Purananuru - Part 161
In the season of the heat the rains that are the source of wealth do not fall
nor do the swiftly scudding clouds loom up like great mountains that have come
to term after drawing up their water from the roaring ocean so that
it is shrunken, then to gather together wherever they may wish to complete
their duty of pouring down the rain along with the thunder and the lightning.
Nevertheless water in abundance will fill the Ganges
and will go beating against its shores so that all beings
can come there and drink! And this is an image of you who are the king
for me just as much as you are for other men! So I would like to return
home in pride, seated high on an elephant stretching up like a mountain,
a splendid ornament glowing on its forehead, the bells hanging down
its flanks ringing in alternating rhythm, its full grown tusks raised
high so that pearls can roll down them from its temples, its trunk
like a palmyra tree. And my wife who has been weeping for me will be amazed!
She who had lost her strength, her power of sight out of grief, will stare
over and over at the wealth that you have gained through your energies, she
who had been thinking, “My life is gone along with this day, gone away
with him who had no love left for me, to have gone off across that arduous,
never-ending wilderness where the strong stag stands and chews his cud
and ruthless bandits on the routes maraud and murder!” Lord whose victories
are many! I have come to you driven by my need, invited by your fame!
Listen to me with favor as I fashion my verses in honor of your generosity!
Do not fix your mind on whether I have the skill for such an achievement
or whether I do not, but recognize at once how worthy I am and think only
of that which you already must know, the range of your own excellence!
My lord! Let me leave here so endowed that the three great kings will feel
endless shame! We will sing many times over in praise of your rich wealth,
of your army which has labored in the battle of spears so that your women
with their fine ornaments may feel delight each time they embrace your broad,
massive chest smeared with sandal paste and marked with the numerous signs
of good fortune, so that those you live within your cooling
shadow may don many ornaments as your royal drum roars out in the morning!
nor do the swiftly scudding clouds loom up like great mountains that have come
to term after drawing up their water from the roaring ocean so that
it is shrunken, then to gather together wherever they may wish to complete
their duty of pouring down the rain along with the thunder and the lightning.
Nevertheless water in abundance will fill the Ganges
and will go beating against its shores so that all beings
can come there and drink! And this is an image of you who are the king
for me just as much as you are for other men! So I would like to return
home in pride, seated high on an elephant stretching up like a mountain,
a splendid ornament glowing on its forehead, the bells hanging down
its flanks ringing in alternating rhythm, its full grown tusks raised
high so that pearls can roll down them from its temples, its trunk
like a palmyra tree. And my wife who has been weeping for me will be amazed!
She who had lost her strength, her power of sight out of grief, will stare
over and over at the wealth that you have gained through your energies, she
who had been thinking, “My life is gone along with this day, gone away
with him who had no love left for me, to have gone off across that arduous,
never-ending wilderness where the strong stag stands and chews his cud
and ruthless bandits on the routes maraud and murder!” Lord whose victories
are many! I have come to you driven by my need, invited by your fame!
Listen to me with favor as I fashion my verses in honor of your generosity!
Do not fix your mind on whether I have the skill for such an achievement
or whether I do not, but recognize at once how worthy I am and think only
of that which you already must know, the range of your own excellence!
My lord! Let me leave here so endowed that the three great kings will feel
endless shame! We will sing many times over in praise of your rich wealth,
of your army which has labored in the battle of spears so that your women
with their fine ornaments may feel delight each time they embrace your broad,
massive chest smeared with sandal paste and marked with the numerous signs
of good fortune, so that those you live within your cooling
shadow may don many ornaments as your royal drum roars out in the morning!
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