THE DAŚARŪPA
BOOK ONE
1 (P. 1; H. 1).
- namas tasmai Gaṇeśāya yatkaṇṭaḥ puṣkarāyate
madābhogaghanadhvāno nīlakaṇṭhasya tāṇḍave.
‘Homage to that Ganeśa whose throat, deeply resonant in his excessive frenzy (mada-ābhoga), serves as a drum in the wild dance of Śiva, just as the sound of the wildly expanding thundercloud at the dance of the peacock!’
Com. ‘According to established usage’ the author begins his work with two stanzas of invocation.—There is here an imperfect pun (khaṇḍaśleṣa).
Notes. As noted by the commentator, there is a play on words in this introductory stanza. The entire second line refers to the dance of Śiva, but can also be understood as referring to that of a peacock. In this way a simile is included in the very words to which it refers. This necessitates a double translation of the words in the second line.
2 (P. 2; H. 2).
- daśarūpānukāreṇa yasya mādyanti bhāvakāḥ
namaḥ sarvavide tasmai Viṣṇave Bharatāya ca.
‘Homage to that omniscient Viṣṇu whose senses revel in the semblance of his ten forms [of incarnation], and to Bharata, whose poetic sensibilities revel in the imitation of the ten forms [of drama] (daśarūpa).’
Notes. Here again there is a double meaning, in that the first line applies in one sense to Viṣṇu and in another to Bharata. In order to convey this twofold meaning adequately in English, the words of the first line have been rendered twice.
☞ A list of abbreviations and symbols will be found on pages xviii–xix; a conspectus of editions of texts referred to, on pages xiv–xvii; remarks concerning the plan of the present volume, on pages xli–xlv.
