Madhurāvijayam of Gaṅgādevī /111

Mdisc, umbrella, lotus, banner, and fish. His tiny fingers,
reddish and soft as tender foliage, were also beautiful to
look at. He bore the hairy sign of Śrīvatsa on his breast
which suggested that he was an avatāra of Viṣṇu, and,
that unbroken prosperity would mark his life. His
forehead was adorned with a circle of hair between the
eye-brows. His eyes were large like the petals of
blooming lotus. His nose was lofty; and a sweet smile
played on his red lips. ADHURAVIJAYAM
 
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disc, umbrella, lotus, banner, and fish. His tiny fingers,
reddish and soft as tender foliage, were also beautiful to
look at. He bore the hairy sign of Srivatsa on his breast
which suggested that he was an avatāra of Visnu, and,
that unbroken prosperity would mark his life. His
forehead was adorned with a circle of hair between the
eye-brows. His eyes were large like the petals of
blooming lotus. His nose was lofty; and a sweet smile
played on his red lips. Altogether, the child's face was
surpassingly beautiful.
 

surpassingly beautiful.
 
31. Tears of joy, for a while, acted as a check on

the steadfast look of his eyes that feasted on the cherubic
form of the child.
 

form of the child.
 
32. The king embraced the child with his eyes;

and the excessive emotion in his mind burst out as
manifest by horripulation.
 

manifest by horripulation.
 
33. On an auspicious day, the jāta karman rites
of the child were performed as directed by the priest,

of the child were performed as directed by the priest,
and the child grew in splendour like the god of fire
that witnesses those rites.
 

that witnesses those rites.
 
34. The king who always looked ahead named his

child Kampana, as he clearly foresaw in his mind that,
in proper time, the latter would become a matchless
ṇa, as he clearly foresaw in his mind that,
in proper time, the latter would become a matchless
warrior, and was sure to make his enemies in the field

of battle quake with fear.
 

 
35. Just as the sacrificer tends the fire with ghee

offerings, and just as the cloud sustains the corn with

rains, so too, the king had his child brought up by
trustworthy nurses.
 

trustworthy nurses.
 
36. He was overjoyed to hear the lisping words

and to look at the tottering gaits of his child, who had