Gahakoso Part 2

Author(s): Madhav Vasudev Patvardhan, Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani
Publisher: B L Institute of Indology

Page 54

25
194. The wealth of the wicked benefits only other wicked people :
Who is the beneficiary of the wicked even if they have amassed riches ? Only wicked persons (of course). The (bitter) nimba berries, even if they are ripe, are eaten only by crows.
195. Good-natured man:
A good man does not (ordinarily) lose his temper at all. (Even) if he loses his temper (once in a while), he does not harbour malice (towards others). (Even) if he harbours malice (towards others), he does not speak out. (Even) if he speaks out, he feels ashamed about it.
196. Essence of wealth, friendship, beauty and wisdom :
That is (real) wealth which one has in one's own hand (i.e. completely at one's disposal); that is a (true) friend who continuously stands by one's side in calamity; that is (real) beauty where there are virtues (i.e. which is attended by virtues); that is (true) knowledge (or wisdom) which is marked (i.e. accompanied) by righteousness.
197. Endlessly long night :
Oh you with a moon-like (charming) face and large eyes, the long night bright with moon-light, with its four watches (i.e. three hour divisions), some-how (i.e. with great difficulty) came to an end, as if it had a hundred watches (three-hour divisions), in your separation.
198. Behaviour of the wicked compared with that of a tabour :
A wicked person, two-faced and born in a low family is pleasing (in his speech) (only) so long as the food given to him (still) lingers in his mouth. But as soon as the food is digested in his stomach) he begins to speak harshly, just as a muraja (a longish tabour played at once on both its ends) possessed of two faces and never resting on the
ground (but suspended from the neck of the player), produces sweet sounds only so long as lumps of moistened wheat-flour continue to remain intact on its faces. But as soon as the lumps of wheat-flour are worn off (or peel off) it begins to produce bad (jarring) sounds.
199. In response to the girl's bewitching glance :
The daughter-in-law looked in such a way (i.e. so seductively or bewitchingly) at the traveller, with the pupils slightly turned towards the corners of her eyes, that although he was repulsed (i. e. not admitted into the house) by the master of the house, he still sojourned (overnight) in an unsheltered part of the court-yard, away from the eaves of the house.
200. Girdle of Vernal Beauty :
The swarm of bees, enraptured by the boney in the fully expanded lotuses which are like spacious apartments (or chambers), hums, as if it were a girdle (waist-band) of dark-coloured sapphires on the waist of the Goddess of the spring season.