Trishasti Shalaka Purusa Caritra Part 1

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

Page 296

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embodied command of the King. As he went along the road, his left eye twitched constantly as if seeing a fate unfavorable to the transaction of the undertaking. His right nostril blew constantly in the vahnimandala, like a goldsmith's blow-pipe in a fire, even in the absence of sickness. 881 Even on level roads his chariot stumbled frequently like the tongue of a stammerer on unaccustomed words. Even though warded off by the horsemen, a black antelope crossed repeatedly before him from right to left, as if impelled. In front of him a crow perched on a dry thorn-bush and cried out harshly, as if rubbing its sword of a bill on a grindstone. A hanging black-snake descended in front of him like a bar that had been thrown by fate wishing to prevent his going. An unfavorable wind blew, throwing dust in his eyes, as if turning him back-him alone skilled in deliberation. On his right a donkey brayed with the disagreeable sound of a drum that has not been rubbed with paste and has burst.882
Suvega proceeded, even though knowing these signs unfavorable. Good servants of a master do not falter anywhere, like an arrow. He crossed many villages, towns, mines, poor towns, like a whirlwind, seen only for a moment by their inhabitants. Urged on by the goad of
881 28. There are 4 mandalas, or ākāras, for the breath: vāyu, prthvī, jala, agni. The favorableness, or unfavorableness, of each mandala depends on various circumstances. Agni (vahni) is bad for beginning work. It is good, e.g., for taking food. It is also of importance from which nostril the breath comes. In sickness, it is normal for the breath to come from the right nostril in the case of the agnimandala. In the absence of sickness it is abnormal and therefore a bad omen. This subject is treated in the Svarodayaśāstras.
882 34. A mrdanga is the kind of Indian drum in most general use. It is barrel shaped with parchment covering on both ends. One end is moistened with a kind of black rice-paste which is left on permanently. The other end is covered with a white paste which is renewed each time.