2023-02-23 18:48:51 by ambuda-bot
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THE SŪRYASATAKA OF MAYŪRA
141
as grammatical peculiarities that adadhyat is in the active voice, and that
it is an optative (instead of the more usual precative or imperative) to
express benediction.
V.L. (a) HB -gurvi. (b) -käntāvabhasam. (c) K adeyat andhakare,
Saraṇadeva (see note 12) adheyat; K avahan ikṣaṇānām.
26 (27 in J)
jyotsnāmśākarṣapāṇḍudyuti timiramaṣīśeṣakalmāṣam īṣaj
jṛmbhodbhūtena pingam sarasijarajasā samdhyayā śoṇaśociḥ
prātaḥ prārambhakāle sakalam iva jagaccitram unmilayanti
kāntis tīkṣṇatviṣo kṣṇām mudam upanayatāt tūlikevā 'tulāṁ
vaḥ
At¹ the time when dawn begins, the splendor of the Hot-rayed
(Sürya), like a painter's brush,³
Portrays, as it were, the whole universe <in various colors>,
[like] <a picture> ;
For it [the universe] is of a white luster through its having ap-
propriated particles of moonlight; it is mottled with black
owing to the remnants of the ink of darkness;
Is yellow because of the lotus-pollen that is [just] becoming
visible through the slight expansion® [of the petals]; and
possesses a red glow by reason of the [dawn]-twilight.
May the splendor of the Hot-rayed (Sürya) bring unbounded
joy to your eyes!
Notes. 1. In J this stanza is no. 27, no. 29 of the Kävyamālā text ap-
pearing as no. 26 in J. The resultant order in J is therefore 25, 29, 26, 27,
28, 30, 31, etc. For other changes in the order of the stanzas cf. Introd.,
p. 83. I have adopted throughout the order of stanzas that is given in
the Kävyamālā edition. 2. Lit. 'at dawn, at the time of the beginning.'
3. There is presented here the simile of a painting. The universe is the
canvas, and Sürya's splendor is the paint-brush. The colors are the white
of fading moonlight, the black, or gray, of departing night, the yellow of
the lotus-pollen, and the red of dawn. For a list of the more noteworthy
similes in the Süryaśataka, see stanza 14, note 1. 4. Or, if instead of
-äkarşapāṇḍu- we read -äkṛtsnapāṇḍu-, which the commentary and J offer
as a variant, we should render 'is of a whitish color (lit. a color not all
white), etc.' This, the commentary informs us, is due to the littleness
(i.e. the dimness) of the moonlight.' 5. The gray vestiges of departing
night are meant. 6. Lit. 'lotus-pollen proceeding from the slight ex-
pansion.'
141
as grammatical peculiarities that adadhyat is in the active voice, and that
it is an optative (instead of the more usual precative or imperative) to
express benediction.
V.L. (a) HB -gurvi. (b) -käntāvabhasam. (c) K adeyat andhakare,
Saraṇadeva (see note 12) adheyat; K avahan ikṣaṇānām.
26 (27 in J)
jyotsnāmśākarṣapāṇḍudyuti timiramaṣīśeṣakalmāṣam īṣaj
jṛmbhodbhūtena pingam sarasijarajasā samdhyayā śoṇaśociḥ
prātaḥ prārambhakāle sakalam iva jagaccitram unmilayanti
kāntis tīkṣṇatviṣo kṣṇām mudam upanayatāt tūlikevā 'tulāṁ
vaḥ
At¹ the time when dawn begins, the splendor of the Hot-rayed
(Sürya), like a painter's brush,³
Portrays, as it were, the whole universe <in various colors>,
[like] <a picture> ;
For it [the universe] is of a white luster through its having ap-
propriated particles of moonlight; it is mottled with black
owing to the remnants of the ink of darkness;
Is yellow because of the lotus-pollen that is [just] becoming
visible through the slight expansion® [of the petals]; and
possesses a red glow by reason of the [dawn]-twilight.
May the splendor of the Hot-rayed (Sürya) bring unbounded
joy to your eyes!
Notes. 1. In J this stanza is no. 27, no. 29 of the Kävyamālā text ap-
pearing as no. 26 in J. The resultant order in J is therefore 25, 29, 26, 27,
28, 30, 31, etc. For other changes in the order of the stanzas cf. Introd.,
p. 83. I have adopted throughout the order of stanzas that is given in
the Kävyamālā edition. 2. Lit. 'at dawn, at the time of the beginning.'
3. There is presented here the simile of a painting. The universe is the
canvas, and Sürya's splendor is the paint-brush. The colors are the white
of fading moonlight, the black, or gray, of departing night, the yellow of
the lotus-pollen, and the red of dawn. For a list of the more noteworthy
similes in the Süryaśataka, see stanza 14, note 1. 4. Or, if instead of
-äkarşapāṇḍu- we read -äkṛtsnapāṇḍu-, which the commentary and J offer
as a variant, we should render 'is of a whitish color (lit. a color not all
white), etc.' This, the commentary informs us, is due to the littleness
(i.e. the dimness) of the moonlight.' 5. The gray vestiges of departing
night are meant. 6. Lit. 'lotus-pollen proceeding from the slight ex-
pansion.'