2023-02-23 18:48:23 by ambuda-bot
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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
29
bhavety evam tätparyaka itihäso merutungācāryakṛtaprabandhacintamany-
adigranthe sthitaḥ-iti
'The cause of the acquisition, by the poet Mayura, of the disease of
leprosy is set forth in the commentary on the Saryafataka, composed by
Bhaṭṭayajñeśvara, as follows: "Formerly, indeed, after one thousand
plus seventy-eight years had passed away, according to the era of the
illustrious Vikramärka (i.e. 1022 A.D.), great poet Mayūra, the
jewel-lamp of the assembly-hall of the illustrious Bhojaraja who had
obtained his rise [to fame], dwelt in the city of Dhārā. And the husband
of the sister of this (Mayüra), the poet Bāņa, author of the Kadambari,
a prose composition, was very friendly [to Mayura].
""Then once, the poet Mayūra, becoming wakeful toward the end of
night, composed some stanzas of poetry. And noticing that these (stanzas)
were exceedingly charming by reason of their possessing sentiment, he
then, indeed, because of being subject to an ardent longing to communi-
cate [them] to his own friend, the poet Bāņa, went to the place of his
(Bāņa's) abode.
""There the poet Bâņa, [seeking] to conciliate his own wife, Mayura's
sister, who was contaminated by pride, was reciting the following stanza,
composed on the [spur of the] moment, and lacking one pada :-
'O slender-bodied one, the night is almost gone; the moon, as it were, fades;
This lamp flickers as if it were subject to the control of sleep;
Haughtiness is appeased by prostration; yet thou, alas! dost not abandon
thy anger.'
Seeking to arrange the fitting in of the last pada, he meanwhile kept
reciting repeatedly [the first three lines].
""At this juncture, upon hearing the voice of Bāṇa, which was deep,
like heavy thunder, the poet Mayura, his mind [working] spontaneously,
[and being] unable to restrain the current of his own wit, uttered, in a
voice that was pleasant and sweet, the desired fourth pada in his (Bāņa's)
stanza-a fourth pada that was very suitable, and like the noise of a
peacock-
'Thy heart, O angry one, [has] also [become] hard by reason of its
proximity to thy breasts.'
""Hearing this, the poet Bāna, for the sake of conformity to the
meaning of his own name, like an arrow (bana) [sped] quickly from a
strung bow to its mark, instantly rushed from his pleasure-house, [and
just outside] came upon the poet Mayūra, his best friend, dear to him
above his life.
""Then that poet Mayura, cursed full quickly by the power of the con-
jugal fidelity of that wife of Bana, whose mind was possessed of an
agitation produced by the interruption of the sentiment, became affected
[lit. eaten] in all his limbs by the disease of leprosy.
""Then the poet Mayūra, for [the purpose of] eradicating entirely his
sin and disease, praised the blessed Light-making god (Sürya) by means
of the production of a literary composition consisting of most charming
stanzas amounting to a hundred [in number], and by the greatness of the
29
bhavety evam tätparyaka itihäso merutungācāryakṛtaprabandhacintamany-
adigranthe sthitaḥ-iti
'The cause of the acquisition, by the poet Mayura, of the disease of
leprosy is set forth in the commentary on the Saryafataka, composed by
Bhaṭṭayajñeśvara, as follows: "Formerly, indeed, after one thousand
plus seventy-eight years had passed away, according to the era of the
illustrious Vikramärka (i.e. 1022 A.D.), great poet Mayūra, the
jewel-lamp of the assembly-hall of the illustrious Bhojaraja who had
obtained his rise [to fame], dwelt in the city of Dhārā. And the husband
of the sister of this (Mayüra), the poet Bāņa, author of the Kadambari,
a prose composition, was very friendly [to Mayura].
""Then once, the poet Mayūra, becoming wakeful toward the end of
night, composed some stanzas of poetry. And noticing that these (stanzas)
were exceedingly charming by reason of their possessing sentiment, he
then, indeed, because of being subject to an ardent longing to communi-
cate [them] to his own friend, the poet Bāņa, went to the place of his
(Bāņa's) abode.
""There the poet Bâņa, [seeking] to conciliate his own wife, Mayura's
sister, who was contaminated by pride, was reciting the following stanza,
composed on the [spur of the] moment, and lacking one pada :-
'O slender-bodied one, the night is almost gone; the moon, as it were, fades;
This lamp flickers as if it were subject to the control of sleep;
Haughtiness is appeased by prostration; yet thou, alas! dost not abandon
thy anger.'
Seeking to arrange the fitting in of the last pada, he meanwhile kept
reciting repeatedly [the first three lines].
""At this juncture, upon hearing the voice of Bāṇa, which was deep,
like heavy thunder, the poet Mayura, his mind [working] spontaneously,
[and being] unable to restrain the current of his own wit, uttered, in a
voice that was pleasant and sweet, the desired fourth pada in his (Bāņa's)
stanza-a fourth pada that was very suitable, and like the noise of a
peacock-
'Thy heart, O angry one, [has] also [become] hard by reason of its
proximity to thy breasts.'
""Hearing this, the poet Bāna, for the sake of conformity to the
meaning of his own name, like an arrow (bana) [sped] quickly from a
strung bow to its mark, instantly rushed from his pleasure-house, [and
just outside] came upon the poet Mayūra, his best friend, dear to him
above his life.
""Then that poet Mayura, cursed full quickly by the power of the con-
jugal fidelity of that wife of Bana, whose mind was possessed of an
agitation produced by the interruption of the sentiment, became affected
[lit. eaten] in all his limbs by the disease of leprosy.
""Then the poet Mayūra, for [the purpose of] eradicating entirely his
sin and disease, praised the blessed Light-making god (Sürya) by means
of the production of a literary composition consisting of most charming
stanzas amounting to a hundred [in number], and by the greatness of the