2023-02-23 18:48:55 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
THE SÜRYASATAKA OF MAYŪRA
153
the Cold-rayed (Moon), distil water, [but if] deprived of the rays of the
Moon, they become dry.' This curious belief-that the moonstone distils
water-is, I have been told, mentioned in Suśruta, 1. 173. 1; cf. the Rajani-
ghantu of Narahari, varga 13, stanzas 211, 212, 213 (p. 27, 28 and 90, with
footnote 4, of Die indischen Mineralien, under which title R. Garbe has
translated varga 13 of the Rajanighantu, Leipzig, 1882). Garbe classifies
the candrakanta, 'moonstone,' as a species of feldspar. We are familiar
with this stone in jewel ornamentation of the present day, and the finest
specimens come from Ceylon. 6. Lit. layena means 'by the melting.'
7. The moon is often called 'Lord of Plants'; and certain plants, espe-
cially the night-blooming varieties, were supposed to wither when the
moonlight faded; cf. stanza 5, notes 2 and 3. 8. The epithet Endika,
'Deer-marked,' is perhaps applied to the moon with reference to the dark
spot, shaped somewhat like a prancing four-footed animal, that may be
seen on the disk of the full moon. The term as applied to the moon is
seemingly of late origin, not being found in Sörensen's Index to the Names
in the Mahabharata, nor in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance, nor in the
index to Macdonell's Vedic Mythology. Modern representations picture
the Moon as being conveyed in a chariot drawn by a deer; cf. Moor,
Hindu Pantheon, pl. 49. The Moon is also called Safanka, 'Hare-marked';
cf. stanza 42, note 7.
V.L. (a) J aralaiś candra-, K avantaif, which is explained by işat salila-
bindusravibhir, 'slightly distilling drops of water'; H vanndrakamtais;
V catatimirataya, HB cutatimirataya; VJHB bhanavāt tārakāṇām. (d)
HB prabhataki; J nitaran tävad.
38
sānāu sā nāudaye nā 'ruṇitadalapunaryāuvanānām vanānām
ālim alīḍhapūrvā parihṛtakuharopāntanimnā tanimnā
bhā vo bhāvopaśāntim diśatu dinapater bhāsamānā 'samānā
rājī rājīvareņoḥ samasamayam udetī 'va yasyā vayasyā
The¹ splendor of (Sürya), Lord of Day, after first licking, on
Udaya's (Meru's) summit,³
The row of trees that [forthwith appear to] have a renewal of
youth by reason of their leaves' being tinged with red,
Penetrates, because of its thinness, the depths and corners of
cavernous places,
And with it there rises at the same time, like an attendant com-
panion, a streak of the pollen of the blue lotus.
May the gleaming, matchless splendor of (Sürya), Lord of Day,
bestow on you cessation of rebirths'!
153
the Cold-rayed (Moon), distil water, [but if] deprived of the rays of the
Moon, they become dry.' This curious belief-that the moonstone distils
water-is, I have been told, mentioned in Suśruta, 1. 173. 1; cf. the Rajani-
ghantu of Narahari, varga 13, stanzas 211, 212, 213 (p. 27, 28 and 90, with
footnote 4, of Die indischen Mineralien, under which title R. Garbe has
translated varga 13 of the Rajanighantu, Leipzig, 1882). Garbe classifies
the candrakanta, 'moonstone,' as a species of feldspar. We are familiar
with this stone in jewel ornamentation of the present day, and the finest
specimens come from Ceylon. 6. Lit. layena means 'by the melting.'
7. The moon is often called 'Lord of Plants'; and certain plants, espe-
cially the night-blooming varieties, were supposed to wither when the
moonlight faded; cf. stanza 5, notes 2 and 3. 8. The epithet Endika,
'Deer-marked,' is perhaps applied to the moon with reference to the dark
spot, shaped somewhat like a prancing four-footed animal, that may be
seen on the disk of the full moon. The term as applied to the moon is
seemingly of late origin, not being found in Sörensen's Index to the Names
in the Mahabharata, nor in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance, nor in the
index to Macdonell's Vedic Mythology. Modern representations picture
the Moon as being conveyed in a chariot drawn by a deer; cf. Moor,
Hindu Pantheon, pl. 49. The Moon is also called Safanka, 'Hare-marked';
cf. stanza 42, note 7.
V.L. (a) J aralaiś candra-, K avantaif, which is explained by işat salila-
bindusravibhir, 'slightly distilling drops of water'; H vanndrakamtais;
V catatimirataya, HB cutatimirataya; VJHB bhanavāt tārakāṇām. (d)
HB prabhataki; J nitaran tävad.
38
sānāu sā nāudaye nā 'ruṇitadalapunaryāuvanānām vanānām
ālim alīḍhapūrvā parihṛtakuharopāntanimnā tanimnā
bhā vo bhāvopaśāntim diśatu dinapater bhāsamānā 'samānā
rājī rājīvareņoḥ samasamayam udetī 'va yasyā vayasyā
The¹ splendor of (Sürya), Lord of Day, after first licking, on
Udaya's (Meru's) summit,³
The row of trees that [forthwith appear to] have a renewal of
youth by reason of their leaves' being tinged with red,
Penetrates, because of its thinness, the depths and corners of
cavernous places,
And with it there rises at the same time, like an attendant com-
panion, a streak of the pollen of the blue lotus.
May the gleaming, matchless splendor of (Sürya), Lord of Day,
bestow on you cessation of rebirths'!