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SANATKUMĀRACAKRICARITRA
191
is no beauty anywhere else among gods or men like that of King Sanatkumāra, the ornament of the Kuru-line."
Two gods, Vijaya and Vaijayanta, who did not believe this description of his beauty, descended to earth. In the form of Brāhmans they stood at the door of the king's palace near the door-keeper for the purpose of inspecting Sanatkumāra's beauty. Sanatkumāra was just then beginning his bath; all his finery had been taken off and he was anointing his body. The two Brāhmans at the door were announced by the door-keeper and the cakravartin, acting properly, had them enter then. When they saw Sanatkumāra, their minds were filled with astonishment; they shook their heads and reflected:
"The surface of his forehead surpasses the moon of the eighth night; the eyes extending to the tips of his ears overcome the beauty of the blue lotus; the lips excel the color of the ripe bimba; the ears are superior to mother-ofpearl; and the neck is victorious over Pāñcajanya; the arms cause censure of the shape of the trunk of the king of elephants; the chest is the thief of the beauty of a slab of Svarņaśaila; his waist resembles the loin of a young lion. What else? The beauty of his body is not within the range of speech. Ohl there is some unchecked flood of the river of loveliness because of which we are not conscious of the ointment, like starlight because of moonlight. He looks just as Indra described, not otherwise. Verily, highminded persons never speak falsely.”
Questioned by Sanatkumāra, “Why have you come here, best of Brāhmans ?” they replied: "O tiger among men, your beauty is sung in the world of the moving and unmoving, causing unparalleled astonishment. After hearing about it at a distance, we, filled with overflowing curiosity, came to see for ourselves, O king. Your beauty is seen to be just as wonderful as we had heard it described among the people.”
Sanatkumāra, his lips covered with a smile, said, “How can so much beauty be in a body covered with
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