सौन्दर्यलहरी, The Wave of Beauty

सौन्दर्यलहरी

by Dr Varanasi Ramabrahmam

दृष्टा मया अमितसौन्दर्यवती
प्रकृत्याः रमणीयसृष्टिः सा

ललितम् सरीरम् विकसितानि अङ्गानि
लावण्येन भासमाना सा अस्ति रतिदेवी

सुवर्णप्रतिमा सुन्दरकविता सा
संस्कृतभाषायाम् विदुषी सा अपरसरस्वति

तस्याः चारुरुचिरमन्दस्मितम् शुचिस्मितम्
पूर्णिमायाः कौमुदी इव आह्लाददायकम्

पूर्णचन्द्रनिभानना सा मधुरोष्ठा
बृहन्नितम्बविलसत् जघना सा
सुवर्णकुम्भयुग्माभसुकुचा सा
शृङ्गाररसाधिदेवता तारुण्यश्रीः सा

स्नेहमयी बन्धितवती माम्
मधुरभाषणेन मैत्रिण अनुरागेण

आकृष्टवती सा मम मनस्सूचिका
निजानुपम सौन्दर्यास्कान्तेन
देवमनोहरी सा हरितवती मम चित्तम्
लिखितवती तत्र कटाक्शेण अनुरागपङ्क्तयः

अङ्गाङ्ग सौन्दर्येण सा अमरकन्या
यव्वनभरिता सा शृङ्गार रसस्वरूपा

प्रणयव्रतफलशृति सा
प्रेम्णः सराग वीनाशृति सा

स्मरामि तस्यः सौन्दर्यम् आनन्देन
चिन्तयामि तस्यः शृङ्गारमूर्तीम् परवशेन

रासलीलाम् करोति मम मानसबृन्दावने
सा राध इव मम रागहृदकृष्णेन सह

तस्यः रमण्याः सरीरस्य अनुवणवः
सन्ति इक्शुकोदण्डस्य कुसुमास्त्राणि

भवति सफलानि वात्सायनकामसूत्राणि
तय सह परवशभरितायाम् सुरतायाम्

सा रम्यारामातनुलतानन्दने रन्तुम्
मम मनःप्रभवानलम् शमयितुम्

याचयामि ताम् सुन्दरीम् सखीम्
भवती रतिभिक्शाम् देहि रसानपूर्णेस्वरी इति

सौन्दर्यलहरी प्रेमवाहिनी सा
मम प्रणयिनी सा अमरसुखदायिनी


The Wave of Beauty


I have seen a woman of beauty infinite
The delightful handiwork of nature,

Of body delicate, of limb expansive
Alight with beauty, the divine Rati.

A golden sculpture she, a pretty verse
Learned in the refined languages, a second Saraswati.

Her smile, languid and endearingly bright
Like the joy-giving light on a full moon night

Her full-moon face with its sweet lips,
Broad of hip, generous of buttock,
Her breasts a pair of golden pitchers,
She is indeed the divine embodiment of the Srngara rasa, goddess of youth.

Loving she has bound me
With her delightful words, her affection and her passion.

She attracts my heart with love for her incomparable beauty
As a needle to a magnet.
Divine thief of hearts, she has stolen my senses
And on them has inscribed her passion in lines by her glances.

Beauty personified, a girl divine,
Full of youth she is aesthetic sensuousness incarnate.

The fruit of intense love-penance
She is the harmonious note of the lovingly tuned Veena. 

With supreme bliss do I recollect her beauty
And under her sway think about her love-inspiring form.

She is Radha enacting the rasaleela in my inner Brindavana
Together with my love-filled heart playing the role of Krishna.

Every tiny portion of her sensuous figure
Is as a flower-dart from Ananga’s sugarcane bow.

When sating ourselves subservient with amorous sport
Vatsayana’s love-game instructions bear fruit.

To enjoy the pleasurable act of love with her soft creeper-body
And to soothe my fiery heart,
I will beg my pretty friend,
“Grant me the alms of love-making with you, my dear Rasaannapurneswari!“

She is a wave of beauty, a stream of love,
My beloved who bestows immortal happiness.

Poem and translation by Dr Varanasi Ramabrahmam