by Kalidasa
I try, my eyes well up
With tears, for wicked destiny cannot suffer us united
even in a picture.
46
When woodland spirits who dwell here see me
throwing my arms
Into empty space, searching somehow for your
perfect embrace,
Like the one I hold as a vision from my dreams,
they shed tears
The size of pearls that fall without fail on to soft
leaves of green.
47
A gale wind blows from the Snowy Mountains,
cracking open the spiral
Seed-cones of Himalayan cedars oozing with
sticky sap, milky white
And fragrant. And then, my true one, as the wind
drifts south, I run to
Embrace it, believing that it caressed your body
before coming to me.
48
Can the long hours of the night collapse
into a single second?
Can the pleasures of a mild summer day
last all season?
Listen, my love, for my mind entertains
such impossibilities
Without solace, just as I burn and ache
over our disunion.
49
Reflecting deep within myself, I sustain myself
on my soul alone,
And so you too, my blessed love, should never
fear, nor lose faith,
For life is never eternal bliss, nor endless pain,
our fortunes are
Forever turning, up and down and round again,
like a chariot’s wheel.
50
When Lord Vishnu who wields the Saranga Bow rises up
from his serpent bed,
My curse shall end. So close your eyes and let these four
months pass quickly,
And soon the two of us will bathe in the pure moonlight
of an autumn night,
Fulfilling the wishes of our hearts that grew more intense
while we were apart.”
51
Your love also said, “One night in our bed you hugged
my neck as we slept,
You were crying, startled awake by some stray sound,
and after I asked you
Over and over again, ‘What’s the matter, my precious?’
you finally replied
With a vacant smile, ‘You cheat! I saw you in my dream
chasing another woman!’
52
That distant memory, shared only between the two of us,
my dark-eyed love,
Is proof enough of my well-being. Do not lose faith in me,
trusting in rumours,
For people speak falsely, saying love fades in separation,
but our affections,
Intensified by our desire for each other, are stored away
in a reservoir of love.”
53
And now that you’ve comforted my love’s deep pain
over our first parting,
Quickly turn back from Mount Kailasa, whose ridges
are harrowed by Shiva’s Bull.
Support my life too, dangling like an oleander branch
in the early morning,
And bring word of her welfare, along with a message
of our shared memories.
54
Gentle cloud, are you truly committed to helping me,
your friend in need?
Ah, even when you give me no reply, I understand the
meaning of your silence.
When thirsty chatakas cry out for rainwater, you offer it
to them silently,
For among the noble, the quiet fulfilment of a request
is answer enough.
55
O great cloud, though I was wrong to even ask,
you gladly did this for me
Out of friendship, or maybe out of compassion
for you could feel my pain.
Now roam wherever you please in your majestic
monsoon glory,
And may you not suffer even one moment apart
from the light of your life.’
Glossary
Airavata [airāvata] mighty white elephant mount of Indra (I.65)
Alaka [alakā] Kubera’s mythical city on Mount Kailasa (I.7, 66; II.1–3, 5–6, 10–12)
Amrakuta [āmrakůṭa] Mango Tree Peak, sacred hill in central India (I.17)
Arjuna [arjuna] mighty Kuru hero, master archer (I.51)
Ashadha [āṣāḍha] month marking the beginning of the monsoon season (I.2)
ashoka [aśoka] tree with red flowers, said to bloom when touched by a woman’s foot (II.18)
Avanti [avantī] prosperous kingdom with Ujjayini as capital (I.31)
Balarama [bala-rāma] Krishna’s older brother who wields a plough (I.52, 62)
Bali [bali] mythic king destroyed by Vishnu in his dwarf avatar (I.60)
Bearer of the Crescent Moon [nava-śaśi-bhṛta] epithet of Shiva (I.46)
Bhavani [bhavānī] Shiva’s consort, compassionate and peaceful (I.39, 47)
bimba [bimba] red fruit invoked to praise a woman’s lips (II.7, 22)
Brahmavarta [brahmâvarta] sacred tract northwest of Hastinapura (I.51)
cakravaka [cakravāka] bird that spends every night apart from his/her mate (II.23)
Chandishwara [caṇḍīśvara] Shiva as the Lord of Chandi, the wrathful form of Bhavani (I.36)
chataka [cātaka] bird that drinks only raindrops, harbinger of the monsoon (I.22; II.54)
collyrium [añjana] black pigment used to paint eyelashes and condition hair (I.62; II.35)
Crane Gate [haṃsa-dvāra] Himalayan pass used by migratory cranes (I.60)
Dark Lord [sārṅgin] epithet of Vishnu/Krishna (I.49)
Dashapura [daśa-pura] Ten Cities, ancient capital of King Rantideva (I.50)
Dasharna [daśārṇa] ancient republic with Vidisha as capital (I.24)
Devagiri [deva-giri] God Mountain, abode of Skanda, holy peak near Ujjayini (I.45)
Gambhira [gambhīrā] Deep One, tributary of the Sipra (I.43)
Gandiva [gāṇḍīva] Arjuna’s magical bow created by Brahma (I.51)
Gandhavati [gandhavatī] Fragrant One, extinct branch of the Sipra (I.36)
Ganga [gaṅgā] sacred river flowing through heaven, earth and the netherworld (I.46, 53–55, 66)
God Born in a Bed of Reeds [śara-vaṇa-bhava] epithet of Skanda (I.48)
God of Elements [dhātu] epithet of the creator god Brahma (II.22)
Great God [ardhêndu-mauli] Half-Moon Crown, epithet of Shiva (I.58)
Great War [kṣatra-pradhana] war between rival warrior cousins told in the Mahabharata (I.51, 52)
Guardian Elephants [dig-gaja] mythical elephants who protect the eight cardinal directions (I.14, 54)
Gauri [gaurī] Shiva’s consort, loving and chaste (I.53, 63)
Hanuman [hanūmant] devoted monkey messenger of Rama (II.40)
Himalaya [himālaya] the Abode of Snow, the King of Mountains and the father of Parvati (I.55)
Indra [indra] majestic King of the Gods (I.6, 46, 65)
Jahnu [jahnu] ancient sage called the father of Ganga (I.53)
kadamba [kadamba] orange flower that blooms at the strike of thunder (I.21, 26; II.2)
Kailasa [kailāsa] sacred mountain of Tibet, Shiva’s abode (I.11, 61-63; II.53)
Kankhala [kanakhala] ancient pilgrimage place in the western Himalayas (I.53)
ketaka [ketaka] white flower with pointed petals (I.24)
kesar [kesara] tree with yellow flowers, said to bloom when a women spits wine on it (II.18)
King of Mountains [śaila-rāja] epithet of Himalaya (I.53)
Kinnara [kinnara] class of celestial musicians (I.59; II.10)
Krishna [kṛṣṇa] cowherd god, avatar of Vishnu (I.15)
Ku
bera [kubera] Lord of Wealth and master of the yakshas, lives in his capital Alaka (I.1, 3, 5; II.14, 15)
kutaja [kuṭaja] fragrant wildflower (I.4, 23)
Kuru [kuru] warrior dynasty celebrated in the Mahabharata (I.51)
lac [lākṣā-rāga] red dye used to colour women’s hands, feet and nails (I.35; II.12)
lodhra [lodhra] crimson flower that blooms in winter (II.2)
Lord of Animals [paśu-pati] epithet of Shiva (I.39, 59)
Lord of Wealth [dhana-pati] epithet of Kubera (I.7; II.4, 10)
Love [manmatha] god of love and desire (II.4, 14)
Low Mountain [nicais] small mountain near Vidisha (I.26)
madhavi [mādhavī] creeper vine with fragrant white flowers (II.18)
Mahakala [mahā-kāla] ancient Shiva temple in Ujjayini, one of twelve Lingas of Light (I.37)
Mala [māla] unspecified plateau or hilly outcropping (I.16)
Manasa [mānasa] sacred lake near Mount Kailasa, born from the mind of Brahma (I.11, 65; II.16)
Mandakini [mandākinī] Ganga as she flows through heaven (II.6)
musth [mada-srāva] liquid oozing from the temples of elephants in rut (II.13)
nichula [nicula] tender water reed (I.14)
Nalagiri [nalagiri] Udayana’s legendary elephant (I.34)
Nirvindhya [nirvindhyā] small river originating in the Vindhyas (I.29)
Parashurama [paraśu-rāma] Rama of the Axe, avatar of Vishnu (I.60)
Pass of Krauncha [krauñca-randhram] Himalayan pass cleaved by Parashurama (I.60)
Pavaki [pāvaki] epithet of Skanda (I.47)
Plough Bearer [lāṅgalī, hala-bhṛta] epithet of Balarama (I.52, 62)
Pradyota [pradyota] King of Ujjayini whose daughter Udayana married (I.34)
priyangu [priyaṅgu] creeper vine said to bloom at a woman’s touch (II.44)
Rama [rāma] King of Ayodhya, avatar of Vishnu (I.12)
Rama’s Mountain [rāma-giri] sacred hill in central India where Rama and Sita lived for part of their exile (I.1; II.41)
Rantideva [ranti-deva] noble king who made many animal sacrifices (I.48)
Ravana [rāvaṇa] ten-headed king of Lanka (I.61; II.13)
Reva [revā] ancient name of the Narmada River (I.19)
Revati [revatī] wife of Balarama (I.52)
Sacred Fire [huta-vaha] god of fire, carrier of ritual oblations (I.46)
Sagara [sagara] father of 60,000 sons burned to ashes and later liberated by Ganga (I.53)
Saranga [sārṅga] divine bow of Vishnu (II.50)
Saraswati [sarasvatī] ancient river in northwest India, now extinct (I.52)
sarika [sārikā] domesticated canary or parrot (II.25)
Siddha [siddha] ancient sages with spiritual powers (I.22, 48, 58)
Sirisha [śirīṣa] tree with delicate flowers that bloom in summer (II.2)
Sharabha [śarabha] mythical beast with eight legs (I.57)
Shiva [śiva] great god who lives on Mount Kailasa with his consort, Parvati (I.7, 36, 37, 39, 47, 53, 55, 58, 61, 63; II.14)
Shiva’s Bull [tri-nayana-vṛṣa] Shiva’s white bull mount Nandi (I.55; II.53)
Sipra [śiprā] holy river flowing through Ujjayini (I.32)
Sita [sītā] devoted wife of Rama (I.1; II.40)
Skanda [skanda] warrior son of Shiva who rides a peacock (I.46)
Snowy Mountains [prāleyâdri, tuṣārâdri] the snow-peaked Himalayas (I.60, II.47)
Storm Clouds [puṣkarāvartaka] celebrated class of thunderclouds (I.6)
Sovereign of the Three Worlds [tri-bhuvana-guru] epithet of Shiva, master of the universe (I.36)
Triple City [tri-pura] three magical cities ruled by demon kings in heaven, midair and earth (I.59)
Udayana [udayana] celebrated prince of Vatsa who loved the princess of Ujjayini (I.31, 34)
Ujjayini [ujjayinī] famed holy city and centre of learning, capital of Avanti (I.28, 31-33)
Vaibhraja [vaibhrāja] name of a celestial garden (II.10)
Vatsa [vatsa] kingdom ruled by Udayana from his capital Kausambi (I.34)
Vetravati [vetravatī] tributary of the Yamuna that flows from the Vindhyas (I.25)
Vidisha [vidiśā] celebrated capital of Dasharna on the Vetravati (I. 25)
Vindhya [vindhya] famous mountain range that traditionally divides north and south India (I.19)
Vishnu [viṣṇu] great god with ten avatars, consort of Lakshmi (I.15, 60; II.50)
Wishing Tree [kalpa-vṛkṣa] tree of heaven that grants any wish (I.65; II.5, 12)
yaksha [yakṣa] demigod servant of Kubera
Yamuna [yamunā] sacred river that joins the Ganga in Prayaga (I.54)
Notes
1. Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu, avatārika, verse 5 (translation mine). Satyanarayana, Vishwanatha. Srimad Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu. (Vijayawada: DTP Printing, 1992).
2. See numerous examples in Bronner, Shulman and Tubb’s Innovations and Turning Points: Toward a History of Kāvya Literature (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014).
3. Ezra Pound’s essay ‘How to Read’ in Literary Essays of Ezra Pound (New York: New Directions, 1935), pp. 34–35.
4. Bronner, Yigal. ‘Birds of a Feather: Vāmana Bhaṭṭa Bāṇa’s Haṃsasandeśa and Its Intertexts’. Journal of the American Oriental Society 133.3, 1 July 2013, p. 496.
5. Hank Heifetz from his unpublished thesis Issues of Literary Translation from Sanskrit and Tamil (University of California, Berkeley, 1985).
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This collection published 2017
Copyright © Srinivas Reddy 2017
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Jacket images © Finn Dean
ISBN: 978-0-670-08798-3
This digital edition published in 2017.
e-ISBN: 978-9-385-99082-3
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