A History of Sanskrit Literature c21.s9.3.1

c21.s9.3.1

The description of the doorkeeper,¹ a maiden, in the *Kādambarī* exhibits his normal style: *ekadā tu nātidūrodite navanalinadalasaṃpuṭabhidi kiṃcidunmuktapāṭalimni bhagavati sahasramarīcimālini rājānam āsthānamaṇḍapagataṃ aṅganājanaviruddhena vāmapārçvāvalambinā kaukṣeyakeṇa saṁnihitaviṣadhāreva candanalatā bhīṣaṇaramaṇīyākṛtir aviralacandanānulepanadhavalitastanataṭonmajjadairāvatakumbhamaṇḍaleva mandākinī cūḍāmaṇipratibimbacchalena rājājñeva mūrtimatī rājabhiḥ çirobhir uhyamānā çarad iva kalahaṃsadhavalāmbarā jāmadagnyaparaçudhāreva vaçīkṛtasakalarājamaṇḍalā vindhyavanabhūmir iva vetralatāvatī rājyādhidevateva vigrahiṇī pratīhārī samupasṛtya kṣititalanihitajānukarakamalā savinayam abravīt.* 'Once, when the sun, garlanded with a thousand rays, bursting open the fresh lotus buds, relaxing something of his ruddy hue, had risen no great space in the sky, to the king seated in the presence chamber, came the keeper of the door, and with bent knee and lotus-like hand touching the ground addressed his majesty. Her form was lovely, yet dread, even as a sandal plant wherein lurks a snake, by reason of the sword which she wore at her left side, belying her womanhood; she was as it were the Ganges, her bosom whitened by sandal showing like the temples of Airāvata as he emerges from his bath; through her reflection in their crest jewels she was as it were an embodiment of the king’s order, borne on the heads of obedient princes;