m 
Dr. Hoornlo —An instalment of the Bower Manuscript. [No. 3, 
Translation. 
(Yerse 1.)—Om ! The summit of boundless wealth, inhabited by 
companies of Devarshis and Siddhas, by Kinnaras, Nagas, Yakshas and 
Yidyadharas, the holy pleasure-ground of the immortal 1 gods that in¬ 
habit heaven, [aZZ].overtopping; 
(Yerse 2.) Where, scattered in every direction by reason of the 
multitude of the rays of thousands of protuberant gems, and dissolved 
by fear, darkness, being apprehensive of the abode of the Moon, Indra, 
the Sun and Fire, does not venture to approach even in the nights of 
the rainy season 2 ; 
(Yerse 3.) Which is incessantly worshipped by numerous com¬ 
panies of sages accompanied by their disciples, carrying wood, kusa-grass, 
fruits, water and flowers ; in whose groves the trees have their branches 
examined 3 by the celestial maidens in quest of flowers ; 
(Yerse 4.) Where, under the magic of the rays of their lord, the 
moon, who has his permanent abiding-place on the crest of matted 
hair of the Three-eyed-one (i. e., S'iva), the two gems, talc 4 and the 
moon-stone, even by day, let flow a mighty stream, 5 just as if they were 6 
glacier-ice; 
(Yerse 5.) In whose beautiful groves, crowded with flower and 
fruit bearing trees, resounding with the voices of swarms of various kinds 
of birds, and having their rocky ground washed by the water emitted 
from the talc 7 , the medicinal plants glow at night like sacrificial fires ; 
1 The reading ambrita (for amrita) is doubtful. But I can make nothing better 
of the mutilated letters. 
2 The suggestion of the reading prdvrid-nisdsv — api I owe to the Pandit of the 
Asiatic Society. 
3 Or : touched. 
4* The MS. reads abda , lit. ‘cloud.’ As this is a synonym of abhra, which means 
both ‘ cloud ’ aud ‘ talc,’ I take abda also to mean ‘ talc.’ It is not given, with this 
meaning, in any Sanskrit dictionary accessible to me ; but the context clearly re¬ 
quires two minerals which should be both transparent and of a whitish or bluish 
white colour. Both talc and moonstone possess these qualities. The difficulty, how¬ 
ever, is that mica or talc is not exactly a mani or gem. Another difficulty is, that 
both abda and indukdnta are said to have the moon for their lord. This is true of 
the moon-stone, but I am not aware of its being ever ascribed to talc. Yet I do not 
know what else abda could be but talc. 
6 The MS. reading sotan gives no sense. I conjecture srotan, i. e. srotam 
‘ current ’, accusative of srota , or sitan (i. e., sitam ) ‘ water.’ 
6 The original has upaldbham which, in this sense of ‘ resembling,’ has not yet 
been noted in any Sanskrit dictionary. Literally it means ‘ catching up ’, ‘ reaching 
up to ’. 
7 The original has abda-mulcta, which admits of a double meaning : ‘ emitted from 
talc ’ or ‘ pearl-like talc ’. 
