Saundarananda

Saundarananda

oṃ namo buddhāya || ||

Homage to the Buddha

gautamaḥ kapilo nāma muni dharmabhṛtāṃ varaḥ |babhūva tapasi śrāntaḥ kākṣīvān iva gautamaḥ ||

1.1 A sage named Kapila Gautama, an outstanding upholder of dharma,Became as consumed in ascetic practice as was Kākṣīvat Gautama.

aśiśriyad yaḥ satataṃ dīptaṃ kāśyapavat tapaḥ |āśiśrāya ca tadvṛddhau siddhim kāśyapavat parām ||

1.2 Ceaselessly he shone his light, like Kāśyapa the sun, on blazing asceticism;And in promoting that asceticism he pushed himself, like Kāśyapa the sage, to extreme achievement.

haviṁṣi yaś ca svātmārthaṃ gām adhukṣad vasiṣṭhavat |tapaḥśiṣṭeṣu ca śiṣyeṣu gām adhukṣad vasiṣṭhavat ||

1.3 For the offerings he served himself, he milked a cow, like Vasiṣṭha;In schooling his disciples in asceticism, he milked a cow, like Vasiṣṭha.

māhātmyād dīrghatapaso yo dvitīya ivābhavat |tṛtīya iva yaś cābhūt kāyāṅgirasayor dhiyā ||

1.4 In high-mindedness, he was like a second Dīrgha-tapas;And he was like a third in the mould of Kāvya and Āṅgiras, in religious thought.

tasya vistīrṇatapasaḥ pārśve himavataḥ śubhe |kṣetraṃ cāyatanaṃ caiva tapasām āśramo ’bhavat ||

1.5 On a bright slope of the Himālayas this man steeped in ascetic practice Had his ashram, the domain and the very seat of ascetic practices.

cāruvīruttaruvanaḥ prasnigdhamṛduśādvalaḥ |havirdhūmavitānena yaḥ sadābhra ivābabhau ||

1.6 Wooded with charming shrubs and trees and abounding with lush, soft grass,It was so thick with sacrificial smoke that it constantly resembled a raincloud.

mṛdubhiḥ saikataiḥ snigdhaiḥ kesarātarapāṇḍubhiḥ |bhūmibhāgair asaṃkīrṇaiḥ sāṅgarāga ivābhavat ||

1.7 With soft, sandy, and smooth soil, made yellowish white by a covering of kesara blossoms,And divided into areas, with no commingling, it was like a body painted with cosmetic pigments.

śucibhis tīrthasaṃkhyātaiḥ pāvanair bhāvanair api |bandhumān iva yas tasthau sarobhiḥ sasaraoruhaiḥ ||

1.8 Pure, esteemed for their sacred presence, edifying, and cultivating Like friends, were the lakes it stood among – fluent, and bearing lotuses.

paryāptaphalapuṣpābhiḥ sarvato vanarājibhiḥ |śuśubhe vavṛdhe caiva naraḥ sādhanavān iva ||

1.9 With abundant flowers and fruits beautifying the forests all around it,It shone and it flourished, like a man furnished with a means.

nīvāraphalasaṃtuṣṭaiḥ svasthaiḥ śāntair anutsukaiḥ |akīrṇo ’pi tapobhṛdhibhiḥ śūnyaśūnya ivābhavat ||

1.10 Content to feed on wild rice and fruit, the ascetics were self-abiding, inhibited, and retiring,Though the ashram was full of them, it seemed to be utterly empty.

agnīnāṃ hūyamānānāṃ śikhinā kūjatām api |tīrthānāṃ cābhiṣekeṣu śuśruve yatra nisvanaḥ ||

1.11 The sound of the fires receiving offerings, of the peacocks with their crested heads uttering their repetitive cry,And of the sacred bathing places, during ablutions, was all that one heard there.

virejur hariṇā yatra suptā medhyāsu vediṣu |salājair mādhavīpuṣpair upahārāḥ kṛtā iva ||

1.12 The stags there, their manes beautifully braided, on undefiled elevations fit to be sacrificial altars, Seemed as though, complete with puffy rice and mādhavi flowers, they had been prepared as religious offerings.

api kṣudramṛgā yatra sāntāś ceruḥ samaṃ mṛgaiḥ |śarañyebhyas tapasvibhyo vinayaṅ śikṣitā iva ||

1.13 Even lesser creatures moved there in the same subdued manner as the stags,As if from their ascetic protectors they had learned the rules of discipline.

saṃdigdhe ’py apunarbhāve vidudhheṣv āgameṣv api |pratyakṣiṇa ivākurvaṃs tapo yatra tapodhanāḥ ||

1.14 Even in the face of precarious immunity to rebirth, and notwithstanding inconsistencies in their time-honoured texts,There and then, as if seeing with their own eyes, the great ascetics practised asceticism.

yatra sma mīyate brahma kaiś cit kaiś cin na mīyate |kāle nimīyate somo na cākāle pramīyate ||

1.15 There some prayed to Brahma; none suffered the frustration of losing his way;The soma, at the right moment, was measured out; and nobody, at a random moment, came to nothing.

nirapekṣāḥ śarireṣu dharme yatra svabhuddhayaḥ |saṃhṛṣṭā iva yatnena tāpasās te pire tapaḥ ||

1.16 There, each disregarding his body, but having his own view with regard to dharma, And almost bristling with zeal, the ascetics set about their ascetic practice of asceticism.

śrāmyanto munayo yatra svargāyodyuktacetasaḥ |taporāgeṇa dharmasya vilopam iva cakrire ||

1.17 There the toiling sages, hearts straining heavenward,Seemed by their passion for asceticism almost to do dharma a mischief.

atha tejavisadanaṃ tapaḥkṣetraṃ tam āśramam |kecid ikṣvākavo jagmū rājaputrā vivatsavaḥ ||

1.18 Now, to that ashram, that seat of intensity, that domain of austerity,There came certain sons of Ikṣvāku, royal princes, wishing to stay.

suvarṇastambhavarṣmāṇaḥ siṃhoraskā mahābhujāḥ |pātraṃ śabdasya mahataḥ śriyāṃ ca vinayasya ca ||

1.19 Tall they were like golden columns, lion-chested, strong-armed,Worthy of their great name and royal insignia and good upbringing.

arharūpā hy anarhasya mahātmānaś calātmanaḥ |prājñāḥ prajñāvimuktasya bhrātṛyasya yavīyasaḥ ||

1.20 For deserving were they, where undeserving was he. Big-minded were they, where fickle-minded was he. And bright were they, where brainless was he: their younger half-brother

mātṛśulkād upagatāṃ te śriyaṃ na viṣehire |rarakṣuś ca pituḥ kautsās te bhavanti sma gautamāḥ ||

1.21 The royal authority that had come to him, as his mother’s bride-price, they had not usurped;Rather, keeping their father’s promise, they had retreated to the forest

teṣaṁ munir upādhyāyo gautamaḥ kapilo ’bhavat| guru-gotrād ataḥ kautsās te bhavanti sma gautamāḥ||

1.22 The sage Kapila Gautama became their preceptor;And so, from the guru’s surname, those Kautsas became Gautamas –

ekapitror yathā bhrātroḥ pṛthagguruparigrahāt |rāma evābhavad gārgyo vāsubhadro ’pi gautamaḥ ||

1.23 Just as, though they were brothers born of one father, because they had different gurusRāma became a Gārgya and Vāsubhadra a Gautama.

śākravṛkṣapraticchannaṃ vāsaṃ yasmāc ca cakrire |tasmād ikṣvākuvaṃśyās te bhuvi śākya iti smṛtāḥ ||

1.24 And since they made a dwelling concealed among śāka trees,Therefore those descendants of Ikṣvāku were known on earth as Śākyas.

sa teṣāṃ gautamaś cakre svavaṃśasadṛśīḥ kriyāḥ |munir ūrdhvaṃ kumārasya sagarasyeva bhārgavaḥ ||

1.25 Gautama performed services for them as for his own sons,Like the Bhārgava sage later did for the child-prince Sagara;

kaṇvaḥ śākuntalasyeva bharatasya tarasviaḥ |vālmīkir iva dhīmāṃś ca dhīmator maithileyayoḥ ||

1.26 Like Kaṇva did for Śākuntala’s son, the intrepid Bharata;And like the inspired Vālmīki did for the inspired twin sons of Maithili.

tadvanaṃ muninā tena taiś ca kṣatriyapuṅgavaiḥ |śāntāṃ guptāṃ ca yugapad brahmakṣatraśriyaṃ dadhe ||

1.27 That forest, through the sage, and through those warrior heroes,Radiated tranquillity and security – the majesty of the brahmin and of the kṣatriya, in one yoke.

athodakalaśaṃ gṛhya teṣā vṛddhicikīrṣayā |muniḥ sa viyad utpatya tān uvāca nṛpātmajān ||

1.28 One day, while holding a jug of water, in his desire to nurture the princes’ growthThe sage went up, into the air. Then he said to them:

yā patet kalaśād asmād akṣayyasalilān mahīm |dhārā tām anatikramya mām anveta yathākramam ||

1.29 “There will fall to earth from this flowing jug, whose flowing is unbreakable,A line of drops: Do not overstep this mark, as in step you follow me.”

tataḥ paramam ity uktvā śirobhiḥ praṇipatya ca |rathān āruruhuḥ sarve śīghravāhān alaṅkrṛtān ||

1.30 “Yes!" they said to this, and respectfully bowed, letting their heads fall forward.Then all went up, onto chariots that were swiftly drawn, and well prepared.

tataḥ sa tair anugataḥ syandanasthair nabhogataḥ |tadāśramamahīprāntaṃ paricikṣepa vāriṇā ||

1.31 So they followed him in the flow, while, walking on air,The ends of the earth of that ashram he sprinkled with water.

aṣṭāpadam ivālikhya nimittaiḥ surbhīkṛtam |tān uvāca muniḥ sthitvā bhūmipālasutān idam ||

1.32 He set out a plan like a chessboard, like an eightfold plan, revealed by signs;Then the sage, standing still, spoke thus to those offspring of the guardians of the earth:

asmin dhārāparikṣipte nemicihnitalakṣaṇe |nirmimīdhvaṃ puraṃ yūyaṃ mayi yāte triviṣṭapam ||

1.33 “Within this sprinkled line of drops, wherein your wheels have left a mark,You are to build a city, when I am gone to heaven.”

tataḥ kadācit te vīrās tasmin pratigate munau |babhramur yauvanoddāmā gajā iva niraṅkuśāḥ ||

1.34 Thereafter those lads, when in time the sage passed away,Roamed about in their unbridled youth like elephants unchecked by a driver’s hook –

baddhagodhāṅgulītrāṇā hastaviṣṭhitakārmukāḥ |śarādhmātamahātūṇā vyāyatābaddhavāsasaḥ ||

1.35 [They roamed about] with bows in hand and leather-clad fingers on arrows, Shafts causing sizeable quivers to swell, feathers preened and fastened on.

jijñāsamānā nāgeṣu kauśalaṃ śvāpadeṣu ca |anucakrur vanasthasya dauṣmanter devakramaṇaḥ ||

1.36 Wishing to test their mettle among the elephants and big cats,They emulated the god-like deeds of the forest-dwelling son of Duṣyanta.

tān dṛṣṭvā prakṛtiṃ yātān vṛddhān vyāghraśiśūn iva |tāpasās tadvanarh hitvā himavantarh siṣevire ||

1.37 Seeing their natural character emerge as those lads grew, like tiger cubs, The ascetics abandoned that forest and retreated to the Himālayas.

tatas tadāśramasthānaṃ śūnyarh taiḥ śūnyacetasaḥ |paśyanto tadāśramasthānarṃ śūnyaṃ taiḥ niśaśvasuḥ ||

1.38 Then, seeing the ashram [without ascetics,] desolate, the princes were desolate in their hearts. In the red-hot anger of their indignation, they hissed like snakes.

atha te puṇyakarmāṇaḥ pratyupasthiravṛddhayaḥ |tatra tajjñair upākhyātān avāpur mahato nidhīn ||

1.39 In time, through good conduct, they came to a maturity In which they could obtain the great treasures that are disclosed through acts of knowing them.

alaṃ dharmārthakāmānāṃ nikhilānām svāptaye |nidhayo naikavidhayo bhūrayas te gatārayaḥ ||

1.40 Sufficient for full enjoyment of dharma, wealth, and pleasure; Abundant; and of many kinds: these were treasures beyond the reach of enemies..

tatas tatpratilambhāc ca pariṇāmāc ca karmaṇaḥ |tasmin vāstuni vāstujñāḥ puraṃ śrīman nyaveśayan ||

1.41 On the grounds of what they thus acquired, and of the fading influence of their past karma,They who knew building, at that site, founded a splendid city.

saridvistīrṇaparikhaṃ spaṣṭāñcitamahāpatham |śailakalpamahāvapraṃ givirajam ivāparam ||

1.42 It had a moat as broad as a river, a main street that straightened and curved,And great ramparts rising like mountains, as if it were another Giri-vraja.

pāṇḍurāṭṭālasumukhaṃ suvibhaktāntarāpaṇam |harmyamālāparikṣiptaṃ kukṣiṃ himagirer iva ||

1.43 With its fine frontage of white watchtowers, and a well-apportioned central marketOverlooked by crescents of large houses, it was like a Himālayan valley.

vedavedāṅgaviduṣas tasthuṣaḥ ṣaṭsu karmasu |śāntaye vṛddhaye caiva yatra viprān ajītjapan ||

1.44 Brahmins versed in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, and engaged in the six occupations,There they caused to pray, for peace and for prosperity.

tadbhūmer abhiyoktṝṇāṃ prayuktān vinivṛttaye |yatra svena prabhāvena bhṛtyadaṇḍān ajītjapan ||

1.45 The regular soldiers they employed there to repel assailants from their territoryThey caused, with their sovereign power, to be victorious in battle.

cāritradhansaṃpannān salajjān dīrghadarśinaḥ |arhato ’tiṣṭhipan yatra śūrān dakṣān kuṭumbinaḥ ||

1.46 Householders of character and means, who were modest, far-sighted,Worthy, stout and able, they caused to settle there..

vyastais tais tair guñair yuktān mativāgvikramādibhiḥ |karmasu patirūpeṣu saicāṃs tān nyayūyujan ||

1.47 Individuals possessed of particular strong points such as thinking, talking, and taking steps,They installed in corresponding offices as counsellors and ministers.

vasumadbhir avibhrāntair alaṃvidyair avismitaiḥ |yad babhāse naraiḥ kīrṇaṃ mandaraḥ kinnarair iva ||

1.48 Thronged by men who were wealthy but not wanton, and cultured but not conceited,[The city] seemed like Mt. Mandara, thronged by kiṁnaras.

yatra te hṛṣṭamanasaḥ pauraprītickīrṣayā |śrīmanty udyānasaṃjñāni yaśodhāmāny acīkaran ||

1.49 There with glad hearts, Desiring to bring joy to the citizens,They commissioned those glorious abodes of beauty that we call ‘gardens’.

śvāḥ puṣkariṇīś caiva paramāgryaguṇāmbhasaḥ |nājñāyā cetanotkarṣād dikṣu sarvāsv acīkhanan ||

1.50 And lovely lotus pools of finest quality water,Not at anybody’s behest, but because of being uplifted, they had dug in all directions.

manojñāḥ śrīmatiḥ praśṭhīḥ pathiṣūpavaneṣu ca |sabhāḥ kūpavatīś caiva samantāt pratyatiṣṭhipan ||

1.51 Rest-houses of the first rank, welcoming and splendid, on the roads and in the woods,Complete even with wells, they caused to go up on all sides.

hastyaśvarathasakīrṇam asaṃkīrṇam anākulam |anigūḍhārthivibhavaṃ nigūḍhajñānapauruṣam ||

1.52 Crowded with elephants, horses, and chariots, [the city] was crammed with people who did not crowd each other. Material wealth was available to the needy, not secreted; but learning and spirit ran secret and deep.

saṃnidhānam ivārthānām ādhānam iva tejasām |niketam iva vidyānāṃ saṃketam iva saṃpadām ||

1.53 Like a place where goals converge, where energies are focused,Where learning activities are housed together, and where achievements come together,

vāsavṛkṣaṃ guṇavatām āśrayaṃ śaraṇaiṣiām |ānartaṃ kṛtaśāstrāṇām ālānaṃ bābhuśālinām ||

1.54 It was a homing tree for high flyers, a refuge for those seeking a place of rest,An arena for those skilled in scientific endeavour, and a tethering post for the mighty.

samājair utsavair dāyaiḥ kriyāvidhibhir eva ca |alañcakrur alaṃvīryās te jagaddhāma tatpuram ||

1.55 By means of meetings, festivals, and acts of giving, and by means of traditional observances,The heroes brought that city, the light of the world, to a glorious readiness

yasmād anyāyatas te ca kaṃ cin nācīkaran karam |tasmād alpena kālena tat tadāpūpuran puram ||

1.56 Since they never levied any tax that was not just,Therefore in a short time they caused the city to be full.

kapilasya ca tasyarṣes tasminn āśramavāstuni |yasmāt te tatpuraṃ cakrus tasmāt kapilavāstu tat ||

1.57 And since, on the site of the ashram of the seer Kapila,They had built that city, therefore it was called Kapilavāstu.

kakandasya makandasya kuśāmbasyeva cāśrame |puryo yathā hi śrūyante tathaiva kapilasya tat ||

1.58 Just as cities sited on the ashrams of Kakanda, Makanda and KuśāmbaWere called after them, so that city was called after Kapila.

āpuḥ puraṃ tatpuruhūtakalpās te tejasāryeṇa na vismayena |āpur yaśogandham ataś ca śaśvat sutā yayāter iva kīrtimantaḥ ||

1.59 Those equals of Indra took charge of that city with noble ardour but without arrogance;And they thus took on forever the fragrance of honour, like the celebrated sons of Yayāti.

tannāthavṛttair api rājaputrair arājakaṃ naiva rarāja rāṣṭram |tārāsahasrair api dīpyamānair anutthite candra ivāntarīkṣam ||

1.60 But under the sons of kings, active though they were as protectors, that kingless kingdom lacked kingly lustre –Like the sky, though stars are shining in their thousands, before the moon has risen.

yo jyāyān atha vayasā guṇaiś ca teṣāṃ bhrātṝṇāṃ vṛṣabha ivaujasā vṛṣāṇām |te tatra priyaguruvas tam abhyaṣiñcann ādityā daśaśatalocanaṃ divīva ||

1.61 So the senior among those brothers, in age and in merits, like the bull which is chief among bulls in bodily power,They anointed there, attaching to the important, like the Ādityas in heaven anointing thousand-eyed Indra.

ācāravān vinayavān nayavān kriyāvān dharmāya nendriyadukhāya dhṛtātparaḥ |tadbhrātṛbhiḥ parivṛtaḥ sa jugopa rāṣṭraṃ saṃkrandano divam ivānuṣrto marudbhiḥ ||

1.62 Possessed of good conduct, discipline, prudence and industry, Bearing the big umbrella for duty’s sake, not to pander to the power of the senses,He guarded that realm, surrounded by his brothers, Like roaring Indra guarding heaven with his retinue of storm-gods.

saundaranande mahākāvye kapilavāstuvarṇano nāma prathamaḥ sargaḥ ||

The 1st Canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “A Portrait of Kapilavāstu.”

tataḥ kadā cit kālena tad avāpa kulakramāt |rāja śuddhodhano nāma śuddhakarmā jitendriyaḥ ||

2.1 Some time thereafter that [realm] passed, through familial succession,To a king named Śuddodhana who, being pure in his actions, had conquered the power of the senses.

yaḥ sasañje na kāmeṣu śrīpāptau na visismiye |nāvamene parānṛddhyā parebhyo nāpi vivyathe ||

2.2 Neither stuck in his desires nor conceited about gaining sovereignty,He did not, as he grew, look down on others, and nor did he shrink from others in fear.

balīyān sattvasaṃpannaḥ śrutavān buddhimān api |vikrānto nayvāṃś caiva dhīraḥ sumukha eva ca ||

2.3 Strong and strong-minded; learned as well as intelligent,Daring and yet prudent; determined, and cheerful with it,

vapuṣmāṃś ca na ca stabdho dakṣiṇo na ca nārajavaḥ |tejasvī na ca na kṣāntaḥ kartā ca na ca vismitaḥ ||

2.4 He had a fine form without being stiff; was dexterous but not dishonest;Was energetic but not impatient; and active but never flustered.

ākṣiptaḥ śatrubhiḥ saṃkhye suhṛdbhiś ca vyapāśritaḥ |abhavad yo na vimukhas tejasā ditsayaiva ca ||

2.5 Challenged by his enemies in battle, and petitioned by friends,He was not backward in responding with an intense energy, and with a willingness to give.

yaḥ pūrvai rājabhir yātāṃ yiyāsur dharmapaddhatim |rājyaṃ dīkṣām iva vahan vṛttetānvagamat pitṝn ||

2.6 Wishing to tread the dutiful path of dharma trodden by previous kings,And bearing his kingship like a call to total dedication, he emulated the ancestors through his conduct.

yasya suvyahārāc ca rakṣanāc ca sukhaṃ prajāḥ |śiśyire vigatodvegāḥ pitur aṅkagatā iva ||

2.7 Due to his good governance, and under his protection, his subjects rested at ease,Free from anxiety, as if in a father’s lap.

kṛtaśāstraḥ kṛtāstro vā jāto vā vipule kule |akṛtārtho na dadṛśe yasya darśanameyivān ||

2.8 Whether skilled in use of book, or in use of sword; whether born into an eminent family, or not; Anybody who came into his presence was seen to be useful.

hitaṃ vipriyam apy ukto yaḥ śuśrāva na cukṣubhe |duṣkṛtaṃ bahv api tyaktvā sasmāra kṛtam aṇv api ||

2.9 When given good advice, however disagreeable, he listened and did not react;He let go of a wrong done to him, however great, and remembered a service rendered, however small.

praṇatān anujagrāha vijagrāha kuladviṣaḥ |āpannān parijagrāha nijagrāhāsthitān pathi ||

2.10 The meek and mild he befriended; tribal foes he apprehended;Sufferers he comprehended; waverers he reprehended.

prāyeṇa viṣaye yasya tacchīlam anuvartinaḥ |arjayanto dadṛśire dhanānīva guṇān api ||

2.11 As the general rule in his dominion those influenced by his integritySeemed to take possession of virtues as if they were securing treasures.

adhyaiṣṭa yaḥ paraṃ brahma na vyaiṣṭa satataṃ dhṛteḥ |dānān yadita pātrebhyaḥ pāpaṃ nākṛta kiṃ cana ||

2.12 He minded the supreme sacred word; in fortitude, he never failed; He gave fitting gifts to deserving recipients; and no evil did he do at all.

dhṛtyāvākṣīt pratijñāṃ sa sadvājivodyatāṃ dhuram |na hy avānchīc eyutaḥ satyān muhūrtam api jīvitam ||

2.13 He resolutely carried out a promise undertaken, like a good horse carrying a load;For he did not desire, apart from truthfulness, even a moment of life.

viduṣaḥ paryupāsiṣṭa vyakāśiṣṭātmavattayā |vyarociṣta ca śiṣṭebhyo māsīṣe candramā iva ||

2.14 For the intellectually bright, he was there; with his own self-containment, he shone; And on people in the directed state, he positively beamed – like the moon in the last month of the rains.

avedīd buddhiśāstrābhyām iha cāmutra ca kṣamam |arakṣīd dhairyavīryābhyām indriyāṇy api ca prajāḥ ||

2.15 Through intelligence and learning, he knew what was fitting, both in here and out there; He guarded, with constancy and energy, both his senses and his subjects

ahārṣīd duḥkham ārtānāṃ dviṣatāṃ corjitaṃ yaśaḥ |acaiṣte ca nayair bhūmiṃ bhūyasā yaśasaiva ca ||

2.16 He bore away the suffering of the oppressed and the boastful fame of the cruel,And covered the earth with guiding principles and a much greater glory.

apy āsīd duḥkhitān paśyan prakṛtyā karuṇātmakaḥ |nāhauṣte ca yaśo lobhād anyāyādhigatair dhanaiḥ ||

2.17 Seeing people suffering he overflowed with his original emotion as a man of compassion;But he did not, through eager desire, undermine his honour by unprincipled acquisition of treasured objects.

sauhārdaṛḍhabhaktitvān maitreṣu viguṇeṣv api |nādidāsīdaditsīt tu saumukhvāt svaṃ svam arthavat ||

2.18 In his kind-hearted iron devotion even to imperfect friends,He had no will to take, but willingly gave, cheerful-faced, to each according to his need.

anivedyāgram arhadbhyo nālikṣat hiṃ cid aplutaḥ |gām adharmeṇa nādhukṣat kṣīratarṣeṇa gām iva ||

2.19 Without offering the first portion to revered beings, and without bathing, he did not eat anything;Neither did he milk the earth unjustly, as a cow is milked by a man thirsting for milk.

nāsṛkṣad balim aprāptaṃ nārukṣan mānam aiśvaram |āgamair buddhim āhikṣad dharmāya na tu kīrtaye ||

2.20 He never scattered the food offering except when due; he never developed lordly arrogance;Committing of the scriptures to his mind, he did for dharma, not for praise.

kleśārhān api kāṃś ci tu nākliṣṭa kliṣṭakarmaṇaḥ |āryabhāvāc ca nāghukṣad dviṣato ’pi sato guṇān ||

2.21 A few doers of harsh deeds, though they deserved harsh treatment, he did not treat harshly;And due to his noble nature he never cast a veil over the virtues of a true man, even one who defied him.

ākṛṣad vapuṣā dṛṣṭīḥ prajānāṃ candramā iva |parasvaṃ bhuvi nāmṛkṣan mahāviṣam ivoragam ||

2.22 With his fine form he ripped away, as does the moon, people’s views;He never touched, in an act of becoming, what belonged to others, any more than he would touch a venomous snake slithering on the earth.

nākrukṣad viṣaye tasya kaś cit kaiś cit kva cit kṣataḥ |adikṣat tasya hastastham ārtebhyo hy abhayaṃ dhanuḥ ||

2.23 Nowhere in his dominion did anyone hurt by anyone lament; For the bow in his hand bestowed peace upon the afflicted.

kṛtāgaso ’pi praṇatān prāg eva priyakāriṇaḥ |adarśat snighayā dṛṣṭyā ślakṣṇena vacasāsicat ||

2.24 Even those who transgressed, if they were submissive (and before them, of course, those who acted agreeably), He surveyed with an affectionate eye, and steeped in loving speech

bahvīr adhyagamad vidyā viṣayeṣv akutūhalaḥ |adarśat kārtayuge dharme dharmāt kṛcchre ’pi nāsrasat ||

2.25 He studied many subjects without being interested in objects;Abiding in dharma as it was in the golden age, he did not drift, even in a predicament, from dharma.

avardhiṣṭa guñaiḥ śaśvad avṛdhan mitrasaṃpadā |avartiṣṭa ca vṛddheṣu nāvṛtad garhite pathi ||

2.26 Because of his virtues, he continually grew; in his joy at the success of friends, he kept growing; In the stream of forebears long since grown old, again he kept going… but go he did not, on a blameworthy path.

śarair aśīśam acchatrūn guṇair bandhūn arīramat |randhrair nācūcudad bhṛtyān karair nāpīpiḍat prajāḥ ||

2.27 He quietened his enemies, using arrows; he gladdened his friends, using virtues;His servants, when there were faults, he did not goad; the offshoots who were his subjects he did not, with doing hands, overtax.

rakṣaṇāc caiva śauryāc ca nikhilāṃ gām avīvapat |spaṣṭayā daṇḍanītyā ca rātrisattrān avīvapat ||

2.28 Under his protection, and because of his heroism, seeds were planted over the whole earth;And by the transparent working of his judicial system, sessions were sat into the dark stillness of night.

kulaṃ rājarṣivṛttena yaśogandham avīvapat |dīptyā tama ivādityas tejasārīn avīvapat ||

2.29 By the conduct of a royal seer, he propagated through his house the fragrance of honour;Like the son of Aditi shining light into darkness, he with the intensity of his energy caused the enemies to scatter.

apaprathat pitṝṃś caiva satputradaṛśair guṇaiḥ |salileneva cāmbhodo vṛttenājihṇadat prajāḥ ||

2.30 Using virtues that befitted a good son, he caused the ancestors, again, to disseminate their light;And, like a raincloud using rain, he enlivened his offshoots, his subjects, using conduct.

dānair ajasravipulaiḥ somaṃ viprān asūṣavat |rājadharmasthiatvāc ca kāle sasyam asūṣavat ||

2.31 With inexhaustible and great acts of giving, he caused the brahmins to press out their soma;And by dutifully adhering to his kingly dharma, he caused corn, at the right moment, to ripen.

adharmiṣṭhām acakathan na kathām akathaṅkataḥ |cakravartīva ca parān dharmāyābhyudasīṣahat ||

2.32 He talked no talk that went against dharma, being free in himself of doubts and questions;And, like a wheel-rolling king, he caused others to be courageous in service of dharma.

rāṣṭram anyatra ca baler na sa kiṅ cid dadīdapat |bhṛtyair eva ca sodyogaṃ dviṣaddarpam adīdapat ||

2.33 No special tribute did he cause the kingdom to pay him;But with sustained endeavour, and using only regulars, he caused enemy pride to be cut down.

svair evādīdapac cāpi bhūyo bhūyo guṇaiḥ kulam |prajā nādīdapac caiva sarvadharmavyavasthayā ||

2.34 Again and again, he caused his own house to be pure, using just his own virtues;At the same time, he did not let his offshoots decay, for all were established in all dharmas.

aśrāntaḥ samaye yajvā vajñabhūmim amīmapat |pālanāc ca cvijān brahma nirduvignān amīmapat ||

2.35 A man of tireless sacrifice when the time was right, he caused sacrificial ground to be measured out;And he enabled twice-born men, who under his protection were unburdened by anxiety, to know the weight of the sacred word.

gurubhir vidhivatkāle saumyaḥ somam amīmapat |tapasā tejasā caiva dviṣatsainyam amīmapat ||

2.36 In the presence of gurus, and obeying the rule, he caused the soma to be measured out on time, as a cool, mild man of soma, And yet, with intense ardour, with fiery energy, he saw the enemy army cut down to size.

prajāḥ paramadharmjñaḥ sūkṣmaṃ dharmam avīvasat |darśanāc caiva dharmasya kāle svargam avīvasat ||

2.37 As knower of the dharma that is paramount, he caused his offshoots to abide in dharma in a small way,And yet caused them, because of experiencing dharma, to let heaven wait.

vyaktam apy arthakṛcchreṣu nādharmiṣṭham atiṣṭhipat |priya ity eva cāśaktaṃ na saṃrāgād avīvṛdhat ||

2.38 Even the obvious candidate in a crisis, he did not appoint if it went against dharma;Nor, out of nothing more than fondness, did he dotingly promote incompetence.

tejasā ca tviṣā caiva ripūn dṛptān abhībhasat |yaśodīpena dīptena pṛthivīṃ ca vyabhībhasat ||

2.39 With his intense energy and his light he exposed to view his enemies, the conceited;And with the blazing lantern of his brightness, he caused the world to shine.

ānṛśaṃsyān na yaśase tenādāyi sadārthine |dravyaṃ mahad api tyaktvā na caivākīrti kiṃ cana ||

2.40 He gave out of kindness, not for his glorification, and always to meet a need; Giving up even a thing of great substance, he mentioned nothing of it.

tenārir āpi duḥkhārto nātyāji śaraṇāgataḥ |jitvā dṛptān api ripūn na tenākāri vismayaḥ ||

2.41 He did not shun one afflicted by suffering, even an enemy, who had taken refuge;And having conquered his enemies, the conceited, he did not become proud on that account.

na tenābhedi māryādā kāmād dveṣād bhayād api |tena satsv api bhogeṣu nāsevīndriyavṛttitā ||

2.42 No rule did he break, out of love, hate, or fear;Even while abiding in pleasurable circumstances, he did not remain in thrall to the power of the senses.

na tenārdarśi viṣamaṃ kāryaṅ kva cana kiṃ cana |vipriyapriyayoḥ kṛtye na tenāgāmi nikriyāḥ ||

2.43 He was never seen to do shoddily anywhere that needed to be done;When required by friend and non-friend to act, he did not fall into inaction.

tenāpāyi yathākalpaṃ somaś ca yaśa eva ca |vedaś cāmnāyi satataṃ vedokto dharma eva ca ||

2.44 He drank and guarded, as prescribed, the soma and his honour;And he was constantly mindful of the Vedas, as well as the dharma proclaimed in the Vedas.

evamādibhir atyakto babhūvāsulabhair guṇaiḥ |aśakyaśakyasāmantaḥ śākyarājaḥ sa śakravat ||

2.45 Not eschewed by such uncommon virtues as these Was he who on no side could be vanquished – the unshakable Śākya King, like Śakra.

atha tasmin tathā kāle dharmakāmā divaukasaḥ |vicerur diśi lokasya dharmacaryā didṛkṣavaḥ ||

2.46 Now at that time Dharma-loving denizens of the heavensMoved into the orbit of the human world, wishing to investigate dharma movements.

dharmātmānaś carantas te dharmajijñāsayā jagat |dadṛśus taṃ viśeṣeṇa dharmātmānaṃ narādhipam ||

2.47 Those essences of dharma, moving, with the desire to know dharma, over the earth,Saw that leader of men whose essence was particularly given over to dharma.

devebhyas tuṣitebhyo ’tha bodhisattvaḥ kṣitiṃ vrajan |upapattiṃ praṇidadhe kule tasya mahīpateḥ ||

2.48 Then the bodhisattva came down to earth, and rather than among Tuṣita gods, He put down birth-roots in the family of that earth-lord.

tasya devī nṛdevasya māyā nāma tadābhavat |vītakrodhatamomāyā māyeva divi devatā ||

2.49 That man-god at that time had a goddess, A queen whose name was Māyā;She was as devoid of anger, darkness and the māyā which is deceit as was the goddess Māyā in heaven.

svapne ’tha samaye garbham āviśantaṃ dadarśa sā |ṣaḍdantaṃ vāraṇaṃ śvetam airāvatam ivaujasā ||

2.50 In a dream during that period she saw entering her wombA white six-tusked elephant, mighty as Airāvata.

taṃ vinirdidiṣuḥ śrutvā svapnaṃ svapnavido dvijāḥ |tasya janma kumārasya lakṣmīdharmayaśobhṛtaḥ ||

2.51 When they heard this dream, brahmins who knew dreams predictedThe birth of a prince who would bring honour, through wealth or through dharma.

tasya sattvaviśeṣasya jātau jātikṣayaiṣinaḥ |sācalā pracacālorvī taraṅgābhihateva nauḥ ||

2.52 At the birth of this exceptional being whose mission was the end of re-birthThe earth with its immoveable mountains moved, like a boat being battered by waves.

sūryaraśmibhir akliṣṭaṃ puṣpavarṣaṃ papāta khāt |digvāraṇakarādhūtād vanāc caitrarathād iva ||

2.53 A rain of flowers, unwilted by the sun’s rays, fell from the sky As if shaken from the trees of Citra-ratha’s forest by the trunks of the elephants of the four quarters.

divi dundubhayo nedur dīvyatāṃ marutām iva |didīpe ’bhyadhiaṃ sūryaḥ śivaś ca pavano vavau ||

2.54 Drums sounded in heaven, as though the storm-gods were rolling dice;The sun blazed inestimably, and the wind blew benignly.

tutuṣus tuṣitāś caiva śuddhāvāsāś ca devatāḥ |saddharmabahumānena sattvānāṃ cānukampayā ||

2.55 Gods in Tuṣita Heaven became calm and content, as did gods of the clear Śuddhāvāsa yonder,Through thinking highly of true dharma and through fellow feeling among sentient beings.

samāyayau yaśaḥketuṃ śreyaḥketukaraḥ paraḥ |babhrāje śāntayā lakṣmyā dharmo vigrahavān iva ||

2.56 To one who was a lamp of honour came a supreme bringer of the brightness of betterment:He shone with tranquil splendour like dharma in a separate bodily form.

devyām api yavīyasyām araṇyām iva pāvakaḥ |nando nāma suto jajñe nityānandakaraḥ kule ||

2.57 To the king’s younger queen, also, ;ike fire in the notch of a fire-board,A son was born named Nanda, Joy, a bringer of constant joy to his family.

dīrghabāhur mahāvakṣāḥ siṃhāṃso vṛsabhekṣanaḥ |vapuṣāgryeṇa yo nāma sundaropapadaṃ dadhe ||

2.58 Long in the arm, broad in the chest, with shoulders of a lion and eyes of a bull,He because of his superlative looks bore the epithet “handsome.”

madhumāsa iva prāptaś candro naa ivoditaḥ |aṅgavān iva cānaṅgaḥ sa babhau kāntayā śriyā ||

2.59 Like a first month in spring having arrived, like a new moon having risen;Again, like the non-physical having taken a physical form, he radiated sheer loveliness.

sa tau saṃvardhayāmāsa narendraḥ parayā mudā |arthaḥ sajjanahastastho dharmakāmau mahān iva ||

2.60 The king with exceeding gladness brought up the two of them,As great wealth in the hands of a good man promotes dharma and pleasure.

tasya kālena satputrau vavṛdhāte bhavāya tau |āryasyārambhamahato darmārthāv iva bhūtaye ||

2.61 Those two good sons, in time, grew up to do the king proud,Just as, when his investment is great, dharma and wealth pay a noble person well.

tayoḥ satputrayor madhye śākyarājo rarāja saḥ |madhyadeśa iva vyakto himavatpāripātrayoḥ ||

2.62 Being in the middle, with regard to those two good sons, the Śākya king reigned resplendent,Like the Madhya-deśa, the Middle Region, adorned by the Himālaya and Pāriyātra mountains.

tatas tayoḥ saṃskṛtayoḥ krameṇa narendrasūnvoḥ kṛtavidyayoś ca |kāmeṣv ajasraṅ pramamāda nandaḥ sarvārthasiddhas tu na saṃrarañja ||

2.63 Then, gradually, those two sons of the king became educated, in practical arts and in learning.Nanda frittered all his time on idle pleasures; but Sarvārtha-siddha, Accomplisher of Every Aim, was not mottled by the redness of passions.

sa prekśyaiva hi jīrṇam āturaṅ ca mṛtaṅ ca vimṛśan jagadanbhijñam ārtacittaḥ |hṛdayagataparaghṛṇo na viṣayaratim agamaj jananamaraṇabhayam abhito vijighāṃsuḥ ||

2.64 For he had seen for himself an old man, a sick man, and a corpse, After which, as with a wounded mind he witnessed the unwitting world, He was disgusted to the core and found no pleasure in objects But wished totally to terminate the terror of being born and dying.

udvegād apunarbhave manaḥ praṇidhāya sa yayau śayitavarāṅganādanāsthaḥ |niśi nṛpatinilayanād vanagamankṛtmanāḥ sarasa iva mathitanalināt kalahaṃsaḥ ||

2.65 Having focused his agitated mind on the end of becoming, He fled the king’s palace, indifferent to the most beautiful of women sleeping there; Determined to go to the forest, he fled in the night, Like a goose from a lake of ruined lotuses.

saundaranande mahākāvye rājavarṇano nāma dvitīyaḥ sargaḥ ||

The 2nd canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “A Portrait of the King.”

tapase tataḥ kapilavāstu hayagarathaughasaṃkulam |śrīmad abhayam anuraktajanaṃ sa vihāya viścitamanā vanaṃ yayau ||

3.1 For ascetic practice, then, he left Kapilavāstu – a teeming mass of horses, elephants and chariots, Majestic, safe, and loved by its citizens. Leaving the city, he started resolutely for the forest.

vividhāgmāṃs tapasi tāṃś ca vividhaniyamāśrayān munīn |prekṣya sa viṣayatṛākṛpaṇān anavasthitaṃ tapa iti nyavartata ||

3.2 In the approach to ascetic practice of the various traditions, and in the attachment of sages to various restraints,He observed the miseries of thirsting for an object. Seeing asceticism to be unreliable, he turned away from it.

atha mokṣavādinam arāḍam upaśamamatiṃ tathoḍrakam |tattvakṛtamatir upāsya jahāvayam apy amārga iti māgakovidaḥ ||

3.3 Then Ārāda, who spoke of freedom, and likewise Uḍraka, who inclined towards quietness,He served, his heart set on truth, and he left. He who intuited the path intuited: “This also is not it.”

sa vicārayan jagati kiṃ nu paramam iti taṃ tam āgamam |niścayam anadhigataḥ parataḥ paramaṃ cacāra tapa eva duṣkaram ||

3.4 Of the different traditions in the world, he asked himself, Which one was the best?Not obtaining certainty elsewhere, he entered after all into ascetic practice that was most severe.

atha naiṣa mārga iti vikṣya tad api vipulaṃ jahau tapaḥ |dhyānaviṣayam avagamya paraṃ bubhuje varānnam amṛtatvabuddhaye ||

3.5 Then, having ascertained that this was not the path, he abandoned that extreme asceticism too.Understanding the realm of meditation to be supreme, he ate good food in readiness to realise the deathless.

sa suvarṇapīnayugabāhur ṛṣabhagatir āyatekṣaṇaḥ |plakṣam avaniruham abhyagamat paramasya niścayavidher bubhutsayā ||

3.6 With golden arms fully expanded and as if in a yoke, with lengthened eyes, and bull-like gait, He came to a fig tree, growing up from the earth, with the will to awakening that belongs to the supreme method of investigation.

upaviśya tatra kṛtabuddhir acaldhṛtir adrirājavat |mārabalam ajayad ugram atho bubudhe padaṃ śivam ahāryam avyayam ||

3.7 Sitting there, mind made up, as unmovingly stable as the king of mountains,He overcame the grim army of Māra and awoke to the step which is happy, irremovable, and irreducible.

avagamya taṃ ca kṛtakāryam amṛtamanaso divaukasaḥ |harṣam atulam agaman muditā vimukhī tu mārapariṣat pracukṣubhe ||

3.8 Sensing the completion of his task, the denizens of heaven whose heart’s desire is the deathless nectarBuzzed with unbridled joy. But Māra’s crew was downcast and trembled.

sanagā ca bhūḥ pravicāla hutavahasakaḥ śivo vavau |nedur api ca suradundubhayaḥ pravavarṣa cāmbudharavarjitaṃ nabhaḥ ||

3.9 The earth with its mountains shook, that which feeds the fire blew benignly,The drums of the gods sounded, and from the cloudless sky rain fell.

avabudhya caiva paramārtham ajaram anukampayā vibhuḥ |nityam amṛtam upadarśyituṃ sa varāñasīparikarām ayāt purīm ||

3.10 Awake to the one great ageless purpose, and universal in his compassion, He proceeded, in order to display the eternal deathless nectar, to the city sustained by the waters of the Varaṇā and the Asī – to Vārāṇasī.

atha dharmacakram ṛtanābhi dhṛtimatisamādhinemimat |tatra vinayanimāram ṛṣir jagato hitāya pariṣady avartayat ||

3.11 And so the wheel of dharma – whose hub is uprightness, whose rim is constancy, determination, and balanced stillness, And whose spokes are the rules of discipline – there the Seer turned, in that assembly, for the welfare of the world.

iti duḥkham etad iyam asya samudayalatā pravartikā |śāntir iyam ayam upāya iti pravibhāgaśaḥ param idaṃ catuṣṭayam ||

3.12 “This is suffering; this is the tangled mass of causes producing it;This is cessation; and here is a means.” Thus, one by one, this supreme set of four,

abhidhāya ca triparivartam atulam anivartyam uttamam |dvādaśaniyatavikalpam ṛṣir vinināya kauṇḍinasagotram āditaḥ ||

3.13 The seer set out, with its the three divisions of the unequalled, the incontrovertible, the ultimate,And with its statement of twelvefold linkage; after which he instructed, as the first follower, him of the Kauṇḍinya clan.

sa hi doṣasāgaram agādham upadhijalam ādhijanutkam |krodhamadabhayatarṅgacalaṃ pratatāra lokam api vyatārayat ||

3.14 For the fathomless sea of faults, whose water is falsity, where fish are cares,And which is disturbed by waves of anger, lust, and fear; he had crossed, and he took the world across too.

sa vinīya kāśiṣu gayeṣu bahujanam atho girivraje |pitryam api paramakāruṇiko nagaraṃ yayāv anujighṛkṣayā tadā ||

3.15 Having instructed many people at Kāśi and at Gaya As also at Giri-vraja,He made his way then to the city of his fathers, in his deeply compassionate desire to include it.

viṣayātmakasya hi ianasya bahuvividhamārgasevinaḥ |sūryasadṛśavapur abhyudito vijahāra sūrya iva gautamas tamaḥ ||

3.16 To people possessed by ends, serving many and various paths,Splendour had arisen that seemed like the sun: Gautama was like the sun, dispelling darkness.

abhitas tataḥ kapilavāstu paramaśubhavāstusaṃstutam |vastumatiśuci śivopavanaṃ sa dadarśa niḥspṛhatayā yathā vanam ||

3.17 Seeing then all sides of Kapilavāstu – which was famed for its most beautiful properties, And was pure and clean in substance and design, and pleasantly wooded – he looked without longing, as though at a forest.

aparigrahaḥ sa hi babhūva niyatamatir ātmanīśvaraḥ |naikavidhabhayakareṣu kim-u svajanasvadeśajanamitravastuṣu ||

3.18 For he had become free of belonging: he was sure in his thinking, the master of himself. How much less did he belong to those causes of manifold worry – family, countrymen, friends and property?

pratipūjayā na sa jaharṣa na ca śucam avajñayāgamat |niścitamatir asicandanayor na jagāma duḥkhasukhayoś ca vikriyām ||

3.19 Being revered gave him no thrill, and neither did disrespect cause him any grief. His direction was decided, come sword or sandalwood, and whether the going was tough or easy he was not diminished.

atha pārthivaḥ samupalabhya sutam upagataṃ tathāgatam |tūrṇam ababhuturagānugataḥ sutadarśanotsukatayābhiniryayau ||

3.20 And so the king learned that his son had arrived as the Tathāgata, the One Arrived Thus; With but a few horses straggling behind him, out the king charged, in his eagerness to see his son.

sugatas tathāgatam avekṣya narapatim adhīram āśayā |śeṣam api ca janam aśrumukhaṃ vinīṣaya gaganam utpapāta ha ||

3.21 The Sugata, the One Gone Well, saw the king coming thus, composure lost in expectation, And saw the rest of the people too, with tearful faces; wishing to direct them, up he took himself, into the sky.

sa vicakrame divi bhuvīva punar upaviveśa tasthivān |niścalamatir aśayiṣṭa punar bahudhābhavat punar abhūt tathaikadhā ||

3.22 He strode over heaven as if over the earth; and sat again, in the stillness of having stopped. Without changing his direction, he lay down; he showed many changing forms while remaining, in this manner, all of one piece.

salile kṣitāv iva cacāra jalam iva viveṣa medinīm |megha iva divi vavarṣa punaḥ punar ajvalan nava ivodito raviḥ ||

3.23 He walked over water as if on dry land, immersed himself in the soil as though it were water, Rained as a cloud in the sky, and shone like the newly-risen sun.

yugapaj jvalan jvalanavac ca jalam avasṛhaṃś ca meghavat |taptakanakasadṛśaprabhayā sa babhau pradīpta iva sandhyayā ghanaḥ ||

3.24 Simultaneously glowing like a fire and passing water like a cloud, He gave off a light resembling molten gold, like a cloud set aglow by daybreak or by dusk.

tam udīkṣya hemamaṇijālavalayinam ivotthitaṃ dhvajam |prītim agamad atulāṃ nṛpatir janatā natāś ca bahumānam abhyayuḥ ||

3.25 Looking up at him in the network of gold and pearls that seemed to wrap around him like an upraised flag, The king became joyful beyond measure and the assembled people, bowing down, felt deep appreciation.

atha bhājanīkṛtam avekṣya manujapatim ṛddhisaṃpadā |paurajanam api ca tatpravaṇaṃ nijagāda dharmavinayaṃ vināyakaḥ ||

3.26 So, perceiving that he had made a vessel of the ruler of men, through the wealth of his accomplishments,And that the townsfolk also were favourably disposed, the Guide gave voice to the dharma and the discipline.

nṛpatis tataḥ prathamam āpa phalam amṛtadharmasiddhayoḥ |dharmam atulam adhigamya muner munaye nanāma sa yato gurāv iva ||

3.27 Then the royal hero reaped the first fruit For the fulfillment of the deathless dharma.Having obtained unthinkable dharma from the sage, he bowed accordingly in the sage’s direction, as to a guru.

bahavaḥ prasannamanaso ’tha jananamaraṇārtibhīravaḥ |śākyatanayavṛṣabhāḥ kṛtino vṛṣabhā invānalabhayāt pravavrajuḥ ||

3.28 Many then who were clear in mind – alert to the agony of birth and death – Among mighty Śākya-born men of action, went forth into the wandering life, like bulls that had been startled by fire.

vijahus tu ye ’pi na gṛhāṇi tanayapitṛmātrapekṣayā |te ’pi niyamavidhimāmaraṇāj jagṛhuś ca yuktamanasaś ca daghrire ||

3.29 But even those who did not leave home, out of regard for children or father or mother: They also, until their death, embraced the preventive rule and, with ready minds, they held to it:

na jihiṃsa sūkṣmam api jantum api paravadhopajīvanaḥ |kiṃ bata vipulaguñaḥ kulajaḥ sadayaḥ sadā kimu muner upāsayā ||

3.30 No living creature, no matter how small, was subjected to violence, even by a person who killed for a living, Still less by a man of great virtue, good family and unfailing gentleness – and how much less by a servant of the Sage?

akṛśodhyamaḥ kṛśadhano ’pi paraparibhavāsaho ’pi san |nānyadhanam apajahāra tathā bhujagād ivānyavibhavād dhi vivyathe ||

3.31 The man not shy of hard work and yet still short of money, though he could not bear the other’s slights, Did not, even so, carry off the other’s goods; for he shrank from others’ riches as from a snake.

vibhavānvito ’pi taruṇo ’pi viṣayacapalendriyo ’pi san |naiva ca parayuvatīr agamat paramaṃ hi tā dhanato ’py amanyata ||

3.32 Even the man of money and youth with senses excited by objects of his affection – Even he never approached others’ wives, for he deemed them to be more dangerous than a burning fire.

anṛtaṃ jagāda na ca kaś cid ṛtam api jajalpa nāpriyam |ślakṣṇam api ca na jagāv ahitaṃ hitam apy uvāca na ca paiśunāya yat ||

3.33 Nobody told an untruth, nor made true but nasty gossip, Nor crooned slick but malicious words, nor spoke kindly words that had a backbiting motive

manasā lulobha na ca jātu paravasuṣu gṛddhamānasaḥ |kāmasukham asukhato vimṛśan vijahāra tṛpta iva tatra sajjanaḥ ||

3.34 No greedy-minded person, in his heart, had any designs on the treasures of others; Seeing sensual happiness to be no happiness, the wise went freely on their way, as if satisfied in that area already.

na parasya kaś cid apaghātam api ca sgṛṇo vyacintayat |mātṛpiṛsutasuhṛsadṛśaṃ sa dadarśa tatra hi paras paraṃ janaḥ ||

3.35 Nobody showed any hostility towards the other; rather, they looked on others with positive warmth, As mother, father, child or friend: for each person there saw in the other himself.

niyataṃ bhaviṣyati paratra bhavad api ca bhūtam apy atho |karmaphalam api ca lokagatir niyateti darśanam avāpa sādhu ca ||

3.36 That the fruit of conduct, inevitably, will be realized in the future, is being realized now, and has been realized in the past; And that thus is determined how one fares in the world: this is an insight that, again, each experienced unerringly.

iti karmañā daśavidhena paramakuśalena bhūriṇā |bhraṃśini śitahilaguṇo ’pi yuge vijahāra tatra munsaṃśrayaj janaḥ ||

3.37 By this most skillful and powerful tenfold means, by the means of their conduct, Although virtue was lax in a declining age, the people there, with the Sage’s help, fared well

na ca tatra kaś cid upapattisukham abhilalāṣa tair guṇaiḥ |sarvam aśivam avagamya bhavaṃ bhavasaṃkṣayāya vavṛte na janmane ||

3.38 But nobody there, because of his virtues, expected happiness in a resulting birth; Having learned that all becoming is pernicious, people worked to eradicate becoming, not to become something.

akathaṅkathā gṛhiṇa eva paramapariśuddhadṛṣtayaḥ |srotasi hi vavṛtire bahavo rajasas tanutvam api cakrire pare ||

3.39 Even householders were free from endless doubting, their views washed spotlessly away: For many had entered the stream, and others had reduced the passions to a trickle.

vavṛte ’tra yo ’pi viṣameṣu vibhavadṛśeṣu kaś cana |tyāgavinayaniyamābhirato vijahāra so ’pi na cacāla satpathāt ||

3.40 Even one there who had been given over to ends like wealth Was now content with free giving, discipline, and restraint: he also fared well, not straying from the true path.

api ca svato ’pi parato ’pi na bhayam abhavan na daivataḥ |tatra ca susukhasubhikṣaguṇair jahṛṣuḥ prajāḥ kṛtayuge manor iva ||

3.41 Neither from within the self, nor from without, did any terror arise; nor from fate. By dint of their true happiness and material plenty and practical merits, the citizens there rejoiced as in the golden age of Manu.

iti muditam anāmayaṃ nirāpat kururaghupurupuropamaṃ puraṃ tat |abhavad abhayadaiśike maharṣau viharati tatra śivāya vītarāge ||

3.42 Thus exulting in freedom from disease and calamity, that city was the equal of Kuru, Raghu and Pūru, With the great dispassionate Seer serving there, for the good of all, as a guide to peace.

iti saundaranande mahākavye tathāgatavarṇano nāma tṛtīyaḥ sargaḥ ||

The 3rd Canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “A Portrait of the Tathāgata.”

munau bruvāñe ’pi tu tatra dharmaṃ dharmaṃ prati jñātiṣu cādṛteṣu |prāsādasaṃstho madanaikakāryaḥ priyāsahāyo vijahāra nandaḥ ||

4.1 But even when the Sage was there speaking the dharma, and even though other family members heeded the dharma, Nanda passed the time in the company of his wife, staying in the palace penthouse, solely occupied with love.

sa cakravākyeva hi cakravākas tayā sametaḥ priyayā priyārhaḥ |nācintayad vaiśrmaṇaṃ na śakraṃ tasthānahetoḥ kuta eva dharmam ||

4.2 For joined with his wife like a greylag gander with a greylag goose, and fitted for love, He turned his thoughts neither to Vaiśravaṇa nor to Śakra: how much less, in that state, did he think about dharma?

lakṣmyā ca rūpeṇa ca sundarīti stambhena garveṇa ca māninīti |dīptyā ca mānena ca bhāminīti yato babhāṣe trividhena nāmnā ||

4.3 For her grace and beauty, she was called Lovely Sundarī; for her headstrong pride, Sulky Māninī; And for her sparkle and spirit, Beautiful Bhāminī. So that she was called by three names.

sā hāsahaṃsā nayandvirephā pīnastanātyunnatapadmakośā |bhūyo babhāse svakuloditena strīpadminī nandadivākareṇa ||

4.4 She of smiles like the bars of a bar-headed-goose, of eyes like black bees, and swelling breasts like the upward jutting buds of a lotus, Shimmered all the more, a lotus-pool in female form, with the rising of a kindred luminary, the sun-like Nanda.

rūpeṇa cātyantamanohareṇa rūpānurūpeṇa ca ceṣṭitena |manuṣyaloke hi tadā babhūva sā sundarī strīṣu nareṣu nandaḥ ||

4.5 For, with inordinately good looks, and moves to match those heart-stealing looks, There was in the human world at that time, among women, [only] Sundarī, and among men, Nanda.

sā devatā nandanacāriṇīva kulasya nandījananaś ca nandaḥ |atītya martyān anupetya devān sṛṣṭāv abhūtām iva bhūtadhātrā ||

4.6 She, like a goddess wandering in Indra’s Gardens of Gladness, and Nanda, the bringer of joy to his kin, Seemed, having gone beyond mortals, and yet not become gods, to be a Creator’s creation in progress.

tāṃ sundarīṃ cen na labheta nandaḥ sā vā niṣeveta na taṃ natabhrūḥ |dvandaṃ dhruvaṃ tad vikalaṃ na śobhetānyonyahīnāv iva rātricandrau ||

4.7 If Nanda had not won Sundarī, or if she of the arched eyebrows had not gone to him, Then, deprived of each other, the two would surely have seemed impaired, like the night and the moon.

kandarparatyor iva lakṣyabhūtaṃ pramodanāndyor iva nīḍabhūtam |praharṣatuṣṭyor iva pātrabhūtaṃ dvandaṃ sahāraṃsta madāndhabhūtam ||

4.8 As though a target of the god of Love and his mistress Pleasure; as though a nest of Ecstasy and Joy; As though a bowl of Excitement and Contentment; blindly the couple took their pleasure together.

parasparodvīkṣaṇatatparākṣaṃ parasparavyāhṛtasaktacittam |parasparāśleṣahṛtāṇgarāgaṃ parasparaṃ tan mithunaṃ jahāra ||

4.9 Having eyes only for each other’s eyes, minds hanging on each other’s words, Mutual embraces rubbing away the pigments that scented their bodies, the couple carried each other away.

bhāvānuraktau girinirjharasthau tau kiṃnarīkiṃpuruṣāv ivobhau |cikrīḍatuś cābhivirejatuś ca rūpaśriyānyonyam ivākṣipantau ||

4.10 Like a kiṁnara meeting a kiṁnarī by a cascading mountain torrent, in love with love, The two of them flirted and shone, as if vying to outdo one another in alluring radiance.

anyonyasaṃrāgavivardhanena tad dvandvam anyonyam arīramac ca |klamāntare ’nyonyavinodanena salīlam anyonyam amīmadac ca ||

4.11 By building up each other’s passion, the pair gave each other sexual satisfaction; And by playfully teasing each other during languid intervals, they gladdened each other again.

vibhūṣayām āsa tataḥ priyāṃ sa siṣeviṣus tāṃ na mṛjāvahārtham |svenaiva rūpeṇa vibhūṣitā hi vibhūṣaṇānām api bhuṣaṇaṃ sā ||

4.12 Wishing to cherish his beloved, he bedecked her there in finery, but not with the aim of making her beautiful – For she was so graced already by her own loveliness that she was rather the adorner of her adornments.

dattvātha sā darpaṇam asya haste mamāgrato dhāraya tāvad enam |viśeṣakaṃ yāvad ahaṃ karomīty uvāca kāntaṃ sa ca taṃ babhāra ||

4.13 She put a mirror in his hand; “Just hold this in front of me While I do my face,” she said to her lover, and up he held it.

bhartus tataḥ śmaśru nirīkṣamāṇā viśeṣakaṅ sāpi cakāra tādṛk |niśvāsavātena ca darpañasya cikitsayitvā nijaghāna nandaḥ ||

4.14 Then, beholding her husband’s stubble she began to paint her face just like it, But, with a breath on the mirror, Nanda soon took care of that.

sā tena ceṣṭālalitena bhartuḥ śāṭhyena cāntarmanasā jahāsa |bhavec ca ruṣṭā kila nāma tasmai lalāṭajihmāṃ bhṛkuṭiṃ cakāra ||

4.15 At this wanton gesture of her husband, and at his wickedness, she inwardly laughed; But, pretending to be furious with him, she cocked her eyebrows and frowned.

cikṣepa karṇotpalam asya cāṃse kareña savyena madālasena |pattrāṅguliṃ cārdhanimīlitākṣe vaktre ’sya tām eva vinirdudhāva ||

4.16 With a left hand made languid by love, she took a flower from behind her ear and threw it at his shoulder; Again, as he kept his eyes half-shut, she sprinkled over his face the scented make-up she had been using to powder herself.

tataś calannūpurayoktritābhyāṃ nakhaprabhodhāsitarāṅgulibhyām |padhyāṃ priyāyā nalinopamābhyāṃ mūrdhnā bhayān nāma nanāma nadaḥ ||

4.17 Then, at his wife’s lotus like feet, which were girt in trembling ankle bracelets, Their toes sparkling with nail gloss, Nanda bowed his head, in mock terror

sa muktapuṣponmiṣitena mūrdhnā tataḥ priyāyāḥ priyakṛd babhāse |suvarṇavedyām anilāvabhagnaḥ puṣpātibhārād iva nāgavṛkṣaḥ ||

4.18 As his head emerged from beneath the discarded flower, he made as if to regain his lover’s affections; He looked like an ornamental nāga tree, overburdened with blossoms, that had toppled in the wind onto its golden pedestal.

sā taṃ stanodvartitahāraṣṭir utthāpayām āsa nipīḍya dorbhyām |kathaṃ kṛto ’sīti jahāsa coccair mukhena sācīkṛtakuṇḍalena ||

4.19 Pressing him so close in her arms that her pearls lifted off from her swelling breasts, she raised him up; “What are you doing!?” she cried laughingly, as her earrings dangled across her face.

patyus tato darpaṇasaktapāṇer muhurmuhur vaktram avekṣamāṇā |tamālapattrārdratale kapole samāpayāmāsa viśeṣakaṃ tat ||

4.20 Then, looking repeatedly at the face of her husband, whose hand had clung to the mirror, She completed her face-painting, so that the surface of her cheeks was wet with tamāla juice.

tasyā mukhaṅ tat satamālapattraṅ tāmrādharauṣṭhaṃ cikurāyatākṣam |raktādhikāgraṃ patitadvirephaṅ saśaivalaṅ padmam ivābabhāse ||

4.21 Framed by the tamāla smudges, her face with its cherry red lips, and wide eyes extending to her hair, Seemed like a lotus framed by duck-weed, with crimson tips, and two big bees settled on it.

nandas tato darpaṇam ādareṇa bibhrat tadāmaṇḍanasākṣibhūtam |viśeṣakāvekṣaṇakekarākṣo laḍat priyāyā vadanaṃ dadarśa ||

4.22 Attentively now, Nanda held the mirror, which was bearing witness to a work of beauty. Squinting to see the flecks she had painted, he beheld the face of his impish lover.

tat kuṇḍalādaṣṭaviśeṣakāntaṃ kāraṇḍavakliṣṭam ivāravindam |nandaḥ priyāyā mukham īkṣamāṇo bhūyaḥ priyānandakaro babhūva ||

4.23 The make-up was nibbled away at its edges by her earrings so that her face was like a lotus that had suffered the attentions of a kāraṇḍava duck. Nanda, by gazing upon that face, became all the more the cause of his wife’s happiness.

vimānakalpe sa vimānagarbhe tatas tathā caiva nandana nandaḥ |tathāgataś cāgatabhaikṣakālo bhaikṣāya tasya praviveṣa veśma ||

4.24 While Nanda, inside the palace, in what almost amounted to a dishonour, was thus enjoying himself, The Tathāgata, the One Thus Come, come begging time, had entered the palace, for the purpose of begging.

avāṅmukho niṣpraṇayaś ca tasthau bhrātu gṛhe ’nyasya gṛhe yathaiva |tasmād atho preṣyajanapramādād bhikṣām alabdhaiva punar jagāma ||

4.25 With face turned down, he stood, in his brother’s house as in any other house, not expecting anything; And then, since due to the servants’ oversight, he received no alms, he went again on his way.

kā cit pipeṣāṅgavilepanaṃ hi vāso ’ṅganā kā cid avāsayac ca |ayojayat snānavidhiṃ tathānyā jagranthur anyāḥ surabhīḥ srajaś ca ||

4.26 For one woman was grinding fragrant body oils; another was perfuming clothes; Another, likewise, was preparing a bath; while other women strung together sweet-smelling garlands

tasmin gṛhe bhartur ataś carantyaḥ krīḍānurūpaṃ lalitaṃ niyogam |kāś cin na buddhaṃ dadṛśur yuvatyo buddhasya vaiṣā niyataṅ manīṣā ||

4.27 The girls in that house were thus so busy doing work to promote their master’s romantic play That none of them had seen the Buddha – or so the Buddha inevitably concluded.

kā cit sthitā tatra tu harmyapṛṣṭhe gavākṣapakṣe praṇidhāya cakṣuḥ |viniṣpatantaṃ sugataṃ dadarśa payodagarbhād iva dīptam arkam ||

4.28 One woman there, however, on glancing through a round side-window on the upper storey of the palace, Had seen the Sugata, the One Gone Well, going away – like the blazing sun emerging from a cloud.

sā gauravaṃ tatra vicārya bhartuḥ svayā ca bhaktyārhatayārhataś ca |nandasya tasthau purato vivakṣus tadājñayā ceti tadācacakṣe ||

4.29 Thinking in that moment of the importance of the Worthy One to the master of the house, and through her own devotion to the Worthy One, She stood before Nanda, intending to speak. And then, with his permission, up she spoke:

anugrahāyāsya janasya śaṅke gurur gṛhaṃ no bhagavān praviṣṭaḥ |bhikṣām alabdhvā giram āsanaṃ vā sūnyād araṇyād iva yāti bhūyaḥ ||

4.30 “To show favour to us, I suppose, the Glorious One, the Guru, came into our house; Having received neither alms, nor welcoming words, nor a place to sit, he is going away, as if from an empty forest.”

śrutvā maharṣeḥ sa gṛhapraveśaṃ satkārahīnaṃ ca punaḥprayāṇam |cacāla citrābharaṇāmbarasrak kalpadrumo dhūta ivānilena ||

4.31 When he heard that the great Seer had entered his house and departed again without receiving a welcome, [Nanda] in his brightly-coloured gems and garments and garlands, flinched, like a tree in Indra’s paradise shaken by a gust of wind.

kṛtvāñjaliṃ mūrdhani padmakalpaṃ tataḥ sa kāntāṃ gamanaṃ yayāce |kartuṃ gamiṣyāmi gurau praṇāmaṃ mām abhyanujñātum ihārhasīti ||

4.32 He brought to his forehead hands joined in the shape of a lotus bud, and then he begged 13 his beloved to be allowed to go: “I would like to go and pay my respects to the Guru. Please permit me, this once.”

sā vepamānā parisasvaje taṃ śālaṃ latā vātasamīriteva |dadarśa cāśuplutalolanetrā dīrghaṃ ca niśvasya vaco ’bhyuvāca ||

4.33 Shivering, she twined herself around him, like a wind-stirred creeper around a teak tree; She looked at him through unsteady tear-filled eyes, took a deep breath, and told him:

nāhaṃ yiyāsor gurudarśanārtham arhāmi kartuṃ tava dharmapīḍām |gacchāryaputraihi ca śīghram eva viśeṣako yāvad ayaṅ na śuṣkaḥ ||

4.34 “Since you wish to go and see the Guru, I shall not stand in the way of your dharma-duty. Go, noble husband! But come quickly back, before this paint on my face is dry.

saced bhaves tvaṃ khalu dīrghasūtro daṇdaṃ mahāntaṃ tvayi pātayeyam |muhurmuhus tvāṃ śayitaṃ kucābhyāṃ vibodhayeyaṃ ca na cālapeyam ||

4.35 If you dawdle, I will punish you severely: As you sleep I shall with my breasts, repeatedly wake you, and then not respond.

athāpy anāśyānaviśeṣakāyāṃ mayy eṣyasi tvaṃ tvaritaṃ tatas tvām |nipīḍayiṣyāmi bhujadvayena nirbhūṣañenārdravilepanena ||

4.36 But if you hurry back to me before my face-paint is dry, Then I will hold you close in my arms with nothing on except fragrant oils.”

ity evam uktaś ca nipīḍitaś ca tayāsavarṇasvanayā jagāda |evaṃ kariṣyāmi vimuñca caṇḍi yāvad gurur dūragato na me saḥ ||

4.37 Thus implored, and squeezed, by a dissonant-sounding [Sundarī], [Nanda] said: “I will, my little vixen. Now let me go, before the Guru has gone too far.”

tataḥ stanodvartitacandanābhyāṃ mukto bhujābhyāṃ na tu mānasena |vihāya veṣaṃ madanānurūpaṃ satkārayogyaṃ sa vapur babhāra ||

4.38 And so, with arms made fragrant by her swollen sandal-scented breasts, she let him go – but not with her heart. He took off clothes that were suited to love and took on a form that befitted his task.

sā taṃ prayāntaṃ ramaṇaṃ pradadhyau pradhyānaśūnyasthitaniścalākṣī |sthitoccakarṇā vyapaviddhaśaṣpā bhrāntasṃ mṛgaṃ bhrāntaṃ mṛgaṅ bhrāntaṃ mukhī mṛgīva ||

4.39 She contemplated her lover leaving with brooding, empty, unmoving eyes, Like a doe standing with ears pricked up as she lets grass drop down; and as, with a perplexed expression, she contemplates the stag wandering away.

didṛkṣayākṣiptamanā munes tu nandaḥ prayāṇaṃ prati tatvare ca |vivṛttadṛṣṭiś ca śanair yayau tāṃ karīva paśyan sa laḍatkareñum ||

4.40 With his mind gripped by desire to set eyes upon the Sage, Nanda hurried his exit; But then he went ponderously, and with backward glances – like an elephant looking back at a playful she-elephant.

chātodariṃ pīnapayodharoruṃ sa sundarīṃ rukmadarīm ivādreḥ |kākṣeṇa paśyan na tatarpa nandaḥ pibann ivaikena jalaṃ kareṇa ||

4.41 Between her swelling cloud-like breasts and [the buttresses] of her full thighs, Sundarī’s lean abdomen was like a golden fissure in a rock formation: Looking at her could satisfy Nanda no better than drinking water out of one hand.

taṅ gauravaṃ buddhagataṃ cakarṣa bhāryānurāgaḥ punar ācakarṣa |sa ’niścayān nāpi yayau na tasthau turaṃs taraṅgeṣv iva rājahaṃsaḥ ||

4.42 Reverence for the Buddha drew him on; love for his wife drew him back: Irresolute, he neither stayed nor went, like a king-goose pushing forwards against the waves.

adarśanaṃ tūpagataś ca tasyā harmyāt tataś cāvatatāra tūrṇam |śrutvā tato nūpuranisvanaṃ sa punar lalambe hṛdaye gṛhītaḥ ||

4.43 Once she was out of sight, he descended from the palace quickly – Then he heard the sound of ankle bracelets, and back he hung, gripped in his heart again.

sa kāmarāgeña nigṛhyamāṇo dharmānurāgeña ca kṛṣyamāṇaḥ |jagāma duḥkhena vivartyamānaḥ plavaḥ pratisrota ivāpagāyāḥ ||

4.44 Held back by his love of love, and drawn forward by his love for dharma, He struggled on, being turned about 15 like a boat on a river going against the stream.

tataḥ kramair dīrghatamaiḥ pracakrame kataṃ nu yāto na gurur bhaved iti |svajeya tāṃ caiva viśeṣakapriyāṃ kathaṃ priyām ārdraviśeṣakām iti ||

4.45 Then his strides became longer, as he thought to himself, “Maybe the Guru is no longer there!” “Might I after all embrace my love, who is so especially loveable, while her face-paint is still wet?”

atha sa pathi dadarśa muktamānaṃ pitṛnagare ’pi tathāgatābhimānam |daśabalam abhito vilambamānaṃ dhvajam anuyāna ivaindram arcyamānam ||

4.46 And so on the road [Nanda] saw the One in Whom Absence Was Thus, the Tathāgata, devoid of pride and – even in his father’s city – haughtiness thus absent; Seeing the Possessor of Ten Powers stopping and being honoured on all sides, [Nanda] felt as if he were following Indra’s flag.

saundaranande mahākāvye bhāryāyācitako nāma caturthaḥ sargaḥ ||

The 4th canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “A Wife’s Appeal.”

athāvatīryāśvarathadvipebhyaḥ śākyā yathāsvarddhi gṛhītaveṣāḥ |mahāpaṇebhyo vyavahāriṇaś ca mahāmunau bhaktivaśāt praṇemuḥ ||

5.1 Then the Śākyas, each clothed in accordance with his wealth and accomplishments, got down from their horses, chariots, and elephants, And the traders came out of their big shops: by dint of their devotion, they bowed down before the great Sage.

ke cit praṇamyānuyayur mhūrtaṅ ke cit praṇamyārthavaśena jagmuḥ |ke cit svakeṣv āvastheṣu tastuḥ kṛtvāñjalīn vikṣaṇatatparākṣāḥ ||

5.2 Some bowed and then followed for a while; some bowed and went, being compelled to work. But some remained still at their own dwelling-places, their hands joined and eyes observing him in the distance.

buddhas tatas tatra narendramārga sroto mahadbhaktimato janasya |jagāma duūkhena vigāhamāno jalāgame srota ivāpagāyāḥ ||

5.3 The Buddha then, and there, on the royal road, struggled on Into the gushing throng of the greatly devoted, as if entering the torrent of a river in the rains.

atho mahadbhiḥ pathi saṃpatadbhiḥ saṃpūjyamānāya tathāgatāya |kartuṃ prañāmaṃ na śaśāka nandas tenābhireme tu guror mahimnā ||

5.4 And so, with the great and the good rapidly converging on the road, to honour the Tathāgata, Nanda was unable to make a bow; but still he could delight in the Guru’s greatness.

svaṃ cāvasaṅgaṃ pathi nirmumukṣur bhaktiṃ janasyānyamateś ca rakṣan |nandaṃ ca gehābhimukhaṃ jighṛkṣan mārgaṃ tato ’nyaṃ sugataḥ prapede ||

5.5 Wishing to shake off adherents to him on the road, while tending the devotion of people who were differently minded, And wishing to take Nanda in hand, who was turning for home, the One Gone Well therefore took a different path.

tato viviktaṃ ca viviktacetāḥ sanmārgavin mārgam abhipratasthe |gatvāgrataś cāgryatamāya tasmai nāndīvimuktāya nanāma nadnaḥ ||

5.6 He of the solitary and separate mind, a knower of the true path, took a solitary and separate path; And Nanda whose name was Joy, going out in front, could bow to him, the One gone beyond joy, who was furthest out in front.

śanair vrjann eva sa gauraveṇa paṭāvṛtāṃso vinatārdhakāyaḥ |adhonibaddhāñjalir ūrdhvanetraḥ sagadgadaṃ vākyam idaṃ babhāṣe ||

5.7 Walking forward meekly, with respectful seriousness, with cloak over one shoulder, body half-stooped, Hands held down and eyes raised up, Nanda stuttered these words:

prāsādasaṃstho bhagavantam antaḥpraviṣṭam aśrauṣam anugrahāya |atas tvarāvān aham abhyupeto gṛhasya kakṣyā mahato ’bhasūyan ||

5.8 “While I was in the palace penthouse, Glorious One, I learned that you came in for our benefit; And so I have come in a hurry, indignant with the many members of the palace household.

tat sādhu sādhupriya matpriyārthaṃ tatrāstu bikṣūttama bhaikṣakālsaḥ |asau hi madhyaṃ nabhaso yiyāsuḥ kālaṃ pratismārayatīva sūryaḥ ||

5.9 Therefore, rightly, O Favourer of the Righteous, and as a favour to me, be there [at the palace], O Supreme Seeker of Alms, at the time for eating alms, For the sun is about to reach the middle of the sky, as if to remind us of the time.”

ity evam uktaḥ praṇatena tena snehābhimānonmukhalocanena |tādṛṅnimittaṃ sugataś cakāra nāhārakṛtyaṃ sa yathā viveda ||

5.10 Thus addressed by the bowing [Nanda], whose expectant eyes looked up with tender affection, The One Gone Well made a sign such that Nanda knew he would not be taking a meal.

tataḥ sa kṛtvā munaye praṇāmaṃ gṛhaprayāṇāya matiṃ cakāra |anugrahārthaṃ sugatas tu tasmai pātraṃ dadau puṣkarapattranetraḥ ||

5.11 Then, having made his bow to the Sage, he made up his mind to head home; But, as a favour, the One Gone Well, with lotus petal eyes, handed him his bowl.

tataḥ sa loke dadataḥ phalārthaṃ pātrasya tasyāpratimasya pātram |jagrāha cāpagrahaṇakṣaṃābhyāṃ padmopamābhyāṃ prayataḥ karābhyām ||

5.12 The Incomparable Vessel was offering his own vessel, to reap a fruit in the human world, And so Nanda, outstretched, held the bowl with lotus-like hands, which were better suited to the holding of a bow.

parāṅmukhas tv anyamanaskam ārād vijñāya nandaḥ sugataṃ gatāstham |hastasthapātro ’pi gṛha yiyāsuḥ sasāra mārgān munim īkṣamāṇaḥ ||

5.13 But as soon as he sensed that the mind of the One Gone Well had gone elsewhere and was not on him, Nanda backtracked; Wanting, even with the bowl in his hands, to go home, he sidled away from the path – while keeping his eye on the Sage.

bhāryānurāgeṇa yadā gṛhaṃ sa pātraṃ gṛhītvāpi yiyāsur eva |vimohayām āsa munis tatas taṃ rathyāmukhasyāvaraṇena tasya ||

5.14 Then, at the moment that he in his yearning for his wife, despite holding the bowl, was about to head for home, Just then the Sage bamboozled him, by blocking his entrance to the highway.

nirmokṣabījaṃ hi dadarśa tasya jñanaṃ mṛdu kleśarajaś ca tīvram |kleśānukūlaṃ viṣayātmakaṅ ca nandaṃ yatas taṃ munir ācakarṣa ||

5.15 For he saw that in Nanda the seed of liberation, which is wisdom, was tenuous; while the fog of the afflictions was terribly thick; And since he was susceptible to the afflictions and sensual by nature, therefore the Sage reined him in.

saṃkleśapakṣo dvividhaś ca dṛṣṭas tathā dvikalpo vyavadānapakṣaḥ |ātmāśrayo hetubalādhikasya bāhyāśrayaḥ pratyayagauravasya ||

5.16 There are understood to be two aspects to defilement; correspondingly, there are two approaches to purification: In one with stronger motivation from within, there is self-reliance; in one who assigns weight to conditions, there is outer-dependence.

ayatnato hetubalādhikas tu nirmucyate ghaṭṭitamātra eva |yatnena tu pratyayaneyabuddhir vimokṣam āpnoti parāśrayeṇa ||

5.17 The one who is more strongly self-motivated loosens ties without even trying, on receipt of the slightest stimulus; Whereas the one whose mind is led by conditions struggles to find freedom, because of his dependence on others.

nandaḥ sa ca pratyayaneyacetā yaṃ śiśriye tanmayatām avāpa |yasmād imaṃ tatra cakāra yatnaṃ taṃ snehapaṅkān munir ujjihīrṣam ||

5.18 And Nanda, whose mind was led by conditions, became absorbed into whomever he depended on; The Sage, therefore, made this effort in his case, wishing to lift him out of the mire of love.

nandas tu duḥkhena viceṣṭamānaḥ śanair agatyā gurum anvagacchat |bhāryāmukhaṃ vīkṣaṇalolanetraṃ vicintayann ādraviśeṣakaṃ tat ||

5.19 But Nanda followed the Guru meekly and helplessly, squirming with discomfort, As he thought of his wife’s face, her eyes looking out restlessly, and the painted marks still moist.

tato munis taṃ priyamālyahāraṃ vasantamāsena kṛtābhihāram |nināya bhagnapramadāvihāraṃ vidyāvihārābhimataṃ vihāram ||

5.20 And so the Sage led him, lover of garlands of pearls and flowers, whom the month of Spring, [Love’s friend,] had appropriated, To a playground where women were a broken amusement – to the vihāra, beloved as a pleasure-ground of learning.

dīnaṃ mahākāruṇikas tatas taṃ dṛṣṭvā muhūrtaṃ karuṇāyamānaḥ |kareṇa cakdrāṅkatalena mūrdhni pasparśa caivedam uvāca cainam ||

5.21 Then the Greatly Compassionate One, watching him in his moment of misery and pitying him, Put a hand, with wheel-marked palm, on his head and spoke to him thus:

yāvan na hiṃsraḥ samupaiti kālaḥ śamāya tāvat kuru saumya buddhim |sarvāsv avasthāsv iha vartamānaḥ sarvābhisāreṇa nihanti mṛtyuḥ ||

5.22 “While murderous Time has yet to come calling, set your mind, my friend, in the direction of peace. For operating in all situations, using all manner of attacks, Death kills.

sādhāraṇāt svapnanibhādasārāl lolaṃ manaḥ kāmasukhān niyaccha |havyair ivāgneḥ pavaneritasya lokasya kāmair na hi tṛptir asti ||

5.23 Restrain the restless mind from sensual pleasures, which are common, dream-like, and insubstantial; For no more than a wind-fanned fire is sated by offerings are men satisfied by pleasures.

śraddhādhanaṃ śreṣṭhatamaṃ dhanebhyaḥ prajñārasas tṛptir rasebhyaḥ |pradhānamadhyātmasukhaṃ sukhebhyo ’vidyāratir duḥkhatatmā ratibhyaḥ ||

5.24 Most excellent among gifts is the gift of confidence. Most satisfying of tastes is the taste of real wisdom. Foremost among comforts is being comfortable in oneself. The bliss of ignorance is the sorriest bliss.

hitasya vaktā pravaraḥ suṛdbhyo dharmāya khedo guṇavān śramebhyaḥ |jñānāya kṛtyaṃ paramaṃ kriyābhyaḥ kim indriyāṇām upagamya dāsyam ||

5.25 The kindest-hearted friend is he who tells one what is truly salutary. The most meritorious effort is to exhaust oneself in pursuit of the truth. Supreme among labours is to work towards true understanding. Why would one enter into service of the senses?

tan niścitaṃ bhīklamaśugviyuktaṃ pareṣv anāyattam ahāryam anyaiḥ |nityaṃ śivaṃ śāntisukhaṃ vṛṇīṣva kim indriyārthārtham anartham ūḍhvā ||

5.26 Select then that which is conclusive, which is beyond fear, fatigue and sorrow, and which is neither dependent on others nor removable by others: Select the lasting and benign happiness of extinction. What is the point of enduring disappointment, by making an object of sense-objects?

jarāsamā nāsty amṛjā prajānāṃ vyādheḥ samo nāsti jagaty anarthaḥ |mṛtyoḥ samaṃ nāsti bhayaṃ pṛthivyām etat trayaṃ khalv avaśena sevyam ||

5.27 Nothing takes away people’s beauty like aging, there is no misfortune in the world like sickness, And no terror on earth like death. Yet these three, inevitably, shall be obeyed.

snehena kaś cin na samo ’sti pāśaḥ sroto na tṛṇāsamam asti hāri |rāgāgninā nāsti samas tathāgnis tac cet trayaṃ nāsti sukhaṃ ca te ’sti ||

5.28 There is no fetter like love, no torrent that carries one away like thirst, And likewise no fire like the fire of passion. If not for these three, happiness would be yours.

avaśyabhāvi priyaviprayogas tasmāc ca śoko niyataṃ viṣevyaḥ |śokena conmādam upeyivāṃso rājarṣayo ’nye ’py avaśā viceluḥ ||

5.29 Separation from loved ones is inevitable, on which account grief is bound to be experienced. And it is through grief that other seers who were princes have gone mad and fallen helplessly apart.

prajñāmayaṃ varma badhāna tasmān no kṣāntinighnasya hi śokabāṇāḥ |mahac ca dagdhuṃ bhavakakṣajālaṃ saṃdhukṣayālpāgnim ivātmatejaḥ ||

5.30 So bind on the armour whose fabric is wisdom, for the arrows of grief are as naught to one steeped in patience; And kindle the fire of your own energy to burn up the great tangled web of becoming, just as you would kindle a small fire to burn up undergrowth collected into a great heap.

yathauṣadhair hastagataiḥ savidyo na daśyate kaś cana pannagena |tathānapekṣo jitalokamoho na daśyate śokabhujaṅgamena ||

5.31 Just as a man concerned with science, herbs in hand, is not bitten by any snake, So a man without concern, having overcome the folly of the world, is not bitten by the snake of grief.

āsthāya yogaṃ parigamya tattvaṃ na trāsam āgacchati mṛtyukāle |ābaddhavarmā sudhanuḥ kṛtāstro jigīṣayā śūra ivāhavasthaḥ ||

5.32 Staying with practice and fully committed to what is, at the hour of death he is not afraid – Like a warrior-hero standing in battle, clad in armour, and equipped with a good bow, with skill in archery, and with the will to win.”

ity evam uktaḥ sa tathāgatena sarveṣu bhūteṣv anukampakena |dhṛṣṭaṃ girāntarhṛdayena sīdaṃs tatheti nandaḥ sugataṃ babhāṣe ||

5.33 Addressed thus by the One Thus Come, the Tathāgata, in his compassion for all living beings, Nanda while sinking inside said boldly to the Sugata, the One Well Gone: “So be it!”

atha pramādāc ca tam ujjihīrṣan matvāgamasyaiva ca pātrabhūtam |pravrājayānanda śamāya nandam ity abravīn maitramanā maharṣiḥ ||

5.34 And so wishing to lift him up out of heedlessness, and deeming him to be a vessel worthy of the living tradition, The Great Seer, with kindness in his heart, said: “Ānanda! Let Nanda go forth towards tranquillity.”

nandaṃ tato ’ntarmanasā rudantam ehīti vaidehamunir jagāda |śanais tatas taṃ samupetya nando na pravrajiṣyāmy aham ity uvāca ||

5.35 Then the sage of Videha said to Nanda, who was weeping inside: “Come!” At this Nanda approached him meekly and said “I won’t go forth.”

śrutvātha nandasya manīṣitaṃ tad buddhāya vaidehamuniḥ śaśaṃsa |saṃśrutya tasmād api tasya bhāvaṃ mahāmunir nandam uvāca bhūyaḥ ||

5.36 On hearing Nanda’s idea, the Videha sage related it to the Buddha; And so, after hearing from him also as to Nanda’s actual state, the Great Sage spoke to Nanda again:

mayy agraje pravrajite ’jitātman bhrātṣṛv anupravrajiteṣu cāsmān |jñātīṃś tasmād api tasya bhāvaṃ mahāmunir nandam uvāca bhūyaḥ ||

5.37 “O you who have yet to conquer yourself! Given that I, your elder brother, have gone forth, and your cousins have gone forth after me, And seeing that our relatives who remain at home are committed to practice, are you minded to be conscious of consciousness, or are you not?

rājarṣayas te viditā na nūnaṃ vanāni ye śiśriyire hasantaḥ |niṣṭhīvya kāmān upaśāntikāmāḥ kāmeṣu naivaṃ kṛpaṇeṣu saktāḥ ||

5.38 Evidently the royal seers are unbeknown to you who retreated smiling into the forests; Having spat out desires, they were desirous of tranquillity and thus not stuck in lower order desires.

bhūyaḥ samālokya gṛheṣu doṣān niśāmya tattyāgakṛtaṃ ca śarma |naivāsti moktuṃ maitrālayaṃ te deśaṃ mumūrṣor iva sopasargam ||

5.39 Again, you have experienced the drawbacks of family life and you have observed the relief to be had from leaving it, And yet you, like a man in a disaster area who is resigned to his death, have no intention of giving up and leaving house and home.

saṃsārakāntāraparāyaṇasya śive kathaṃ te pathi nārurukṣā |āropyamāṇasya tam eva mārgaṃ bhraṣṭasya sārthād iva sārthikasya ||

5.40 How can you be so devoted to the wasteland of saṁsāra and so devoid of desire to take the auspicious path When – like a desert trader who drops out from a caravan – you have been set on that very path?

yaḥ sarvato veśmani dahyamāne śayita mohān na tato vyapeyāt |kālāgninā vyādhijarāśikhena loke pradīpte sa bhavet pramattaḥ ||

5.41 One who in a house burning on all sides, instead of getting out of there, would lie down in his folly to sleep, Only he might be heedless, in a world burning in the fire of Time, with its flames of sickness and aging.

prañīyamānaś ca yathā vadhāya matto hasec ca pralapec ca vadhyaḥ |mṛtyau tathā tiṣṭhati pāśahaste śocyaḥ pramādyan viparītacetāḥ ||

5.42 Again, like the condemned man being led, drunkenly laughing and babbling, to the stake, Equally to be lamented is one whose mind is upside-down, cavorting while Death stands by, with noose in hand.

yadā narendrāś ca kuṭumbinaś ca vihāya badhūṃś ca parigrahāṃś ca |yayuś ca yāsyanti ca yānti caiva priyeṣv anityeṣv kuto ’nurodhaḥ ||

5.43 When kings and humble householders, leaving relations and possessions behind, Have gone forth, will go forth, and even now are going forth, what is the point of pandering to fleeting fondnesses?

kiṃ cin na paśyāmi ratasya yatra tad anyabhāvena bhaven na duḥkham |tasmāt kva cin na kṣamate prasktir yadi kṣamas tadvigamān na śokaḥ ||

5.44 I do not see any pleasure which might not, by turning into something else, become pain. Therefore no attachment bears scrutiny – unless the grief is bearable that arises from the absence of its object.

tat saumya lolaṃ parigamya lokaṃ māyopamaṃ citram ivendrajālam |priyābhidhāntaṃ tayja mohajālaṃ chettuṃ matis te yadi duḥkhajālam ||

5.45 So, my friend, knowing the human world to be fickle, a net of Indra, a web of fictions, like a gaudy magic show, Abandon the net of delusion you call ‘my love,’ if you are minded to cut the net of suffering.

varaṃ hitodarkam aniṣṭam annaṃ na svādu yat syād ahitānubaddham |yasmād ahaṃ tvā viniyojayāmi śive śucau vartmani vipriye ’pi ||

5.46 Unfancied food that does one good is better than tasty food that may do harm: On that basis I commend you to a course which, though unpalatable, is wholesome and honest.

bālasya dhārtrī vinigṛhya loṣṭaṃ yathoddharaty āsyapuṭapraviṣṭam |tathojjihīrṣuḥ khalu rāgaśalyaṃ tat tvām avocaṃ paruṣaṃ hitāya ||

5.47 Just as a nurse keeps firm hold of an infant while taking out soil it has put in its mouth, So, wishing to draw out the dart of passion, have I spoken to you sharply for your own good.

aniṣṭam apy auṣadham āturāya dadāti vaidyaś ca yathā nigṛhya |tadvan mayoktaṃ pratikūlam etat tubhyaṃ hitodarkam anugrahāya ||

5.48 And just as a doctor restrains a patient then gives him bitter medicine; So have I given you, in order to help you, this disagreeable advice with beneficial effect.

tad yāvad eva kṣañasaṃnipāto na mṛtyur āgacchati yāvad eva |yāvad vayo yogavidhau samarthaṃ buddhiṃ kuru śreyasi tāvad eva ||

5.49 Therefore, while you are meeting the present moment, while death has yet to come, So long as you have the energy for practice, decide on better.

ity evam uktaḥ sa vināyakena hitaiṣinā kāruṇikena nandaḥ |kartāsmi sarvaṃ bhagavan vacas te tathā yathājñāpaysīty uvāca ||

5.50 Addressed thus by his benevolent and compassionate guide, Nanda said, “I shall do, Glorious One, all that you say, just as you teach it.”

ādāya vaidehamunis tatas taṃ nināya saṃśliṣya viceṣṭamānam |vyayojayac cāsrupariplutākṣaṃ keśaśriyaṃ chattranibhasya mūrdhnaḥ ||

5.51 At this the sage of Videha reclaimed him, and held him close as he led him off writhing, And then, while [Nanda’s] eyes welled with tears, he separated the crowning glory of his hair from the royal umbrella of his head.

atho nataṃ tasya mukhaṃ sabāṣpaṃ pravāsyamāneṣu śiroruheṣu |vakrāgranālaṃ nalinaṃ taḍāge varṣodakalinnam ivābabhāse ||

5.52 As his hair was thus being banished, his tearful downcast face Resembled a rain-sodden lotus in a pond with the top of its stalk sagging down.

nandas tatas tarukaṣāyaviraktavāsāś cintāvaśo navagṛhita iva dvipendraḥ |pūrṇaḥ śaśī bahulapakṣagataḥ kṣapānte bālātpena pariṣikta ivābabhāse ||

5.53 Thence, in drab garb with the dull yellow-red colour of tree bark, and despondent as a newly-captured elephant, Nanda resembled a waning full moon at night’s end, sprinkled by the powdery rays of the early morning sun.

saundaranande mahākāvye nandapravrājano nāma pañcamaḥ sargaḥ ||

The 5th canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “Nanda Is Caused to Go Forth.”

tato hṛte bhartari gauraveṇa prītau hṛtāyām aratau kṛtāyām |tatraiva harmyopari vartamānā na sundarī saiva tadā babhāse ||

6.1 And so, with her husband riven away through his respect for the Guru, bereft of her happiness, left joyless, Though she remained at the same spot, high up in the palace, Sundarī no longer seemed to be herself.

sā bhartur abhyāgamanapratīkṣā gavākṣam ākramya payodharābhyām |dvāronmukhī calayoktrakā lalambe mukhena tiryaṅnatakuṇḍalena ||

6.2 Anticipating her husband’s approach, she leant forward, her breasts invading the bulls-eye window. Expectantly she looked out from the palace roof towards the gateway, her earrings dangling down across her face.

vilambhaārā calayoktrakā sā tasmād vimānād vinatā cakāśe |tapaḥksayād apsarasāṃ vareva cyutaṃ vimānāt priyam īkṣamāṇā ||

6.3 With her pearl necklaces hanging down, and straps dishevelled, as she bent down from the palace, She looked like the most gorgeous of the heavenly nymphs (the apsarases) gazing from her celestial abode at her lover, as he falls down, having used up his ascetic credit.

sā khedasaṃsvinnalalāṭakena niśvāsanīṣpītaviśeṣakeṇa |cintācalākṣeṇa mukhena tasthau bartāram anyatra viśaṅkamānā ||

6.4 With a cold sweat on her beautiful brow, her face-paint drying in her sighs, And her eyes restless with anxious thoughts, there she stood, suspecting her husband, somewhere else.

tataś cirasthānaparśrameña sthitaiva paryaṅkatale papāta |tiryak ca śiśye pravikīrṇahārā sapādukaikārthavilambapādā ||

6.5 Tired out by a long time standing in that state, she dropped, just where she stood, onto a couch, And lay across it with her necklaces scattered and a slipper half hanging off her foot.

athātra kā cit pramadā sabāṣpāṃ tāṃ duḥkhitāṃ draṣṭum anīpsamānā |prāsādasopānatalapraṇādaṃ cakāra padbhyāṃ sahasā rudantī ||

6.6 One of her women, not wishing to see Sundarī in such tearful distress, Was making her way down from the palace penthouse, when she burst into tears, and made a commotion with her feet on the stairs.

tasyāś ca sopānatalapraṇādaṃ śrutaiva tūrṇaṃ punar utpapāta |prītyā prasaktaiva ca saṃjaharṣa priyopayānaṃ pariśaṅkamānā ||

6.7 Hearing the sound on the stairs of that woman’s feet [Sundarī] quickly jumped up again; Transfixed with joy, she bristled with excitement, believing it to be the approach of her beloved.

sā trāsayantī valabhīpuṭasthān pārāvatān nūpuranisvanena |sopānakukṣiṅ prasasāra harṣād bhraṣṭaṃ dukūlāntam acintayantī ||

6.8 Scaring the pigeons in their rooftop roosts with the jangling of her ankle bracelets, She dashed to the stairwell, without worrying, in her excitement, about what extremity of her diaphonous raiments might be falling off.

tām aṅganāṃ prekṣya ca vipralabdhā niśvasya bhūyaḥ śayanaṃ prapede |vivarṇavaktrā na rarāja cāśu vivarṇacandreva himāgame dyauḥ ||

6.9 On seeing the woman she was crestfallen; she sighed, threw herself again onto the couch, And no longer shone: with her face suddenly 01 pallid she was as grey as a pale-mooned sky in early winter.

sā duḥkhitā bhartur adarśanena kāmena kopena ca dahyamānā |kṛtvā kare vaktram upopaviṣṭā cintānadīṃ śokajalāṃ tatāra ||

6.10 Distressed at not seeing her husband, burning with desire and fury, She sat down with face in hand and steeped herself in the river of worries, whose water is sorrow.

tasyā mukhaṃ padmasapatnabhūtaṃ pāṇau sthitaṅ pallavarāgatāmre |chāyāmayasyāmbhasi paṅkajasya babhau nataṃ padmam ivopariṣṭāt ||

6.11 Her lotus-rivalling face, resting on the hennaed stem of her hand, Was like a lotus above the reflection in the water of its mud-born self, drooping down.

sā strīsvabhāvena vicintya tat tad dṛṣṭānurāge ’bhimukhe ’pi patyau |dharmāśrite tattvam avindamānā saṃkalpya tat tad vilalāpa tat tat ||

6.12 She considered various possibilities, in accordance with a woman’s nature; then, failing to see the truth that her husband had taken refuge in the dharma, while obviously still impassioned and in love with her, she constructed various scenarios and uttered various laments:

eṣyāmy anāśyānaviśeṣakāyāṃ tvayīti kṛtvā mayi tāṃ pratijñām |kasmān nu hetor dayitapratijñaḥ so ’dya priya me vitathapratijñaḥ ||

6.13 “He promised me: ‘I’ll be back before your make-up is dry’; From what cause would such a cherisher of promises as my beloved is, be now a breaker of promises?

āryasya sādhoḥ karuṇātmakasya mannityabhīror atidakṣiṇasya |kuto vikāro ’yam abhūtapūrvaḥ svenāparāgeṇa mamāpacārāt ||

6.14 In him who was noble, good, compassionate, always in awe of me, and all too honest, How has such an unprecedented transformation come about? Through a loss of passion on his part? From a mistake of mine?

ratipriyasya priyavartino me priyasya nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ viraktam |tathāpi rāgo yadi tasya hi syān maccittarakṣī na sa nāgataḥ syāt ||

6.15 The heart of my lover – lover of sexual pleasure and of me – has obviously waned in its passion, For if he did still love me, having regard for my heart, he would not have failed to return.

rūpeṇa bhāvena ca madviśiṣtā priyeṇa dṛṣṭā niyataṃ tato ’nyā |tathā hi kṛtvā mayi moghasāntvaṃ lagnāṃ satīṃ mām agamad vihāya ||

6.16 Another woman, then, in beauty and in nature better than me, my beloved has surely beheld; For, having soothed me as he did with empty words, the guy has gone and left me, attached to him as I am.

bhaktiṃ sa buddhaṃ prati yām avocat tasya prayātuṃ mayi sopadeśaḥ |munau prasādo yadi tasya hi syān mṛtyor ivogrād anṛtād bibhīyāt ||

6.17 As for that devotion to Buddha of which he spoke, it was just a line to me for leaving; For if he were clearly settled on the Sage he would fear untruth no less than a grisly death.

lekārtham ādarśanam anyacitto vibhūṣayantya mama dhārayitvā |bibharti so ’nyasya janasya taṅ cen namo ’stu tasmai calasauhṛdāya ||

6.18 While I put my make-up on, he held the mirror as a service to me, and thought of another! If he holds it now for that other so much for his fickle affection!

necchanti yāḥ śokam avāptum evaṃ śraddhātum arhanti na tā narāṇām |kva cānuvṛttir mayi sāsya pūrvaṃ tyāgaḥ kva cāyaṃ janavat kṣaṇena ||

6.19 Any woman who does not wish to suffer grief like this should never trust a man. How could he treat me before with such regard and then in a twinkling leave me like this, like anybody?”

ity evamādi priyaviprakutā priye ’nyad āśaṅkya ca sā jagāda |saṃbhrāntam āruhya ca tad vimānaṃ tāṃ strī sabāṣpā giram ity uvāca ||

6.20 This she said and more, love-lorn, and suspecting her love of loving another. Then the giddy weeping woman, having dizzily climbed the palace stairs, tearfully told her these words:

yuvāpi tāvat priyadarśano ’pi saubhāgyabhāgvyābhijanānvito ’pi |yas tvāṃ priyo nābhyacarat kadā cit tam anyathā yāsyatikātarāsi ||

6.21 “Though he may be young, good-looking, full of noble ancestry, and filled with charm and fortune, Never did your husband cheat on you. You are being silly, and judging him amiss.

mā svāminaṃ svāmini doṣato gāḥ priyaṃ priyārhaṃ priyakāriṇaṃ tam |na sa tvad anyāṃ pramadām avaiti svacakravākyā iva cakravākaḥ ||

6.22 Ma’am! Do not accuse your loving husband, a doer of loving deeds who merits your love; He never even looks at any woman other than you, like greylag gander with kindred greylag goose.

sa tu tvadarthaṃ gṛhavāsam īpsan jijīviṣus tvatparitoṣahetoḥ |bhrātrā kilāryeṇa tathāgatena pravrājito netrajalārdravaktraḥ ||

6.23 For you, he wished to stay at home; for your delight, he wished to live; But his noble brother, the Tathāgata, so they say, has banished him, his face made wet by tears, into the wandering life.

śrutvā tato bhartari tāṃ pravṛttiṃ savepathuḥ sā sahasotpapāta |pragṛhya bāhū virurāva coccair hṛdīva digdhābhihatā kareṇuḥ ||

6.24 Then, on hearing what had happened to her husband, all of a sudden, up she leapt, shaking; She clasped her arms and screamed out loud like a she-elephant shot in the heart by a poisoned arrow.

sā rdoanāroṣitaraktadṛṣṭiḥ saṃtāpasaṃkṣobhitagātrayaṣṭiḥ |papāta śīrṇākulahārayaṣṭiḥ phalātibhārād iva cūtayaṣṭiḥ ||

6.25 Her eyes puffed-up and reddened by tears, the slender trunk of her body trembling with anguish, She broke and scattered strings of pearls, as down she fell, like a mango branch weighed down by too much fruit.

sā padmarāgaṃ vasanaṃ vasānā padmānanā padmadalāyatākṣī |padmā vipadmā patiteva lakṣmīḥ śuśoṣa padmasrag ivātapena ||

6.26 Wearing clothes suffused with lotus colours, with lotus face, and eyes as long as lotus petals, She was like a Lotus-Hued Lakṣmī, who had fallen from her lotus [pedestal]. And she withered like a lotus-garland left in the sun.

saṃcintya saṃcintya guṇāṃś ca bhartur dīrghaṃ niśaśavāsa tatāma caiva |vibhūṣaśrīnihite prakoṣṭhe tāmre karāgre ca vinirdudhāva ||

6.27 She thought and thought about her husband’s good points, sighing long and hard and gasping As out she flung the arms that bore her gleaming jewels and [hennaed] hands, with reddened fingertips.

na bhuṣaṇārtho mama saṃpratīti sā dikṣu cikṣepa vibhūṣaṇāni |nirbhuṣaṇā sā patitā cakāśe viśīrṇapuṣpastabakā lateva ||

6.28 “Now I don’t have any need for ornaments!” she cried, as she hurled her jewels in all directions. Unadorned and drooping, she resembled a creeper shorn of blossoms.

dhṛtaḥ priyeṇāyam abhūn mameti rukmatsaruṃ darpaṇam āliliṅge |yatnāc ca vinyastatamālapattrau ruṣṭeva dhṛṣṭaṃ pramamārja gaṇḍau ||

6.29 She clasped the golden-handled mirror, and reflected, “My husband held this up for me.” And the tamāla paint she had applied so carefully, she rubbed aggressively off her cheeks, as if the paint had angered her.

sā cakravākvīka bhṛśaṃ cukūja śyenāgrapakṣakṣatacakravākā |vispardhamāneva vimānasaṃstahiḥ pārāvataiḥ kūjanalokaṇṭhaiḥ ||

6.30 Like a greylag goose, when a hawk has wounding talons on the gander’s wing, she hooted mightily, As if in competition with the cooing pigeons on the palace roof, whose throats were all atremble.

vicitramṛdvāstaraṇe ’pi suptā vaiḍūryavajrapratimaṇḍite ’pi |rukmāṅgapāde śayane mahārhe na śarma lebhe pariceṣṭamānā ||

6.31 She lay down to sleep in soft and gorgeous bedclothes, on a bed bedecked with cats-eye gems and diamonds, But in her costly crib with golden legs, she tossed and turned, and no respite did she obtain.

saṃdṛṣya bhartuś ca vibhūṣañāni vāsāṃsi vīṇāprabhṛtiṃś ca līlāḥ |tamo viveśābhinanāda coccaiḥ paṅkāvatīrṇeva ca saṃsasāda ||

6.32 She eyed her husband’s ornaments; his clothes, guitar and other items of amusement; Thus she entered deeply into darkness: she raised a shriek, and then, as if descending into a mire, sank down.

sā sundarī śvāsacalodarī hi vajrāgnisaṃbhinnadarīguheva |śokāgnināntardhṛdi dahyamānā vibhrāntacitteva tadā babhūva ||

6.33 Her belly trembled out of breathlessness, like a cave being rent inside by fiery thunderbolts. As, in her innermost heart, she burned with the fire of grief, Sundarī seemed at that moment to be going out of her mind.

ruroda mamlau virurāva jaglau babhrāma tasthau vilalāpa dadhyau |cakāra roṣaṃ vicakāra mālyaṃ cakarta vaktraṃ vicakarṣa vastram ||

6.34 She howled, then wilted, screamed, then swooned; she reeled, stood rooted, wailed then brooded. She vented anger and rended garlands; she scratched her face and slashed her clothes.

tāṃ cārudantīṃ prasabhaṃ rudantīṃ saṃśrutya nāryaḥ paramābhitaptāḥ |antargṛhād āruruhur vimānaṃ trāsena kiṃnarya ivādripṛṣṭham ||

6.35 Hearing the howling of the lovely-toothed one – for O, how lovely were her teeth! – the ladies-in-waiting suffered utmost torment; They climbed from inside the palace up to the roof, like nervous kiṁnarīs ascending a mountain peak.

bāṣpeṇa tāḥ klinnaviṣaṇṇavaktrā varṣeṇa padminya ivārdrapadmāḥ |sthānānurūpeṇa yathābhimānaṃ nililyire tām anu dahyamānāḥ ||

6.36 Their despondent faces wet with tears, like lotus ponds with rain-soaked lotus buds, They settled down along with her, according to rank and as they wished, and along with her they burned in grief.

tābhir vṛtā harmyatale ’ṅganābhiś cintātanuḥ sā sutanur babhāse |śatahradābhiḥ pariveṣṭiteva śaśāṅkalekhā śaradbhramadhye ||

6.37 On the palace roof, enfolded by her women, the slender Sundarī, gaunt with worry, Seemed like a streak of crescent moon enshrouded among the autumn clouds by a hundred rays of lightning.

yā tatra tāsāṃ vacasopapannā mānyā ca tasyā vayasādhikā ca |sā pṛṣṭhatas tāṃ tu samāliliṅge pramṛhya cāśrūṇi vacāṃsy uvāca ||

6.38 There was one among them there, however, who was senior in years, and good with words, a well-respected woman: Holding Sundarī from behind in a firm embrace and wiping tears away, she spoke as follows:

rājarṣivadhvās tava nānurūpo dharmāśrite bhartari jātu śokaḥ |ikṣvākuvaṃśe hy abhikāṅkṣitāni dāyādyabhūtāni tapovanāni ||

6.39 “Grief does ill become you, the wife of a royal seer, when your husband has taken refuge in dharma; For in the lineage of Ikṣvāku, an ascetic forest is a desired inheritance

prāyeṇa mokṣāya viniḥsṛtānāṃ śākyarṣabhāṇāṃ viditāḥ striyas te |tapovanānīva gṛhāṇi yāsāṃ sādhvīvrataṃ kāmavadāsritānām ||

6.40 Well you know of wives of Śākya bulls gone forth in search of freedom: As a rule, they turn their houses almost into ascetic groves and they observe the vow of chastity, as if it were a pleasure.

yady anyayā rūpaguṇādhikatvād bhartā hṛtas te kuru bāṣpamokṣam |manasvinī rūpavatī guṇādhyā hṛdi kṣate kātra hi nāśru muñcet ||

6.41 If your husband had been stolen by another, due to her superior looks and qualities, then tears you should let flow; For how could any beautiful and virtuous wife, who abounds in excellence, refrain from shedding teardrops when her heart was broken?

athāpi kiṃ cid vyasanaṃ prapanno mā caiva tad bhūt sadṛśo ’tra bāṣpaḥ |ato viśiṣṭaṃ na hi duḥkham asti kulodgatāyāḥ patidevatāyāḥ ||

6.42 Or had he met with some disaster – and may no such thing ever be! – then yes, tears; Because there is no greater sorrow for a woman of noble birth who dignifies her husband as if he were a god.

atha tv idānīṃ laḍitaḥ sukhena svasthaḥ phalastho vyasnāny adṛṣtvā |vītaspṛho dharmam anuprapannaḥ kiṃ viklave rodiṣi harṣakāle ||

6.43 But on the contrary, he now is roving happily, meeting no disasters, but enjoying a healthy and fruitful life. Free from eager longing, he is following dharma: at a time for celebration, why are you in such a state of weeping consternation?”

ity evam uktāpi bahuprakāraṃ snehāt tayā naiva dhṛtiṃ cakāra |athāparā tāṃ manaso ’nukūlaṃ kālopapannaṃ praṇayād uvāca ||

6.44 Though this woman, with her [unctious] kindness, thus put forward many sorts of argument, [Sundarī] could not be satisfied at all. Then another woman, with a sense of intimacy, said what helped her mind and fit the occasion.

bravīmi satyaṃ suviniścitaṃ me prāptaṃ priyaṃ drakṣyasi śīghram eva |tvayā vinā sthāsyati tatra nāsau sattvāṣrayaś cetanayeva hīnaḥ ||

6.45 “Truly and categorically, I am telling you that soon enough you’ll see your husband back again. Dispossessed of you, the fellow will survive out there no longer than living things survive when dispossessed of consciousness.

aṅke ’pi lakṣmyā na sa nirvṛtaḥ syāt tvaṃ tasya pārśve yadi tatra na syāḥ |āpatsu kṛcchrāsv api cāgatāsu tvāṃ paśyatas tasya bhaven na duḥkham ||

6.46 Even in the lap of luxury he could not be happy, lacking you there by his side; And even in the direst pickle, not a thing could trouble him, as long as you were in his sight.

tvaṃ nirvṛtiṃ gaccha niyaccha bāṣpaṃ taptāśrumokṣāt parirakṣa cakṣuḥ |yas tasya bhāvas tvayi yaś ca rāgo na raṃsyate tvadvirahāt sa dharme ||

6.47 Be happy. Don’t keep crying. Spare your eyes from shedding molten tears. The way he feels for you, and his passion, are such that he, bereft of you, will find no pleasure in the dharma.

syād atra nāsau kulasattvagoyāt kāṣāyam ādāya vihāsyatīti |anātmanādāya gṛhonmukhasya punar vimoktuṃ ka ivāsti doṣaḥ ||

6.48 Some might say that having worn the ochre robe, he won’t relinquish it, by dint of noble birth combined with strength of character. But, he put it on unwillingly, while looking forward to going home: what fault is there in taking it back off?”

ity yuvatijanena sāntvyamānā hṛtahṛdayā ramaṇena sundarī sā |dramiḍam abhimukhī pureva rambhā kṣitim agamat parivāritāpsarobhiḥ ||

6.49 Thus consoled by her little women when her husband had purloined her heart, Sundarī came to earth, just as Rambhā, 08 with her heart turned towards Dramiḍa, came once upon a time, enfolded in the midst of sister apsarases.

saundaranande mahākāvye bhāryāvilāpo nāma ṣaṣṭaḥ sargah || ||

The 6th canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “A Wife’s Lament.”

liṅgaṃ tataḥ śāstṛvidhipradiṣṭaṃ gātreṇa bibhran na tu cetasā tat |bhāryāgatair eva manovitakair jehrīyamāṇo na nananda nandaḥ ||

7.1 Bearing the insignia, then, whose form was fixed by his teacher – bearing it with his body but not with his mind – And being constantly carried off by thoughts of his wife, he whose name was joy was not joyful.

sa puṣpamāsasya ca puṣpalakṣmyā sarvābhisāreṇa ca puṣpaketoḥ |yānīyabhāvena ca yauvanasya vihārasaṃstho na śamaṃ jagāma ||

7.2 Amid the wealth of flowers of the month of flowers, assailed on every side by the flower-bannered god of love, And with feelings that are familiar to the young, he stayed in a vihāra but found no peace.

sthitaḥ sa dīnaḥ sahakāravīthyām ālīnasaṃmūrchitaṣatpadāyām |bhṛśaṃ jajṛmbhe yugadīrghabāhur dhyātvā priyāṃ cāpam ivācakarṣa ||

7.3 Standing, distraught, by a row of mango trees amid the numbing hum of hovering insects, He with his lengthy arms and yoke-like shoulders, thought of his beloved and forcibly stretched himself open, as if drawing a bow.

sa pitakṣodam iva pratīcchan cūtadrumbheyas tanupuṣpavarṣam |dīrghaṃ niśaśvāsa vicintya bhāryāṃ navagraho nāga ivāvaruddhaḥ ||

7.4 Receiving from the mango trees a rain of tiny flowers like saffron powder, He thought of his wife and heaved long sighs, like a newly-captured elephant in a cage.

śokasya hartā śaraṇāgatānāṃ śokasya kartā pratigarvitānām |aśokam ālambya sa jātaśokaḥ priyāṃ priyāśokavanāṃ śuśoca ||

7.5 He had been, for those who came to him seeking refuge, an abater of sorrow, and, for the conceited, a creator of sorrow, Now he leant against ‘the tree of freedom from sorrow,’ the a-śoka tree, and he became a sorrower: he sorrowed for a lover of a-śoka groves, his beloved wife.

priyāṃ priyāyāḥ pratanuṃ priyaṇguṃ niśāmya bhītām iva niṣpatantim |sasmāra tām aśrumukhīṃ sabāṣpaḥ priyāṃ priyaṅguprasavāvadātām ||

7.6 A slender priyaṅgu creeper, beloved of his beloved, he noticed shying away, as if afraid, And tearfully he remembered her, his lover with her tearful face, as pale as a priyaṅgu flower.

puṣpāvanaddhe tilakadrumasya dṛṣṭvānyapuṣṭāṃ śikhare niviṣṭām |saṃkalpayām āsa śikhāṃ priyāyāḥ śuklāṃśuke ’ṭṭālam apāsritāyāḥ ||

7.7 Seeing a cuckoo resting on the flower-covered crest of a tilaka tree, He imagined his lover leaning against the watchtower, her curls and tresses resting on her white upper garment.

latāṃ praphullām atimuktakasya cūtasya pārśve parirabhya jātām |niśāmya cintām agamat tadaivaṃ śliṣṭābhavan mām api sundarīti ||

7.8 A vine with ‘flowers whiter than pearls,’ the ati-muktaka, having attached itself to the side of a mango tree, was thriving: Nanda eyed the blossoming creeper and fretted “When will Sundarī cling to me like that?”

puṣpotkarālā api nāgavṛkṣā dāntaiḥ samudgair iva hemagarbhaiḥ |kāntāravṛkṣā iva duḥkhitasya na cakṣur ācikṣipur asya tatra ||

7.9 The budding teeth of yawning nāga trees erupted there like ivory caskets filled with gold, But they drew his anguished eye no better than desert scrub.

gandhaṃ vasanto ’pi ca gandhaparṇā gandharvaveṣyā iva gandhapūrṇāḥ |tasyānyacittasya śugātmakasya ghrāṇaṃ na jahrur hṛdayaṃ pratepuḥ ||

7.10 The gandha-parṇa trees emitted their fragrance like a gandharva’s girlfriend, brimming with perfume, But for him whose mind was elsewhere, and who was sorrowful to the core, they did not win the nose: they pained the heart.

saṃraktakaṇṭhaiś ca vinīlakaṇṭhais tuṣṭaiḥ prahṛṣṭair api cānyapuṣṭaiḥ |lelihyamānaiś ca madhu dvirepaiḥ svanadvanaṃ tasya mano nunoda ||

7.11 Resounding with the throaty cries of impassioned peacocks, with the satisfied celebrating of cuckoos, And with the relentless supping of nectar by bees, the forest encroached upon his mind.

sa tatra bhāryāraṇisaṃbhavena vitarkadhūmena tamaḥśikhena |kāmāgnināntarhṛdi dahyamāno vihāya dhairyaṃ vilalāpa tat tat ||

7.12 As there he burned with a fire arisen from the fire board of his wife, a fire with fancies for smoke and darkest hell for flames, As he burned in his innermost heart with a fire of desire, fortitude failed him and he uttered various laments:

adyāvagacchāmi suduṣkaraṃ te cakruḥ kariṣyanti ca kurvate ca |tyaktvā priyām aśrumukhīṃ tapo ye ceruś cariṣyanti caranti caiva ||

7.13 “Now I understand what a very difficult thing those men have done, will do, and are doing Who have walked, will walk, and are walking the way of painful asceticism, leaving behind their tearful-faced lovers.

tāvad dṛḍhaṃ bandhanam asti loke na dāravaṃ tāntavam āyasaṃ vā |yāvad dṛḍhaṃ bandhanam etad eva mukhaṃ calśkṣaṃ lalitaṃ ca vākyam ||

7.14 There is no bond in the world, whether of wood or rope or iron, As strong as this bond: an amorous voice and a face with darting eyes.

chittvā ca bhittvā ca hi yānti tāni svapauruṣāc caiva suhṛdbalāc ca |jñānāc ca raukṣyāc ca vinā vimoktuṃ na śakyate snehamayas tu pāśaḥ ||

7.15 For having been cut or broken – by one’s own initiative or by the strength of friends – those bonds cease to exist; Whereas the fetter made of love, except through wisdom and toughness, cannot be undone.

jñānaṃ na me tac ca śamāya yat syān na cāsti raukṣyaṃ karuṇātmako ’smi |kāmātmakaś cāsmi guruś ca buddhaḥ sthito ’ntare cakragater ivāsmi ||

7.16 That wisdom is not in me which might make for peace, and since I am of a kindly nature, toughness also is lacking. I am sensual by nature and yet the Buddha is my guru: I am stuck as if inside a moving wheel.

ahaṃ gṛhītvāpi hi bhikṣuliṅgaṃ bhrātṝṣiṇā dvirguruṇānuśiṣṭaḥ |sarvāsv avasthāsu labhe na śāntiṃ priyāviyogād iva cakravākaḥ ||

7.17 For though I have adopted the beggar’s insignia, and am taught by one who is twice my guru, as elder brother and enlightened sage, In every circumstance I find no peace – like a greylag gander separated from its mate.

adyāpi tan me hṛdi vartate ca yad darpaṇe vyākulite mayā sā |kṛtānṛtakrodhakam abravīn māṃ kathaṃ kṛto ’sīti śaṭhaṃ hasantī ||

7.18 Even now it continues to run through my mind how after I clouded the mirror She pretended to be angry and said to me, as she wickedly laughed, ‘What are you doing!’

yathaiṣy anāśyānaviśeṣakāyāṃ mayīti yan mām avadac ca sāśru |pāriplavākṣeṇa mukhena bālā tan me vaco ’dyāpi mano ruṇaddhi ||

7.19 Again, the words she spoke to me, while her girlish eyes were swimming with tears, ‘Before this paint on my face is dry, come back’: those words, even now, block my mind.

baddhvāsanaṃ parvatanirjharasthaḥ svastho yathā dhyāyati bhikṣur eṣaḥ |saktaḥ kva cin nāham ivaiṣa nūnaṃ śāntas tathā tṛpta ivopaviṣṭaḥ ||

7.20 This beggar meditating at ease, who has crossed his legs in the traditional manner, and is of the waterfall, arising out of the foot [of the hill]: Surely he is not as attached as I am to anybody, since he sits so calmly, with an aura of contentment.

puṃskokilānām avicintya ghoṣaṃ vasantalakṣmyām avicārya cakṣuḥ |śāstraṃ yathābhyasyati caiṣa yuktaḥ śaṅke priyākarṣati nāsya cetaḥ ||

7.21 Deaf to the cuckoos’ chorus, his eyebulls never grazing upon the riches of spring, This fellow concentrates so intently upon the teaching, that I suspect no lover is tugging at his heart.

asmai namo ’stu sthiraniścayāya nivṛttakautūhalavismayāya |śāntātmane ’ntargatamānasāya caṅkramyamāṇāya nirutsukāya ||

7.22 Credit to him who is firm in his resolve, who has retreated from curiosity and pride, Who is at peace in himself, whose mind is turned inward, who does not strive for anything, as he walks up and down…

nirīkṣamāṇāya jalaṃ sapadmaṃ vanaṃ ca phullaṃ parapuṣṭajuṣṭam |kasyāsti dhairyaṃ navayauvanasya māse madhau dharmasapatnabhūte ||

7.23 ... And beholds the lotus-covered water and the flowering forest where cuckoos come calling! What man in the prime of youth could keep such constancy in those months of spring which are, as it were, the rival of dharma?

bhāvena garveṇa gatena lakṣmyā smitena kopena madena vāgbhiḥ |jahruḥ striyo devanṛparṣisaṃghān kasmād dhi nāsmadvidham āṣipeyuḥ ||

7.24 With their way of being, their pride, their way of moving, their grace; with a smile or show of indignation, with their exuberance, with their voices, Women have captivated hosts of gods and kings and seers: how then could they fail to bewilder a bloke like me?

kāmābhibhūto hi hiraṇyaretāḥ svāhāṃ siṣeve maghavān ahalyām |sattvena sargeña ca tena hīnaḥ strīnirjitaḥ kiṃ bata mānuṣo ’ham ||

7.25 Overcome by desire, the fire god Hiraṇya-retas, ‘Golden Sperm,’ succumbed to sex with his wife ‘Oblation,’ Svāhā, as did ‘The Bountiful’ Indra with nymph Ahalyā; How much easier to be overwhelmed by a woman am I, a man, who lacks the strength and resolve of the gods.

sūryaḥ saraṇyūṃ prati jātarāgas tatprītaye taṣṭa iti śrutaṃ naḥ |yām aśvabhūto ’śvavadhuṃ sametya yato ’śvinau tau janayāṃ babhūva ||

7.26 Our tradition has it that the sun god Sūrya, roused to passion for the dawn goddess Saraṇyū, let himself be diminished for the sake of pleasure with her; He became a stallion so as to cover her as a mare, whereby she conceived the two charioteers.

strīkāraṇaṃ vairaviṣaktabuddhyor vaivasvatāgnyoś calitātmadhṛtyoḥ |bahūni varṣāṇi babhūva yuddhaṃ kaḥ strīnimittaṃ na caled ihānyaḥ ||

7.27 When the mind of Vaivasvata, son of the Sun, and the mind of the fire god Agni turned to enmity, when their grip on themselves was shaken, There was war between them for many years, because of a woman. What lesser being, here on earth, would not be caused to stray by a woman?

bheje śvapākīṃ munir akṣamālāṃ kāmād vaiṣṭhaś ca sa sadvariṣṭaḥ |yasyāṃ vivasvān iva bhūjalādaḥ sutaḥ prasūto ’sya kapiñjalādaḥ ||

7.28 And through desire the sage Vasiṣṭha, who even among the upstanding was eminent, had his way with an outcaste, Akṣa-mālā, ‘String of Beads,’ To whom was born his son Kapiñjalāda, an eater of earth and water to rival the Sun.

parāśaḥ śāpaśaras taharṣiḥ kālīṃ siṣeve jhaṣagarbhayonim |suto ’sya yasyāṃ suṣuve mahātmā dvaipāyano vedavibhāgakartā ||

7.29 So too did the seer Parāśara, user of curses as arrows, have intercourse with Kālī, who was born from the womb of a fish; The son he conceived in her was the illustrious Dvaipāyana, classifier of the Vedas.

dvaipāyano dharmaparāyañaś ca reme samaṃ kāśiṣu veśyavadhva |yayā hato ’bhūc calanūpureña pādena vidyullatayeva meghaḥ ||

7.30 Dvaipāyana, equally, while having dharma as his primary object, enjoyed a woman at a brothel in Kāśi; Struck by her foot, with its trembling ankle bracelet, he was like a cloud being struck by a twist of lightning.

tathāñgirā rāgaparītacetāḥ sarasvatīṃ brahmasutaḥ siṣeve |sārasvato yatra suto ’sya jajñe naṣṭasya vedasya punaḥpravaktā ||

7.31 So too did brahma-begotten Aṅgiras, when his mind was seized by passion, have sex with Sarasvatī; To her was born his son Sārasvata, who gave voice again to missing Vedas.

tathā nṛparṣer dilipasya yajñe svargastriyāṃ kāśyapa āgatāsthaḥ |srucaṃ gṛhītvā sravad ātmatejaś cikṣepa vahnāv asito yato ’bhūt ||

7.32 Likewise Kāśyapa, at a sacrifice under the aegis of the royal seer Dilipa, while fixated on a celestial nymph, Took the ceremonial ladle and cast into the fire his own streaming semen, whence was conceived Asita.

tathāṅgado ’ntaṃ tapaso ’pi gatvā kāmābhibhūto yamunām agacchat |dhīmattaraṃ yatra rahītaraṃ sa sāraṅgajuṣṭaṃ janayāṃ babhūva ||

7.33 Aṅgada, equally, though he had gone to the ends of ascetic practice, went overwhelmed by desire to Yamunā And in her he begat the super-bright Rathītara, ‘The Super Charioteer,’ and friend of the spotted deer.

niśāmya śāntāṃ naradevakanyāṃ vane ’pi śānte ’pi ca vartamānaḥ |cacāla dhairyān munir ṛṣyaṣṛṅgaḥ śailo mahīkampa ivoccaśṛṅgaḥ ||

7.34 Again, on catching sight of the princess Śāntā, ‘Tranquillity,’ though he had been living in tranquillity in the forest, The sage Ṛṣya-śṛṅga, ‘Antelope Horn,’ was moved from steadfastness, like a high-horned mountain in an earthquake.

brahmarṣibhāvārtham apāsya rājyaṃ bheje vanaṃ yo viṣayeṣv anāsthaḥ |sa gādhijaś cāpahṛto ghṛtācyā samā daśaikaṃ divasaṃ viveda ||

7.35 And the son of Gādhin who, in order to become ‘the Brahman Seer,’ renounced his kingdom and retired to the forest, having become indifferent to sensual objects: He was captivated by the nymph Ghṛtācī, reckoning a decade with her as a single day.

tathaiva kandarpaśarābhimṛṣṭo rambhāṃ prati stuḥilaśirā mumūrcha |yaḥ kāmaroṣātmatayānapekṣaḥ śaśāpa tām apratigṛhyamāṇaḥ ||

7.36 So too, when hit by an arrow fired by Love, did Sthūla-śiras, ‘Thick Head,’ lose his senses over Rambhā. He with his libidinous and wrathful nature was reckless: when she refused him he cursed her.

pramadvarāyāṃ ca ruruḥ priyāyāṃ bhujaṅgamenāpahṛtendriyāyām |saṃdṛśya saṃdṛśya jaghāna sarpān priyaṃ na roṣeṇa tapo rarakṣa ||

7.37 And Ruru, after his beloved Pramadvarā had been robbed of her senses by a snake, Exterminated snakes wherever he saw them: he failed, in his fury, to maintain his reserve or his ascetic practice.

naptā śaśāṅkasya yaśoguṇāṅko budhasya sūnur vibhudhaprabhāvaḥ |tathorvaśīm apsarasaṃ vicintya rājarṣir unmādam agacchad aiḍaḥ ||

7.38 As grandson of the hare-marked moon, as son of ‘The Learned’ Budha and the goddess Iḍā, and as one marked by personal honour and virtue, [Purū-ravas] had the special powers of the lunar and the very learned; But thinking of the apsaras Urvaśī, this royal seer also went mad.

rakto girer mūrdhani menakāyāṃ kāmātmakatvāc ca sa tāljaṅghaḥ |pādena viśvāvasunā saroṣaṃ vajreṇa hintāla ivābhijaghne ||

7.39 And when ‘Long Shanks’ Tāla-jaṅgha, on top of a mountain, was reddened, in his libidinous state, with passion for the apsaras Menakā, From the foot of ‘All-Beneficent’ Viśvā-vasu he got an angry kick, like a thunderbolt striking a hin-tāla palm.

nāśaṃ gatāyāṃ paramāṅganāyāṃ gaṅgājale ’naṅgaparītacetāḥ |jahnuś ca gaṅgāṃ nṛpatir bhujābhyāṃ rurodha maināka ivācalendraḥ ||

7.40 When his favourite female drowned in the waters of the Ganges, King Jahnu, his mind possessed by disembodied Love, Blocked the flow of the Ganges with his arms, as if he were Mount Maināka, the paragon of non-movement.

nṛpaś ca gaṅgāvirahāj jughūrṇa gaṅgāmbhasā sāla ivāttamūlaḥ |kulapradīpaḥ pratipasya sūnuḥ śrīmattanuḥ śantanur asvatantraḥ ||

7.41 And King ‘Good Body’ Śan-tanu, when separated from goddess Gaṅgā, shook like a śāla tree whose roots the Ganges was washing away: The son of Pratipa and light of his family, he of the body beautiful, became uncontrollable.

hṛtāṃ ca saunandakinānuśocan prāptām invorvīṃ striyam urvaśīṃ tām |sadvṛttavarmā kila somavarmā babhrāma cittodhavabhinnavarmā ||

7.42 Again, when the avatar Saunandakin took away his Urvaśī, “She of the Wide Expanse,” the wife whom, like the wide earth, Soma-varman had made his own, ‘Moon-Armoured’ Soma-varman whose armour, so they say, had been virtuous conduct, roamed about grieving, his armour pierced by mind-existent Love.

bhāryāṃ mṛtāṃ cānumamāra rājā bhīmaprabhāvo bhuvi bhīmakaḥ saḥ |balena senāka iti prakāśaḥ senāpatir deva ivāttasenaḥ ||

7.43 A king who followed his departed wife in death was ‘The Dreaded’ Bhīmika – he who was dread power on earth; He who was famed, because of his military might, as Senāka, ‘The Missile of War’; he who was, with his war machine, like a God of War.

svargaṃ gate bhartari śantanau ca kālīṃ jihirṣan janamejayaḥ saḥ |avāpa bhīṣmāt samavetya mṛtyuṃ na tadgataṃ manmhatham utsasarje ||

7.44 Again, when Kālī’s husband Śan-tanu had gone to heaven, Jana-mejaya, ‘Causer of Trembling among Men,’ in his desire to marry Kālī, Came up against Bhīṣma ‘The Terrible,’ and accepted death from him, rather than relinquish his love for her.

śaptaś ca pāṇḍur madanena nūnaṃ strīṇāṃ vaśaṃ kāmavaśena jagmuḥ |jagāma mādrīṃ na maharṣiśāpād asevyasevī vimamarśa mṛtyum ||

7.45 And Pāṇḍu ‘The Pale One’ having been cursed by Passion to die on coupling with a woman, Went nonetheless with Mādrī: he heeded not the death that would result from the great seer’s curse, when he tasted what he was forbidden to taste.

evaṃvidhā devanṛparṣisaṅghaḥ strīṇāṃ vaśaṃ kāmavaśena jagmuḥ |dhiyā ca sāreṇa ca durbalaḥ san priyām apaśyan kimu viklavo ’ham ||

7.46 Hordes of gods and kings and seers such as these have fallen by dint of desire into the thrall of women. Being weak in understanding and inner strength, all the more discouraged, when I cannot see my beloved, am I.

yāsyāmi tasmād gṛham eva bhūyaḥ kāmaṃ kariṣye vidhivat sakāmam |na hy anyacittasya calendriyasya liṅgaṃ kṣamaṃ dharmapathāc cyutasya ||

7.47 Therefore I shall go back home again and properly make love, as I please! For the insignia do not sit well upon a backslider from the path of dharma, whose senses are restless and whose mind is elsewhere.

pāṇau kapālam avadhāya vidhāya mauṇḍyaṃ māna nidhāya vikṛtaṃ paridhāya vāsaḥ |yasyoyoddhavo na dhṛtir asti na śānti asti citrapradīpa iva so ’sti ca nāsti caiva ||

7.48 When a man has taken the bowl in his hand, has shaved his head, and, putting pride aside, has donned the patched-together robe, And yet he is given to pleasure and lacking in firmness and tranquillity, then like a lamp in a picture, he is there and yet he is not.

yo niḥsṛtaś ca na ca niḥsṛtakāmarāgaḥ kāṣāyam udvahati yo na ca niṣkasāyaḥ |pātraṃ bibharti ca guṇair na ca pātrabhūto kiṅgaṃ vahann api sa naiva gṛhī na bhikṣuḥ ||

7.49 When a man has gone forth, but the red taint of desire has not gone forth from him; when he wears the earth-hued robe but has not transcended dirt; When he carries the bowl but is not a vessel for the virtues; though he bears the insignia, he is neither a householder nor a beggar.

na nyāyyam anvayavataḥ parigṛhya liṅgaṃ bhūyo vimoktum iti yo ’pi hi me vicāraḥ |so ’pi praṇaśyati vicintya nṛpapravīrāṃs tān ye tapovanaṃ apāsya gṛhāṇy atīyuḥ ||

7.50 I had thought it improper for a man with noble connections, having adopted the insignia, to discard them again: But even [such a scruple] fades away, when I think about those royal heroes who abandoned an ascetic grove and went home.

śālvādhipo hi sasuto ’pi tathāmbarīṣo rāmo ’ndhva eva sa ca sāṃkṛtir antidevaḥ |cīrāṇy apāsya dadhire punar aṃśukāni chittvā jaṭāṣ ca kuṭilā mukuṭāni babhruḥ ||

7.51 For the Śālva king, along with his son; and likewise Ambarīṣa and Rāma and Andha, and Rantideva, son of Saṁkṛti Cast off their rags and clothed themselves again in finest fabrics; they cut their twisted dreadlocks off and put their crowns back on.

tasmād bhikṣārthaṃ mama gurur ito yāvad eva prayātas tyaktvā kāṣāyaṃ gṛham aham itas tāvad eva prayāsye |pūjyaṃ liṅgaṃ hi skalitamanaso bibhrataḥ kliṣṭabuddher nāmutrārthaḥ syād upahatamater nāpy ayaṃ jīvalokaḥ ||

7.52 Therefore as soon my guru has gone from here to beg for alms, I will give up the ochre robe and go from here to my home; Because, for a man who bears the honoured insignia with unsound judgement, stammering mind and weakened resolve, no ulterior purpose might exist, nor even the present world of living beings.”

saundarananda mahākāvye nandavilāpo nāma saptamaḥ sargaḥ ||

The 7th canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “Nanda’s Lament.”

atha nandam adhīralocanaṃ gṛhayānotsukam utsukotuskam |abhigamya śivena cakṣuṣā śramaṇaḥ kaś cid uvāca maitrayā ||

8.1 Then, while Nanda was looking forward, with unsteady eyes and the eagerest of expectations, to going home, A certain striver with a benevolent air approached him and said, in a friendly way:

kim idaṃ mukham aśrudurinaṃ hṛdayasthaṃ vivṛṇoti te tamaḥ |dhṛtim ehi niyaccha vikriyāṃ na hi bāṣpaś ca śamaś ca śobhate ||

8.2 “Why this face so clouded with tears, that reveals a darkness in your heart? Come to constancy, restrain your emotion, for tears and tranquillity do not sit well together.

dvividhā samudeti vedanā niyataṃ cetasi deha eva ca |śrutavidhyupacārakovidā dvividhā eva tayoś cikitsakāḥ ||

8.3 Pain invariably arises in two ways: in the mind and in the body. And for those two kinds of pain, there are healers skilled in education and in medicine.

tad iyaṃ yadi kāyikī rujā bhiṣaje tūrṇam anūnam ucyatām |viniguhya hi rogam āturo nacirāt tīvram anartham ṛcchati ||

8.4 So if this pain is physical be quick to tell a doctor all about it, For when a sick man conceals his illness it turns before long into something serious.

atha duḥkham idaṃ manomayaṃ vada vakṣyāmi yad atra bheṣajam |manaso hi rajastamasvino bhiṣajo ’dhyātmavidaḥ parīkṣakāḥ ||

8.5 But if this suffering is mental tell me, and I will tell you the cure for it; Because, for a mind enshrouded in gloom and darkness, the healer is a seeker who knows himself.

nikhilena ca satyam ucyatāṃ yadi vācyaṃ mayi saumya manyaste |gatayo vividhā hi cetasāṃ bahuguhyāni madākulāni ca ||

8.6 Tell the whole truth, my friend, if you think it fit to be told, to me; For minds have many ways of working and many secrets, wherein concealment is complicated by conceit.”

iti tena sa coditas tadā vyavasāyaṃ pravivakṣur ātmanaḥ |avalambya kare kareṇa taṃ pravivakṣur ātmanaḥ ||

8.7 Pressed in this way by [the striver], while wanting to explain his own decision, [Nanda] clung to him, with hand in his hand, and went into another corner of the forest.

atha tatra śucau latāgṛhe kusumodgāriṇi tau niṣedatuḥ |mṛdubhir mṛdumāruteritair upagūdhāv iva bālapallavaiḥ ||

8.8 And so there the two of them sat in a vibrant bower of flower-spewing creepers Whose soft young shoots, stirring in a soft breeze, seemed to be hiding them away.

sa jagāda tataś cikīṣitam ghananiśvāsagṛhītam antarā |śrutavāgviśadāya bhikṣave viduṣā pravrajitena durvacam ||

8.9 Then, in between the heavy sighs that intermittently gripped him, he expressed his intention, Which was a hard one for a man who has knowingly gone forth to express. He told it to the beggar who was so adept at hearing and talking.

sadṛśaṃ yadi dharmacāriṇaḥ satataṃ prāṇiṣu maitracetasaḥ |adhṛtau yad iyaṃ hitaiṣitā mayi te syāt karuṇātmanaḥ sataḥ ||

8.10 “Evidently, it befits a devotee of dharma who is always friendly towards any living being, That the benevolence inherent in your compassionate nature might be shown to me in my inconstancy!

ata eva ca me viśeṣataḥ pravivakṣā kṣamavādini tvayi |na hi bhāvam imaṃ calātmane kathayeyaṃ bruvate ’py asādhave ||

8.11 And that is why I would like especially to speak to you who preach propriety;For what I am feeling now I would not tell to a man who was out of balance in himself and who, though a good talker, was not a true person.

tad idaṃ śṛṇu me samāsato na rame dharavidhāv ṛte priyām |girisānuṣu kāminīm ṛte kṛtaretā iva kiṃnaraś caran ||

8.12 Hear me then when I say, in short, that without my beloved I do not enjoy the practice of dharma; I am like a kiṁnara without his lover roaming about, his semen ready, over mountain peaks.

vanavāsasukhāt parāṅmukhaḥ prayiyāsā gṛham eva yena me |na hi śarma labhe tayā vinā nṛpatir hīna ivottamaśriyā ||

8.13 I am averse to the happiness of the forest life, and simply want to go home; For without her I obtain no comfort, like a king without his sovereignty.”

atha tasya niśamya tadvacaḥ priyabhāryābhimukhasya śocataḥ |śramaṇaḥ sa śiraḥ prakampayan nijagādātmagataṃ śanair idam ||

8.14 When he heard those words of Nanda who, with his mind on his beloved wife, was burning with pain, The striver, softly, while allowing his head to shake, said to himself:

kṛpaṇaṃ bata yūthalālaso mahato vyādhabhayād viniḥsṛtaḥ |pravivikṣati vāgurāṃ mṛgaś capalo gītaraveṇa vañcitaḥ ||

8.15 “What a pity! In its longing for the herd, a rushing stag that has escaped the mortal danger of the hunter’s arrow, Is about to enter the hunter’s trap, deceived by a call that the hunter sang.

vihagaḥ khalu jālasaṃvṛto hitakāmena janena mokṣitaḥ |vicaran phalapuṣpavadvanaṃ pravivikṣuḥ svayam eva pañjaram ||

8.16 Truly, a bird that was caught in a net and set free by a benevolent person, Desires, as it flits about the fruiting and blossoming forest, to fly of its own volition into a cage.

kalabhaḥ kariṇā khalūddhṛto bahupaṅkād viṣamān nadītalāt |jalatarṣavaśena tāṃ punaḥ saritaṃ grāhavatī titīrṣati ||

8.17 A baby elephant, truly, after an adult elephant has pulled it up out of the deep mud of a dangerous riverbed, Is wishing, in its thirst for water, to enter again that crocodile-infested creek.

śaraṇe sabhujaṅgame svapan pratibuddhena pareña bodhitaḥ |taruṇaḥ khalu jātavibhramaḥ svayam ugraṃ bhujagaṃ jighṛkṣati ||

8.18 In a shelter where slithers a snake, a sleeping boy, awoken by an elder who is already awake, Has become agitated and, truly, he is about to grab the horrible reptile himself.

mahatā khalu jātavedasā jvalitād utpatito vanadrumāt |punar icchati nīḍatṛṣṇayā patituṃ tatra gatavyatho dvijaḥ ||

8.19 Truly, having flown up and away from a tree that is blazing in a great forest fire, A chick in its longing for the nest is wishing to fly there again, its former alarm forgotten.

avaśaḥ khalu kāmamūrchayā priyayā śyenabhayād vinākṛtaḥ |na dhṛtiṃ samupaiti na hriyaṃ karuṇaṃ jīvati jīvajīvakaḥ ||

8.20 Truly, a pheasant separated from its mate through fear of a hawk, and so stupefied by desire as to be helpless, Is lacking in resolve and lacking in reserve: the pathetic little beggar is living a pitiful life.

akṛtātmatayā tṛṣānvito ghṛṇayā caiva dhiyā ca varjitaḥ |aśanaṃ khalu vāntam ātmanā kṛpañaḥ śvā punar attum icchati ||

8.21 Greedy and untrained, devoid of decency and intelligence, Truly, a wretched dog is wishing to eat again some food that he himself has vomited.”

iti manmathaśokakarṣitaṃ tam anudhyāya muhur nirīkṣya ca |śramaṇaḥ sa hitābhikāṅkṣayā guṇavadvākyam uvāca vipriyam ||

8.22 So saying, the striver contemplated [Nanda] for a while, beholding him tormented by the sorrows of love. Then in his eagerness to be of benefit, the striver spoke fine words, which were unpleasant to hear.

avicārayataḥ śubhāśubhaṃ viṣayeṣv eva niviṣṭacetasaḥ |upapannam alabdhacakusuṣo na ratiḥ śreyasi ced bhavet tava ||

8.23 “For you who draws no distinction between good and bad, whose mind is settled on objects of the senses, And who is without the eye of attainment, naturally, no delight could there be in being better.

śravaṇe grahaṇe ’tha dhāraṇe paramārthāvagame manaḥśame |aviṣaktamateś calātmano na hi dharme ’bhiratir vidhīyate ||

8.24 Again, to him whose thinking is not firmly fixed – in the matters of hearing, grasping, retaining and understanding the supreme truth, and in the matter of mental peace – To him who easily changes his mind, joy in dharma is not apportioned.

viṣayeṣu tu doṣadarśinaḥ parituṣṭasya śucer amāninaḥ |śamakarmasu yuktacetasaḥ kṛtabuddher na ratir na vidyate ||

8.25 But that joy is certainly known to one who sees the faults in objects of the senses, who is contented, pure, and unassuming, Whose mind is versed in the religious acts that generate peace and whose understanding therein is formed.

ramate tṛṣito dhanaśriyā ramate kāmasukhen bāliśaḥ |ramate praśamena sajjanaḥ paribhogān paribhūya vidyayā ||

8.26 A covetous man delights in opulence; a fool delights in sensual pleasure; A true person delights in tranquillity, having transcended sensual enjoyments by virtue of his knowledge.

api ca prathitasya dhīmataḥ kulajasyārcitaliṅgadhāriṇaḥ |sadṛśī na gṛhāya cetanā praṇatir vāyuvaśād girer iva ||

8.27 What is more, when a man of good repute, a man of intelligence and breeding, bears the honoured insignia His consciousness inclines towards home no more than a mountain bends in the wind.

spṛhyet parasaṃśritāya yaḥ paribhūyātmavaśāṃ svatantratām |upaśāntipathe śive sthitaḥ spṛhayed doṣavate gṛhāya saḥ ||

8.28 Only a man who aspires to dependence on another, spurning autonomy and self-reliance, Would yearn, while he was on the auspicious path to peace, for life at home with all its faults.

vyasanābhihato yathā viśet parmuktaḥ punar eva bandhanam |samupetya vanaṃ tathā punar gṛhasaṃjñaṃ mṛgayeta bandhanam ||

8.29 Just as a man released from prison might, when stricken by some calamity, betake himself back to prison, So might one who has retired to the forest seek out again that bondage called home.

puruṣaś ca vihāya yaḥ kaliṃ punar icchet kalim eva sevitum |sa vihāya bhajeta bāliṣaḥ kalibhūtām ajitendriyaḥ priyām ||

8.30 The man who has left his strife behind and yet would like nothing better than to go back again to his strife: He is the fool who would leave behind and then return, with his senses still unconquered, to the strife that is a wife.

saviṣā iva saṃśritā latāḥ parimṛṣṭā iva soragā guhāḥ |vivṛtā iva cāsayo dhṛtā vyasanāntā hi bhavanti yoṣitaḥ ||

8.31 Like poisonous clinging creepers, like swept-out caves still harbouring snakes, Like uncovered blades being held in the hand, women are calamitous in the end.

pramadāḥ samadā madapradāḥ pramadā vītamadā bhayapradāḥ |iti doṣabhayāvahāś ca tāḥ katham arhanti niṣevanaṃ nu tāḥ ||

8.32 Sexy members of the female gender engender sexual desire, whereas unsexy ones are fearsome. Since they bring with them either a fault or fear, in what way do they merit attention?

svajanaḥ svajanena bhidyate suhṛdaś cāpi suhṛjjanena yat |paradoṣavikṣaṇāḥ