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284
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
great dark-blue bulk of Mahişa for a mountain, an addition to the Vindhya
range, and they were alarmed, fearing a repetition of an unpleasant expe-
rience which they had had with the Vindhya on a previous occasion.
'According to a legend related in Mahabharata, 3.8782 seq. [i.e. 3. 104.
1-15], the personified Vindhya, jealous of Himalaya, demanded that the
sun should revolve round him in the same way as about Meru, which the
sun declining to do, the Vindhya then began to elevate himself, that he
might bar the progress of both sun and moon; the gods, alarmed, asked
the aid of the saint Agastya, who approached the Vindhya and requested
that by bending down he would afford him an easy passage to the South
country, begging at the same time that he would retain a low position
till his return; this he promised to do, but Agastya never returned, and
the Vindhya range consequently never attained the elevation of the Himā-
laya'; cf. Monier-Williams, Skt.-Engl. Dict. s.v. Vindhya. 3. The com-
parison of Mahişa with the sapphire, as with the blade of a sword, or a
distant mountain-range, was due to the bluish color of his skin. 4. In
Harivamsa, 1. 18. 13-22, it is related that when Parvati (Candi) began a
rigorous course of austerities, her mother, Menā, seeking to dissuade her,
said: u ma, 'Oh don't!' Hence her epithet of Umã, which is first applied
to her in the Kena Upanişad (3. 11. 12); cf. J. Muir, Original Sanskrit
Texts, 4. 420-421, 2d ed., revised, London, 1873. The same account is
given by Kälidāsa in the Kumarasambhava, 1. 26.
18
durvārasya dyudhāmnām mahişitavapuso vidviṣaḥ pātu yuş-
män
pārvatyā pretapālasvapuruṣaparuṣaḥ preșito 'sãu pṛṣatkaḥ
yaḥ kṛtvā lakṣyabhedam hṛtabhuvanabhayo gām vibhidya pra-
viṣṭaḥ
pātālam pakṣapālīpavanakṛtapatattārkṣyaśaṁkākulāhiḥ
An arrow, sharp as the very messengers¹ of (Yama), Keeper of
the Dead, was sped by Parvati (Candi)
At the irresistible (Mahişa), Foe of the Gods, who had changed
his body into that of a buffalo;
And this [arrow], by hitting its mark, removed the anxiety of the
world, and piercing the earth, entered Pātāla,*
Where it agitated the serpents with the fear that Tärkṣya
(Garuda) was descending-a fear caused by the wind of
its fringe of feathers.
May that arrow [of Parvati (Candi)] protect you!
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
great dark-blue bulk of Mahişa for a mountain, an addition to the Vindhya
range, and they were alarmed, fearing a repetition of an unpleasant expe-
rience which they had had with the Vindhya on a previous occasion.
'According to a legend related in Mahabharata, 3.8782 seq. [i.e. 3. 104.
1-15], the personified Vindhya, jealous of Himalaya, demanded that the
sun should revolve round him in the same way as about Meru, which the
sun declining to do, the Vindhya then began to elevate himself, that he
might bar the progress of both sun and moon; the gods, alarmed, asked
the aid of the saint Agastya, who approached the Vindhya and requested
that by bending down he would afford him an easy passage to the South
country, begging at the same time that he would retain a low position
till his return; this he promised to do, but Agastya never returned, and
the Vindhya range consequently never attained the elevation of the Himā-
laya'; cf. Monier-Williams, Skt.-Engl. Dict. s.v. Vindhya. 3. The com-
parison of Mahişa with the sapphire, as with the blade of a sword, or a
distant mountain-range, was due to the bluish color of his skin. 4. In
Harivamsa, 1. 18. 13-22, it is related that when Parvati (Candi) began a
rigorous course of austerities, her mother, Menā, seeking to dissuade her,
said: u ma, 'Oh don't!' Hence her epithet of Umã, which is first applied
to her in the Kena Upanişad (3. 11. 12); cf. J. Muir, Original Sanskrit
Texts, 4. 420-421, 2d ed., revised, London, 1873. The same account is
given by Kälidāsa in the Kumarasambhava, 1. 26.
18
durvārasya dyudhāmnām mahişitavapuso vidviṣaḥ pātu yuş-
män
pārvatyā pretapālasvapuruṣaparuṣaḥ preșito 'sãu pṛṣatkaḥ
yaḥ kṛtvā lakṣyabhedam hṛtabhuvanabhayo gām vibhidya pra-
viṣṭaḥ
pātālam pakṣapālīpavanakṛtapatattārkṣyaśaṁkākulāhiḥ
An arrow, sharp as the very messengers¹ of (Yama), Keeper of
the Dead, was sped by Parvati (Candi)
At the irresistible (Mahişa), Foe of the Gods, who had changed
his body into that of a buffalo;
And this [arrow], by hitting its mark, removed the anxiety of the
world, and piercing the earth, entered Pātāla,*
Where it agitated the serpents with the fear that Tärkṣya
(Garuda) was descending-a fear caused by the wind of
its fringe of feathers.
May that arrow [of Parvati (Candi)] protect you!