Appendix A: Mahāvāṇī

Today Janaka’s darling is filled with the colours of rasa.
Her garments bear lightning’s hue, her splendid face the moon’s; she is the foremost treasury of beauty.
Her lips are crimson, her speech sweet, and her oblique glance shoots a sharp arrow.
Her fine nose-ring, pearl necklace, and forest ornaments form a perfect adornment upon her head.
Her eyebrows are bows, her breasts high, and she is consumed by Love.
Necklaces cover her body, her waist is slender, her hips profound, and she overflows with feeling.
Her gait is a swan’s and her anklets ring; Rasamala says she has stolen my heart.

The lovely dark one approaches with flashing, bending steps.
Beloved, he appears still more beautiful upon this autumn night.
Smiling gently, he puts an arm about the darling’s neck and sings sweetly in a high melodic strain.
Within the rāsa-maṇḍala, the companions clap; anklets sound cham-cham, chananan.
His waist bends, his neck turns, his eyes whirl; earrings sway and the gems of his crown flash.
Navala Vihari, absorbed in rasa with his beloved and her companions, makes the mind yearn for the creeper-bower.

Even the moon is ashamed before the moon-ornament upon the darling’s head.
The darkest raincloud and stars shine in every direction; the twin serpent-like braids have drunk immortal nectar.
The slanted keenness of her crooked eyebrows and the movement of her nose-ring steal the very mind.
The flashing bodice upon her high breasts and the motion of her necklaces delight the heart.
Seeing the knot of his mistress’s lower garment, Navala Vihari the Beloved becomes restless and overwhelmed by Love’s rasa.

Taking his hand, the beloved dances, gazing again and again upon his face.
All around are companions, anklets flashing cham-cham, while her gentle smile heaps up Love’s nectar.
Garments flutter, fragrances spread, and pearl necklaces swing as the companions call to one another.
When he grasps her breasts and kisses her lips, then playfully asks a question, the companion turns her face away.
Navala Vihari’s beloved lowers herself beneath the pretence of her veil and binds him repeatedly with Love’s creeper.

Her face conquers a host of autumn moons, and her lovely smile resembles a multitude of moonbeams.
Her crooked brow surpasses Love’s bow; her tilaka is delicate as a flower.
Her graceful chin and conch-like neck are enchanting; her lips reflect the bimba fruit.
Locks kiss her mirror-like cheeks, and her lotus eyes unfold in play.
Janaka’s daughter, delighted, begins a lovely song—
Its melody coloured by the ringing of anklets, rising through all ten directions—