”’
2. Sarja went back after mounting his lion, shouting aloud: he went to where the king was and told [the Emperor's] command. “Now at any rate understand in your heart, O King, that it is not seemly to fight against the emperor. He whose threshold the earth serves will, if he wishes, slay you and take your life. He has made you a bird in a cage : fother] lords of fortresses have escap- ed by doing homage. So long as the tongue is in your mouth use it with reflection, clasping your hands in reverence. If at last he grips your tongue to take your life, who will release it? Who will allow you to speak? In due course your end will be like that of the demented Hamiur, if you act thus.
‘‘See, tomorrow the fortress will be reduced: the king- dom will be his. Do him service, bowing your head: do not forsake wisdom and cast your own house down.”
3. “O Sarja, when he {the Emperor] looked towards people like Hamir, he. accomplished his design and so showed his might. I am a man of might and not like him [Hamir]: I am superior to Bhoj or to Vikram. ‘There is no lack of provision for sixty years: the hill pours forth water without being asked. Moreover, even if the fortress were reduced, still the truth of a man of might would not fail. Sixteen lakhs of noble youths are mine: they will fall like moths into the light of a lamp. On the day that I desire to start the Holi dance I shall take my last farewell after making up the Holi fire. If there is a night between, let no one be afraid: see what will happen on the morrow.
‘I have now prepared the Jauhar and wish to make a blaze of light. I shall take my Holi sport in the thick of the fray. Someone will collect my ashes.”
4. “Go to, O King: he will in the end be burnt who does not submit to the emperor’s service. Many have thus equipped their fortresses, but in the end they have been like Ravan in Lanka. On the day that [the emperor] shall assail [your] fortress and [its] passes, on
310 THE FRIENDLY MEETING 44: 4,6
that day [your] food will become dust. You think that the hill pours forth water: it is weeping at the thought of the destruction [that is coming]. At this thought the fortress weeps from every particle: how will it be if the place is sacked. It is at this thought that the hill sheds tears, and yet you do not realise your own destruction. Today or tomorrow the fortress is going to be reduced: submit even now if you wish to escape.
“Those five gems which are with you take them all five and make a present of them: it may be that he will accept one virtue and place all your faults in effacement.”
5. ‘Yea, Sarja, who can efface the fact that your emperor is mighty. Moreover, he can efface faults: and what he wishes will come about. I will give the five gems from my treasury : Dara” shall escape from Iskandar. If this is what [the Emperor] says, I accept it humbly: I will do him service, standing with folded hands. But without an oath my mind does not accept [what you say] : the utterance of an oath 15 the proof of [a man’s] word. He who is the pillar supporting the heavy burden of the world, mountains would not shake what he utters.’ Sarja said “‘He is a base creature who shifts his neck from a burden half way.”’
Sarja took cath craftily, with voice exceeding sweet. The king’s mind was convinced and = 11€ straightway accepted him as an ambassador.
6. °“Yhe swan was brought from its golden cage, and the ambrosia, and the gem which was the philosopher’s stone. Also the golden bird on a golden perch and the tiger in a silver cage. Sarja the envoy took these and brought them and presented them to the emperer. ‘‘O sun of the world and light of the earth, the ink-black crow’ does homage to you. Great is your glory: it blazes throughout the world: noone is hidden from you
(b) हह. Darius III, defeated by Alexander at the Arbela and pursued to the neighbourhood of the Caspian, where his nobles assaasin- ated him.
९) For other lists of these five ‘ems’ see 34(26) and ८ ) १.९. Ratansen, regarded as arebel, and therefore black; see Shukla’s introduction p. 171.
44; 6-8 THE FRIENDLY MEETING 311
in all its nine regions’. Wrath and mercy are both attributes of yours: you slay with blazing heat and give life with shade. If the sun-is wroth with the moor in his mind, then eclipse seizes the moon and it falls intu the toils.
‘When ‘day begins to dawn the crow will fly forth, jamenting loudly —‘All the blackness of the night is removed, but the crow is unlucky’.’”’
7, After doing obeisance he received this command : “It is you yourself who have blackened the crow*. When first the bow begins to bend, a crow does not remain : seeing the arrow, he flies away. Even now, if arrows were pointed at him he would again go straight [to the attack] when he saw the bow. What envoy [of peace} can there be for those crows who turn away their faces and depart, presenting their backs? ‘Those who face the arrows and go into battle, how can these white cranes become black ? You cannot make your own hair white: you only twist and turn the information which you get from _ others. The crow and the serpent, these both are crafty: by their own course they are marked black.
“In no way can [the stain] be effaced of those whose limbs have become black. If it be washed a thousand times, still that colour does not depart.
8. “‘Now that he has come to my service and done homage, look you now whether he is white or black. Go and tell him what is the truth : tell him not to be afraid ` where there is refuge there is no dying. ‘Tomorrow the sun will come up into the fortress. “If there is a bow, the arrow will be against him.’’ The envoy received pan by the emperor’s kindness: he took the pan and went to the king. ‘‘When I met (the emperor] his wrath departed : in service is love and mercy. Tomorrow the Shah will
ie 1 have omitted Shukla’s question mark. १.९. retuains black, see Shukla’s Introduction p. 223. ) te. You are wrong in comparing Ratansen to a crow. If he were a crow, he would be a coward, Shukla finds a secondary meaning in dhanush=(1) bow (2) crookedness and in sar=(1) arrow (2) lake, but tb ९ is not necessary. Ihave followed Shukla’s notes in the verses which follow, but the sense is not clear. i also Shukla’s Introduction, p. 171/2). ) ४.९. as explained by Shukla, ‘cf Ratansen attempts any treachery (the bow being ५ symbol of crookedness), he will have to be prepared to fight again,’
rt 9 a a ee te न a
312 THE FRIENDLY MEETING 44: 8—45: 2
come and see the fortress: do him service such as may please his mind. Ships and burdens are drawn by ropes’, [so be virtuous]: where there is a bow’, there is a straight arrow.’ |
The order was given in the king’s palace ‘‘Speedily make ready cooked food. Mingle with it such well- flavoured flavours that the flavour of friendship may result.” | ।
45. THE EMPEROR’S BANQUET
1. Goats and sheep hoth large and small were seized and brought in, so many of them as were fat. Black- bucks, blue bulls, antelopes that dwell in the forest, spotted deer, swamp deer, sambhar and hares: partridges, quail, button quail, did not escape: cranes which cry, and peafowl which dance: pigeons and doves were hunted and caught, and swamp-partridge, adjutant birds and painted snipe: green pigeons, floricans and snipe were taken prisoner: jungle fowl and moorfowl were caught. The chakwi and chakwa {ruddy goose) and the pidara’*: the nakta (comb-duck), the teal, the goose and the whistling teal. Those that were fat and large were stalked and caught: those that were lean and thin had no cause for alarm: they continued to feed.
When the knife was laid to their throat the blood dripped like tears. [They 5816 | ‘Why do you nourish your own body feeding on the flesh of others ?”’
2. Fish were caught, parhin and rohu: the fishermen showed no mercy in slaying them. Sidhari and sauri ,were caught that were in multitudes in the water: tengar were all tickled and pulled out. Singi, bhakur were all selected and caught, and many patharis and bamb (eels) and bangaris. Charakhs. were slain and the thirsty” chalha: where can the water-dwellers go if they leave the t A pun on gun=(1) rope (2) virtue.
1) Or, if there is any trickery, 88 111४. 3.
Canto 46. (a) Pid&r&. Shukla explains as द्वक, the brown-backed Indian robin, but an edible water-fow! is required. (b) Piy&si may be the name of a fish (so Shukla),
45 : 2-4 "HH EMPEROR’S BANQUET 3t3
water? The mind, like a fish, feeds on itsfood of pleasure, but if it falls into the net who can avert sorrow ? The fish ,which eats mud cannot escape: how shall they escape whose affections are set on the pleasures of sense? All have been fourished only to be slain: what deliverance is there for those who have been thrown into this lake’?
It is on account of this distress that [He] has provided the fish with thorns“ [for bones] and has not put blood in its body. They lose the way and flounder in the water through love of the false world.
3. When it ‘saw [the preparations] the’ heart of the wheat grain was broken : ‘‘They have brought me to the place where I shall be [ground to] flour.” They ground it after they had first washed it: after sifting it they crushed it and rolled it thoroughly. They placed it in the frying pan and cooked wheat cakes: as these came into the mouth they crumbled away. They were hot and bright and white and they were softer even than butter. As they touched the mouth they melted away in a moment: he who eats them obtains a thousand sweet flavours. They rolled out thin cakes mixed with ghee and afterwards fried them and soaked them in molasses. Ghi dripped from the cakes and soharis : as you touched them they melted: who would touch them for’ very fear ?
Their sweetness cannot be told: even in the telling, speech is wondrous sweet. Noone 16 satisfied with eating them: the heart finds continual refreshment.
4. The kinds of rice which were produced were beyond description: they were of various hues and all fragrant with pleasant odours: the raybhog and _ the kajar-rani, the jhinwa, the rudwa, the daud khani: the
(c) ४.९. those who have been horn into this world. (०) The word for ‘fish-bone’ and ‘thorn’ is the same, दकव, (6) There is a similar idea in Burns ‘John Barleycorn.’ They laid him out upon the floor, To work him further woe ; And still, as signs of life appeared, They tossed him to and fro.
But a miller used him worst of all, For he crushed him ‘tween two stones.
ॐ4 THE EMPEROR'S BANQUET 45: 46
basmati, kajari, ratnari ; the madhukay, dhela, jhinasari : the ghiu kandau and kunwarbilasu : the rambas, strongly scented : the laungchur and lachi, exceeding pleasant : the sonkharika and kapura, well ripened: the korahan, barhan, jarhan were found there and the sansartilak and khanrvila: the dhaniya‘, the dewal and the ajana’*: how far should I describe all the different kinds of rice ?
They were fragrant and of a thousand hues; stch pleasant odours issued from them that the bees which were on the flowers in the forest all came rushing to settle on them
5. For the pure meats there were incomparable seasonings: I will now describe the varieties of these. There was the piquant sauce and fragrant batua: each mouthful was cooked in marvellous ways. Many spices were fried in ghi: musk-pods were filled with saffron. Rock salt and sea salt were placed in all the vessels : lumps of roots and tubers were cut up. Large quantities of fennel and anise were brought up: the scent of these was extremely strong. They took away the water and examined the frying pans: everything was cooked in ghi and gravy. They also took lumps of meat and began to boil them in large caldrons.
Many whole goats were set on spits and roasted : whoever ate such food arose roaring like a lion.
6. They cooked three-cornered pasties in ghi and drew them out: cloves and chillis were stuck in them. And the meat which was carved in marvellous ways became fruit and flowers, mangos and aubergines”: oranges, pome- granates and limes and lemons: melons, and white cucumbers: it was made into jack-fruit and 2870847, cocoanut, grapes, dates, fresh and dried: yea, all: the edible fruits that there are: each had its flavour accord- ing to its proper hue. It was as though they had brought [these fruits] out and produced them after
(f) Dhaniya is properly coriander-seed and not a variety of rice
(£) Ajanz an ‘unknown’ vuriety, unless it is perhaps the same as’ प्ण yan
(h) Bhaaty the aubergine, better known aa the brinj&l or egg-fruit
45:6-8 ` THE EMPEROR'S BANQUET ` 39
steeping them in vinegar: the lotus which was fashioned remained unfolded. They made meat dishes of cooked food : whatever there was, it was all meat.
The gardener came and shouted ‘They have taken everything and cleared me out. The kitchen has taken everything savoury : who asks about me now ?”
7. They cut the fish up and mixed it with curds and washed it and, after many washings, they squeezed it dry. They seasoned it with mustard oil and then they added a sauce of fenugreek. Each fish was suitably seasoned : they sliced mangos and served them up with the fish. They also provided them with savoury gravy : he who tastes this gets a tasty flavour. All the pieces were fried in different ways: eggs were fried and placed separately. Scented ghi was cooled in a bowl and cloves and chillis were thrown upon it. Saffron was added, scented with camphor: it was seasoned with ‘nakh’ and made into a mash.
The ghi gravy was such that the hand sunk into it up to the wrist. If an old man ate this he would renew his youth and marry a hundred women.
8. Many kinds of vegetables were cooked: there were slices of pumpkins of various sorts. The hill gourd was brought and prepared : it was cut into little beads and made into a pumpkin salad. They cooked aubergines mixed with sorrel: chopped gram was suitably mixed with 21111. Torais’ and chichiras and denrasis were fried : they were all filled with cumin sauce which had been strained. Parwars and kundarus were parched whole : parched rice was produced in abundance of ghi. Karaislas were sliced after their sharpness had been taken away : ginger was mixed with them and they were made astrin- gent and fried. Slices of apple were cooked whole: they were seasoned with herbs and served up with mixed scents,
All the vegetables were cooked: all the viands were
(1) Arus, a vegetable root, =ghtiyan (Arum colocasia). (1) Torus, chechera, ६.९. dearast, parwar and kundart are all different Varietjes of cucumber or gourd,
316 «THR EMPEROR'S BANQUET 48 :. Ott
heaped high. What will please the Shah? Whereon will his glance alight ? | |
9. They filled frying pans with ghi and placed pulse meal therein: different kinds of porridge were cooked. One was ground up with ginger and chillis: another was sweet with milk and candy. There was mung potage in which chillis were placed: and they also made mung stirabout and much porridge. There was porridge flavoured with fenugreek in which vinegar was mixed: they threw in ginger and served it with curds. Cooked rice was thrown into curds: it was soaked like porridge and eaten like butter. They made gobbets on which powder of dried mangos was sprinkled : they made sweet porridge with cloves and cardamoms. Karhi“.was prepared, and phu- lauri' and porridge mixed with sugar sherbet.
They made a mikwanch", throwing in asafoetida, chilis and ginger: if one ate a single piece of it, he obtained a thousand flavours.
70. A tahri [pease-pudding] was cooked with cloves and nuts: chironji nuts and dried dates were put in it. White pumpkins were roasted in ghi and cooked, and jars were filled with preserved mangos in syrup like ambrosia. Curds were thickened by boiling in-iron pots and halwa was made by being squeezed out from melted ghi. Sweet curds were thickened with strained perfumes : milk was set with curds for cream. With milk from curds they made cream-cheese and produced marvellous condiments. The sweetmeats that were made cannot be told: they melted away the moment they reached the mouth. .
There were motichurs, chhals and thoris: maths, phiraks and kundauris. Phenis and papars were baked: they were of many varieties. There were jaoris and pachhiaoris". Every kind of food was cooked.
11. “Every kind of cooked food of which I have told
(k) Kars, not curry, but pulse cooked with sour milk and spices,
(1) Phuleurs, puffed caker of pulse fried in ghi: fritters. :
{m) Rréeanch, a porridge made of sweet potato leaves and mtg.
(0) cp. 26(1017.
(0) See Shukle’s Introduction p. 101 for ® discussion of the irrelevance of this stanza,
45::1—46: 11 THE EMPEROR'S BANQUET 317
was intermingled with water. Water is the basis, if anyone makes research: without water there cannot be flavour. This [water] is an ambrosial drink, another nectar: by water, vital spirit remains in the body. Water is milk and water is ghi: if water fails, life remains not in the body. In water, light is contained : from water, rubies and pearls are produced. Through water, every radiance is pure: it is by the touch of water that it is purified. And yet this water is not proud of mind: it bows its head and travels on the low ground.
Saith Muhammad, deep waters when they are full go to meet the ocean. Those who are full are weighty, those who are empty sound like drums.
46. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS OF CHITAUR
I, The Shah feasted. When it was morning the Sultan went to see the fortress. The monarch took the lotus* with him to aid him and sent Raghava Chetan on ahead. In a moment his chariot arrived there: It was swifter than thought and loftier than the sky. The gate was opened and the Sultan went in: it was as though the 5111 were ascending the sky. There were seven gates and seven steep stages: at each of the seven stages were two stroug guard posts. On that day the entry of the gate was spotless, when the Sultan came and set foot there. It was as though artists had carved it and drawn designs upon it: sculptured figures stood and did homage.
Lakhs of warders of the gate were sitting there, to whom crores [of attackers] would yield. They all opened the gate and stood with folded hands.
2. All the seven gates had golden doors: at all seven gongs sounded. These seven gates were of seven colours ;
Canto 46.
(a) The meaning is not ९687. The sun takes the lotus ३.९. the emperor takes with him either someone named Kanwal Sahay, see also 46(5)7, or the lotus ३.९. Ratansen. But Ratansen apparently 978४ meets him at the main gate in 46(2)6
And when and where did the emperor dine ?
318 THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS 46 3 24
moreover those who went up had to go reund nine spirals. At every stage beds and stools were set in order: it was like the stairway to Indra’s heaven. Sandal trees gave goodly shade there: ambrosial fountains were therein, filled to the brim. Fruit trees bore fruit, pome- granates and grapes: he who went by that way could taste of them. There was a throne provided with a golden umbrella: the king met and received [the emperor] as he entered the gate. The emperor ascended and be- held Chitaur: he regarded all the world .as below his feet.
The Shah beheld the celestial fortress with the adorn- ment of Indra’s heaven. Truly may you speak of his kingship who sways such a kingdom of the sky.
3. After ascending the fortress, he saw the council : he deemed it the assembly of Indra in its excellence. . The Jakes and tanks and ponds were full, and mango groves bore fruit all around. There were wells and pools of every kind : monasteries and temples were set fair on all four sides. Rich and poor in every house were happy and content: they had mansions of gold studded with gems. Night aud day they played on drums , and clarions: they all sported and danced and were bedight with vermilion. Jewels and precious stones and famous gems were to be seen scattered on the rubbish-heaps. Every house had its gardens and orchard closes : every door was adorned with many sculptures.
All the youths played at checquers and bent their ears to songs. Such peace and contentment was to be seen as if the fortress were not besieged.
4. As he viewed the fortress, the Shah made a circuit to where the mansion of Padmavati stood. Near it were lakes on all four sides: in the midst was the - mansion, reaching as if to heaven, It was fashioned — of gold all studded with gems like the sky filled with moon and stars. In the lakes on 21] sides 1011568 bloomed: at the sight of the garden the mind was entranced. Ten thousand maidens watched the door: they stood on both sides of the porch with folded hands. Tigers were carved on either side: you would think they roared as they stood there. Every kind of
46: 4-6 ` THE DESCRIPTION oF THE FORTRESS 319
pictured carving that one could mention was designed on the gates with inlay work of gems.
The Shah beheld the mansion which was like a matchless paradise: ‘‘What must be the beauty of the queen who possesses such a palace!’’
5. Passing the gate’, he went up the seven stages: at the seventh the ground was carpeted with scarlet cloth’. When the Shah’ came to the courtyard, he stood there; he found the shade of the mansion ex- ceedingly cool. On all four side were gardens and orchard closes: in the midst a throne was placed and adorned. It was as though spring had blossomed with flowers all of gold: the loveliest fruits and flowers were dispread. Whatever place came to view displayed itself with the appearance of a mirror. There the Sultans’ throne was placed: the Shah took his seat: his mind was where the queen was. The lotus, as fitted its nature“, smiled at the sun: the sun’s mind dwelt with the moon.
He alone knows the charm of the eyes in whose heart is the sprout of love. If the moon dwells in the thought of the chakor, it will not look at the sun.
6. The queen is above in her tower: she does not look down below there. She sits with her clever compa- nions. The sun blazes: the moon does not come into his view. The king offers service with folded hands: ‘Today the Shah has come to my house. Dancers and actors, singing. girls and instruments of music have all come to the dancing floor and been made ready.’’ He who 15 trans- ported with love is deaf and blind: you may think of sporting and dancing as merely [worldly] routine. You may suppose that someone is making puppets dance: he who makes them dance is not openly revealed’. The Emperor speaks openly to the king, but secretly he is possessed with love for Padmavati.
(b) १.९. the main gate of the fortress, not the gate of Padmavati’s mansion (stanza 4).
(c) An early instance of the practice of laying a scarlet cloth to welcome ® distinguished visitor. Or with a slight change of text, Kanwal Sahay—sce 46(1)2 note (a)—smiled at the monarch.
(९) It is not clear whether the two preceding verses are spoken by the emperor.
320 THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS: 46: 6-8
Song and music are like routine business: the flare of ‘love blazes up. The cord of the mind is fixed there where He holds the strings and pulls them. व
7. Gora and Badal were ‘with the king: two heroes, like his two arms. They came close to the king’s ears fand said], ‘‘“Men who are wakeful are not robbed. We have read and studied the Turk with attention: openly [he shows] friendship but we discovered secret treachery. Do not make friends with the Turk: still in the end be will twist round and behave treacherously. Your enemy“ is hard and crooked like a thorn: only that makoya can deal with him and remain safe which keeps him in its clutches. The enemy who has come and besieged your fortress, him you have feasted with sweet candy and bread. We have found out this 7856813 treacherous design: if the root goes the leaf will not remain. 1 “He 15 like Krishna® with king Bali: he wishes to make a treacherous contrivance. This is what we have in mind: do not give your consent to friendship.”
8. When the king heard this speech, it did not please him. ‘‘Where there is friendship [he said], there is no baseness. If a man do good to a bad man, he is good, and in the end it will be well for the good man. If your enemy gives you poison and wishes to slay you, give him salt, knowing it is an antidote to poison. If you give him poison, he will be a snake and eat you: if you give him salt, he will be ltke salt and melt. If you strike him with the sword, he will take the sword in hand: if you strike him with salt he will bow his head and yield. The Kauravas gave poison tothe Pandavas, but in the end the Pandavas took their revenge. He
, (f) Tod (Rajasthan, annals of Mewar, ch. vi) gives the story of these Rajput heroes from the Khomin Rasa in much the same form as Jaisi’s version. Jatmal’s Goré Badal ki Bat is later than Jaisi’s time (1623 4.7.) ; see Sri Narottam Das’s essay in Nagari Pracharini Patrika Vol, 14 pt. 4, p 4.9.
(g) A pun on bairt=(1) enemy (2) thorny jujube tree. Makoya is another thorny bush, cp. 41(11)2.
(४) Jt was not Krishna, bat Vishnu in his dwarf avatar who deceived Bali—see 30(1)4 note (d).
4635: 8420 THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS Fax
who acts treacherously, treachery will smite him, as the tion prepared the cage [for himself}’.
The king talked of salt but it was to these twain like salt fon a wound]. They came in anger to their own house : “A rope (they said] is now about to bind the lion.”
9. . The king had sixteen hundred slave-girls: of these he chose and brought out eighty four. They were dressed in saris of different colours: they came out of the palace and attended for service. They all came out like velvet insects or like amandavats’ escaped from a cage. They were all bright with the first bloom of youth: their eyes were arrows and their brows were bows. They turn the bow about and shoot these arrows : ‘Stealing away the senses, they strike with sidelong glances of love: one 15 brighter than another. It was as though they had been brought down from Indra’s heaven : they were all standing in row after row.
The Shah questioned Raghava,“ These are all Achharis. The lotus lady whom you described, tell me, which is she among these ?”
१0. “May long life be yours, mighty lord of the earth: the lotus lady is not among these. This flower garden is only her slaves: where is the ketaki flower in which the bee dwells ? She is the true jewel, these are all pearls: where is that lamp which gives light to the moth? These are all stars and do service: where is that moon at whose sight they will hide themselves! ? So long as the sun is seen in the sky, so long does the moon not reveal itself." When he heard this, the Shah turned his glance downwards [saying]: “I am a
(i) In the story given in Shukla’s note, the lion ig tricked by the jackal into reentering the cage from which a Brahman has released him. ¢ Raymun!, the lal or amandavat (frigilla amandava), a lively little It is of & bright scarlet colour, as also is the velvet (‘rains’) insect or bir babiitL (k) Ihave missed out a half verse for which I have not been able to find a satisfactory rendering Panighat ghat dhanuk jiti moht, I am tempted to emend Ji to Jats (they would infatuate an ascetic), but this would not explain the rest. (1) . The idea is similar to that in Wotton’s verses,— | ‘Ye meaner beauties of the night........ | What are you, when the Toon shall rise?’ `
a1
af
giest.: this is the house of anot#er.. A guest ahould not look upwards: Arjun shot the fish [by means . of 1४8]. reflection +
- - , "45 a seed does penance in the earth, so I am .dred up.by the heat of severance. When. shall the sight. of that fair countenance fall like rain and my bedy grow like a goodly tree ?”’ | 74. The slave girls do service on all sides even. as the Achharis serve Indra in Kailas. Some bring basing and some ewers: they wash the hands of the Shah and 911. the assembled company. Some lay leaf platters before [the company]: some keep on bringing viands. Some keep on heaping up chapatis: some serve tp rice or wheat cakes. Some keep on bringing trays: some serve the fifty six varieties" [of foods]. 45 for the clothes which they wear when they come ५0 serve, they display different colours. At each course they wear different colours: they come, like a bevy of Achharis. ` Again they bring many kinds of condiment and serve them a pinch at time. ‘Lord have mercy upon me!’ they say, When they make any blunder.
12. It is as though the stars all did service: without the moon, the sun has no pleasure in food. Many kinds [of food] go round at each course: he seeks intently but finds not what he seeks. All manner of vegetables were disregarded: without that lovely one, everything was brackish® like salt. If he touched the fish the bones stuck in [his throat}: his hand could not reach to where the lotus was. His mind was set on the stalk of that lotus: be found no pleasure in any of the slave-girls. He had not that food for which he was an-hungered : without it everything seemed to become dry. He tasted without pleasure, like an ascetk: all the five forms of ambrosia
tasted to him like pgison. _
(m) Shukla’s note suggests that Raghava speaks this verse hinting that he will show the emperor Padmavati's face in a mirror, But it 18 the emperor himaelf who fixes the mirror in. stanza 16. For Arjun and the fish, see 10(4)5 note (14) and (d)
(2) For the varieties see 26(10)6 note (f). ParasahiA here and in र low appear to Be used as a variant for paroschia (serve) and not with its ordinary meaning of ‘touch’
(०) A pun on ond (beautiful).and lon (salt).
46:12-58 0 A -DRsGettion GF ie FortRAss 33
He sat on his throne and roared”: the lion does. not feed ‘on :grass. Until he obtains a hind fot fiis food, he will go fasting.
13. Slave girls were on all sides with ‘water: like nectar they poured it into cups. They offered water scented with camphor, but he drank not: it was for the sight {of the beloved] that he was athirst. “Give me the water of sight and I shall live: without a tongue, I shall drink with my eyes’. The papiha is satisfied with the drop in Sewati: what boots it if it rains in Magha*?” Then they brought a ewer and basin: having made him lose: hope they made him wash his hands [of her]. He who washes his hands in the’ bowl of severance, remembering her in his mind, wrings his hands. ‘“‘O God, bring me to meet her on whom my mind is set: join again the thread of love which you have broken.”
After washing his hands, when he sat down he sighed deeply : he called to mind that Lord who gives hope to the hopeless.
14, “The banquet was finished: the sweet sherbet went round: round went also the saffron water scented with mixed perfumes. Those priceless gems which were heaped in the trays the king brought and laid before him at his service. He did homage, casting his turban on his neck’: “O Sun of the world, I am a-cold. This spirit of mine shivers, full as it is of faults: where the sun is, there cold cannot remain; the sun so blazes in all directions, and at the sight of it the blackness of night hides itself. And the sun. has such pure rays that he. whe obtains a sight thereof is pure. When the lotus sees the sun it smiles and it is displayed even more than before.
() The emperor’s rosring is perhaps ee by the word for throne (lion-sest) as well as by the lion simile 46{1
(प) Cp. Ben Jonson's “Drink to me only with thine eyes And I will pledge with mine
(r) Magha, the 10th asterism, When the sun is mm Magha, there : should be tiful rain, whereas 8 ok of rain in Svatiis a rare phenomenon
(8) verse iis tire same as 26{14)3.
(१) It is not clear on whose neck the turban is thrown.
ep: -24{23)3 and 5 and -Akhiri Kalam.(41)9,
Ad ~ THE DESCRIPTION OF Yum -FomrEHss 46)-44-86
‘‘I.am Ratan [the jewel] dark with the blackness of night. -O Sun, destroy this gloom. Look now with ceni- passion upon me and give me bright dayligh |
15. When he heard his respectful speech the Sultan smiled: he shone with a thousand rays like the sun. “‘O King [he said] you have truly been chilled: but now you have seen the light of my counterfance and it has removed the cold. If any person does service to the sun, how ९8१1 there be any darkness or any cold for him? Enjoy your own country, doing me service: I will give you Mandau in addition, O King. A man’s word is like a mark cut in a rock: like the pole-star above Sumernu, it. ts never shaken.” Returning [the king’s] present, the monarch gave him 8 gem: by show of the interest he hoped to take the principal. He smiled and smiled as he spoke: he leant upon his shoulder: beguiling him by friendship he sought to entrammel him by treachery. |
After much deceitful speech the Shah smilingly gave him pan. He sought to obtain the precious stone after first getting the jewel" into his hands.
16. The king was overcome by deceit and delusion : the Shah made ready a game of chess. “‘O King, so long as it is hot overhead, let us twain for a space take our ease.” The Shah fixed a mirror there upon the wall: “I will see her [he thought] whenever she comes to the lattice.” The twain play, the Shah and the king: the Shah’s gaze” remains fixed upon the mirror The passion- ate lover walks on foot"; he looks straight ahead and advances after establishing his position. [The Shah] moved his knight and threatened the queen*: he got the piece which he wanted in front of his vision’. The king
(u) As usual padwrath and ratan mean Padmavatiand Rataneen
(v) pun on सक ka rukkss(1) the Shah's gaze (point ef view}, (2) the xing s castle
(w) pun on piyAde=(1) on foot (2 wn, and also bh 25४४० (1) foot (2) will tak os an Air aie
x) Faratband—Platis ‘guarded by the queen
bukla ‘check mate by knight and pawn’, but farsi is the queen (properly wazir)
ine + मनर (न am to
that ५५८ emperor saw Padmavati in the ia a त
48:.-x6-78. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS 328,
meaved his bishop and called check’: after giving check: he.is nearly: defeated by losing his castle. ।
He threatened bishop with bishop: both became inter- locked. The king wished to make it stale-mate: the Shah wished for check-mate. ।
17. When the stars [the slave-girls; had seen the sun [the Emperor] they went where the moon {[Padmavati] was and revealed him: [They said] “That Sultan of Delhi of whom we had heard, we have seen him to-day: he blazes like the sun. His umbrella is exalted in the world : | whatever shade there is in the world 15 its shadow. He sits upon his throne and roars’’ with pride: he enjoys single sovereignty®” in all four quarters. Noone can look straight upon him: all men bow, turning their gaze downward. On his forehead is a jewel: no other has such beauty : all those who are beautiful worship him. We have thus tested him on the touchstone of the mirror. Do you too see what manner of gold he is, yourself being the philo- sopher's stone.
‘“Why should the emperor of Delhi come to Chitaur“? Laok to it, Padmavati, that you may not have reason for regret’.
18. The water lilies expanded when they told their tale in the presence of the moon: the lotus” expanded when it heard the name of the sun. Night came and the moon went up into her tower with full radiance as God had fashioned her. The clever one, smiling, came to the lattice: the Shah looked and saw her in the mirror. At the moment of vision it was as if there had been the touch of the philosopher’s stone: earth and heaven all became gold. He asked for a vision’ and obtained a vision of her: the Shah became unconscious”: the game
ee eee ee ० १ अक
(४) Rath Shukla expains by wtn¢=‘bishop’ (also प्र) but Platte by ‘castle’ (also rukA). (aa) Lit. the two clephants became four-tusked, (their tuske inter- | V. 36(12)6 note (x). 0) ४. 46(12)8 note (p). ००) Lit. ‘umbrella’ ) १.९. he 18 not likely to come again. ee) The moon and the !otus both referto Padimavati. ' (शि The same chess pun on rukh asin 46(16)6. 8) A pun on shah-mte(1) Shah drunk (2) cheok-mate. A similar series of chess puns is to be found in a description of a battle in Amir Khusru’s Tarikh-i Alsi (Efliot’s History Vol. ITI p. 73).
326, THY DESCRIPMON or THE ForTRHSS: 46: कजे
was cancelled. The king did not knew the hidden secret: he became agitated and trembled [like a leaf] thongh there was no wind. Raghava said “It is the effect of areca mut": let us prepare a couch and lay him- upon it
The night passed ; dawn came: the sun then awaken- ed and rose up. Though he had not seen the moon, her radiance retnained infixed in his thought
19. He knows the food of love who has feasted -on it: the bee finds delight m the scent and nectar of the lotus. After showing her countenance the moon went and hid : the sun arose like a Yogi who has done penance. Raghava, after consideration, went to the Shah [and said}: ‘The sun having seen the lotus, is perturbed. As- em- peror, you have reached what your mind intended: you umbrella is exalted above all the world. Your throne is on the backs of the gods: heaven and earth are datly in your sight. By your favour flourish trees that were withered : by your anger the earth and the sea are all dried up. The whole world bows the head to yous: the life of all is in your hands. :
“You closed your eyes in the day-time: in the night you did not awaken. How have you slept thus thought- lessly ? What 15 this delay which has taken place ?”
20. ' “I was beholding a strange sight: there was a screen and yet no screen. I saw a lake” of such 8 nature that there was water therein but nothing to drink. The sky came and sojourned on earth: on the earth™ it was, but it could not be seized. Between these again was a lofty temple which was within the hands and yet the hand could not reach it. In that temple I saw an image : though it was without body and without life it was made most excellent. It shone like the full moon: after re- vealing itself like the philosopher’s stone it was hidden.
(hh} Shukla explains that the swallowing of areca nut sometimes results in sudden spasms (ii) In staneas 20 and 21, the emperor describes his vision of Pulmavati as 11 it had been a dream, Instanza 22 Raghava interprets, the ream. There is also, in these stanzas, a hint of Sufi monism, aceorling to a the world is the reflection of God (see Shukla's Introduction p. 192/3) | j) “The lake is the mirror k) There is a pun on dharti (earth) and dharat (eciging), —
6320-22 ‘THE DESCRIPTION GF THE FORTRERS 327
New my life is there where that full moon is: how should the sun wane and be darkened like the new moon? =“.
“The lotus was expanded": it was as though lightning flashed in the sky at night. She was an eclipse for the sun: 0 Raghava, believe this in your’ mind.
21. “I saw her standing in exquisite beauty: she fixed her picture in my thought and carrted away my spirit. A lion’s waist, a pair of elephant’s temples, a serpent as a goad, a peacock as mahout. Over these was a lotus with petals spread : the bee, hovering, took the scent of the flower’s nectar. Between two khanjans sat a parrot: the crescent moon arose with its bow. She revealed a hind and then went away: the moon became a serpent : the sun became a lamp-flame™’. As I gazed, she rose exceedingly high: my sight reached her, but my hand could not reach. Why was there seeing without reaching? I could not grasp her: as I gazed, she departed. |
0 Raghava, my spirit has gone seeking for her : how should that be which is unattainable? If this body of dust cannot grow wings, whose fault is it?”
22. When Raghava heard, he laid his head on the ground, {and said] ‘‘May the splendour of the sun reign for endless ages: That radiance,—that most excellent beauty,—assuredly you have seen Padmavati. The lion is her waist, the elephant’s temples are her bosom: the peacock is her neck and the goad a tress of her hair. The lotus is her face and its scent is [the scent of] her body : the khanjans are her eyes and the parrot her nose. Her eye-brow is the bow and the crescent moon her forehead : her throne is above all other queens. When she departed, revealing a hind, the serpent was the braid of her hair and the lamp was your thought. You saw her reflection in the mirror : this was the image in which there was no spirit.
“The lady is all composed of charms. Now you must
1) J have altered Shukla’s punctuation. The lotus would be out 01 place in the night sk
(mam क allusion to the legend that a lamp-flame is dimmed by the neighbou of a anake
328 THE DESCRIPTION oF THR-FORTRHSS 46; 2232-48742
lay your plans so that you may seize the curling: tress which hangs down upon her lip and take [that lip’s] nectar’
47. THE IMPRISONMENT OF RATANSEN
1. The monarch asked his friend" for his chariot immediately and departed, bethinking himself of his own place. ‘‘When he goes on the way and has set foot on it how can the traveller remain standing still? How can there be any rest for the wayfarer? If he journeys on the way, the way will be accomplished.” Use fraud Where force will not attain vour object: brush aside the thorns and take the flowers. Hearing this great kindness, the king was delighted: he went with him to bring him on his way, lost in pleasure. The Shah made close friendship with the king: he carried on conversation, with his hand on his shoulder. Mixing ghi and honey he gave him a potion such as should be sweet in the mouth but poison in the belly.
Ambrosial speech and fraud,—who would not die if steeped in such a liquor? If your enemy can be killed by ambrosia why should you give him poison?
2. When the sun came to the house of the moon, the moon” became hidden having come to the phase of dark- ness. The stars ask “Is this pearl darkened? Have the sixteen digits not one ray of light? The eclipse of the moon was made known before : the king has strayed : the Shah has taken him off’. When the emperor, after cross- ing [the courtyard], came to the first gate, he stood and invested the king [with a robe of honour]. He received a hundred steeds and three and twenty elephants. He caused him to be given drums and a casket of perfumes.
Canto 47
(a) I have followed Shukla who explains mw bhai as mitra se but perhaps msf msy=friendship, as in 47(6)7 and the translation should be ‘There was friendship [between them]
I have Bie the next two verses in inverted commas supposing them to be the affable remarks of the emperor which delude Retansen
(b) Shukla explains the moon as Padmavati, but the eclipse in ए 3 appears to refer to the forthcoming imprisonment of Ratansen
47: 2-4 THE IMPRISONMENT OF RATANSEN ` 329 At the second gate he gave him horsemen: at the third gate he gave countless gems. At the fourth gate he gave wealth in crores: at the fifth, two pairs of diamonds.
At the sixth gate he gave him Mandau : at the seventh he gave Chanderi. As he passed the seventh gate he had the king surrounded and took him away a prisoner.
3. In [the ocean of] this world the waters of many rivers are collected : one man gets across, another is drowned. One man is blind and does not see before him : another is gifted with sight and intelligence. Deceit was an affliction for the king: he left his paradise and set foot on the earth. That for whose sake [the emperor] had laid siege to the fortress, why should he let it go when it came into his grasp? When one has succeeded in taking an enemy prisoner, if he releases him, he brings affliction on himself. He caught him like a fish by offer- ing him bait, but why should a tortoise die if it leaves the water? He made fast his enemy like a snake in a basket : he tied him like a deer so that he could not leap with his feet.
He seized the king: he brought him and made him wear iron on his body. Such iron may he wear who meditates threats against his lord. |
4. Strong fetters were laid upon his feet and a chain upon his ‘neck and handcuffs on his wrists. He was seized and bound and placed in a cage: God forbid that even an enemy should be so afflicted. When this was heard, there was talk of it in Chitaur: it was known in every country in all directions. ‘‘Today [they said] Narayan’ has again leapt into the world: today that lion has been fastened in a cage. Today Ravan’s ten heads have fallen: today Kanh [Krishna] has mastered the blackhooded [serpent]. Today the life of Kans is insecure : today the fish has swallowed the demon Shankh. Today the Pandavas have fallen into captivity : today Dusasan’s arms have been put out of joint.
9 १ (c) ६.६, there has been a fresh Avatar of Vishnu. The Emperor's imprisonment of Ratansen is य (अ compared to the deeds of previous avatars,—the lion, Rama, Krishna, the fish, Balrama, the dwarf,—but the passage is not clear. 42 ॥
330 THE IMPRISONMENT OF RATANSEN 47: 4-6
“Today king Bali has been seized: he has been bound and brought down to hell. Today the sun has set in the day-time: Chitaur has been darkened.”’
5. The king’ had fallen into prison like a djinn into the prison of Solomon: all djinns are disloyal. When he had taken his prisoner, the Shah made an expedition’ : he destroyed his enemies whoever and wherever they were. Khurasan and Hareu were afraid : Bidar trembled, such a great king had been made captive. Bandhau, Dewagiri and Dhaulagiri, the whole creation trembled and the cry for mercy went round. The sun arose; his rays shone straight forth : the ice broke and the water streamed forth. Drumsticks were laid on the drums everywhere: they all came and prostrated themselves. [The noise of] the drum-sticks ascended to heaven : the earth was shaken so that it became unsteady.
The Emperor in Delhi came and sat upon his throne of felicity. Whosoever had lifted his head now placed his forehead on the ground.
6. A Negro’ was the gaoler and executioner: to him the king was made over to be burnt with fire. He longed for water and for air: all that the executioner gave him was bare breath. When he asked for water, he ran up with fire : he brought a mallet and smote it on his head. ‘‘The water and air which you have enjoyed, you have enjoyed: now who will bring and give you water? Erstwhile in Chitaur you did not realise that the emperor had power over you. When he calls, you must arise and go: if he employs force, you will have to wring your hands. If he shows friendship where there is hard imprisonment he will cause pan and flowers to be brought there.
“While your face was still unburnt*, you slept: you
(d) As in 42(6)3 ‘dev’ has two meanings (i) Hindu king (2) djinn (one of those whom Solomon imprisoned).
(6) There is historical truth in Alauddin’s campaigns on his north west frontier and elsewhere between the two attacks on Chitaur. See Shukla’s Introduction p. 235, and 43(18)5 note (w). For the places men- tioned, cp. 42 (10) and (12).
(f) A Habehi (Abyssinian),
(£) Anjal. Shukla’s explanation ann—jal=food and water, is in geni- ous but not convincing.
47: 6-8 THE IMPRISONMENT OF RATANSEN 331
did not awaken and bethink you of the ocean. Now like a fish you are caught and pulled out : when you ask for water (you will get) fire.”
7. Thereafter two men came to put him to the question : they showed him an exceedingly strong fire. “Vou have never seen the city of the dead : if you have seen scattered bones, you have not paid regard to them. You have not realised that you too will be like these: if men seek for you they will not find a trace of you anywhere. Now answer us, O king: what is the pride which makes you refuse service ? We have dug pits for and buried many such as you: they have not got out again to reach their homes and dance there. As any man laughed, so has he wept: sporting and laughing, you have slept fearlessly on earth. As you have drawn smoke out of your own mouth (spoken boastfully), so you have brought yourself to the pit of hell.
“You are burning, you are dying now in prison, so great is the fault which you have incurred. Send even now for the lotus lady, if you wish to be released.’’
8. They questioned him much, but the king spoke not : the preparation of death took his life’) They dug a trench and planted him with his feet in it: every day he was burnt countless times. That place was strait and dark : he could not turn and lie on the other side. They brought scorpions and snakes and placed them there : the torturers" threateningly applied sharp knives to his skin. They gripped him with pincers till his arteries burst : heavy affliction came upon him night and day. Such grievous affliction as a mountain could not bear, his human head supported the burden of it. Whatever fell on his head, he endured: he was helpless: whom could he tell of it ?
(h) ४.९. you ask for water and will get fire, like a fish which is caught and pulled out of the sea and then cooked.
(i) Dagdh ordinarily=‘burnt’, but in 48(3)4 it appears to mean ‘fire’ (though there I doubt the reading): perhaps also in 47(8)2.
3) The variant reading quoted in Shukla’s note would mean, ‘He closed the door and would not open it.’
{k) Hela, a sub-caste of Bhangis. In 54(5)5 these excutioners are called Doms, ‘The द्वद is a specially sharp knife with which bamboos are split for basket making, an occupation of Doms and of Helas.
332 THE IMPRISONMENT OF RATANSEN 47; 8-—48.: 2
Affliction burns: affliction parches: affliction loses all shame, Worse even than the thunderbolt is affliction which falls upon the life of the afflicted.
48, THE LAMENTATION OF PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI
1. Padmavati was unhappy without her lover: like a lotus without water whose plant is withered. “My lover knitted close bonds of love with me, but now he sojourns at Delhi’, fancy-free. This Delhi is a place from which there is no returning: noone returns to tell the news. He who goes thither becomes a denizen of that place: he who comes thence knows nothing. It was an untraversable road by which my beloved set out for there: now that he has gone he has not returmed.’’ As a well pours out the stream of its water, so the lady wept with eyes that were like full buckets. ‘I have become [as thin as] a rope without you, my lord: I have fallen into the well: grasp me and draw me out.”
She fills the buckets of her eyes and pours them out, but the fire in her bosom is not quenched. At every ghari’ her spirit comes: at every ghari it departs.
2. ‘Whereis the deep water, O my beloved: without thee, the lake of my heart is riven®. You are lost: into whose hands have you fallen? When you went, you did not take the lake with you. The birds that feed and play by the water, if the water shrinks away, none of them comes to the bank. The lotus is dried up: its petals are scattered: withering away and reduced to dust, they are lost. The dust of severance has been spread on the golden body: it is broken to powder and laid in the dust’. If the gold is reduced to grains and _ scattered,
CANTU 48
(a) A pua on Dilliee(1) Delhi (2) my heart’s [beloved] ep. 39(3)3.
(b} In the use of the word gharé there is probably a reference (carrying on the simile of the well) to the small buckets on a Persian wheel.
(c) ४.९. it splits like the bed of a dried lake.
(d) cp. Shakespeare’s ‘Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweopers, come to dust’. {Cymbeline)
48: 2-4 PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI LAMENT 333
where is my beloved? Let him come and collect the dust. The dust which is my body is carried by- the wind of severance: be you the water, 'which comes and brings the dust together.
“Do you now show compassion and give me life, collecting the scattered dust. Through meeting with you I shall have a new body and a new existence.”’
3. Tears gather like pearls in the shells which are her eyes: they break away and fall, and waste away her body. That young and beautiful lotus lady who was a diamond, a precious stone, without her beloved has become like a mere cowrie shell. Her jewel [Ratansen] has taken all the lustre away with him: her golden body is only a figure of clay. ‘I am sinking in the deep con- flagration’ of love: who save thee, my lover, will bring me to the shore? Severance has implanted itself upon my bosom like a mountain: wavering youth cannot endure its weight. You may know that severance is the fire in water’ by which stones are burnt and all become lime, By what effort, my lover, shall I obtain you? This very day let me extinguish the burniug fire.
“In what region shall I seek for you? Where are you imprisoned, O my lord’ Nowhere do I find you by seeking ; yet your abode 15 in my heart.”
4. Nagmati also began to repeat the words ‘My beloved’. Night and day sbe was burnt like a fish in the fire. ‘“‘O my beloved, where is the" bee and where is the snake? I have sought protection, but you have not listened to me. Do not stray and go to the lotus, [else] they willimprison my lord without delay. Where is that emperor/sun that I may go to him and release and bring back the captive bee? Where shall I go? Who will tell me news? I will go thither in the suise of a Jogini. I will rend my silken sari and clothe myself in rags 1f anyone will show me the road. I
(€) Dagdh can hardly be correct here. I suspect the right reading may be udadhi (०५९९१). But cp. 47(7)1 note (i).
(£) Shukla explains as a metaphor of pouring water on lumps of lime, by which they are heated and dissolved.
(g) The allusions are not very clear. Tho snake is no doubt Nag- mati, the bee Ratansen, the lotus Padmavati and the sun Alauddin.
334 PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI LAMENT 48: 4-6
will go and sweep that road with my eyelids: 7 will set out thither placing my head [where] my feet Ishould be. ]
“My friends, who will be my spiritual guide going before me to set me on the road? I will make oblation of my body and mind and wealth and strength” if he brings me to meet my lord.” :
5. Piteously the lady’ weeps: it is as though strings of pearls broke and fell. She kept on weeping, and sobbed brokenly’: her eyes streamed like water running from the eaves of a house. ‘‘She whose jewel has fallen into the hands of others, how shall she live without her lord, O my lord? My five jewels are set upon that jewel": come, quickly, my dear jewel of good fortune. The lustre has departed ; my eyes are dimmed: with my ears I hear not ; my voice you have taken. There is not any savour which is pleasant to my tongue: no other scent reaches my nostrils. Through loss of you my limbs are burnt and scorched : my five [senses] have now awakened, burnt by severance.
“Severance has burnt them and reduced them to ashes and now seeks to inake the dust fly away. If anyone were to come and bring wife and husband together, he would make me a new body.”
6. Distracted by the loss of her beloved, the serpent [Nagmati) lamented : through the blazing heat of severance, crows became black. “Where is my beloved, cool like a breeze or water, at sight of whom my body and spirit would flourish ? Where is my lerd with his scent of sandal, whose hand falls and fondles my cheek? Why has that robber-woman, the lotus girl, been with him, through whom my jewel has fallen into the hands of others? Do you come like spring, my beloved, my saffron flower: seeing you, your Nagesar-flower will bloom again. Without you, my lord, my bosom remains burnt: it cannot now
(h}) Reading bal for the first bali.
(i) Bala is ordinarily a young girl, but the word is here used for Nagmati, who 18 a senior quecn und a mother.
0) Lit. could not control her breath.
fk) १,€, all my five 86868 are centred on Ratansen.
48: 6—49: 2 PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI LAMENT 335 escape the Garuda’ of severance. Now darkness has fallen and blackness has spread: when you are not here, who will extinguish the fire?
‘“‘Feyes, eats, and savour of the tongue all have become dimmed, O my lord. What day is that which will bring us together and bring the refreshing shade of bliss ?”
49. DEVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGER
1. Devapal the prince of Kumbhalner was an invete- rate enemy” of the king [Ratansen]. Now he heard that ' the king had been taken prisoner, and, remembering his former enmity, he prepared a crafty scheme. The rankling spite” of an enemy is accomplished if his enemy’s wife comes to his house. There was in that place an old messenger-woman, a Brahman by caste, Kumudini byname. Devapal called for her and gave her pan. “In your strength [he said| I have fortified my spirit. As you are Kumudini, the night lotus, and near to the lotus, the moon which is in heaven dwells in your heart. That lotus queen who is in Chitaur, do you bring her by might of hand or by sleight and give her to me.
“Her beauty charms the minds of all the world ; Padma- vati is her name. I will give you wealth in crores if you fetch her and bring her to this place.”’
2. Kumudini said “Look you, I am one who can charm the gods, to say nothing of men. [I am] liké Lona the Chamarin" in Kanwaru: whom does she not deceive when she recites spells? Serpents dance by the force of spells, and men seize them and cast them into baskets and shut them up. Trees move when spells are spoken: sivers flow backwards and mountains are shaken. Spells steal away the deep intelligence of the wise man: then who else is blind, and dumb and deaf? Even so spells affect even the gods: whither shall men flee from spells?
(1) Garuda, the king of birds, is the enemy ‘of snakes, typified by Nagmati.
Canto 49
(a) Lit, ‘a stake in his heart’.
(b) Lit. ‘stake’. |
(©) Vide 31 (11) 3 rete (m).
336 ` DEVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGER 49: न्म्
They ascend to heaven and draw water thence: where shall queen Padmavati go?”
The messenger-woman made many promises as ‘she spoke telling of spelis: ‘“He whose loyalty 1s as Sumeru will not be shaken although the world fall on him*.”
3. The messenger-woman prepared many cooked foods :—she packed up moti-ladu and sugar-candy : maths, piraks, phenis, and papars. She clothed herself carefully in the dress of a messenger. She filled a tray with fresh wheat-cakes and set out for Chitaur as a mes- senger after making her promise. When old age ties the feet where is youthful vigour and how can there be activity ? The body is old but the mind is not old : strength remains not, but desire is the same. Where 15 that beauty of which all the world was enamoured ? Where is that pride as of a ‘mast’ elephant? Where are the sharp eyes, the straight body ? Ail have been destroyed and taken away by old
€. Saith Muhammad’, ‘‘Old age which walks with bent head, why does it walk tapping the ground? The jewel of youth has been 105 : perhaps it may be in the earth.”
4. When Kumudini arrived, she went up to Chitaur: she recited spells which charmed all beholders. - She asked [her way to} the hall of the royal zanana and went through the porch into the mansion. Where the lotus lady, that moon of brightness, was, the messenger brought her cakes and set them down. With arms out-stretched she ran to embrace her: “Have you not recognized me, O King’s daughter? A Brahman woman am I whose name is Kumudini: I and you were born in one place. My father’s name was Beni Dube and he was the family priest of Gandharvasen. You were then a babe in Singhala- dvipa: I received you and fed you with milk from a shell.
(d) Cp. Horace Odes III, 3. ‘Justum et tenacem propositi virum ....i fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum, ferient ruinge.’ (€) Shukla’s text has joban-pan (youth). I think this must be a mistake for budhapan (old age). For the simile in the following couplet. see 1 (9) 6 note (j).
49: 4-6 DEVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGER 337
“I changed my place, conung to Kumbhalner.. When I heard of your being in Chitaur’, I said that I must go and greet you,”
5. When she heard and was convinced that this was someone from her father’s house Padmavati fell on her neck weeping. The heaven of her eyes was dark without the sun: from her moon-face the tears fell like stars. The world was dark, since eclipse had fallen on the lady : “How long [she said] shall the night be filled with moon and stars? Why did my mother and father give life to a girl child? Why did they not wring my neck and slay me at birth? Why did they give me in marriage and lay on me grievous woe? My coming to Chitaur has brought my lover into'prison. Now death is better than this life: the grief of life is like a mountain to bear. jg This life is a shameless thing; it does not go forth. I behold my house desolate without my beloved.”
Thy Chakor’s eyes are red with weeping for the moon and the stars, with plaintive lament. The kokil, the chatak and the peafowl stiil call with the same plaintive note. ४
0. Kumudini clasped her round the neck and wept copiously ~ then she took a silver tray® and washed her face. ‘“‘“You have the beauty of the moon and are bright in all the world: hide not your face or the night will be dark. The chakor is distressed at hearing the dis- tress of the kokil: its eyes have become like ratti berries with black faces. However a man may kill himself with running on a certain road, he will still get what is written on his forehead. What God has written will not be otherwise, however a man may run or how- ever he may weep. However a man may wish [a thing] or perform devotions [to obtain it] still what God has written will not be otherwise.” Whatever speeches Kumu- dini might make, still Padmavati would not listen.
Her vermilion marking and her clothes were soiled and she was withered like a flower. The adornment with
(f) For the colloquial turn of phrase, see Shukla’s Introduction 260 ।
(£) The silver tray is used a8 a mirror, A
338 |‘ DEVAPAL'’S WOMAN MESSENGER 49: 68
which her beloved had left her she would not wear again in her life, even by mistake
7. Then the messenger uncovered her cooked food Padmavati would not touch it though it was untouched andfresh. ‘‘I am in distress for my beloved :, how should I-take nourishment of pan and flowers"? For me, all flowers have become thorns: distribute [this food] if you wish to distribute it. Those hands with which I touched my jewel Ratansen, I shall not collect and touch anything else with them. By his colour’ my hand has been incar- nadined : if I pick up a pearl, it becomes a ratti berry to the sight. My eyes are black-faced with red bodies’, by whose reflection pearls become ratti berries. In this way my eyes, those sinners, are vile: my beloved depart- ed while they beheld him but they could not hold him.
“How should I touch your cooked foods? The gur is bitter, the ghi is stale. My beloved, in meeting whom I should find the flavour of sweetness, has departed and has taken my appetite with hirh.”’
8. “Kumudini remained near the lotus (Padmavati): the sun was her foe, but she had hopes of the moon. In the day she had been withered and c1iushed : she unfold- ed her petals in the night, deceiving with her words. “Why, girl, [she said] do you remain fading away? You are dried up like a plant which does not obtain water. You are still like a lotus bud in your girl-hood/in the garden; of tender age, with stem just rising. Your hair- plait is soiled and rough: how do you remain dried up in the lake? God has made your body grow like a betel plant ~ he has watered it and so it has flourished. Adorn yourself and blossom with happiness like the betel : sit upon your throne or swing to and fro upon your swing.
(9) Pan and flowers are the food of the lotus lady, 40(4)7.
(i) BRuag may aleo mean ‘love’ (by love for him). In eonnection with the meaning ‘colour’, Ratansen is pictured as a rub
(0) ४.९. my eyes, with their black pupils, are red with weeping
ep. 40(6)3. See Shukla’s Introduction p. 148/89 for these elaborate metaphors
(ह) The idea contained in the two first verses is that Kumuadini (the night lotus, as her name rag ies) takes advantage of the absence of Ratansen (the sun) to deceive Padmavati (the day lotus, and also the
moon), The sun is the enemy of the night lotus, which withers in ite rays,
49+ 8.76 DHVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGER 339
` “Array yourself ever with garlands and [fine] clothes : tire your head in seemly fashion. Enjoy bliss fora brief space': youth departs and delays not.’’
g. When Kumudini smilingly spoke of youth, the lotus did not unfold : its petals remained furled. ‘Nay, Kumudini, youth depends on this, that the comfort of the shadow of the beloved be present. If he who holds sway sojournus afar, who will make the desolate house a place of habitation? When my king is- not here, my jewel of brightness, for whom is the throne, for whom the silken attire"? Who will cause me to repose on my bed or on my chair? He who should [ull me to sleep is lying in hard captivity. On all sides this house has become dark: he has taken all adornment with him at his departing. I know that” the plant of my body will then grow when my lord comes home to water it.
° shall continue to be dried up until such time as he, my lover, comes. This” flower, this vermilion will arise again like the fresh spring-tide.”’ :
710. “Do not deal thus with your life, girl, As long as there is youth, so long is there a beloved. Anyone can have] her own man with her: Tf she quarrels with one, she finds another before her. As the water of youth shrinks.day by day, the’ bees are hidden and the swans come to view. So long as the. lake is full of water, it has much honour and there are many birds on its banks. When the water shrinks, noone asks after it. The enjoy- ment which you take, it is that which remains in your
(1) Lit. ‘ten days’.
(m) Pajow. One would have expected: hiadaur¥, as there 1s obviously an echo of 49(8)7.
(n) Referring to 49(8)6.
(0) Referring to 49(8}3.
(p) Shukla explains (Introduction p. 125) that the flower is the withered body of 49(8)3 and the vermilion the neglected adomment of 49(8)5.
(¶)- The bees are black hair and the swans white hair. Shukla alse finds a pun in bhakvar==(1) bee (2) eddy. ‘As the water recedes, the eddies disappear and the swans arrive.’ But the swans ‘would not wait forthe water to shrink before immigrating. (The simile is further elaborated in Shukla’s Introduction p. 145-7).
340 DEVAPAL'S WOMAN MESSENGER 49: I0-1%
hold. So ilong as you are’ Kalindi, enjoy yourself: the time will come when you will be Surasari (Ganges) and will run into the ocean. Youth is a bee, your body 15 a flower: when old age comes, it will (as it were) crush the flower in its hands/you will wring your hands.
“That youth, for the sake of which Krishna [sported] with the Gopis,—it will deceive you and depart with the ‘arrow; the bow will remain in your hand.
17. “If the beloved is Ratansen my king, of what use is youth without the beloved? If there is life then you cati speak of youth : without life what would youth be? If there is life then this youth 15 a good thing : life makes it pure like itself. Inthe range in which the lion man of the race is, how shall the jackal have his lair in that place? May dogs tear the heart of her who would desert the lion to,look upon the face of the jackal. If the water of youth shrinks, what is lost, so long as, by the power of loyalty, there is no‘ cleavage of the heart? The dense clouds grow black and shed their Tain; but youth is like a fresh tree to the view.
“For the sin which Ravan held in his spirit, his face is black in both the worlds. But the truth which Rama held in his mind, who could deceive that ?”’
12. “How will you again obtain delightful youth : It 15 like a ‘mast’ elephant, with a “black umbrella above its head. Without youth, there is nothing but old age: without youth one is weary in every place. Youth, when lost, is not found by searching: if it departs, it returns not again. Your tresses, which are’ hike serpents, among which the bees dwell, will anon become like cranes, and all the world” will laugh. Be
(r) Ké&lindi, the dark-watered Jumna, represents black-haired youth. Sursart, the Ganges (white in the poets) represents old ace, but the metaphor shifts to the connection between Ganges and death. (See Shukla’s Introduction p. 147/8 for a somewhat different interpretation).
(8) The arrow is the straight back of youth; the bow the crooked back of old age. Shukla (Introduction p. 147) also finds a pun in ban=(1) arrow (2) colour, brightness,—but this is 10t necessary.
{t) s.e. so long as the heart is not severed from the beloved. The idea is that of the clay hed of a lake being split when the wator recedes (see Shukla’sa Introduction p. 260).
(ण) १.९. the black hair of youth.
(ष) ६.९. your hair will become white. (w) There is ४, pun on AcaAsm#=(1) laugh (2) swan.
40: 12-14 DEVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGER 342
not minded” like the parrot to attend on the silk-cotton. tree, or you will afterwards repent in the end when [you get only] cotton-wool. Your form 15 beautiful above [anything in] the world: this youth is a guest which is ready to depart. This is the time for pleasure and enjoyment: be persuaded: soon’ noone will be able to claim anyone else.
“As buds which burgeon on a fair tree so is your youth delightful‘. So long as there is delight“ of love, enjoy yourself : soon the leaf will be yellow.”
13. When she heard Kumudini’s words her heart burned : it was as though fire had fallen on the bosom of the lotus-lady. ‘I shall burn raw the love’s delight of such one as deserts her own love and is enamoured of a stranger. She who makes another [her lord] ` goes by double ways: there cannot be two kings on one throne. She in whose spirit love is firmly fixed 1s esta- blished in bliss and wedded blessedness. Ycuth may depart and the bee may depart, yet love of the beloved will not depart, whereon I meditate. I=fin this world my beloved does not return, in that world I will tind him, if I seek him day by day. My youth 15 where Ratan my beloved is : tothat beloved my youth and my life are an offering. -
“Bharthari, when he lost Pingala, sighed and gave up bis life. I, sinful one, that I am alive, this ts the fault which I have committed.’’
14. ‘“Padmavati; what sort of cookery is it that has no variety ? He upon whose tongue a different flavour settles, he it is who knows what flavours are sour or sweet. The bee rifles the scent of many a flower: the flower gives its scent to many a bee. You have not experienced the charm of a second man : those know what it is who have accepted another. With one palm-full of beverage the heartis notsatisfied, not until one has 92211717" drunk a second. Your youth is like the ocean witb its waves: beholding it, my spirit is drowned. Other
(x) cp. 8(7)5 notes (20) and (p). (y) Lit. ‘who will be whose ?’ (४). A pun on + = 10 delightful (0 youth), (2) pink (of the buds). (४8) A pun on raagas(1) love (2) colour. ; (bb) A pun on @@ear त == (1) drank « seoond (2) another lover.
ere
342 _ DEVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGHR 49; 1436
light of love is not to be won by sitting still :-bow ‘can you attain burning without dying?
When I see the bow of your eyes, I am struck by a poisoned arrow. If the lotus smiles and consents, I will bring another bee to it.” |
715. ‘‘Kumudini, you are my enemy, not my nurse you have come and thrown blackness on me with your talk. Pure in the world is the name of water, but if blackness is thrown in it it becomes black. Where there is virtue, sin is not seen, like’ lead between gold and borax. If blackness is cast on it, the moon becomes black : so do you cast blackness on me and insult me. The stain of ink upon cloth cannot be removed: so have you taken ink and bespattered me. My bee” is like a ray of the sun: all other bees are dark and full of blackness. ‘°*The lotus gazes on its bee-sun with its eyes: a fly does not settle on the fragrance of sandal wood.
“Like the pure ocean ismy Ratansen, the" lion of the world : any other who claims” equality with him will disappear like foam.”’
16. ™ “T,otus lady, talk no more of blackness. This, look you, is blackness, even your two eyes. Blackness is adornment,—that which all men call collynum: a drop of blackness is the mole which adorns your cheek. True beauty is that where there is a line of blackness: blackness is in the pupils with which we see the world. The blackness which is applied to a pair of eyes, that blackness can never be changed. There. are seals of blackness upon your two breasts: there is blackness in the bees which hover round the letus. Blackness ts
{cc) ‘The borax acts as 8 flux and removes the lead or other droas.
(dd) Sam here aud inv. 8 18 not understood and J have omitted it, Other bees may be black, but not Ratansen. I suspect & wrong reading.
(ee) ४.९. Ratansen (the bee) ia & fit lover for Padmavati (whose charms are like the scent of sandal). Any rivalisa fly. For the attraction of sandal tor bees, 10(16)5.
(ff) Jagarii ?
(3g) A pun on saree(1) equality (2) river. Ratansen is the ocean : any rival 18 @ river and will vanish in fosm.
(hh) The general idea of this stanza seems to be. ‘Do not talk of blackness as if it were neceassrily evil: it may be a mark of beauty : in this instance, the ‘blackness’ of which you speakiaa message from Devapal, and is au honour.’ (See Shukla’s Introduction p. 1740/1).
49: 16-50: I DEVAPAL’S WOMAN MESSENGER 343
drawn in your hair and blackness in your brows: without blackness your teeth’ do not display their splendour. What is that whiteness 11 which there is no blackness? Where is that substance of which there is no shadow 2 |
“Such a kind of blackness is Prince Devapal: the umbrella of sovereignty is upheld around his hand. He who goes to Kumbhalner forgets the kingdom of Chitaur.”’
17. When she heard [the name] of Devapal of Kumbhalner, the lotus-eyed lady bent the bow of her brows. ‘‘Devapal is the enemy of my beloved: how can the bear rival the lion? My body is filled with “as many woes as there are hairs on my head : what message do you declare to it, you harlot? My beloved has the quality of weight like the Son river into which if a light thing falls it becomes a stone. She over whom there is a be- loved of such weight, how shall her spirit be shaken by any shaking?” At the turning of her eyes a hundred hand-maidens broke loose: there was a thorough thwack- ing, the bawd was so thwacked. They cut off her nose and her ears and blackened her all over: they shaved her head and made her ride upon an ass.
Saith Muhammad, ‘He whom God has made weighty, how shall any move him by blowing. He by whose weight the world stands firm will not be blown away by a gust of wind.’ ‘
50. THE EMPEROR’S WOMAN-MESSENGER
1. Thereafter the queen held an assembly for distri- buting alms, whereby the king might obtain release from captivity. All travellers who come from foreign lands receive gifts of food and water. Yogis and ascetics come, all who are, clothed in rags: she asks about her beloved, whether any wayfarer knows of him. When her arm was lifted high in giving largeess, [word of] the matter came and reached the Shah. There was a harlot, a pretended Yogi: the Shah sent for her from the dancing-hall. See put on Vogini’s attire and made her- self an exile of love: she took the horn whistle for
of the teeth see 10(9)1 note (36) and (४), = ` Fr Sar gp त-य द pe का नड न +भ
(11) For the blackening of the teeth see 10(9}1 note (36) and (7), (jj) Reading jetana for Shukla’s jet nz, |
344 THE BMPRROR’S WOMAN-MESSENGER .§ 60: 143
sounding and the secret charm. He sent her to the lotus lady, having made a Yogini of her: “Bring her here speedily, making her an exile of severance.”’
Crafty in arts that charm the mind and in the power to enter the body of another’, she came and ascended the fortress of Chitaur, being in the guise of a Vogini.
2. She came begging to the royal gate: miaid- servants made known the news within. ‘There is a certain Yogini at the gate: she 15 begging like an exile of lave. Still in her early youth, she has undertaken a life of austerity : she has rent her silken attire and made rags of it. "She has the ashes of severance, the matted hair of asceticism, hide on shoulder, rosary on neck, ear-rings in her ears: her spirit is unsteady: her body is her trident: her beloved is her crutch. She has 104 umbrella for shade and is like to die with the blazing heat: there are no sandals on her feet: the burning dust scorches them. She has a horn for sounding, a gorakh-dhandha in her hand: the place where she sets her feet is burnt.
“Holding her viol she plays the strain of severance sounding it again and again. Her eye¢ revolve on all sides hoping tc obtain a sight [of the belayved].”’
3. When Padmavati heard, she called her into the palace: she asked her “From what country have you come? Yuga does uot beseem your tender age. For what reason have you thus undertaken exile?” She said “Noone knows the woe of severance: only love’s exile knows, she that is severed from her beloved. My lover departed to a foreign land: for that reason I am in the guise of a Yogini. Whose is my life, my youth and my body? If the beloved has departed, everything has be- come dust. I have rent my silken attire and made rags of it: I will take that road whereby I may meet with
Canto 650
(8) Para-kayt-parves. The Yogic power to enter the body of another. Nee 24(18)8 note (uu), 24(19)5. See also note (15) to 9(5)6
(>) For Yogi’sa trappings see note (a) on 12(1). Also aee 50(8) and 51({2)68,7
(€) In 12(1) wmbrella and sandals are part of the Yogi’s dress. Why they ate not here js explained later, 50(4)4
50: 3-5 THE EMPEROR'S WOMAN MESSENGER 345
my beloved. I will go round about and make outcry 211 four quarters : I have grown the tangled locks [of an ascetic]: what is the use of tiring my head?
“My beloved lives within my heart: if I cannot find him, whom can I ask? The whole world is desolate: without him, there is nothing.
4. “TI have fixed ear-rings in the holes pierced in my ears : I bend [to catch any] sound ‘[which would tell me] where my beloved roams. In severance from him I am continually blowing my horn: evermore taking my viol, I am wasting away. Who will take me and bring me to the embrace of my beloved? Who will take my message to my only support"? My sandals have been broken as I walked: there are blisters on iny feet, but my mind survives and my body is fresh with youth. I went to Prayag, but I did not find my beloved : I took the saw and made sacrifice of my life. I went to Benares and burnt my body: I performed 00140715 and bathed at Gaya. Performing vigils’, I came to Jagan- 12111 ˆ then I went to Duwarika and bathed.
“IT went to Kedar and branded my body: there I found no trace of him. Searching for him I came to Ajodhya and peeped into the Saragduwari.
5. ‘‘Again I made [pilgrimage] to the Gaumukh at Hardwar : at “Nagarkot I cut out my tongue and offered it. I searched the crest of "Balanath: I ransacked’ Mathura, yet I found not my beloved. At Surajkund I gave my body to the flames: at Badn I found not him
(८) Param “12047 8. ९ Adhari is here used ina figurative Renae ; 1t also means the Yogi's crutch.
(c} Forthe saw at Prayag see 10(2)6 note (8).
(1) A pun on jagaran and Jagannath (Pun). At Puri there is a gaddi, or svat, of the Satnath sect of the Kanphata Yogis, described by Briggs Gorakhnath [. 124.
(z) N&garkot, a shrine of Jwala devi in the Kangra district.
(h) Balnath. See Briggs p. 101. ‘The most famous establishment of the K&nphatasin the Punjab, and in fact in all India, is at Gorak Tilla. It is situated about 25 mies North west of Jhelum, on the highest point of an isolated line of hills in the Salt Range..,..... The place was once known as Tilla Balnaéth, a name derived from a temple on the summit dedicated to the sun as Balnath. It was here that Balnath underwent his penance, and it was from him that Bbartrihari learned the practice of austeritier*.
(1) Lit. churned, a pun on mathiua and mathura,
44 ५
346 ‘HE EMPEROR'S WOMAN MESSENGER 60: 6-7
whom I love. I visited Ramkund, the Gomati, Gurudwar and the country of the south many times. I went to Setubandh, Kailas, Sumeru, and to Alakpur where Kuber is. In the Brahmavart! I touched the Brahmavati: at the conflux of Beni I roasted myself on a slow fire. [I visited] Nimsar, Misrikh, Kuruchheta, together with the shrine of Gorakhnath.
‘From Patna on the east, from house to house I went roving round the world. I sought but nowhere was my beloved found, nor any that would bring me ta him.
6. ‘‘Forest by forest I searched all the nine regions : water by water all the ‘eighteen quaternions of rivers. All the sites of the sixty four holy places I visited in turn, calling the name of my beloved. In Delhi I saw all the Turks and the prison of the Sultan. I saw Ratan- sen in prison: he was scorched by the heat; he obtained no shade for an instant. Everyone was binding and branding the king: knowing me for a Yogini, the king touched my feet. What enjoyment is there of which there is no end? He who brought you happiness has gone to suffer this distress. Do not suppose that the name of Delhi (Dilli) means ‘slack’ (dhili) : very rigorous is the prison: not a bolt can be moved from its place.
“Having seen his branding and distress my spirit is even yet not in my body. How can that lady live whose beloved is so imprisoned 2 '
7. When Padmavatt heard that her beloved was im- prisoned, she was like ghi that has fallen into the fire. She 1811 and fell at the feet of the Yogini: the Yogini was burnt as though fire had sprung up from her. ‘Give me your feet, let me place them on my two eyes: lead me to the place where my beloved is. With those eyes with which you have seen my beloved show him to me, and I will give my life as a sacrifice. My truth, my virtue, all will I give ta you, 1f you will tell me news
(j) Brahmavart. Mr. J. H. Frere indentifics with the ghat of the name at Bithur on the Ganges where Brahma is said to have performed horse sacrifice and where the peg of his clog is preserved,—a very ancient place of pilgrimage, but not connected with Yoga. But in Manu ii, 17
Brahm&varta is the ‘holy land’ between the rivers Saraswati and Drshadvati. (k) For the 18 quaternions of rivers see 25(4)9 note (f),
50: 7—51: I THE EMPEROR'S WOMAN MESSENGER 349
of my beloved. Yon are my spiritual guide; I am your disciple, since you have brought me to the way when I was lost and wandering. From one moment show mercy upon me: let me be a Yogini and go with you.’
Her friends said “‘Iisten, O queen: do not openly take this guise. A Yogi should practise Yoga in his mind, receiving the instructions of his Guru.
8. ‘“Receive alms, O Yogini, and go elsewhere to beg. You will not obtaig your lover by practising hypocrisy. A great Yoga is this, to endure severance and to abide in such manner as the beloved would have you abide. Remain at home: you have already abandoned worldly desires : let the palms of your hands be your drinking vessel and your breath be your horn. Let the love which is implanted in your mind be your beads: let severance be your dhandhari, and the curling tresses of your head be the, tangled locks [of the ascetic]. Let your eyes be the chakras to seek out the way of the beloved : let the clothes which are on your body be the [ascetic’s] rags. Let your [इल hide be the earth and the sky the umbrella over your head: let your heart remain impassioned” with love. Turning the rosary” of your mind, let that be your chief tenet : let the five elements be the ashes on your body.
“Tet your ear-rings be to listen to tales of the beloved and your sandals the dust upon his feet. Go and take Gora and Badal as your staff for your support.”
51. HOW PADMAVATI SPOKE WITH GORA AND BADAL
71. Her companions extinguished the grievous burning. She went to the house of Gora and Badal. She had never in her life set her lotus feet upon the earth: in go- ing so far they were blistered. The two Chhatriyas came forth when they heard her: they trembled as noone [had
(1) Padmavati’s companions continue to speak, addressing first the pretended Yogini and afterwards (v. 2 ff) Padmavati.
(m) A pun on rf@iv=(l) enamoured (2) red, or the safforn of the Yogi's dress.
{प} Jaisi, for a wonder, does not pun on the ‘rosary of the mind.’ Kabir did,—Man ka mank® pher.
348 $= PADMAVATI WITH GORA AND BADAL .B41: I-5.
ever] trembled. They unbound their hair and swept the dust from her feet, [saying] “Where has Padmavati set her feet ?’’ They hrought her and set her on a golden throne: the queen, the victim of love’s severance, seated herself. The twain stood and waved chowries: “Let the umbrella [of sovereignty remain] above your head! Let us receive your royal command. Surely the water of Ganges has flowed backwards that the queen has come to her servants’ house. @
“Why have you performed such grievous toil which it did not beseem you to perform? Let your command be given speedily : our lives are [devoted to] your work."’
2. Padmavati spoke weeping: with blood in her eyes the world was red to her view. They rolled like the ocean, filled with rubies : she wept blood,—in such wise fell her tears. ‘‘Surely I will make sacrifice of my eyes to the love of Ratan*: I will pour out my blood ratti by ratti. I will cause the’ bee to hover above the lotus. Take me there where I may find the sun. With the‘ tur- meric of my heart and the blood of my face I will sacrifice my life meditating on severance.” “Her tears fell like water in Sawan: the ground became green: her vesture became saffron coloured. The tangled strands of her hair were like snakes coming forth: as she wept, she became like a Yogini in her guise.
Her tears moved like scarlet insects and even so did not stop. The way was not visible to her sight: the month of Bhadon came on.
3. “You, Gora and Badal, are two pillars [of strength]: you are like Parath* in battle: none else is like you.
Canto 51
(a) The usual pun on raag and ratan, the other meaning being ‘the colour of rubies’.
(b) Shukla explains the lotus as referring to Padmavati’s eyes, but it 18 not clear to what the bee refers,
(c) The ‘turmeric’ is the yellow centre of the lotus and the ‘blood’ its pink petals. (०१) The general idea is that Padmavati’s weeping is like the rains in the months of Sawan and Bhadon, for which compare 29(7). In the rainy season, the ground becomes green, ladies wear saffron-coloured clothes, snakes come forth, red velvet insects move about, and the sky is datk, Furthermore, the saffron dress and snaky locks make Padmavati's attire resemble that of a Yogini.
(e) P&rath is Arjun, the son of Prithu.
61: 3-3. PADMAVATI WITH GORA AND BADAL 349
My sorrow’ cannot be endured now in the rainy season: its roots are in hell, its branches in heaven. The whole earth was filled with its shade. The plant of severance has grown and become a date-palm. The trees of the forest have received this sorrow and have grown: they have uncovered their heads and stand weeping. The earth 15 full of sorrow, the ocean is dammed up with it: the heart of the cowrie shell is split and broken. 1 wiil become a Yogini and will speed to the prison in which my beloved is: I will accept imprisonment and will re- lease my beloved.
‘The sun is seized by eclipse: the lotus sits not on its throne. I too will go on that road by which my beloved went.”
4. Gora and Badal were both softened: as they wept their bodies were drowned and soaked in blood. “It was for this [they said] that we were wroth with the king [and said} “Do not make friendship [with the emperor] ; the Turks will seize you.’ It was when we heard of this intention of his that we went away in wrath : and it has finally come upon our own heads. So long as we have life, we twain will not flee: while your lord lives, how can you become a Yogini? When Agast has arisen and the elephants have trumpeted‘, when the water has receded, the king will come home. When the rains have departed and Agast has come into sight, saddles will be laid on the backs of the horses. I will cleave Rahu™ and rescue the sun: neither root nor shoot of sorrow shall remain.
‘He is the sun: you are the moon: I will fetch him and bring you together. So in sorrow will joy be born, and in night there will be day.”’
5. Badal and Gora took pan: ‘‘Whom [she said] shall I take and set in comparison with you twain ? You are heroes; none is your equal: you twain are
(1) So Shukla interprets barkha. I am inchned to think that the word may be a wrong reading for dtrichh (the tree of my sorrow).
(g) Shukla gives two explanations, either (or both) of which may be right, (1) ‘when a military expedition is made’ (2) ‘when the constellation Hasta brings thunder’.
(h) Ré&hu here is clearly the demon of cclipse, see 10(4)5 note (१).
350 PADMAVATI WITH GORA AND BADAL- 51: 5-6
like Hanuwant and Angad. You are [like] Arjun and king Bhim: you with your strength are crushers of hosts in battle. You are removers of burdens, as all the world knows: your are famed as men of noble worth, like Karan. You are mighty heroes like Jagdeo' : you are like Sankar and Malakdeo’, When I have such as you with me, Badal and Gora, whom“ should I seek for as a deliverer from captivity? As Hanuwant ५६ livered Raghava’' from captivity so do you deliver [the king] and unite us.
“As, when the lacquer pavilion" was burning, Bhim did a deed of gallantry, so do you accomplish the pur- pose of life and bring forth our pillar which is burning.
6. “You are Rama and Lakhan, the destroyers of demons : in your house is the king” Balbhadra. Yeu are “Drona and Gangeo: I account you like Sahadeo. You are Yudlishthir and Durjodhan; you are Nila and Nala®, two givers of encouragement. You are Parasuram and Raghava, the warriors: by your proniise my heart ts cheered. You are Satruhan and Bharat the prince: you are Krishna who destroyed Chanur’. You twain are Pardumna and Anirndh: you are Abhimanyu (so all men say). Bikrany could 10 rival
— श) ee ~ -- [ 7 श 2 भा म
the use of the name 18 a witnesy to Jaivi’s knowledge of history, probably through Amir Khusru’s contemporary works, Terikh-i-Alai and Ashika. (See ‰ 11101 History of lnelia as told by its own historians, Vol. III p. 76 and 550). Another identification is suggested in an article by Chandrabull Pande in the Nagari Pracharini Patrika Vol. 13 (शति 4 p. 495.
(k) Lit. ‘whose face’. I have omitted Shukla’s comma after herauas. (1) Raghava=Rama: but we do not read that Hanuman released him from captivity.
(m) The lacquer pavikon was prepared by Duryodhan in order to burn the Pandavas init, but Bhime rescued them. (Mah&bharat).
(n) Balbhadar=B&laradma, the elder brother of Krishna and eighth Avatar of Vishnu.
_ (७) Drona, the military preceptor of the Kaurava and Pandava
princes.
(p) Nua and Nala, monkey chiefs who aided Rama.
Gangef,=Bhishina (the son of Gang&). Sahadeva, the youngest of the five Pandavas.
(५) Ch&ntira, a wrestler in Katsa’s service, slain by Krishna. identified with the Daitya Varahe.
(ए) There is perhaps a pun on sake=(1) could (2) the Saka Era which goes by Vikrama’s name, co. €2(3)6.
es ies ॐ ज आ अ
51: 6—52: 7 PADMAVATI WITH GORA AND BADAL 351
you: you are Hamir and Harichand who spoke words of truth.
“As in the sore straits of the Pandavas Bhima was their deliverer from captivity, so do you fetch forth my beloved, who is in the power of others, and uphold my honour.”
7, Gora and Badal took pan: they did mightily, like Hanuwant and Angad. ‘‘Make ready the throne; unfold the umbrella : happiness’ be on thy head from age to age. You have suffered distress by setting your lotus feet upon the earth: mount your royal litter’ and proceed to the palace.’’ At hearing of the sun the heart of the lotus awakened: saffron colour was laid on the heart of the flower. It was as though day had come to view in the night : there was radiance, and blackness vanished. She mounted the royal litter and went, radiant with brightness, like the spotless moon of the second night. Together with her were her friends like the night water lilies or the stars : they brought her to the palace, waving their chowries
Seeing the crescent moon, Sankar placed his forehead for her throne. Padmavati set her lotus feet upon her couch.
52. HOW GORA AND BADAIL WENT lr'ORTH TO WAR
1. Badal’s mother Jasowa came and clasped Badal’s feet. “‘Badal Ray, you are my bahe: how do you know what war is like? ‘The emperor is lord of the earth and king: in withstanding him not even Hamir had success. With thirty six lakhs of horses his host is arrayed: twenty thousand elephants trumpet in the fray. When his close-thronging host advances to the attack, it is to the view like dense thunder clouds in the sky. Their swords flash, wherein lightning is con- tained : their kettledrums rattle and roar. Their lances
(s) Lit. the happy state of a woman whose husband is living (t) Siighisan, ordinarily 8 stationary throne, must here mean 8 litter, as in $, 6 below
332 | THE WAR S23; x-2
and arrows are showered in dense clouds: your courage will not keep its firmness.
“Where the captains and their hosts are slain*, what is your concern there? Today the wedding train’ will come for you : abide here and enjoy pleasure and lordship.”
2. ‘Mother, do not think me a mere babe: I am Badal, the lion, a warrior in the fray. Hearing of the troops of elephants, my spirit is fired all the more : how should the lion’s race remain hid? They will only rear until the lion-cub roars: I will reach alone the pre- sence of the Shah. What elephant will be able to rage in my presence? I will tear off its trunk and drag out its tusks. I will be with my lord in his straits like a buckler : I will brandish my spear like Duryodhan. As Angad planted his feet in wrath so will I hold up all the thirty six lakhs of [the Shah’s] army. Like Hanuwant will I make my legs firm with strength: I will burn the ocean and release my lord from captivity. | "
“Therefore you, Jasowa my mother, do not think me a babe. Where my king like Bali is imprisoned, I will enter hell and release him.”
3. Badal set in train his departure for war: jus! then the wedding train arrived and burst upon the housr How shall I describe the manner of the wedding train The moon-faced [01146 | had adorned herself. The partin. of her hair was filled with vermilton and set with pearly a peacock sat thereon, so high was the knot of her hag Her eyebrows were a bow: it twanged as she 11181 practice with it: there was collvrinm round her ey which shot sharp arrows. She haa faced an ornament -4. her forehead ciusted with gems like’ sae Pleiades: beholding that adornment the spirit left its 5181901. Jewelled ear- drops swung in her two ears: they beat her head when
CANTO 62
(a) There is a variant reading in this passage 88 quoted in © 01 Introduction p. 127, dalmalahin (trample everything underfoot) 2 marahin. ishna,
(b) The Gauna is the coming of 4 bride to her husband’s ho she reaches the age of puberty. In thia canto the same word > Era going’) 18 alea used for departure of Badal, Ihave used ‘train’ - where possible, | ie ee
52: 3-8 THR WAR 353
| they heard the mews of the departure of her beloved. Her curling tresses were like serpents ; the garland shone upon her bosom : all her ornaments were a burden, with- out her lover.
When the wedding train has come to the porch the beloved is in train to depart for a foreign land. How shall girl-companions extinguish the fire: by whose instruction shall it be extinguished ?
4. Realising his departure she drew her veil [across her face]: she came and made entreaty to him, standing at his door. With a sharp glance she caught her sari and drew it round her: her lover did not look at her,— he made his spirit firm. Then the lady, smiling, looked straight at him: Badal turned his back upon her. She turned away her face and there was wrath in her mind: “At the time of his departure, he has not looked at the face of his wife’. There was uncertainty in the lady’s mind: “How is it that he has turned his back on seeing me? ‘Perhaps a dart has pierced my beloved’s eye: let me pull it out by the head as it quivers in his back. Tet me now press the rondure' of my breast against his back ; { he clasps me in a spasm of pain, I will bathe him in’/ (३४९ him with” vehement delight/thick lotion.
“If I remain shame-faced my beloved will depart : if , 27857 him, he will call me overbold.” She stood and
ynsidered what she should do: both courses were
early difficult. {< 5: “If by observing modesty I do not get my beloved, wt me abandon modesty and persuade him with folded ,,uds. If a lover persists in departing owing to his bride’s modesty, of what use is the modesty of the veil ?”’ Then the lady seized his waist-band and said, smiling, “The supplication which a wife makes to her lover can- not be set aside. Today I have come with my wedding train, my lord: do not you, my lover, be in train to
—— आ
taine = 1 नाग The simile is not one of Jaisi’s happiest See Shukla’s Intro- 2. 24. | । (8) „ 2 द्र, it, a kind of pumpkin,—an allusion to a method of _ (५५ }& thorna by pressure from its rounded surface. litter A pun on raae=(I) moisture (2) sensual delight.
45
rs ee ee
334 THE WAR _ 62 :. 5
depart for battle. A woman comes, with the wedding train in order to meet [her husband]: what kind of train is it which severs her lord [from her]? If the wife does not gaze her fill upon her beloved: and if the beloved does not meet his wife in all his life {what kind of marriage is it?}] Where there is a lotus so full of hope, the bee, that rifler of scent and honey, should not abandon it.”’
The woman laid her forehead upon his feet, ‘“‘Hear my supplication, O prince. My curling tresses lie here as a noose: they will in no wise release your feet.”
6. “Let go my waist-band, lady’? Badal said. “A lady does not seize a man’s waist-banl when he is in train to depart. Even if you have come hither with wedding train, fair dame, still I ant 111 train to go where my lord is. Until the king 1s released and comes here, heroism 15 to my mind and not dalliance. A woman and land are handma‘ds of the sword he who conquers with the sword, to him they belong. He who has a sword 111 1115 house has thick moustaches (7.c. is a hero)’ where there is 110 sword, there are neither moustaches nor beard. so, then, there are moustaches on my face and I shall tisk my life: 111 my master’s business I Will push aside the throne of Indra. A man who has pledged his word will not give ground : he has the ‘tusks of the elephant, not the neck of the tortoise.
“You are a weak woman, lady, and of feeble wit. What do you know of war? The man t1 whose bosom 1s the spirit of heroism will not take pleasure in dalliance.’’
7. “If you wish, my beloved, to rush into war, I have nade ready for a war of dalliance. Youth has come and planted [his banner; in face [of the foe]: severance is scattered, the army of love is furious. My vermilion hair-parting is the pouring out of “heroism: it is red with blood like a naked sword. My brows, like a bow, aim with the arrows of my eyes: the collyrium is the bow-
(f) The Elephant’s tusks are not retractile, while the tortoise’s neck is.
Ras is not translatnble here. 1 means ` (1) the mood (of heroism), (2) moisture.
§2: 7-8 THE WAR 355
string ; they are steeped in the poison of my eyelashes. With side-long glances I have prepared, as it were, a whetstone: my charms from top to toe are sharp darts and arrows. My curling tresses are an inextricable noose which I will fasten on your neck: lip is longing to join battle with lip. My two breasts are like the temples of a ‘mast’ elephant: I will charge straight ahead: on guard, my lover !
“Dalliance is furious: the hosts of severance are broken and divided tn two halves. Furst fight with me and then make preparation for battle.”’
8. Her lord did not heed any of her entreaties. Fire fell in the "mind and bosom of the lady. The smoke that arose made her eyes smart: tears began to fall drop by drop. Her garland and sari were soaked: the garment upon her breast remained untouched; her lover did not unfasten it. The curling tresses which touched her girdle became wet, and so did her face and hair and the tassel upon her head. The collyrium ran down and her skirt was avetted: even then’ not a hair of her beloved was moistened. “If you, my lover, have undertaken war, you have made vows of fortitude, my lord, asI of faith’, Come back to me after vou have conquered, fighting in the battle and the fray: shame were it if you should show your back.
“You, my beloved, have made yourself firm in courage: I have ‘marked the vermilion line upon my head. 11 beth [your courage and my faith} succeed we shall meet again. J,et the drums and clarions sound’.
h} <A pun on chita ur (thought and bosom) and Chitaur. In the second meaning there is an allusion to the coming Jauhar in which the women of Chitaur will commit sati.
(1) ४.८, he showed no comparison.
(j) Reading tum, piu, sfhas, matn eat bandha, the variant given in Shukla’s Introduction, p. 169. For sat bdbandha compare 53(12) 2.
(k) In token of wifely faith (see Shukla’s Introduction p. 170).
(1) Shukla gives a variant for the last four verses, the translation of which would be, He left her and went, kindling a flame in her heart: « cruel lord [such as} noone could count herown. All her sdornment was moistenéd and ran down to the earth. Though he had brought her to the dust, her lover did not touoh her.
If a Jover does not return for weeping, what is the use of that weeping ? The lover set his mind on war and battle: the lady made ready a funeral pyre, क
॥
350 HOW GORA AND BADAL FOUGHT 58: 7-2
53. HOW GORA AND BADAL FOUGHT
I. Badal and Gora sat to take counsel together: ‘Let us make a plan by which there will be no mistake. A man does not act on unconsidered impulse like a woman: as Naushaba* did, who did not escape. Alexander, her enemy, fell into her hands: why then did she release him and become a prisoner? By wisdom the hare slew the lion’: by foolishness the lion fell into the well and was defeated. [The Emperor] deceived four king] even when he had come into his clutches. A good man 15 gold, a bad man is clay. Gold can be mended even if it is broken in ten pieces: a vessel of clay when broken cannot be joined together. As the Turks contrived a snare for the king, so shall we contrive, and deliver him.
“A man should practise deception only there where he cannot attain his end by using force. Where there are flowers there are flowers: where there are thorns, there are thorns.”’
2. Sixteen hundred litters were prepared: young warriors were armed and seated in them. Padmavati's conveyance was made ready: a black-smith sat in it, hidden even from the rays of the sun: The conveyance was arranged and its fittings prepared: they all wave chouris on ail sides. When all had been made ready, the litters were started: their curtains were of bright colours, sown with many pearls. The mighty Gora and
Canto 53
(४) The story of quecn Naushaba is in Nizami’s Sikandernamn. Alexander visited her in disguise. She recognised him, but let him go, and was afterwards brought into subjection by him.
Rai Bahadur Lala Sita Ram (Malik Muhammad Jaisi: Allahabad University Studies, Vol. vi 1.1) translates vv. 2 and 3 as follows ‘A man van never make a woman 1086 her wits. As Naushaba finding resistance impracticable, when Alexander, her enemy, wasin her power, laid aside all consideration of her strength, and became his slave.’ He gives the story of Alexander and Naushaba with extracts from the Sikandarnama and from Clarke’s translation of it.
(b) The story of the hare and the lion is told in the Panchatantra. The hare persuades the lion that a rival lion is hunting in his preserves: the lion sees his own reflection in a well, dives in after it, and is drowned. The animal fables of the Panchatantra and Hitopadesa reached Europe through the Pehlevi fables of Pilpai, now lost, and the Arsbic Kalila wa Dinina, and Jaisi may have known the story from a Persian source, but more likely got it from oral tradition.
56: 2-4 HOW GORA AND BADAL FOUGHT 359
Badal aecompanied [the procession]: they set forth saying that Padmavati had set forth. Diamonds and rubies and precious stones swayed to and fro: the gods were enraptured at the sight of the conveyance. ‘Sixteen hundred maidens went with them: when the lotus was not there, what need of other plants? = ९
They set forth to deliver the king where the queen would be a hostage. Thirty thousand horses were 160. along with them, and there were sixteen hundred litters.
०३. Gora went first to that man in whose charge the king had been placed in imprisonment. He offered him ten lakhs of rupees as a bribe: Gora entreated hin, clasping his feet. “Go and “entreat the emperor saying ‘The queen Padmavati has just come. She humbly says “TY have come to Delhi: the key of Chitaur is in my possession.’’ She humbly says ‘‘Where the treasure 15, I have the keys of the whole treasure house. If I may be allowed [to visit him] for one half hour, I will make [the keys] over to the king and come to your palace.” Then the Sultan’s gaoler went: having sten the bribe, he became like water.
He who has taken a bribe from any man’s hand has placed his life in that man’s hand. Where he drives, there he must go: he cannot turn his head by any turming.
4. A bribe is a stream of greed and sin: he who sinks therein loses hold of truth. Where there is bribery, the kingdom fares not well: it destroys the work of the ruler. The spirit of the guards became like ghi: through greed of pelf tlreey did not search the litters. [The gaoler] went and bowed his head before the Shah: ‘O sun of the world, the moon has come. Ali the constellations and stars have come in sixteen hundred litters. Of all the royal treasure that is in Chitaur Padmavati has brought the keys with her. She stands with folded hands
(6) I do not think the text can be correct. Obviously Padmuvati's maidens did not go with the expedition: they were supposed to be in the closed litters, which were really occupied by armed warriors.
(0१) It would be better for metre and sense to omit seatg and translate ‘16,000 litters were drawn Ly 30 thousand horses’.
(6) I think we must read dinavahke for binact (he entreated),
358 HOW GORA AND BADAL FCUGHT 58 : 4-6
and humbly makes entreaty ‘“‘I,et me take them aid make them over to the king for half an hour.
‘Tord of this world and the next, my hope in both worlds : first show me thy countenance, then send me to *paradise.”
5. [The Emperor] gave command “Het her go for one half hour.’ God brought round the "empty vessel and filled it. The conveyance moved forward and came to where the king was: with it came the litters, spreading over all the world. The smith who was disguised * 3.5 Padmavati came forth and cut the fetters and did homage. The king arose in wrath, when he was released: he mounted upon a horse and roared like a lion. Gora and Badal drew their swords: the young warriors all came forth and mounted and stood ready. Spirited were the steeds and their heads reached upto heaven: could any- one by skill control their bridles? He who has made ready the sword for life [or death!, 1f he 15 to die, will slav thousands.
There was a shout to the Shah,—~-‘These are not the moon and the stars. They have seized in eclipse him whom you by craft seized in eclipse, and are departing with him.’
6. They took the king and set out for Chitaur: the lion had got loose; the deer were set in agitation. ‘The Shah set forth; the call to arms was raised: by the vast army the world was thrown into darkness. ‘Badal turned and said to Gora; ‘‘Having escaped from eclipse [the sun] is again about to be seized by eclipse. Let the sun proceed, hidden on all sides: now this is the polo bail,—this is the field. Do you, Gora, now take the king with you and proceed: I shall turn back and join {the game] as a party. [To see) how the Turk
(f) I have followed Shukla’s punctuation and not his note, which would make the meaning ‘He (Ratansen) is my lord..........
g) +%.e. the emperor’s harem.
h) A pun on ghart=(1) space of 24 minutes (2) small pot ina Persian wheel or water clock. ‘God made the time a fortunate one after misfortune’, or ‘the wheel came round and the empty pot was filled’.
(i) I have transposed the names of Gora and Badal, a correction necessary for the sense,
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plays this kind of polo, I will be a player and join [the game] alone. I will earn such a name as Badal, if I take the ball along the held.
‘Today grasping the sword, my polo stick, I will make my enemies’ heads the hall. 7 will play before the Shah : there will be a shaking in all the world.”
7. Then Gora came forward and faced him, [saying], ‘Do you take the king with you, Badal. If a father is slain in time of stress, he must not bring death on his son’s head. I have now completed and enjoyed my full age : what matter is there for regret if a man’s age 15 fulfilled 2 If I fight and die after having slain many, do not you weep but € sensible. Gora took one thousand young warriors with him: he sent the other heroes with Badal. [Badal], as he took leave of Gora, thundered like a cloud : he departed with the king, set- ting him in front. Gora turned back and stood on the held [of battle]: when they saw the hero, desire increased in their mind.
The Sultan’s army comes: the sky is hidden in black- ness. It fails black upon the world : evening comes in the day
78. There was a field, and now the ball lay in it: which of the two would be defeated in the game? When the queen mounted the mare of youth, she advanced winning this game by skilful play. She made her waist the polo stick, her breast the ball: on the held of her bosom she advanced, winning the game. She shook the ground as she went forward taking the ball : she drew out the two mounds /marking the goal}, having made her entry. These two mounds were like mountains : they were near to sight, but very distant to reach. They stood as it were like arrgws: they pierced the heart, and noone could withdraw them. They pierce the heart, they cannot be endured when they are fixed : when thev pierce, men wish to die if they cannot draw them out.
Saith Muhammad, ‘The game of love is a deep and
(j) This stanza is obviously out of place here. It may perhaps have
heen intended to find a place in“Canto 27 and have been put. here because of the metaphors from polo in stanza 6,
360 HOW GORA AND BADAL FOUGHT 58: 8-10
dificult game of polo: If you do not give your head as a ball, the field will not be shaken.’
9. Then Gora, turning to face the foe, shouted aloud : “Il will play this game; I will do mightily today in the fray. You may name me“ Dhaulagiri the white: I will not be shaken by any shaking; I will not finch. As when Sohil is high in the sky, so the dense clouds disperse when they see me. I[ will count a thousand heads like Ses: I will see with a thousand eyes like Indra. I am today like Chaturbhuj with four arms. Kans remains not; who else can make preparation (against me]? I have thundered in battle today like Bhim : I have placed the king behind a bulwark. Like Hanuwant I will upturn’ Jamkatar : today I will relieve my lord from his straits.
“Like” Nal and Nil I will today fix a dam in the ocean. I will hold back the hosts of the Shah, being a bar ‘in battle immovable as mount Sumern.’’
10. The storm-cloud [of battle} came from all sides and swooped down: arrows were loosed like a cloud burst. He was unshaken, like a superhuman being: all the Turkish warriors advanced and came up. In their hands they grasped the swords of Hardwan”: their lances flashed bright as lightning. Their arrows sped straight like thunder-bolts: Basuki was affrighted as though they would strike his head. As their spears were raised Indra was afraid 111 his mind lest they should come and attack him counting him a Hindu. Gora took with him all his companions like’ raging elephants. They all massed together and made the first onslaught: as they advanced they raised their battle-cry.
Now trunks and heads fall together with cuirasses
(k) Dhauwlagiri=the white mountain and Goraewhite cp. 53(14)8. The meaning is merely ‘I, Gora, am like a mountain’.
{) Jamakatar, see note (0) to 16(3)2 Here if seoms to mean Setubandh or Adam’s bridge.
(m) Nala and Nila see 51(6)3.
n) Hardwan see 38(5)4 note (p).
0) I have omitied swaq binu. (trunkless), un vbvious correction introduced from v. 9. J have no correction to suggest.
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and motions: horses lose their fore-quarters,—elephants lose their trunks.
11. Tae Sultan’s army came swooping down: it arrived like the crack of doom. Iron clad, the whole army appeared black : nowhere was the least opening seen. All the Tucks drew their swords of steel: they flashed as they stood as though they were holding lightning. Tue elephant drivers thrust their huge elephants for- ward : it was as if they were carving death into two slices. They all whirl {their weapons] like the weapon of Yama: they are ready to go to heaven taking their lives with them. Their lances seek to bite like snakes: they drag out men’s lives with their poisoned mouths. Facing them, Go-a was furious in the fray: he planted his feet on the ground like Angad.
The brave man knows not how to retreat, even if he be broigit to earth again and again. He wifl seize the speir in both hands and will give his life for his master’s business.
72. The melee was joined”; the lances were as thick as thunder clouds: and there was thrusting of elephants. "Gora was alone. The thousand youths all took the vow of loyalty: they took the mountain-weight of battle on their shoulders. They began to die in front of Gora: they did not swerve aside even when wounded in the face. As moths press on into the flame, as one died, another offered his life. Heads fall, there is a ‘continuous rattle of blows: shoulders, cleft from shoulders, roll. Some men fall bathed in blood : some, wounded, wander about like men that are drunk. Some (like epicures) are filled with the dust of horses’ hoofs. they lie like Yogis plas- tered with ashes. ` ,
For one half hour there was Mahabharat: there was
(p) Lit. ‘bridle to bridle’.
This is premature. Corais not left alone tillv. 9 of this stanza. Still, the verse, with 105 fuur internal rhymes, is a very effective one.
(r) “I have taken adhar dhur ae eqiivalent to dharadhar. Shukla makes a valiant attempt to explain the words ag they stand, ‘the trunk (व the lower lip’. But a prose abstract of Jatmal, who imitates
aisi 17 his Gora Badal ki bat, has sir 481 $01 kar, dharo’ par girte hats.
46
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a melee of horsemen: all the youths were slain fighting ; Gora remained alone. ।
13. Gora saw that all his companions were slain: he knew that his own end was near. Raging like a lion, he went straight forward into the fray: among lakhs he would not die alone. He drove before him the crowd of elephants as the wind rends the cloud-rack. He on whose head, raging, he brought down his sword was cleft through, the rider with his horse. Heads and trunks roll about, separated : it was as though jars of red dye were poured out on the battle-field. Playing the Phag* game, he scat- tered vermilion: playing the game of Chancharit he lit (as it were) a [Holi] fire. Any elephant or horse which rushed to attack he incarnadined with blood.
The Sultan gave command : “Seize him speedily. The jewel [Ratansen] is departing in front taking the precious stone |Padmavati] with him
14. The whole host closed in and attacked Gora : like a roaring lion, he would not be controlled. Like a lion he devoured [his prey] in whichever direction he broke out: he did not return to the place he left. The Turks shout at him; his arm replies: ‘Gora has set death in his spirit. [He said] ““Even “Jaj and “Jagdeo have died noone has:remained alive in the world. Do not think that Gora is only one man. Who will set his hand on the lion’s beard ? A lion while he lives will not let himself be caught: after he is dead, anyone can drag him about. A lion stares straight in front of him: so long as he lives, he will not turn his back.
‘That Ratansen was taken prisoner is a stain of black- ness on “Gora’s limbs. Until I wash them in blood they will not be* bright.”
= 15. Sarja the hero, mounted on a’ lion, roared aloud `:
(४) Phag vide 20(4)4 note (k).
{t} Chauchart vide 20(7)7 note (n)
(प) बहु is one of the heroes of Hammir’s Court, in the epic referred to in note (a) to 42(3)
(v) Jagdeo v. 51(5) Not identified
ऋ) A pun on Gora (1) the name (2) bright, See Shukla’s Introduction p. 150, and 0 53(9
(x) Lit ‘red’
($) A lion was Sarja’s mount in 41(22)6.
58: 15-16 HOW GORA AND BADAIL FOUGHT 363 he came against Gora and attacked him. He was re- nowned as a mighty wrestler: he had *Mir Hamza and Ali to aid him. He held “Landhaur like a superhuman being : who else was girded with might: who was a warrior [like him]? °*Ayub was his helper and rose raging above his head,—Ayub whose hidden name is ““Mahamal. Taya Salar“ came also,—he who received oblations from the Kauravas and Pandavas. He came up riding upon a lion to where Gora was, the mighty lion. He thrust with a spear which pierced his belly: he stretched forward and drew it out and his entrails fell upon the ground.
“The bard said ‘Blessings on you, Gora. You have become like King Ravan’. He gathered up his entrails and tied them together, and set heels to his horse.
16. He said “At the" last I must now fall to the ground. My entrails have fallen: my head must be covered with dust.” Having spoken he rushed forward, roaring like a lion, and came upon the tiger Sarja. Sarja received his blow upon his spear: the sword fell as if it fell upon an anvil. Spear of adamant and blade of ada- mant: fire arose, so mightily the sword smote. It was like adamant striking on adamant: everyone said ‘A thunder bolt has fallen.’ He struck a second [blow with his] sword upon his shoulder: Sarja took it upon his shield. A third [time] he smote with his sword upon his 10011071 : his mace was on his shoulder and he received no wound.
So stoutly did Gora smite that the levin fire sprang forth, Noone came near while the lion attacked the tiger.
Se el भ श 9
(2) Mir प8.7028 the uncle, and Ali the cousin and adopted son of Muhammad, both champions ot Islam. Cp. Akhiri Kalam (8)4. | (aa) Landhaur. Shukla refers to the Dastan of Mir Hamza, in which
he defeats an imaginary Hindu Raja of this name. (bb) Ayub. Not explained. It ia the Arabic form of the Biblical
क 1 1
‘Job
(५९) 91127081. I have not found any ex oe for this.
(dd) Taya Salar. Shukla explains as Saiyid Salar Masud, the ghazi who was slain at Bahraich in the llth century. It is not easy to imagine what connection there was between him and the Kauravas and Pandavas.
(ee) The bard is not mentiuned elsewhere, but 1४ 18 suitable that he should be present when his lord isin battle. His remark, however, seems singularly inept.
(ff) A pan on ५१६ = (1) at last (2) ontrails,
364 HOW GORA AND BADAL FOUGHT 658: 17—-84: 1
17. Then raged Sarja the mighty : like a tiger’s was his strong arm. Raging and roaring he sn.ote with such a shock that it seemed that a thuncerbolt had fallen on his [Gora’s] head. His frame was broken, his head was smashed, as though heaven were broken in pieces together with mount Sumeru. Ali heaven and hell began to quiver: Gora’s sight wavered: the world spun round. All men thought that the crack of coom had come: [Sarja] drew his sword and raised it to the sky. He smote him so that he clave him together with his horse : the earth was riven in sunder and the hood of Ses was rent. Though the lion be exceedingly niglty in the attack, how shall he prevail against the tiger ?
Gora fell upon the plain: the gous brought him “pan. Badal went forward with the king and brought him near to Chitaur.
54. THE DELIVERANCE FROM CAFTIVITY— THE MELTiNG WITH FPADMAVATI 1. Padmavati’s mind had been" distressed, but when she heard the news the lake of her heart was tilled. As the earth exults in tue consteli:tion of “4. 72, so there was happiness, bliss and honour. The goodly host of Water lilies put tort. shouts: the lotus untol-ed when the sun arose. Tue night lotuses were digut with their full array of leaves anu God brouglt anu set an umbrella above their heads. As the uawn began to arise, the night departed, and day brought brightness. Raising a cheer as it received the rays {ot the sun] the mighty army all marched forward. behoiding the lotus queen Padn-.avati like the moon, her cou-panions (the water-lilies) all unfolded. Tue echpse of the sum was removed and there was
(gg) As asymbo} of welcome to Paradise.
(4.70 54 (४) Lit. ‘dried up’. (b) There is a pun on द, the constellation which marke the beginning of the rains, and adar (vunour).
$< I-4 THE DELIVERANCE | 365
conjunction with the moon. A throne was prepared in- the palace, and there was festal music in the city.
2. - Smilingly the ‘moon’ applied vermilion to her parting and went to perform oblation where the ‘sun’ was. Tne constellations and stars also accompanied the moon, even all the princesses of Chitaur. They were like young shoots which burgeon in the spring season or like red velvet insects in Sawan. There was rejoicing, multitudes of clarions made music: the whole world became red with vermilion. Tambourines and tabours were sounded in the houses: Indra heard all the music and was ashamed. Where the king was revealed as the sun, there Padmavati disclosed her lotus face. The lotus fell at the feet of the sun: the sun took the lotus and set it on his head.
With vermilion and dJowers and pan (together with her friends and companions) the lady worshipped her beloved’s feet and the beloved worshipped the lady’s head.
3. “How shall I worship thee aright, my king? Everything is yours; shame comes upon me. I will make oblation of my body, my mind and my youth: I will take my life and present it as a sacrifice. I will fill your way and strew it with my glances: do - you set your feet upon it and I will place my head there. Gazing upon your feet, I will not close an eyelid : I will sweep the dust of your feet with my lashes. My heart is a mansion for you, my king: enter into it by the road of my eyes. Sit on your throne setting up a new umbrella around you: in your majesty I, your hand- maid, am proud. You are the spirit, I am the body, so long as you have compassion upon me: what the spirit says the body will do.
“If the sun is above its head, the lotus will have its spre.d.ng petals like an umbrella over its head. If not, though tie lake were full, the lotus leaves would dry up.”
4. Tue queen touched the king’s feet: then she brought an oblation for Badal. She wo-shipped Badal’s mighty arm: she pressed his horses’ legs with her hands. “Tuis elephant gait which is my pride you have preserved,
366 | ` THE DELIVERANCE 54: 4-6
Badal and Gora. The°® vermilion streak which was my ankus, you have preserved, so that itis still upon my head. Girding up your loins, you risked your life: you brought my life and placed it in its casket. You pre- served the umbrella of sovereignty and waved its chowri : you preserved the “chiming of the bells upon my waist- band. You, like Hanuwant, charged among the banners : so it was that my beloved has come and taken his seat in® Chitaur.”’
Then she mounted him on a ‘mast’ elephant, having strewn silk upon the pad. With music and thunder of acclamation the king came and sat upon his blissful throne.
5. At night the king took the queen to his bosom! : the beloved and died and was alive, since he had obtained his wife. Little by little the king told 115 sorrows: —‘‘So long as I live, I shall not be separated. The Turks seized me and kept me in grievous bondage : if I remember it, my spirit does not abide in my body.® They laid fetters on me and placed me in a ‘cell: grievous were the ‘chains and darkness. From moment to moment they branded me with pincers, and Doms coptinu- ally set sharp knives to my body. After that, snakes surrounded me on all sides: my food was such that I could just draw breath. No other was there by my side: I could not know what air and water were like.
“I had hope of meeting you and therefé6re life remained in my body. If not, and if I had been hopeless, where would life have been and where our meeting ?”
6. ‘Beloved, such are the troublous times which have fallen upon you : now listen to the woes of your lotus-lady. You went and left me in the lake: the lake, without you, dried up. The swan which used to play
(c) The vermilion streak is the mark of married happiness, preserved by the rescue of Ratansen. Itis also regarded as the elephant goad poised upon the hea? of the queen, whose elephant gait is one of her chief charms.
(d) t.e. my married happiness.
(€) Or ‘in my mind and heart’ ep. 52(8)1.
(0) Lit. ies,
(g) Lit. ‘stomach’.
(४) Sankars may mean either ‘chain’ (sankaraia@ in 10(1)7) or ‘straits,
54:.6-—55: 1 ‘HE DELIVERANCE | 367
there flew away : the sun became an enemy in earnest. The waves deserted the lotus leaves: I was killed by the glare; there was no umbrella over my head. 1 be came a fish; my body began to quiver convulsively : ‘severance’ came and sat like a crow. This crow’s beak, my lord, pierces, even as your captivity is a piercing stake in your heart. ‘O crow,’ I say, ‘now take me thither and devour me where my beloved will see it.’
“The crow and the vulture do not tear me: why should they slay me? I am very feeble. I have actually died from regret that I did not go into captivity with my beloved.
7. “Above all this, what shall I say of the blows which afflicted me? Heavy distress fell upon me like a rugged mountain. Devapal sent a woman messenger that she should come disguised as a Brahman and cheat me. She said ‘I have been your companion : I will take you, the plant, to where the bee 15. Then I realised (I vow it) that her speech was steeped in poison. Even though the bee goes roving in a hundred directions, still the lotus does not go hunting anywhere. I will restrain myself and all my five elements: I will bring my mind into subjection wandering from door to door’. Weeping, I will’ teach my own heart wisdom : the beloved is not far off ; indeed he is very near. \
“As the scent in a flower, 25 2111 in milk is closely bound up in the same place, even so, placing my lover in the mansion of my heart, I live though my food is fire.”’
55. THE BATTLE BETWEEN RATANSEN AND DEVAPAL
I. When he heard of the conduct of Prince Devapal,
(i) Shukla explains, ‘I did not wander as a Yogini, in spite of the messenger’s instigation’, but the text docs not seem to bear this inter- pretation. The passage appears to be an allogory of Yogic doctrine. Actually, it was the emperor’s messenger who instigated Padmavati to become a Yogini (in canto 50) and not the messenger of Devapal (eanto 49).
(j) Or ‘I will extinguish the fire of my own heart’. Bughaiten could have either meaning.
368 | ग BATILE | 55: 2--66; x
gtievous vexation pierced the king’s heart. ‘The frog has never looked upon the lotus: the bat has not seen the face of the sun. As the peacock dances for his own delig’t, can the barn-door cock succeed in imitating him? Before the Turk comes and attacks the fortress, before then I will seize this king and bring him here.” He took no sleep, he lay awake all nig'itt: as day dawned he set forth and assailed the fortress. Kumbhalner 15 a steep and unapproachable fortress: one ascends by a difficult road and dare not look down. Still the king went there, taking death with him: he confronted Devapal and hemmed him in.
The two armies faced each other: there was a huge battle. Then the enemy fonght and were exhausted, and there was a single combat batween the twain.
2. When Devapal Rao had shouted in the fray, “Between me and thee, O king, it is single combat,” he thrust with his spear: it arrived laden w.th poison. The hour of fate cannot be cancelled. The spear arrived and struck him in the navel: it pierced the navel and came forth at his back. He struck him and passed by ; then the king struck: his shoulder was severed, te trunk was left shorn. He cut off his head and tied it to 2* thorn bush: he got his revenge on him for the enmity which he had devised. [The king] returned alive and filled with might: but in mid journey his blcod streamed forth. Grievous was the wound; he could not move : if Death has seized the tongue, who can speak ?
His senses and*consciousness all were lost: he fell a dead weight on the road. Of what use were elephants and horses? He was brought home on a litter.
56. THE DEATH OF G RATANSEN
I. The breath remained in his body so long as the condition of his spirit remained [unchanged]. , Death came and showed his wand: the spirit arose and left the Canto BBS
(ॐ) Bairs bandhy. This might equally well mean ‘he tied his enemy- up’, but there could be no puint in doing this after Le had cut off bis head.
66: 1-57: 2 ‘THE DEATH OF KING RATANSEN 369
clay. Whose are the people, the family, the household : whose are the wealth, the property in this world? In that hour all became another’s : one’s own is that which one has* touched and eaten. Those who were friends: and companions and dependents all began to turn him out in haste. As a gambler departs’ empty-handed, so he left 115 kingdom and departed as a beggar. While there was life, everyone called him the jewel: now he is without life, he would not fetch a cowne.
The king entrusted the fortress to Badal and went and dwelt on a bier. Rama has left Ajodhya: let him take it who pleases. ;
57. THE SATI OF PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI
1. Then Padmavati, having put on silken attire, went forth with her beloved as his wife. The sun was hidden and night fell: “the full moon became new moon. She unfastened her hair; her string of pearls was loosened : it was as though all the stars of the night fell. The vermilion that lay on her head was disclosed: fire was about to seize on the darkling world. “This is the day which I desire, my lord: let me go with you, my be- loved, embracing you. Saras birds cannot live separated from one another: how shali I live without you, my beloved ? I will make oblation of my body and scatter it abroad : I will be dust together with you; I will not return.
“Like a mothin the lamp of love I will end my life: after oblation made of it on all sides I will resign my spirit embracing thee.”
2. The queens Nagmati and Padmavati are both
i
Caxto 56
(a) Pars. Shukla explains as ‘has given others to eat’, and parasne {shortened from parosne) does mean ‘to serve up food’ in 46(11)5, 8 but ‘to touch’ is the ordinary meaning.
(b) Lit. ‘wiping his hands’, not wringing them as in 47(8)6 but rubbing them against each other to show that they are empty as in 2(14)7, note (63).
Canto 57
(४) &.९. Padmavati lost all her brightness owing tothe loss of her
sun, Ratansen. See Shukla’s Introduction क. 130.
47
390 PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI BT: ang
renowned. as faithful wives of great loyalty. Both the rivals seated themselves on the bier and Paradise appeared before their eyes. However any man may be seated on a royal throne yet in the end all must sit on the funeral bier. The pyre was made ready with sandal-wood and aloes and tinder and the funeral procession set fort taking the king. Bands went im front making music ; they both desired to sleep with their beloved. [They said] ‘“‘There was one kind of music at our weddings: now there is another for our last rites. Whosoever in life is burnt with passion for the beloved finds delight in death, being seated along with him. |
“Today the sun has set in the day light : today in the night time the moon is sinking. Today ‘et us relin- quish our lives dancing for joy : today the fire for us is cool.”’
3. They made ready the funeral pyre and gave much alms and charity: they went seven times round it, circling round it in a ring. ‘“There was one kind of ring made at our bridal: now there 15 another when we go to accompany you. In life, our beloved, you caressed us: in death, lord, let your embrace not be dissolved. That knot which you, our lover, tied, let it never be unfastened from beginning to end. What is this world in which there is no reality? We and you, lord, will be together in both worlds.” The bier was taken and laid upon the pyre: they both lay down, caressing the beloved. They embraced him and kindled the Holi fire : they were burnt to ashes, but did not flinch.
They departed, imbued with the love of the beloved : heaven was imbued with ruby red. He who had arisen, had set: none remained in the world of the living.
4. When they had departed, accompanying [their lord], the Emperor came and assailed the fortress. By that time, the occasion had passed: Rama and Sita had disappeared. When the Shah heard, he came to the place of assembly : night had fallen in bright daylight. He took up one handful of ashes and threw it in the
57: 4 PADMAVATI AND NAGMATI 39%
air, saying ‘Earth is vanity’. "411 his army raised earth: they threw up causeways across all the passes of the. fertress. Until ashes fall upon it this desire [of worldly things] will not be satisfied. There was a charge, and a eonfused battle: Badal came forward and was slain at the gate. . All the women committed’ Jauhar: all the men perished in the battle. The’ Emperor demolished the fortress: Chitaur became* Islam. ENVOY
1. I asked the sages* the meaning of this: they said, ‘So much only is clear to us: the fourteen’ worlds which are below and above are all witbin man’s body. We make the body Chitaur, the mind the King: we recognise the heart as Singhala, the intellect as the lotus lady. The spiritual guide is the parrot who showed the way: without a spiritual guide who can find the ‘Absolute in this world? Nagmati is the cares of this world: he whose thoughts are bound up therewith does not escape. Raghava the messenger is Satan, and the Sultan Alauddin is illusion. Consider the love story in this manner : receive instruction if you are able to receive it.
“Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, all the languages that there are, all celebrate that [subject] in which there is the way of love.”
2. Muhammad the poet composed and recited this: he who hears it will find in it the pangs of love. He joined it together with paste of blood, having moistened close’ love with the water from his eyes. And I made
(b) 1 do not think Shukla is right in explaining that so many women committed Sati in the Jauhar (v.8 below) that their ashes were enough to fill the trenches. Only earth work is indicated.
(c) Jauhar—see 42(14)4 note (ff)
(५) १.९. became s Muslim province, (by conquest, not by conversion),
ENVOY
(a) Though the word used is ‘pandita,’ the reference is probably to Sufi sages. | |
(b) Vide 1(1)7 note (6).
(o) Nergun, ‘He who is without qualities’, God.
(१) Pi alata in relation to love, as in 48(1)2: in relation to = ‘thick’,
372 ENVOY
this song with the intent that perchance it might remain in'the world for a sign. Where is now that Ratansen, the king? Where is the parrot who so excelled in wis- dom? Where is the Sultan Alauddin? Where 15 Raghava,; who told his tale? Where 1s the beautiful queen Padma- vati? None remain: but the story remains in the world As a man’s fame is, so can he be accounted happy. The flower may die but its fragrance dies not
Noone can sell glory in the world: noone can pur- chase glory®. He who reads this tale, let him remember me and say a prayer for my soul.’
3. When Muhammad had come to old age, youth had passed, that condition had departed. His strength had departed, making his body feeble: his sight had departed, making his eyes water. His teeth had departed, making his cheeks hollow : his voice had departed, making his speech unpleasing. His wits had departed, placing foolishness in his heart: his pride had departed, bowing his head down- wards. His hearing had departed, making him hear with difficulty : the blackness [of his hair] had departed and his hair was like carded cotton. The “bees had departed, making his hair like silk-cotton: youth had departed, having thrown the winning dice. Life is life, so long as youth attends it: thereafter, it is death, [dependence on] another's hands.
When old age shakes its head, it is beating its head in anger at this [condition]. “May old age be yours’: who was it who gave such a blessing as this?
THE END
(8) Omitting Shukla’s question mark, which spoils the sense
(f) Literally, ‘‘Let him remember for two words”, The two words are the do kalama-i-kahir or two short Suras of the Quran which the paaser-by is often asked by epitaphs to recite. This couplet bas been used as the inscription on the monument erected in Jais to Malik Muhammad in October 1943 near the house which tradition assigns as the poet’s home The monument is iv the form of a 16th century Muslim grave-stone. A photo aa of this memorial forms the frontispiece of this book
g) The bees are the emblem of blackness
INDEX
Abharan (16 ornaments) 27(6)9 note (४) Abhimanyu 27(5)1, note (g), ‘51(6)6 Abu Bakr, 1(12)2 note (25) Abyssinian, see Habsi
Achharl (Apsaras) 3(6)8 note (24) and
(€)
Agast (Canopus), 24(9)4, 38(3)1—see Subel&
Agnibfin 10(15)5 note (x)
Airfivat, see Eravat
Ajodhys, 33(5)3, 50(4)9, 56(1)9
Ak 30(6)7
Alakpur, 50(5)5
Alchemy, 27(3) (4) (5)
Alexander, 1(13)5 note (31), 41 (21)9, 42(5)1 and 6, 42(21)8, 44(5)3, 53(1)3 note (a)
Alhadad 1(20)3
Ali (Khalif) 1(12)5 note (25) 53(15)2 note (z)
Amara (kosa) 10(10)7
An&hut nad v. Nad
Andhiyar 42(12)4
Angad, 23(15,5 note (mm), 51(5)2, 61(7)1, 52(2)6, 53(11)7
Anirudh 20(16)7 mote (12), 25(23)3, 4 note (aaa) 51(6)6
Apchhard, Apsaras ए. Achhari.
Arabic, Envoy (1)8
Arail 10(16)6
Arjun 10(4)5 note (14) and (qd), 20(15)7, 23(18)9, 36(10)4, 41(7)5, 42(3}4, 46(10)7, 51(5)3, See Parath.
Ashraf (Saiyid) Jahangir Chisti 1(18)1, 8. note (47). Note (54) to 1(20)
Assam, sec Kanvaru
‘Asti, 08४1, 15(10)4, 25(23)1, 54(1)6,
Asterisms, 32(13)6 note (2). Appen- dix 1
Astrology 32(8)—(14) See Bhasvati
Ayub, 53(15)4
Badal, 46(7)1 note (f)
Bade (Shaikh) Jaisi’s friend 1(22)5
Badri, 50(5)2, note (A)
Bain (Prithu), 16(2)1 note (c)
Balbhadra, 51(6)1 note (n)
Bali, 1(17)2 note (41), 30(1)4 note (d)
Baln&th, 60(5)2 note (A)
Ban&ras, 10(16)7, 50(4)6
Ban&sur, 25(23)3 note (aaa)
Bandhav, 42(12)6, 47(5)4
Bangals arr al), 42(10)2
Bararuci, 8(9)8 note (26), 38(1)8
Basant 16(4)9 not (j), 30(138)1 note (y) |
Basant pancham! ४. Sri 51609111
Baésuki (Vasuki) 2(16)2 note (64), 10(1}2, note (2)
Benares see Banaras
Bent, 50(5)6
Bhagirath, 31(10)7, note (1)
Bhagwat (Purina), 10(10)7
Bharat 51(6)5
Bharat see Mahabharat
Bhartari 11(8)5, note (४), 16(2)2, 12(7)4, 20(11)6, 22(2)3, 49(13)8
Bhasvati (astrology), 10(10)8
Bhim (एप), 20(14)8 note (ee)
Bhoj, 6(1)8 note (8), 38(3)9 note (m)
Bhrnga see Ichneumon
10013092, 32(15)5 note (m), 33(4)1
Bijanagar, 43(13)1
Bijayagiri, 42(12)6
Bikram, 1(17)2 note (42), 6(1)8 note (7), 8(6)1 note (18), 25(20)4, 23(17)3, 16(2), 22(6)6, 42(3)6, 51(6)6
Birah (love, severance) 1(23)6 note (63)
Birds, 2(5) 27(41), 30(18}, 32(4), 35(12) Water-birds 2(9). Game birds 46(1)
Bisun (Vishnu), 26(8)4, 25(17)2, see Narayan
Biyads (Vvas), 7(6)7 note (9), 38(2)2
Rrahind, note (46) to 1(17)8, 3(5)9, 10(10)6, 25(8)3
Brahménd, 1(1)7 note (4), 33{10)9, 42(21)3
Brahmarandhra, 2(18)1 note (cc). See Sarag duvars
Brahmavart, 50(5)6 note (7)
Burhan (Shaikh), 1(20)2
Butter-making 15(3) 34(10)6, 38(3).
Akharawat 31
Byakaran see Vyakaran
Cannon 42(18) (19), 43(10)
Canopus see Suhel& and Agast
Castes, 9(4)3 note (12), 20(3)1 note (A), 42(15) note (AA)
Chakor, 4(4)5 note (29)
Cham pGnert, 42(12)3
Chanchari, 20(7)7 note (n), 29(5)8, $0(12)5, 538(13)6
Chander, 42(12)3, 44(1}8
Ch&ndr&vali, 35(9)4 note (£)
Chant, 51(6) note (9)
Chataka, 10(10)3 note (38), 12(14)8 note (४) see Paptha
Chaturbhuj, 53(9)5
Chauhan, 25(12)4 note ४
Chaupar (game), 2(14)6, 7 note (62)
20)5. 27(23) note (£), 35(3)3 note
(1 ) 41(17)6
Chequers seo (08 प]
Cheas, game of 46(16)
Chhitai, 42(4)1 note {~}, 42(5)8
Chitrasen, 6(1)1, 19(2)8, 25(12)3
Chitrin]I woman 39(6)8 note (hk), 40(3)
Churning of ocean, 34(10)2
Conjectural Emendatio:.s. See notes to 15(10)7, 19(6)2, 20(2)2, 27(30)6, 32(4)6, 32(13)5, 34(14)2, 39(5)2, 41(7)2, 41(15)2, 49(3)7, 53(2)9, 53(3)3, 53(6)3
Damana (-Damayanti, v. foll ) 24(17)7, 34(21)7
Damévati (Damayanti), 21(2)7 note (र)
Danavas, 26(17)5
Danzyal, 1(20)5
Dara—Danius
Dartus, 44(5)3 note (b)
Dasahra, 35(3)3 note (f)
Dasrath, 31(4)9, note (द) 31(10)5, 34(17)4
Datta and Satta, 32(17)
Dehli (Dill), 32(2)7, 39(3), 48(1)3, 50(6)3,7
Deva, 25(4)7, 866 Djinn
Devagin, 42(4)1 note (d), 42(10)6, 42(12)7, 47(5)4
Devapal of Kumbhalner 49(1)1
Dev&n 866 Divali
Dhamarit, 20(7)6 note (m), 29(5)65, 30(13)1, 36(1)3
Dhandhari 866 Gorakhdhandha
Dhaulagiri, 47(5)4, 53(9)2
Dhuv Dhruva) 10(3)5 note (11) (12)
Dikstl 866 Dis&l
Dilli see Dehli
10188501, 32(8)9 note (g)
Divali, 30(8)5 note (9)
01101 (Deva) 42(6)3 note (9), 47(5)1
Dom, 36(9)5, note (९), 47(8)4, 54(5)5
Draupadi, 2(19)1 note (69), 10(4)5 note (14), 42(3)4
Drona, 51(6)2 note (©)
Durjodhan 51(6)3, 52(2)5
Dusant see Dushyanta
Dus&san, 47(4)7
Duahbyanta, 21(2)6 note (९)
Duvankaé (Dwarka), 50(4)7
Dwarf Avatarof Vishnu 30(1)4 note (d)
Elements, four 34(11) note (2)
Elementa, five 50(8)7, 54(7)6
Elephants, 2(21), 42(26)
Eravat, 2(2)5 note (12), note (pp)
note (४) 47(5)8,
42(21)6
11
Eve (Haww&), 32(7) note (f)
Firang: (Portuguese) 1316) ड
Firdausi’s 91810678 (quotation from) 42(21)3 note (ac)
Firearms, 10(15)4 note (x), 42(1153 See Cannon
Fish 45(1)
Flowers, 2(11), 4({1), 20(6) 27141) 32(4), 36(1)
Fruits, 2(4), 2(10), 20(5), 32(8), 36(4) (5), 45(6
Gajapa ti--13(1)2 note (a)
Gandharvas (Gandhrab), 25(14)7
Ganes, 11(8)8 note (w), 32(3)9
Gang (Ganges) river, 4(2)6 note (7)— celestial, te Milky way 10(2)9 note (10). See Surasan
Gangefi 51(6)2 note (0)
Garuda 23(19)9, 25(8)9, 30(1)7 note (A), 41(3)8 note (e), 48(6)6
Gauna (Gavan), 52(1)9 note (£)
Gaur, 42({10)2 note {5}
Gaur& Parvati, 22(1)5
Gauri (same as above) 23(13)4
Gaya, 50(4)6
Ghost, seizure by, 38(7)3
111} ( Gaur&) 22(6)5
Gita (Bhagwadgita), 10(10)7
Gomati (Gumti) 50(5)4
Gopichand, 12(5) note (f}, 16(2)2, 20(11)6, 30(1)6 note (g), 31(4)1
Gopis, 10(4)7 note (17), 11(4)2, 30(1)7, 24(21)6, 49(10)8
Gora, 46(7)1 note (f)
Gorakh 12(1) note (c), 16(2)3, 23(22)4
Gorakhdhandh& 12(1)4 note (a), 34(11)9 note (©)
Gorakhnath, shrine of 50(5)7
Quyaratls, 42(10)4
Gumti see Gomti
Gurudwaru, 50(5)4
Guvaliar (Gwalior), 42(12)
Habs: (Abyssinian), 43(10)3, 47(6)1
Haji, Shaikh, 1(19)2
Hamirtit (Hammir) (of Ranthambhor) 42(3)3, note (a) 42(6)8, 44(2)7, 44(3)1, 51(6)7, 52(1)3
Hamza, see Mir Hamza
Hanuvant (Hanuman), 11(2)5 note (d), 12{11)6, 21(8), 34(9)8, 42(3)5, §1(5)7, note (£) 52(2)7, 63(9)7,
Hardwhn (sword of) 38(5)4 note (2), 53(10)3
Hare, Hareva, 42(10)2 note (r), 43(18)6 note (w), 47(5)3
Hari, 24(12)6 note (ff)
Harichand, 16(2)1 note (€), 42(21)6 note (qq), 51(6)7
Haridvér (Hardwar), 50(5)1
sii
Hastini woman, 39(6)8 note (h), 40(1)
Hatim, 1(17)2 note 43, 13(6)6
Haty&, 22({1)2, 22(5)8 note (f)
Hel& (caste), 47(8)4, note (£)
Hindul (Hindi), Envoy (1)8 oli, 20(4)4 note {k), 20(7) notes (m) amd (n), 30(12)5 note (z), §3(13)6
Horse, varieties of 2(2)4 note (11), 2(22) note (79), 42(8), 42(25)
Ichneumon fly, note (15) to 9(6)6, 11(7)7, 18(1)9, 19(9)4,5, 23(15)6, note (97)
Indra 2(2)7 note (14), 30(1)5 note (९) 53(8)4, 63(10)5
Ind, see Indra,
Iskandar, sce Alexander
Jagannath, 34(26)9, 50(4)7
Jagdeo, 51(5)5 note (४), 63(14)4
Jagsen, 49(15)8
Jahangir of Kanauj, €3(15)5
Jais 866 Jayas
Jaisi seo Muhammad
J&j, 53(14)4 note (x)
१६४७1०1 (Yakshint), 38(2)6 note (f)
Jalandhar, 30(1)6 note (g)
Jama (-Yama) see Jamakatar
Jambi dip, 2(1)6 note (6), 19(2)7,
25(12)3
Jamakatar, 16(3)2, 21(5)5, 33(8)3 note (०), 53(9)7, 53(11)5
Jamun&, 10(2)4, 6 note (7), 22(10)2
See Kalindi
Jauhar, 42(14)4 ००८ (ff), 43(17) (18), 44 (3)8, 57(4)8
Jaygarh, 42(12)5
Jhtmak, 30(8)6 note (४), see Manors Jhimak
प्ण), 42(12)3
Kabilas, see Kailas
Kachpachiya (Pleiades), 10(12)3
Kada liban see Kajaliban
Kailés, 1(1)2 note (1) (a), 2(2)5 note (13) 60{6)5, ete.
Kajaliban, note (31) to 1(13)5, 12(5)7 note (A), 20(11)7, 42(5)2, 42(21)8
18४8190 (Qaqniis-Phoenix) 21({7)1 note (4)
Kéalindi (Jumnay, 22(10)2, 30(15)4,
49(10)6 note (a)
K&linjar, 42(12)5
Kamakandala, 21(2)6 note (e) Kamal, 1(19)3 note (dd)
Kamts, 42(10)6
Kanauj, 43(15)5
K&nh, 22(10)2, 25(7)3, see Krishna
Kans 10(4)4 note (14), 26(7)3, 42(1}6, 47(4)6
Kahvart (Assam) 31(11)3 note (m), 38(3)6, 42(10)6, 48(2)2
Kafvalsen, son of Ratansen, 37(1)2
Karila (bush), 8(5)4 note (14)
Karna, 1(17)2 note (44) 13(6)6, 30(1)5 ‘note {९}, 33(1)6, 51(5)4
Kasmir (Kashmir), 42(10)3
Kauravas, 46(6)6, 53(15)5
Kausila, 35(5)2
Kedar, 50(4)7
KetmsKotaki 25(3)1, 32(4)8
Ketaki (lower) 11(7)8, 20(6)2, 28(18)2, 25(3)1 note (f), 34(9)1, 46(10)2
Khanjan (bird) 4(4)7 note (30), 10(5)7 note (21), 10(17)8 note (८९), 12(10)3
Khasiy&s, 42(10)7 note (ॐ)
Khikhind (=Kishkhindha) 1(2)1 note (9), 1(19)4,
Khuraésén 42(10)2, 47(5)3
Khwaja Khizr 1(20)5 note (52). also note (31) to 1(13)5
Kishkhindhs, see Khikhind
Krishna 11(4)2 note (९), 22(10)2, 24(2)8 note (f), 25(7)3, 25(8)4 (wrong reading), 25(9)3, 30(1)7 note (kh), 42(1)6, 46(7)8, 41(4)5, 6 49(10)8, 51(6)5, 53(9)5
Kuberu 25(9)5, 33(1)7 note (5), 50(5)5
Kukhanda 1(2)1 note (9). See Khi- khind
Kumaun 42(10)7
Kumbhakaran 25(9)9 note (s)
Kumbhalnere 42(13)1, 49(1)1
Kuruchhet&, 50(5)6
Kutban see Mrigavati
Lachhman 11(2)4 note (d), 24(17)8
Lachhmi (goddess) 38(4)6
Lachhmi (daughter of Ocean) 34(1)4
Lakhan see Lachhman
Landhaur 53(15)3 note (aa}
Lank& 2(1)6, 2(2)2 note (10)
Lapis lazuli (‘Sila’) note (34) to 2(7)3
Lezim 42(11)4
Lon& Chamérin, 31(11)3 note (mm), 38(3)6, 49(2)2
Machhandarn&th, 23(22)
Mad&r (plant) 7(3}3 note (4)
Madhavanala 21(2)6 note (€)
Medhumflati 23(17)6 note (WU), note (aa) to 27(22)1,2, note (rr) to 30(19)
Magar 42(10)7 note (y)
M. 0 see Witchcraft
MahSbb&rat 10(10)7 note (+)
20818181 (-Aytib) 53(15)4
Mah&p&tra 25(12)8 note (dd)
Mahes (Mahadeo, Siva) 22(1)1
Bee
16(2)3 note (A),
11V
Mahirawan 33(8)8 note (x) 33(9)
Mainavati $1(4)1
Makhdiim see note (47) to 1(18)
Malakdeo 51(5)5 note (7)
Malaya, (mountain) 2(3)4 note (16), 10(1,6 note (3)
Malik Muhammad see Mabammad
Ma&lopama (alanhk&ra) 10(5) note (21)
M&nasar 15(10)2 note (n), 30(14)8 note (hh)
M&nasarodak (in Singhala)—4(1)1
78११४ 42(10)1, 42(12)3, 46(15)4
M&ny (hair-parting) 10(2)1 note (5)
Manjham seo Madhumalati
Manors 30(8)7 note (3)
Manora Jhumak 20(4)3 note (¢)
Manstr 11(6)4 note (४), 25(1)5 note (b), 27(27)7
Mathur& 50(5)2
Maze, battle of the, 27(5)1
Mormen (jal-manush) 34(26)7, 9
Meru 1(21)6 note (58) 16(4)3, See Sumeru
Mir Hamza 63(15)2 note (z)
Misrikh 50(5)7
Miy&n Salone, (Jaisi's friond) 1(22)4
Mrigavati 23(17)6 note (भ)
Mubarak, 1(19)3
Muhammad (the Prophet), 1{1)2 note (2) 1(11)1, 36(13)8
Muhammad (Jaisi), 1(21)1 note (ss), 31(9)8, Envoy (2)1, (3)
Muhammad (Saiyid) 1(20)4
Muhiuddin 1(20)1
Multan (Multan) 42(10)3
Munis, 25(14)7
Murari, 30(17)3 note (mm)
Musical instruments 20(7), 29(2), 42(15) (16) (17), 46(12)5, 47(2)5 54(2)
Nad 26(12)1 note (४), 38(1)4
N&ga-pisa 9(6)4 note (17) note (n)
Nagarkot 50(5)1 note (g)
Nagas (serpents) 10(1)9 note (4)
Nagsen son of Ratansen 37(1)1
Nakha-Sikha Canto 10 866 note (20) to 9(7) Canto 41 see note (f) to 41(4)
Nala (King), 21(2)7 note (e), 24(17)7, 34(21)7
Nala (monkey), 51(8)3 note (p), 53(9)8
Narayan (Vishnu) 30(1)4, 47(4)4 note
(£) Narvar, 42(12)6 Nath, 25(8)8 note (४४) Naushaba, 53(1)2 note (a) Naushirwan, 1{15)2 note (36) Nila, 51(6)3 note (2), 53(9)8 Nimsdar 50(5)7
29(1), 43(12),
24(6)3
Nine treasures, 2(13}1 note (59)
Nine jewels, 26(19)1 note (r), 33(6)5 note {£}
Nirgun, Envoy (1)4 note (४)
Nonae, see Lona
Qcean—The deity 32(17)9, 34(18)2 Do See Churning.
Omens 12(10) note (1), 35{2}1 note. (5), 10 (17)8, 9 note (ee) |
Orissa see Uris&
Padmini woman, 2(1)1 note (2), 39(6)8 note (h), 40(4)1
Palatké, 21(8)3 note (4), note (kk)
P&n; (ingredients and _ varieties), 27(19)8,9. 27(20) note (w), {as
symbol), 16(8)1 note (py), 19(8)1,
42(13)9, 53(17)8
30(15)3
Panchami 30(13)1 note (y). See Sri Panchami Pandavas 46(60)6, 47(4)7, 51(6)8,
53(15)5
Pande $4(14)1 note (p)
Papliha 2(5)4 note (28), 23(10)9 note (1५), 30(2)1, 30(7)3 note (द). See Chataka
Parakéyapraves, 24(18)8 note (uz), 24(19)5, 50(1)8 note (a)
Parasuram, note (16) to 10(4)d, 51(6)4
Parath, 51(3)1 note (e)
Pardumna (Pradyumna) 51(6)6
Parvati—See Gauraé
Partridge—See Titar, Chakor
Patna& 42(10)5, 50(5)8
Payaig (Pravag) 10(2)4, 8 notes (7) and (8), 10(16)6 note (aa), 50(4)5
Ph&g 20(4)4 note (x), 21(6)4, 20(5)6,
30(12)5, 53(13)6
Phoenix—See Kakant \
Pindwa 42(10)6
Pingala (text book of prosody) 10(10)7
21122 20(11)7, 22(2)3, note (c). See note (४) to 11(8)5
Pingalé n&ri, 23(19)3 note (pp)
Places of pilgrimage, 604} (5)
Pleiades 866 Kachpachiya
Polo, 53(6) (8)
Portuguese, see Firangi
Pradumna, 51(6)6
Prasth&n, 32(11)5 note (£)
Prayfg see Payag
Premavati, 23(17) ,
Pul-i-sar&it 15(7)4. Note (J) to 15(7)4
Purén=Qur&n 1(8)1 note (18)
Puranas 10(10)8
Qaqnts see Kakant
Quran, 1(8)1 note (18), 1(12)4,8
Ra&dhiké, 35(9)4
hava see Rama Raghubir, 41(9)3 R&ginis, 43(14)
8, 43(13)
Rae i (eclipse), 8(2)4 note (4), 9(5)7 note (16), 10(4)5 note (d), 10(17)6 note (ec), 31(5)5, 31(12)2, 36(9)6, 45(2)1, 61(4)7
Rahu—Rohu (fish), 10(4)5 note (15), 41(7)5 note (9)
Raje (Saiyid), 1(20)6
Rakshas (Rakas), 33(4)2
Ram kund, 50(5)4
Rama, 10(6)2 note (24) 12(7)2, 33(7)
4, eto.
Ranthahbhaur, 42(3) 3 note (a), 42(6)8, 42(12)2
R&van, 2(2)2, 10(4)4 note (14), 10(6)2 note (24), etc.
Rice (varicties of), 45(4)
Roc (Ra&j-patkhi), 14(3}4, 33(10)2
Rohtas, 42(12)6
Rohu see Rahu
Romances of Madhumalati, Sapnavati etc. 23(17) note (i)
Rama (Turkey), 41(17)5, 42(10)3
एण, 43(10)3
Sahadeva 7(6)7 note (9), 38(1)2 note (8), 51(8)2
Sahasrab&hu, 10(4)5 note (16), 33(4)8 note (¢)
Sairandhi—Draupadi, 42(3)4 note (bd)
Saitgati (Satan), Envoy (1)6
Saiyid Salar 666 Taya Salar
Sajivan, 11(2)5 note (च), 23(19)8, 24(17)8
Sakti, 11(2)4 note (d), 24(17)8
Sakuntala, 21(2)6 note (e)
Salar, 53(15)5
Salar Kb&dim, (Jaisi’s friend), 1(22)3
Sam (31181 == 9४16), 41(17)5, 42(10)3
Sanichar, 41(13)4
Sankar (=Siva), 23(1)2, 25(11)2, 51(5)5
Sankha&sur, 47(4)6
Sankhint woman, 39(6)8 note (A), 40(2)
Sapnavatl, 23(17)
Sarada, 41(12)8
Sarag duvari, 23(22)7, sce Brahma- randhra
SarandIp, 2(1)5 note (a)
Sarasvati see Surasati
Sari Pas& Chaup&r
Sarja (Surja), 44(1)6 etc.
Sati न, 15(8)3, 21(6)7, 24(15)1,
Sarwan, 31(4)6 note (द), 31(10)3
Satan, see Saitanu
Satruhan, 51(6)5
16(6)4,
Saw at Prayag, 10(2)7 sote :(&, 10(8)8, 50(4)5
Script, 1(1)2 note (a}, 1(24)1 ००५९. (8); 8(8)1, note (22), 40(2)1 note fa);
Sects, 2(6) note (33)
Sendur see Vermilion
Senwar see Stmal
Ses, 22(1)3, 34(7)7 note (+), 41({2)6, 42(2)7,53(9)4 4
Setubandh, 33(7)4 note (1), 34{17)4, 41(7)4, 41(9)3, 43{16)2, 56(3)9
Sevitl (Svati), 12(14)9 note (v), 30(7)5, etc.
Sham see Sam
Shankar see Sankar
Sher Shah, 1(13)—(17)
Siddha, 2(6)8 note (83), 22(6), 24(2)1 note (€) 25(8)}8
Siddhi, 2(6)8 note (33)
Siddhi पह, 23(1)] note (2), 27(6)5, 2'7(25)5, 27(4)2
Sikandar see Alexander
Sikandarnama, see note (€) to 51(3)2
Simal (Silk-cotton tree), 8(7)5 notes (20) and (p)
Singhaldip (Sitnhaladvip&), 2{1)) note (1) Singér (16 elegances) Note (४) ta 27(6)9, 40(5) and note (d) to 40/4) SinghinI woman (for Sankhini), 40(2) note (a)
Siri Panchami see Sri Panchami
9112, 33(5)4, 34(9)6, 34(18)1 note (é)
Soh&g (two meanings), 8(7)7 note (21), 10(2)8 note (9), 23(16)2 ete.
80111 see Suhela
Solomon (Sulaim&n) 1(13)6 note (32), 42(6)3, 47(5)1
Son (river), 49(17)4
Sraman see Sarwan
Sri panchaml, 16(4)5 note (3), 20(1)1, 30(13)1 note (y)
Suhela (Canopus), 19(1)9 note (a), sec Agast
Stk—Sukra, 1(21)3 note (57), 25(10)4 note (%), 41(13)4
—— (Sushumngz), 23(19)3 note
Pp
Sulaim&n see Solomon
Sumeru, 18(7)5, 34(3)4, 34(7)7, note (१), 34(10)3 note (1), 50(5)5
Surajkund, 50(5)2
Surasari (Ganges), 40(10)6
SurasatierSarasvati (goddess), 38(4)6, 41(12)8
Surasati (river), 10{2)4 note (7)
Surasati (mother of Ratansen), 31(4)1l
Surja see Sarja
Sushumné ४, Sukhaman
Vi
"भ $8(8) Titar (pertridge), 5(7)3 note (18), note (19)
1.4 ७ T ४ ~ (Tari) (Yogic contemplation) )3, (pp)
Turk ( » ENnVO Mek) 1(24)4 note (11), 42(10)4. See also Rumi
Udayagiri, 42({10)6 note (w), 42(12)7
Umar (Khalifa), 1{12)3 note (25)
Uria& (Orisss), 42(10)5
Uaha, 10(4)5 note (2), 23(23)3, 4 aman (Khalifa), 1(12)4 note (25)
Vali eve Bali
Vanasur see Banasur
Vararuci see Bararuci
Vasant see Basant
Vasuki
Basuki Vedas 3(5)8, 10{10)5, 9, 14(4)8, 24(1)3,
26{12)1, 26(13)1, 26(14)7, 38(1)4
Venus (planet), see Sak
Vormilion, 28(13)1 note (z)
Vibhishan see Bibhishan
Vikram (Vikramaditya) seo Bikram
Yishne see Bisun
Vyikaran (grammar), 10(10)8
Vyas see Biyks
Wheat, 32(7)5 note (f)
Witchcraft, 31(11)3 note (४), $8(3), 49(2) @
Yakshini see Jakhini
Yama see Jama
Yogi 2(6)7 note (33)—trappings of 12(1) note (a), 26(2), 50(2), 56{8), &1(2)6,7
Yogini (female Yogi), 50{1)6 ete.
Yogini (witch), 43({4)4 note (e)
Yoginis, 32(8)9 note (g), 32(9)(10), $2(11)3 note (7)
Yudhisthir 51(6)3
Yusuf (Malik)—Jaisi’s friend 1(22)2
Zodiac, signs of, 32(12)
Zulkaran (Zu’lqarnain), title of Alexander, 1(13)6 note (31)