52 PADUMĀWATI. [103 white shineth it as though it were a shaft of light ſbeaming bright upon a path through the night. 1 'Tis like unto the bright line left by gold upon the (black) touchstone; 'Tis like the lightning flashing through the clouds. 'Tis a bright sunbeam shining across the sky; 'Tis the shining stream of the Sarasvati in the midst of the (black torrent of the) Yamunā. Pink is it like an evsanguined sword-edge; (slightly uneven is it) as though it were a saw laid upon the braids. On it lieth a string of pearls, white as the stream of the Ganges amid the Yamunā. At this holy confluence there thus lieth ready the saw for cutting the devotee in two (who sacrificeth himself that, perchance), she may take his blood and use it for vermilion. It is gold perfect in all its qualities, and longeth for its flux. * The stars and planets are its slaves. It is the Galaxy shining in the skies. 103. "Item- A forehead, bright as the young moon of its second day, - but where in the world is the young moon so bright; for the thousand- rayed sun himself who shineth in the sky setteth in shame when be beholdeth that brow. How can I compare it with even the full orb of night? for the moon is blemished, and it is withont spot. Moreover the moon suffereth eclipse while it remaineth ever in its glory. And on that forehead on each side are termed paliya. When a topknot is worn it is called co!i. The ends of the patiyās and of the hair hanging down behind are tied into three braids (bēnī). When these three are twisted together at the back of the head, the coil is named jära. These three bēnīs are known as tribēni. When a woman is separated from her husband she ties her hair in one bênī instead of three (Compare Vālmīki Rām., v, 65, 14). When a woman becomes a widow she washes the vermilion out of the parting of her hair, and never applies it again. 1 The night, of course, is the two black pațiyas on each side of the parting. 2 The Ganges and Jamna meet at Allahabad. There also is said to flow the Sarasvati by an underground channel. The three streams unite and form the tribēni (Compare note 5 page 51 above). Each has waters of a different colour. The Ganges-water is plain to every eye for some way below the confluence. The Juma (Yamunā) waters are much darker. 3 This is an elaborate comparison between the parting of the hair and the Prayaga or confluence of the three rivers (with a pun on the two meanings of tribēni). At this confluence a saw is supposed to be laid down. Its object is for the devoted lover to sacri- fice himself with it, so that his blood may supply the vermilion of her parting, and thus make her a married woman. This is a reference to the true confluence (tribēni) at Prayāga (ie., Allahabad). According to tradition a saw was kept at this holy place, wherewith devotees cat themselves in two in order to obtain final emancipation. The action was considered so meritorious a one, and the self-sacrificers were considered so holy, that large crowds used to attend these dreadful functions, the women anointing the partings of their hair with the blood of the victim in the hope of obtaining long and happy wedded lives. It is said that Shah Jahan put a stop to the practice by destroying the saw. The parting of the hair is compared to a saw because its edges are slightly jagged.
- Here again there is a pun. Sohaga means both the flux which is added to gold to
enhance its brilliancy, and also happy married life, (saubhāgya). Regarding the gold of twelve colours' see stanza xes, note 5. 6 The Galaxy is the Ganges flowing in Heaven; which, of course, the stars and planets worship
