Candishataka 44

44

kātyāyanyā kesariskandhabhitterupari viśrāntyai kṣaṇaṃ dhṛtaṃ pādapadmaṃ yuṣmānpā-
tu . kathaṃbhūtaṃ pādapadmam . tatkesarālīḥ siṃhaskandhasaṭā bibhrat . punaḥ . ali-
vanmukharo vācālo raṇanūpuro yatra tat . padme hi kesarairbhramaraiśca bhāvyam .
kiṃ kṛtvā . ātmanaiva tridaśaripumahādaityadehopahāraṃ dattvā . kathaṃbhūtamupahā.
ram . sthūlātramālāvaliḥ sa eva vighaso bhojanaśeṣastena hasantyo ghas2rāḥ
pretakāntā yatra . niḥsārā ātrāvalirevāsadarthamavaśeṣitā devyeti preta-
kāntānāṃ hāsakāraṇam ..
kopenevāruṇatvaṃ dadhada1dhikatarālakṣyalākṣārasaśrīḥ
śliṣyacchṛṅgāgrakoṇakvaṇitamaṇitulākoṭihuṃkāragarbhaḥ .
pratyāsannātmamṛtyupratibhayamasurairīkṣito hantvarīnvaḥ
pādo devyāḥ kṛtānto'para iva mahiṣasyopariṣṭāniviṣṭaḥ..44..

May Kātyāyanī's lotus-foot, held for a moment upon the wall of the lion's shoulder for rest, protect you! Of what sort was the lotus-foot? Bearing the lines of its filaments (*kesara*), that is, the manes on the lion's shoulder; and again, having tinkling anklets that were noisy, humming, like bees (*ali*). For a lotus must have filaments and bees! Having done what? Having herself offered the sacrifice of the great Daitya's body, the enemy of the thirty [gods]. What kind of sacrifice? In which the voracious beloved wives of the ghosts laughed over the leavings, the food remnants, which were the coils of his thick mass of entrails. The reason for the ghost-wives' laughter was that only the worthless mass of entrails was left behind by the Goddess for their sake.

Bearing redness as if from rage, its beauty of lac-dye made even more visible,
holding within it a hum of 'huṃ' from the gemmed anklet sounded by the plectrum of the tip of his clinging horn,
beheld by the Asuras as terrifying like their own approaching death—
may the Goddess's foot, resting upon Mahiṣa like a second Yama, destroy your foes! || 44