Wednesday, August 25, 2010

SAUNDARANANDA 4.4: ... Is All the Sweeter in the Morning Sun

saa haasa-haMsaa nayana-dvirephaa
piina-stan'-aatyunnata-padma-koshaa
bhuuyo babhaase sva-kul'-oditena
strii-padminii Nanda-divaakareNa

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4.4
She of smiles as white as swans, eyes like black bees,

And swelling breasts like lotus buds jutting upwards,

Shimmered all the more, a lotus-pool in female form,

With the rising of a kindred luminary,
the sun-like Nanda.



EH Johnston:
A very lotus-pond in the shape of a woman with her laughter for the swans, her eyes for the bees and her swelling breasts for the uprising lotusbuds, she shone all the more by association with Nanda who, being born in the solar dynasty, represented the sun rising from the Eastern Mountain.

Linda Covill:
She seemed a lotus-pool in womanly form, with her laughter for swans, her eyes for bees and her swelling breasts as budding lotus calyxes ; still more did she shine after the sun-like Nanda had arisen in her own family.


VOCABULARY:
saa (nom sg. f.): she
haasa-haMsaaH (nom. pl.): swans for dazzling smiles
haasa: m. laughter ; dazzling whiteness (regarded as laughter in which the teeth are shown)
haMsa: m. a swan
nayana-dvirephaaH (nom. pl.): bees for pupils
nayana: n. " the leading organ " , the eye
nayanaa: f. the pupil of the eye
dvirepha: m. " shaped like 2 r's or having 2 r's in its name" ; m. a large black bee

piina-stan'-aatyunnata-padma-koshaaH (nom. pl.): swelling breasts for exceedingly upturned/projecting lotus-buds
piina: mfn. swelling, full
stana: the female breast
ati: exceedingly
unnata: mfn. bent or turned upwards , elevated , lifted up , raised , high , tall , prominent , projecting
padma: mn. a lotus
kosha: a case, covering ; a bud , flower-cup , seed-vessel ; the sheath or integument of a plant , pod , nut-shell

bhuuyaH: ind. still more, all the more
babhaase = 3rd pers. sg. perfect bhaas: to shine , be bright ; to appear (" as " or " like " nom. or instr. of an abstract noun)
sva-kul'-oditena (inst. sg.): born/risen from her own kind
sva-kula: n. n. one's own family or race; mfn. of one's own kin
udita: mfn. risen, ascended ; born

strii-padminii (nom. sg. f.): a lotus-pool of a woman
strii: f. a woman
padmin: possessing lotuses
padminii: f. (of prec.) Nelumbium Speciosum , a lotus (the whole plant); a multitude of lotuses or a lotus-pond ; an excellent woman
Nanda-divaakareNa (inst. sg.): with Nanda as the sun
divaakara: m. " day-maker " , the sun

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