१ प्रवेशः

Slokas 1 to 16: Gangā Dēvī’s obeisance to the poets who influenced her.

Shlokas 17 to 24: Ganga Dēvi un-literary criticism.

Slokas 25 to 42: The greatness of Bukka, the father of Kampaņa, is described.

1. May the elephant-faced God, who, like the divine Kalpavrksa fulfils ihe desires of those that sur render to His Grace, be propitious to the good.

2. For the sake of wisdom, I prayerfully approach God Śiva and His Spouse, who embody the light of Universal Consciousness and who bear the form of the Creator’s model for making man and woman.

महाकविमुखाम्भोजमणिपञ्जरशारिकाम् ।
चैतन्यजलधिज्योत्स्नां देवीं वन्दे सरस्वतीम् ॥

To the goddess of speech,
Sarasvatī,
do I bow –
a śārikā in the bejewelled birdcages
of the best bards’ lotus mouths,
the moonlight
rousing the ocean of human consciousness. 1

3. I make obeisance to Goddess Saraswati who lives in the lotus-like mouths of great poets, as a Sārika bird in a jewelled cage and who acts like moon light on the ocean of Universal Intelligence.

4. I bow to Guru Kriyāśakti, unparalleled in wisdom and resplendent with auspiciousness like another Triloçana (Śiva) with Sarvamangalā (Pārvati) shining (by his side).

5. May the sage Vālmiki, who is (as it were) the first foot set on this earth by poesy, bring cheerfulness to the minds of the virtuous.

6. Just as there is delicious juice in every joint of red sugar-cane, there is sweet essence in every sec tion of Vyāsä’s string of expressions (the Mahābhārata) which imparts immediate enjoyment to men of good taste.

7. Who are the poets that do not play the role of a slave to Kālidāsa? For even now those that are, live by his ideas.

8. How could others comprehend the eloquence of Bhatta Bāna, which captivates like the musical sound of the viņā played by Saraswati’s own hand?

9. Just as the garland of vakula flowers yields its sweet fragrance oniy when pressed, so too, the language of Bhāravi discloses its excellence and gives delight to the learned only if pondered upon.

10. The flourish of expressions of Açārya Dandin, drunk (as it were) with the wealth of nectar, shines like the fashionable precious stone-mirror of the Creator’s Spouse.

11. I fancy that Bhavabhūti’s compositions must be some species of Kāmadhēnu; for they produce in the ears of the learned a pleasure akin to the drinking of ambrosia.

12. Whom would the expressions of the poet of KarnāmRta fail to delight–expressions which are an ocean of honey flowing from the flower clusters of the mandāra tree?

13. Even as the thirsty cāköra birds love to drink the mai’s of the moon, poets find immense relish in the composition of Kavi Tikkayya.

14. Breathes there the man of learning who will not be jealous of the poet Agastya whose wealth of learning is demonstrated by the production of as many as seventyfour poetic compositions?

15. We respectfully greet the great poet Gangādhara as a second Vyāsa, in that he has made the story of the Bhārata actually seen by the device of dramatization.

16. May the lord of poets, Visvanātha, flourish long; for it is by his grace, even in individuals like my self, has dawned a sense of omniscience.

17. There is sense in some, idea in some, and sentiment in some; but nowhere is found a world: where all these exist together.

18. Even as a single salt particle from an oyster shell spoils the liquid essence of black sandal, so too, even the smallest flaw found in a poetic work renders it censurable.

निर्दोषाप्यगुणा वाणी न विद्वज्जनरञ्जिनी ।
पतिव्रताप्यरूपा स्त्री परिणेत्रे न रोचते ॥

A poem may be sound,
but unless sweet
it will not delight the literati.
A wife may be faithful,
but unless pretty
she will not please her spouse. 2

19. Just as an ugly woman, though virtuous, is not pleasing to her husband, a faultless poetic compo sition, if devoid of qualities (fineness), does not satisfy the man of learning.

20. A vile man searches for faults in a poetic composition, in disregard of its merits, even as the crow shows a preference to the nimba (fruit) without caring for the mango in the forest.

21. How long can a plagiarist dally with poesy obtained by stealing? For shortlived is the radiance of artificial colouring in a fictitious stone.

22. Logicians, there are many; grammarians—they abound in thousands; but scarcely can be found poets who are charming by reason of their beautiful songs.

23. What is there that the composition of a poet does not yield? It promotes fame, serves for wealth, destroys baseness and awakens delight.

न प्रार्थनीयः सत्काव्यश्रुत्यै सहृदयो जनः ।
स्वादुपुष्परसास्वादे कः प्रेरयति षट्पदम् ॥

A man of taste needs no encouragement
to listen to good poetry.
Who urges the bee
to sip the sweet nectar seeping from blown buds? 3

24. A connoisseur of learning needs no invitation to listen to good poetry. Who urges the bee to taste the sweetness of honey?

तन्मदीयमिदं काव्यं विबुधाः श्रोतुमर्हथ ।
मधुराविजयं नाम चरितं कम्पभूपतेः ॥

Learned listeners!
Give ear
to this poem here,
Madhurā Vijaya – The Conquest of Madhurā,
the story of King Kampa. 4

25. Oh learned men, please listen, therefore, to this poem of mine dealing with the history of king Kampaņa, going by the famous title of the Conquest of Madhurā (Madhurā Vijayam).

आसीत् समस्तसामन्तमस्तकन्यस्तशासनः ।
बुक्कराज इति ख्यातो राजा हरिहरानुजः ॥

There lived a king
named Bukkarāja,
the younger brother of Harihara.
Brave kings from each border
with heads bent consented to his every order. 5

26. There was a famous king called Bukka who was the younger brother of Harihara and whose commands were borne on their heads by all the neighbouring vassals.

27. Like Sēșa among serpents, Himavān among mountains, and Visņu among gods, he occupied the first place among the lords of the earth.

28. Severer than the sun and pleasanter than the moon was he. In depth he excelled the ocean, and in firmness, the mountain Sumēru.

विवेकमेव सचिवं धनुरेव वरूथिनीम् ।
बाहुमेव रणोत्साहे यः सहायममन्यत ॥

When waging war,
he needed no counsel but his own judgement,
no troops but his own bow
no allies but his two arms. 6

29. With discernment alone for his minister, and the bow alone for his army, he counted on his arms as his only ally in the heart of battle.

30. He demonstrated the presence of the (four) guardian deities of the universe even on this earth: Indra by being victorious, Varuna by being the over lord of the waters, Kubēra by giving away wealth and Yama by being impartial.

31. His immense fame displayed its existence among his subjects as sandal paste on their chests, as pearl ear-rings in their ears, and camphor powder on their faces.

विरोधिवाहिनीनाथविक्षोभणपटीयसा ।
भुजेन भूभृता यस्य प्राप्ता कीर्तिमयी सुधा ॥

Roiling the whole host of hostile kings,
vast as the ocean,
with the mountain of his globe-bearing arm –
child’s play for him –
he produced his own amṛta, fame.¹ 7

32. By (the might of) his arm which confounded the army generals of his enemies, fame was won by him, even as nectar (by the gods) by using the Manthara mountain with which was churned the boundless lord of the rivers (viz., ocean).

33. His fame, as a person of delightful qualities, spread so envelopingly that it appeared like a coverlet of white silk on the oval shape of the universe.

परिपन्थिनृपप्राणपवनाहारदारुणः ।
असृजद्भुजगो यस्य कृपाणः कीर्तिकञ्चुकम् ॥

The sword he wielded was a snake,
violently devouring the very air his adversaries breathed,
and slewing off the celebrity he secured
as its now whitened skin. 8

34. The sword wielded by his hand, terrible as it looked, feasting on the life-breath of his royal opponents, begot glory, even as a ferocious serpent feeding on air produces its cover of slough.

35. His right hand which to all appearance seemed to be drawing the sword was in fact practising the art of drawing, by her braided hair, the goddess of prosperity of his adversaries.

36. Having, after a long time, come to him who was ever wakeful in protecting this universe, Goddess Lakṣmi never again remembered Vișnu who was in sensible, wrapped up in yogic sleep.

कलिकालमहाघर्मप्लुष्टो धर्ममहीरुहः ।
यस्य दानाम्बुसेकेन पुनरङ्कुरितोऽभवत् ॥

The tree of dharma,
seared clear of moisture
by the horrendous heat of the accursed Kali Yuga,
sprouted afresh with the water he poured
while handing out gifts². 9

37. The tree of Dharma which had withered away by the scorching heat of this Kali age sprouted again by the water that flowed (from his hands) while making gifts of charity.

यस्याङ्घ्रिपीठसङ्घर्षरेखालाञ्छितमौलयः ।
आशास्वरिनृपा एव जयस्तम्भतया स्थिताः ॥

The very kings who had opposed him
became his victory pillars
spread in every direction,
their heads scarred with lines
scored from prostrating at his footstool.³ 10

38. His very enemy-kings who bore on their head scars caused by rubbing against his foot-rest stood on all quarters as so many pillars of his triumph.

39. The reputations of his adversaries, as if they were enveloped by rows of flames of the fire of his prowess, looked dark in appearance.

बद्धाः सभाङ्गणे यस्य भान्ति स्म जयसिन्धुराः ।
बन्दीकृता इवाम्भोदा जैत्रयात्रानिरोधिनः ॥

War elephants
stood shackled in the palace courtyard
as though they were hulking rainclouds
thrown into chains
for daring to halt his military assaults. 11

40. Chained in the grounds of his halls, his victorious elephants looked like clouds, imprisoned, be cause they stood in the way of his triumphal expeditions.

41. The (cloud of) dust raised by the hoofs of his war-horses made the sun apprehensive of an unexpectedly sudden approach of Rāhu.

42. By the side of his prosperity, the prosperity of Kubēra or Indra looked insignificant; and far remote became the question of any comparison between the fortunes of personages like Duryodhana and him.

तस्यासीद्विजया नाम विजयार्जितसम्पदः ।
राजधानी बुधैः श्लाघ्या शक्रस्येवामरावती ॥

As Indra has Amarāvatī glorified by the gods,
the King –
grown rich on triumph –
had for his capital a city celebrated by poets,
known to all as Vijayā – ‘Triumph’. 12

43. He who augmented his riches by conquest, had the famous Vijayanagara for his capital city. That city won the approbation of knowing men, as Indra’s Amarāvati, won that of the gods.

सुरलोकान्तसंक्रान्तस्वर्णदीमत्सरादिव ।
परिखाकारतां यान्त्या परीता तुङ्गभद्र‌‍या ॥

The Tuṅgabhadrā circled the city,
serving as a moat,
as if to rival the Gaṅgā
who gushes around the bounds of the gods’ domain. 13

44. As if in rivalry with the heavenly Ganges that flowed round the borders of swargaloka, the river Tungabhadra encircled the city as a formidable moat.

लक्ष्मीलतालवालेन क्ष्मावधूनाभिशोभिना ।
चक्राचलप्रकारेण प्राकारेण परिष्कृता ॥

A smart rampart wreathed the royal city of Vijayā,
as though it was
the pool in which her flowering fortune-creeper flourished,
the lovely navel of Lady Earth
or a circle of soaring mountains. 14

45. The city was also surrounded by ramparts on all sides which were high as the Cakrāçala mountains; and it had the beauty of a water-trench round the creeper Lakṣmi and looked like the navel of goddess Earth.

46. Lofty and gem-set towers like the peaks of the Sumēru emitting rainbow colours adorned the city.

47. The city was also surrounded by pleasure groves which looked like abodes of Spring and which were full of flowering trees like campaka, asőka, nāga and kēsara.

48. The pleasure-hillocks in the city were frequented by the musk deer that sought the shade of the plantains and karpūra plants in them. These hillocks looked like the veritable hiding places of the God of Love.

49. The city had sporting-lakes, fragrant with the smell of lotuses. Those lakes had gem-set steps and were always inhabited by beautiful swans.

यशःस्तोमैरिवाशेषनगरीविजयार्जितैः ।
सौधैः प्रकाशितोत्सेधा शरदम्भोदपाण्डरैः ॥

Mansions white as clouds in Śarad –
drifts of fame
amassed by outshining all other cities –
spoke of her stature. 15

50. The elevated portions of the city had high built palaces which were white like the clouds of autumn. One wondered if they were so many shapes which the fame of the king’s conquest of world-cities itself had taken.

51. The city looked like the stage set for flowering female beauty to display its charms; or it may even be pictured as the mark of fashion and loveliness adorning the forehead of the lady known as Earth’s Southern Quarter.

52. The city was full of virtuous Brāhmans, and armies of musicians ever strode its expansive grounds. Thus, like the full-moon night, or the world of celestial bards, serenity and music reigned unceasingly all round.

53. Bhujangas, or youths of fashion, made that city their favourite haunt, even as bhujangas, or serpents, make the crown of Śiva their chosen abode. Good-hearted people in large numbers loved to wander in its precincts like gods in the regions of the Sumēru.

54. The city was the play-ground of all good fortune. Prosperity in all its aspects delighted to live in its saloons. The city looked like a garland of precious stones on the shores of the sea of virtue.

55. The disc of the sun caught in the heights of the city’s palaces produced on the on-lookers the illu sion of a golden jar.

यत्सौधचन्द्रशालासु विहरन्त्यो मृगेक्षणाः ।
शशाङ्कमवलम्बन्ते मुक्ताकन्दुकशङ्क‍या ॥

The doe-eyed ladies
playing in the sky-high attics
of the city’s palaces
would try to catch the full moon,
foolishly mistaking it for their pearl-embroidered ball. 16

56. The damsels playing on the grounds of the top floor of the city’s mansions often laid their hands on the rounded body of the moon, mistaking it for their play-ball of pearls.

57. Hearing the sound of the drum accompanying the music played in the city’s palaces, the peacock began to dance even in the absence of any appropriate ‘occa sion (viz., the appearance of a thunder-cloud).

पद्मरागोपलोत्कीर्णप्रासादप्रान्तवर्तिनः ।
सन्ततं यत्र दृश्यन्ते सान्ध्या इव बलाहकाः ॥

Clouds
roaming around her ruby-reddened rooftops
seemed to be permanently stained
by the setting sun. 17

58. The clouds that hung about the sides of the city’s palaces with the colour of padmarāga gems reflect ed in them, always looked brown like evening clouds.

सन्ध्यासु यत्र निर्यान्ति जालेभ्यो धूपराजयः ।
अन्तःप्रदीपिकालोकचकितध्वान्तसन्निभाः ॥

Every evening,
trails of incense smoke would race
out of the city’s windows,
as though they were gangs of darkness
frightened into flight at the sight
of the oil lamps standing guard within. 18

59. The clouds of smoke that rushed through the crevices in the buildings of the city at the evening-time appeared like darkness effecting its escape afraid of be ing caught in the effulgence of approaching lamp-light inside.

60. As the lustre of the gems with which the steps were paved in the lakes always drove darkness away, the cakravāka birds were not separated even at night fall.

61. The moon as if ashamed by reason of the shining beauty marking the lotus-like faces of the lovely women in the city, ever wore a mourning black on her body known as kalanka.

62. The god of love never thought of resorting to his flower-arrows to effect his conquests in the face of the lovely glances shot from the eyes of beautiful women there to subdue the hearts of youth.

63. As if to take their lessons in graceful walking the swans ever sought the company of women there, attracted by the sweet jingling of their foot-ornaments.

64. The blooming breasts of the maidens of the city were beautifully set off by their slender waists even as thick clouds in the void above.

65. There was no hardness there in the city except in the breasts of beautiful damsels, nor crookedness except in their curly locks, nor thinness except in their waists.

66. Pampā was the branch city of Vijaya. Many a Kubēra (lords of wealth) were there so much so that God Virūpākṣa (Śiva) who was enshrined there never spent a thought about his original home at Alaka.

67. Installed in that city, he, of undiminished prowess, ruled over the earth even as Indra ruled the heavenly regions from his seat in Amarāvati.

68. By contemplating on his prosperity that was at the service of friends, and his politics that was wide and comprehensive, his subjects imagined that Manu himself had in him his second birth.

69. Though impartial to all the three puruṣārtas dharma, artha and kāma—the king, who was the idol of all virtuous people, had a special regard for dharma, even as Viṣnu, the Lord of all, has for satva, among his three guņas–satva, rajas and tamas.

70. His hand gave freely, his ear heard the Sāstras well, his head was always crowned with the sandals of Lord Siva. The sense of decorative fineness that he thereby evinced became the means of his achieving his desire to get and keep prosperity.

71. The kings that ruled over the territories of which the mountains of Vindhya, Malaya, Astha and Rõhana were the four boundaries paid homage to him and those that were enemies shook with fear.

72. Always awake at his post of guarding the kingdom that came to him from his ancestors in an unbroken line of succession, the king enjoyed the immense pleasures befitting his royal rank yet with complete detachment.

देवायी नाम तस्यासीद्देवी वसुमतीपतेः ।
पद्मा पद्मेक्षणस्येव शङ्करस्येव पार्वती ॥

The chief queen of this emperor of the earth,
known as Devāyī,
was to him
as the lotus-abiding Lakṣmī to the lotus-eyed Viṣṇu,
as to Śiva Pārvatī. 19

73. Like Lakṣmi to Nārāyana and Pārvati to Sankara, queen Devāyi was to the king the chosen consort.

74. Though the king had other wives also, she alone became the object of his love and regard, even as Rõhiņi to the moon among celestial luminaries.

कर्णाटलोकनयनोत्सवपूर्णचन्द्रः
साकं तया हृदयसम्मतया नरेन्द्रः ।
कालोचितान्यनुभवन् क्रमशः सुखानि
वीरश्चिराय विजयापुरमध्यवात्सीत् ॥

This brave king,
the brightening full moon
upon which his Karṇāṭa people gazed in delight,
dwelled in Vijayā for many a year,
enjoying in turn the pleasures suited to each stage of life,
with her
his soul-mate. 20

75. The brave king who was pleasing like the full moon to the eyes of the people of Karnāța dwelt along at the city of Vijaya and enjoyed the delights of his youth with her who was his heart’s beloved.

Thus ends the first canto of Virakamparāya çaritam called Madhurāvijayam, composed by Sri Gangā Dēvi.

Obeisance to Goddess Minākṣi !