का सिंगार ओहि बरनौं, राजा । ओहिक सिंगार ओहि पै छाजा॥
प्रथम सीस कस्तूरी केसा । बलि बासुकि, काक और नरेसा॥
भौंर केस वह मालति रानी । बिसहर लुरे लेहिं अरघानी॥
बेनी छोरि झार जौं बारा । सरग पतार होइ ऍंधिायारा॥
कोंवर कुटिल केस नग कारे । लहरन्हि भरे भुऍंग बैसारे॥
बेधो जनौं मलयगिरि बासा । सोस चढ़े लोटहिं चहुँ पासा॥
घुँघुरवार अलकैं विषभरी । सँकरैं पेम चहैं गिउ परी॥
अस फँदवार केस वै, परा सीस गिउ फाँद।
अस्टौ कुरी नाग सब, अरुझ केस के बाँद॥1॥
Translation by Sir G.A. Grierson and A.G Shirreff
[Quoth the Parrot], 'My Liege, how can I tell the tale of her charms. Charms verily hath she, but such as become her alone. Imprimis--A head[1] crowned with musk-scented locks, before which Vasuki, not to speak of earthly kinds, doth immolate himself[2]. 'The Princess is as it were a jasmine, and her tresses are black bees, attracted by her fragrance and impetuously struggling to imbibe her nectar. When see looseneth the braid and shaketh out her hair, darkness o'erspreadeth the universe from Heaven unto Hell. Soft and waved are her tresses like black snakes seated in wavy undulations on a mountain. For pervaded is she with the sandal odour of Mount Malaya, and therefore have they climbed her head and drag their slow lengths around it[3]. Full of deadly poison are her curls, chains of love ready to fall upon the neck of the beholder. The locks upon that head are nooses which inevitably snare each neck, and hence all eight tribes[4] of serpents are tangled in the fillets of her hair.
Notes:
1. In describing a divine being it is usual to begin at the feet and work up to the head. In describing a human being the order is reversed.
2. Vasuki is the king of serpents, the most potent of which are black. So are Padmavati's locks, but they are also odorous, thereby surpassing the Lord of Snakes who immolates himself in consequence at their shrine. There is, however, a pun in the original. Kesha the word for hair also means Vishnu whom Vasuki would naturally adore.
3. Mount Malaya is celebrated for two things, its sandal trees and its snakes. Padmavati's head has the sandal-fragrance so that the snakes imagine it to be their natural abode. This comparison of wavy hair with the serpents is unpleasing to European taste but is one of the most commonplaces of Indian poetry.
4. The eight tribes of the nagas or serpents are (1) Vasuki (2)Taksaka (3) Kulaka (4) Karkotaka (5) Padma (6) Cankha-cuda (7) Mahapadma (8) Dhananjaya
प्रथम सीस कस्तूरी केसा । बलि बासुकि, काक और नरेसा॥
भौंर केस वह मालति रानी । बिसहर लुरे लेहिं अरघानी॥
बेनी छोरि झार जौं बारा । सरग पतार होइ ऍंधिायारा॥
कोंवर कुटिल केस नग कारे । लहरन्हि भरे भुऍंग बैसारे॥
बेधो जनौं मलयगिरि बासा । सोस चढ़े लोटहिं चहुँ पासा॥
घुँघुरवार अलकैं विषभरी । सँकरैं पेम चहैं गिउ परी॥
अस फँदवार केस वै, परा सीस गिउ फाँद।
अस्टौ कुरी नाग सब, अरुझ केस के बाँद॥1॥
Translation by Sir G.A. Grierson and A.G Shirreff
[Quoth the Parrot], 'My Liege, how can I tell the tale of her charms. Charms verily hath she, but such as become her alone. Imprimis--A head[1] crowned with musk-scented locks, before which Vasuki, not to speak of earthly kinds, doth immolate himself[2]. 'The Princess is as it were a jasmine, and her tresses are black bees, attracted by her fragrance and impetuously struggling to imbibe her nectar. When see looseneth the braid and shaketh out her hair, darkness o'erspreadeth the universe from Heaven unto Hell. Soft and waved are her tresses like black snakes seated in wavy undulations on a mountain. For pervaded is she with the sandal odour of Mount Malaya, and therefore have they climbed her head and drag their slow lengths around it[3]. Full of deadly poison are her curls, chains of love ready to fall upon the neck of the beholder. The locks upon that head are nooses which inevitably snare each neck, and hence all eight tribes[4] of serpents are tangled in the fillets of her hair.
Notes:
1. In describing a divine being it is usual to begin at the feet and work up to the head. In describing a human being the order is reversed.
2. Vasuki is the king of serpents, the most potent of which are black. So are Padmavati's locks, but they are also odorous, thereby surpassing the Lord of Snakes who immolates himself in consequence at their shrine. There is, however, a pun in the original. Kesha the word for hair also means Vishnu whom Vasuki would naturally adore.
3. Mount Malaya is celebrated for two things, its sandal trees and its snakes. Padmavati's head has the sandal-fragrance so that the snakes imagine it to be their natural abode. This comparison of wavy hair with the serpents is unpleasing to European taste but is one of the most commonplaces of Indian poetry.
4. The eight tribes of the nagas or serpents are (1) Vasuki (2)Taksaka (3) Kulaka (4) Karkotaka (5) Padma (6) Cankha-cuda (7) Mahapadma (8) Dhananjaya
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