Trishasti Shalaka Purusa Caritra Part 1

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Helen M Johnson
Publisher: Oriental Research Institute Vadodra

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unctuous line of smoke. Some carried large white umbrellas, as if making the sky a huge white-lotus pond. Some of the highest gods waved chauris, as if summoning their own people for the sight of the Master. Some gods, girded up, carrying each his own weapon, stood around the Master like bodyguards. Some gods waved fans of jewels. and gold, as if showing in the sky the imitation of a rising flash of lightning. Other gods, exceedingly joyful, made a rain of variegated divine flowers, like stage-managers. Others rained on all sides a very fragrant powder resembling the uprooting of evils in the form of powder. Some gods made a rain of gold, as if wishing to add to the extreme wealth of Mt. Meru occupied by the Master. Some made a heavy shower of jewels that resembled stars descending to bow at the Master's feet. Some sang to the Master, each with new grāmarāgas 168 with sweet notes, surpassing a troop of Gandharvas. Others made resound musical instruments-stringed, drums, solid instruments, and perforated ones. For devotion takes many forms.
Some gods danced, shaking the peaks of Meru with blows from their feet, as if wishing to make them dance. Other gods began a concert splendid with varied gestures, like dancers with their wives. Some gods flew up in the sky, as if thinking themselves like Garuḍa; some flew down to earth, for fun, like cocks. Some pranced gracefully, like champions chosen to decide a battle; some made a lion-roar, like lions, from joy. Some trumpeted aloud like elephants; some joyfully neighed like horses; some made a rattling noise like chariots; some, like buffoons made the four noises of the others. Some, leaping, shook violently the peaks of Meru by stamping their feet, like monkeys shaking the branches of trees. Others hit the
168 554. Gramarāgas. Clements, Introduction to Study of Indian Music, p. 3, says they may be regarded as generic melody types,' prototypes of the modern rāgas. Popley, p. 33, thinks grāmarāga is the same as jāti, which he takes to be the ancient name of rāga.
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