Candishataka 71

71

itthamamunā prakāreṇa sadainyaṃ daityaiḥ samadaṃ saharṣa ca suraisnulyamevocyamānā
dānavaṃ mahiṣaṃ dārayantī rudrāṇī vo dāruṇaṃ duritaṃ dravayatu . itthaṃ katham .
he nistriṃśe nirdaye, urasaḥ, arthānmahiṣasya, viśasanaṃ te nocitam . he caṇḍi,
ghoraṃ karma mahiṣavadharūpamasya kṣipa . 'asu kṣepaṇe' . asyopari tvaṃ vrīḍāṃ
kuru . paśuvadhena lajjā bhavati . he dṛḍhahṛdaye, dṛḍhamaparādhasahiṣṇu hṛdayaṃ yasyā-
statsaṃbuddhau . amūni śastrāṇi muñca dūre parihara . itthaṃ daityairucyamānā . devai-
stu he caṇḍi, nistriṃśena khaḍgenorasaḥ, arthānmahiṣasya vakṣasaḥ, te viśasana-
mucitam . yato'sya karma ghoraṃ vartate . vrīḍāmasyopari tvaṃ kuru . yadi mahi-
ṣavadho na kriyate tadā mahatī vrīḍā tava bhaviṣyatīti bhāvaḥ . he dṛḍhahṛdaye
kaṭhinahṛdaye, amūni śastrāṇyasyopari muñca . sarvaiḥ śastrairyugapadeva prahara ..
1. "vismitāsmāṃstyaktvā'; 'vismitāsītyuktvā'. 2. 'jayā vaḥ'. 3. 'dṛḍha-
hṛdayam'.
3 catu
cakṣurdikṣu kṣipantyāścalitakamalinīcārukoṣābhitāgraṃ
mandradhvānānuyātaṃ jhaṭiti valayino muktabāṇasya pāṇeḥ .
caṇḍyāḥ savyāpasavyaṃ suraripuṣu śarānprerayantyā jayanti
truṭyantaḥ pīnabhāge stanavalanabharātsaṃdhayaḥ kañcukasya .. 71 ..

Thus, in this manner addressed simultaneously with piteousness by the Daityas and with exhilaration, with joy, by the gods,
may Rudrāṇī, tearing apart the Dānava Mahiṣa, dissolve your dreadful misfortune. How "thus"?
"O pitiless woman, cruel one, the slaughter of the chest—that is, of Mahiṣa—is not proper for you. O Caṇḍī, cast off his dreadful deed consisting of the slaughter of Mahiṣa—the root *as* in the sense of casting. Show shame before him; by killing a beast, shame arises. O hard-hearted woman—addressed to one whose heart firmly endures offenses—release, fling far away these weapons." Thus was she addressed by the Daityas. But by the gods:
"O Caṇḍī, the slaughter of his chest—that is, the breast of Mahiṣa—by the pitiless sword is proper for you, because his deed is dreadful. Show shame towards this—the meaning is: 'If the slaughter of Mahiṣa is not done, then great shame will be yours.' O firm-hearted woman, hard-hearted one, release these weapons upon him; strike simultaneously with all weapons!"
1. 'vismitāsmāṃstyaktvā'; 'vismitāsītyuktvā'. 2. 'jayā vaḥ'. 3. 'dṛḍhahṛdayam'.
34
As she casts her eye across the quarters, its tip matching the beauty of a fluttering lotus-calyx,
followed by a deep resonant sound from her braceleted hand immediately as it looses an arrow,
triumpant are the seams of Caṇḍī's bodice bursting across the swelling region
from the burden of her breasts shifting as she discharges arrows to left and right against the enemies of the gods. || 71