Candishataka 16

16

sā devī vaḥ śriye'stu . sā kā . yayā arau mahiṣākhye śatrau piṣṭe cū-
rṇite sati jayā tatpratīhārī naṣṭaṃ mahiṣabhayātpalāyitaṃ dyujanamindrādyamiti
jahāsa . itīti kim . he hare indra athavā viṣṇo, te tava bhīrbhayaṃ kiṃ
jātā . atha vā yuktametat . yato'vaśyameva mahiṣato harīṇāṃ bhīrbhavati .
atra hariśabdo'śvavācakaḥ . kiṃ cādya indoścandrasya dvau kalaṅkau jātau . eka-
stāvatsahajaḥ, dvitīyastu mahiṣayuddhe palāyanānnindārūpaḥ . apāṃ patirvaruṇa-
ścandraṃ naṣṭamālokya dhairya tyajati kātaro bhavati . ucitametat . apāṃpatiḥ
samudraścandramālokya dhairya tyajedvelābhimukhaṃ prasaret . he vāyo, tvayānyaḥ
kampyaḥ kampanīyaḥ, tvaṃ tu svayaṃ kampasa iti bhāvaḥ . api ca he yama, ma-
hiṣādātmayugyaṃ svavāhanaṃ naya apasāraya . mahiṣo mahiṣāntaraṃ dṛṣṭvā krudhya-
tīti bhāvaḥ..
śūlaprotādupāttaplutamahi mahiṣādutpatantyā sravantyā
varmanyārajyamāne sapadi makhabhujāṃ jātasaṃdhyāpramohaḥ .
nṛtyanhāsena matvā vijayamahamahaṃ mānayāmītivādī
yāmāśliṣya pranṛttaḥ punarapi purabhitpārvatī pātu sā vaḥ ..16..

May that goddess be for your prosperity. Which goddess? Through whom, when the enemy named Mahiṣa was crushed, pulverized, Jayā, her female door-keeper, laughed at the gods, Indra and the others, who had fled, run away out of fear of Mahiṣa. “Thus”—how? “O Hari—Indra, or else Viṣṇu—has fear arisen in you? Or rather, this is fitting, since fear must surely arise from a buffalo for *hari*s.” Here the word *hari* signifies a horse [or lion]. “Moreover, today two blemishes have appeared on the moon: one is inborn, and the second is in the form of reproach for fleeing in the battle with Mahiṣa. The Lord of Waters, Varuṇa, seeing the moon fled, loses his composure, becomes cowardly. This is fitting: the ocean, the lord of waters, seeing the moon, loses its composure, rushes toward the shoreline. O Vāyu, another should be made to tremble by you; but you yourself are trembling—this is the meaning. Furthermore: O Yama, lead away, remove your own mount, your vehicle, from the buffalo; for a buffalo becomes enraged upon seeing another buffalo—this is the sense.”

When the path of the gods was suddenly reddened by the rushing river of blood
squirting from the buffalo transfixed upon the trident, with the earth nearby inundated,
having the delusion that twilight had arrived, dancing, and then realizing with a laugh:
“I am honoring the festival of victory!”—and having spoken, embracing whom the Destroyer of the Cities danced again: may that Pārvatī protect you! || 16