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अथास्य वंशप्रतिरोहबीजं
महीभुजो गर्भमधत्त देवी ।
जगत्त्रयोद्भूतिनिदानभूतं
तेजो विधातुः प्रथमेव सृष्टिः ॥

In time the King sired upon the Queen
the seed which would perpetuate the dynasty –
just as the creator sires upon primaeval matter
the energy which brings into being the three worlds. 1

मुखेन तन्वी शरपाण्डरेण
विमुक्तरत्नाभरणा विरेजे ।
विलूनराजीववना दिनान्ते
छायाशशाङ्केन शरन्नदीव ॥

Slender,
no more oppressed by ornaments,
her round face reed-pale,
the Queen resembled a river run to a trickle in Śarad,
no longer blanketed in day-blossoming lotus blooms,
harbouring the orbed moon
as night draws near. 2

अनन्यसामान्यभुजापदान-
मुत्पत्स्यमानं तनयं नृपस्य ।
अनारतं वीररसानुबन्धं
न्यवेदयद्दौहृदमेव देव्याः ॥

The pregnant queen’s cravings
ever veered towards the heroic,
suggesting that the royal heir she would soon bear
would author deeds assayed by no other. 3

अपारयन्ती चरितैणशाबं
क्रीडाचलोपान्तमपि प्रयातुम् ।
आखेटरागादधिरोढुमैच्छ-
न्माद्यन्मृगेन्द्रान् मलयाद्रिकूटान् ॥

So spent was her strength
she couldn’t even reach
the foot of the ornamental hill
where fawns scampered,
yet in her thirst for a kill
she dreamed of climbing the mighty Malaya mountain
to hunt maddened lions. 4

पृथ्वी रथः सारथिरब्जसूतिः
शेषेण सज्यं धनुरद्रिराजः ।
शरश्च शौरिः किल हन्त लक्ष्यं
त्रयं पुरामित्यहसत् पुरारिम् ॥

‘The earth for a chariot;
Brahmā himself the charioteer.
The king of snakes serving as bowstring,
and Mount Meru his bow.
And, so they say,
no less than Śauri¹ as his shaft.
To fight whom?
A mere triad of cities!’
Thus did she scorn Śiva,
conqueror of the three cities.² 5

सौभाग्यगन्धद्विपदानलेखा
रराज तस्या नवरोमराजिः ।
तेजोनिधिं गर्भतले निषण्णं
कालोरगी रक्षितुमागतेव ॥

A fresh line of fine hair flashed below her navel –
glistening like a streak of ichor from
the mighty elephant of her waxing fortune –
as though it were a cobra
come to guard the luminous treasure
buried deep within her womb.³ 6

अथ प्रशस्ते दिवसे समस्तै-
र्मौहूर्तिकैः साधितपुण्यलग्ने ।
असूत सूनुं नरनाथपत्नी
देवी महासेनमिवेन्दुमौलेः ॥

Then on the happy day –
declared by astrologers near and far
to be blessed with an auspicious star –
the earthly lord’s lady
bore a son who would lead a mighty army;
just as Pārvatī,
consort to the moon-crested Śiva,
bore Kumāra, leader of heaven’s army. 7

महौजसस्तस्य निजैर्यशोभि-
रुद्वेलदुग्धोदधिपूरगौरैः ।
प्रक्षालितानीव तदा बभूवु-
र्धृतप्रसादानि दिशां मुखानि ॥

At that moment,
the faces of the directions grew clear
as if washed clean by the gleaming child’s glory,
white as the flood of the milky sea spilling its shores. 8

आगामिनीमध्वरहव्यसिद्धिं
निश्चित्य देशेष्वपि दक्षिणेषु ।
प्रदक्षिणीभूतशिखाकलापो
ननर्त हर्षादिव हव्यवाहः ॥

Realising that sacrificial oblations
would soon be offered in the South too,
the fire danced a jig of joy,
weaving his mass of flames into worshipful arcs –
or so it seemed. 9

सुखायमानां सुतजन्मवार्तां
सहर्षमावेदयते जनाय ।
अवाञ्छदात्मानमपि प्रदातुं
कुतूहली कुन्तलभूमिपालः ॥

In his euphoria,
the Kuntala king
was ready to give his very self
to the exultant servants
bringing the sweet news
of his son’s birth. 10

विशृङ्खलास्तस्य गिरा निरीयुः
कारागृहेभ्यो विमतावरोधाः ।
तुलुष्कबन्दीनिवहाय तूर्ण-
मागामिने दातुमिवावाकाशम् ॥

Upon the Emperor’s orders,
the womenfolk of the vanquished
were unshackled and released from their prison cells,
as if to make room
for the trillion Tuluṣka wives and daughters,
soon to arrive. 11

स्नातस्ततो धौतदुकूलधारी
वितीर्य भूरि द्रविणं द्विजेभ्यः ।
महीपतिः पुत्रमुखं दिदृक्षुः
प्राविक्षदन्तःपुरमात्तहर्षः ॥

Then the King,
after bathing and dressing in sparkling new silks,
bestowed lavish gifts upon Brahmins.
Longing to look upon his new-born son,
he came to his queens’ quarters
aquiver with joy. 12

अवैक्षत क्षामशरीरयष्टेः
कुमारमुत्सङ्गगतं स देव्याः ।
शरत्कृशाया इव शैवलिन्या-
स्तरङ्गलग्नं कलहंसशाबम् ॥

He beheld his son
rocking in the lap of the Queen,
her thin frame grown frail,
like a young haṃsa
bobbing upon the billow of a river
slimmed by Śarad. 13

मुहुर्मुहुः पल्लवपाटलेन
मुष्टीकृतेन द्वितयेन पाण्योः ।
अरातिलक्ष्मीकचसञ्चयाना-
माकर्षशिक्षामिव शीलयन्तम् ॥

As the child formed fists again and again
with hands pale pink like fresh shoots,
it seemed he was practising
how to wrest from his rivals
the tutelary goddess of each,
dragging them by their tightly tied braids. 14

अव्याजसौन्दर्यगुणाभिरामं
कुमारमालोकयतश्चिराय ।
नृपस्य निष्पन्ददृशो मुहूर्त-
मानन्दबाष्पोऽभवदन्तरायः ॥

A tear of joy for a moment obscured
the Lord’s long and unblinking gaze
as he stared at the child he had sired,
enthralled by his unadorned beauty. 15

आश्लिष्यतस्तस्य दृशा तनूज-
मन्तः प्रहर्षेण विजृम्भितेन ।
प्रायः प्रणुन्नैर्बहिरङ्गकेभ्यः
प्रादुर्बभूवे पुलकप्ररोहैः ॥

As the King drank in his son with his eyes,
the happiness within him swelled to bursting
and appeared to push out the very hair
on each part of his body
so that he prickled with goosebumps. 16

आकम्पयिष्यत्ययमेकवीरः
संग्रामरङ्गे सकलानरातीन् ।
इत्येव निश्चित्य स दीर्घदर्शी
नाम्ना सुतं कम्पन इत्यकार्षीत् ॥

With great prescience
the King knew that the boy would become
a warrior matched by none,
terrorising every one of his enemies
in the hurly-burly of battle,
and thus named him Kampana,
The Terrifying. 17

क्रमेण धात्रीजनशिक्षितानि
वचांसि यातानि च मन्थराणि ।
स्खलत्पदान्यस्य धराधिनाथो
निशम्य दृष्ट्वा च स निर्वृतोऽभूत् ॥

In due course,
the sight and sound of his son,
guided by the nurses,
tottering and tripping over
his first faltering syllables and steps,
brought the emperor of the earth true bliss. 18

कलक्वणत्काञ्चनकिङ्किणीकं
गृहाङ्गणे जानुचरं कुमारम् ।
आलोकयन्तावमृताम्बुराशे-
र्मग्नाविवान्तः पितरावभूताम् ॥

Watching their son
crawling on all fours in the courtyard,
his baby golden bells babbling blithely,
his parents felt as if
they had dived into a deep ocean of amṛta. 19

पशुपतिरिव नेत्रैः सोमसूर्याग्निरूपै-
र्नय इव निरपायैः प्राभवोत्साहमन्त्रैः ।
भव इव पुरुषार्थैर्धर्मकामार्थसंज्ञै-
स्त्रिभिरपि नरपालस्तैस्तनूजैरभासीत् ॥

As Śiva with his triad of eyes –
the moon, the sun and fire;
as sovereignty with its inseparable triple supports –
dominion, determination and counsel;
as this worldly life with its threefold goals
dharma, kāma and artha –
so the King shone with his three sons⁴. 20