A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s6.45

v3.c35.s6.45

But the moment she comes near Aja, her heart throbs and after a show of maidenly bashfulness she throws the garland about his neck, thus selecting him for her husband. After her marriage, however, the rejected princes leave behind their presents and withdraw with a cheerful face, concealing their feeling of disappointment “like clear lakes, sheltering crocodiles in their depths” (VII, 30). On the way home Aja is attacked by these disgruntled princes and there ensues a bloody battle, the description whereof offers the poet an occasion for many splendid similes. To him the battle field appears like Death's drinking stall, where the heads of the slain enemies are the fruits, their dropped helmets, the drinking cups and the stream of blood flowing from them, the liquor (VI, 40). Then the poet depicts in beautiful verses the ideal administration of Aja after his coronation, and his happy family-life, that is blessed with the birth of a son, Daśaratha. One day while the king is walking with his wife in the park, suddenly a garland of heavenly flowers falls from nowhere on the breasts of the queen and she drops dead. The pathetic bewailing of the king on the demise of his beloved wife (VIII, 44-69) along with the previous description of the death of Indumatī with flowers and the following narration of how Aja too with a broken heart dies is one of the gems of Indian poetry, such as since has long been welcomed into German literature through the translation of Friedrich Ruckert. Here are quoted some of the verses from Ruckert's retranslation into English :