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TRANSLATION, II
141
CANTO TWO 1. Now, Vanamālin (i. e., Krsna ) who was wearing a garland given by a florist and Musalin (i. e., Balarama) see a certain washerman going by the royal road and carrying a load of washed clothes.
2. He was asked for clothes by the princes whose faces were charming with a gentle smile, [but] the vile servant of Bhojarāja, who was obstinate with excessive vanity, gets angry and speaks { thus ) :
3. “O boys, why are you tlus talking about this matter ) which, indeed, cannot even be thought of? What would not the black snake, which indeed bites even when threatened ( from a distance], do when touched [ actually) ?
4. Not only that these clothes of Bhoja king, asked for [by you] will not be obtained, but also you ( should ] know that verily this itself would become, Alas, the cause of even your decapitation.
5. Evidently the wretches invite (lit., experience) their own ruin by uttering unspeakable words. Do not the moths die in the fire by [ reason of their ) possessing ( wantonly) futtering wings?
6. Well, let it be, only once I ( may ) put up with your boyish pranks; ( but ) the king, who is devoid of (any) affection, would not tolerate these, if he hears them.
7. After speaking thus bitterly, when he began to proceed simply laughing, all of a sudden the clothes were taken away by the slayer of Madhu (i. e., Krsna ) from his hands.
8. Then the lord of Laksmi, suddenly injuring it (i. e., the head) by the points of his nails, knocks down the head of him (i. e., of the washerman) who was thinking of attacking him and who, with excessive anger, had hurriedly raised his hand armed with a stick.
9. The soul of the washerman, becoming lighter than ever and having become pure on account of the washing away of its sins, enters imo eternal light; and (at the same time, the pile of
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