54-55] PADUMĀWATI. 27 meet for what mate hath God created her thus. He in whose house fate hath written that Lakshmi' will be there, will get this learned fair one,' So suitors came from the seven continents, and bent before the king), but they obtained no favourable answer, and went home one by one. The King saith in his pride, 'I am Indra and my kingdom is Çiva's 2 heaven. Who is my equal ?: With whom shall I discuss marriage relations? 54. The Princess became twelve years of age, and when the King heard that she was full grown and fitted for a mate, he gave her for a dwell- ing his seven-storied palace, and for her fellows did he give her maidens with whom she might sport in her happiness. All of them were young virgins, nor had any e'er lain with a man. They were like waterlilies blooming by the lotus. Padmārati also had a parrot, a great Pandit,6 Hirā-maņi by name. God had given the bird such glory, that his eyes were like precious stones, and his face as it were rubies and pearls. Golden was the colour of this beauteous parrot. Yea, he was, as it were, gold that had been melted with borax.6 Together ever remained they. Together read they the holy books and the Vēdas. When Brahmā heard their reading so did it pierce his heart, that he himself nodded approval. 55. The child Padmāvati was now of full age, and (God) had made her young limbs (straight as) glistening standards. The scented odour of her limbs pervaded the universe, and the greedy bees came round her on all sides. The sandal breeze of Malaya invaded her dark serpentine locks, and on her forehead sat the new-moonº two days old. Her brows were bows from which she aimed the arrows (of her coquettish glances); her eyes were like those of the large-eyed antelope, lost, and gazing (for its mates). Her nose was like unto a parrot's, and her face bloomed like the lotus; the whole universe was charmed as it gazed upon her form. Her lips were rubies, her teeth were 1 Lakşmi is, of course, the goddess of Good Fortune. 2 Again the confusion between Indra and Çiva. 8 According to the proverb 'bibāh, bair, aur prīti, samān mē sõh'tā hai,' marriage, enmity, and love, are only proper with an equal. Baroka is for barēkhi, the vara-parīksā, or testing of the bridegroom. When a marriage is arranged, a sum of money is given to the bridegroom, and then he is bound to carry out the agreement. This ceremony has various names, such as barēkhi, baracchā, sagā, or chēkā, and is equivalent to a betrothal. 4 i.e., a safe place, fit for a zanānā, to which men could not approach. This is im- portant in the later portion of the story, when she is wooed by Ratna-sēna. 6 The expression Pandit should be noted. The parrot, we shall see subsequently, was a Brāhmaṇa. 6 Borax is the usual flux for gold, and its use is said to improve the colour of the metal. 1 Here there are puns. The word bārī means either a young girl, or a garden. Karī means properly a young shoot, and can be metaphorically applied to mean limbs. The verse may, hence, be also translated, 'Padmavati, like a garden, was now full grown, and God had made its young shoots straight, &e. In the next verses the metaphor is carried on. The garden is supplied with bees (lovers), and snakes (her raven tresses), and so on. 8 Mount Malaya is celebrated for two things, its sandal trees, and its snakes. 9 An emblem of purity. See note 5 on page 25.
