101] PADOMĀWATI. 51 CANTO X. Love's INVENTORY. 101. (Quoth the Parrot), "My Liege, how can I tell the tale of her charms. Charms verily hath she, but such as become her alone. Imprimis- A headl crowned with musk-scented locks, before which Vāsuki, not to speak of earthly kings, doth immolate himself.2 "The Princess is as it were a jasmine, and her tresses are black bees, attracted by her fragrance and impe- tuously struggling to imbibe her nectar. When she looseneth the braid and shaketh out her hair, darkness o'erspreadeth the universe from Heaven unto Hell. Soft and waved are her tresses like black snakes seated in wavy undu- lations on a mountain. For pervaded is she with the sandal odour of Mount Malaya, and therefore have they climbed her head and drag their slow lengths around it.3 Full of deadly poison are her curls, chains of love ready to fall upon the neck of the beholder. The locks upon that head are nooses which inevitably snare each neck, and hence all the eight tribes of serpents are tangled in the fillets of her hair. 102. ' Item—the parting of her hair yet untouched by vermilion.5 Pure 1 In describing a divine being it is usual to begin at the feet and work up to the head. In describing a human being the order is reversed. 2 Vasuki is the king of serpents, the most potent of which are black. So are Pad- mavati's locks, but they are also odorous, thereby surpassing the Lord of Snakes who immolates himself in consequence at their shrine. There is, however, a pun in the original. Kësa the word for hair also means Vişņu (see the commentary) whom Vāsaki wonla naturally adore. S Mount Malaya is celebrated for two things, its sandal trees and its snakes. Padmā- vati's head has the sandal-fragrance so that the snakes imagine it to be their natural abode. This comparison of wavy hair with serpents is unpleasing to European taste bat is one of the most popular common places of Indian poetry. 4 The eight tribes of the nāgas or serpents are (1) Väsuki, (2) Takşaka, (3) Kalaka, (4) Karkötaka, (5) Padma, (6) Çaykha-cūda, (7) Mahāpadma, (8) Dhananjaya. 6 The Mäg (Skr, mārga, or path) is the parting of the hair. Vermilion is first put upon it when a girl is married and she uses it during her married life. The flat folds of hair
