[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Epic, Poetry, Drama & Narrative](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit) › [Poetry (mahākāvya, lyric, messenger poems, stotra, Prakrit kāvya)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya) › [Court epics (sargabandha)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya) › [Śiva, Pārvatī, Skanda and Devī epics](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva) › [The Birth of Kumāra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava) › 5.15 # The Birth of Kumāra 5.15 Kumārasaṃbhava 5.15 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [5.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava.5.15) araṇyabījāñjalidānalālitāstathā ca tasyāṃ hariṇā viśaśvasuḥ | yathā tadīyairnayanaiḥ kutūhalātpuraḥ sakhīnāmamimīta locane || > Still to her purpose resolutely true, > Her string of noble pearls aside she threw. > Which, slipping here and there, had rubbed away > The sandal dust that on her bosom lay, > And clad her in a hermit coat of bark, > Rough to her gentle limbs, and gloomy dark, > Pressing too tightly, till her swelling breast > Broke into freedom through the unwonted vest. > Her matted hair was full as lovely now > As when 'twas braided o'er her polished brow; > Thus do the beauties of the Lotus shine > When bees festoon it in a graceful line, > And, though the tangled weeds that crown the rill > Cling o'er it closely, it is lovely still. > With zone of grass the Votaress was bound, > Which reddened the fair form it girdled round; > Never before the Lady's waist had felt > The ceaseless torment of so rough a belt. > Alas! her weary vow has caused to fade > The lovely colours that adorned the Maid; > Pale is her hand, and her long finger-tips > Steal no more splendour from her paler lips, > Or, from the ball which in her play would rest, > Made bright and fragrant, on her perfumed breast; > Rough with the Sacred Grass those hands would be, > And worn with resting on her rosary. > Cold earth her couch—her canopy the skies— > Pillowed upon her arm the Lady lies; > She who before was wont to rest her head > In the soft luxury of a sumptuous bed, > Vext by no troubles as she slumbered there, > But sweet flowers slipping from her loosened hair. > The Maid put off, but only for awhile, > Her passioned glances and her witching smile, > She lent the fawn her moving, melting gaze, > And the fond creeper all her winning ways. > The trees that blossomed on that lonely mount > She watered daily from the neighbouring fount. > If she had been their nursing mother, she > Could not have tended them more carefully; > (Not e'en her boy—her own bright boy—shall stay > Her love for them; her first dear children they). > Her gentleness had made the fawns so tame. > To her kind hand for fresh sweet grain they came, > And let the Maid before her friends compare > Her own with eyes that shone as softly there. > — Ralph T. H. Griffith 1853, The Birth of the War-God (cantos 1–7) - [Previous: 5.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava.5.14) - [Next: 5.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava.5.16) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava.5) ## Translations (1) - [The Birth of the War-God (cantos 1–7)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava~en-griffith.5.p3) — Ralph T. H. Griffith 1853, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava.5.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.mahakavya.saiva.kumarasambhava.5.15) · Pramāṇa