28 PADUMĀWATI. [56-57 diamonds, and her heart rejoiced 'neath her golden breast-oranges. Her waist surpassed the lion's and her gait that of the elephant; gods and men alike laid their heads in the dust when they saw her.! No such was e'er seen upon the earth. The Apsarases (first learned to) gaze with unwinking eyes (through gazing at her). For her did Yögins, Yatins, and Sannyāsius undergo austerities.3 56. [One day the princess Padmāvati said to Hirāmaņi the parrot; Hear, o Hirāmaņi, and give unto me advice. Day by day cometh the God of Love and tortureth me. My father doth not push on the matter of my marriage), and out of fear my mother cannot address him on the subject. From every land come suitors, but on none will my father cast his eye.. My youth hath become (irresistible) as the Ganges, and in every limb doth the bodiless Cupid wound me.' Then replied Hirāmaņi,- What is written by fate cannot be wiped out. Give me the order, and I will go forth and wander over all lands, and seek for a king worthy to be thy spouse.
- Until I return to thee, keep in restraint thy heart and thy thoughts.'
There was there some wicked man, who heard the parrot, and, who after consideration, went and told the king].6 57. The king heard that (Padmavati's) countenance had become chang- ed, because that the cunning parrot had given her knowledge (of good and evil). He gave his royal command to kill the bird, for he is talking of the sun (i e., a husband) where the moon (Padmāvati) has risen.' The parrot's enemies were the barber and the torch-bearer, and when they heard the order, they ran upon him as if they were a cat; but the princess hid him so that the cat could not find him. “My father's command,' she cried, is upon my head (and binding), but go ye and tell him my supplication with folded hands. No bird is a reasoning creature. He knoweth but how to eat 1 They recognized her as an incarnate deity. In the esoteric meaning of the poem she is Wisdom.
- The Apsarases are the nymphs of Indra's heaven. According to tradition they are
unable to close their eyes. This is the way they grow. The poet puts forward the conceit, that they acquired this habit from staring at Padmavati. The passage, literally trauslated, is 'The Apsarases kept their eyes in the ether (akāça)'. I.e., they kept staring down from heaven, throngh the ether intervening, to see Padmāvati. 8 Similarly, it is the poet's conceit that the holy men mentioned really performed all their austerities, not to obtain salvation but, to obtain a view of Padmavati's countenance. Regarding Yögins, Yatins, and Sannyāsins, see note, on p. 17. 4 1. e., approve of: akhi lagānā, to fall in love with, is a common idiom. 5 Kandarpa, the Indian Cupid, was destroyed by Çiva, for endeavouring to excite his passion. Çiva turned his terrible third eye upon him, and burnt him to ashes. Ever since Cupid has had no bodily form. 6 This set of verses is almost certainly an interpolation, and has been added to explain what follows. Some sort of explanation is necessary, but the interpolation is clumsy enough. The language is not Malik Mnhammad's, and the presence of the wicked male in the zanānā portion of the palace, is not explained. 1 The traditional enemies of every Brāhmaṇa ; as he does not require their services as match-makers before his marriage. Nau bări might possibly be translated ' a damsel of the barber caete.'
