2023-02-23 18:49:26 by ambuda-bot
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THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
(svastha) with a round turn by Candi. There is also the underlying mean-
ing that after many wanderings (in sin), which consisted in mistaking the
gods for something they were not, he finally came to rest, and obtained
emancipation (svastha) [the commentary glosses svastho by nirvrtaḥ
svargasthaḥ, 'obtains nirvana, is placed in heaven'] by touching the foot
of Candi (cf. above, stanza 6, note 3). This latter interpretation, which
appears to be that of the commentary, is more readily grasped if it is
remembered that the Sanskrit root bhram means both 'wander' and 'err,'
and the Hindu mind would supply the idea of bhram as soon as the force
of svastha, 'coming to rest,' 'emancipation,' struck home in his intellectual
consciousness. 2. Lit. 'of Him whose horses are green.' Because the
horses were greenish-yellow in color, Mahişa shows his contempt for Surya
by carelessly devouring them as if they were blades of fresh young grass.
On the color of Sürya's steeds, see Süryaśataka, stanza 8, note 2, and stanza
46, note 8. 3. Mahişa wilfully mistook Sthāņu (Siva) for a sthanu
(rubbing-post). For similar puns on the term sthanu, cf. stanzas 88, 92,
100 and 10I. 4. Yama's vehicle was a buffalo (cf. Süryaśataka, stanza
58, note 5), and so would be a rival of Mahişa, whose name signifies 'buf-
falo.' 5. The dark color (krsna) of Vişņu in his incarnation as Kṛṣṇa
led to the suggestion of mud in which Mahișa might wallow. 6. Varuņa
was Ocean. Mahişa lost sight of the person of the god, and saw only the
7. This stanza, as implied in part by the commentary, admits of
a double rendering, except in the first part of pada (a). Even there I
have sought to find a fleşa, though my translation of grastāśvaḥ by 'out-
does a horse' is hardly warranted by the Sanskrit. The second rendering
runs as follows:-
water.
275
A buffalo outdoes (?) a horse in his greed for young grass, and cannot
endure the heat of the fire of the sun;
He dispels his itching on a rubbing-post, and comes near to death in his
rage, as it were, at rival buffaloes;
He is, as it were, fond of [wallowing in] black mud, and goes to water, as
if for the purpose of plunging [into it];
And having found a pond he is content, as if he had found the foot [of
Durgā (Candi)].
May Durga (Candi) bring you prosperity!
V.L. (d) sa 'stu devi mude vaḥ.
9
trailokyātańkaśāntyāi praviśati vivase dhatari dhyanatandrīm
indrădyeşu dravatsu dravinapatipayaḥpālakālānalesu
ye sparsenäiva piṣṭvā mahiṣam atiruşam trātavantas trilokim
pāntu tvām pañca candyāś caraṇanakhanibhenā 'pare loka-
pālāḥ
(svastha) with a round turn by Candi. There is also the underlying mean-
ing that after many wanderings (in sin), which consisted in mistaking the
gods for something they were not, he finally came to rest, and obtained
emancipation (svastha) [the commentary glosses svastho by nirvrtaḥ
svargasthaḥ, 'obtains nirvana, is placed in heaven'] by touching the foot
of Candi (cf. above, stanza 6, note 3). This latter interpretation, which
appears to be that of the commentary, is more readily grasped if it is
remembered that the Sanskrit root bhram means both 'wander' and 'err,'
and the Hindu mind would supply the idea of bhram as soon as the force
of svastha, 'coming to rest,' 'emancipation,' struck home in his intellectual
consciousness. 2. Lit. 'of Him whose horses are green.' Because the
horses were greenish-yellow in color, Mahişa shows his contempt for Surya
by carelessly devouring them as if they were blades of fresh young grass.
On the color of Sürya's steeds, see Süryaśataka, stanza 8, note 2, and stanza
46, note 8. 3. Mahişa wilfully mistook Sthāņu (Siva) for a sthanu
(rubbing-post). For similar puns on the term sthanu, cf. stanzas 88, 92,
100 and 10I. 4. Yama's vehicle was a buffalo (cf. Süryaśataka, stanza
58, note 5), and so would be a rival of Mahişa, whose name signifies 'buf-
falo.' 5. The dark color (krsna) of Vişņu in his incarnation as Kṛṣṇa
led to the suggestion of mud in which Mahișa might wallow. 6. Varuņa
was Ocean. Mahişa lost sight of the person of the god, and saw only the
7. This stanza, as implied in part by the commentary, admits of
a double rendering, except in the first part of pada (a). Even there I
have sought to find a fleşa, though my translation of grastāśvaḥ by 'out-
does a horse' is hardly warranted by the Sanskrit. The second rendering
runs as follows:-
water.
275
A buffalo outdoes (?) a horse in his greed for young grass, and cannot
endure the heat of the fire of the sun;
He dispels his itching on a rubbing-post, and comes near to death in his
rage, as it were, at rival buffaloes;
He is, as it were, fond of [wallowing in] black mud, and goes to water, as
if for the purpose of plunging [into it];
And having found a pond he is content, as if he had found the foot [of
Durgā (Candi)].
May Durga (Candi) bring you prosperity!
V.L. (d) sa 'stu devi mude vaḥ.
9
trailokyātańkaśāntyāi praviśati vivase dhatari dhyanatandrīm
indrădyeşu dravatsu dravinapatipayaḥpālakālānalesu
ye sparsenäiva piṣṭvā mahiṣam atiruşam trātavantas trilokim
pāntu tvām pañca candyāś caraṇanakhanibhenā 'pare loka-
pālāḥ