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Samayamatrika 7

English (machine translation) 7

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English

7.1

Seventh Chapter / The Paramour's Union / Then slowly arrived the splendid season marked by blossoms, / bringing new-born love to life, / making the creepers embrace like young women, / its brow adorned with beauty.

7.2

As if noticing that the abundance of lovers' pleasure / was dependent on another, / the sun resorted to the region of the lord of wealth [the north].

7.3

Sighing with the southern breeze, / pale with gleaming blossoms, / yawning as it were, the slender creepers / became filled with longing.

7.4

When the ancient god of five arrows had been burnt in anger by the enemy of Andhaka, / the king of seasons, a creator-god, / fashioned a new god of love.

7.5

With the stumbling calls of cuckoos, / singing through the hum of bees, / the rows of forest trees shone splendid, / intoxicated by spring like courtesans drunk on wine.

7.6

Seeing that the creepers, in union with rows of fresh tender shoots, / took pleasure in the playful marks made by fingernail tips, / the faces of the groves of land-lotuses, embraced by the intoxication of spring, / turned red as if from jealousy.

7.7

Leaving far behind the old, cold season, emaciated by wasting away, / abandoning the chill and repeatedly embracing young Spring, dear to her heart / and full of intense passion, the beauty of the gardens hugged him like a youth: / for women seeking their own purpose generally have no fixed rule regarding age.

7.8

Then, after two or three trips back and forth made by the barber messenger, / though she falsely feigned refusal / regarding the taking or not taking of the boy,

7.9

Kalāvatī, having accepted the wealth after some supplication, / engaged in self-adornment at dusk / and prepared herself for the rendezvous.

7.10

On her cheek, clear curving sprouts and leaves drawn in musk,
on her forehead, a camphor tilaka at the edge of her cluster of curls,
upon her body, saffron's luster adhering, blended with golden brilliance—
such was her decoration, wondrously charming and sweet.

7.11

"A witness to the lovemaking of experienced paramours, I am not fit
for the union of a child," her girdle, drooping in modesty, seemed to say to her.

7.12

Captivating was the creeper of her body, adorned with a necklace was her breast,
and captivating was her gaze, sporting with Smara.

7.13

Meanwhile, the merchant's son entered the courtesan's house,
surrounded by local residents eager for impending gain.

7.14

He wore thick golden earrings inlaid with pearls clinging to his ears;
both his ears suffered distress from the burden of so much gold.

7.15

In the middle of his necklace rested four golden amulets;
his topknot was marked with mustard seeds placed by his mother's hand.

7.16

He wore two silver anklets fitted around his feet,
resplendent with large rounded beads of lapis lazuli.

7.17

Repeatedly gathering up the trailing border of his slipping garment,
he hissed through his teeth, his mouth scorched by betel heavy with lime.

7.18

Having entered the bright chamber, he respectfully looked into the mirror
at Kalāvatī, who was like the night adorned and lovely with the moon's digit.

7.19

"How could this boy, fit only for pampering, partake in lovemaking?"
thus her breast seemed to smile through the pearl necklace.

7.20

Seven grand rakes entered before him, acting as officiating priests
who had made this moment their opportunity for his initiation into the loss of wealth:

7.21

Nirguṭa, known as Kṣīṇasāra; the clerk Kamalākara;
Recaka, the dance-master; Kṣuṇṇapāṇi, the weigher;

7.22

the astrologer Siṃhagupta; the physician's son named Tikta;
Kaṭi; and Kuṭilaka—bees to the lotus of enjoyment.

7.23

Instructed outside by the rakes in the proper manner of approaching a courtesan,
he entered and sat down beside the lovely woman like an experienced lover.

7.24

Covering half his nose with his cloth, he produced witty banter
that was untimely, harsh, and loud, recited like the chanting of a parrot.

7.25

Then Kaṅkālī entered, took a higher seat,
and, to gratify them, uttered deceitful praise before the rakes:

7.26

"Blessed is this splendid boy, whose company you share;
acquaintance with you is obtained only by the ripening of good deeds.

7.27

Though he is a child, we hold him to be an exceptional paramour;
even as a tender babe, the thousand-rayed sun makes the lotus-cluster bloom."

7.28

When the circle of rakes was thus won over by the bawd with words of praise,
the ground quickly became red with the betel spit.

7.29

Then Kālī, Kalāvatī's nurse, named Vetālikā,
agitated with joy at the moment for presenting betel, said:

7.30

"Very small is this retinue of ours waiting here, longing for betel;
we do not possess an innumerable company like other courtesans.

7.31

Noble-minded Kaṅka here, of divine appearance, is worthy of first honor;
through his consideration, Kalāvatī was easily won, though hard to attain.

7.32

The sea-shell seller named Kamala deserves honor first;
he is worthy of respect as if an uncle, to be venerated by our giving him a maiden.

7.33

This man took the funeral gifts for Kalāvatī's father;
he is a strict ascetic who yesterday acquired […] power on the festive day.

7.34

This is Kapila, son of the governor of the region, named Kalaśa;
he is the spirit-distiller who supplies liquor, Kalāvatī's spiritual brother.

7.35

This man named Mṛdaṅgodara is the husband of Kalāvatī's sister;
her maternal uncle is named Kalaha, and his brother is Bindusāra.

7.36

This is Kalāvatī, the nurse of Kalāyuṣ, the adopted son
of Kalāvatī; and that one is her husband, Rugṇacandra.

7.37

This is Kāmba, son of a Bhāgavata, expert in the terminology of Bharata;
and this singer is Kharadāsa, favorite of the prime minister.

7.38

This is the cook named Nigila, and Karpara the potter;
this parasol-bearer is Baka, and Khañjana the carriage driver.

7.39

This twice-born man is Ratiśarman, who performs apotropaic rites for courtesans;
this gardener is Karāla, and Kīlavarta the boatman.

7.40

This garden-keeper is Kanda, and the florist named Mukula;
this leatherworker is Varmadatta, the washer of torn cloaks.

7.41

And outside sits an outcaste woman shouting, named Ghargharā;
and the Dombba named Caṇḍarava, the storehouse watchman.

7.42

Betel must be given to these; and early in the morning it must be sent
to my friend Śambaramālā and to the guru Dambhabhūti."

7.43

Having said this, with minds fixed on plundering the areca nuts,
the bardic women, having entered the houses of various courtesans,
tottering from drinking copious amounts of wine,
went back and forth, honoring them with gifts of betel.

7.44

Then, as if utterly disgusted by the drunken rakes
boasting of impossible deeds, the night departed under the pretext of incense-smoke.

7.45

"I am the king's right arm in battle; / all the kingdom rests within my reed-pen;
so long as I remain, the Nāṭyaśāstra endures; / my scales yield the fortune of Kubera.

7.46

I know the affairs of the three worlds through astronomy; / I alone treated Bhoja;
I have won over kings with my fine verses"— / so they spoke, insolent with drunken pride.

7.47

Dismissed by Kalāvatī with the playful presentation of betel,
they departed, contemplating inwardly their future banqueting feasts.

7.48

Then the doe-eyed girl, taking the drunken boy with her,
the lotus beauty of her face smiling at the jokes of her attendants,
went to the couch spread with an immaculate silk sheet,
with its canopies stretched and pillows white as swans.

7.49

At her love-sport with the tender child, the lamps, their tips darkened by rising aloe smoke
and tottering violently from the collisions of heavy bees greedy for the floral perfume,
withdrew their flickering faces, as if out of shame.

7.49_1

Here ends the seventh chapter, named "The Paramour's Union",
in the Samayamātṛkā composed by Kṣemendra, also known as Vyāsadāsa.

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