________________
CHAPTER 3
3.1 Edition of Gātās 1-50, with translations and notes
11 1 Ma, 2 Tp; 1 eh, R; K, \, B, Y, P, G, 5; T; S; V) I starts only with *21; x only with 133. The first ten Gathas of W were illegible.
pasuvaiņo rosāruņa- gahiagghaparik aaṁ via
padimās ark amtagor imuhaaṁd am samjhāsalilaṁjalin namaha.
In Ma lacuna for the text; in Tp for pasuvaino...padima (saṁk anta). pasuvaiņoh K, vasuvaino P -- sak anta k -- muyacand am Bh -- gehia Tp; gahiagdha K. -- paṁkayaṁ piva Bh; okaammia , ommia B, í bia y; kaa via T.
Bow before the moon-face of Gaurt which by her anger at Pasupati has become the counterpart of the morning sky; it looks like the cupped hands filled with Sandhyā-water, holding a (red) Arghya-lotus.
The position of this Gāthī at the beginning of the text follows the convention that a literary work should open with a verse praising a god or goddess, or, as here, exhorting the reader to do so. (Cf. Kavyādarśa I 14: sargabandho mahākāvyam ucyate tasya lakşaņam/ astr namaskriyā vastunirdeso vāpi tanmukham. Note also the presence of a Nāndt at the beginning of a play.) These verses are often characterized by particularly intricate descriptions. Here Gaurt is described as being enraged at her husband Pasupati, a situation which is fully in accordance with the general content of the text. It may, incidentally, be noted that the Gathā, in containing the word for 'moon', follows exactly the prescription given for the content of a Nandt (see Lévi, 1963: 132).
This Gathā, together with the following two, forms an introduction to the text. Gāthās *2 and *3 give the impression of having been composed for the occasion and have as a matter of principle to be set apart from
