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186
 
THE SŪRYAŚATAKA OF MAYŪRA
 
thongs of a yoke, as if to devour.' For Garuda's diet of snakes, cf. stanza
47, note 3. 3. The sun's beauty, and so also the beauty of his car, is
revealed as that luminary breaks through a cloud. The two parts of the
cloud then appear to be like wings of the sun. 4. Aruna's pleasure is
natural, since he is the brother of Garuda, and driver of the car; cf.
stanza 8, note I. 5. As was pointed out above (stanza 47, note 3),
meaning of hari,
 
Garuda was the vehicle of Vişnu. For other puns on
cf. stanza 51, note 1.
 
V.L. (c) HB -rayaprinita (with dental nasal).
 
65 (69 in VJHBK)
 
ekāhenāiva dīrghām tribhuvanapadavim langhayan yo laghi-
ṣṭhaḥ
 
prsthe meror garīyān dalitamanidṛṣattvimṣi pimşañ śirāmsi
sarvasyäivopariṣṭād atha ca punar adhastäd ivä 'stādrimūrdhni
bradhnasyā 'vyāt sa evam duradhigamaparispandanaḥ syan-
dano vaḥ
 
The¹ car of Bradhna (Sürya) [is] very light, [for] it verily tra-
verses in one day the long path of the three worlds,
 
[Yet it is also] very heavy, [for] on the top of Meru it crushes
the summits which [consequently] sparkle with pulverized
precious stones²;
 
Moreover it is above the universe, and yet is also, as it were,
beneath [it] when on the summit of the Sunset Mountain.³
May this car of Bradhna (Sürya), whose movements are thus
so inscrutable, protect you!
 
Notes. I. This stanza is no. 69 in VJHBK; cf. Introd., p. 83. 2.
For Meru's composition of gold and precious stones, see stanza I, note 4
3. The astādri, Sunset Mountain,' behind which the sun was supposed to
set, is mentioned frequently in the Mahabharata; cf. e.g. 1.3. 52; many
other references are given in Sörensen's Index to the Names in the
Mahabharata; cf. also stanza 42, note 11. 4. Lit. parispandanaḥ means
'throbbing,' 'vibration.' I have rendered as movements. The move-
ments, or nature, of Sürya's car are inscrutable, because it is both light
and heavy, both above and beneath.
 
"
 
"
 
V.L. (a) K kṛtsnäm tribhuvana-, V dirghaḥstribhuvana-. (b) H -dṛśat-
tvimşi, VB -dṛśattvimşi. (c) VJHB yaḥ sarvasyopariştad atha ca. (d)
V -parispandanaḥ (with lingual sibilant), HB -parişyandanaḥ.