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TRANSLATION
[15
the wings of bees, or the Jambula fruit, or the young one of a crow, or a cuckoo, or an elephant or an elephant cub, a black cobra, or a black bakula tree, or a patch of sky free from clouds in autumn (& therefore dark), or a black Asɔka tree; or a black Kaṇavīra tree, or a black Bandhujiva tree; would they be like these? No; it is not meet (i.e. the description is not quite correct); it is merely a simile, O long-lived monk ! Those black gems were certainly far. more beautiful, charming, pleasing, and agreeable in colour. Now the blue gems that were there, could be described as follows:- e.g. they were (in colour) like a wasp (or bee), or the wing of a wasp, [page 64 ] or a parrot, or the wings of a parrot, or the Chāṣa (i. e. the blue gay) bird or its feather, or indigo, or its variety (Bheda ?), or (the concentrated essence in the form of a) tablet of indigo, or the Syāmāka corn, or the tooth-paint, or sylvan beauty, or the garments of Balarama, or the peacock's neck, or the flowers of flax (Atasi) or Bāņa or Anjana kesikā, or the blue lotus or the blue Aśoka or Bandhu. jiva or Kaṇavīra. (The disciple asks): "would they be like these"? "No, it is not a fair statement. Those blue precious stones were far superior to these (standards of comparison). Now the red stones (or rubies) that were there, could be described as follows:-e. g. they resembled (in colour) the following things-viz. the blood of a ram, or hare, or a man, or boar, or a buffalo, or a small Indragopa insect, or the early rising sun, the twilight glow, or the colour of the half of gunja seed, or the jasmine flower, or the kimśuka flower, or the pārijāta flower, or the best vermilion, or the coral stones, or the fresh sprouts of coral plants,
or
or the lohi
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
