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THE CANDĪŠATAKA OF BĀŅA
271
jets of blood welling from Mahișa who was slain by the
trident of Devi (Candi).*
[In this stanza the usual benediction is omitted.]"
Notes. 1. The epithet Smara denotes Kāma, the Hindu Cupid. For
Siva's hostility to Kāma, see Süryafataka, stanza 55, note 9.
2. Lit.
'victorious are the jets of blood dwelling in Mahişa.' 3. The jets of
blood issuing from the triple wound caused by the three-pronged trident
are three in number and are red; we should therefore expect the tongues
of Yama, the streams of Ganges, and the twilights, which are all compared
to the jets of blood, to be likewise three in number and red. As for the
tongues of Yama, they may be assumed to have been red, like ordinary
tongues, but I have been unable to find any reference to their number.
The streams of Vişnupadi (Ganges) are three, for it is stated in the
Mahabharata (3. 109. 10) that Gangã, on her descent from heaven (cf.
stanza 3, note 2), divided herself into three streams; cf. also Rāmāyaṇa,
1. 44. 6. It may be significant, too, that the most sacred spot along the
Ganges is Allāhābād, or Triveni ('Triple-braided'), where the Ganges,
Yamunā (Jumna), and the alleged subterranean Sarasvati come together
into one stream. Jacobi explains the three streams of Ganges as the three
manifestations of Gangã-in heaven, on earth, and in Pätāla; cf. Jacobi,
Brahmanism, in Hastings's Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 2,
p. 809. The text of the stanza tells us that the Vişnupadi (Ganges) was
reddened by contact with the lotus foot of Vişņu; cf. Vișnu Purana, 2.8
(Wilson, vol. 2, p. 271-272), where it is said that Gangā has 'her source
in the nail of the great toe of Vişnu's left foot.' We must assume that the
lotus foot was a rosy pink color. As regards the twilights, there were
three the morning, noon and evening periods-and two of these, namely,
the dawn and evening twilights, were marked by the red glow of sunrise
and sunset. The commentary adds: 'The twilights also are red-colored.'
4. No mention of the foot of Candi is made in this or in the following
forty-two stanzas: 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 33, 34, 35, 38,
40, 45, 50, 51, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 77, 80,
85, 87, 91, 96, 100. In several of these stanzas, however, the action of the
foot is suggested in such expressions as 'trampled on' (51), 'crushed'
(15, 24, 35, 62), etc. 5. For a similar omission of the benediction in
other stanzas, cf. stanza 3, note 5.
V.L. (a) K yamyas tulyam; B atirasan nişkṛtaḥ. (d) K devyäs tri-
śülakşatamahişa-.
5
datte darpāt prahāre sapadi padabharotpiṣṭadehāvaśiṣṭām
śliṣṭām śṛngasya koṭim mahiṣasuraripor nūpuragranthisīmni
musyād vaḥ kalmaṣāṇi vyatikaraviratāv ādadānaḥ kumāro
mātuḥ prabhraṣṭalilākuvalayakalikākarṇapūrādareņa
271
jets of blood welling from Mahișa who was slain by the
trident of Devi (Candi).*
[In this stanza the usual benediction is omitted.]"
Notes. 1. The epithet Smara denotes Kāma, the Hindu Cupid. For
Siva's hostility to Kāma, see Süryafataka, stanza 55, note 9.
2. Lit.
'victorious are the jets of blood dwelling in Mahişa.' 3. The jets of
blood issuing from the triple wound caused by the three-pronged trident
are three in number and are red; we should therefore expect the tongues
of Yama, the streams of Ganges, and the twilights, which are all compared
to the jets of blood, to be likewise three in number and red. As for the
tongues of Yama, they may be assumed to have been red, like ordinary
tongues, but I have been unable to find any reference to their number.
The streams of Vişnupadi (Ganges) are three, for it is stated in the
Mahabharata (3. 109. 10) that Gangã, on her descent from heaven (cf.
stanza 3, note 2), divided herself into three streams; cf. also Rāmāyaṇa,
1. 44. 6. It may be significant, too, that the most sacred spot along the
Ganges is Allāhābād, or Triveni ('Triple-braided'), where the Ganges,
Yamunā (Jumna), and the alleged subterranean Sarasvati come together
into one stream. Jacobi explains the three streams of Ganges as the three
manifestations of Gangã-in heaven, on earth, and in Pätāla; cf. Jacobi,
Brahmanism, in Hastings's Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 2,
p. 809. The text of the stanza tells us that the Vişnupadi (Ganges) was
reddened by contact with the lotus foot of Vişņu; cf. Vișnu Purana, 2.8
(Wilson, vol. 2, p. 271-272), where it is said that Gangā has 'her source
in the nail of the great toe of Vişnu's left foot.' We must assume that the
lotus foot was a rosy pink color. As regards the twilights, there were
three the morning, noon and evening periods-and two of these, namely,
the dawn and evening twilights, were marked by the red glow of sunrise
and sunset. The commentary adds: 'The twilights also are red-colored.'
4. No mention of the foot of Candi is made in this or in the following
forty-two stanzas: 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 33, 34, 35, 38,
40, 45, 50, 51, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 77, 80,
85, 87, 91, 96, 100. In several of these stanzas, however, the action of the
foot is suggested in such expressions as 'trampled on' (51), 'crushed'
(15, 24, 35, 62), etc. 5. For a similar omission of the benediction in
other stanzas, cf. stanza 3, note 5.
V.L. (a) K yamyas tulyam; B atirasan nişkṛtaḥ. (d) K devyäs tri-
śülakşatamahişa-.
5
datte darpāt prahāre sapadi padabharotpiṣṭadehāvaśiṣṭām
śliṣṭām śṛngasya koṭim mahiṣasuraripor nūpuragranthisīmni
musyād vaḥ kalmaṣāṇi vyatikaraviratāv ādadānaḥ kumāro
mātuḥ prabhraṣṭalilākuvalayakalikākarṇapūrādareņa