कविकौमुदी /12
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ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Poets' Moonlight
CANTO I
1. May that singular God our sin dispel
In whose battle with fiends
The bow, string and shaft alike
Turned circular discus-like.
2.May that Supreme One be gracious,
That Light unparalleled with an elephant's form,
Whose trumpeting sound when meditated upon
Serves God as material for fashioning the world
At the time of creation.
3. This 'Poets' Moonlight' is the work of one
Kalya Lakşmi-nṛsimha by name
Who is a moon to the milky sea of the heart
Of the famous scholar Ahobala.
4. Now let my measured words begin their sport-
To the grace of the lotus-feet of Laksmi they are kin,
In making or breaking the three worlds at will;
They shall dance like waves so high and lovely
Of the Ocean of Milk when churned to foam
By the mountain Mandara violently stirred.
1. The allusion is to Visņu, the wielder of the discus called Sudarśana (= 'hand-
some'). The author hints that every means at his disposal will turn circular '
or ironical in his poetic raillery against social ills, even as any and every weapon
of Vişņu turned into a discus when the need arose.
2. Here the elephant-faced god Ganesa is alluded to. The poet identifies him with
the Absolute Reality of Vedanta, and adds the poetic fancy that this Sound is
'nāda-brahma' is the raw-material out of which the world is created.
3. This is only a euphemism for saying that he is Ahobala's son.
4. The poet is proud of his mastery over poetic expression and believes that it is the
gift of the goddess whom he worships. The unfailing power of his words to
make and unmake is comparable ly to the divine will; their spontaneous ver-
flow reminds him of the mythological churning of the Ocean of Milk by gods
and demons. This is a typical example of circumlocution.
Poets' Moonlight
CANTO I
1. May that singular God our sin dispel
In whose battle with fiends
The bow, string and shaft alike
Turned circular discus-like.
2.May that Supreme One be gracious,
That Light unparalleled with an elephant's form,
Whose trumpeting sound when meditated upon
Serves God as material for fashioning the world
At the time of creation.
3. This 'Poets' Moonlight' is the work of one
Kalya Lakşmi-nṛsimha by name
Who is a moon to the milky sea of the heart
Of the famous scholar Ahobala.
4. Now let my measured words begin their sport-
To the grace of the lotus-feet of Laksmi they are kin,
In making or breaking the three worlds at will;
They shall dance like waves so high and lovely
Of the Ocean of Milk when churned to foam
By the mountain Mandara violently stirred.
1. The allusion is to Visņu, the wielder of the discus called Sudarśana (= 'hand-
some'). The author hints that every means at his disposal will turn circular '
or ironical in his poetic raillery against social ills, even as any and every weapon
of Vişņu turned into a discus when the need arose.
2. Here the elephant-faced god Ganesa is alluded to. The poet identifies him with
the Absolute Reality of Vedanta, and adds the poetic fancy that this Sound is
'nāda-brahma' is the raw-material out of which the world is created.
3. This is only a euphemism for saying that he is Ahobala's son.
4. The poet is proud of his mastery over poetic expression and believes that it is the
gift of the goddess whom he worships. The unfailing power of his words to
make and unmake is comparable ly to the divine will; their spontaneous ver-
flow reminds him of the mythological churning of the Ocean of Milk by gods
and demons. This is a typical example of circumlocution.