Trishasti Shalaka Purusa Caritra Part 1

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

Page 52

31
Vinayavati, who was the Śri of modesty embodied. He attained young manhood, which is the sharp weapon of Kama, magic for young women, the pleasure-grove of Rati. His feet had smooth soles and were gradually arched like a tortoise; his waist excelled the waist of a lion; his chest bore a resemblance to a slab from Svarṇaśaila; his high shoulders assumed the beauty of the hump of an ox; his arms had the beauty of the serpentking's coils; his forehead had the charm of the full moon half-risen; his compact figure bore the full beauty of Meru because of the golden luster of his body and the resemblance of his teeth and nails to jewels.
One day, Satabala, King of the Vidyadharas, pious, noble, knowing the fundamental principles, reflected thus: "How long, alas! is this body to be preserved by making it, impure by nature, repeatedly renewed by adornment? Surely, surely even the best body ends in dissolution, whether it is repeatedly cared for, or not cared for at all. Alas! people are disgusted with impurities outside the body; why not by those inside the body? Diseases arise in this body causing endless pain like cruel snakes in the hollow of an old tree. This body is perishable by nature like an autumn-cloud, and the glory of youth in it disappears instantly like a flash of lightning. Life is wavering like a banner. Wealth is unsteady like a wave. Pleasures resemble the coils of a serpent. Friendships are like a dream. The soul, burned day and night by the fires of love, anger, etc., is cooked within the body like drugs cooked inside of a leaf. People, alas! thinking that they are happy in the painful objects of the senses, are not at all disgusted, just as a worm in impurity is not disgusted with impurity. People, whose minds are devoted to the pleasures of the senses that end in misery, do not see death, as a blind man does not see a well, at their feet. The soul, made unconscious by poison-like pleasures of the senses momentarily sweet, does not become conscious for its