Arjuna and the Hunter 4
English (machine translation) 4
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4.1
Then, beloved of the people, he approached the borderland, / whose girdle was the chattering geese and which bore the pale hue of ripe crops, / like a beloved woman who has attained youth.
4.2
He rejoiced on beholding the border lands, / rich with clusters of bowing rice stalks, / free from mud, with waters bearing lotuses, / whose autumn virtues were like an offered tribute.
4.3
The darting turns of the śaphari fish captivated his mind, / as if he were being watched by waters bewildered with wonder, / their lotus-eyes opened wide, / robbing the coquettish charm of his beloved’s gaze.
4.4
He was pleased to see the superior beauty of the rice in the water filled with lotuses; / in a fitting union, so very rare, / who would not rejoice at the perfection of beauty?
4.5
The water, thrown up high by the thrashing of a great pāṭhīna fish, / its filaments dispersed, / revealing a spread of foam, / dispelled his doubt regarding the land lotuses.
4.6
Slowly growing sluggish with calm speed, / the water marked wavy lines on the riverbanks; / beholding them, he took delight in the white sandy shores of the rivers, / looking like the rippling linen garments of the wives of the ocean.
4.7
Bringing the charming space between her brows / adorned with fine filament-pollen / into likeness with the bandhujīvaka flower, / through the beauty of her sprout-like lower lip, crimson with lac;
4.8
Making the lotus pollen, reddish like the morning sun, / applied repeatedly all around her heavy breasts, / glow with the rising goosebumps caused by sweat born of toil;
4.9
Adorning her ear-lotus, which touched her cheek, / with the brilliance of her eyes— / beholding this guardian girl of the winter rice, / the son of Pāṇḍu deemed the autumn to have fulfilled its purpose.
4.10
Having ceased their grazing of the late night, / unable to walk the earth swiftly, / the herds of cattle, their full udders dripping with milk, / full of eagerness, made him eager to look upon them.
4.11
Surrounded by the glory of victory in conquering other bulls, / bellowing loudly, breaking the river's bank, / he saw the bull, master of the herd, bearing autumnal vigor, / as if he were pride personified.
4.12
Slowly being vacated by herds of cattle, / as white as snowdrifts, / the sandbanks of the autumn rivers aroused his curiosity, / like the hips [of women] from which silk robes are slipping down.
4.13
The Pāṇḍava saw the cowherds beside their cattle, / who had formed a brotherly bond from birth with the beasts, / feeling forest-dwelling affection for their homes, / as if imitating the cows in their straightforwardness.
4.14
moving about with faces encircled by bee-like locks of hair, / displaying filament-like teeth through the rise of smiles, / coloured by the rays of swaying earrings, / lovely as lotuses touched by the morning sun;
4.15
their lower lips trembling with held-in breaths, / like creepers with a single quivering sprout, / their flanks thrown back and waists turned / by churning pulls delightful with the play of their hands;
4.16
while in the cowherds' courtyards the jars, driven repeatedly by the turns of the churns, / sounded deeply like drums, / intoxicating peacocks with doubts of thunderclaps / and maddening their hens;
4.17
he could not stop gazing at the cowherd women, / their heavy breasts heaving languidly, / the lotuses of their eyes drooping with exhaustion, / as though they were dancing courtesans.
4.18
He reached the roads that had shed their former crookedness, / their nearby wealth of crops grazed upon by bulls, / their thick mud furrowed by chariot-wheels, / laid open by continuous traffic.
4.19
Near the settlements he saw the village creepers, / smiling with blossoms, resembling the bowers of hermitages, / surrounded by people of blameless deeds / whose ornaments were pure inner feelings and modest gestures.
4.20
Then, seeing that his eyes were eager to behold the splendour of autumn's qualities, / the Yakṣa, though unprompted, spoke words to him; / for one who knows gestures never falters when the occasion arises:
4.21
“Like the auspicious course of destiny, fulfilling the world's actions with fruits, / may this autumn, with its clear waters and cloudless sky, / expand your splendour of victory, O Pārtha!
4.22
The grain attains beauty through ripening; the rivers, placidity; the earth, freedom from mud. / Through new qualities, the love firmly formed by familiarity / with the splendour of the rainy season has now been eclipsed.
4.23
No white birds fly across it, nor do rows of clouds bearing Indra’s bow; / nevertheless, the sky nourishes supreme splendour. / True beauty does not depend on artificial quality.
4.24
Now that the lord of the kadamba-scented wind has passed, / with their cloud-breasts pale with languor / and their golden necklaces of fleeting lightning-strings fallen away, / this thinness of the women of the quarters is far from unlovely.
4.25
Abandoning desire for the peacock’s call, now devoid of charm / since passion has departed, the ear turns to the cry of impassioned geese: / qualities are authoritative for affection, not mere familiarity.
4.26
These rice-plants, bearing heavy sheaves, turned tawny by the ripening of their grain, / bend down as if to smell the blooming blue lotus / indicated by fragrance in the water of the dikes.
4.27
Water, tinged with the lustre of lotus-fibres, / variegated by the beauty of lotus-petals, / and yellowed by radiant tips of rice, / resembles the molten bow of the serpent’s foe.
4.28
Warding off the pale pollen of saptapalāśa flowers / blown up by the wind like an upper garment, / with eyes like bāṇa flowers opened without blemish, / the women of the forest rows smile with blossoms.
4.29
Unkindled by lightning's fire, / its heat veiled by pieces of white clouds, / its intermediate space spread with sprays of water, / the sky's path is made pleasant by lotus-breezes.
4.30
The spotless quarters, emerging from the enclosure of clouds, / seem to hold a mutual conversation / woven by the cries of these white-winged birds / that hasten on, using them as their voice.
4.31
Eager for their calves, breaking rank from their herds, / returning to the cowpens from their pasture, / these cows, their udders ceaselessly dripping milk, / carry it as though presenting tribute.
4.32
The mother of the universe, the sole purifier of the world, / having approached the edge of the pen with her calves, / this herd of cows attains full radiance, / like an oblation conjoined with sacred mantras.
4.33
Intent upon the melodious singing of the cowherd women, / which surpasses the call of peacocks, / this herd of does, casting aside its excessive hunger, / does not approach the grain.
4.34
This stalk of rice, though bowing with its head, / is spurned by the lotus-plant, full of indifference; / drying up along with the water, / it turns pale as though tormented by the mind-born god.
4.35
Carried away by the wind that shakes the pollen of lotuses / and removes showers of raindrops, / these bees are unable to determine their path, / like the misbehaved upon the approach of calamities.
4.36
Carrying tawny ears of rice in beaks red as broken coral, / soft as manifest śirīṣa flowers, / this flock of parrots imitates / the beauty of Indra’s bow.
4.37
While he was speaking thus, not far off was seen / the king of mountains, veiling the disc of the sun, / like a mass of rain-clouds / whose radiance was white from shed water-burdens.
4.38
Reaching that mountain whose lower slopes were darkened by thick forest rows / and whose summit was white with masses of snow, Jiṣṇu recalled / the beauty of Balarāma, free from the flush of wine, / wearing a dark lower garment.
Commentaries (1)
- Ghaṇṭāpatha — Mallinātha Sūri, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Kirātārjunīya — Bhāravi, Sanskrit