Trishasti Shalaka Purusa Caritra Part 1

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

Page 156

135 and toes of the Lord of the World, copies of which served as a foundation for the establishment of dharma on earth. 174 Barley-corns beneath the joints of the toes of the Lord of the World shone with the well-marks 175 as if sown for the wedding of the World and Lakşmi. Like a bulb of the foot-lotus, the heel was rounded, long and broad; the nails resembled the hood-jewels of the serpents of the great toe and other toes. Hidden ankles of the Lord's feet attained the extreme beauty of the round pericarps of golden lotus-buds. The upper part of the Lord's feet, gradually arched like a tortoise, the veins invisible, had smooth skin and was free from hair. The Lord of the World's lower legs were fair, resembling the legs of deer, strong, adorned with flesh covering the bones. The Master's knees, round, covered with flesh, gave the appearance of mirrors put inside a cover filled with cotton. His thighs, soft, smooth, gradually filled out, gave the impression of mature plantain-stalks.
His loins were long, fleshy, thick, broad, firm; his waist resembled the middle of a thunderbolt in its slenderness. A deep navel gave the impression of a whirlpool in a river; the abdomen was smooth, fleshy, soft, straight, level. The breast, broad as a slab of gold, high, marked with the jeweled background of the śrīvatsa, 178 had the beauty of a playground of Sri. Firm, massive, high shoulders resembled the hump of a bull; armpits had little hair, were curved, free from the odor of perspiration and dirt. Massive arms, terminated by hands like serpents' hoods, hanging down to the knees, were like nooses for restraining
174 691. The nandyāyatta, a kind of svastika, is one of the 8 auspicious signs.
175 692. Yavas are the lines beneath the joints. Vānī is one of the marks on hand or foot.
176 704. The śrīvatsa, originally a curl of hair, came to be a mark with the general shape of 4 petals, frequently represented enclosed in a rectangular background.