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270
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀṆA
by Bhagiratha, to purify the ashes of the sixty thousand sons of King
Sagara. In order to lessen the force of its fall, Siva caught it on his head
and checked its course by his matted locks. He afterwards sent it on its
way to earth by way of the Himalaya Mountain. This descent of the
Ganges disturbed the sage Jahnu as he was performing a sacrifice, and in
his anger he drank up its waters; but afterwards, relenting, he allowed
the river to flow from his ear; hence the Ganges is called Jähnavi,
'Daughter of Jahnu'; cf. Mahabharata, 3. 108-109; Ramayana, 1. 43. 35-38;
Moor, Hindu Pantheon, pl. 7, 9, 11; John Dowson, A Classical Dictionary
of Hindu Mythology, p. 108, London, 1879. 3. Lit. 'is victorious, appro-
priating this beauty.' 4. I have treated the compound asurasädäna-
nişkaryam as a śleşa, and have given it a double rendering, following the
suggestion of the commentary, which reads: 'Just as anyone, having
crushed lac with his foot, and having extracted its juice, throws away the
sapless part, so Devi (Candi), having taken the life, which corresponds to
the juice [in lac], threw away Mahişa.' For a similar conception, cf.
stanza 39, note 4.
5. A similar omission of the benediction occurs in
stanzas 4, 21, 33, 38, 54, 71 and 102. In all of these stanzàs, however, there
is found, as substitute for the benediction, either a jayati or a jayanti,
'victorious is (or, are),' 'glory to,' 'hail to.'
V.L. (a) B jatänunayaparihara-, K jätä ʼnavamapurahara-. (c) B nijam
iva 'laktakam.
4
mṛtyos tulyam trilokim grasitum atirasan niḥsṛtāḥ kim nu
jihvāḥ
kim vā kṛṣṇānghripadmadyutibhir aruṇitā viṣṇupadyāḥ pada-
vyaḥ
prāptāḥ samdhyāḥ smarāreḥ svayam uta nutibhis tisra ity
ühyamānā
deväir devītriśūlāhatamahiṣajuṣo raktadhārā jayanti
'What? Have the tongues of Mṛtyu (Yama) issued [from his
mouth] in his excess of greed to devour the three worlds all
at once?
Or are the streams of Viṣṇupadi (Ganges) reddened by [contact
with] the splendor of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu)?
Or have the three twilights appeared voluntarily [in response]
to the worship of (Siva), Foe of Smara?'¹
Such was the speculation of the gods in regard to the victorious
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀṆA
by Bhagiratha, to purify the ashes of the sixty thousand sons of King
Sagara. In order to lessen the force of its fall, Siva caught it on his head
and checked its course by his matted locks. He afterwards sent it on its
way to earth by way of the Himalaya Mountain. This descent of the
Ganges disturbed the sage Jahnu as he was performing a sacrifice, and in
his anger he drank up its waters; but afterwards, relenting, he allowed
the river to flow from his ear; hence the Ganges is called Jähnavi,
'Daughter of Jahnu'; cf. Mahabharata, 3. 108-109; Ramayana, 1. 43. 35-38;
Moor, Hindu Pantheon, pl. 7, 9, 11; John Dowson, A Classical Dictionary
of Hindu Mythology, p. 108, London, 1879. 3. Lit. 'is victorious, appro-
priating this beauty.' 4. I have treated the compound asurasädäna-
nişkaryam as a śleşa, and have given it a double rendering, following the
suggestion of the commentary, which reads: 'Just as anyone, having
crushed lac with his foot, and having extracted its juice, throws away the
sapless part, so Devi (Candi), having taken the life, which corresponds to
the juice [in lac], threw away Mahişa.' For a similar conception, cf.
stanza 39, note 4.
5. A similar omission of the benediction occurs in
stanzas 4, 21, 33, 38, 54, 71 and 102. In all of these stanzàs, however, there
is found, as substitute for the benediction, either a jayati or a jayanti,
'victorious is (or, are),' 'glory to,' 'hail to.'
V.L. (a) B jatänunayaparihara-, K jätä ʼnavamapurahara-. (c) B nijam
iva 'laktakam.
4
mṛtyos tulyam trilokim grasitum atirasan niḥsṛtāḥ kim nu
jihvāḥ
kim vā kṛṣṇānghripadmadyutibhir aruṇitā viṣṇupadyāḥ pada-
vyaḥ
prāptāḥ samdhyāḥ smarāreḥ svayam uta nutibhis tisra ity
ühyamānā
deväir devītriśūlāhatamahiṣajuṣo raktadhārā jayanti
'What? Have the tongues of Mṛtyu (Yama) issued [from his
mouth] in his excess of greed to devour the three worlds all
at once?
Or are the streams of Viṣṇupadi (Ganges) reddened by [contact
with] the splendor of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu)?
Or have the three twilights appeared voluntarily [in response]
to the worship of (Siva), Foe of Smara?'¹
Such was the speculation of the gods in regard to the victorious